Counting Calories - Help

justme2u · 01-08-2009, 12:47 PM

Ok. I am 4 weeks post op, lost 18lbs with the pre-op diet up to now. But for the last week and a half I have not dropped a pound. Not gained anything either, which is good. I know I am in what everyone calls Bandster hell but I still have 8 more weeks till my first fill. Up to now, I have not been eating much, so didn't think I needed to count my calories; however, after this standstill decided I would give it a try. I had no idea where to begin. I found this really neat site www.thedailyplate.com and it counts everything for you. It is the easies thing I have found to help me. It tracks your water consuption, exercise and for me, most importantly calories and protien. Thought I would share. By the way, I swear my nutritionist said I should only have 1000 calories a day. Doesn't this sound really low. I mean, I have no restriction so am going at it alone on this and I'm thinking if that is all i had, then I could have done this on my own without surgery. course I wouldn't have the hope of fills coming up to help me stick to it.

Shamrockgirl60 · 01-08-2009, 03:13 PM

That does seem low and may put your body in starvation mode. I find 1200 is better for me. If I get into a platueau will do this trick my body a bit. Eat maybe 1500 for a few days then back down to 100-1200 for a few days. It sometimes works.

Right now in a real plateau and not going down much. I had a fill in December and need another one the end of Jan or early Feb.

It takes time......and patience to get through all of this but it's worth it.

janesays · 01-08-2009, 03:40 PM

different people need different amounts of calories a day. so glad you found the daily plate! i have been using it for about 8 months now almost daily (i only don't when i am out of town and find it harder to get to a computer and/or guesstimate calories in unique foods) and i swear by it. as the site shows you, you will need to consume lower and lower amounts of calories as you reach a lower weight to maintain your weight loss, unless you are exercising more as you lose weight (which you should). i find the daily plate helps keep me accountable for everything i put in my mouth.... i tend to forget the bad things i eat otherwise.
i actually just recently rewarded myself with --instead of food-- a gold membership on that site. i probably sound like i work for them or something but i just cannot say enough how much i LOVE that site! since my surgery 7 weeks ago, i have lost an average of 2 pounds a week, which is right on track to what my calorie goals are set at. it works so far! it breaks everything down to a science.

good luck!

TQUAD64 · 01-08-2009, 04:03 PM

I eat at least 1,200 calories with daily exercise and I track my food intake at Sparkpeople.com

flowers · 01-08-2009, 04:39 PM

I try and aim for around a average of 1200 too. Up the protein, you have to fuel that weight loss. Maybe your body is just catching up to the 18 lbs you lost really fast.

I joined sparks people and you can track food on there and your other goals. Its also free. Many places to track calories. Sparks people has everything in one place.