Hi, all. I've been corresponding with Mechelle, and we are trying to support each other for getting back on track. Personally, I find habits easiest to build if I focus on one area for thirty days. I stopped taking my vitamins when my daughter paralyzed in a car accident a year and one half ago, and now it is time for me to take good care of me. The one change in January we are going to focus MOST on (all getting back on track things like eating good food, not drinking caffeine, exercising are good to try) taking our vitamin(s). I've been reading a lot of posts on our board with people like us having trouble not losing all the weight, or having the weight creep up, so we decided to invite you to join us in our quest! Have you taken your vitamins today? Jaime

Geez!! I know exactly how you are feeling...I had my surgery in April of 2004 and have gained 13 lbs this year! My clothes are feeling tighter and I am feeling discouraged and upset with myself! I came back to OH for the support and to try and get back on track!

I'm so glad to see people posting on this! I, too, am struggling, and back after being gone a long time. For me, I left because my daughter was paralyzed in a terrible car accident. My whole FAMILY has gained weight. i'm with the person who said I hit a low of 157 for a minute, and I'm up to 166-169. I used to waver between 158 and 163. I had a bony spur grow into my spinal cord, so I am on a ton of medicine, and can't exercise at all. I JUST got back into water therapy, and have been told i have to have ANOTHER cervical surgey to remove the hardware. I long to be free of all the weight I set out to lose. My doc wants to see me at 140. All I can do is take a day at a time. I got into eating candy which stopped my weight loss. I still can't eat very much at a sitting; for me, it's WHAT I choose to eat. I'd love to continue this kind of thread, and help each other out. I've always been told to eat 1/3 of what I used to eat, and a mixture of protein, carbs, etc. I just gave up sugar, because it is my downfall, and hopefully that will help me. I've never counted calories ... but I think it's more important for me to eat every 3 hours in small amounts, focusing on protein, and getting in my water. Oh, and I need to take vitamins again. i think I struggle with cravings bc I don't take my vits. Hope to talk with you all soon, so we can all get "back on track." Jaime

hi denise, i too was scared at the weight that i have gained in the past year. we worked so hard to lose this and took such a drastic thing to do it. the lowest i was at was 157 i want to be there again! right now i'm at 167 I hate that its 10 pounds more. I've had to work very hard to keep it right there too. Then again no one told me that this surgery was going to be forever. I read and heard all the storys about how people can gain the weight back. We still have our tool and we need to use it correctly. I too eat every 3 hours. My blood sugar would drop after my surgery if I didn't. Thats one reason why I'm having a hard time losing that additional 10 pounds. I panic each time it goes up closer to the 170 mark. What I did find was that now almost 3 years out the blood sugar doesn't always drop if I go longer than 3 hours. I think it was my fear of it dropping because I hated the way it made me feel. My heart would race, I would feel dizzy, and hollow. sounds would seem like they were coming from a millions miles away. I couldnt think clearly. Now who would want to feel that way? Anyone would take a snack with them. I use to carry protein bars in my purse to avoid that! Little by little I would wait before I would eat something between meals. I wanted to see what would happen. I wasn't having those blood sugar levels drop liek they did when i was closer to just having had the surgery. yes they still would drop but it got to be longer than every 3 hours. And i did find too if I waited and didn't snack right away but had somethign to drink I couldmake it go longer sometimes right to a meal time. I still carry a snack with me in my purse but what I've done is take a look at what I'm carrying. When our blood sugar drops drastically we need soemthing to boost it up. The protein bars are great but protein takes longer to get us back to normal to what our body needs and what it needs is something quick. Most of the protein bars that I find are high calories. I always make sure to get sugar free ones but then they have alot of sugar alcohol which i can't process very well. gives me gas...So i keep a small box of raisins with me in my purse! the raisins have sugar in them but its a more natural sugar that boosts the blood sugar level. I dont' always eat something now between meals. I've got it so that I don't eat those raisins every day. I drink water, decaf tea or coffee, sometimes a low fat glass of milk in between meals too. that helps to keep me full. The milk is good casue it gives us some calcium that we need and it has protein in it too. thats a good bet! I dont know if that is a help and i'm no doctor but it helps me alittle bit. We now are normal sized and along with that have the worries of normal sized people. my always thin daughter watches what she eats every day. she eats healthy and excersizes daily too. thats a biggie! the excersize when we do it daily helps us to maintaine and lose. Good luck and god bless, pam

I have a friend who is having a lap-banding 1/11/07. I referred her to OH.com some time ago. I don't know if the site has been helpful to her, but it reminded me of how helpful it was to be before, and just after my surgery- 2+yrs ago. I want to get support here again, as I have gained some of my weight back. I began @ 282, 4/04. All time low was 7/05 @153#. (After Gall Bladder surgery) I've gained to 179#, and am as scared as can be about where I am headed if I don't do something about it FAST! I am renewing my commitment to Slim & Tone. Trying to get in there 3x/wk. I eat about every three hrs. This, I think might be too much... I need to test going longer, and not having snacks available at my desk @ wk. In the past, if I waited more than 3 hrs, my sugar would drop, and I'd get nauseated. My goal is to see 1/2 my all-time high by our 3rd yr anniversary. April 2007. 4 full months to loose it, and some changes to make. My clothes are tight, I don't want to buy more(especially larger) stuff. By reading the most recent posts I see that we're all in varying degrees going throught the same thing... At least I don't feel all alone in this gain. But THIS gain is a big loss for me, and I don't feel good about me or the things I do...