Sports Nutritionist versus Nut versus VSG people

Good to know! That's why I love this message board and appreciate the vets like yourself for sharing the knowledge! I'm going to try these tips and see what happens! (It is just a reminder of what my doctor's program says but I've been ignoring somewhat :o)   ).

If you were going to get into bodybuilding and spend 5 hours lifting weights in a gym each day then I would say go with the 1200 cal and 80 carbs .. you need lots of fuel to lift weights hard core like that.  Otherwise, that doesnt sound like such great advice to me.  Good luck with your decision!

I plan to do cardio every day and alternate body areas daily with 45 mins of weight lifting. I will take Sunday off as a rest day. So far I've been doing cardio daily with some weights every other day. I'm increasing gradually rather than trying to jump in all at once.

And I'm not one of those pretty people at the gym. I have no make up, sweat pours off me. This morning, I actually found myself doing the meathead grunting thing when I was working arms. I was mortified for a few seconds.

 My doctor told me to NOT cross 600 calories until maintenance.  My NUT agrees.

You sports nutritionist may be knowledgable about normies and weight loss, but he may not be so experienced with bariatric patients.  Did you let him know you have guidance from your physician to not exceed a certain caloric intake?

Remember you are trying to LOSE weight.  The only weigh that happens is to burn more calories than you eat.  The greater the caloric deficit, the faster you lose.   As long as you are getting every ounce of protein you can with what you eat - you should have plenty to build muscle and repair your body.

Different rules apply if you are an athlete like Alison.  But if you are not in serious training - I would trust your surgeon and nut and tell the guy at your gym that they have set limits you need to work within.  IF you want to be an athlete in serious training - tell your surgeon and nut that and let them work out a bariatric compliant plan for you.

That's a good point. I told him I was a beriatric patient but he's so young, I'm not sure that means anything to him. He did keep insisting I needed carbs for energy. His nutrition plan was equal in carbs and protein. He used the example of a woman there that has lost 60lbs this month but I approached her and asked her and she said (and it was sweet) "Honey I'm 320 pounds and I work out 8 hours a day" Basically, not a good example since I can't work out that much, don't intend to.

Do you do weights or cardio or both? I find hope in the fact that you don't feel sluggish and tired. I remember doing Atkins a few years ago and feeling energetic. Go figure.

 I do both.  3 days of cardio a week, 3 days of strength training.  Light cross training on the days I dont do cardio.

I dont feel sluggish or drained.  I also make sure I have all of my multivites.

My experience with guys in the gym is that you have to vet them - What are his credentials - is he an LDN - or just some musclebound guy whos job it is to push protein powder and bars on you?  Does he have clinical training or just a sports nutrition training program?

He has their certified sports nutrition training and certified personal trainer. He's really young, like early  to mid 20's. He's never had to lose weight, admittedly.

Im data driven so we will see in a week. I am going to follow it religiously and keep working out and see what happens. It can only get better! I wasn't kidding a few weeks ago, I seriously thought about copying what you eat. :)

If his only certification is a gym trining plan - thats as good as useless.  There are a bunch of bogus "certifying agencies" for them.  Most are simple 503(c) corporations who just re-publish research.

Most states require dietitian licensure - Look for "RD" or registered dietitian or LDN - "Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist" after the name.  Its a progression, RD to LDN.  These are the people who are actually board certified to be nutritionists.  Most of the ones I have worked with are also RN's who decided to specialize further.

Not freaking on your post - this is actually a really good one.  Like I said in the posts, I went to the NUT and decided to try it her way.  However, I went to a support group meeting (first one since surgery - at the doctors office) and when I told them what my nut said, they almost fell of their chairs and said I must have misunderstood her.  Even the NUT that works at the docs office (mind you she is from the same office as the NUT I went to see) thought I was crazy.  However, she took my information and the next morning pulled my chart and spoke to the NUT I visited.  She came to the conclusion that the reason the NUT told me to up my cals/carbs/fiber was to try to stimulate my metabolism and jump start my weight loss.  She agreed that I should follow the advice that was given to me, which I had already decided to do.  However, like I said, when I go back July 12 and don't see a significant change, I'll be going back to what I was doing before, which was the first way I was told to do this - 64g protein (most of the time got almost 100); 64 oz water, and vitamins and I will not worry abouot anything else.  

Wish me luck!

I work out at the gym--cardio and weight training.  I didn't change my diet when i began weight training--still eat mostly dense protein.  I have lost a tremendous amount of weight because of the gym--reached goal within 6 months, and am now about 20 pounds below goal (125 lbs.; size 4-6).

HOWEVER, my firm participated in a Project Fitness challenge sponsored by Equinox--a popular gym in New York.  The challenge was for 6 weeks, and the goal was to lose percentage of body fat.  There were over 700 participants--and in 6 weeks--I lost 6.4% body fat...I CAME IN FIRST PLACE and won some great prizes.  Not only did I lose 6.4% fat, but I also lost 7 pounds WITHOUT TRYING!!!!  When you weight train, you require more calories; I didn't change my diet--was trying to maintain--and without trying lost weight.

I still have not changed my diet--I'm sticking to a high protein--very dense protein--with a little amount of vegetables and some fruit.

I should also mention that I do not eat any carbohydrates (aside from some fruit)--no bread, pasta, potatoes, nothing.

Good luck to you!  I