gaining

It has been a long time since I have been on here. But I am getting desperite and maybe I need to start talking to someone who had surgery around the same time I did. 9/13/05 I never reached my goal, I went from 303 to 207 and then no matter what I did I didn't lose anymore. I am now at 214 and I am so afraid I am going to gain back what I have lost. I don'e know about anyone else, but I can't seem to stop thinking about food. I am also a nightime eater and can't seem to go to bed unless I eat something right before I go. I have been to the doctor and found out my metabolism is very low and I shouldn't eat more than 1300 calories a day. I'm willing to do this and I tried for a couple weeks and still didn't lose weight. She even gave me an appetite supresient to take around 5pm to try and stop the nightime eating, It did nothing. I went to see her yesterday and she changed the perscription to a higher dose. I will get that filled today and try it and see what happens. If I could stop eating at night I think that would help a lot. She told me that thinking about food all the time is a form of depression . Have any of you heard this before? OK this is turning out to be a little too long and I should get back to work. I would appreciate any feedback. I live in the Verona PA area. thanks Carol W

Hi Carol, I find it hard too, to lose anymore weight. And Yes, I did regain some. 15 to 18 pounds. I am fighting to lose it. I do know that the further out we are the more non complacent we get. In my case I know I started picking on carbs more and grazing. I try to get back to basics. I still eat protein first and do not drink with my meals and up to 1 hour after but sometimes I am just so hungry. Nothing satifies me.(sp) What type of appetite supressient did your doctor give you? I'm interested. I'll check back to see how we're doing. O.k.? Koukla

thanks for answering. I stopped doing the protien and started eating a little of everything and I think I am going to try and do the protien again. I should have about 80 mg of protien a day. Hopefully that will get me back on track. They appetite supressent is called topamax, she started me on 25mg and it didn't do anything. My new perscription is for 50mg. I haven't started to take it yet. But she told me to take it around 5pm and it should help me with my nightime eating. I'll let you know if it works. I probably won't start it until Monday. I have company coming this weekend and I don't want to try it then. I know I eat too many carbs now and that is also a problem. I should go back to basics. thanks again for responding to my post Carol W

Carol - I was just on the grad board talking to someone who is going through something similar. Before you make changes, take a look at where you are now. Track your eating on a site like www.fitday.com or www.sparkpeople.com, and see where you are. How many grams of protein, carbs & fat are you consuming right now? What is your vitamin routine? What kind of supplements do you take? What is your exercise routine? If you are consuming too many carbs, then the first thing you have to do is break that addiction. Go really low carb (under 50g) for three days, and you'll find that as the carbs get out of your system, you have MUCH more control of them. Make sure that you're getting in enough fluid in between meals, and then concentrate on getting the right combination of foods - primarily protein, some complex carbs, some fat. You need all three sources, but you want to get your carbs in their most natural state - fresh or steamed vegetables, fruit, whole grains. If you are experiencing depression, you may need to talk to a counselor or therapist in addition to the medication they are giving you. Good luck --BT

Thanks for the information. I am going to try to cut carbs and start eating more protien. I really got away from the protien. I know I am eating too many carbs. I do drink water but I have slacked off on how much. Today I am going to keep track of my protien. I should be eating about 80 grams a day and I know I haven't been. I will watch carbs too. Thanks for your help Carol W

OK, I started out with all these good intentions. I come into work and someone brought all these goodies for a wedding they had over the weekend. I have already eaten a brownie. I am hopeless. Carol W

Hi Carol, Hang in there. One brownie is not going to make you gain all of your weight back--you are only human...don't beat yourself up.... I had the RNY around the same time you did. I started around 300 and got to my goal weight of 165 for a day or so. I have regained about 20 pounds. I'd realy like to get under 180, but for the most part I'm happy with my body. It is so much better than it was. I've also put on a lot of muscle. I work out very strenuously very regularly. I was wondering if perhaps exercise might help you. Lifting weights helps you increase your metabolism and areobics helps burn fat. It also is a natural mood elevator. I really didn't believe that until I had been working out regularly for about 2 years. Then I noticed if I didn't work out...it really affected my mood. So if you are physically able, I'd recommend trying to do some exercise 4 days a week. Just a couple of things on the surgery that might be comforting... Before surgery my doctor explained these things about the RNY.... Sucessful surgery is considered loosing somewhere between 60 and 80% of excess body weight. Sorry I can't remember the exact figure. Not everyone gets to goal, but loosing a significant amount of weight will improve your health and quality of life even if you never get there. Something like 80-percent of gastric bypass patients experience a 10 to 20% percent weight regain around 2 or 3 years out. But the long term weightloss statistics are good and most people maintain the bulk of their loss. Again...even if not at goal there is a real health benefit. Perhaps knowing this ahead of time made it easier for me to deal with the weight gain. I know I was determined to get to my lower goal 165 because I knew that the weight gain was likely (I don't think that makes logical sense....but it was a motivation for me). I hope this doesn't come across as preachy... Hang in there and have a great day Courtney

thanks for your help, I never realy thought of the weights. I have some at home and I have just about every richard simmons tape. I should start using them. Do you have any idea where I could go on the web to get some ideas on what king of weight training I could do. Thanks again Carol W

Resistance bands are a good place to start. I think Richard Simmons has resistance band tapes. Here are some links that might be helpful http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/a/weight101.htm http://weighttraining.about.com/od/beginningweighttraining/Weight_Training_for_Beginners.h tm When I started, I joined a gym and just went every day. I did one or 2 sets of exercises on the machines. As I got better at it and more interested, I bought books with prescribed routines and just did them.... I did one of the Oprah trainer guy's books and then I did this one: http://weighttraining.about.com/od/beginningweighttraining/Weight_Training_for_Beginners.h tm The gym isn't for everyone, but for me it works. I just make my self go before work durning the week. I think of it like work. One of those things I just have to do. I even enjoy it now...but I didn't at the beginning....

A brownie is only a brownie. It's not going to kill you. Everyone deserves a treat now and then. You've had one. You celebrated with them. That's cool that you can do that. Now, dust that powdered sugar off your hands and get back to work. --BT