calories, fat or carbs? what do I count?

[halloween2124 0]

Okay now that I have my band and I am eating....I"m not sure what in the world to do now. Do I count fat? or calories? OR carbs? I'm not really sure what I should be doing from here. What works for everyone else? Do you try to stay within a certain calorie range or do you count more than one of these to keep yourself on the straight and narrow. I feel like most of the stuff I can actually EAT at this point really isn't good for me anyway, so I"m trying to work it all out.

I also am trying to figure out why all the protien is so important. How many grams do you need a day and why? I dont' think I"ve been getting enough.

[RidinMyHDDream 1]

My Nutrionist said 60 gms of Protein a day. Roughly 1000-1200 calories however she said concentrate on the Protein and the calories will come. The protein is critical so that your hair doesn't fall out and other related issues but that one is the most noticable.

Good luck on your journey! I know I'm just past my first month and I'm loving every minute of it! :shade:

[NJChick 3]

Hi Halloween2124,

You should sit down with your doctor and discuss what is right for your body because everyone is different and it seems that every doctors advice will differ as well. And your intake of calories / Protein depends on how active you are.... this is very important.

My doc told me to eat LEAN Proteins first (because they keep you fuller longer) then veggies and then lastly if there is room good carbs. I wish I would have paid more attention to my Protein intake when I first had surgery... I lost ALOT of hair and I really do think my lack of protein played a big part in the amount I lost.

This is a great article on protein... http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/a/protein.htm

How much protein do we need?

Our protein needs depend on our age, size, and activity level. The standard method used by nutritionists to estimate our minimum daily protein requirement is to multiply the body weight in kilograms by .8, or weight in pounds by .37. This is the number of grams of protein that should be the daily minimum. According to this method, a person weighing 150 lbs. should eat 55 grams of protein per day, a 200 lb. person should get 74 grams, and a 250 lb. person, 92 grams.

List of high protein foods:

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/highproteinfood.htm

Calories: Again your doctor should be able to help you with this.....but here's an article to help http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/caloriesperday.htm

Good Luck !!!

[lianna 3]

NJChick, I have never seen the way to calculate your Protein needs that you just listed! Love it! I shoot for 60ish grams of protein now, which is right on target according to that! Love this board, I just learned something new!

[waterlily1072 5]

Ask your doc, what he wants you to be counting. I personally count calories and protien first and formemost. My surgeon and nutritionist say at least 56g of protien a day to prevent muscle loss. I have not lost any hair and personally know people who had tons of protien and did lose their hair. Hair loss is a very individual thing and may be triggered by different things for different people, so don't panic. But protien is essential to weight loss, without it our bodies will burn muscle before fat, thus lowering our metabolism (bad). I do pay some attention to how much fat I take in, but mostly I only add fat to food 3 servings per day, so like a total of 3 tablespoons of mayo, or 3 teaspoons of butter or margerine etc. It's an old weight watchers thing that I have used with every weightloss attempt since I was 9 and it works