Why is it ok for WLS to have low cals, but not reg ppl?

geekpryncess

Just something I've been thinking about. My mom, my sister, and I have all struggle with our weight. My mom and my sister were close to 300 lbs each, and I have always hovered around 200. I am about 5 inches shorter than they are. Anyway, my sister has never really tried to lose weight the "right" way, she's always looked for a "quick fix"...pills, fad diets, etc. She started really talking about WLS and so my mom decided once and for all to take control and lose weight by controlling her calories, to show my sister by example, hoping that she wouldn't have the surgery. She has been very successful! She went from 275 and is now 135. However, my sister wasn't going to be swayed and went ahead and had the WLS last April and went from 300 down to about 140 now.

Now I'm suddenly the "big" one of the three of us, and I'm definitely trying to lose weight so we can all be healthy! I am envious of them but happy for them too. My mom and I both have lost weight before, the "hard" way, so we know what we have to do...just this time we have both resolved that we will just always be logging and accountable of our calories for the rest of our life.

So this is my thought though. My mom and I aim for about 1200 cals a day. It obviously worked for my mom, as she's lost 140 lbs total! It worked for me before as well. My sister, due to her WLS, only eats about 500-700 cals a day. She lost over half her weight in less than 9 months!

I just look at her and get so frustrated. Not at her specifically, but I mean all WLS is surgically reducing your stomach so you physically CAN'T overeat, right? So as a result people end up eating ridiculously low calories, which obviously is causing a huge deficit and they drop the weight ridiculously fast. So why can't a normal person have a low daily calorie intake? To be clear, I have no desire to eat that few calories, I love food. I just have been wondering about this. It just doesn't seem fair. Obviously my mom and I really didn't want my sister to have the WLS because we were worried about the side effects, infections, etc. My sister doesn't exercise, she still doesn't even eat super healthy things, but she's skinny now. I'm eating more veggies in the past couple months than I think I have in my whole life, and I'm working out and just not dropping weight very fast. I'm slightly frustrated.

Firefox7275

Anyone who has weight loss surgery should be being carefully monitored, taking supplements and IS at risk of the side effects of eating a very low calorie diet such as nutrient deficiencies, loose skin, muscle wastage, immune suppression and so on. It's considered by many in the medical profession to be the lesser of two evils, it's not healthy to eat like that but it's less unhealthy than being morbidly obese and climbing until you get irreversible health problems or simply die.

Really what your sister is doing is much the same effect on the body as a 'mild' famine or an eating disorder, neither are truly desirable or lead to optimum health.

Laurend224

Your sister has altered her body with surgery, she's incapable of processing food in a normal way, and there are a whole host of issues she'll have to deal with for the rest of her life because of that. She'd probably get very ill if she ate what you did!

That's awsome about your mom though.

mockchoc

OP can I fill you in on a little secret? I'm not a young lady and I've been on TONS of different diets including Weight Watchers, shakes and all thosse stoopid ones where you just eat this and that for this many days etc etc... with ALL of them I ate too little which is why for the last 35 years I have yo-yo dieted.

Now what I learned from some very cleaver people on here is that it is the WRONG way to do it and you can actually lose weight without all the suffering involved with the other ways. What you do is eat at a deficit just like the rest but you don't eat as large a defict. So that means instead of eating only 800,1000,1200 or whatever little calories I did in the past this time I eat anywhere from 1400-2000 a day and still lose! It makes life so much more enjoyable when you get to not be starving or feeling like you are going without all your favouite things. Once you are close to goal then eat 10% less then you are at maintenance so eat all the calories! You may or maynot lose as fast as the other ways but you are going to lose less muscle (remember your heart is muscle too!) and you are way less likely to get stuck on a plateau.

Work out what your TDEE is and depending on how much weight you have to lose take off 15-20% then eat that. It works and it's something you can you can easily stick to. Good luck!

geekpryncess

I don't go for all those fad things either, I know it's just a simple scientific fact - eat less than you burn = lose weight. Try to eat whole unprocessed foods, etc. Find foods and recipes that are sustainable and not some gimmick.

I do have to say, that although my sister is skinny now, it has aged her 10 years! She is 32 but looks 40ish now. Her skin and hair is so dull and she used to have super thick shiny hair, but now she's lost so much hair and it's so thin. I hope her body adjusts and all, but I can def see the nutrition issues she has. Of course she doesn't see any of it, she is just happy to be skinny. I am glad she's not obese any more, but I wish she hadn't gone this route. Her skin is saggy...not just the obvious places like her arms/belly, that's normal with a large weight loss, but like under her eyes..she didn't have wrinkles before, now she does.

Even though I envy her size, I'd rather be my size and healthy. Slow and steady will still win!

aliciab307

I don't go for all those fad things either, I know it's just a simple scientific fact - eat less than you burn = lose weight. Try to eat whole unprocessed foods, etc. Find foods and recipes that are sustainable and not some gimmick.

I do have to say, that although my sister is skinny now, it has aged her 10 years! She is 32 but looks 40ish now. Her skin and hair is so dull and she used to have super thick shiny hair, but now she's lost so much hair and it's so thin. I hope her body adjusts and all, but I can def see the nutrition issues she has. Of course she doesn't see any of it, she is just happy to be skinny. I am glad she's not obese any more, but I wish she hadn't gone this route. Her skin is saggy...not just the obvious places like her arms/belly, that's normal with a large weight loss, but like under her eyes..she didn't have wrinkles before, now she does.

Even though I envy her size, I'd rather be my size and healthy. Slow and steady will still win!

That's good for you! slow and steady for sure because you will learn healthy habits and make a lifestyle change. This will become second hand nature to you, you'll be amazed at your transformation. I have to say though, I looked at your diary and your goal is set to 1250, that's too low and its probably a reason why you're weight loss may not be as efficient as it can be. Not sure of your current height or weight, age, but if you're still about 200+ 1200 calories is not enough. It's most likely under your BMR, which isn't recommended. And if you exercise or are somewhat active, you're most likely ruining your metabolism. plug in your #'s here and be honest about the activity level.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

If you're close to your goal and MFP is set to lose 2lbs/week it should be set to at least 0.5-1 lbs.

ETA: plugged in your stats from your profile with 1-3 hrs/week of light activity and you need at least 1700 calories

ngory07

Can I ask what kind of WLS she had? I had the sleeve. My understanding and experience is this. At FIRST I had to stay under 1000 calories. The first 9 months. Particularly because we can't eat as much and protein is something that we very much need and fills us up. The problem with that is protein doesn't offer a whole lot of calories. I am 2 yrs out and I eat 1330 calories a day and I know I've gotten in way more than that befor! If she is over a year out 800 calories is soooo unhealthy. I started at 304. So yes it was not as bad to eat under 1000 calories. If I were to try that now I would faint!