If it's as simple as calories in vs calories out....

1246

Replies

  • Shananigans_
    Shananigans_ Posts: 785 Member
    It is that simple, it's putting it into action that is the difficult part.
  • catecholamine
    catecholamine Posts: 71 Member
    Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe I read that the reason why the OP had this surgery was to cure her diabetes?!?!?! And that it has been cured?!?!?! While I do not have diabetes, I do have family members who do so I found this very interesting.

    SO, I googled "is there a cure for diabetes", and I got "About 18,300,000 results (0.46 secnds)" that says otherwise....got news for you, OP.... NOT only are you now suffering the consequences of this surgery, but YOU STILL HAVE DIABETES. Nice....

    Don't know who led you to believe this surgery was a cure for diabetes... must have been the surgeon who knows nothing about nutrition... or the nutritionist who knows nothing about the surgery, because obviously neither of them knows anything.

    As for your argument about weightloss not being as simple as calories in vs calories out... in your situation, it could very well be the case. I don't know anything about this surgery, nor do I care to know since it is not an option in my life. However, IF this was something I would have ever contemplated, I would have most definitely found out the repurcussions of messing with my body before I set out to have anything rerouted in my body...When you make the decision for an invasive ELECTIVE surgery, you pay the consequences. I say "elective" because you did admit that you were able to lose weight in the past. It's all about behavior modification.... no surgery in the world will keep the weight off if you don't learn to make permanent changes in your eating behaviors...

    ....and you still have diabetes
    Google Duodenal Switch diabetes. They're actually doing the intestines portion of the DS on non-obese people to cure diabetes in other countries. I know someone personally who got it just to cure diabetes. And guess what? My a1c is now perfectly normal. My fasting sugars are perfectly normal. I'm not on a single diabetes medication.
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  • catecholamine
    catecholamine Posts: 71 Member
    OMG

    ok enjoy your macdonalds

    see you in 5-8 years whaen you are wondering why the weight came back on
    Yeah, right. Google it. Go to dsfacts.com and read up if you don't believe me. FYI I've lost 70lbs in 4 1/2 months. So...I must be doing something right. Tried low fat. Lost no weight, hair fell out, skin went dry and started breaking out, was nauseated all the time. Bumped fat up, started losing weight again, and my hair stopped falling out and skin issues resolved.


    If this is the way you have to eat for the rest of your life it's time to start educating yourself on good fats. Just because you're on a high fat diet doesn't mean you should be eating cheaply produced, crappy burgers.

    Thank you for saying it better than I could, he healthier option would be cooking real meats at home with lower sodium content and healthy oils

    NOT fast/processed garbage

    these things add up
    Actually, last time I was tested, my sodium was low and I was told to increase my sodium.
  • _KitKat_
    _KitKat_ Posts: 1,066 Member
    The malnutrition ie: hair falling out, dry skin, brittle nails/hair has everything to do with your preferred sources of protein and fat. As long as your other supplements are in line.

    Good Fats:
    Avacado
    Olive Oil
    Nuts

    These are also high calorie.

    Protein:
    Eggs
    Protein shakes
    Peanut butter
    Almonds
    Lean meats
    Many more...

    These are healthy proteins.

    Honestly if you wanted to keep eating junk, then a surgery was not the answer. Keeping all my parts, I can eat the junk watch my calories and still lose weight. For you, because of the operation...your food needs to be balanced and full of nutrients and calories. Unfortunately now fitting in empty calories for you, hurts your needed macros, It sounds like you were searching for a weight loss plan that took the work out, you found the cure was worse than the disease.

    I am not saying WLS is easy, just it seem the OP seems to have had that hope.
  • liloldDee
    liloldDee Posts: 92 Member
    OMG

    ok enjoy your macdonalds

    see you in 5-8 years whaen you are wondering why the weight came back on
    Yeah, right. Google it. Go to dsfacts.com and read up if you don't believe me. FYI I've lost 70lbs in 4 1/2 months. So...I must be doing something right. Tried low fat. Lost no weight, hair fell out, skin went dry and started breaking out, was nauseated all the time. Bumped fat up, started losing weight again, and my hair stopped falling out and skin issues resolved.


    If this is the way you have to eat for the rest of your life it's time to start educating yourself on good fats. Just because you're on a high fat diet doesn't mean you should be eating cheaply produced, crappy burgers.
    Those are days I was on the road/out and busy and had to eat. I mostly prepare food at home. Saturated fats are not evil. Trans fats are bad, yes, but saturated? No. I can eat butter en masse if I want to get my fat up - in fact, butter and heavy whipping cream are supposed to be staples.


    This is my last word on the subject, firstly just so you know I do wish you all the best I hope for you this will be the success you were so desperate for that you resorted to drastic measures that are from the sounds of it permanent.

    You're 4 months post op, and your making excuses about been on the road. Your body is already at a huge disadvantage as it can't ever again tolerate many healthy foods that would not only provide it with fuel and energy but also required nutrients. No offence but you've almost bragged about eating fast food and said very little about preparing home made healthy food and that it's the mainstay of your eating plan. You've resorted to desperate measures, it's now time to be kind to your body and treat it with respect, you've a lot of clawing back to do in order to try and reverse the damage already imposed. Your surgery was a get out of jail free card, I doubt there's too many more of them left in the deck.
  • catecholamine
    catecholamine Posts: 71 Member
    Yawn. Saturated fats are not bad. Considering everyone in the DS community has told me on multiple occasions that I need to eat LESS lean meats and more fatty meats, more butter, more hwc, even suggested coffee with butter/coconut oil in it. But I don't like coffee. I have trouble getting the 150g a day in, and almost never make it, but I usually get close enough.
    Burgers without buns are perfectly acceptable.
    I keep my carbs low, my protein high, and my fat high. And that means I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
    Meats and fat sources will be my primary food for the rest of my life. Vegetables are only for when I've met my protein for the day.
    I take vitamins.
    What's healthy for you is not healthy for me any longer.
  • Eleonora91
    Eleonora91 Posts: 688 Member
    While I do agree on the fact that you could still find better fats and protein sources, I also agree on the fact that sometimes weightloss isn't so easy to understand - especially because it's not linear. You didn't specify when did you gain this weight (or I didn't find it out), so as other people have already said, that might be water weight. Also, you got surgery... I don't think I can compare your weightloss to mine since I'm basically healthy, never suffered from diabetes, never relied on surgery or pills or stuff like that. So, if I keep being on a real deficit, I will lose weight on the long term. Unless there's something we don't know about your surgery, you're either not on a deficit or you haven't been waiting long enough. Honestly I'd rather talk to a doctor than asking for help online if I was gaining on 900 kcals a day... and if your doctor doesn't know about it, I'd find another one.
  • catecholamine
    catecholamine Posts: 71 Member
    Oh yea almost forgot to add in to my previous post you frequenting Wendy's and KFC along with Taco Bell and McDonalds. Congratulations on being the first person to ever have surgery like this and now have a diet of all fast foods and not be able to eat veggies because veggies is to much food.
    You'd crap bricks if you saw the food diary of a DS'er that's a year out.
    Many get more than 4,000 calories a day, all fat and protein.
    Even the nutritionist told me to limit veggies.
    I need 120g protein a day and that is priority number 1.
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  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
    Oh yea almost forgot to add in to my previous post you frequenting Wendy's and KFC along with Taco Bell and McDonalds. Congratulations on being the first person to ever have surgery like this and now have a diet of all fast foods and not be able to eat veggies because veggies is to much food.
    You'd crap bricks if you saw the food diary of a DS'er that's a year out.
    Many get more than 4,000 calories a day, all fat and protein.
    Even the nutritionist told me to limit veggies.
    I need 120g protein a day and that is priority number 1.

    Having read through the thread I do have one question, are we talking about the same nutritionist that you consistently say knows nothing about DS and its requirements?
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  • tedrickp
    tedrickp Posts: 1,229 Member
    I did some reading since I had never heard of this type of WLS - and wow - that's intense.

    I wouldn't feel confident lending advice in this situation at all.

    I know most of the people responding are well meaning, and the OP hasn't been the most tactful in her communication so it is easy to jump on her - but damn, that is a complicated surgery with outcomes (i.e. the malabsorptions of calories/nutrients) that I have never even heard of.

    IMO OP you should stick to DS forums or professionals, because I think this subject is pretty advanced for the laymen to understand.

    This thread is also a good illustration of why I was way way way too scared to consider WLS. I don't challenge anyones decision to do it, if it works for them go for it, but the way this changes how the body works personally terrifies me.
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  • mactaffy84
    mactaffy84 Posts: 398 Member
    Oh yea almost forgot to add in to my previous post you frequenting Wendy's and KFC along with Taco Bell and McDonalds. Congratulations on being the first person to ever have surgery like this and now have a diet of all fast foods and not be able to eat veggies because veggies is to much food.
    You'd crap bricks if you saw the food diary of a DS'er that's a year out.
    Many get more than 4,000 calories a day, all fat and protein.
    Even the nutritionist told me to limit veggies.
    I need 120g protein a day and that is priority number 1.

    Having read through the thread I do have one question, are we talking about the same nutritionist that you consistently say knows nothing about DS and its requirements?

    I was wondering the exact same thing!
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe I read that the reason why the OP had this surgery was to cure her diabetes?!?!?! And that it has been cured?!?!?! While I do not have diabetes, I do have family members who do so I found this very interesting.

    SO, I googled "is there a cure for diabetes", and I got "About 18,300,000 results (0.46 secnds)" that says otherwise....got news for you, OP.... NOT only are you now suffering the consequences of this surgery, but YOU STILL HAVE DIABETES. Nice....

    Don't know who led you to believe this surgery was a cure for diabetes... must have been the surgeon who knows nothing about nutrition... or the nutritionist who knows nothing about the surgery, because obviously neither of them knows anything.

    As for your argument about weightloss not being as simple as calories in vs calories out... in your situation, it could very well be the case. I don't know anything about this surgery, nor do I care to know since it is not an option in my life. However, IF this was something I would have ever contemplated, I would have most definitely found out the repurcussions of messing with my body before I set out to have anything rerouted in my body...When you make the decision for an invasive ELECTIVE surgery, you pay the consequences. I say "elective" because you did admit that you were able to lose weight in the past. It's all about behavior modification.... no surgery in the world will keep the weight off if you don't learn to make permanent changes in your eating behaviors...

    ....and you still have diabetes
    Google Duodenal Switch diabetes. They're actually doing the intestines portion of the DS on non-obese people to cure diabetes in other countries. I know someone personally who got it just to cure diabetes. And guess what? My a1c is now perfectly normal. My fasting sugars are perfectly normal. I'm not on a single diabetes medication.

    There is No Cure for Diabetes.... Once a Diabetic Always a Diabetic... You work to control the disease to the point that it can go into remission but make no mistake if you don't do your due diligence for the rest of your life it can and most likely will rear its ugly head again somewhere down the road....
  • Onderwoman
    Onderwoman Posts: 130
    It takes more than a day or two.
    I should explain-- I'm guessing since one calorie level (945?) and one gain (one lb.) was mentioned, we were talking one or maybe two days. The body is not that predictable.

    I agree with asking your doctor.

    This part here sounds like a dream situation, and am surprised someone with this 'problem' would choose WLS: "This is the regular thing for me - eat less than 1,600, I gain or don't lose. Eat more, I lose."

    Doesn't that solve your problem then? Just eat more than 1,600 and you lose?
  • Everburg16
    Everburg16 Posts: 101
    I definitely understand. For years, I barely ate, and what I did eat was fruits, veggies like potatoes, corn, baby carrots, pasta, bread, etc. I was logging in MFP, weighing everything, and it was yelling at me everyday for not eating enough. 900-1000 cal max. I would forget to eat, or simply wouldn't be hungry, and yet I still gained about 10 lbs a year.

    I found out about 6 months ago that I have insulin resistance, and that changed everything. Looking back at my logs, I realized I was eating a lot of carbs, so I switched it around to eat a lot of protein and fat and under 100 carbs, and that has been working for me. So now I am eating around 2500 cals a day and losing. That blows my mind - eating WAY more than I used to, actually eating 3 meals, and losing. Crazy.

    My situation is different because I have a syndrome, but it is at least one explanation.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Because your calories in can actually effect and change your calories out. Besides diseased body.

    And all the calculators and Fitbit's go out the window for any decent estimate at that point.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251

    Not to the point you'd stop losing, but easily to the point your eating level must be so low to lose, you don't adhere to the diet, and everything in surplus is fat.
  • allotmentgardener
    allotmentgardener Posts: 248 Member
    I don't know anything about weightloss surgery but to go to your point of not losing on a low calorie intake. Does your food contain a lot of sodium? Sodium seems to be one macro you are not tracking, it might be worth checking that out.
    A lot of sodium will make you bloated and retain water, I would say drink plenty of water but not sure if thats relevent in your case - like I said, no knowledge of weightloss surgery.
    Sorry to hear you are having a stressful time after your surgery. How long ago was it? Your body may still be adapting to the changes and retaining fluid.
    I wish you all the best.
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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Is the OP really claiming to be not losing on 945? I read the following as a clarification:
    No one debated a calorie = a calorie. Only that I frequently eat way below my BMR and do not lose or lose very slow. I ate 900 calories a day for a month. Lost 10lbs. Ate 1,500-2,000 for a month with no change in exercise. Lost 17lbs.
    I've lost 70lbs.

    The OP also explained that the 900 calories were in the first post-op month and the higher calories more recently. Not sure if this is a debate with her (or his?) nutritionist, who is saying to eat fewer calories or what, but this really doesn't seem to apply to typical calorie counting.

    First, losing 10 lbs in a month is hardly not losing or super slow. Maybe it's not what's expected after WLS--although the stats above about losing all the weight in the following year make me question even that--and without WLS it's pretty good. It's the most rapid loss I've achieved, and I considered it quite quick--slightly over the 2 lbs/week I was aiming for. Second, that the rate of loss might be less immediately after surgery seems quite unsurprising to me, although I'm not a doctor, so don't have the list of reasons why it might be. Seems a huge stretch to go to calories in vs. calories out not working somehow. That surgery might affect calories out plus there being special issues relating to the effects of the surgery on the digestive system seems quite possible and again not really an argument as the OP seemed to be making initially.

    As for the 1500-2000, I have no idea if that's safe, and would be inclined to listen to medical professionals in this situation, but at the stated BMI (even after a loss of 50 lbs), that's probably still a large deficit, especially if only a portion is being absorbed, so 17 lbs, while extremely fast, seems hardly a violation of the law of physics or some evidence that eating more typically causes more weight loss, all else equal. (Obviously there are many other reasons to avoid VLCDs or an overly large deficit, although we can all debate what an overly large deficit is under particular specifics.)
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    So what lessons have you learned from allowing yourself to get up to a bmi of 63 then resorting to WLS because you found losing weight to hard?

    I don't care how much you dislike the person, I don't think this is the place for shaming anyone for getting fat and then choosing WLS. Or maybe it is. A very large subset here seems to think their way is the only way and is the right way for everyone, no exceptions. It's very narrow minded and self-congratulatory.
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  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    So you mean to tell me you got WLS to "cure" Diabetes? LOL. That's a bit ridiculous if you ask me.

    It's called Metformin, a HEALTHY diet, exercise, and eating at a caloric deficit. No WLS necessarily to "cure" Diabetes, which by the way, is not possible.

    I guarantee you were eating McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell prior to WLS which is how you ended up with a BMI of 63 in the first place. So when you say you've made "major lifestyle changes", no you actually haven't.

    You wonder why you aren't losing weight… well it's simple, you haven't made any changes to your diet. It's very easy to eat 150 g of fat a day without shoving McDonald's/Wendy's/Taco Bell down your throat multiple times a day. Ever hear of avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil? By the way, McDonald's burgers aren't meat, it's by-product.

    I know multiple people who have undergone DS surgery and they sure as hell do not eat like you do. I know for a fact your doctor would be MORTIFIED if they knew the kind of foods you were eating.

    I don't think you understand the ramifications if you continue to eat the way you are… At the rate you're going, you are basically eating yourself back to a BMI of 63, serious side effects of diabetes, heart disease, and more.
  • ssmom801
    ssmom801 Posts: 3
    There is an epidemic of undiagnosed thyroid conditions in the US!

    I also suggest Garcinia Cambogia if there is any emotional eating or large appetite involved.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    There is such a thing as adaptive thermogenesis - if you're eating too far below your TDEE, your body will adapt and your resting metabolic rate will plummet drastically.

    Drop yes. "Plummet drastically"? No. Your basal metabolic rate can't afford to "plummet drastically". That's what starts to happen after your stores are so depleted that you're moving into true starvation (note this "starvation mode" BS).

    If you're like me, it could drop to 400 kcals a day.

    If your BMR dropped to 400 kcals a day you'd be a starving skeleton so emaciated and undernourished as to be on the brink of death. You'd barely be able to even move.

    Coma patients don't even tend to have that low of a BMR.
  • PinkyFett
    PinkyFett Posts: 842 Member
    There is an epidemic of undiagnosed thyroid conditions in the US!

    All over, really.

    I had it for 5+ years before I was diagnosed. I carried two babies having Hashimoto's and NO diagnosis.

    I very strongly urge pregnant women to ask to check levels just in case. My babies and I were lucky.

    I tell everyone who's struggling to check their thyroid if they are LEGIT trying to lose weight by eating well, logging everything, exercising, etc.