Not What I Used To Be

I had my surgery on November 2nd, 2004. When I went under I was 437 lbs. As of today's date I am 239 ponds. My lowest weight was 232 lbs. So as of now i have lost 198 pounds. I injured myself in December of 2005 and have been off my job as a mail carrier since then. I noticed a weight gain since then and I have been stagnant at a size 18 since. How do I jump start my weight loss again? I really need your advice... My mother just had the surgery, and she was at the weight I am at now. WHich means she will be MUCH smaller than I am now. I am feeling insecure and defeated. Please help!!!

Hi Renee - You said you injured yourself; I'm assuming based on that you haven't been able to exercise like you were.. Are there any exercises you can still do? either low impac****er, or recumbent bike, or anything? I know myself, that I find my hardest times for snacking are weekends when I'm home (or when I'm on vacation). Are you having those same issues? If so, the best "tricks" might be to follow the pouch rules. One of the things you have to remember is that you STILL have lost almost 200 lbs in a year - that's absolutely amazing - try to pick up anything weighing even 100 lbs and walk around with it - you'll find it probably very very difficult - imagine that a little over a year ago, you were walking around with TWICE that every day.. At only a year out, you *can* lose even more than you already have - 200 lbs is an amazing amazing loss and more than many of us ever see - you are doing wonderfully; you just need to do what you can do, based on your injury, to exercise, and figure out based on what you can do with your injury, how to maximize the effects of the WLS "tool" If you can't work on the physical aspects right now because of your injury, now's the time to maximize working on the "head stuff" - why you used to eat, how to replace the head hunger with other things, etc. There are a number of good books on this (Paula Peck, Barbara Thompson, Teri Kai Holzclaw(sp)) that are all good reading.. And of course, avoiding all the bad habits and making sure you can "proof" the house against them - it sounds like you're probably already doing that, or else you wouldn't have dropped the 200 lbs, but those are the only things I can think of doing.. Again, whenever you feel defeated, try picking up and carrying around the amount of weight you already lost - betcha either can't do it, or have a real hard time... Don't worry about "other people" - this is a very individual thing, and yeah, someone starting out where you are now will end up lower... so what.. if they jumped off a bridge, would you? (grin - I'm just kidding, trying to get you to smile). You can't judge where you are at based on where they are starting, so don't even try to go there. Guess what I'm trying to get to is look at where you are and where you started, and go from there; don't worry about where others are at - you've already done an amazing job - just keep doing what you can do and what you know that you need to keep doing. If you can't exercise because of the injury, then look at what you *can* do and keep plugging away And most importantly - keep smiling, it makes people wonder what you're up to

Great answer to Renee, Nick. I don't have anything more to add that would be beneficial except - Renee, keep up the great work. You make us all proud to be part of such a wonderful group. Have a truly wonderful day. Cindee 310/212/???

Renee, I agree with Nick, any exercise you can do will only help! You will get through this rough time and come back to lose again. Also hun pleaes do not worry about his she is smaller then you or not, everyone is different and you are not competing with her. You are doing awesome and CONGRATS on the weight you have lost...that is just awesome! Get back to the basics and get yourself going again. Debra P