How many calories do you eat on average as post-op?

[sasharbinx 115]

The nutritionist at the hospital told me I should focus more on how much Protein and Water I take in, however, while I fully understand this and am taking it into account, I'm super used to logging my food on the MyFitnessPal app. Pre-op I was anywhere from 1200-1600 calories a day trying to cut back and lose weight in preparation for my gastric sleeve surgery.

4 days out and I'm between 500-600 calories (trying to do 3 Protein shakes min. for Protein goal, Jello, and broth, had a sugar free popsicle today too).

Just wondering how calories might fluctuate in the months to come. What's normal for a bariatric patient? My current TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is approximately 2716 based on an online calculator. So I'm eating less, at a much bigger deficit than I could normally live off which explains why WLS works so great as a tool. But still the question burns, where to cap myself off for calories? Pre-op, I just absolutely tried not to go over 2k calories each day. Now is it more like 1000? What's eating too little, what is too much? I'm making it so I have three meals a day (a protein shake) with some Snacks in between or in the evening (usually broth/miso Soup, jello). 3 of my Premier Protein shakes at 160 calories per bottle are 480 so is that my minimum to get by? Trying to work it out.

If there's anyone that knows about this please let me know. I don't see anything wrong with counting calories or logging food like I do so I don't know why my nutritionist couldn't just give me the straightforward and helpful advice I was looking for. .-. I will keep logging for peace of mind, especially for how hard I've worked to cut back and be mindful with Portion Control and what not.

Thanks y'all.

Edited January 3, 2017 by sasharbinx

[Vinasu 621]

My doctor wants me to shoot for 800 a day during the weight loss phase.

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[monicacanard 1]

I just went back for my 3 month check up and my surgeon said that I should be at 800 calories. Hope that helps!

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[Sai 785]

Between 1000-1200 calories/day, I'm post-op 4 months. My surgeon/program encouraged me to get to that calorie range beginning at wk 5. I burn ~300-500 calorie each day through exercise.

[Fredbear 397]

I'm at 5 weeks and I'm between 600-900 calories per day (depends on oils and cheeses), and I'm walking 30-60 minutes a day, so a net 300-600 calories per day.

[suzzzzz 1,005]

We are given Protein and Water goals at first because that is where the focus needs to be. Calories can be made up of numerous things that won't help healing and losing. Many people would be very creative with such latitude.

Once on solid foods, my surgeon said 800 - 1000 calories if I wanted to count them. At 6 mths out I still focus on Protein and the calories fall into place at about 800 -900 a day.

[LittleBill 2,231]

I'm not really counting my calories. I focus on Protein and Water, and keep carbs as low as I can without eradicating them completely. And the carbs I take in are about 90% "good carbs" from fruit or vegetables. Calories do show up on my calorie tracker though, and it varies between 800-1200, depending on how many grams of fat show up during the day. Every now and then, it will gust as high as 1400 or so, but those are few and far between right now. I am 60 lbs away from my goal, which will require approximately 2500 calories a day to maintain.

[ella37 455]

I am usually 700 to 1000. I was about where you are for the first few weeks.

[QueenOfTheTamazons 634]

I was averaging 600-750 but my bariatric nurse said 800 min and to aim for 800-1000.

HW 385 SW 359 CW 308 Sleeved 10/5/16

[sasharbinx 115]

Thanks for y'all's responses so far. Really informative. It's all a learning process I suppose.

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[RickM 1,747]

6-800 is a good range for starters. The online calculators for you TDEE or basil metabolism are a good way to stay fat - they are notoriously optimistic since most only really apply to normal size range people - that extra fat that we are carrying to get us into WLS does virtually nothing toward burning calories. If you were a 300lb body builder the numbers would make some sense, but not as a 300lb WLS candidate. When I was fat, the calculators said that I "needed" anywhere from 3600-4000 calories per day, while my actual stability point based upon food logging was 26-2700 calories per day.

When you were on your pre-op diet at 12-1600 calories, how long was that diet and what kind of loss rate did you attain? - that's a better measure of your individual caloric needs than a calculator. If it was a months long diet as often required by insurance, that can give you some insight into your actual metabolic rate, which can guide you to an appropriate calorie level for weight loss and maintenance. When I wsa approaching goal weight, I was consistently losing 10lb per month, which works out to a caloric deficit of around 1000 calories per day (10lb x 3500cal/lb = 35000 cal per month - divide by 30 days = 1166 cal per day) and indeed, I was losing at about 1100 calories per day and maintaining at 2100-2200 per day. Many, particularly the shorter ladies, will be maintaining in the 1200-1600 range, so you need enough caloric deficit to drive your weight loss to goal.

Also, note that typically your overall metabolism will drop as you lose weight and approach goal - it simply takes less energy to move 150lb around than it does to move 300 lb, so one needs to account for that decline when settling on a calorie range for effective weight loss.

[LittleBill 2,231]

@@rickm I did a 3 month pre-op diet. I aimed for 2000 calories a day. My nutritionist told me early on she would be happy if I stayed under 3000. Using that information, I fluctuated between 2000-2500/day, and lost 67 lbs from the start of the program in June until my surgery in early October. Total time was almost 4 months to the day, given the various things that had to happen right before surgery, the surgeon's schedule, etc. That works out to just under 17 lbs a month of weight loss.

[TiredOfMyself 141]

I am all over the place. I get anywhere from 380 and 1000 a day. I'm trying to eat more, I need to get a schedule together.

[cassandramarie93 199]

Post surgery according to my calculator I am on average at 480 which is pretty low. I believe the recommended intake is 800 to 1200 a day for weight loss. And maintenance 2000 for an active individual. These are super general outlines and it varies from person to person and level of physical activity.

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[Bufflehead 6,358]

My program's rules were:

--first four weeks: stay under 650 calories

--four weeks - six months: stay under 800 calories

--six months - goal: stay under 1100 calories

--do not count calories burned or attempt to "eat back" exercise calories.

I followed those rules and they worked for me. Lost 200 lbs and hit my goal weight.