Help

I am not writing to be yelled at, so please don't be mean. I had surgery on the Jan 30th this year. I am down to 162 lbs. from 240. Up until this past weekend, I had been on a plateau for 5 weeks. I know why also. I am not eating right, I stopped exercising and I don't take my vitamins on a regular basis. I need some support! Did anyone else go through this? I just can't seem to get up and moving again. I want to make the most of my tool and it seems like I am neglecting it. Any advice or lecture is WELCOMED! Just please don't be angry. Thanks, Tracy Lap RNY 1/30/04 Dr. Potts 240/162/?

Plateau's can be very discouraging, hang in there you will get fired up again. I went through the same thing. Then I lost more weight and it got me going again. No one is perfect and has a totally easy time with this process. Get a new hair style, buy a new outfit. That seems to help me when i am in a slump. Christina

Yes me to it is really getting to me cause i have only like 8# to doctors goal and another 10 # to my goal and i have been at this weight for like month or 2 . I still exercise like crazy i walk like 45 minutes to 1 hour at least 5 days a week and do crunches like 50 to 100 a day and no weight moving so it is really disapointing if i could just get those 18 to 20 pounds off i think i would be more happy even though i have lost from 269 to 158 so i guess we really need to take control again ! i am not doing any support groups either my doctor dont have any but i think at this point i need to find one even though my husband has been my support through this whole thing sometimes you need more !

No need for yelling or lectures. I am sure everyone goes through this. I know I do. I was going to curves 3 days a week and I just stopped going. I am fforever forgetful about my pills. And with my work schedule eating right can be impossible. I have ups and downs. Sometimes it seems like more downs. I want to make the most of the WLS but sometimes it seems like I just can't. Like the other post says, do something for yourself. Change your hair buy an awesome new out fit. Anything that makes you feel better. When I first had this surgery I had energy to spare and now it seems I have forever hit a slump of being overtired and just enough energy to make it through the day. But I am sure it will get better. It has to right. Well good luck and I hope it all works out for you. Stacy 220/137/120 i hope

Wow I was thinking the same thing just this morning. I am feeling a lul in the energy, weight loss, etc. i know it is just gonna take a kick in the butt. Maybe it is like the 7 year itch, we are on the 7 month "need a break". Lets look at October as a bright new beginning to continue our healthier way of life. Lets go get back to basics and do it right. You know I feel a little better already just typing it out loud, to someone who understands and feels it. Best of luck to all. Dawn -100 (+/- 1 or 2)

Dawn, I like your suggestion! I know that for awhile I was so burned out on "weight loss this" and "weight loss that". It seemed like everything that I did was for my weight, surgery or taking care of both. I needed a break! Boy - did I get it! However - I've pretty much stopped losing weight the last two months. I ate pretty healthy, but more times a day and more processed carbs than I ever had since surgery. I like the idea of hitting October with both feet running! In my new job, I'll be in Atlanta from Sept through Feb. I plan on joining a gym there to get back on my exercise track. I also want to go on one of those 10-day plateau busting diets. Then I hope to see things moving again - just in time for the holiday slump! Barbie 281/196/170ish

I so am walking the same line as you. So no lecture from me. I too need a solution to get my booty back onto the fast track. It seems that since I go to school five days a week for seven hours a day ( with a dumb rule of no eating or drinking in the school what so ever, not even a water fountain, I have totally began to slow and then stop losing the weight. I even explained to them that I need to keep some food on me as I had this surgery and need to eat something every 2-3 hours, and drink at least 8oz of water every hour, and was told NOT HERE you wont, even with a surgeons note, I have totally have stopped losing the weight. So now I try to have protein at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is very difficult tho because I can not pack a lunch because there is no place to store it while I am in class. So somedays (many days) I end up eating foods that are in a restaurant in the same building as my school which can not be healthy. I too have stopped exercising because I do a lot of walking in school (cosmetology) and have even been told to stand still in the class.........they are so not considerate of one trying to get healthy I tell ya. I am going to start a new plan of action and began a daily time slot of TOTAL TAKE CARE OF ME TIME. By that I mean I am going to alot for one hour a day to exercise. I am even starting today, going to walk on my 30 minute lunch break. That way then I know I got at least 20 minutes of walking in the day. All I can suggest is to make the time for yourself and see where that will take you. I am no expert and I too need all of the help I can get. Sandy 295/183/130 01/19/04

Boy this must be something a lot of us go through. Yep I'm in the same boat with ya. For the longest time my hip problem prevented me from doing any exercising. Now that my hip problem is just about resolved I still haven't started doing anything again. I also got off of my vitamins when I was taking so many new meds for my hip and headaches that swallowing another pill made me want to gag. My eating habits have well lets just say been less than desirable for a little while. I used to only allow myself one week a month of eating what I craved but this habit has now snuck itself into an everyday situation. Basically I've fallen back to old bad habits. So as you see no angry post from me. Was it Nike that used to say "Just Do It"? I guess we need to sit ourselves down, make a plan, and put it into effect. Maybe set one goal for yourself at a time and once in the habit of doing it then add another goal. Like set a goal to take your vitamins everyday for a week or two then add 30 mins of exercise a day. Heck even just adding 10 mins a day is more than nothing at all. You can work your way up from there. Now you know I'm saying "you" but I'm talking/telling myself too. Good luck with getting back on track! Hopefully all of us who have "fallen off of the wagon" can get back up, dust ourselves off and continue using this tool of ours in the right way.

Hi Tracy, No one is here to yell at anyone, we are here to support each other and that includes when we are having problems! I was on a plateau for 8 weeks, I accidently fell off it by starting to eat salads for lunch each day, you see about a month and a half before that I had burned myself out on salads and proceeded on eating other things. Hense my plateau, sometimes you come by things accidently and then it hits ya. I too had fallen off the excercise train and started eating white surgary stuff, but it wasn't hard to get back on, but it's the head hunger stuff. Your right about the tool it is always there, but you have to jump back on the train to use it.... Try a change of pace eat something new and exciting, go for a walk somewhere else, hopefully I'm helping here. I will change something if not just shake it up! Catherine 275/196/150ish

I wasn't on a plateau but slowed down to 2 lbs every other week at months 5 & 6. I went on the Stillman diet in month 7 and lost 11 pounds in 9 days. Cycled off of it then did it four weeks later and lost 9 pounds. Both times I come off of Stillman I gained 2 pounds but it was still a nice monthly loss. I work out in the gym 45 minutes every morning so it wasn't a lack of exercise. My routine is varied from day to day so I don't think my body could have grown accustomed to the exercise. I have not eaten any sugar and very few refined carbs since surgery either. Stillman is a drastic diet designed to break plateaus. If you are desperate it will get the carb craving under control and give you a good weight loss. If you are interested go to your internet search engine and type "Stillman diet". Basically all you can eat is beef, veal, lamb, seafood, boiled eggs. Best of luck!