Eating habits prior to surgery

[bhopeful 33]

What kind of diet or eating habits did you have before you had surgery?

I am worried about whether surgery will really help me lose weight . I eat a very healthy diet currently, probably around 1300 - 1600 calories per day, no junk food at all, very few carbohydrates etc. But I have definitely not been able to lose weight with this current paleo diet and with working out and so I'm considering sleeve surgery.

Were any of you healthy eaters with a healthy diet before you had surgery? If so, did surgery help you reduce the number of calories even given that they were healthy calories, enough to lose weight? I feel like with the kind of diet I eat I should be losing weight but I don't. So maybe the surgery which restricts me to around 800 - 1000 calories per day is what will be my tipping point? Any thoughts? I feel like my weight loss is really a stubborn problem and I don't feel like I have any other way to lose this weight because I have tried so many other things.

Edited August 26, 2015 by BHopeful

[Wassef 15]

Hi there,

I had my operation 2 weeks ago, but definitely I'm not a healthy person at all, I can have almost a large pizza from pizza hut with appetizers on my own, 3 whoopers with fries and coke, 1 kilo of ice cream, just a sample of what I used to have.

In your case, have your considered having a low metabolism in your body? you need to have like 6 meals, Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and Snacks in between. That will allow you to increase your metabolic rate therefore burning more calories.

The second thing, have you ever thought of making some medical check ups? Thryoid gland problem is one of the major factors for increased weight, as it will force the body to create fat in big amounts. You should go and take some blood tests (TSH, T3, T4).

Don't rush for your operation before you know exactly what's going on with you

[lizcan 77]

I had a similar diet to you and exercised almost every day. It was so frustrating! I am three months out and am halfway to goal. It has really worked for me

[MichiganChic 3,262]

I ate healthy and under 1500 calories a lot of the time and never lost weight. Some of the time I would go through periods of eating a lot more and most of it was junk, and strangely that didn't seem to cause any more weight gain. I will clearly state that I ate more than I burned. It's not a total mystery how I got to 300+ pounds, though I never ate as much or as bad as one would think to get to that weight.

The sleeve allowed me to get my calories under 600 per day for the first several months, and then I kept it around 800 for the rest of the first year. I now know that I have to eat under 900 calories a day or I will not lose weight. That was a shocking revelation to me. I maintain at around 1400 calories, and gain at any more than that. I would like to lose that last 10 pounds, but can't seem to keep my calories low enough, long enough to achieve that. I look and feel pretty good, so I'm not too worried about it any more.

[glitter eyes 1,398]

I too ate healthy prior to surgery. I ate around 1500-1800 calories a day and it came from lean meats, fruits, and veggies, complex carbs. I did have junk every now and then. I never exercised because it made me feel miserable- probably because I am only 5'3" and weighed 271 pounds.

Even in the pre op diet phase of liquids I only lost 2-3 pounds. I had a friend doing it around the same time and she lost 25 pounds, so I was terrified it wouldn't work for me.

BOOM- after surgery it was a miracle. My body dropped weight consistently. I went down to 152 in about eight months. I think like one of the above posters, my body loves staying very low carb and around 1,000 calories. I can maintain on that. Some of us just have to eat less to stay at a normal weight.

So hang in there and have faith- it does work and gives your body a great reset!! It's a life changer. Good luck!!

[Wassef 15]

Abso

I too ate healthy prior to surgery. I ate around 1500-1800 calories a day and it came from lean meats, fruits, and veggies, complex carbs. I did have junk every now and then. I never exercised because it made me feel miserable- probably because I am only 5'3" and weighed 271 pounds.
Even in the pre op diet phase of liquids I only lost 2-3 pounds. I had a friend doing it around the same time and she lost 25 pounds, so I was terrified it wouldn't work for me.
BOOM- after surgery it was a miracle. My body dropped weight consistently. I went down to 152 in about eight months. I think like one of the above posters, my body loves staying very low carb and around 1,000 calories. I can maintain on that. Some of us just have to eat less to stay at a normal weight.
So hang in there and have faith- it does work and gives your body a great reset!! It's a life changer. Good luck!!

You are absolutely right, unfortunately it's all due to our sedentary life behind the offices and at home. Excercise and frequent meals plays a major role in your diet, as it will increase your metabolic rate, therefore your 1800 Cal could be burned in a couple of hours.

I used to have a very active life, athletic, I finished 3 international marathon, a lot of Gym. At that time, I never stopped eating, and I used to eat a lot, but still my weight never increased, although I'm genetically predisposed for Morbid Obesity. Later on, got married, children, responsibilities at work and home, I started to loose myself little by little, until I reached the level where I can barely have a walk, back problem, and hypertension, not to forget, 2 meals per day every 10 to 12 hours. This led to the drop of my basic metabolic rate from around 3200 Kcal per Day to around 1000 Kcal per day. All the extra weight went directly to my belly, and the rest of my body.