New! and need some help!!

I am almost 3 years post-op (9/8/04) and am now 97 pounds. I feel like a failure. I in a way too this surgery for granted from the beginning. I was 18 when I did it and now know that I wasn't mentally prepared for changes. I know they say that your first two years are the ones that count and thats when the weight loss should happen. Am I doomed now? I finally went and saw my surgeon in January, I've been determined that 2007 would be my fresh start. I am eating better, eating more protein and drinking my water but sometimes I think I am eating to much! i had my gallbladder removed 2 weeks ago so the food in the hospital was monitored and now that I am home I am thinking it's to much again. For instance tonight for dinner I had 2 (each hotdog was only half of a hotdog so 1 whole) hotdogs wrapped in cheese and coursants (spelled that wrong) and it took me roughly an hour to eat them. Is that to much? It seems like I am ALWAYS hungry, but when I think about it I think it's just boredum. Like now for instance (dinner was 4 hours ago) I feel hungry but then again I am bored too so I picked up my bottle of water. I guess what I am really needing is someone to point me in the right direction with maybe a sample of what your eating and how much? Should I be measuring my foods? Do the protein shakes keep you fuller longer? HELP please!! I am totally lost and feeling like a failure and just need that boost I guess. Thanks! Shannon

It does not sound to me like you are eating too much food based on one hot dog. I don't know what else you are eating, but a good way to track it is to us FitDay.com. Go to a website that calculates how many calories you should be eating to maintain your desired weight and then stick to that amount. The protein drinks help TREMENDOUSLY!!! I have an Amaretto Cocoa in the mid-morning that has 80 calories and 15 grams of protein and then a protein shake in the afternoons which has about 120 calories and 30 grams of protein. I eat usually an egg and maybe a slice of turkey bacon with maybe toast or grits for breakfast. Then I usually eat a "lean cuisine" type meal for lunch and supper. Some days I can eat what seems like a LOT of food, and then some days I can hardly eat anything! I dooooooo have to fight the head hunger/boredom/emotional eating things. I don't really "dump" on sugar, so I fight the "chocolate demon" all the time!! I am about 10 lbs. from my original loss goal, but I am wearing a size 10, so it's hard to motivate myself to lose that last ten lbs. I weight myself DAILY and panic if I'm up one lb, but I think that is good in that it helps me keep from regaining more than one or two lbs. I would REALLY like to lose that final 10 so that I would have a little "wiggle room", but I just don't know if that will happen or not. I am pretty happy where I am actually. Hope this helps you some. Get you some Protein mix and start drinking that. I think that will help you tremendously!! I like the "American Sports Nutrition" brand, but there are lots of good brands out there and Susan Maria sells some that are pretty good on her site "bariatriceating.com". They are a nice group, too!! Hugs, Pam

Shannon, I'm a boredom muncher myself. At 'meals', I have trouble eating... but give me a tube of crackers and yum! So...I have started leaving the 2nd half of my uneaten dinner for when those munchy urges start up. That, or I will eat a cup of Fiber One cereal. It's filling and the fiber is an added benefit! Gotta use the plain Fiber One though. The clusters only have about half the fiber for twice the cereal (and calories!). I think FitDay is great for some of the tracking, but you may want to check out SparkPeople.com. It's abit more comprehensive for every avenue of your weight loss journey. If I can't find the nutritional value in it's food journal however, I'll reference Fitday to find the info. I also stick to protein drinks. 1-2 every day. I do love the BariatricEating's AchievOne Mocha Java! But...with S&H, the costs can really add up. You may want to see if you have a Cutting Edge protein shop in your area. Ours will let you taste test some of the products there in the store. They have a drink 'Shake A Weigh' that is pretty good...as well as reasonably priced (and NO S&H!!). GNC's ..I'm not as impressed with. Their Pure Protein line has probably been the easiest for me to tolerate. The best thing about GNC is that they will refund for what you don't like. Cutting Ege may also, I don't know. The first thing I would recommend is for you to ask your nut what range of nutritional values you should be getting in daily in order to continue to lose weight. Enter those into SparkPeople...then log in everything you drink & eat. See where you are...then figure out how to cut out the excess. For me, I'm to have 1200-1400 calories (which I'm fine on), more than 100 g of carbs (also ok on), 60-120 g protein (again, ok), and less than 30 g of fat (hmmm...guess where my weak point is???). Good luck!! Sherri

Shannon, I really think the protein shakes help a lot. I drink 3 every day. I love Champion Nutrition Pure Whey Stack Cookies & Cream. I found a website that has the Champion Nutrition protein real cheap and the shipping is about $5. it is mysupplementstore.com The shakes help me not to feel hungry. Good luck! Lynn J., lap RNY 9/29/04 306/146/??maybe 135 day of surgery/current/goal 5'4"