male only Calorie Intake - Postop VSG

[SportCub 28]

Hey guys....I need some advice about calorie intake. When it comes to calories I know men and women have different needs so that is why I am posting in the men's group.

On average what is your daily calorie intake?

Do you count calories?

I am 3 months post op, 5'7", 45 y/o and stuck at 253 lbs. Up to this point I have not really looked at calories and just concentrated on my Protein and Fluid intake. I have been stuck at 253 for about 4 weeks which could be just a normal stall but maybe I am doing something wrong. I have started tracking my food on MyFitnessPal again to know exactly how much I am eating. My daily calories intake is around 1,000 per day, some days less and some days a little more but never over 1,100 per day.

As far as exercise goes I play in a softball league on the weekends which includes 2/3 games each week and I also get a decent walk in 2-3 days a week, 2-3 miles on avg.

One other bit of info, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when I was 22 and had to have my thyroid glands removed. Daily I take a thyroid hormone replacement and have my levels checked regularly. Things seem to be ok but could be a contributing factor I guess.

Any thoughts, advice? I would greatly appreciate it.

Tony

[BeagleLover 1,020]

Did your NUT give you any guidance on the amount of calories you should aim for? If not, does the hospital that did the surgery, or any other nearby hospital have bariatric support groups? Sometimes, my NUT attends those meetings; other times the bariatric coordinator does a presentation. There is always time for questions too (without having to spend any money). When I went to my initial bariatric surgeon's presentation, he emphasized that that people that do best in the long term are the ones that keep coming to the support meetings and surgeon's follow up appointments.

[Alex Hudson 7]

Hi guy!

Just had my 3 month follow-up today. I am at 260 and have been going from 257 to 263 to about two weeks now. I have been doing two miles on the treadmill each morning and just added weights in the afternoon. I keep my calories between 700-1000 a day. My doc said not to worry about being stuck. I am still loosing inches slowly and with the added exercise I am most likely adding muscle but still loosing fat. I feel great (most days) lol. One strange thing was that my Protein level was a little low. Hard to believe since I am consuming almost nothing but Protein.

Just keep up the good work and you will start loosing again.

Alex

[Quietstorm6978 6]

Ive been getting in about 900-1100 calories a day when i rememr to eat! im a little over a month out from having my surgery (june 9) and was 408 that morning, this am i am 378, my highest weight was 444 (at 6'6") in early may. the myfitnesspal app has def been a life safer and helped alot to track my calories and Protein intake. ive heard of these stalls and i know ill have one or many sooner or later. my doc told me to just continue to work through it and it will break, switch up excersize routines and the types of food you eat from time to time to trick your body. we shall see i guess.

[edwinant 0]

I had the surgey in February and have lost weight pretty quickly, but every now and then I plateau. Just stay the same weight for 2-3 weeks and then start losing again. I think it's just the body getting used to things..

[Hoginona04 61]

My surgery was on June 3rd. I have been tracking my calories on myfitnesspal for the past 5-6 months. Post surgery, I have not been able to go over 700 calories a day. And most of that comes from a Protein shake consisting of 3 scoops of Wheybolic Amp 60 Protein from GNC. Granted, the only food I have been eating is canned tuna, eggs, and baked fish. But I just can't get in enough food to reach 80-100 grams of protein a day. Hell, I can't eat 2 scrambled eggs. So my food intake is around 1 to 1.5 ounces per meal. I have a follow up appointment in a few weeks, I plan on bringing in a print out of my food logs and seeing what they have to say. On a good note, the day of the surgery I weighed 305 and 49 days later I have lost 46 lbs. With a 1 week stall in there around week 3.

[Rogofulm 2,440]

I'm four weeks out from sleeve surgery and down 36 lbs. I was glad to hear about the 1-week stall at week 3, because I experienced the same thing. I have to start counting calories, because I suspect I'm only getting in about 700 a day. The folks on myfitnesspal.com go berserk when anyone goes below about 1200, and say that will cause your body to go into starvation mode where you'll stop losing weight and start consuming muscle. But 1200 doesn't seem realistic for those of us with reduced capacity. In order to get 70-80 gs of Protein in, there's no room for high-calorie food, at least at this point in the journey. But since I'm a newbie, I'd appreciate any guidance on whether or not the low calorie count will slow/stop weight loss as they say on myfitnesspal. Thanks!

[Recycled 2,182]

Here's what's going to happen as time goes by........Those stalls that are so frustrating in the beginning.......they just tend to blend into daily life. Not such a big deal anymore. You will find that as you get used to your daily intake, they become more routine and less of an event. So do the weight losses. I pay very little attention to the scale and pretty much expect that my weight loss will occur in it's own time regardless of what I do. I no longer fret over "stalls". I eat about 700 to 1200 calories each day and concentrate on the Protein. I have noticed that even when I'm not losing lbs, I am losing inches. (stuff fits better). It's become slow and steady.....but it still keeps coming off. At 800 cal. ......it pretty much has to. I will eventually get to my goal, as will you.

[erp 2,016]

This early out 700 calories is fine. I gradually increased mine. I was around 500 at 4-8 weeks out. 700 cals around 4 months out, 800 at 6-8 months, etc. I hit my initial WL goal at about 13 months out and now eat around 1300 cals. You will increase cals over time and find a balance.

[Rogofulm 2,440]

This early out 700 calories is fine. I gradually increased mine. I was around 500 at 4-8 weeks out. 700 cals around 4 months out, 800 at 6-8 months, etc. I hit my initial WL goal at about 13 months out and now eat around 1300 cals. You will increase cals over time and find a balance.

Thanks so much - that's just what I needed to hear!!!

[Rogofulm 2,440]

Here's what's going to happen as time goes by........Those stalls that are so frustrating in the beginning.......they just tend to blend into daily life. Not such a big deal anymore. You will find that as you get used to your daily intake, they become more routine and less of an event. So do the weight losses. I pay very little attention to the scale and pretty much expect that my weight loss will occur in it's own time regardless of what I do. I no longer fret over "stalls". I eat about 700 to 1200 calories each day and concentrate on the Protein. I have noticed that even when I'm not losing lbs, I am losing inches. (stuff fits better). It's become slow and steady.....but it still keeps coming off. At 800 cal. ......it pretty much has to. I will eventually get to my goal, as will you.

Thanks for the wise counsel - that helps a lot!!!

[SportCub 28]

I had my 3 month post op visit with my surgeon last week and we talked about the stall and my calorie intake. He did say that it was probably too early to be a typical stall and the fact it lasted about 4 weeks also made him think it was not a typical stall.

His opinion was that it was probably related to getting dehydrated and not getting enough fluids in. My Fluid avg is 68 ozs a day which is the bare minimum. We have had some very hot weather which probably didn't help either. So his suggestion was to try and up the Fluid intake and if it happens again increase the fluids to see if that takes care of it. He really wasn't that concerned and felt that it wasn't anything to worry about.

I am drinking my fluids and trying not to stress....haha! Thanks to everyone that has responded. The advice not only helped me but I am sure helped others as well.

Thanks!