I need your advice

I had surgery as you know in January of 2006. I started at 260 and now am teetering between 180 and 187. (I would post pix if I knew how, hubby will help me when he is done with playstation game) So here I am, 18 months out and i am now stopped, put the brakes on, now more losing, and I am panicking. I wonder all the time, should I not eat, should I go to a liquid diet, should I started running, I even looked at diet supplements tonite at target. It scared me what extremes I go through to keep going. I have been also taking more bites than chocolate than I should and having real sugar in my coffee. Today i stopped all that madness. What is worse is that I feel like my body is at the same size where I started and I know that cant be true cuz my clothes are smaller than when I was 260. I was in a size 18 to 19 and now I wear size 10-11. So how can I conquer all these fears, I already see a therapist, lol. Huggs to all. thanks in advance for your advice Stacy

Stacy, I don't really have any advice for you except to suggest discussing your body image concerns with your therapist. I've read that it takes 1-2 years after we've lost the weight to really "see" it for ourselves. I still do a double take sometimes when I catch my reflection in a store window as I walk by. For me, I'm "seeing" the new me better since I had some plastic surgery. I know ps is not possible or desired by everyone but it has helped me believe the scales b/c now I don't see all that hanging lower body skin. If you're not active in a support group - start going to meetings! If there isn't a group in your area, get as active with online groups like OH as you possibly can. I find I do better when I have other wls patients helping me stay accountable for what I eat & do. Good luck & hang in there! Vickie J.

Hi Stacy! I can say for myself that my head has not caught up with my body yet and I think that's very normal. I also think that once the BIG losses slow down or stop, we aren't sure what to do, how to handle it, etc and it gets scary! I know everyone says it all the time, but I think the best thing to do is push protein first, up your water intake and exercise! That is what worked for me~I was stuck at 160 and really wanted to make it to 150, but after truly evaluating what I was eating, I had to admit that I was making some bad choices. So I went back to the basic and got down to 150. Now that I'm maintaining I still have days when I eat way too many carbs or just the wrong things, but I try not to do that too often. We all have the fear of regaining the weight, but you've come so far so fast, don't give in to your fears now! Good Luck to You! Hugs, Tracy B 328/150 5'9"