HELP!

I don't even know where to start. I had surgery on February 5th and have just had my 2 month anniversary. I am officially down 30 lbs. I know that's not a very good weight loss. I think it's due to my willpower. I am actually crying as I am typing this. I have absolutely no willpower whatsoever. I know I just had surgery, but now that I know I can eat many things, I have days where I absolutely lose it and today is one of them. Today, I forgot to bring my lunch to work. For breakfast I ate some egg beaters, lunch a half of a grilled cheese sandwich, and for dinner 2 ounces of Select Grains Cereal. Thats not the bad part. In between my meals, I managed to get in an ENTIRE bag of Welch's fruit snacks and an ENTIRE bag of Chex Mix in turtle flavor. I felt so sick after the Chex Mix I had to throw up (dump) at work. I have binged on things like that before AFTER my surgery. But I can't stop eating. I always feel like I need to have something to nibble on. I have tried just gum, mints, or what have you, but it doesn't work. I don't know what to do. When I'm at work, I don't lose weight. It's not until the weekend when I keep busy or have my husband around me that I am on the straight and narrow and thats when I drop the pounds. So as a result I have only been losing 1.6 to 2 lbs a week. Does anyone feel this way? Am I the only one having problems controlling my eating? I feel so guilty in typing this but I have to get it out there to you guys because I know that you guys will give it to me straight. Does anyone have any opinions or ideas. I don't know what to do. My nut said I should only be consuming 2 ounces at each meal and no snacking. I dont know what to do. PLEASE HELP!

I had surgery 2-21-07 and have been stuck at 30 pounds for the past 3 weeks and I am so discouraged. I try not to be but I can't help it. I don't have many things that I can't tolerate but I don't eat many carbs. I do get hungry. I thought that with less than 800 calories a day, when my body is probably used to 3000 calories, I would lose but the scales aren't budging. I don't know what to say to help you, I just understand how bad you feel. ...Jill

I had surgery on 2/1 and have lost 60 lbs, but I have not eaten the way I should be. I drink a ton of water though and do get some exercise in. I also feel like I should be nibbling on things at work, and I do, like cheez its and popcorn. I also get hamburger patties when I forget my lunch at work and nibble on that, I as well have vomitted at work (which is the worst possible experience) and have seen my self fall into bad habits. The key is it stay focused. Make it a point to bring healthy snacks for you to munch on while at work and always pack your lunch. This way you can still munch and nibble but do it healthy. Don't concentrate on the scale, did you measure yourself? I guarantee you have lost inches. I know that the thing that helps me is the ammount of water that I drink. I have the unfortunate problem of things not making me sick or dump unless i over eat. So basically I can tolerate anything which is not cool, so I have a habit of just eating it and forgetting I had surgery....that is till 15 min after i eat it I am puking. Don't get discouraged, we are only two months out and our mind has to catch up to our bodies. We still think we can eat the same, but in actuality we can not! We need to train our minds that our bodies have changed so don't get discouraged concentrate on eating healthier......make it consume your life for awhile and then it will become habit. Good Luck! Nicole

i would suggest bringing your water to work.. and sip all day .. this way your hands are always moving.. I add a profect to my water bottle .. then i am constantly getting water and protein all day long.. try this and maybe your hungry feelings will disappear. From what I hear, from my nut, the protein keeps you full longer and tricks your body. So maybe by drinking something all day with protein in it, you will feel less likely to nibble on things that are bad for you... We ALL have bad days, just put them behind you and start fresh again, go back to basics! Water all day, protein first, veggies, then carbs Just keep your mind on track and i know you can do it! Good luck Brooke

Ok, you asked for it straight so here it is, I am not trying to be a bad person but I want to tell you that you are eating the wrong things for snacks. You shouldnt be having gum and mints, etc. You should try almonds, cashews, if you must have snakcs. I suggest staying away from breads completely! Have the slice of cheese but no bread. My Dr. said no pasta, rice or breads because they have no nutritional value and are empty calories. I had my surgery on 2/20/07 and have lost 46lbs so far, I was stuck a few times but started loosing again. If you keep snacking all day you will always think you need to. IT'S OK TO FEEL HUNGRY. What I do is put a scoop of protien powder in my coffee in the morning(23gr of protien) and make a shake to take to work with me. I make enough for two servings, have one around 9:30-10:00 for breakfast(snack) and then the other for lunch. They taste good and I make them last about 15 minutes each time. Around 2:30-3:00 I get the feeling of snacking and I try to find a handfull of nuts or something, if I dont find anything, I just dont snack. I know its hard to deal with because I am just like the rest of us and was used to never being hungry because all there is to snack on at my work is junk food, it never ends! The munchies usually subside about 20 minutes later and I get occupied in my work. For dinner I only have the protien part of it, I always cook a full meal for my family for thier nutrition, but I sit with only the meat part and take 15 minutes to get it down. You need to know that YOU ARE IN CONTROL! When you feel weak at work, take a walk around the parking lot. You get in some excersize and you can clear your mind of the bad food thoughts. I am not coming down on you and I dont want you to think you cannot succeed at this because YOU CAN SUCCEED! Use this tool that the surgery has given you and work on changing your lifestyle habits. It has been hard for all of us and we are here for your support! I think you really need to get the shakes in as a part of your diet plan, I buy a Whey Protien powder(chocolate flavor) at WalMart and the make fruit punch and vanilla too. They are higher in protien than the slimfast or atkins shakes. YOU CAN DO THIS! I have confidence in you, change your habits and keep me posted.

Hi Angel. I know exactly how you feel and applaud you for coming forward and being honest! I went on a business trip this week and boy did I ALLOW old habbits to come back, I ate things I absolutely shouldn't have eaten! I would fill a plate with food I couldn't eat but presurgery I would have eaten. I had this struggle especially this week, I thought well since I am away from the family and this is a mini vacation, I could eat whatever I wanted. Luckily for me I didn't eat but a few bites and I also got sick . So that really stopped the overeating. I have to just get back on track. I have to! There is no other option for me, BUT I would do what others have suggested, drink water all day, and if you have to snack, find something healthy to snack on. Buy something and put it in your car or leave them in your desk for when you feel the urge to snack. If you would like to talk about it more, email me mookers_e@yahoo. I know exactly how you feel, it is so hard to get you old habits out of your head (atleast for me) but you can start over. You can do. Just say a prayer, keep water and get your protein in. Excersing wouldn't hurt either lol, I find that when I excerse I am very aware of what I put in my mouth and don't want to put anything in my body that's bad, for me I get a sense of accomplishment and that keeps me away from high fat and carbs.

Hey! It's OK.. You know that I am right there with you. We have the same date and I have lost exactly 30 lbs as well. Yes, your food choices could probably be a little better, but focusing on the numbers does not help. My doctor had to break it down for me. I have 97 lbs to lose to be at goal. I have lost 30lbs. That is 30% of my excess weight. That is exactly where I should be about 2 months out. Some one with 150lbs to lose will have a different ratio. 40% would be 45 pounds. Just beacuse they lost more doesn't mean they are doing better. I'm not sure what your excess is, but from pevious conversations I think we are right there together. Hang in there. Make better choices, but don't beat yourself up. Remember the chcicken wing story I told you? I won't dare admit to the awful thing I did just today. This is a tool not a cure all. There will be bumps along the way. PM me if you need to talk more.

I just have to tell you... this was a very kind and thoughtful post. Heck, I even feel better!