Too much or too little?

[tjgillman 5]

Hello everyone, I’m from the uk so I apologise in advance if I use measurements etc that you don’t usually use but I had a gastric sleeve on 3rd July 2019 so about 10 months or so ago, I’ve lost 45kg but have about another 15 to lose and as you can imagine it’s now very slow loss and some weeks none at all! I’m averaging around 1000/1300 cal a day and walking over 4 miles every day burning around 500cal but the scales aren’t budging at the moment. Am I eating too little? Too much? Should I cut down my activity? I’m very lost right now and could use some advice. How many cals are others on and how much activity etc? I will speak to my nutritionist etc when it’s possible to get an appointment but that could be months due to Covid-19. Thankyou in advance x

[Hop_Scotch 1,630]

What is your height and current weight? Gender? This will help determine if your calorie allowance is too much, too little or just right, not that we are necessarily experts but the information may help us in our responses to you.

With regards to food are you actually weighing and/or measuring with calories so that you know your calorie intake is accurate? Or are you just eyeballing it/guestimating? Using a food diary/calorie counting app to keep track of daily calories?

Getting plenty of non calorie fluids? What type of food are you consuming?

No recent medical conditions or medication that slows down weight loss?

How are you measuring the calorie burn for the walking? It seems a little high??

Edited May 20, 2020 by Hop_Scotch

[tjgillman 5]

@Hop_Scotch hello thanks for replying, I am a 24 year old female who is 5ft1 and currently 76kg. I am weighing out everything and using my fitness pal to count calories. I can’t lie I’m terrible with Fluid intake. I don’t get nearly enough fluids which I am working on. I’m trying to consume as much healthy high Protein foods and nutritious veg/fruit as much as possible. I have arthritis but am only on normal painkillers such as paracetamol for that and other than that I take Vitamins and have a contraceptive implant. I use an app called map my walk made by under armour so I believe it’s trustworthy and accurate but then again I could be being fooled!! 😂🤦🏼‍♀️

[Hop_Scotch 1,630]

You've had great success with your weight loss so far and as we get closer to goal it does slow down.

I wouldn't say you were overeating on your calorie intake. How are you feeling with those calories? Feel hungry or do they satisfy you? And at about 10months out you'd be expected to be eating more, but perhaps those more experienced with the stage you are at could tell you if you are eating a little too many.

Some people have had some success in breaking stalls by temporarily increasing their calories for a week or two and then dropping back. Other have had success with intermittent fasting, don't know if that's your thing.

Keep working on those fluids!

It's a shame your nutritionist isn't doing telehealth appointments at the moment. I will be chatting with my dietician next week over the phone..I know its not the same as a face to face but it useful for me to touch base with her.

[tjgillman 5]

@Hop_Scotch Thankyou very much, that’s nice to hear sometimes, when I feel down like this sometimes I feel like I’ve failed but have to remind myself I haven’t. I’m fine until I hit late evening, I’m a late night person so I don’t sleep until early hours of the morning and by then I’m very peckish but know not to eat then because it wouldn’t be good. That’s what I thought as I’ve read that too low of calories for a long period can slow metabolism but I just want some kind of idea of how many calories I should be eating for the amount of exercise I’m doing. It’s all so confusing! Okay Thankyou I shall try my best and try those ideas. My next scheduled appointment which was the soonest available isn’t until august! As we have free healthcare in the uk (we are very lucky I know) but it often means long wait times etc which can be difficult. Thankyou again for helping.

[Hop_Scotch 1,630]

I forgot to ask whereabouts in UK you are? I was born in Manchester, came to Australia with the family when I was a teenager.

[tjgillman 5]

@Hop_Scotch ah amazing! I’d love to emigrate lol. I am from Brighton about an hour from London, I’m sure you’d know it. How does Australia compare?

[Hop_Scotch 1,630]

I know of Brighton, don't think I have been there though. Australia is a wonderful place to live, but like all countries has challenges

[tjgillman 5]

@Hop_Scotch oh I can imagine lol. It looks beautiful though, certainly looks better than England! So much gang life and knife crime is rife over here these days.

[catwoman7 11,212]

you have to create a calorie deficit to lose, so if you've been stuck at a weight for more than a month or so, you might have to drop your calories a bit - or increase your exercise.

calorie level is going to vary a lot between people. I would lose at 1000-1300 calories a day, but some people wouldn't. I'm taller than you - and fairly active - and also, things like age, metabolic rate, etc, all factor into how many calories you need a day. It takes trial and error to figure out how many calories you need to maintain your weight - or lose weight.

it's important to know, though, that once you get to around the year mark - and especially if you're within 20 or so lbs of your goal weight, weight loss DOES slow down to a crawl. Those last 20 lbs were an absolute BEAR for me to lose. Like you, it was very slow going, with lots of stalls. But...I kept at it and eventually made it. So that might be what's going on for you, too...

[tjgillman 5]

Of course, but my mindset is like so even if I’m eating at the higher end of my diet at 1300 cal and burning 500 a day walking, on top of my BMR/TDEE I should without a doubt be in a deficit? But the scales should project that. So I’m wondering am I not eating enough? It’s hard because all Over the internet they say it’s nowhere near enough calories but when your a Bariatric patient like we are, it’s what we get programmed to do and what our bodies can cope with. So I’m just stuck in a rut. I will try and decrease the cals more and see if it makes a difference. Out of curiosity what cals were you on at 10 months post op and what exercise? I’m just trying to grasp what worked for other people (even though I know it may be different for me). I mean I walk over 4 - 4 1/2 miles a day so I would consider myself fairly active right now. Thankyou for your help I will take it all on board and play around with my cals etc. Why does it have to be so hard towards your goal 😩

[catwoman7 11,212]

1300 calories is maintenance level for a lot of us. I can maintain on 1700 calories, but that seems to be on the high end for female bariatric patients.

I just checked my records, and at 10 months out I was averaging 1000 kcal/day. Maybe try eating closer to the bottom end of your current range for awhile (1000 kcal) and see if you start losing again.

If you're walking 4-4.5 miles a day, than you're probably about as active as I was, so that part should be OK.

[tjgillman 5]

@catwoman7 that’s mental isn’t it?! It doesn’t seem much at all but to us it feels like a lot lol. Okay I shall begin doing that again and see. I wasn’t losing whilst on 1000 hence why I upped my cals because I read a lot saying I probably wasn’t eating enough and my metabolism was slowing. And that if you’re quite active you need to consume more 🤦🏼‍♀️ I never know what is the right thing to do but I will do what you’ve said and pray it moves again! I’ve ordered some resistant tube things to start incorporating into my exercise aswell as I’ve heard that can help so fingers crossed. Thankyou for your help.

[catwoman7 11,212]

2 minutes ago, tjgillman said:

@catwoman7 that’s mental isn’t it?! It doesn’t seem much at all but to us it feels like a lot lol. Okay I shall begin doing that again and see. I wasn’t losing whilst on 1000 hence why I upped my cals because I read a lot saying I probably wasn’t eating enough and my metabolism was slowing. And that if you’re quite active you need to consume more 🤦🏼‍♀️ I never know what is the right thing to do but I will do what you’ve said and pray it moves again! I’ve ordered some resistant tube things to start incorporating into my exercise aswell as I’ve heard that can help so fingers crossed. Thankyou for your help.

it's really trial and error. So many things can affect your calorie requirement. The tube idea might be good....strength training supposedly boosts your metabolism a bit because it builds muscle - and muscle requires more calories to function than fat does...

[New&Improved 1,780]

Hello I'm from Australia also.

But I'm male and in 8 months I have lost 70kgs but I've been very low calories and very strict for the most part.

I'm now in maintenance at that calorie range so in my mind you'll need less calories to lose weight....

I was on max 750 cal up until very recently and I was losing very fast..

I'm now at maybe 1500 a day and stable weight.