Calorie levels different for LWs who are active vs. higher BMI patients?

Out of curiosity, have you found as LWs that you need more calories, especially if you are active, than your surgeon might recommend for much higher BMI patients who are also not active?

In my situation (and I'm 3 weeks post revision from band to VSG) - I am supposed to be limited to 600-800 calories for the first year or until I reach my goal weight. I don't think I've gotten that few per day since my first week post-op when the swelling went down. I can definitely consume 1000 calories and I'm still on liquids, and yes, getting ample protein, so I worry that I'm not going to be successful. BUT at the same time, I am very active and my base metabolic rate is 1500. Based on my activity tracking, I probably average 2200-2500 per day. So eating under 800 just seems impossible. 

On top of that, I only need to lose 40lbs to get to my lowest weight or 60 to get to my dream goal. I wonder if I would do more harm than good by limiting my calories so strictly. I doubt I'd have energy to hit the gym hard on 800 calories per day!

I'm going to wait till I'm on solid foods and allowed to exercise again and see how it feels before asking my doctor but I will definitely ask him. I'm just curious if others have experience in similar situations. 

I think 600-800 may be a canned recommendation based on averages of averages. Your dietitian may be able to advise you better based on your personal diet preferences and activity level.  If you prefer to low carb your calorie level may be a little higher than the average.

--gina

Definitely canned. It was written in my "handbook". Sadly, I don't get a nutritionist because I went to Mexico for surgery (insurance doesn't cover). I see my primary care doc this week and I will ask her. I also have great access to my surgeon himself and his nurse-coordinator. 

I am DEFINITELY a low carber. I can't lose weight if I'm eating carbs basically. I find that when I do low carb, if I can stick to 1200 calories, I will definitely lose weight. The problem without WLS to help is I could not eat 1200 calories. I wouldn't last more than 2 days and then I would be so hungry I'd gorge. 

Either way, I lost 95 lbs with my lap-band I definitely wasn't eating less than 800 per day so I'm sure I can do it again. 

We were never given a calorie goal, only fluid and protein.  I was active but became more and more active as the weight came off.  At this point, my base rate is 1100 (4'11" 133lbs, 23% fat) but of course, exercising and I can eat a little more. 

I know I lost muscle as well as fat when I was in rapid losing mode even though I kept my protein well above the range and was exercising.  Not sure how to prevent that.  But I would rather rebuild the muscle than not lose the fat. 

I'm still working my way up to eating more, but I expect to be above the standard 600-800 calories during my long-term losing phase, since I'm tall. But if I get up to eating 800 calories regularly and am satisfied, I'll stay there. Right now I'm getting 450 on low days and 600+ on extra hungry days. Setting the goal is also hard; if I want to get to 180 then I'm just over halfway there...160 and I've got 58 lbs left.

I'm at 6.5 weeks out and am down 43 lbs from the day before surgery, so I don't really know what I'm aiming for. I don't want to get to maintenance at four months out and then regret not having tried to lose more. This reminds me to make an appointment with the dietician!

It would be counterintuitive because generally the more weight you're carrying, the more calories you burn just keeping it going, but activity would definitely play a big role too. I'm fairly active, but I've lost 70 lbs. in my 6 month pre-op period by eating 2000-2200 NET calories a day, so I have no idea what's going to happen when I get to 600-800/day. I'm worried my body's just going to shut down or something. My metabolic study showed my metabolism as 149% of predicted for my age.

The thing is, it takes about 2 calories per day to maintain a pound of fat vs. 50 calories per day to maintain a pound of muscle. So someone who is carrying hundreds of pounds of excess fat does not actually need more calories than someone who is muscularly dense to maintain their size.

In addition, someone carrying 100+ lbs of excess weight is probably not doing the same level of daily activity that I do. I'm not a super-athlete or anything but I can easily be doing something where my heart rate is up for 2 hours at a time every day.

I've been tracking my calories most days since my sleeve and for example yesterday I was at 1300. That was just about right...I wasn't overly hungry at any point and I wasn't ever stuffed. But I also spent 2.5 hours walking my dog and grooming and exercising my horse. These are actually quite aerobic activities!

And, today I'm 3 weeks post op and 10lbs down. I'm very happy with that pace! So I guess the proof will be in the pudding. If I continue to lose weight and have energy to keep moving, then my calories are ok.

That's true, but the more someone weighs, the more muscle mass they also have to develop just to move their body through space. That's of course assuming they're mobile at all though. Congratulations on your success!

hi! I'm almost 4 months out, and i talked to my surgeon about this very thing last month! my start weight was 198, i'm super active too and i had the same worry about crashing out my body with too little calories. he basically said that 600-800 was my goal calorie range during weight loss no matter what, and that my body will be able to take everything it needs from my extra fat for energy. in his program he encourages patients not to adjust calorie intake for exercise. For me, i'll go the climbing gym for 2.5 hours with my little polar F4 heart rate watch on and burn 800 calories like, 3 days a week, which leaves me at zero net on a lot of days - what i do then is drink an extra protein shake to help protect the muscles. to tell the truth, as i lose more weight exercising gets easier and feels better and better. i haven't felt bonked out even once since surgery.

having said all of this, there are definitely days where i maybe eat a little more (never above 1000), but i'm trying really hard not to let it become a habit, cos that way of thinking for me is really similar to the kind of "a couple times a week won't be the end of the world" thinking i used to do before WLS around having an extra cookie, or getting a taco AND a burrito, and that kind of thing. 

then i think the last thing is just to listen to your body? maybe try out the recommended plan for a month and see how you feel? if you're feeling wasted all the time, try eating like, a hundred calories more during the day and see if it helps, if not add more, if it stalls you out decrease, stuff like that?

Thanks for the response. Let me first say I'm super jealous you have a climbing gym nearby. I used to do that twice a week but I moved and there's no climbing gym within hours now.

I'm going to talk to my primary care doctor tomorrow when I see her. My surgeon's nurse said to just see how I feel once I'm on solid food. Just started soft foods today. I'm sure as I get to dense protein it will be easier to eat less and be satisfied. 

So far, on liquids, I've been unable to not be hungry at under 1300 per day. But my fitbit says I'm burning 2500 many days. I've been losing 3lbs per week so I'm not too worried. I think listening to my body is key and actually eating when I'm hungry. 

I have the bonus of having done this before, 5 years ago with my lap band and with that, they said to stay around 1300-1500 based on my size and activity level. If I can stay on the lower end I'm certain I'll lose weight. I don't necessarily think eating less than 800 per day is a good idea for my already wrecked metabolism.