On Friday the 15th I weighed at the Dr’s office and I was 264, today (11 days later) I weighed and I am 250 and very very excited because for the last 3 months I have been more or less stalled weight wise (which is terrifying so close to surgery).
Twice in the last 16 weeks I lost 10 pounds all of a sudden (in a week or two) and then gain back 5 even faster and I did not know what had caused it cause I seemed to me that I was doing the same over all. I would sit at the same weight for weeks upon weeks and be stressed and anxious. I was eating around 1600 calories a day most days and thinking I was a huge failure… I thought that I was eating too much and so I would get depressed and eat the wrong things (simple carbs) and hate myself for being weak all over again.
Finally I was talking to a WLS friend (Switched_Scoop) on twitter and she mentioned the actual percentages behind my type of surgery (something I am not sure I may of heard before but if so it didn’t stick)…
A Duodenal Switch patient absorbs 60% or the protein and 60% carbs they eat and only 20% of the fat … with me this means I absorb and average of 45-50% of my calories… 1600 divided by 50%=800 calories a day… I was starving myself to the point my body was in now in starvation mode and it was telling me to fuck off and that it wasn’t giving up a bit more til I fed it better damn it!
I started to pay attention to what I was eating and realized that I was eating not only too little calories most days but not enough protein and too many carbs. I took into consideration the fact that if you want to lose really big quantities of weight you have to increase protein (at least in my case and we are talking hundreds of pounds to lose… not 20) as a female I would normally need 60-70 grams, as a WLS patient in fast weight loss mode I needed to ABSORB about 80-100 grams (this means I have to take in 145 grams on average)
At first I panicked when I tried counting calories AND upping my protein, when I saw the numbers of the calories climb I could not help but feel like I was doing something wrong even though I reminded myself that I could take in nearly 2000 of the right kinds of calories and only be absorbing 1200 calories… that was the whole point of THIS surgery. The entire point behind giving up 80% of my stomach forever and bypassing a large section of my upper intestines.
So I stopped counting calories and stated counting just protein grams and water intake and cut back on simple carbs like sweets and now I am losing again and eating much better than before and really no more than a woman my size should normally eat (1900-2200 calories) it is just that I am now eating what is better FOR ME with my type of surgery.
I had a goal to get to 250 by August 3rd, the day before the convention I am working at… and while i would like to get to 245 by then (8 days away) I will not stress it… now my only goal is that by the weekend AFTER convention I dont weigh more than I do now. The fact is convention can be hard on weight even though I have detailed plans for what to eat to maintain my weight and protein levels and to not to give in to a carb attack and gas the place out.
I will up date you on the 12th if not sooner
My DS Journey WLS Blog 