New to counting calories and mfp and need help

lyonsdesign

I've had the gastric sleeve done and initially lost about 70 pounds by changing diet only and mostly focused on getting enough protein, veggies and water in. I plateaued and had been there for quite awhile.

Right after Christmas I cut out any extra junk/sugar and focused on eating healthy whole food. I also started back at the gym and have been regularly going 5x/week. Problem is I've lose 1 pound all month!! I started using MFP about 2 weeks ago and started eating more (still good foods) to make up what it said I needed in calories. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. This is saying my calorie goal on a regular day is 1240, then on days i work out I'm burning ex. 500 calories..so my "goal" would be 1740. But I've been reading otgr sites and people are saying post surgery their calorie goal is 500-800 calories??? Sooo should I really be keeping say a 1200 goal then burn off 600 calories with a hard workout to be at a 600 calorie goal?? Then not eat any more than that for rest of the day?

I know I over think things but I'm so depressed about working so hard this month and feeling like it was all the wrong thing. Yes I know it did have benefits BUT if there is absolutely no weight loss how am I ever going to get anywhere?

Please help! (I am going to be making a Dr appt too) thank you:)

stroynaya

MFP is not personal to your situation and isn't designed for WLS patients so while its still a great tracking tool, its advice is not going to account for your situation. You should probably consult a nutritionist to get back on track with what is right for you at this point in time. My WLS doc has nuts on staff, but if yours doesn't have one on staff, I am sure they could at least give you a referral.

mfpdevotee

good going on the 70! you can customize it to reflect your calorie goals. i'd sync back with your doc and see what they say....

and if your goal now is 1300 calories and you exercise, you're not supposed to "eat" back your exercise calories in order to create a deficit and lose weight!

i think the confusion might be because folks are at different stages and everyone kind of has their own program, some a similar but every patient and doc is different.. in my program for now (sleeved dec 16, 2014) i'm supposed to be on 600 cals:
50-70 grams of protein
25-50 grams of carbs
25-50 grams of fat

which breaks down to:
Three 2 oz meals (150 calories each).. and a 150 cal protein drink!

that's just my program and they all vary.. but check with your doc and let us know how it goes... the folks on here are amazing and caring.. never seen anything like it!

2BeHappy2

Its your on preference on eating back your cals!
Some people say eat 1/2 while others say, if your hungry to dip into your "bank" or exercise cals...do what works for you because we're all made up different!
What 1 chooses to do is not a complete reflection on what someone else chooses to do

Hildabean

I Never eat my exercise calories they are never accurate. That's what I do. Good luck

ac7nj

lyonsdesign wrote: »

I've had the gastric sleeve done and initially lost about 70 pounds by changing diet only and mostly focused on getting enough protein, veggies and water in. I plateaued and had been there for quite awhile.

Right after Christmas I cut out any extra junk/sugar and focused on eating healthy whole food. I also started back at the gym and have been regularly going 5x/week. Problem is I've lose 1 pound all month!! I started using MFP about 2 weeks ago and started eating more (still good foods) to make up what it said I needed in calories. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. This is saying my calorie goal on a regular day is 1240, then on days i work out I'm burning ex. 500 calories..so my "goal" would be 1740. But I've been reading otgr sites and people are saying post surgery their calorie goal is 500-800 calories??? Sooo should I really be keeping say a 1200 goal then burn off 600 calories with a hard workout to be at a 600 calorie goal?? Then not eat any more than that for rest of the day?

I know I over think things but I'm so depressed about working so hard this month and feeling like it was all the wrong thing. Yes I know it did have benefits BUT if there is absolutely no weight loss how am I ever going to get anywhere?

Please help! (I am going to be making a Dr appt too) thank you:)

Ok what surgery did you have? How long ago? What is your activity level sedentary, moderately active, very active? How much weight loss are you looking for?

Take your current weight and multiply it by 0.3 the results are your protein needs. MFP has calculation for protein, carbohydrates, cholesterol (fats) set your protein needs and adjust the results to be 100%

The calories you need to have are based on the answers to the questions above.

Exercise start with 30 minutes of cardio two days a week. Then add strength training 3 days a week.

Your goal is to develop enough muscle mass to manage your weight. Actual number of calories you end up with will be unique to your body.

There are several ways to get here WLS provides a good start but won't completely solve the problem. It takes diet choices enough activity and hard work.