Daily Nutritional Settings of Protein, Carbs,etc.

relentless2121

Hi Everyone
Since I've been on MFP these past few months I have been really confused about setting percentages of daily intake for calories, protein, carbs, sugar, sodium, fibre etc.
I have caught on to the high protein way of eating months before my surgery and find myself going overboard at times on protein. Is that a bad thing? Is that dangerous? I don't know.
I have made a conscious effort to lower starchy carbs as that was preventing weight loss the first few month till a member helped me understand that. I thought whole wheat or whole grain made carbs ok to eat. Little did I know that I was sabotaging my weight loss.
No wonder I couldn't drop any weight these past few years on other programs that I tried.
I really wish my dietician would have set up the figures on MFP for me. They told us from Day 1 at the orientation to join this site & start tracking daily. I've met with the Dietician 3 times but there is always so much to cover in an appointment that we don't get around to it. She does give me a guideline for protein but not the other readings.
I've tried altering the percentages of calories between the different readings but I seem to often exceed fat & protein & I don't know if that is ok.
I realize that we have all been told different things and our programs are slightly tweaked to what our programs tell us along with our individual preferences.
I recently just let the MPF ap reset all of the levels as I couldn't seem to get it right.
I'm trying to stay in the 1400 - 1600 daily calorie range.
I eat high protein/low fat & I know that my weaknesses are cheese, eggs, Green Yogurt & processed meats.
If any of my friends want to review my food diary and message me any suggestions I would really appreciate it.
Now that I've reduced my carbs so much I have no intention of increasing that level ( still need 1-2 servings of fruit daily to keep me regular).
Is it dangerous to eat too much protein pre-op? It's the only thing really satisfying thing.
I also enjoy cottage cheese and Greek Yogurt.
I am not knowledgeable about Atkins as some are on here so I haven't implemented that but I'm closer to it than I ever was.
I just can't imagine going back to full fat dairy products when I'm satisfied with 1% milk, low fat Greek Yogurt & no cream in my diet.
I realize that this topic can be quite controversial and my intention is not to start a debate.
We are all individuals and so are our programs.
I would appreciate any suggestions that anyone has. Please feel free to post here or private message me.
Please keep in mind that my surgery could be as late as December or January now that my pre-op has been delayed to Sept. 30 & there is a few month wait for surgery date here & only 3 Bariatric Surgeons.
Thanks everyone for your input & feedback. It is very much appreciated. My current weight is around 287 from 317. Thats 30 lbs. down. I 'm gonna wait till my pre-op appt to update my weight again.
Thanks everyone and have a great day.

bikrchk

First of all, congratulations on your progress! I gained weight pre-op! I'm not a professional, but 1400-1600 calories sounds high to me even for pre-op. Have a look at the BMR calculator on the Apps tab of MFP. Your BMR is the calories you'd need to maintain if you didn't move all day long. My estimated BMR is 1299 per day based on height, weight and age. What does your BMR number come out to? Balancing your macronutrients will help to a point and protein is IMPORTANT, don't get me wrong, but when it comes down to it, you need a calorie deficit to lose weight. You may want to revisit calories.

Ksh1055

I went to my 1st orientation meeting in 10/13 and had my surgery on 2/5/14. I wasn't put on any dietary restrictions or caloric intake level until 8 days prior to surgery. Then I had to use the products (New Direction) that my weight loss management team carries and they told me how many I needed a day to lose the 10 lbs required for surgery. I did, however, try and get in the habit of eating 5-6 small meals a day from 11/13 on, along with not drinking with meals (a lifetime habit).

Prior to my surgery my NUT gave me a packet of information on Eating Stages After Surgery that explained how many calories and a list of foods that could be eaten during each stage. They constantly focused on protein intake at that point. As I moved through the eating stages I asked my NUT if she would go in and manually set my caloric intake and the breakdowns for me so I knew they were correct goals for me.

Now at 7 months post op I'm able to have an intake of 1,000 calories but struggle with getting in enough carbs. Protein is never a problem for me. My information also stated that too much protein was just as bad as not nearly enough. My protein level as always been 70 since mid-January and at my 6-month post op it was increased to approximately 80. As others have said it all depends on your program requirements from your surgeon as I have also noticed a significant difference in everything from protein levels, daily calories to eating real food right away vs moving through the 6 stages of foods as I was instructed. We were constantly instructed on reading labels and what those lables mean. I find myself doing this all the time now and am getting much better at it all the time.

I believe you are benefitting greatly by beginning to get your mind and body used to eating the way you would post-surgery, just at higher levels now. My NUT says it's all in the balance. Too much of anything isn't good for you. It's the complex carbs that are not as good for you as others and I was given examples of those type of foods. I went to buy english muffins for the first time yesterday and found to my surprise that the multi-grain muffins weren't only higher in calories, they were also higher in sugar.

Your favorite foods have been the same as mine since the end of last year. I love my Greek Yogurt which I always freeze (sometimes I mix in fresh/frozen fruit), cottage cheese, cheese sticks, even got used to skim milk (I now buy Carbmaster only at Kroger stores as it's much lower in sugar) and eggs. I also have Six Star Whey Protein Isolate Series protein mix that gives me 30g's of protein/low sugar per serving on those days when I don't get enough protein in from food. Plus it tastes really good. Love the Decadent Chocolate. These are all my go-to foods.

In order to keep by breakdown goals in check I have found that I have to log my intended daily food into MFP at the beginning of each day, see where the totals end up and adjust accordingly. Otherwise I have a tendency to go way over on protein and not nearly enough carbs. Doing this would be easier for you as you've already made logging on MFP a daily routine part of your life. The hardest part is sticking to what you have logged or if making adjustments staying very close to your breakdown goals.

I hope this helps and I can already see you are doing a FANTASTIC job pre-op and know you'll be a SUCCESS post-op as it will come more natural to you than for some of us.

Karen

asia1967

As far as I know and have read regarding protein. It is stated that we should consume 1g/per lb body weight. After we have the surgery to get that amount of protein will be pretty hard without supplementing. Now there are comments that it had be hard on kidneys especially if the kidneys are weak or effected by a disease. Now this is what I have read, no expert or doctor as you well know.

The dietician has me on a 1200 -1500 calorie diet, however I am a good 20lbs heavier than you. I usually consume 1350 on easy cardio days and 1500 on hard workout days.

ATXHeather

I think I was on about 1500 calories a day during my 3 month supervised diet. That wasn't the "pre-op" diet but just an effort to lose weight during the insurance wait.

Right now, I have my calorie goal at 900 (I'm 6 weeks post-sleeve), my protein goal at 81, carbs at 93, fat at 26. I have never gone over the 900 (getting to 800 is a struggle) and I always aim for at least 70 grams of protein. My NUT said at least 70. I've never worried about going over and I did go over 81 grams when I was drinking a lot of protein shakes. I don't go over on carbs either and usually my carbs are lower than my protein (i.e. 50 grams of carbs v. 70 grams of protein.) I generally eat low-fat but not gross, fake low-fat. I buy fat free yogurt, fat free milk, etc. but I cook real meals with real food, which sometimes means butter, coconut milk, etc. Some days I may go over on fat but not very often. I've found that if I focus on getting in my protein, I really don't have to worry about carbs because there just isn't enough calories to go around. It was the same when I was on 1500 calories and trying for at least 100 grams of protein. Eating 100 grams of protein on 1500 calories doesn't leave a lot of room for carbs.

relentless2121

Thank you all for your replies. I appreciate your feedback very much. :flowerforyou:
My BMR right now is 1950 calories. My Dietician here in Canada is recommending for me to be 1400 - 1600 for now. I've been on a pre-op program since February and my surgery won't be till October - December or January now that my consult has been delayed 3 weeks. The next step from here will be the pre-op diet which will consist of 2-3 weeks of 5 Diabetic Boost Shakes per day and a cup or two of decaf coffee and sugar free sweetened non-carb drinks.
Thanks bikrchk for the question about the BMR as I figured out tonight how to determine what it is.
This topic has got me thinking though is too much protein a bad thing for your body, even pre-op. I also heard from someone else that it is hard on your kidneys. I don't know if that is true or not. It would be interesting to find out.