A vent---Frustrated and tired of it!

I HAVE GOT TO VENT!!!!! Please, excuse my self-pity and whining party that I am having. To be totally honest, I am becoming very frustrated with wls. I haven't lost but 5 pounds in one month. This is ridiculous! I am 8 weeks out today. I see people who have had surgery around the same time as me and they are still losing in the double digits. I understood that I would have plateaus but not this early in the game. I walk 2 miles/day at least 4 days a week. I eat only 3 small meals daily, of course, protein first. No or low fat and sugar. No fried foods. I drink only water. Occasionally juice (1/2 juice, 1/2 water) and skim milk. Vitamins, check... All Dr Baker told me in an e-mail,( and I could see him snickering in his dry humor way)..."Patience...plateaus happen". That should be a bumper sticker! I really wanted to be under 200 before Thanksgiving and down about 55-65 lbs by Christmas. I'm sorry if I have not been as supportive as I use to be but, it is realy hard to support others when you can't even support yourself! That is when the big pity party begins and the green jealousy monster takes over. Now that I am not jumping up and down, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday. Denise Baker 9-29-03

Denise, I wish I could say something to help, but I haven't been there yet. I guess one good thing is it will show that not everyone loses the same way. Ok, that is absolutely no help to you, but maybe to others. Keep the faith girl, I don't know how much you have lost total, but 5 pounds lost is better than 5 pounds gained. Plus maybe it will benefit you in the long run as I have heard when you lose it slow you don't have as much excess skin. Chin up, keep smiling that beautiful smile and I will say a prayer. Take care of yourself, sounds like you are doing things right. Bobbi

Denise, I'm sorry that you aren't losing like you think you should. My only suggestion would be to try eating 5 or 6 small meals a day. Sometimes if we don't get in enough calories, then our bodies will hold on to the fat it already has in store thinking that it won't be getting anymore. Whether that is true or not, I don't know. But, I've heard that before. I am 14 months out and have lost 137 pounds. I had surgery on 9/20/02 and yes, by Christmas of last year I had lost 50 pounds. But, I'm one of those that eats several small meals a day. Mainly protein. Or at least as much protein as I can. Also, when you exercise, your body needs more protein. (A physical therapist told me that) Good luck and God Bless!--Shelly

Denise......hugsssssssss I know how you feel, I am right there with you (9-22-03) I havent lost an ounce in almost 3 weeks. I am on my 3rd plateau, seems like a consistent one if you ask me! Today I got a helpful hint from a lady on here and thought I would share it with you. Its actually a webpage, you sign up for free. www.fitday.com There you can post what you eat daily and it calculates your calories, fat, carbs, protien etc. it will also tell you how many calories you are burning and you can make all kinds of goals to help aid in your weight loss. I too only eat three small meals a day, no sugar, low fat, high protien and drink only water.......heres where I understand I am going wrong and you might be also......we are not eating enough to get our bodies out of starvation mode! I was told that I should be eating around 600 -800 calories a day to keep my body functioning correctly and out of starvation mode. When I logged what I ate yesterday into fitday today, it calculated that I had ate 110 calories!!!!!!!!!! that is way under and into the starvation category. Basically you have to eat to lose. Weird concept considering we had surgery to keep from overeating. My thing was guilt, I ate so little and what I do eat, I feel guilty over. But I am going to give this fit day a try and eat more and see if the lbs start to drop. Give it a try, it cant hurt! I am down only 48 lbs since the surgery and like you I wanted tobe under 200 by this weekend which is my bday. Not gonna happen unless I eat like a piggy lol which is what I feel like if I eat more than what I have been eating! Try it and let me know how it works for you, most of all keep the chin up, they assure me we will lose in our bodies own time. Hugssssssssss girlie!

Denise...I am gonna try to support you and let you have a "poor Baby" moment. I am in a similar situation, I am approx 3 1/2 months post op, having surgery on 8/12. I am down approx 43 lbs and losing slowly. I saw Dr Galvin last wk, he said that we folks with a lower bmi (of which you are one!) will lose slower. But we will lose. Dr Galvin said to continue with doing all the right things...eat right, exercise, and drink H2O, and we will lose. Not 30 lbs a month like the folks who started at higher wt, but we will lose. Try viewing total lbs lost against total you want to lose, ie, if you have lost 30 and wanna lose 100, you are 1/4 of the way there. That is a much more positive view instead of..."I've only lost 30 lbs". Another thing I have noticed is I may not lose lbs but during those times, I lost inches. I am down 3 or 4 sizes. Try going shopping and trying on smaller clothes. That is encouraging for me. Stay in touch, let me know how you are doing.....Happy Thanksgiving...we have much to be thankful for.

Denise, I know exactly how you feel. I went into a plateau 3 weeks after surgery and it lasted for about a month, I even gained weight! Which in my mind made no sense because I was doing everything my doctor told me to do and walking 5 dyas a week. Please hang in there, I promise you that this will pass and you will continue to lose the weight. My doctor had me eating 6 small meals a day, and then he cut me back to 3 a day. Once I did that, the weight started coming off again. So, I don't know if it is the amount of food or calories that you are taking in, I advise that you just do what your doctor has instructed you to do at this point. These kind of plateaus really wear on your mind, it's so hard to understand when you are doing everything right and you have gone through so much already. I know it's hard not to compare yourself with the weight loss of others, but don't do that. It is so unfair to yourself, everyone is different and you cannot control how your body loses the weight. So, be encouraged and patient, it will come off. If you are doing everything you are suppose to do, it has to come off. Hang in there, it's going to be OK. -Tandra