I think I need some help...

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oChristyo
oChristyo Posts: 61 Member
in Motivation and Support
About 3 weeks ago I had to get my gallbladder removed. Leading up to before that day I was a classic over eater. A yo yo dieter. I was up to a whopping 194.8! On my 5'5 frame, not looking so great. Ever since I had surgery I am having trouble eating. I am never hungry and actually forcing myself to eat. I have never in my life had this problem. Since March 27th I have not eaten over 850 calories a day. I cannot eat fat without feeling sick so it's been mainly a fruit veggie and lean chicken diet. Physically I feel great. I have a ton of energy that was all lacking from pre surgery I believe due to my donuts and other crap foods I would eat.

Here comes the problem though. I know what needs to be done to eat healthy and live a healthy life. I have been eating such low calorie days that I'm scared to eat over 900 calories a day for fear of gaining weight back. I have lost about 17 pounds since surgery and I'm not going to lie, it feels great. I do still need to lose 30 more though.

I don't know what I am expecting from writing this rant. I guess I just want to know if any one out there thinks I may be having a problem mentally or if anyone else has gone through this too. I would love some feedback.

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  • scrague
    scrague Posts: 11 Member
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    You have a good start to your goal, the hard way. You need to eat at least 1200 calories or your body may think you are starving it . I had mine taken out about three years ago. I sure didn't have your problem. Maybe you just need to eat small meals that equal up to 1200 a day. You wont gain but its enough to keep you moving in the right direction.
  • michybeans
    michybeans Posts: 106
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    Well I think you know the obvious answer that you do need to eat more calories... how much depends on height etc, but somewhere around AT LEAST 1300 - 1600 probably (again, depending on your activity and all that). However I do understand that recovering from surgery is tough and is clearly affecting your body. However your body needs fuel to heal too. Once you have recovered enough, I would suggest finding some exercise you like to do (whether it's jogging, yoga, a gym class, treadmill whatever you might like -try lots!) and sticking to eating good food and exercise at least a few times a week.

    Eating low calories for an extended amount of time only leads to weight stagnation, low energy and exhaustion over time. It can be hard knowing the right amount for you and it takes some experimenting. Best thing to do is SLOWLY increase calories - don't just go from 900 to 1500 in a day's time... get your body used to it, 900 one day, 950 the next, 1000 the next etc until you get to where you need to be. Once you get to a proper amount, you'll wonder how you ever survived on less!!

    After 4 months of not losing weight, I upped my calories from about 1300 to 1500 per day and the weight is coming off again AND more importantly, I feel so much better!! I can't even imagine only eating 1300 calories now... Small difference in numbers but makes a big difference to my mood. :) Good luck.
  • oChristyo
    oChristyo Posts: 61 Member
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    Thank you. I know that I should increase my calories and I will try to do it slowly. It's all a mental thing now. I just started to exercise too so now I'm trying to make sure I eat those back because my day ends up netting only 400 calories.

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