Dr. Wants Very Lo-Cal diet forever

[Cadets71 1]

I know from reading these forums and threads that there is a huge difference in the approach surgeons take towards food progressions post-surgery. Some people don't move to real food for months, others are there in two weeks or less.

My Dr. is conservative, so there were 2 weeks on liquids (clear to full), then 2 weeksd on pureed, then soft foods until the end of month three. I am fine with all of that.

My concern is that once we are on real food, he wants to limit our calorie intake to 700-800 cals per day. I am a little troubled by this because it seems so stringent and not within all the dietary guidelines I have read.

Anyone else have this type of diet restriction? Thanks for your input!

[Kalipso2 25]

i just talked to my dietician this past week because i was afraid i wasn't eating enough. i have a slimfast at 8am, string cheese at 12pm, slimfast at 3:30pm and about 4 ounces of chicken around 7pm.

she said i'm getting the Protein i need so isn't overly concerned about the low calories. i'm not hungry and i feel good so it's working for me.

[coolcrystal 1]

Yeah, I don't care what those folks say. It's BS. And in fact, if you don't eat enough calories most of the time your body goes into starvation mode and you won't lose weight. I mean, that's practically being anorexic for goodness sake.

We didn't get this done to starve or survive on so few calories a day.

I normally eat about 1100 calories a day. And when I stop losing I eat something naughty like a nutter butter or some chips and bam, I'll drop a few pounds. Because my body says "oh, right you're not starving yourself, it's okay to lose now". If you've ever seen Biggest Loser even the trainers make them eat one bad meal a week to snap their system into shape and not go into this starvation mode.

When you reach good restriction you are really not that hungry, at least I'm not, so sometimes I have to remind myself to eat, but my diet consists of mostly salads, Soups.. tuna.. chicken.. veggies... and so forth..

I'm sure there will be somebody to come on here and say "oh you have to listen to your dr/dietician".. whatever... you will do yourself more harm than good by eating so few calories and there are some old school doctors who will really tell their patients this crap, its very sad.

Especially if you are working out.. your body needs fuel and it needs those calories.. and trust me, you don't want your body thinking its going to starve.. you want to talk about plateaus, you will plateau for weeks and not know why 'especially eating so few calories'.. I see it a lot on here "why am i not losing, i only eat 500 calories a day".. DUH.. eat something and maybe you'll lose.. this is what i want to say every time lol. Good luck.

[It's_Christine 0]

Mary,

Without a metabolic test that tell your MD that you need 800cals a day to maintain a healthy weight I would ask where this recommendation comes from.

I was at a medical weight loss center and knew someone who needed to eat only 700cals a day to lose weight according to her metabolic testing so I know it can happen. Also weight loss simply due to calorie restriction is not as healthy for you as weight loss due to calorie restriction and exercise. Is that figured into your surgeon's equation? I would continue to ask questions and consider getting a second opinion. Good luck

[jonsmom 0]

I am glad you brought this up. I feel like the diet I am on is way too restrictive. Especially after reading some of the other posts on this forum. I am only allowed to have 1/4 c. of food or 2oz. at a time. I am supposed to have this 6 times a day but I am always hungry. It never seems to be enough. I have not had a fill yet either. The dietician has me on the same diet as the gastric bypass patients and I think that is wrong since they have full restriction right away. I find myself cheating in the late afternoon/evening because I am so hungry. I am crazy? wrong? Is anyone else going through this? I am starting to worry about this.

[luluc 6]

i personally will Not lose weight unless my calories are over 1000 per day. if your working out - you HAVE to get more calories in to fuel yourself. as crystal mentions - every wk i allow for a treat, be that an extra snack/dessert - chips/queso - another glass of wine here or there...none of it halts the scale, in fact the opposite occurs.

and 3 months on a soft diet, seem excessively long before introducing solid food into your diet. my dr after the 4 wks post op diet wants his patients to eat be able to eat solid Protein & start encorporating balanced meals of complex carbs/fruits/veggies. i typically eat 3 meals a day plus one snack - avg meal consists of 1cup of food. this is a gauge, some days i eat more - some less. i think you have to play around with your meals (calories & quantity) to determine what will work for you & produce weight loss.

[Desdemona 48]

I'm with Christine on this. I notice that you are 59. I'm 56. I think things like age, metabolism, genetics, history, exercise, gender all play a role. My nutritionist said that as long as I was getting 40-60g of Protein I could go as low as I wanted on calories. I have also heard people say that they couldn't lose until they had more calories.

Another thought I had was -- your title indicates that the MD told you 700/800 forever but you didn't mention that in your message so I'm wondering about the details. My MD is also conservative and puts people on a very specific meal schedule for several months that restricts types and quantities of foods. When you add up the calories of what he tells us to eat it only comes out to about 700/800. It takes about a total of 5- 6 months after surg to get through his eating plan. It gradually increases to more food and calories and we eat pretty normal by the time we get through it. He says the purpose of it is not really about weight loss (although you do end up losing weight on it). He says it's to help the stomach heal. He puts stitches along the backside of the stomach where he created a flap to hold the band in place to help prevent slippage. Then he anchored the port into the muscle wall. The purpose of his method is to do everything he can to prevent future complications. Putting too much food -- or the wrong type of food into my stomach before everything heals well (which takes a long time) can cause slippage or hernias years down the road. Different surgeons use different surg approaches so they may give different after surg directions. So—my point is---talk to your MD or MDs nurse (a lot of times the nurses are easier to talk to and better at explaining). Find out, specifically, why he is saying you should have so little food----is it about losing weight or healing? Is it temporary or life-long. If he really means life long—why is he saying that? If it doesn’t make sense to you – consider other expert opinion. Good luck.

[mstrina27 0]

Yeah, I don't care what those folks say. It's BS. And in fact, if you don't eat enough calories most of the time your body goes into starvation mode and you won't lose weight. I mean, that's practically being anorexic for goodness sake.

We didn't get this done to starve or survive on so few calories a day.

I normally eat about 1100 calories a day. And when I stop losing I eat something naughty like a nutter butter or some chips and bam, I'll drop a few pounds. Because my body says "oh, right you're not starving yourself, it's okay to lose now". If you've ever seen Biggest Loser even the trainers make them eat one bad meal a week to snap their system into shape and not go into this starvation mode.

When you reach good restriction you are really not that hungry, at least I'm not, so sometimes I have to remind myself to eat, but my diet consists of mostly salads, soups.. tuna.. chicken.. veggies... and so forth..

I'm sure there will be somebody to come on here and say "oh you have to listen to your dr/dietician".. whatever... you will do yourself more harm than good by eating so few calories and there are some old school doctors who will really tell their patients this crap, its very sad.

Especially if you are working out.. your body needs fuel and it needs those calories.. and trust me, you don't want your body thinking its going to starve.. you want to talk about plateaus, you will plateau for weeks and not know why 'especially eating so few calories'.. I see it a lot on here "why am i not losing, i only eat 500 calories a day".. DUH.. eat something and maybe you'll lose.. this is what i want to say every time lol. Good luck.

You know with your response u not only nailed it but u drove that sucker thru the wood...lol.. U are so right on the money!!! The Dr. that told u that prob. never had a freekin weight issue in his life and hey if it works for some good.. but this is something that never worked for me and i wont do it.. call me going against Dr's order or whatever.. but I have talked to personal trainers and everything and they all suggest the same thing that Crystal said... so with information that u are given u have to tweek it for u... Thats just like when we read our horoscopes how in the hell could it go for all Capricorns??? Somethings may or may not apply some days and others it may be exact.... One thing i did also was to get a RMR done at the gym and it showed that my body burned 2600 calories by doing nothing.. so if i ate about 1100 calories and worked out and burned about 1000 calories i could loose about 3-4lbs in a week... so even if u eat more calories and u workout u will still loose bottom line...

[Joaquin 0]

If I was only eating 800 calories a day I would never loose weight either. My doctor told me to stay between 1000-1200 and that seems to work best for me.

[OH Juli 15]

I go with the second opinion suggestion.

Some folks do well on super low calories. Some folks do not. I'd ask many why kinds of questions from your doctor and don't stop until you feel certain of his logic.

Good luck

[Cadets71 1]

Hey Everyone! Thanks for your responses. The 700-800 calories is for after we go on a regular diet (4 months - forever). Right now I am at 500-600 calories. I have started to exercise and I am burning about 200 calories a day but that will increase as I step up the program. I will have the conversation with him, but he is a typical surgeon and doesn't like questions! In the end, I will probably just sort it out for myself. I am glad to know that this does seem a little restrictive! Thanks Again!!