I was sleeved in june 2011. After hitting a low of 145 while eating about 1200 calories/day with no exercise, then regaining 20 pounds over 4 months while eating 1700 calories a day (and depression keeping me in bed most of it - gained a pound a week), I joined a gym and started working with a trainer. My only rules were to show up every day at the gym (3x with trainer, other days on my own with homework he gave me) and to get started. No rules on how long I stay or how much energy I put into it. Just show up like clockwork. I am very good at showing up! Then it seemed silly to get there and get started and then quit right away - especially because the homework he gave me was in list format, so I could just do them and check it off the list and the time flew. So I did it. Some days I put in a little more effect. As I felt better, I started hiking and walking more and enjoying it.

Fast forward two years later. My trainer (still seeing him 2x week, with a month or two in there I had to stop for a bit) insisted early on that I change how I eat - I was eating all protein bars all day (I dont cook really... at all... ). So he made me eat eggs and meat and stuff. Amazingly, I could not possibly eat as much as he wanted me to. He was used to people who were normal, so he gave me about 1200 calories of food to eat - but it was thinks like 6 oz chicken and 3 eggs etc - no way I can eat all that in one sitting. So I was eating ALL DAY LONG trying to get all the food he wanted in me. I managed about 800-900 calories a day at that time. I lost weight regularly and steadily. All 20 pounds came off in the first 3 months of seeing him and doing what I am supposed to.

He then insisted that I start increasing my calories. Over the next 8-10 months, I lost another 15 pounds while gaining some seriously solid muscle (I can deadlift 225 pounds! bench press 115! squat 175! - awesome for a 44 year old woman who only weighs 130!) and got down to about 17% body fat - the best I have ever looked in my life - weghing about 130. What is crazy about that? I worked my way up to eating 2000 calories a day during that time. Not only did I still lose weight (slower, but it kept moving) but I kept shrinking sizes. The 20 pounds I lost in the first few months took me from a size 16 to a size 12. The last 15 pounds took me from a size 12 to a size 4. He also made sure I worked accessory muscles, kept everything balanced (my quads were stronger than my hamstrings, making my knees hurt for about 40 years -- for the first time in my life, not only do my knees not hurt - I can RUN!). My posture is 1000x times better than it has ever been in my life. I am healthy, energetic, and pumped about being strong.

17% body was a little too bony for me. So I worked up to 2500 calories a day for a few months. I am about 135 now and about 22% body fat - and look good (other than loose skin and stretch marks of course). And I maintain on 1800-2000 calories a day. I still work out a lot, though not as much as I did that first year. I run a few days a week (usually no more than 1.5 to 2 miles on the treadmill) and see the trainer 2x a week (working more on functional fitness than pure strength). I weigh myself every day and check the 10 day trend. If it is trending up, I am a little more strict than usual that day - maybe about 1500-1700 calories. If it is trending down, I eat normal or relax if anything special going on (2000-2500 calories). Most days I just aim for 1800-2000 average for the week. I still log daily, but not quick as strict - I estimate a little more. I have a range of 132 - 137 I allow on a daily basis. As long as in there and not clearly trending upward, I am fine. If it goes over the range, I buckle down and run a little more and eat a little less for a few days. If it goes under, I run a little less and eat a little more for a few days. Its a pretty easy lifestyle when I think about it - way easier to think about losing 3 pounds than letting it get to 10 or 20!

Oh - protein, my goal is about 150g. But as long as i get over 100g I dont stress. I worked hard for this muscle and I dont intend to lose it. Carbs I try to keep under 100g, ideally under 75g. But I work on averages over the week and mostly just eyeball it. If I gained one week more than usual, I will look back at my trend and see if it has been creeping up. Not sure why but lower carb really is key for me. Not only for weight control, but seriously for hunger control. The longer I put off eating carbs for the day, the easier it is to not eat my arm off. If I start out with carbs in the morning, I am guaranteed to eat over my desired calories that day - and still be hungry enough to eat more. Most days I eat eggs for breakfast, cheese stick for a snack, then meat/cheese/mayo for lunch and another cheese stick for afternoon snack - and sometimes I forget to eat that. If I eat a protein bar for breakfast instead, I will be looking for food all day. No clue why, but thrilled to see the pattern!

@aylajane kudos to you for doing it right! I want to be where you are! At seven months post op I am up to 900 calories daily, usually hitting about 100 grams of protein, 65-75 carbs and between 25-35 fats. I want to live a "normal" life making healthy food choices, I exercise a few days a week but if I do more than four right now I stall my weight loss out because of the inability to intake more calories. This surgery is tool to reset us...it's not about lifetime restriction! YAY so happy to see your post!

Glad to help! I know especially if you are in the first year, that eating 2500 calories seems nearly impossible. But people regain after VSG all the time because they figure out how to do it - more carbs and "slider" foods, grazing all day, not exercising etc. And since most people dont do a lot of exercise early on (especially weight lifting), the typical WLS person will lose a *ton* of muscle. I really wish they would stress this in the prep for surgery. The problem is that muscle burns calories - more than fat. If you take someone who weighs 150 pounds and is 20% body fat and exercises regularly (including weight bearing exercises), they can probably eat and maintain on 2000 calories. If you take someone the same height and weight, but who is 30% body fat, they would GAIN on 2000 calories. Their BMR is lower because their muscle mass is lower. And they will wear totally different sizes - the person who has 20% might wear a size 8 and the person with 30% might wear a size 12. They will look totally different.

So, most people who have WLS, even if they hit their goal "weight" (which to me is completely irrelevant number by itself), will have to continue to eat at a very reduced calorie amount for ever. But to me, the goal was to eat as close to a "normal" person as possible in the end. I dont care about the actual weight number - I weigh 135 but anyone guessing my weight would put it closer to 120-125... Muscle is tight and compact. The typical WLS person looks like they "melted" - loose skin, flat butt, skeletal shoulders and body elbows and knees but still a layer of flub around the waist/hips/back that seems to never go away. Muscle gives your body its shape! Look at pics of someone who is anorexic - their arms look like sticks. Then look at a tennis player's arms - they are curvy and shapely. The difference is the layer of muscle they have. Your butt is a muscle, if you dont use it, it will be gone and you will get that flat butt look.

I am thrilled with the shape of my body now. I very, very, very clearly remember when I got down to 145 the first time just from surgery with no exercise. I thought I looked good and took some comparison pics to show the difference between before and after surgery. I was HORRIFIED at the pics of me then. I thought I looked good but I didnt - I looked EXACTLY like I did before surgery, just a smaller shrunken version of myself. Still lumpy in the middle, arms and legs looked the same. I became a lighter smaller fat person ("skinny fat").

Anyway, weight gain is very easy after surgery because for the year or so you are on such a low calorie intake that you "train" your body to exist on fewer calories (your BMR "permanently" lowers as your muscle mass does). Your body normally needed 1200 calories for basic function, you just taught it to figure out how to exist on 900! It does that by ditching the expensive muscle and making you more tired so you move less and burn less. So that when you do eat 1200, its "excess" and stored back as fat! I think it is *critical* for WLS patients to be educated in this, and to be shown how important it is to maintain and build muscle starting immediately after surgery, and to gradually increase calories over the year or two after surgery - while increasing activity to compensate.

You will lose EXACTLY the same amount of weight if you have a TDEE (daily calorie burn) of 2000 and you only eat 1500 as you would if you have a TDEE of 1200 and only eat 700. But eating more (calories=energy) will make your mood better, your hair and nails stronger, your life more active and you will be so much happier with your body shape in the end. I wasted two years losing precious muscle, eating like a bird, laying around because I had no energy to exercise because I didnt understand how all this worked.

aylajane wrote: »

Glad to help! I know especially if you are in the first year, that eating 2500 calories seems nearly impossible. But people regain after VSG all the time because they figure out how to do it - more carbs and "slider" foods, grazing all day, not exercising etc. And since most people dont do a lot of exercise early on (especially weight lifting), the typical WLS person will lose a *ton* of muscle. I really wish they would stress this in the prep for surgery. The problem is that muscle burns calories - more than fat. If you take someone who weighs 150 pounds and is 20% body fat and exercises regularly (including weight bearing exercises), they can probably eat and maintain on 2000 calories. If you take someone the same height and weight, but who is 30% body fat, they would GAIN on 2000 calories. Their BMR is lower because their muscle mass is lower. And they will wear totally different sizes - the person who has 20% might wear a size 8 and the person with 30% might wear a size 12. They will look totally different.

So, most people who have WLS, even if they hit their goal "weight" (which to me is completely irrelevant number by itself), will have to continue to eat at a very reduced calorie amount for ever. But to me, the goal was to eat as close to a "normal" person as possible in the end. I dont care about the actual weight number - I weigh 135 but anyone guessing my weight would put it closer to 120-125... Muscle is tight and compact. The typical WLS person looks like they "melted" - loose skin, flat butt, skeletal shoulders and body elbows and knees but still a layer of flub around the waist/hips/back that seems to never go away. Muscle gives your body its shape! Look at pics of someone who is anorexic - their arms look like sticks. Then look at a tennis player's arms - they are curvy and shapely. The difference is the layer of muscle they have. Your butt is a muscle, if you dont use it, it will be gone and you will get that flat butt look.

I am thrilled with the shape of my body now. I very, very, very clearly remember when I got down to 145 the first time just from surgery with no exercise. I thought I looked good and took some comparison pics to show the difference between before and after surgery. I was HORRIFIED at the pics of me then. I thought I looked good but I didnt - I looked EXACTLY like I did before surgery, just a smaller shrunken version of myself. Still lumpy in the middle, arms and legs looked the same. I became a lighter smaller fat person ("skinny fat").

Anyway, weight gain is very easy after surgery because for the year or so you are on such a low calorie intake that you "train" your body to exist on fewer calories (your BMR "permanently" lowers as your muscle mass does). Your body normally needed 1200 calories for basic function, you just taught it to figure out how to exist on 900! It does that by ditching the expensive muscle and making you more tired so you move less and burn less. So that when you do eat 1200, its "excess" and stored back as fat! I think it is *critical* for WLS patients to be educated in this, and to be shown how important it is to maintain and build muscle starting immediately after surgery, and to gradually increase calories over the year or two after surgery - while increasing activity to compensate.

You will lose EXACTLY the same amount of weight if you have a TDEE (daily calorie burn) of 2000 and you only eat 1500 as you would if you have a TDEE of 1200 and only eat 700. But eating more (calories=energy) will make your mood better, your hair and nails stronger, your life more active and you will be so much happier with your body shape in the end. I wasted two years losing precious muscle, eating like a bird, laying around because I had no energy to exercise because I didnt understand how all this worked.

I have been on this site and the bariatric pal for almost a year and viewed literally hundreds of post and got this information in bits and pieces. you have for the first time put it all together from "soup to nuts" to explain what I feel is the total conceptual .truth to this journey.

I am about 2 1/2 months post op and down 32lbs. while I see others are down as low as 40 to 45. I weighed 266 on day of surgery.

I have worked out with weights 4 days per week and walked instead of just walking, I am doing situps and twists and doing this for about 1 hour - 4 days per week. I have done this since week 2.

I am now eating about 1200 to 1400 calories a day which includes maybe 2 protein shakes per day...

I felt like I was doing something wrong because I am not eating in the 700 range anymore. my stamina is great I am not weak I am full of energy and feel like I felt before surgery.

my greatest fear in doing this surgery was when I saw the before and after pics of people and I said they just look like a smaller exact duplicate of what they looked like before and they kind of looked sickly.

With the weights people think I have lost 60 or more pounds because with the lost of stomach and such I am being sculpted and chiseled from the shoulders, chest, arms and legs. people say wow you look like an entirely different person. I have 70 lbs to go and I feel this direction is the best and I will continue in this fashion.

I know we are all doing whats best for us, this is much more logical and obtainable than thinking i can never eat a candy bar or eat any other food or I will gain weight. again I am early on but I am feeling and looking great so far..

joysie1970 wrote: »

pawoodhull wrote: »

Per my nutritionist I am to eat 1,200 calories, 70-90 grams or protein and keep my carbs below 100. I will tell you that I don't work out much. I do walk almost daily, and I mean I walk for exercise, I don't count normal walking around the house/office as exercise. I'm not losing, although I want to get at least another 30 off. I am 4.5 years out. I'm following the nutritional direction and not losing. Could be I'm still too low on calories (per the nutritionist) and per the PA it could be all the excess skin I have because he said if al the skin were removed I would most likely be at goal. Either way, I'm still working the program and trying to get to Onederland.

I have a friend (sports nutritionist) who gives free consultations - if you're questioning, I highly recommend you check out her site, she has helped many break through and helps people meet their goals. http://www.barifit.com/#inspiringchange she helps you set your macros and exercise and everything that @aylajane is talking about is the real deal and what Tosha does for us even though I am only seven months out I am having Tosha set my macs and guide my exercise, I am not interested in becoming a body builder, but as I got thinner I noticed I too was becoming skinny fat and knew I didn't want to be five years out sustaining on 900 to 1200 calories...I want to be "healthy normal" as I call it. I want to be curvy healthy. That is why I did this and why I work at it everyday

Thanks for the link! I will check it out.

@aylajane thank you for your post. One of my biggest concerns about long-term post op is the damage VSG and RNY does to your metabolism and if it's repairable. I am glad to see with dedication, it can be done. Thank you for sharing your journey and explaining in detail.