How many cals long-term?

[BarbaraG]

'Scuse me being nosey - but is there anyone here who is several years down the track and maintaining, able to say roughly how many cals they consume a day?

Cos I'm seeing posts by various post-op people, saying they are on 800, 1000, 1200 cals a day..... and I'm wondering whether that's the level they will be on for ever? Cos it doesn't seem enough calories to maintain a full-grown human being long-term.....

Barbara

 

[tracyt84]

althougth the calories dont seem a very lot thats all that is needed,most people take vitamin supplements after their surgerys so they are still healthy,good luck with ur decision xx

 

[angiemason]

and we all have to have high protein meals as tracy says the vitamins give us what we are lacking and we all have regular blood checks to make sure we aren't deficient in anything some people on here have had to up their intake because they were still losing after getting to goal weight but as far as i know they are all fine and well

 

[TwinkleTwinkle]

The different calorie amounts are mostly to do with what stage you are at post op. For my first few weeks I managed around 500 but now 5months post op have raised that to 1000 as per my dietician. People further out usually maintain at around 1400 to 1500 which to us seems a feast. Along with the supplement we all take, it is more than enough to maintain good health. xxx

 

[BarbaraG]

Wow.....

The only time I survived on anything remotely like that was in my early twenties, when I went on a low- fat low-cal diet of 1300-1400 cals per day, and started running, building up to 30 miles per week. (That was probably when I knackered my knees, LOL). I lost over 6 stone in 8 months....and I was hungry, and obsessed with food, the whole time. I guess if you've had an op, you don't feel hunger in the same way?

Still don't get how the thermodynamics work, though. Yer average adult woman needing close to 2,000 cals/day to maintain a steady weight, and all that. Are post-opers living in a permanent state of semi-starvation?

Barbara

 

[TwinkleTwinkle]

Wow.....

The only time I survived on anything remotely like that was in my early twenties, when I went on a low- fat low-cal diet of 1300-1400 cals per day, and started running, building up to 30 miles per week. (That was probably when I knackered my knees, LOL). I lost over 6 stone in 8 months....and I was hungry, and obsessed with food, the whole time. I guess if you've had an op, you don't feel hunger in the same way?

Still don't get how the thermodynamics work, though. Yer average adult woman needing close to 2,000 cals/day to maintain a steady weight, and all that. Are post-opers living in a permanent state of semi-starvation?

Barbara

Not at all I have not been hungry once since my op in October & the calories we consume can be increased if need be once goal is achieved. We still need to take in less calories & exercise to loose the weight but once you get to goal it will be trial & error to see what you need to maintain. We take in high protein foods first before anything else but due to the supplements we also have on a daily basis, the 2000 cals needed for a balanced diet in a pre op'er, is kind of mute. xxx

 

[Miss Tickle]

Newish research shows that once you've been overweight and lost it you will need less calories a day than someone who has never been overweight. This appears to be because our bodies learn to use calories more efficiently whilst we are losing weight, as it's'instinct' is to hold on to the fuel. This also accounts for why we put weight on so quickly after losing weight and 'yo-yo'

 

[Sharonimo]

Newish research shows that once you've been overweight and lost it you will need less calories a day than someone who has never been overweight.

Hi Barbara,

Here is a link to an article by a bariatric surgeon which partly explains this phenomenon:

Arya M. Sharma, MD: Fat Chance Rob Ford, Diets Don't Work

Thus, while restricting caloric intake to 1400 calories (or less) together with 60 minutes of daily exercise will let anyone lose weight -- keeping the weight off requires exactly that -- eating less than 1400 calories and committing to 60 minutes of daily exercise forever!

This is the reason why most diets fail. For *most* of us restricting our calories to an "abnormally" low amount and trying to combat hunger on a daily basis is often possible for SHORT periods of time (up to 6 months, sometimes even a year) ..... but maintaining the weight then lost and STILL having to stick to less than 1500 cals a day and regular exercise defeats 95% of all but the most dedicated dieters without the assistances of weight loss surgery.

Increase caloric intake to just 1500 calories or cut back to just 50 mins of exercise, even for a few days, and the weight comes back. The metabolism of a 300-pound individual, who has dieted himself down to 200 pounds will never be that of someone who has always been 200 pounds. While the former will forever struggle to survive on 1400 calories to keep the weight off, the latter can happily continue eating his daily 2400 calories while effortlessly maintaining his 200 pounds forever -- who said life is fair?

Dr Sharma has written many similar articles on his own blog (I will not repeat all links again) and I wrote a thread about this some months ago (if you use the "Search" facility in the green toolbar and use the "Advanced" option and search for "Threads started by" Sharonimo you should find it eventually! ...... towards the beginning of my posting history, one of my early threads -- titled something like "Science: why diets don't work and weight loss surgery does").

IN SHORT -- THE ADVANTAGES WLS HAS OVER REGULAR DIETS:

1. The drastic nature of surgery promotes a large weight loss in the first six months.

2. After a patient has reached goal weight WLS (whichever version -- band, sleeve or bypass) acts as a permanent appetite suppressant and control on the hunger valve that we all previously found so difficult to fight after previous weight loss attempts.

3. WLS also acts as a permanent "portion control" device, as none of us will ever be able to eat as large a plateful as we did before.

4. Weight loss surgery enables patients to survive on 1400 - 1500 calories a day without feeling hungry, and without feeling deprived. (For many post WLS people getting that many calories in takes some effort.)

In one of his many articles Dr Sharma (having surveyed his patients on their average eating habits) did come up with a figure, suggesting that the average post bariatric surgery patient does survive on only approx 1400 calories a day.

 

[BarbaraG]

Sharonimo,

Thanks ( I think)..... that explains it, but does rather suggest my current campaign is doomed to failure.

Lots to think about.....

Barbara

 

[Big an Bouncy]

The grehlin(hunger hormone)is reduced with the size of the stomach post surgery and you dont experience 'hunger'as we once knew it.I have not felt hungry for a year now,that and restriction keep me on the straight and narrow,literally!
We now eat up to 1400 on average calories per day of good quality food not crap so our bodies utilise it much better.

 

[Miss Tickle]

I think the quality of food is a very good point B&B. Even though today I crave bad things I don't shovel them in like I used to. I really think about the nutrition in my food and it has to be worth my while ( as a general rule lol) for me to make the effort to eat it. Such a change !

 

[BarbaraG]

Further to Sharonimo's info, I remembered an organisation called the National Weight Control Registry which I discovered a few years back. It's American, and it collects information about people who have successfully maintained significant weight losses.

The key paragraph for me is this:

"Successful maintainers of weight loss reported continued consumption of a low-energy and low-fat diet. Women in the registry reported eating an average of 1,306 kcal/day (24.3% of energy from fat); men reported consuming 1,685 kcal (23.5% of energy from fat). "

Full report here:

Persons successful at long-term weight - PubMed Mobile

Boo hoo! Looks like there are three choices: 1) stay fat; 2) perpetual hunger; 3) WLS.

Mind you, according to Dr Sharma, The typical WLS patient is still going to be overweight or obese when their weight stabilises.... but will still gain major health benefits.

Still thinking,
Barbara