Who's out there???

I love this board and really enjoy spending time here. I thought it might be a fun idea if we all list ourselves so we know who's in our group of little Mayers. I know some of you don't like to post and just like to read, but just this once maybe you could come out and 'reveal'??? I wonder how many of us there are?

My name is Deanna and I live in Oregon. I had my lap RNY on May 9th and I've lost a total of 85 pounds so far! I have about 40 to go until I reach my doctors goal but I would secretly love to get down lower than their goal of 180 for me! I'm a stay at home mom to 2 children, a boy and girl ages 2 and 6. I'm having a hard time getting my protein in every day. And just the past couple of days my desire to "graze" during the day has returned. I physically don't feel hungry but my mind is playing terrible games with me and telling me to snack even though I don't need it. Let me tell you, I'm having a horrible battle going on in my head over this!!! Anyone else finding these feelings are returning? Deanna

Hello all, My name is Carrie and I live in Chicago, Illinois. I had my lap RNY on May 9th and I have lost 43 lbs. I have about 60 lbs to go to reach my goal of 150. I am having a hard time getting my water in. The most I can get is about 3 to 4 glasses a day. I also have a hard time getting motivated to exercise. But I am working on that with the help of friends and family. I think it is really easy to get all my protein in.....what helps me is fitday.com. I just started and realized that I probably get about 100 grams of protein in a day. The key for me is a protein shake in the am and that is between 40 and 50 grams alone!

Me too Deanna. I know exactly what you mean about the snacking. I've been really fighting it the last few days. Today I gave in and snacked on some chips and then felt horrible after - my body really didn't want them. I guess I leant my lesson. Maybe we are thirsty instead. I heard somewhere that a lot of the time we misread the signals our bodies give out - this is everyone not just WLS people and think we want food when we really need fluid. I think I'm going to try drinking when I get the snack attack next time and see what happens.

My name is Rick Bedard, I'm 44 and I live in League City, Texas (just south of Houston). I had LAP RNY on May 8th and have lost 99 lbs so far and have been stuck there for the past 4 days. I thought I'd hit the century mark over the weekend but I guess I stalled for now. I have been having a hard time getting in all the protein, water and exercise I need to but decided today to really work on it. I worked out this morning and met my goals on water and protein so maybe I'll get out of this stall. I've got a lonf way to got though. I set my goal to 195 just because I wanted to see if I could get below 200. At 6'4" though that might be too low especially if I continue to work out like I plan to. I think I got my hunger back last week though and probably another reason for the stall. I find myself hungry and eating too much lately. I ate at my parents house and sisters house both evenings over the weekend and ate more than I should have. I need to stop that for sure! Oh, I also have a hard time not drinking anything during meals so I really need to stop that bad habit too.

Great idea Ruth! I'm Heather Burke and I'm a post-doc in San Francisco. I had lap RNY on 5/17/06, and have lost a total of 70lbs (49 since surgery). My 3 month anniversary was last week. I have been religiously getting in protein and water, and slightly less compliant getting enough calcium and magnesium every day, though I am trying to work on that. I have chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, which basically means that I tire easily and have chronic muscle pain. These symptoms get exacerbated by exercise, but the fitter I am, the better the symptoms are. However, whenever I "step it up" in terms of intensity, I feel bad the following day. Does anyone else have these problems? So, my exercise pattern seems to be 2 days of exercise, 1 day of rest, then 2 days of exercise, then 1 day of rest, etc. I have noticed in the last couple of weeks that some hunger and food cravings have returned. Last weekend I had a craving, and went into a coffee shop and bought a croissant. I wanted to chow it down, but I had 1 bite and then threw the rest out. Even though I threw it out, it really scared me that I had such a strong craving for carbs again. I have a big fear that I will regain the weight once the cravings return. Since past efforts at dieting have always resulted in failure, I have some fear that I should not get my hopes up. At the same time, I'm thrilled to be losing weight, and I feel so much better! Anyway, is anyone else struggling with these feelings? Ok, this has turned into a book...sorry! Heather

Hi Heather! I can REALLY relate to your croissant craving! I bought a bag of sugar free candy the other day and then I got home and said "what the heck was I thinking???" I don't really need it! I ate one piece and then threw the rest of the bag away. I also fear what will happen when the cravings return in full force. It's scary to me because I don't want to get my hopes up either ... I don't want to have invested all of this for nothing! I'm glad to know that there is someone else struggling with the same thoughts as I am! Hang in there ... you're doing GREAT with your weight loss! Deanna

Thanks Deanna! its great to know I'm not the only one thinking these things. Thanks for your note! Heather

Hi Heather Yeh, I'm struggling with cravings too. My head thinks of all these things it wants to eat. Today I REALLY wanted some candy, but thankfully the idea of dumping on it won out, but yes, I'm concerned about these feelings coming back. Deanna has said the same thing - Rick too, so at least we know it's not just us - we're all in it together which is some consolation. Maybe it's just a phase and will pass soon - I hope so.

Thanks for your note Ruth. I guess we are all struggling with these issues. Thanks again! Heather