Help!!!

Hello, My name is Maris and I had my Surgery November 1st. I am only down 47 pounds and feel like I am failing. I tend to snack alot and I like to go out for drinks way more than I should. One of my friends had her Surgery just 2 months ago and she is already passing me by. I know that this is my fault.... I need a real kick in the ass here. I never thought that I was be so dissapointed in myself but... I am and it is making the cravings for food even worse. Anyone feel like me or have words of wisdom to help me get back on track. Maris

Maris, First congrats on your weight loss so far . I dealt with bad cravings - head hunger and the carb monster ... its so hard! I noticed when i started to exercise more the craving were less! Are you working out? Maybe that will help. It sounds like you know why the scale isn't moving like you WANT it to ... SO CHANGE IT! You have the POWER to make good choices, A good friend of mine (also a wls patient) had cracker calling her name in the pantry ... she took them out and added soap and water to them and tossed them in the trash!!!! Don't beat your self up about it ... this is a whole new life that requires major changes ... its not easy. Try uping your water intake too BUT YOU CAN DO IT!!! keep us posted, Hugs Britt

Maris? When you say go out for drinks, do you mean alcohol? Please be very very careful with alcohol if that is what you mean. Prior to surgery our livers processed 20% of the alcohol and our stomachs the other 80%. After surgery we are processing 100% of the alcohol in our livers. So that means for every one drink your having, your body acts as if you just had 5 drinks. Also it absorbs much more rapidly into our blood stream, and we get drunk much much easier. But most importantly it is killing your liver. Also there is a huge risk of becoming dependent on alcohol after this surgery. Something like 30% of people who have bariatric surgery turn to other addictions to replace the food addiction including drug or alcohol abuse, or other things like sex addiction, or shopping addiction. There was a lady on Opera the other day who drank only once or twice a year before the surgery, and now drinks like 20 beers a night. 20 beers a night! To the liver that is like she is having 100 beers! Poor thing. She went through all this and will end up dying of Cirrhosis of the liver if she doesn't get it under control. So pleeease take good care of yourself and be careful if you are drinking alcohol. As far as food cravings, yes I am there with you. I am enjoying the snacking, and unfortunatly as sensitive as my stomach was early on. I am much less sensitive to the sugars and fats now. I can even eat doritos without getting sick. This is not a good thing for me. I was really banking on the throwing up if I ate something bad as I am an emotional eater. I continue to see a therapist but still.. it would have been nice to have the dumping tool to help me stay on track also.

Finally there is someone out there that feels like I do!!!!! I thought I was the only one that hasn't even hit 50 lbs yet. I had my surgery 11/27 I have lost 49 lbs. My scale will move one week and I might loose 1 to 4 lbs then I might sit for a week or 2. It is so dissapointing. I drink at least 84.5 oz of water a day get all of my protein in and work out at least an 1 1/2 hrs 5 to 6 days a week. I just wonder how screwed up am I had this surgery and still can't loose weight. I know everyone is different, and I shouldn't compare but you are the only other person that I have seen close to my weight in the 40's. Maybe we can cheer each other on...just know your not the only one out there. Email me anytime!!! Dawn

Dawn, I would be willing to bet you are getting to few calories and too much exercise! When I up the exercise I will quit losing. One friend of mine stoped losing before surgery and the nut made her cut her exercise in half! If your boady dosn't have enough fule it will shut down. I know we want this so bad we get out there and kill ourselfs trying. lol Sometimes a little less is best. Try it a few days and see if it helps. Nancy

Dawn, Make sure you are watching your clothing and measurements also. Especially if you are working out as much as you are. You have probably lost more then you think. Remember muscle weighs more then fat. Last month I was depressed because I thought I had only lost 8 pounds. When I went to the doctor I had actually lost 15 pounds, and gained 7 in muscle. Also, even if your not building muscle (which i'm sure you are) 49 pounds is a LOT of weight to lose. You should be proud of that accomplishment. I have also been advised by a personal trainer that we should only work out every other day. That way our muscles have time to recuperate, or else you are "undoing" the good work you have done. So it is possible you are working out too hard. I know all Personal trainers have their own opinions, but it might be worth it to test and see if working out every other day works better for your weight loss and muscle building.

Recognizing where you are is the first step. I know for me if I didn't count calories and carbs I would make terrible food choices. So many times I will "test" a food by adding it into my palm program that tracks the nutritional content for me to see how it would affect my daily totals. If I don't like how it looks I will take it out and not eat it. I don't drink alcohol since the surgery but I know how alcohol can affect our choices. It would be very easy to snack or make bad food choices while you are out. Most docs say don't drink any alcohol for a year. I'm sure it is not the best thing to do for the health of your pouch. It's so hard to break habits once they start but you would benefit by changing your routine. Even with the surgery it's still hard to lose weight. Don't let this time slip by without maximizing the benefit while you can! I wish you the very best. Keep in touch with us and we will walk with you. Our old selves would tend to isolate and turn inward and that's what kept us fat. You've made a great step forward to look honestly at yourself and be open about it.

Thank you all very much. Yesterday I pulled out my good old weight loss books and read through them. Also, I watched the oprah with Carnie Wilson (which was strange that they happened to play the episode again this week) I feel like that was a sign also. I have not been on the boards in so long and I need to get back on here to keep me in touch with my new lifestyle. Thank you all for your boost!!!