Is anyone else feeling like a failure??

I just can't seem to lose anymore. I've been up and down the same few pounds for months now. I've upped my exercise, kept up with my water and protein but I just simply cannot seem to loose anymore. I feel like I'm a failure. I know -- I've lost over 100 and I'm much healther than I've been in years, but I'd still love to lose more. Any one else feel this way? 4/14/03 - 346/214/??

Ethel, You and I have the same surgery date. I have lost 105 and too have not lost any since 11 months post op. I still would like to loose another 15 but cannot seem to, my problem is I do the same exercise each day and need to change but I love walking. I have read that some go to weight loss programs to try and get the rest off. One problem that I seem to have is I have found myself snacking on wrong food then not eating a proper meal so I am going to start writting down what I eat and see what I can change. Do not feel like a failure look at your past and present and see how far you have come. kc

Hi Ethel, I can relate to what you are going through. The last three monts I have lost and gained the same 5-6 pounds. On top of that I started BC pills last month which put on an additional 5 pounds. Although I have lost over 120 pounds, sometimes it's hard not to feel discouraged. I still want to be below 200; even if it's 199, but I have started to come to the realization that maybe this is where my weight loss will stop. I am sure that plastics would take away another 10-15 pounds, so I am contemplating wether to explore that. I have good days and bad day, but everyday I realize that I am happier and healthier than I have been in 20 years, no matter what the scale reads!!!! Erica 334/212/?

You are by far a failure. It's normal to get stuck at a certain weight. Sometimes, your body is really comfortable at a certain weight, and it's very hard to get past it. If you look at your past, were you at the weight you are now, for an extended period of time? In my situation, I've been stuck between 160-165 lbs for a long time. BUT, this is what I weighed in high school, and my body likes it! I would love to lose another 10, but I am at goal so I can't complain too much. Hang in there, you've done a great job. Congrats! Kim Open RNY April 2003 Lost 90 lbs -- at goal

I am in the same place. Lost 100 lbs exactly by 10 months and not another since. My weight has not budged. I get motivated every once in a while to exercise more, drink more water and increase the protein, but it doesn't work quickly and I don't stay with it. I know I'm eating too many carbs. Glad to see that I am not alone. I'd like to lose 30-40 more lbs. but I just don't see that happening. 4/14/03 311/210/??

I had my surgery april 2003. I lost all my weight, 120 pounds. Now i do feel like a failure since haloween. even though i lost my weight with haloween and going to my class reunion, etc., i gained about 4 pounds and i cannot get it off. i exercise daily. i feel like i'm eating too much and the other night someone mentioned to me it looks like i eat more than i used to. last year this time of year i did not find difficult but this year i do. melanie

I think maybe that this is normal at this point because alot of us were told at 18 mo's out that we would be "done" loosing. My body went through a strange thing, I didn't loose much weight from christmas last year until this summer. Maybe a couple of pounds, since then I've lost again. I think that we are just in that mind set that we are done and if we haven't lost everything we wanted to loose, or decided later that we wanted to loose that we are "failing". I weigh like 135 now on good days. 128-141 I bounce around inbetween those figures. I try not to weigh myself much anymore becausw I still have this mentality that I need to loose... I think I will still have that mindset at 110 and look like a crackhead. Because I don't look very pretty even at 128. I know when I start going low that I need to try and put on a few pounds but my head tells me I'm being a pig and going to gain everything back and cheating. I didn't eat any sugar for the first 16 months, slowly the last few months I've been eating some sugar. My head tells me for that reason I'm going to end up back where I was also. But the difference now is that I eat much much smaller portions. I eat more times throughout the day. I eat and enjoy much healthier food. I do endulge now and then in something sweet but for the most part my diet is pretty good. Some days it scares me how little I'm able to eat and keep down and other days its how much I can eat. I don't know, I try not to analyze it too much, just keep an eye on things, stay healthy, stay in tune to my body because it tells me when I need more vitamins/water, etc. I don't think I'll ever be happy because I have a horrible self image problem. Or maybe a correct one... I don't know... But I'm happy when I don't think about it and just try to live my life to the fullest, which it certainly is right now.

I've lost about 130 lbs since surgery and have been going up and down since May...and I have about 200 more to lose...so yes I feel like a failure. I plan on having hernia repair next summer and while I wanted to be at a lower weight, I think I am just going to go ahead and do it...since I don't know if I will ever get to a lower weight.

Ethel - I can sympathize. I've lost 231 lbs so far, but I haven't lost any weight in probably 4 months now. I know that they told me before my surgery that you can expect to lose 50-75% of your excess body weight, and I'm pretty much at 75% now, so I guess I lost what I was supposed to. So, I think that now we just have to diet like normal people, and it's very slow, hard work. I don't think we should get too down on ourselves since we've accomplished something very difficult. But, I know, for myself, I need to cut out more of the junk that I've been eating, etc. Are there places you can cut more? Good luck and don't stop trying!

hello everyone, I too can relate. I've lost about 110 since my surgery date. Once my body got to about 215 the weight loss stopped. I still continue to exercise but at 3 years out it gets hard to stay encouraged and focussed about excercising. I got dancing twice a week. that keeps me moving too. I do still feel that the surgery has given me a new lease on life, so none of us are failures. It's just get harder. Hang in there. That's what I tell myself. Just keep trying.