6 weeks is this where I should be?

2»

Replies

  • francoisd90
    francoisd90 Posts: 19 Member
    At 600 calories/day, lack of energy is not surprising. Obviously it would be very diffcult to sustain nor would it be advisable for anybody just wishing to lose weight.

    However, like the OP said, it has been prescribed by a physician as pre surgery protocol.
    So, as long as it is closely monitored by your doctor, I see no reason to alter it for now.

    If you're having issues, please talk to your doctor about any changes in your diet before implementing them.

    Any nutritional advice from MFP members may be valid for people simply whishing to lose weight but not in the case of a medical issue.

    Good luck to you and I hope you get better !
  • BrianG8
    BrianG8 Posts: 2 Member
    I am on the same kind of diet right now. Don't worry your doing fine and don't fire your Dr.
    I'm 47 years old, 5'5" Started 119 days ago at 314 lbs.
    I have High Blood Pressure and Sleep Apnea. My legs go numb sometimes. Fun stuff.
    I took 1 Blood Pressure Pill and a Fluid Pill in the mornings and 1 BP Pill in the evenings.
    Me and my Dr. decided that a Gastric Bypass might be my only option right now. So this diet is prep.

    My meals for the last 119 days have all been at or below 1200 calories, mostly around 900 calories.
    Medically supervised as yours.
    I do have a few cheat days in there also. I love Pizza that's never going to change.
    My Macros on any given day are about like this: Protein 116g - Carbs 40g - Fat 38g - Cholesterol 240mg - Sodium 1965mg - Potassium 1850mg
    My Vitamins I max out because I am directed to take a Multi Vitamin and an additional 1000mcg of B12 for energy.

    The results after 119 days are like this.
    My Blood Pressure now stays in the normal range with only 1 pill in the morning and I only take half a fluid pill now.
    My weight is down to 259 lbs. That's a 54.8lb loss. And my sleep apnea is all so much better too.
    I feel good and have plenty of energy, I can now jog for 2 miles and my legs don't hurt.

    My Dr. now believes I don't need the Gastric Bypass and I can lose the rest of my weight on my own.
    I believe that too.

    So no. Don't fire your Doctor. Stay the course as directed and keep in close contact with your team. This isn't going to be the final diet your on the rest of your life. This is just your beginning. Will you have to watch what you eat the rest of your life? Absolutely.

    And to answer your original question. Yes, I believe you can up that fat a bit. :wink:

  • heatherandimran
    heatherandimran Posts: 26 Member
    BrianG8 wrote: »
    I am on the same kind of diet right now. Don't worry your doing fine and don't fire your Dr.
    I'm 47 years old, 5'5" Started 119 days ago at 314 lbs.
    I have High Blood Pressure and Sleep Apnea. My legs go numb sometimes. Fun stuff.
    I took 1 Blood Pressure Pill and a Fluid Pill in the mornings and 1 BP Pill in the evenings.
    Me and my Dr. decided that a Gastric Bypass might be my only option right now. So this diet is prep.

    My meals for the last 119 days have all been at or below 1200 calories, mostly around 900 calories.
    Medically supervised as yours.
    I do have a few cheat days in there also. I love Pizza that's never going to change.
    My Macros on any given day are about like this: Protein 116g - Carbs 40g - Fat 38g - Cholesterol 240mg - Sodium 1965mg - Potassium 1850mg
    My Vitamins I max out because I am directed to take a Multi Vitamin and an additional 1000mcg of B12 for energy.

    The results after 119 days are like this.
    My Blood Pressure now stays in the normal range with only 1 pill in the morning and I only take half a fluid pill now.
    My weight is down to 259 lbs. That's a 54.8lb loss. And my sleep apnea is all so much better too.
    I feel good and have plenty of energy, I can now jog for 2 miles and my legs don't hurt.

    My Dr. now believes I don't need the Gastric Bypass and I can lose the rest of my weight on my own.
    I believe that too.

    So no. Don't fire your Doctor. Stay the course as directed and keep in close contact with your team. This isn't going to be the final diet your on the rest of your life. This is just your beginning. Will you have to watch what you eat the rest of your life? Absolutely.

    And to answer your original question. Yes, I believe you can up that fat a bit. :wink:

    Thank you :)
  • kyrannosaurus
    kyrannosaurus Posts: 350 Member
    heatherandimran wrote: »
    usmcmp wrote: »
    If your doctor directed you to follow a very low calorie diet you need to ask them for advice. If my doctor told me to eat 650 calories I'd be finding a new doctor.

    This is a mandated program that you have to try before you would qualify for a surgical intervention. I'm trying to make the best of it and gain valuable insight from the knowledge members in this forum. My goal is to make this program work by modifying it. And in the end not have a surgical intervention. But thank you anyway.

    So if you plan on not having surgery, why are you following the pre-surgery diet?
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    BrianG8 wrote: »
    I am on the same kind of diet right now. Don't worry your doing fine and don't fire your Dr.
    I'm 47 years old, 5'5" Started 119 days ago at 314 lbs.
    I have High Blood Pressure and Sleep Apnea. My legs go numb sometimes. Fun stuff.
    I took 1 Blood Pressure Pill and a Fluid Pill in the mornings and 1 BP Pill in the evenings.
    Me and my Dr. decided that a Gastric Bypass might be my only option right now. So this diet is prep.

    My meals for the last 119 days have all been at or below 1200 calories, mostly around 900 calories.
    Medically supervised as yours.
    I do have a few cheat days in there also. I love Pizza that's never going to change.
    My Macros on any given day are about like this: Protein 116g - Carbs 40g - Fat 38g - Cholesterol 240mg - Sodium 1965mg - Potassium 1850mg
    My Vitamins I max out because I am directed to take a Multi Vitamin and an additional 1000mcg of B12 for energy.

    The results after 119 days are like this.
    My Blood Pressure now stays in the normal range with only 1 pill in the morning and I only take half a fluid pill now.
    My weight is down to 259 lbs. That's a 54.8lb loss. And my sleep apnea is all so much better too.
    I feel good and have plenty of energy, I can now jog for 2 miles and my legs don't hurt.

    My Dr. now believes I don't need the Gastric Bypass and I can lose the rest of my weight on my own.
    I believe that too.

    So no. Don't fire your Doctor. Stay the course as directed and keep in close contact with your team. This isn't going to be the final diet your on the rest of your life. This is just your beginning. Will you have to watch what you eat the rest of your life? Absolutely.

    And to answer your original question. Yes, I believe you can up that fat a bit. :wink:

    Awesome stuff! Very well done! Thanks for your story. Yep, keep going, you know you can do it!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited July 2015
    I would imagine you are close to the limit of length for even a medically supervised VLCD

    I think the amount of fat and protein you are consuming is worrisome in terms of saving your LBM...but medical supervision

    I would be asking doctor what next?

    Hopefully, once your medical conditions are ameliorated, you will move to a sane and maintainable eating plan which will see you continue to lose weight ...probably at least 3x the current calorie allowance...that is where you start to learn

    Good luck
  • jesseyboo
    jesseyboo Posts: 11 Member
    Low fat AND low cal??? Who told you to do that
  • SuseAndo26
    SuseAndo26 Posts: 54 Member
    600 calories a day!!! :dizzy: Holy cow!!! I'd be biting peoples heads off....and probably eating them as well.

    I can't believe you've already been doing this for so long! Absolutely amazing! I honestly don't know how yo
  • SuseAndo26
    SuseAndo26 Posts: 54 Member
    Sorry, the end got cut off.

    I honestly don't know how you can function properly?
  • SuseAndo26
    SuseAndo26 Posts: 54 Member
    Again, sorry, that wasn't helpful at all.

    I am only concerned that that amount of calorie intake is too low.

    I guess your doctor knows what he is doing and congratulations on doing so well for so long.

    Can you discuss with your doctor your concerns that you feel your calorie intake is too low and not sustainable and the possibility of upping your calorie intake slightly so you have more energy but still able to continue to lose weight safely and more able to stick with it?
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,240 Member
    Promoting VLCD's is against MFP rules.
    I have already been warned today for discussing one while trying to help someone make theirs less stupid.
    You are under doctor's orders. You should be discussing all changes to your diet with the doctor who prescribed it, not a random bunch of strangers on the internet who do not have your compete history in front of them!
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    You've proved that you're serious and able to stick to a diet and lost weight on your own. If you're able to continue and lose it all on your own I'd go back to the doctor armed with this site's recommendations and discuss the option of not having the surgery and upping your calories to the site's recommendations so you can lose it more sensibly maintaining a healthier eating plan (I'd up protein and carbs rather than just fats) in a way that will give you enough energy for exercise too. Isn't there are risk of gall bladder problems if you lose it too rapidly? Also, you're not learning how to eat to maintain loss with what you are doing but of course I don't want to cross medical advice if they consider this the only way to help you. Good luck with everything x
  • RNChristie33
    RNChristie33 Posts: 144 Member
    OP - don't have anything particularly helpful to say, just kudos for handling a thread that could have totally derailed and gotten really nasty with patience and good grace. :)
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    heatherandimran wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Holy low calorie and that fat...ouch.

    OP, is there a medical reason you need to get weight off quickly? Regardless...this is not good.

    It's a medically supervised program before you would have a surgical procedure for weight loss. I'm trying to modify it since I have to do it and eliminate anything else later.

    It sounds like you're following a pre-bariatric diet like this: http://www.dbh.nhs.uk/Library/Patient_Information_Leaflets/WPR32630 Bariatric Leaflet Pre-op.pdf

    As noted in the above, the low fat intake is designed to decrease the size of the liver immediately prior to surgery, for two weeks only and should not be followed by anyone else. If this is what your doctor has recommended for losing a lot of weight, as others have already stated, you should be finding a new doctor.
  • ohmscheeks
    ohmscheeks Posts: 840 Member
    edited July 2015
    This is an internet forum. Again, this is an internet forum. The only importance, or authority, these posts have is in this particular internet forum. If you don't know by now, you will not get a constructive answer as the words "600 calories a day" spark the mob. They won't blink an eye if you mention cutting open your abdomen and rearranging your insides. But, under-eating, whoooaaa, lmao!

    Talk to your doctor. If you don't like that doctor, talk to another one. And kudos for trying to avoid surgery.
  • Krystle1984
    Krystle1984 Posts: 146 Member
    emeliasmith wrote: »
    Go up to at minimum 1200 calories so your body will not use your muscles as fuel only your fat and add in the olive and coconut oils. Being on that low calorie of a diet can actually trash your metabolism and eventually you will go into starvation mode and stop losing. Doctor's are not actually taught healthy nutrition anymore so I would say do your homework on your own. Most important I would say eat CLEAN. No artificial anything, if it has over 5 ingredients put it back. Eat a (natural!) rainbow of colors, natural or better yet organic/grass fed meats. What many people don't know is that while some "food" is low calorie it is not healthy and the chemicals they are adding in to make it taste "good" are killing brain cells (excitotoxins like aspartame in diet soda) and making you crave more food (MSG!). Eat real food. From plants and animals not factories. If you already do, then yay you!

    If you are able, exercise! If you really want to net under 1000 calories a day burn them with activity and don't starve. Without eating enough basic nutrients you will be in worse health than when you were overweight. No matter how thin you are, if your organs shut down you won't be enjoying it for long.

    Ignore all of this...
  • amayitux
    amayitux Posts: 68 Member
    edited July 2015
    heatherandimran wrote: »
    It's a medically supervised program before you would have a surgical procedure for weight loss.

    Ask your doctor. Why on earth are you changing your meal plan behind his back?
    Do what your doctor tells you, the internet is not the place to get advice for your situation or conditions.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
    jesseyboo wrote: »
    Low fat AND low cal??? Who told you to do that

    I don't know her doctor's name, but it's a fairly common pre-surgery protocol because of the diet you have to follow post-lap band surgery. (I do billing for a comprehensive weight loss clinic and I know this because the insurance companies monitor patient compliance pre-and post-op.)

Categories