Energy waning at 2.5 months out

I am about 2.5 months out now, since about week two, I have been following a plan of 550-650 calories, 80+ grams of protein, under 40 carbs (not refined carbs but grains, veggies etc) and 80+ oz of water a day (not including protein drinks).  I take one med for gout and Actigall for another 4 months and the vitamins and minerals, my surgeon instructed, every day.   I'm doing very little to no exercise, I need a hip replacement, I'm approved for hip surgery at 40 BMI (about 43 now) and walking distances is not an option right now.  (even swimming causes issues)  I stopped swimming 3-4 years ago, however, I do have a lifetime history of swimming laps, bicycling and hiking, I am looking forward to being able to exercise again.  

I am not tired in general but In the last month, I have noticed that its getting harder to stay focused on details and stay on purpose with my office work, past about early afternoon when my productivity, focus, and motivation, seems to drop off a cliff for the day and this is new for me.  After noon and until 9 PM easy, I can shop, run errands meet folks, plenty of energy for all that but the work focus is waning and in general I am making more mistakes and I forget to do things, more then ever before.  I sleep at least 7 hours a night, get started working by about 8:30 AM and I really think I am getting a good nights sleep.  

I have been assuming this is a byproduct of my current food and weight loss plan, reduced carbs and calories and that it went with the territory but I sure would like a realty check about this, is this normal, did you experience this during the weight loss phase or even in maintenance, do you think I need to increase my carbs or make adjustments?   (any thoughts)

Hi there,
This is just me. I have always felt fine since the beginning right after surgery doing low carb. I have never had issues with feeling low energy in fact, I had more energy than I ever have in my life. My nutritionist told me to eat more carbs or I would get weak but it hasn't happened yet. I do think everyone is different. You might be one of those people who need to up the carbs a bit. Try it & see if it works for you. Good luck!

Good to hear you never experienced this and your nut maybe talking about me, I was thinking this might pass but after a month its not and I want to figure it out.  I might be willing to accept less energy for a season if it really meant I would maximize weight loss, if what I am experiencing is simply due to carb intake..then I might adjust it up Sunday thru Friday morning to support work and lower them down on weekend.   (but I'm reluctant to change my plan if is not warranted) So I thought I would ask you Vets to weigh in with your experiences before I do that and if I did maybe get some direction about how high and from what foods.

I'm waiting for an insurance referral to a nutritionist but I am not overly confident in them alone... after reading folks stories here on OH.... thanks for your response...  

 I am not a doctor by any means but I did suffer from fatigue in the first three months I figured due to lack of food I too did not excercise I personally think you should up your calories to around 800 if you can I know that is about what I was eating that far out and with time I did see my energy level increase and it is so much higher now than it has ever been best wishes to you on your journey sounds like you are doing awesome so far cheers 

Great info, I am open to making changes, since I am getting plenty of protein, perhaps I just need to add some healthy natural carbs for snacks..  I am just so reluctant to slow down my weight loss with extra calories, I am 4 BMI's away from hip surgery, which hopefully will open the door for some regular exercise but do need to work too, so Ok, you suggest "adjusting my plan... I assume you continued to lose well enough at 800 calories...

I am just 2 months out today and am losing slower than some.  My Doc says it's because I'm a "lightweight" AND I wasn't eating enough calories.  It seems I struggled to get in 5-600/day and he ask me to up them to 800.  I work really hard to get that many in and now that I just got my Quest bars, I'm hoping it will become easy.  I do eat complex carbs as in fruits/veggies but NO flour, sugar or pasta of any kind.  I'm thinking maybe up your calories to 800 and/or plan a protein drink for those times when you feel your energy waning.  This journey is a constant piece of work for me but I'm loving every minute of it!

Interesting, losing more weight by increasing calories is hard to compute but maybe that's what the whole starvation response thing is all about...   My surgeon gave me a staged food plan but he did not give me any calorie or carb levels to plan for, just too eat until you start to feel full and I realized early  on, I could eat more then many were documenting here, so early on I started weighing and measuring and using the the calorie carb limits I quoted..  Please let me know how weight loss goes, with more calories.. Thanks!

What vitamins are you taking?  Say it's not gummies or children's vits ...
If you're taking gummies or children's vits, switch to bariatric vits and make sure you're getting your B12 :)

Good question, not gummies, I am taking Bariatric Advantage mulit's twice a day and their chewable calcium citrate 3 X's a day and a sub lingual B12 every 4 days (he told me once a week), then from Costco, I take Kirklands D3 2k's 2X's a day  and their super B complex twice a day.  (everything the surgeon instructed, well except for the brands)   I am borderline anemic but he said hes not worried about it because my total iron binding capacity looks good and will keep checking it, I wondered about that one... 

make sure you're not anemic...that always makes me feel like a truck ran me over- fatigued, can't concentrate, etc.