I am 6 months out and have lost only 62 lbs.

Is this even close to normal? I started out at 275 lbs. and today I weigh in at 213 lbs. Is there anyone else out there that has only lost this much? Within the past few months I have averaged 5 lbs. per month. I know I need to up the exercise but it is so hard to do. I am really starting to feel hungry more often then I did just a couple of months ago. And that horrilbe sweet tooth is back in full swing! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I do my one protein shake in the morning, every morning, and I try to get as much protein in as posilble through food. Thanks, Paula

I would not say that you have failed and I would not say that you need to excersize, but I would say that you need to 're-evaluate' your progress. currently I am still on track. I eat 1.25 oz of SOLID protein at each meal first. that is CHICKEN/PORK/BEEF/FISH and then I eat another .75 oz of Leafy Green Veggies that is BROCCOLI/APARAGUS/BRUSSEL SPROUTS/SALAD. I am currently losing 2.5 lbs a week or 10 lbs a month which is precisely on target for RNY 3-6 months out. I do not compliment with high calorie protein shakes, I do eat 3 times a day, with occasionally 1 snac****ep my calories down to 425 a day. I do not feel hungry before 5 hours post meal. I have a horrible sweet tooth, but I must say no. the surgery cut out my stomache, not my brain. ;) soft protein is not solid protein. eggs, shakes and cheeses are soft proteins and they 'go right through you'

Thank you for your reply. You know? Maybe I should try to do what you are doing. You are such a great success story. I read your post always. Maybe that is why I am feeling so inadequate. LOL! Just kidding. That is pretty interesting about the eggs, shakes and cheese thing. I will keep that in mind. I need to go and stock up on the high density proteins, like chicken, beef etc. What kind of snacks do you eat? I do tend to snack on crackers and such. I do know that is bad. Thanks again. Paula

okay, techically I should not snack. heehee but then there is the GLARING reality of the situation, so I find a compromise. while I am not supposed to snack, the cold hard facts are that I do. we all do. so here is my 'snack' attack on my desk is two kinds of vitamins. flintstones and disney nutri-stix. those are my 4 a day, quickies. seriously if your gonna snack, make it a vitamin snack then over to the left is my HOLY CRAP I am STARVING stash. BEEF JERKEY. Pork Rinds and nuts. so maybe all it takes is a hand full (not literally) of pine nuts to hold me off for another hour. those are my snacks. lately I have been 'bad' and I have a box of cereal in here for snacks. I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT but I do do it. find something that is low fat, low sugar. I have plain cheerios hidden in my filing cabinet under my desk for DIRE emergencies of snack attack. I have also been known to stash a protein bar in my purse when I am going to be out running errands and no time to stop at wendys for chili and I just know that I am going to be missing meals. I nibble on that all day. lately I have been partaking of the 42g Protein ones simply because that is what my husband has in the house, not because they are low calorie or anything, they are total calorie bombs! but one a month will not sabotage me, one a week would, but not one a month.

Thank you for the great snack ideas. I need to cut it down to one a day and do sensible ones like the ones you do. Thanks again. Paula

ok.. so u are explaining this soft protein thing. My wls doc says I need to eat 900 calories a day and hard proteins are a little tough for me because I dont have an appetite so here's what I eat each day. B- Protein shake 35 grams protein...200 calories S- 2 oz cheese 10 grams of protein... 150 calories L- chilli... 15 grams of protein.... 250 calories D- Dense chicken maybe 3 oz and vegies/salad... 30 grams protein 200+ calories Makes it 90 grams of protein and 800-900 calories a day. I have lost 103 pounds, 12 just prior to surgery (i got sick) so I count that in. I've gone from size tight 22's/ loose 24's to size 8 (tight). R u saying soft proteins dont work and why? please explain.. If I could be doing better than I am I would love more info...

I would say that your program is working perfectly for you. a size 8 right now is fantastic. 'for me' when I eat 800-900 calories a day I do not lose. when I drink protein shakes and eat soft proteins, I get hungry sooner than 5-6 hours and want to eat again. my program has me consuming 2 oz a meal, 3 meals a day. I added in the snack, because I am a snack a holic, my program is trying to train me to use the hard proteins each day so that I pull the proteins out. I doubt that I can explain this really well, but: a 1 oz soft protein may have 8 grams of protein going in, but it passes through the digestive track in 1 hour and you only retain 1 gram of that protein, the rest is flushed out the system a 1 oz hard protein may have the same 8 grams of protein going in, but it passes through the digestive track in 5 hours, and you retain 5 grams of that protein, the rest is flushed out of the system if you combine that 1 oz hard protein with 1 oz of leafy green vegetable, getting your vitamin C in there without a carbohydrate like fruit, you bind the iron in that protein, and now you have 5 grams of protein AND a bind-able iron to keep up this, that and the other. the protein in a soft protein (shake / milk / cheese) actually works against the iron thing a ma bobby and you decrease the iron absorption and end up with decreased white blood count, decreased red blood count, and decreased Transferin as well as increased LDL and decreased HDL in the cholesterol as well as increased Triglycerides. (it has been my experience) I started on cottage cheese about two months ago, and this happened to me so now I am back to the basics, eating my chicken, fish, beef and pork, combining them with the leafy greens and getting the chemical binds with the proteins that I am ingesting, which it takes much less when doing this combination than if you were just consuming the liquid / soft proteins in order to 'retain' the same amount in the end.

This is really interesting. Can you post it as a separate post? Please?

WOW... that is very interesting. I do try and eat chicken and meat as often as possible. I am still not hungry so I tend to eat the soft stuff to get it over with... go figure. I know when I eat hard protein I can feel it for hours and I don't always like the way it feels. I am trying to get more hard proteins in me cause people say it is better for you. Honestly, I dont think I get that many calories in a day. If I really pay attention I can get it in.. using my protein shake for 240 of the calories.. yikes. I think I will do more hard proteins. Today for instance I was able to eat half of one of those southbeach frozen dinner trays. It is 300 calories/ 25 grams of protein, has veggies and chicken in it. I still feel it 4 hours later. When I eat one of those I always feel like I did better on my diet as apposed to the all meat chilli cups I buy. I cant eat the whole thing of that either. I had my blood work done about a month ago and everything was great.. My doc even took me off my diabetes medication. said my cholesteral and triglycerides were down to a good spot (they were high before) and my bp was great at 107 over 76. I do love my cheese snack every day (cheese is my friend). I kind of figure I drink my protein drink at 530 in the morning and should have something at 900 just to keep the metablism going til lunch at noon. I eat dinner around 6 so it works out pretty good. As I said, I don't feel hungry so I actually time my meals or I will forget to eat all day... I know thats not good.

Hi Paula We had WLS on the same day. I started out at 266lbs and have lost 71lbs so not much more than you. Stop stressing. If you know you are doing what you should be, then your body will do what it should. Now if you aren't following the rules then that's a different matter!! I HAVE to measure my food and use a cup size bowl, otherwise I give myself a too bigger portion and eat too much. If I eat carbs I get hungry and want more carbs so I stay away from them. if I snack I want to snack more so I try to stay away from them. Do you get what I'm saying? As Kat said the surgery changes our bodies not our minds - we have to do that for ourselves. Don't compare yourself with others and how fast they are loosing. Compare yourself with how you were 6 months ago. look at old photos and, if you still have them, old clothes. When did you last feel like you do now - remember what it felt like to be carying around all that extra weight. Look at all the positives and ignore what you see as the negatives. I've gotton really down in the past about this, but told myself that as long as I am doing all that I am supposed to then I can't do more. For me it was a control issue. Life has enough worries of it's own, so I don't worry about things I cannot change and make the most of loosing at the rate my body has decided.