Help

Hi, I haven't weighed myself in a while and at the dr's office today it seems like I might have ganed like 30 pds. I have lost over 200 and am now upset. What can I do to restart the weight loss again??? Any advise would be great now I need to loose another 80lbs. Everyone though says how skinny I am but I know that I gained some. My sister is going through a divorce after 21 years of marriage and she just said it's been bad for almost that time and we never knew it. My grandma is 89 and very depressed over the death of my mom, I too am grief stricken. I have 2 kids and a disabled husband and I can't walk either, we don't work. I just had a total knee replacement in July and the other one last year, so exercize is very hard if not next to imposible. Does anyone know of any grief groups for loosing a mother? Help...

Jill, It is so hard to lose a loved one and the loss affects each person differently. When my dad died, my mom went to a grief support group that was sponsored by the local hospital in her city. Whe went for a few months and did find it to be very helpful. Some health care plans offer counseling services too, it might be worth checking with members services section for your health care to see if it is covered. I know the one my mom went to was free. Call the hospitals in your area to see what they can offer. Also community centers might have grief support groups, churches too. Even possible that some might be listed in the yellow pages. If you go to google.com and type in grief support groups you will find a number of resources there too. My heart goes out to you and your family. I hope you all will find a group that will be of help. To get back on track with your eating and to restart the weight loss, get back to basics of eating high protein, low carb, and drink LOTS of water. There are a number of exercise videos that show how to exercise while sitting down. Originally created by an althlete who had injured her leg and was unable to exercise during her recuperation period. One of the web sites is called chairdancing.com I know Richard Simmons did a video too. Worth checking out and give you a good workout. When I broke my foot a few years ago, I purchased one thru Kaiser (my insurance carrier) that they carried at members services dept. It really was great. Don't beat yourself up over the weight gain. Focus on your accomplishments and on how well you have done. You definitely will get the weight back off. Big Hugs, Mary

Hi -- I hardly post on this board any more but was stopping by and wanted to respond. What most people don't realize that post operatively at 15- 20% bounce back weight is to be expected. That is within the normal range. Just tells you that the surgery blessings are over. But you do still have a tool you can use. Now it will be 80% and 20% the surgery. Calories do count - protien does count. Go back to what you know. I keep up with my support group and weigh-in faithfully at weigh****chers. Keeps me normal. My goal for the holidays is not to gain any weight. I do have to work at it now. I seem to play with about 5 lbs up and 5 lbs down. Hang in there and do what you already know how to do. Don't let the scales get the best of you. Keep on top of it. Debra

Hi Jill - First of all, as with the others, sorry to hear about your family issues; I lost my mom this past summer, so I can relate some to what you're going through. For many of us WLSers, food used to be what we used for comfort, and often, I even now find myself falling back to it in times of stress and/or emotional upheaval. One thing that's important for those of us over 2 years to remember, is that the lower intestine does regrow some of the villi it uses to absorb stuff... Per the last studies I read, by 2 years, we're back to absorbing near 100% of the carbs we eat... (we still malabsorb fats (think it's around 50-70% absorbtion) and proteins (similar, 50-70% absorbtion, or something along those lines..) So if we're using carbs as comfort food (which tends to be MY pattern I know), then we're back to regaining weight we lost, again - what's happened to me over the past few months. Even 170 lbs is a great achievement, and you need to make sure that you aren't beating yourself up too badly for gaining back some... More importantly than crucifying youself for the gain is a) realize HOW FAR YOU'VE COME, and b) to get back on track. When all else fails, go back to basics - go back to measuring out meals, protein shakes (my surgeon only approves protein shakes if you are using them as MEAL REPLACEMENT rather than as supplement/snack, but a protein shake is better than grabbing the chips, lol; your surgeon may have a different opinion, and many do..), drinking lots of water (look at the pouch rules for dummies, posted all over the place here on OH), and trying as hard as possible to avoid snacking (which can be a huge battle). If you must snack, try things that are protein-based instead of carb-based, like beef jerky (although it can be high in sodium), nuts, etc. In regards to exercise - Have you thought about looking into some of the machines that work on upper body instead of lower body (ie: "running with your arms", or using swimming as exercise, or even maybe recumbent stationary bike - all things that might be easier on your knees. Things like yoga are also very low impact, increase flexibility, burn more calories than you think and can also help with stress. There are a number of Yahoo Groups for grief, I'm sure, if there aren't any local groups. Again, my thoughts are with you, but don't beat yourself up too much -- you've come quite a long way already, and done a lot better than many of us - myself included -- ....N