help! encouragment needed

I am so proud of everyone! Everyone of us has taken the steps, we have made it a whole year! I am stumbbling! I really am feeling bad about myself, almost worse than when I was 400pds. I have made it to a size 18 but I am struggling. I no my portions are out of wack and in this new year I really want toget it together. The exercize and the food that goes into my mouth. Help!!! I dont want to be done. Just a little encouragement please, thanks all..I dont want to be a failure, I hate to sound like such a cry baby, just need that push thanks

Hi Keri, Congratulations on your success this far! I'm also down to an 18/20 depending on the brand, ect... Started at at least a 36 so I'm happy as can be... but I would love to lose more. I've been stalled for more than a month. Only , I don't know if you get to call it a "stall" if you haven't exactly been following directions. lol All I can say is that everything they said about the honeymoon being over and having to get the good habits down is true! I am having all sorts of cravings and such now that I just didn't have for many months there. But the important thing is knowing that we've learned how to eat properly and we CAN go back to it. Sure, I ate some things I probably shouldn't over the holidays but I'm not going to punish myself for it. Instead, I'm ready to take a few steps back and pick up where I left off. Just yesterday I began journaling because I noticed that really helped me at the beginning. It's easier for me to tell myself no to something when I actually have to write it down and see it later. lol. Anyway, I know if I can do this, you can too! Check in with me now and then if you want iand we can keep each other encouraged. -Becca

Kari, Just like Becca, I congradulate you on your success. You have come so far and you should be proud of what you have accomplished. You are no longer 400 pounds! You will get to where you want to be, just give it time. Don't get discouraged, you are doing great. Be proud of how far you have come. I am proud of all of us for what we have accomplished. It is not easy. Just get back to basics. Protein, protein, and water, water!! Don't forget exercise! You will get there. Marta :0) 287/134/single digit pant size/6

I went to my one year dr. appoint and had a group behaviorist appointment. Something they said struck me about just because you mess up something don't just give up and give yourself permission to keep messing up.......always start fresh and do your best because you deserve it. We had also been talking about walking and exercise and the analogy struck me that if you were out for a walk and fell down in a ditch you wouldn't just say "oh well, I fell down here, what's the use, I guess I'll just lay here now". It's the same with a life long change we're making, we'll probably fall down a lot but we HAVE to get back up and put the rules back to work and do what we have to do. Good luck and God bless

Jody, that was a great image you gave us, about falling down in a ditch. I'm going to keep that thought in mind to keep me from going from a slip to a major falling off the wagon! I've struggled too, and I'm also in the size 16-18 neighborhood. The compliments have stopped coming in, except from people who haven't seen me in a long time, so that motivator isn't there any more. Some of the changes I hoped would take place due to weight loss -- ie. in relationships -- haven't happened, and I've had to deal with that disappointment. The honeymoon period ended months ago, and now it's serious work--and sometimes I don't take it seriously enough, or I feel too depressed to make the effort. (It has been hard to get my meds right, maybe because of the malabsorption issue.) Anyway, I've been thinking about the weeks right after surgery, when I was very aware of taking care of my new digestive system and "mothering" myself. Gradually I have let that kind of care and attention to my needs move to the back burner in my life--which is partly how I got morbidly obese in the first place. I'm realizing that, for me, a half-hearted effort just doesn't cut it. I have to make it Priority Number One, keeping a food diary, not bringing trigger foods in the house, writing about emotions in my journal, and so on. Another thing that would help--and I have been resistant to--is keeping in touch with other post-ops. (That's one reason I am posting this.) I also need to give myself credit for the good things I've done, like seeing a therapist and going to the gym four times a week, even when the food was out of whack. I've just read THE EMOTIONAL FIRST AID KIT BY Cynthia Alexander, and I recommend it wholeheartedly. ... Thanks all of you for being there.

I don't know, this may help you. I am eating JUST about any thing I want. The catch. I fix my plate as if I am getting ready to feed a baby. When its gone its gone. I don't care how good it was I CAN NOT have seconds. Oh I get mad at myself for wanting it. Then I see my FINE self in the mirror and keep going AWAY from the FOOD