I am a slacker...

Okay, So much has happened since my surgery and I have had no time to do anything even get on and post or check in with my fellow "loosers". I didn't have a computer for a while and I just never got back to doing my posting. Anyway, I am seriously having anxiety issues. I stopped loosing weight at any good rate around 6 months, Dr. said eat less carbs. I did and practically gave up eating everything except meat, cheese and raw veggies. I still only lost like 3 pounds every 3-4 weeks. Sometimes I would go for 3 or 4 weeks with no loss at all and then suddenly loose 6-8 pounds. Now I have gone 5 weeks with no loss. I am eating carbs but I slipped during the holidays and added sugar back in to my diet and now am struggling to detox fom it again. I have also had some serious health issues not necessarily related to my Roux-n-Y and am having surgery Monday am. I was not able to eat anything for more than 2 weeks and was in and out of the hospital for fluids and pain management and lost nothing! Not 1 pound! When I added food back in a week ago I gained 2 pounds. Now I need advice and words of encouragement I think. I have lost about 110lbs so far and feel like a failure. I haven't even been in to the doctor for about 4 months because the last time I was in she had no answers. I can't take my vitamins-I have had problems from the beginning and neither my Dr.or the nuts hads hany helpful ideas I hadn't already tried. Maybe I am just a whiner. Any help would be great, even if it's just to say suck it up. Thanks for listening. Kim

Kim, I found that my body did this roller coaster thing throughout. I would lose a bunch of weight and then level off, then lose a bunch more and level off. I never worried about carbs. I simply watched the sugars (always less than 6g per serving) and fats (same) and calories (reasonable for the amount of protein...ie lots of protein then 250-300 was ok...low protein then it had to drop accordingly). I did find that raising my protein levels would almost always cause me start losing again. I also found that exercise (any exercise) helped as well. Walking, running, anything that got my heart going. Now...when I started training for 5K's and 1/2 marathons...my weight went down with no issues...but I had to increase my protein to about 120-140g per day and I also increased my calcium (but that was to cover the beating to my bones by running so many miles on pavement). I have leveled at 182-187 (at 6' 1", that puts me just inside the normal range for BMI). Depending on my level of training, I increase or decrease my protein levels. One other thing to watch. You should measure youself. I found that when I would level out, my body would continue to change. I would lose inches around my mid section or chest or legs. It seemed that even though the lbs were not coming off, the body was still changing. Keep your spirits up and good luck with the surgery.

you are not a failure! you have lost over 100 pounds. do not compare your journey to anyone elses. how many calories are you taking in each day? you might not be getting in enough food so your body is holding onto what fat you have left. make sure you get a min of 60 grams of protein a day. cut back on cheese--high in sodiumn. drink at least 64 oz of water and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take your vitiams. Try chewables. I take walgreens version of chewable centruim they are orange flavor. citrical has petite calcium pills that are easy to swallow and your b-12 is very important. you need to have you labs drawn sometime next month. talk to your surgeon maybe something is wrong with your pouch--you can have a mechanical faliure--if you are concerned have your dr do an upper gi. but please remember you are not a failure. mj

I've been finding alot of people's stories that are exactly like yours...and I am one of them. I had my surgery on March 15, 2007. I lost about 108 lbs by around seven months out. I haven't lost any more...I have lost some inches and visiablly slimed some though. I don't eat perfect and I don't exercise. When I start to feel like I should be smaller I just look at my old pictures and realise how very far I have come. I've gone from being considered morbidly obese to being overweight. Most people in the US are overweight...I can handle that! I've gone from a tight size 28 to 18s...I can shop in the normal section of stores!!! I don't have to buy the plus size anythings anymore. I can wear my husbands t-shirts. Try and find some of the positive things that are happening and bring out an old picture and put a new picture beside it to see the differences. When I look in the mirror I don't see a big difference...but those pictures sure do tell a tale! I don't take my vitamins either....shame shame shame on us. It's hard for me to develop the habit is really my only problem. I do eat alot of other foods that are high in vitamins so I think that's why my blood work is just fine...I make sure to get it checked regularly. I really like the fruit flavored calcium supplements that are really for antacid...they taste like candy to me. I don't like the chewable vitamins so I just take small multi-vitamins with iron from the dollar store. They are cheap and tiny so they are easy to swallow. As long as I don't take the calcium supplements at the same time as the multi-vitamins there is no problem. You can also go to the doctor and get b-12 vitamin shots...it's once a month and that will at least take care of that issue. A 5 week stall isn't that bad at all. Your body has to get used to changes and your body will shut off weight loss if your not getting in enough water, protein, or calories. Your body will also shut down if you start exercising like crazy. Your doctors should be very supportive of you. My surgeon has never had a goal weight for me...it was just to lose some weight and keep it off. Other docs would say I need to lose quite a bit more weight...but mine is realistic. I'm in the overweight cateogry which is much better than morbidly obese or obese. His goal for me is to stay around the same weight I am right now. What should I be eating and exercising? He says I should try and eat good and exercise more...but whatever I'm doing to keep the weight I am at is good by him. I really like this sort of outlook...he isn't pressuring me to be perfect which would just put me under stress and prep me for failure. Your doing great. Good luck getting to a place where you are happy.