Question:
I am needing some reassurance from my post-op

I am 5 moths post-op as of Nov. 7th. I am down from 325 to 260 as of the begining of Nov. according to my weigh in at Curves. I feel like the scales have been in the 260's forever. I don't know if I am on a plateau or if my eating has finally caught up with me. I have seemed to slack in the exercise department for the last three weeks too. I can eat anything that I want and nothing seems to make me sick. I wish I had never found that out. Since I have joined Curves on September 1st, I have lost 27 pounds, 22.5 inches and 19.59 pounds bodyfat. I know this all sounds great but why am I feeling like I am failing. I had my monthly visitor last week for the first time in a few months and gainied TEN pounds!!!! The scales at home, which weight heavy, weighed me @ 274 at one point. I am getting flustrated because I go back to the doctor on December 4th and feel like he is going to be dissapoint because I haven't lost my 90 pounds like I should have. Actually I have only lost 65 in 5 months!!!! Is anyone else out there feeling like this? I guess I am just needing some moral support right now because I feel like I am failing here.    — Candi B. (posted on November 17, 2002)

November 17, 2002
I am only a little over a month out from my surgery and feel the same way you do. I feel like I am eating more than I should be. I dont have scales at home to keep track of my weight, and am scared to go to the doc on the 2nd for fear I havent lost any weight since I went to my 2 week followup(I lost 22lbs). He said that was good. I thought good?? For me that feels like I have really done something. Just hang in there and if you need to talk you can always email me. Take care and God bless you.
   — Angie L.

November 17, 2002
Candi, you have done great so far! Let me suggest this. Flip the whole picture around. Instead of being totally scale-driven, start tracking what you're eating, in detail, somehow (I suggest fitday.com, or whatever helps you count protein, fat and carb grams, and calories). When you say you can eat "anything," that statement by itself is not bad at all. Most of the WLS surgeries are designed to let us eat just about anything in the long run -- just not as much as we used to. Lots of folks don't "dump" at all, or they don't dump forever.<P> What's important is, are you actually *overeating* and if so, what, how, when, etc.? At five months out, you're typical if you're able to eat more than you used to, and able to eat more variety. This means you're healing up well! But this is also a key time for us (I'm five+ months out too), meaning it's the time for us to (1) track how we're actually eating, now that we can eat more, and (2) get on ourselves to exercise if we haven't been doing it regularly so far (assuming that you can do so safely). It's the time we move from being fresh post-ops to getting a glimpse of our "normal" lives from now on. <P>The weight loss part of WLS can distract us from the most important goal, which is getting and maintaining control of food for the rest of our lives. :) Weight loss and healthy weight maintenance flows from that. I'll bet you're doing better than you think you are (or certainly, you're eating nothing like you did as a pre-op). If not, this is the perfect time to take your tool -- now that it's healing up nicely -- and make it work for you! Good luck and {{hugs!}}.
   — Suzy C.