Calories?

Ok, Let me start by saying I'm 2 months out.  I've been "stalled" for the past 2-ish weeks teetering up & down between 5 lbs.  How many calories should I be eating each day?  My surgeons plan doesn't really tell me, it just gives me sample meals that are around 1000 cal/day.  I've only been eating about 600/day....should I be trying to get in more?  Thanks in advance for any advice!

 It may not be just total calories, it could be the food choices you are making.  Are you focusing on lean sources of protein, etc.  A lot of people eat a lot of prepackaged foods that are not the best choices for a bariatric diet - too much other stuff comes along for the ride.

Are you getting all of your vitamins and supplements in?

What does your exercise plan look like?  Are you getting in at least 3 days of cardio a week (where you push your heart rate into thetraining zone?) are you strength training or cross training the other two days? 

You can eat only 600 calories a day, but if you arent burning significantly more or not giving your body the protein and nutrients it needs to rebuild you could find yourself losing slowly.

Thanks for the feedback.  I don't eat a lot of prepackaged foods.  I mostly eat lean protein (chicken, turkey, and some fish), as well as eggs. 

I wasn't doing well with my vitamins but I've started getting them in religiously.  I exercise a few days a week.  Running/Walking and circuit training. 

I guess since the weight flew off the first month & a half, it has startled me to slow like this.  I know I can't lose a pound a day forever, but I thought I would at least lose a few pounds a week. 

 It sounds like you are doing all right - 54 lbs is not bad in a little over two months.  Sorry, I didnt see the details on your ticker.

It was at about that point that my weight loss profile changed.  I went into a stair step kind of mode where I would lose alot, then hold steady, then lose.  I also have a big month every other month.  So I will have a slow month, then a fast month, etc.  May has been a slow month for me, my second slowest to date.  

What happens in the first two months is you have a lot going on, healing, glycogen changes, the liquid diet, so forth and so on.  Those first couple of months are HUGE.  Then as your body starts getting into the hang of things you go through the honeymoon period.  You will still lose quickly, but not like those first two months.  Then after about 6 months to a year you lose slower again.

You  have to keep amping up the exercise and making the best food choices possible to keep the pounds falling off.

rhearob -- great weight loss so far!! Could you please share a typical day for your food intake? What types of exercise do you do? what are your targets for calories, protein and carbs?

My weight loss has been very slow the past 2 months with a few stalls along the way. I have noticed that the cleaner I eat (nothing processed) and the more I move (walking, spinning, etc), the more the scale moves. I'm trying to change things up a bit so I don't get bored with the food choices -- I tend to eat the same things over and over again. I need to do more strength training. At present, for exercise,  I am inconsistantly (some weeks 5 days, other weeks 1 day) doing pilates, walking, zumba, kettlebell, circuit weights. I think I need a schedule.

thanks!

Ditto what Rhearob said. I found my loss picked up when I went to well over 80 grams (then to 100 grams) of protein a day and started getting over 100 oz of liquids. I was doing around 700 calories a day on average.

On the other hand, stalls of 2 weeks are normal. I had four stalls of at least 3 weeks on my way down.