I need serious help

Hi, Karen. Don't despair. I am in the same boat as you are. I have not been losing for probably 5 months and I only lost 64 pounds. I see a lot of people have dipped below 200 lbs and I can't seem to get below it. My old habits are creeping back, but things like chocolate make me nauseous, so in a way it's good. It's the emotional eating that I can't seem to get beyond. I have to try to do liquids for a while. Maybe a thing to do is to have a picture of your old self in front of you for proper motivation. I know when I go through my old size 3x clothes, I tell myself that I never ever want to be there again. Let's keep a positive attitude. We are still much better off than before. Best of luck to you. E.G.

Karen, Just knowing that you are not alone and that this fight we all seem to have is on a daily basis. Just take one day at a time. We all worked hard to have the surgery...now we are in recovery. When I attended support group this week, it came to me that we are very much like AA...this "addiction" of our will be a continous fight every day of our lives and we will have to take it one step at a time. Keeping the basics now (while our stomachs don't quite send hunger signals) like journaling, water, exercise, and protein intake is like building the foundation for a house. If we have a weak foundation, our house will crumble in the long run. So...go back to your basics and you'll find the strength to get though those "bad" days. Good Luck PS--I, too, fight this same fight you are facing PSS--I, too, love crackers AND chips!!!

I am a member of a local OSSG support group on Yahoo. Every Monday the post-ops record what they consume and every Tuesday, they post Monday's Food Choices. I participate in this effort and it has helped me to realize that I consume too much sodium. I am now trying to reduce my sodium intake. I was eating Cup-a-Soups and they have tons of sodium (salt). A daily routine currently looks like: 6:00 am Protein Shake mixed with 1% milk 7:00 am Coffee with cream and sweetner 8:00 am 1/2 whole wheat bagel with 1 oz of swiss cheese 9:00 am 24 oz water 10:00 am Coffee with cream and sweetner 11:00 am Snack (either slim jim pepperoni stick, apple or an orange) 12:00 am 24 oz of water 1:00 pm 8 oz chili or cottage cheese with one rice cake 2:00 pm 24 oz water 3:00 pm Snack (either pepperoni stick or fruit, but not same as morning) 4:00 pm 24 oz water 6:00 pm 3 oz steak, chicken or tuna, with steamed veggies Alternate is Taco Salad with lean ground beef or 8 oz chili 7:00 pm Herbal Tea or Ho****er with Lemon Slice I usually don't eat after dinner. However, sometimes, I have an additional snack of microwave popcorn at about 8 or 9 pm. I take two chewable multivitamins, three chewable calcium, one sublingual B12, one sublingual biotin and one iron caplet. Iron is first thing in the morning. The others are spaced out, throughout the day. I have joined a gym and I walk about 9 km a day. I gave up my car and walk 2.2 km each way, to catch a train to the office. I also do approx 4 km on the treadmill at lunch time. I only do my workouts on weekdays, as the gym is at my office. For weekends, I bought a resist-a-ball, two 5-pound weights and two 3-pound weights. I have a DVD of exercises which I do on weekends. Good luck. Hope you get yourself back on track. I might not be the best role model, as my weight loss is only 98 pounds in 11 months. Karen G

Hang in there Karen, you are not alone in this at all. I have found that the only way I can "control myself" is to limit my choices. I keep the "crap" out of my house so I cannot eat them! I have a protein shake for breakfast (designer whey protein is truly AWESOME). Have the equivilant of 2 eggs using eggbeaters for lunch and a protein shake for dinner. My downfall is italian foods. When there's italian for dinner, I will eat a little and skip the protein shake. I snack at 10 a , 3p and 7p with pretzels, an apple, or popcorn. I exercise 5 days a week and have found 2 other women at my gym who had this surgery so we all keep eachother motivated and excited. Don't give up. Find what works for you and go for it. You can screw up one day and just start again the next no sweat. We believe in you and are here for pep talks when you need em' **Big Hugs** Glori (-110lbs - 1 year out as of 12/13)