Advice, suggestions, tips requested

Hi everyone! I just wanted to ask you for some advice and suggestions on what has made YOU successful with the weight loss. Especially from those who have really kicked serious butt with losing a lot. I'm stuck at -71 lbs. and feel like I need a reality chec****ep gaining/losing the same 3 lbs. I'm scared to death that I might be done with losing. I think I'm eating too much and too often. It also worries me how fast the scale can go up. If I have one"bad" day of eating the very next day I weigh 1-2 lbs. more. Can you tell me what you eat? How much you eat? How often you eat? Do you have only 3 meals a day or do you have snacks? How many calories do you get each day? How many carbs? How much protein? etc. etc. Do you feel it's the exercising that has really aided your rapid/large amount of loss? Do you feel like you are eating more now, at 7 months out? If so, what do you do to control it? How much are you losing per week? Per month? Has it slowed down substantially? Thanks for any help or info you can give that may enlighten me, or rather- motivate me to get back on track P.S. Please don't tell me to toss out the scale! The scale is one of the only neuroticisms I have left! Heh. I personally believe that weighing every morning is what keeps me in check. -Angela 229/158/130

Hi Angela My name is Traci and a daily weigher. Seriously, I too weigh daily, as I feel it keeps me in check. If that's what works for you - then continue. As far as what I'm doing: my average calories per day is 828, fat is 35 grams; Carbs is 48 grams, protein is 58 and fiber is 6 grams. I purposely try to vary the calories a bit, so my body doesn't get too used to the exact same amount and reset itself and my metabolism. So some days I eat as many as 1000 or 1100, and other days only 500 or 600 calories. I eat a protein bar almost every morning for breakfast, and sometimes eat one for another meal or snack, depending on the day. I'm looking into other protein powders to try, to get my protein up even higher. I'm meeting my surgeon's goal of 50 grams, but I did get the okay to increase it, as it won't hurt me. I've heard countless stories of long-term post-ops stating that getting in 100 (or more) grams of protein a day is what helps them keep the weight off. No way I could get that much from food. I do eat 3 meals per day and usually one or two snacks. I make sure my snacks are high protein and always eat protein first with my meals. I can eat more food now than immediately post-op, and I also get hungry sometimes. Not every day, but I do get hungry. I can eat about 6 ounces on most days: depends on the particular food, of course, but 6 ounces is not unusual. Some days I have to force myself to eat. Other days (like today) I feel like I'm starving all day. Weird. If I'm hungry, I eat and eat protein. That usually helps. Water also helps with hunger. My weight loss has slowed down - a lot! So I'm increasing my exercise, something that I was not being diligent about before. I'm only 21 lbs from my goal, so I expect I have to work harder to get these last few pounds off. I 'dance' with the scale still, losing 2 lbs one day, then up a pound or two the next. But I can still see the general decline in the numbers and am losing about 2 lbs a week I guess. Not sure if this helped you - but it's where I'm am in my journey. Traci 250/168/147 - only 21 more lbs to go!

Hi, Tra I am abt 78pds down and dont weight everyday but at least once a wk,, i want to see a drop everytime,, but most of the time I'm still at the same weight,,, (gold figure huh),,, but i know that my weight stand still is bcz i eat whatever i want,,, i know i shldnt but i cant seem to stop.. like yesterday,, i ate,, half a honey bun... a half of sloppy joe sandwich,,candy abt 5 pcs,,hard candy,,1/2 cup fruit punch,,a bite of hot link ,, 20 oz of water.. and thats on a good day,, i know i messing up and that more people have loss more than me and doing what there suppose to do..some days i get in protein and some days i dont ,,, some days i get in vitamins and some days i dont,,, do u take your vitamins everyday,, and how much and what do u take and when.. dana

Hi Dana Yes, I do take my vitamins everyday. It's habit, as before WLS, I took all my prescription pills - now I just take vitamins. I take one chewable Centrum multi-vitamin, 1 calcium citrate and 3 Hair, Skin and Nails supplements each day (I take 1 hair, skin and nails with each meal). My labs came back good, I was borderline low on zinc, and because I was still losing a lot of hair, my surgeon's office recommended the hair skin and nails supplement - it worked very well for me. I wish I knew what to tell you, that you didn't already know, about staying on track with your eating. If you don't change those habits, then after this 'honeymoon' period is over, you will regain the weight. A sobering thought and it's what keeps me on track. Are you attending a WLS support group? If not, find one as soon as you can and go faithfully!!!! I think this is key in helping post-ops work through the ongoing issues we face. Traci

Hi, I'm Diana, and I, too, weigh myself daily. *wink* I don't really monitor what I'm eating that closely, and maybe I should. I take two viactive calcium supplements a say (my surgeon and diaticians say it's OK even though it's not calcium citrate), and I take a multivitamin. I also do B12 injections ~ every three weeks. As far as food is concerned, I do monitor my protein and shoot for 60 grams a day. Some days I'm as much as 20 grams under, but the next day I'm sure to be ~20 grams over--I think it all balances out, but I try to hover around 60 and usually do a decent job of it. I don't do protein supplements (powders or bars) as I can't stand the taste. If I need a protein boost, I eat some beef jerky or other protein rich snack. From day one, I have been shocked at the large amount of food that I can eat. During the first 6-10 weeks I followed the food plan to the letter (our of fear, not fullness). I've joked with people that the only sign of the surgery I have are a few mosquito sized bumps from the laprascopic surgery. Otherwise, I can eat anything (unfortunately), and can eat large amounts if I let myself. I have been tracking my weight loss, and I have averaged 3 pounds per month since November. My total loss so far is -70, so we are in the same boat. My BMI to start was 40.3, so I was a "light weight-heavy weight". I only have another 30-50 to lose, depending on which chart I look at. So, my WL has slowed considerably. Before WLS I tried for 2 years to lose 5 pounds. Nothing worked, even at my heavy weight. I am thrilled to be losing 3 pounds/month. It is speedy compared to what was going on with my body pre WLS. Honestly, I have made no effort to lose weight since WLS, and I've lost 70 pounds. I strongly suspect that a little effort on my part would speed things up a bit. But, darn it, it's so freakin' cold here in Indiana I just don't want to get out and walk. I exercise (I play on 4 voleyball leagues right now, so ~4x per week I'm busting my butt on the court), but there is too much down-time, so it's not the best cardio work out, but I sweat a bunch and feel great after doing it, so I'm OK with my routine for now. It will significantly increase when it's a little warmer, that's for sure. Anyhow--here's a typical food day for me: B: a granola bar, or peanut butter crackers, or a yogurt with some cereal in it. S: 2 viactive chews, some soy chips L: soup, chilli, you know those luch bucket sized meals....I eat one of those S: ugh...usually some M&M's or peanut butter crackers, sometimes beef jerky for protein D: Lean cuisine (more often than not), or I go out to dinner (trying to break this bad habit, and doing OK). If I go out to dinner I eat 1/3 to 1/2 of the meal, and save the rest for left overs Late Snack: a little popcorn, a piece of cheese or lunch meat, or a piece of fruit. **please notice all of the "or's" above--I only eat one thing at each meal, but I wanted to list some of the stuff I'm eating. Hope this makes sense. *wink* Do I eat too much? Maybe. For the most part, I'm pretty good. I will say that I consistently eat more than my husband who had RNY ~3 years ago. Plus, he still vomits (weekly) from over indulging, and I don't. So, everyone is differnt. Hope my experiences are helpful to you and others. My hubby teases me that I'm a "freak of nature" with this surgery (his kind hearted way of stating that my surgical results are atypical). Freak or not, I'm losing weight, and I feel great. Diana

Hi Angela, I find that if I have a 'bad' day or two, the weight goes back on pretty quickly, and it takes a lot longer to re-lose! I am also a daily weigher. Nobody better get between me and my scale!!! When I'm losing, I find it very motivating, and when I'm gaining it helps set me straight!! According to fitday.com my daily averages for the past month have been: Calories: 601 Fat: 29 Carbs: 25 Protein: 62 I am defnintely hungrier than I was 3 months ago, but I do try and water load when I have those days that I feel like I just can't get enough food. I have one of those days maybe once a week, and sometimes I indulge myself. I make sure I get back on track the next day and I sometimes think those 'binges' or bad days followed by a couple of good days stimulate weight loss. I also try and exercise at least 5-6 days a week - nothing strenuous - maybe walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes or doing the 2 mile Walk Away the Pounds video. I try and keep my carbs under 25 a day. I find that denser foods keep me fuller longer. My new favorite is ground turkey. I cook it with some green pepper and onion and some tomato sauce and if I eat 4 oz. of that it keeps me full for a few hours. I know a lot of my eating is out of boredom. For those moments, I keep turkey jerkey on hand. It really satisfies the need to chew and have something in my mouth. I have also found sugarless gum helps. My weight loss had really slowed down, but I was also doing some of things I probably shouldn't have been doing - cheetos, doritos, etc. , not waiting 30 minutes before and after eating, and not exercising. I find that when I recommit and do what I'm supposed to, the weight comes off at a pretty good rate. Hugs, Nancy -98

Original poster here: Thanks ladies for your input. It definitely helps to hear how/what others are doing