(Pre-op ??) Anyone Notice the More You Eat, The Hungrier You Get?

[FluffyChix 17,413]

When I finally "first" decided to "do this thang" called WLS, I went on a super strict diet I called my "low everything" diet. I tried to mimic what it would be like from surgery day to post op of about 6-9 months. I could do it, but when I added food, I just could not stick to a 1cup total quantity per meal. I was super starving at that point--so I added more volume to fit within my calorie ranges. I'd been doing this crazy diet without taking proper supplements, and without my docs approval. And so fast forward almost 3 months and I met my surgeon for the first time. Well, to put it lightly, she was a little concerned. At the time I was still bouncing between 400-600 cals per day and losing next to nothing. I was sooo exhausted feeling (and I'm Keto adapted, so that really shouldn't be happening). She told me that if I didn't get my pre-surgery calories up to at least 900-1000 cals/day that I may not have much help from surgery and that I most likely wouldn't experience that big bounce of initial weight loss.

Sorry for taking the scenic route in this story. So, to make her happy, I slowly started adding back 100cals every 2 weeks to get to the 1000cal/day threshold. At 600 cals, I was pretty happy with VERY VERY little hunger. Some days I would have hungry, hungry hippo days and would overeat Protein, but would still basically manage to hit 600cals or only slightly over. But for the most part, food was just a non-starter. I felt tired of course, exhausted, but not hungry for the most part.

Since that first appointment, I was low in thyroid and B1. I've been on a thyroid supplement plus 100mg B1 and taking a multi Vit, Vit D3, Calcium, and magnesium. I'm feeling much more energy (for the most part--still have dog-tired days, but it's better), BUT! Now that I've hit 1000cals/day, I've barely lost any weight in the last 11 days (-1.4lbs), and I'm a Starvin' Marvin! I could eat all the time. I'm back to thinking about food a LOT. And I'm having trouble making my protein stick in the 60-80g per day range (complete proteins).

Do any of you have the problem that the more you eat, the hungrier you are? Or the earlier in the day you eat, the more you want to eat all day? (Oh, I also have Syndrome X, which is the post-meno version of PCOS with severe insulin resistance).

TIA! (Here's a MFP for today's prospective food.)

Edited September 10, 2017 by FluffyChix

[Strivingforbetter 247]

I'm thinking that you've jump started your metabolism again, but I'm no expert. That could be why you're feeling so hungry.

[Apple1 2,572]

I think your metabolism is making a comeback. I don't think it is healthy to consume sub 800 calories for an extended period of time. I know WLS is an exception, but I still worked hard to get to 1000 calories as soon as I could.

[Berry78 4,259]

Well, let's look at this from the body's point of view

You're a caveman that has just entered a period of lean times. After the first few days, your hunger goes down because if you are too miserable, you won't be able to function to go find more food. But, then when you do find more food, then the hunger comes back, reminding you that you need to eat more to catch back up on those nutrients that were lacking.

The other part of this is after a period of weight loss, the body slows its processes down so you don't starve to death. Metabolism goes down, hunger goes up, etc. Since the weight loss has slowed, this is probably happening too.

It's true that if you eat so little now, the surgery won't give you the big losses up front. The good news is, though, that it should still reset your set point, so that these losses that you've made now can stick.

I'm glad you've introduced Vitamins. We don't get enough eating 2000 calories (on a SAD).. we absolutely can't get anywhere near enough eating less than half that.

In the meantime, if you want to stay Keto, that's fine. Eat LOTS of colorful veggies, and enough meat and fat and nuts... put it this way.. 80g Protein is only 320 calories. 25g carbs has 100 calories. Non starchy veggies have virtually zero, so that means you need to be eating about 700 calories of fat. 3oz of nuts gives 540 calories, then you have room for another Tablespoon and a half of added fat (salad dressing or the like). This is assuming the protein sources are virtually fat free. Of course, there is no reason you can't be eating 1200 or 1300 calories now, which would take care of the fat in the meats. It's amazing how LITTLE fat has SO many calories! I mean seriously? 3oz of nuts, the fat in the meat, and 1.5 tablespoons of added fat equals 900-1000 calories?! AMAZING!

[FluffyChix 17,413]

Thanks guys! I hope you are all right! haha!

@Berry78 Gosh I your reasoning and math skills too! IKR on the fat and so little makes so many cals! I often used to look at people who were doing Keto and some of the young ones were adding fat EVERYWHERE! And I'm like, you know, you really don't have to do that...cuz you're gonna hit keto numbers just by the fat in the meat, nuts, and dairy.

[Berry78 4,259]

Well, keep in mind that many of them are aiming for 1800 or 2000 calories.. which means adding another 8 TABLESPOONS of added fat! Lol!

Yum.. Keto sounds delicious! Fat is my favorite..

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at least always used to be...

Hmm.. on second thought, I don't think it's as good anymore... I don't DISlike it.. I just don't crave it. (Guess I'm still transitioning my brain to the then/now.)

Btw..For the sake of accuracy.. I attributed all the calories in nuts to fat. Nuts also have some Protein and carbs, so just wanted to point out that my numbers are just rough estimates.