Calorie Counting

If anyone cares, and maybe someone might, I thought I'd show a couple of samples of my daily diet. I average 1350 calorie per day, but try to keep it lower if possible.

8:45..........251 calories
1 homemade s/f caramel soy latte (70), 1 spolumbo chicken and apple sausage (110), 10 strawberries (36), 2 tbsp lite sour cream (35)

12:30..........384 calories
1 cup of Soupworks vegetable and whole wheat penne soup (110), 1 piece of low carb toast (60), with 2 slices cheddar cheese melted (110) and a banana (104)

3:30..........132 calories
1 turkey pepperoni stick (50), 1 slice mozza cheese 30g (77), 1 large dill pickle (5)

5:30..........400 calories
Grilled chicken burger (1 sesame seed bun, 1 chicken breast, tomato and lettuce) est at 300 cal, small Caesar salad (est at 100 cal max)

10:00..........35 calories
1/2 cup soy milk

Total today: 1202

7:40..........420
1 grande s/f soy latte (150) with 1 piece of banana bread (270)

11:15..........210
1 cup of Campbell's Healthy Choice Clam Chowder (110) with 1 serving of left over basa added (100)

3:00..........134
1 apple (84) and 1 yogurt (50)

5:30..........560
1/2 Earl's Santa Fe Chicken Salad (450) and 3 diet coke with lime (10)
(What the hell? Why can't a restaurant make a salad that doesn't have over 1000 calories? Earl's best offering is a 900 calorie salad, they go UP to 1200!!)

9:00..........190
1 apple (84) and 3 tbsp low fat cream cheese (90) with brown sugar splenda (16)

Total today: 1514

So there ya go. Eating 1200 - 1500 calories per day is fine. Eating better is fine. Starving for 2-3 hours total every day is awful. I've tried the entire gambit of 'drink more water', have 'mostly veggies', 'get your protein first', etc, etc. Bottom line? I think 1200-1500 calories per day is too little for my metabolism.

Even after just 1 week of consitantly eating like this I can't really go off or I feel sick. Definitely have a smaller tummy too. Offered a large steak and mashed potatoes with gravy and salad and desert: I still only ate about 6 oz of steak and the salad and hardly any potatoes. When I 'go off' I still try to eat protein first, veggies second and only then any starchy carbs. Works okay. My "off" days only usually total less than 2000 calories. Which I'm sure I could have eaten in an entire sitting while gaining weight.

It's not a quantity thing though, it's a quality of food thing. I don't necessarily eat more quantity when I go off the diet, I just eat more pre-prepared food. And once you go into that dangerous area you're talking 1000's of calories just sliding down your throat.

I get it, and I'm trying to 'work it' as best I can. I hope the LAP-Band really does what it says and makes a 1000-1200 calorie diet comfortable and non-hunger driven.