Need some encouragement

Hi all!  I hope that some of you can provide some words of wisdom and comfort to me--I had my surgery at St. V's on December 18th and was losing weight like crazy--45 pounds in four weeks, but now I have gained one pound back and have been at a standstill for a week.  This is driving me nuts since I cannot imagine HOW I could have GAINED a pound!  Also, my sister took pictures of me the day of my surgery and at one month post-op and her and my mother are both saying how they see a change, blah, blah, blah--but I CAN'T!  I see no change--except I look tired and have wet hair in my day of surgery pic and look awake and have dry hair in my one month pic!  I am frustrated and scared that I am not going to lose anymore!  I have had ZERO problems with ANY food--I can eat spicy foods, meats (even had ground beef for the first time last night and had NO problems!), vegetables, eggs, etc and this bothers me.  Not that I want to be intolerant to foods, but this seems too simple and makes me wonder if the RNY is actually working!  Has anyone ever heard of someone having the RNY and not losing much weight at all?  I know people "eat through" the RNY but I thought that was always after they had lost it and then regained it. I need some thoughts, please.

i havent had the surgery yet, however i've read enough posts! sip tons of water, get your protein in yadda yadda yadda!

just think though, you couldnt have lost 45 lbs before so congrats on that!

I havent had surgery but 45lbs in 4 weeks is awesome,,be proud of yourself. We are always our own worse critic. Im sure the others will have advice for you. I just wanted to say great job....

45# in four weeks is tremendous. congradulations. as for why you may have stalled a little: since the weight loss in the first 4 to 6 weeks can be soo extreme, sometimes you body just needs a few weeks to catch up with itself.  another words you body is saying "hang on a second, whats going on, i need to catch my breath. keep getting you fluids and you protein and you will start losing again soon!

Maddie~ OMG gal...I felt the same way you do....DO NOT GET ALL IN A TIZZY!!!! I also can eat anything...have had no problems....the thing is.....INCHES! I am POSITIVE that if you measure yourself you will definately see a difference! Also...there are days when you don't lose anything...its your body catching up to the changes...don't give up....maybe not losing weight but I know you are losing inches...wait another 2 weeks...you will definately see some changes! I DID...I was so BIG it took awhile for me to see changes...I am 14 weeks out of surgery and I am down 77 - 75 pounds....depends some days down 75 some 77....and I am down 26 inches....sooooooooooooo Think of this....can you eat and eat and eat??????  I doubt it...I am sure you will be a hurting puppy if you eat over the amount you are suppose to eat...I thought I could eat and eat too...but NOPE...there is a stopping point! SOOOOOOOO HANG IN THERE....KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK...and be proud you have lost 45 pounds in this short amount of time! YOU are doing fine!!!!!!!!!  Keep walking and sipping and get the protein in first! huggggggggggs Janene

Maddie... Hon if I had  a nickel for every stall/plateau I've had already or every time I've worried bout not losing anymore, I'd be rich already. I'm almost 6 months out and down almost 100 lbs and I don't see it at all except for in pictures. Inches have come off and stuff but I just don't see it. I look in the mirror over and over.. One of the best things you can do is try to up your protein, drink some more water. Try to only weigh yourself once a week and all that fun stuff.. It took a while for me to see it in pictures too actually 4 months.

Hi, I wouldn't worry about this at all. You have done wonderful. I hit a stall and I was told to up the protein and I did it (alot more) and the problem went away in a couple of days and starting losing again. I think if you did that it might help you. Also your body does have to get accustom to the big changes that it is going through. It takes time for it to do that. I can't see the changes in me either but others do. I am having a problem with the fact that I can't see it. I just see hanging skin and that is from the 26 inches that I have lost. The "girls" are going more south than ever but the bra is smaller. I was told that you just cram them in a smaller bra and they don't look like they are traveling south.  Keep doing the work and the good things will follow.

are you kidding me 45 lbs in 4 weeks is good. and you will have slow downs like this its your bodies way of catching up. now dependsing on your cycle and if you have had them in the past of they are just comming back it might be there i know i gain a pound when its my time of the month but boy as soon as its over i drop like 5 pounds in 2 days. hun it took me 6-7 months before i could look in a miror and see a difference. only because i seen me daily and didnt notice the changes tho i knew they was happening.. if you are really worried get back to the basics sip, walk, protain, and if you are really worried get ahold of the nuts and talk to them about it they are awsome.. good luck

vicki

Maddie, As others have said, 45 lbs is terrific! And yes, definately measure yourself! I measured myself every Sunday and regardless of what the scale said, saw a difference there! And One pound??? Hon, you can gain one pound (or more!!) just by drinking a glass of water! I typically bounce with a +/-4 lb difference. I don't count it as a loss (or gain) unless I see that weight 3 days in a row. One of my pet peaves when I was 352 lb was hearing someone who was a size 4 talk about needing to lose 2 lb to fit into their size 2 dress. I kept thinking 'have a good dump and you'll be there!'. For us, the same can make the difference! As you lose weight, your body is going to go through several stalls. It's the way your body catches up. Quit stressing over it. Do what you are suppose to do and the weight WILL come off. Just have patience with it and with yourself! Now...as to what you are eating. Normally, I am the 'live and let live' type person when it comes to post-op eating. But...I have to speak up. Please forgive me in advance but I say this because I am concerned. Knock it off with testing your pouch. You may not be too happy when it fights back. You are barely 4 weeks post-op. Eating spicy foods??? You are asking for an ulcer..and they hurt like heck so please stop. I don't think veggies is on the ok list yet either..or if it, it's probably pureed. Those who just gotta see how far they can push the limit are usually the ones who do fail or have a miserable time finding out that the push just wasn't worth it. I know of someone who pushed..and had steak. He ended up in the ER and had to have it surgically removed. His new pouch couldn't handle it. People who try pushing it with sugar are unfortunately the ones who say 'I don't dump..I wish I did'. No..if they REALLY wished it, they would have never tried the sugar and just assumed that they would dump. No one eats something thinking 'I hope this makes me sick as a dog'. In 3+ years, the only thing I have ever ate knowing it has real sugar in it is a very small piece of pumpkin pie..and that's because I know that very little sugar is put in it. I have the mindset of 'sugar WILL make me sick'. I have never even had a piece of my grandchildren's birthday cakes since I had my RNY. I know another person who had the lap band...lost 100 lb then started regaining. So he had it revised to an RNY..and lost about 80 lb..and regained. Because of him, Bill was against me getting my RNY until we bought a bar & this guy worked for us. Well...our little pouches may not be able to handle much but I really don't think Dr. Jones meant for his to be able to handle 2 bags of M&M's at a time!! He purposely worked his way up to being able to handle that much sugar at once. So what you eat is extremely important. If you would not feed it to a baby, do not feed it to yourself.  Remember, just because you don't have a problem immediately after eating something does not mean it won't come back to haunt you. I am speaking from personal experience. Believe me, I'm no saint. I just don't want to see anyone go through what I did. One ulcer occured several days after having 1/2 cup of coffee (the caffiene) and the other, several days after having ketup (the acidic....and that was when I was +3 months post-op and tomato products were suppose to be ok). Stick to 64 oz + of water, your protein, 2-3 oz meals (protein first), and exercise and you WILL lose weight! And yes, we are our own worse critics. Well..for me, my mother was. When I had lost 80 lbs, she looked me over head to toe and said 'well it sure doesn't show'. Talk about a balloon burst! But, trust me, those scales are saying you lost 45lbs...Rejoice! And measure yourself!!! You won't be disappointed!! Oh...and quit beating yourself up! The world can do that well enough, don't help it along. You ARE doing terrific! Sherri

Thanks to all for the support and words of encouragement--I know I am too hard on myself, but I am so terrified of failing at this weight loss attempt too! I should have been clearer about the foods--I am only eating foods on the yellow sheets--at five weeks out I am allowed to have fruit and veggies--just finely chopped.  I have had absolutely zero sugar--I don't want to find out that I don't dump so I am just assuming that I do. I was told by the nutritionists at St. Vincent's that spicy foods (I am not talking hot salsa--I am talking mild chicken curry and taco seasoning so maybe I should call it spiced foods instead of spicy) are fine as long as they do not cause any problems such as nausea, diahrea, etc.  My concerns about being able to tolerate so many different foods is just because EVERYONE else I talk to tells me that they have problems with this or that and it just seems too easy for me.  Having said that--I do appreciate the concern, Sherri, I love that people on this board are both supportive and willing to call people on not following the program.  I do think that I am following the program though. I will try to ease up on myself as well as increase my protein a little and increase my exercise. Thanks again!