How are we doing?

Hello fellow Marchers, The board has been a bit slow lately and I was wondering how everyone is doing? I would still like to lose about 25 pounds. I've been stuck for the last 6 months. It is nothing but my own fault though - snacking and no exercise. If someone had told me last November that I would be snacking and not exercising, I would say they were crazy. It is funny how we can get in a rut and it is so hard to pull ourselves out of it. I know I haven't been visiting the boards lately because to be honest I don't want to read of others success. I know that is terrible and on one hand I am very happy for the success that others have had, but....it does make us look at our own failures. Hope everyone is doing okay and I want to encourage all other Marchers to hang in there. Corgimom 306/174/150

Hi there.....I know exactly how you're feeling, because I'm in the same boat! I stopped coming to the boards because I was feeling like a failure. Although I consider myself at goal, I'm really not eating that great, I never exercise and I'm not even drinking enough water anymore. I wish I could be a model citizen and say that WLS has totally reformed me, but I just can't at this point. I still do pretty well, but I find myself feeling sick quite often due to overeating. I just pray that it doesn't catch up with me. Hang in there and try to seek support here and IRL. It really does keep you accountable. You're doing great! Stacey 283/160/161

wow I thought it was just me that was feeling like a huge failure. I've discovered that I can eat most anything I want to. Except milk, that is a nono. I don't exercise at all and I have thoughts about food all the time. Its very frustrating. I'm with you on the snacking thing. I would have laughed at something that said that I wouldn't be exercising every single day. I'm still about 25 lbs away from my own personal goal. I've not lost anything in 6 months either!

It definitely has slowed down, and so has the weight loss. The old food addictions have reared their ugly side and the snacking has definitely had a negative effect. As far as exercising, my gym stopped offering the group classes I was taking so I cancelled my membership. It has been a challenge to stay motivated to exercise by myself. I think I will check out our community healthplex to see what they offer. The good news is that I'm very close to my goals. The surgeon and I actually agree on what that should be and I'm 17-20 lbs from there now. Hopefully by the end of summer, I'll have gotten back with the program and be down to maintenance weight. Thanks for being a cheer leader for us Marchers. Toni 267/157/140ish

Hello all, I,m glad to see some honest people posting about their experiences. I too have stopped loseing weight about six months ago. I know I've have gotten in a bad habit of snacking and I'm not real good about getting my supplements in. I barely drink any fluids throughout the day I just don't feel thirsty. I've gotten to the point that if I wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom I grab a snack before going back to bed. I'm realizing how many of my old habits have returned. And to be truthful there's not really any one at home who could relate to how I'm feeling. Their thinking would be to just stop all the bad habits and do what I did early on after my surgery. I want to thank you all for being honest it helps me take a better look at myself.

Hi there, I've been feeling really stalled out lately, too. I have lost 139 and have 42 to go to get to my goal of 170. I've been sloppy with my food choices at times, and I have not exercised regularly for the past few months. I swore when I had this surgery that I was not going to let the "window of opportunity" pass me by while I did the "same old same old" that got me in this mess to begin with: bad food choices, lack of exercise. What I've accomplished so far has been very encouraging. I feel good, and I'm happy about the change in my appearance. But I can't help thinking I could do better. Clearly, I can do better. So. Thanks for your posts, Corgimom & all *****plied. I am not ready to give up on myself. I am not going to just sit here while the clock is ticking away the best chance to lose weight I've ever had. The day after first reading this, I went down to the Y and signed up with a personal trainer. I went in my workout duds, and when I was finished with my orientation, I got on the treadmill for 45 mins. At 15 months out, even with lots of stalls, I'm still losing, sometimes still at a pretty good clip. Even without regular exercise the whole time. I will stay stuck for weeks and months...then BAM, another few pounds are gone. I have 13 pounds to lose to get to ONE-derland. That is my next goal, and I plan on getting there. If I kick it up with exercise, and clean up my food choices, and still don't lose, well OK. Then I'll accept that I've gotten all the weight-loss benefit from this surgery that I'm going to get. But I really want to TRY before I am too much further out. More than that, I want to be able to look back and know in my heart that I did my part, that I received the blessings of a complication-free surgery and easy recovery that I and my many supporters prayed for, and I did my part to take full advantage of these blessings. Thanks for getting me thinking about all of this...and DOING something. Best wishes to you & all for continued post-op success, too! Kathy

Corgimom, Thanks for this post. I don't come to the March message board very often, I stay mostly on the California board, but I decided to check this out today and I'm glad I did. I am at a stall as well and It's probably due to what I am doing and not doing. I still have about 35 pounds that I would like to lose. I've lost a total of 112 pounds, 87 of that I've lost post-op. I haven't exercise consistanly at all since I had surgery, so that's not a recent change. I can eat more and I can eat ANYTHING. I don't dump at all. I've been working with friends recently to get back on track and refocus my efforts to lost this weight. I had gotten into a habit of having a late night snack. It wasn't that I was hungry, it was just that a habit. I think I may have kicked that habit and I'm now working really hard to make sure that what I eat is good for me. I only paid attention to protein before, now I am starting to pay closer attention to carbs and calories. And I need to get that exercise more of a routine than and occasional endeavor. Thanks for asking, Suzanne 285/173/135

"If nothing changes, nothing changes!" :-D was the mantra offered up by my running coach early this year. I say it to myself daily, and it reminds me that each moment is an opportunity to make a better choice. I'm not seeking perfection, :halo: rather a complete change of my thoughts about food, nutrition, and exercise. Having had a hysterectomy, bladder repair, and full TT with muscle repair seven weeks ago, I'm even more aware of how that mantra and this TOOL has changed my life. I'm itching to get back to exercising because it has become so very important to me, and I actually enjoy it! :jump: I admitted to myself last October that I was my own worst obsitcle to change. :idea: And could I ever come up with excuses why I didn't have time or resources to exercise. So, I started walking three miles three times a week. I'd walk for five minutes and jog for 30 seconds. This is Jeff Galloway's method. By April 1, 2006, (just one day after my one-year WLS anniversary) I could run a mile in 12.5 minutes and completed a 10K without stopping or walking! :thumbsup: The second thing I did was purchase one of those exercise balls and took it to my office. I moved the chair out and replaced it with that ball so that I was literally exersizing all day long. (I also used one at home when at the computer:type: or watching TV. Just sitting on that ball is exercise!) I started looking at things around me as potential exercise equipment--the stairs, the parking lot, the wall. :cool: I'd climb the stairs up and down until I felt "the burn." I'd park as far out in the parking lot as possible and RUN to the entrance of the store. Once done shopping, I'd run with my cart back to the car. While I didn't see it a good thing to do push ups on the floor while at work, I could do them against the wall! The more I exercised, the more in control of my life I felt. This led to more exercise. More exercise led to a better sense of self, improvement of my health, a more toned body, and a zeal for life nothing else in my 44 years could ever compare! Savanah

looks like many of us are in the same situation. Once an addict, always an addict. I am terrified that I will gain it back. It is funny how those bad habits can come back. A good thing happened to me today, though. I had to have an MRI. I usually have one every year. A couple of years back, I had begun to feel claustrophobic , because I was so big. It was awful being squeezed into that little tube, I felt like I had been buried alive! It is amazing what losing 110 lbs will do! Instead of insisting on the wider, non-claustrophobic machine, I was able to feel comfortable in the regular sized one! Now, I did keep my eyes closed for the entire procedure, but I was totally relaxed. I am so thankful that I have come as far as I have. Little victories like the MRI, going to the Obesity Help conference in Pittsburgh in May, talking to people on the message boards, these are the things that will keep us from getting too far off track! Let' s resolve to make at least one change for the better and just start there. For me, it will be eating when I am hungry, not because it's time to eat, or emotions.

I know this post was made a while ago. . but omg this is just what I am going through right now. This is my first time back on these boards in at least 8 months and the reason why I did not want to come back is because I feel like I'm failing. I too do not dump and I have had so many emotional problems that lead me to a scary trip towards becoming an alcoholic. I've stopped the drinking but I went right back to food. I have not gained weight yet, but with these habits that I have I am not going to kid myself and think that it won't come back. I actually would like to lose another 40-50 pounds, but I am not sure where to start. . .or how to get myself back on track. I guess one step is coming back to the boards and reminding myself what made me want to do this in the first place. Pray for me and I will pray for all of you in this struggle. 320/200/150