Carbs, Fats and/or Calories (oh my!)

[SleevePerry 248]

I'm 4.5 months post op and doing pretty well. I've dropped 58 pounds in total, 48 since surgery. Currently, I'm losing at a snail's pace. I've lost nothing in the last week and a half, and had maybe lost a pound the week prior? Which is fine - not ideal, but fine. I'm keeping track of all of my meals via My Fitness Pal (Doc has me on 1000 calories/day) and am running 2.5 miles/4-5 times per week. I'm sure I hope the weight will come off eventually. Gah.

I'm having a hard time deciding what diet to follow - low carb or low fat. It seems that lower carb food items are higher in calories and in fat content, and low fat items are higher in carb and calorie counts. So, if I were to buy Creamer for my coffee, I will stand at the refrigerated case and agonize over whether to buy the fat free creamer or the sugarfree creamer (interestingly enough, the Creamers that are fat free AND sugarfree are twice the carbs). When I buy cheese, I debate on the full fat vs the reduced fat, the fats vs the carbs. Also, because my calories are being restricted to 1000/day (and I EASILY use THEM ALL), buying the full fat food means I will have to eat less, whereas buying the reduced fat food puts me over an ideal carb count.

What diet do you all follow? Low carb? Low fat? Little of both? I know that some of you have a hard time getting more than 700 calories a day in, but please don't make me feel like a piggy by pointing out to me how much more I eat than you.

Also, I'm including a recent before/after pic. I'm pretty happy with my results thus far, I just want to make the most of this surgery and lose as much weight as I can within the confines of the "Honeymoon Period." I still have about 70 pounds to lose, and would appreciate any advice you all have to help me on my way!

Edited October 23, 2015 by SleevePerry

[Healthy_life2 8,324]

@@SleevePerry

Look at you...working it hard at the gym....Way to go!

The slow weight loss and stalls will take you out of the honeymoon phase and into the "this takes work phase"

1000 calories is fine. I eat high Protein, low carb.

I don't monitor my fats. The fats I eat regularly are cheese avocado and butter when I cook. In no way am I saying go crazy on the fats....do not eat a whole meal out of butter.

You are following your doctors plan. Trust the advice you get from them,

[SleevePerry 248]

Thanks, @@jenn1 - my main fats have been cheese, avocado and olive oil. I was just noticing that those full fat items are higher calorie than their low fat siblings, and I'm starting to struggle to keep my calories under 1000. I'm not going wildly over (think: 1085 calories), but I'm pretty strict with myself when given parameters to adhere to.

Also: your transformation is incredibly inspiring. I can only hope to be as successful!

Edited October 23, 2015 by SleevePerry

[JamieLogical 8,708]

First off, don't stress about the "slow" loss. I was a "slow loser" too and I still eventually made it to goal and I'm now happily maintaining. It's not a race! As long as you stick to the plan, you will get where you need to go.

I don't want to undermine your nutritionist, but I found it best not to worry about calories at all. The only macro-nutrient I cared about was Protein. As long as I got my 100 grams of Protein in per day, I lost weight. In general, I did try to make sure that anything I ate had more grams of protein than fat. I ended up eating pretty low carb just by default, because I didn't have ROOM for high carb foods while still getting in all of my protein first.

If you get in 100 grams of protein a day, drink your Water, and stay active, you will lose the weight.

Side note: I don't use creamer in my coffee. I use 2 oz. of soy milk (you could do almond if you prefer), since it's an extra 2 grams of protein for every cup of coffee I drink!

[TakeitorSleeveit 124]

Wow! You are doing great!

My surgeon seems to be much more conservative and strict compared to many of the ones I read about on this forum. During the weight loss stage, he has me on a high protein/low carb diet (60-80 grams of Protein and 15 or less grams of carbs), and wants me to stay between 550 and 650 calories per day.

From what I understand at this point, once I reach about 75% of my excess weight lost, I will start adding in more calories and a few more carbs. But I will always be following a high protein/low carb diet.

[SleevePerry 248]

@@JamieLogical - THANK YOU! My nutritionist was not exactly the best, so I'm not completely listening to her either; if I were, I'd be having Cheerios and canteloupe for Breakfast right now.

I love the idea of not being a slave to a daily calorie count, and that makes total sense. I followed a high Protein, low carb diet for several years, was 30 pounds lighter than I am at present, and easily maintained that weight. I'll make an effort to focus more on Protein, and not worry so much about going over the calories my surgeon allotted. Thanks again!

[SleevePerry 248]

@@TakeitorSleeveit YOU'RE the one who's doing great! Killing it!

I was at 700 calories right after pureeds, and balked when my doc increased my calories to 1000. And, even though I'm now wondering if I can go over those 1000 calories, I do wonder if I would have lost a bit more had we kept me at 700 calories until I'd also lost 75% of my excess weight.

[JamieLogical 8,708]

@@JamieLogical - THANK YOU! My nutritionist was not exactly the best, so I'm not completely listening to her either; if I were, I'd be having Cheerios and canteloupe for Breakfast right now.

I love the idea of not being a slave to a daily calorie count, and that makes total sense. I followed a high Protein, low carb diet for several years, was 30 pounds lighter than I am at present, and easily maintained that weight. I'll make an effort to focus more on Protein, and not worry so much about going over the calories my surgeon allotted. Thanks again!

My nutritionist never even gave me a calorie range. I personally aimed to try to get to 800 a day as quickly as possible just so I knew I was getting enough to sustain me without feeling weak and tired all the time. I would say that after the first 2-3 months, I was getting around 1100 a day and built that up to where now, in maintenance, I get probably 1500-1800 a day. One thing I think happens if you stay too low on calories for too long is that you really muck up your metabolism. Plus, I try to exercise and be active and I think staying too low on calories doesn't give you the fuel you need to do that. If I weren't exercising and active, I might have been more worried about keeping calories low.

[TakeitorSleeveit 124]

I'm not losing a whole lot faster than you. I had my surgery on 6/23/15. Since then I've lost 59 pounds. I had lost 20 prior to surgery from my highest weight.

But I'm happy, and I feel great. Honestly, I would find it difficult to get too many more calories in right now, without eating a lot more carbs. And eating this low carb count is making me feel so great. It's done wonders for my knee pain, even before I lost much weight. Just a couple weeks of very low "bad" carbs, and my knee pain was much improved.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

Generally, low fat or low sugar foods have too much of something else added to make up the difference. The exception is low fat dairy and cheeses (because fat is removed but sugar isn't added).

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

Don't buy Creamers period. Buy milk, half and half or heavy cream. You can make your fat,carb choice from there. Those creamers are just artificial crap.

Also if you are ingesting a lot of artificial sweeteners it will slow your weight loss. People in the low carb community discovered this a few years ago. So cut back on artificial sweeteners for a week or 2 and see if that helps.

I buy the Sargento ultra thin slice, because they are paper thin 45 calories, and I can get that real cheese taste in a very small controlled portion.

I follow a Keto diet because I wasn't losing with the vague plan from my program which was low carb and low fat with really no macro goals except Protein. I need something more rigid, and since I have no hunger I have to really make an effort to eat, so having 3 marco goals to try and meet a day helps a lot.

[SleevePerry 248]

@@OutsideMatchInside Thanks! Aside from my Sugarfree vanilla Coffeemate, I eat pretty darn clean. But yeah, I should try to cut that out. I'll need to sub half and half or table cream in its place; regular or almond milk just doesn't do it for me - I like my coffee uber-light.

And I have those Sargento thin sliced cheeses. They're delish.

[SleevePerry 248]

@@Inner Surfer Girl I didn't know that about low fat dairy and cheeses. Thanks! That's very helpful!

[jane13 2,256]

I also ate a bit more calories like @@JamieLogical because I needed the energy and felt better upping the calories a bit. My weight has not come off as fast as others but like it has been said "its not a race". I have felt great really from the get go post-op. Once I dropped my BP pills to half a dose, about 6 weeks post, (now its a qtr) I have plenty of energy!

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

@@OutsideMatchInside Thanks! Aside from my Sugarfree vanilla Coffeemate, I eat pretty darn clean. But yeah, I should try to cut that out. I'll need to sub half and half or table cream in its place; regular or almond milk just doesn't do it for me - I like my coffee uber-light.

And I have those Sargento thin sliced cheeses. They're delish.

I have a good substitute for you. Trader Joe's coconut creamer. It is slightly sweet, it is actually a little to sweet for me, but I think it would make a good creamer substitute.

http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/2118

It has one carb and 5 calories per TBSP