The final 20 ...

Hello crew, This is a nice feature, to be able to go by surgery date -- check in and see if folks face the same issues. I've not been on here in a year, shame on me. I came back because I can't seem to shake the final 20 lbs of my overall goal. Started at 225 (5'3") and wanted to hit 125. I'm floating in the 40s ... mid to high depending on how bad I am. I'd prefer to be floating around in the 20s. Simple solution I know: shape up on the eating front (no Starbucks White Mocha or Chocolate Malts) -- damn the yummy liquid calories that go down soooo easy. I still get food stuck at least a couple times per week -- is that normal? To still be running to the bathroom at virtually every sit-down meal? I know, I know ... slllloooowwwww. Inevitably that's what does me in - get crazy hungry then eat like I think I don't have a straw to pass the stuff through! Okay, sorry for the long post -- first time back on got me rambling. And don't get me wrong -- I'm thrilled with where I'm at and how far I've come -- from a size 20+ to a size 8. Am I just getting greedy now to want to be a 4 or 6 again? I am 42 years old... Anyway, cheers to all. Best, Mary Nell

Hi Mary and welcome to the board!! You'll find that most of us are have many of the same frustrations as you. I am stuck at 155 and no matter how much I regulate my diet or exercise I can't seem to budge from that number. I really wanted to be at 142! It actually sounds like your malabsoption is still working for you. If I had white mochas or chocolate malts I'd be packing on the pounds (to say nothing of the fact that that much sugar would make me beyond miserable) and I know that many of us on the board are that way. The second we start indulging in high fat, high sugar foods we gain, gain, gain. I have to be pretty strick about what I'm putting in my mouth to maintain my weight. So, unfortunately, yes, my advice would be to maybe star****ching your diet a little more carefully and you'll probably drop those last pounds pretty quickly. I definitely find that when I eat to fast I get sick. Not throw up sick but it is quite painful. Just last night in fact my boyfriend looked over at me eating and says, "hungry?" and until he said that I didn't realize how fast I was shoveling it in. It's a constant struggle to remind myself to take small bites and chew...you'd think after a year and a half I'd have that down but not so much. Too many years of inhaling food, haven't quite conquered it. The key for me is to not let myself get too hungry. A great tip I was given is if I feel super hungery right before a meal is to eat a teaspoon of peanut butter about 10 minutes before you sit down to eat. It gives you just enough to quell the hunger pangs and let you eat more slowly. Great job on the weight loss so far!!! And we look forward to hearing more from you. Corinna Q.

Mary Nell, Welcome and please keep posting! We need all the support we can get! Our group seems to be getting smaller and smaller in number and I fear we are just now hitting the point where this journey gets harder as you are finding out with your plateau and the Starbucks! (Maybe they will close the one closest to you!!!) I don't have the issue of running to the bathroom at almost all my sit-down meals but I know you need a solution. I'm still working on slowing down too so work on that! We are reading/discussing the book The Beck Diet Solution. There are going to be some posts relating to that but they won't require that you have the book so please join in on those discussions and let's get some dialogues going to get us through the next phase! CeCe