Gap Year

I think my body has gone beyond having a short rest to catch up. I think it has decided to go on a gap year - well a few months anyway hee hee Although I posted that I had lost 5 pounds this week, straight after, the scales shot back up again...grrrrrrr. I have been going up and down around the same weight since early December now. The numbers go down the numbers go up. My average number which I seem to come back to is 185. So it's back to basics for me. Yesterday was the first day - I'm on protein shakes and a small meal in the evening. I'll see what happens when I weigh on Friday. I do exercise, erratically, which needs to be more regular. Is there anyone out there who has lost ok without exercising? I really don't want to commit every eveing to just exercise. I am getting very fed up with this now. It has gone on too long. Sometimes I feel like my surgeon forgot the bypass bit of the surgery. It seems to me, looking at what others post, that we still have to stick to a 'normal' low calorie diet in order to lose weight, rather than get the benefit of malabsorption of fewer calories That was one of the reasons I chose RNY major surgery rather than lap band, but I feel like the only benefit I have is not being able to eat the same volumn of food I used to in one sitting. Sorry for moaning. Whilst I am VERY pleased for all of you who have reached wonderful numbers both on the scales and in clothing sizes, I have to admit it does get to me, as I want to see the same thing happening to me. I sometimes think we should have a 'snails united' post for those of us still inching along, or stuck where we are...

SNAILS UNITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mine went up and down for a few weeks, then stayed down.... It happens.. I don't exercise like I should...LOL Well Ruth you are much smaller than last year... you will lose more weight, and you look and feel better... Its hard to stay positive when others are getting so mall, but hang in there....

Ruth, I just looked back at your photos and OMG, it's amazing how far you have come. I get hung up with the numbers sometimes (okay all the time) and it causes me lots of stress. But when you look at the before and after pictures, the scale becomes less significant. As far as exercises, I've been erratic. I can do go for awhile, maybe a month and then I fall off the wagon. I started back up last week after being on a 3 month hiatus due to upper respiratory issues. It's hard for me to tell if the exercise helps or not with my weight loss. Anyway, chin up!! Diane

SNAILS UNITE!!!!!!! I'm right there with ya Ruthy Girl! you and i have discussed this in the past and feel the same, it's hard cheering everyone else on through gritted teeth and yet you dont' want to deny anyone who's worked so hard their day of glory either. Perhaps it's back to basics for me in the morning as well, today is already shot as i've scraped the good bits off a donut, left the donut because i just don't enjoy those but the coffee cake crumbs are my favorite. We have alot of junk in the house this week due to a minor jewish holiday but i'm slowly throwing it out when no one is looking! Hugs, ANDI

Which holiday?? I could do with some education re Jewish festivals as I'm interested.

I am so sorry you are not loosing as you would like to. I know it is hard for you to hear about others when you seem to be at a stand still but in the end we will all get there.. I know you will. I think at this point in the game our tool is just helping us keep our portions low. I am sure we are not absorbing as well but we have lost so much our body is still fighting us with trying to loose more. I know I never exercised until the middle of January.. not even a little. I have always lost something each month but for 3 months I only lost 2 pounds each time. I noticed when I started really working out the scale started moving for me again.. Not the first week, it took a few weeks for the scale to move. I truely believe calories in calories out. If you are not exercising alot the calories you take in need to be less. When I wasnt exercising I was eating about 600 calories a day. When I started exercising I went up to 1000. Like I said, i didnt loose immediately but one day I got on and I dropped. Another thing to remember is you're in the snow right now. Some research shows that peoples weight loss slows down during that time because the body wants to hold on to the fat to protect you from the cold. When it starts warming up you will see some of this drop as well... Good luck Ruth.. Please dont get discouraged.. it will come.. I know it must be hard but we all love and care about you and know you will succeed.

Thanks for ALL your support Carla, not just today but all your other posts too. You are like a team coach keeping us all going

Ruth, If I remember correctly, haven't you lost over 80 pounds in 9 months and a week? That's a sizable (can't resist the occasional pun ) loss! Have you ever tracked yourself on the weight loss tracker? Here's a link to the one that I have used in the past. http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/forums/postopplanner.phtml?ID=TR-1026246576 Don't forget to put in your starting weight! I will be 10 months out on the 19th of this month and I have lost 93 pounds, not much more than you at all. There are people that had surgery a month or two after me that have lost much more and are at goal already. Careful of comparing bottom lines, we all had different amounts to lose, different plans from our surgeons, and different bodies!! I'm beginning to have faith in this tool, you know, and in my capability to use it in a way that will lead to a healthy weight and life. My surgeon has always recommended that i eat "normally" and that's what I try to do. I hope to land where I'm supposed to be. I hope the same for you, and that you have peace and happiness, no matter where that may be. What a ride, huh!!? Peace, Deb

Ruth, Don't feel bad...I have never been on the exercise track! I have a gazelle and now that its cold (its in the garage,no heat) I just haven't been out there on it! (some excuse!) The only walking I think I get in is at the grocery store or walmart!! I started out at 269 when I went to the Surgeon to have this done,by my scales at home,it was reading 272. So now I am at 193-196-----so I haven't lost much at all!! I will be out 10 months on the 10th!! So I am a very,very slow loser!! But I look at it this way, when I went to my PCP, he told me a year ago I weighed my highest of 277,so that means I have lost 84- or so(depends on the up & down scale!) in a year.. I have never done that before and I feel really great about my size 14's pants and an large/extra large shirts!! I do hope that I reach my goal by the 18 month mark,that they say we are supposed to be at by then!! If I don't,I guess all I can say is I am happy so far,(could be happier,if I lost more!). But I am the one that needs to get on track! Sometimes I get so bummed,cause it seems like the more I try the less I lose! Then when I don't try too hard some comes off!! Then I read how good everyone is doing!!!!! But anyway thought I would put in my 2 pennies!!!!

Thanks Karen We started out around the same number and it's good to know that there are others going at the same rate as me. Makes me feel less like I am doing something wrong or it's just me. Ha ha, I could have written that bit about trying hard and not losing and then not trying and it comes off. Just shows how weird our bodies are, and proves to me that I would NEVER have been able to lose even half what I have without WLS.