Surgrey was almost a year ago- I'm off track! Need advice, need help

Hi Everyone, I need advice and suggestions. I know we are suppose to be low carb post opt, but I'm struggling with finding easy meals. Are you guys counting calories? counting carbs? What should I do. I am stuck on scale, in fact it went up a little.

I'm just over six months out.  I do not ever anticipate not logging my meals and keeping track of everything.  I think that would be a great place to start, get myfitnesspal and log everything and I;m sure that will help you get back on track.....you will see everything you do.

A week or so ago, I posted the following: 

So I had my surgery, July 2008. I lost 110 lbs in 9 months. I stopped short of my goal by 20 lbs. In the past 3 years, I started getting lax. I gained back 60 lbs. I got discouraged and depressed. I started researching revisions and the DS. I have read for months about the DS and I had an appt for tomorrow to schedule the revision. Last week I decided to go back to the basics and just try this one more time. I cut out all of the carbs and crap I was eating and I started tracking what I was putting in my mouth. I am thankful, happy and so excited to say, I have dropped 10 lbs.

Let me say here.. the surgery does NOT give you the okay to eat anything that you want. I have heard folks say I eat anything I want and I haven’t gained a pound back. I truly find that hard to believe. I am not saying that you can’t ever have that slice of birthday cake… I am saying you can’t have that slice of birthday cake every.single.day and expect to lose or expect to not gain weight.

I was told from the beginning.. this surgery is a tool… and ONLY a tool to help you lose weight but you have to do your part too. That is the truth. The honest to God truth.

So for the next 3 months, I am going to do my part of eating right, exercising more and drinking water like I am supposed to and see where it takes me. At the end of the three months, if I know that I have given it EVERYTHING within me.. and I have been honest and true about the food I am digesting, I will make a decision if I want a revision. I cannot justify a revision for ME if I am not making THIS tool work. I can’t keep going under the knife to make weight loss work for me for the moment. This has to be a lifelong commitment.

So for all of the newbies out there… weight gain is real. It does happen (more times than not) and to keep the weight off… you have to work this tool. You can’t get to goal and decide to eat everything in sight (even in small portions). The tool we have, has failed some people (rarely), but most of the time, WE fail the tool.

I promised to come back often with an update.  So here I am...  Since this post, I have lost 12 lbs.  I have cut out ALL carbs from my diet and I am no longer hunger all of the time.  The worse times for me is right before bed because I was used to having a carb "snack" and I have cut that out.  Now I have a boiled egg or string cheese.  I feel so much better knowing that I am back on track.  I am not losing as quickly as I would like to... but Rome wasn't built in a day.  I will take it as it comes.  :)

Great post! Thanks for sharing, you are doing great.

Kudos  for getting back on track.. many wishes of good luck to you...I have to say...I can only imagine the stress and temptation's you have to deal with providing "normal" meals for 12 kids ..You Go Girl! One Day at a Time!!

2 Yrs out have gained 12 # over holidays well NOT holiday any more,  so I appreciate the share, I am struggling with some stressor good stressor but they are stressors and i  did great for 1 week nothing happened and then I really said forget it, but NOW is the time for me to try again esp before more shows up, so writing down every bite, low carb and back to basics, also it is weir it feels like my body was just done at 65# lose???? I cannot xplain it, smae foods like it just reach a point of something???? So back on track,.

2 Yrs out have gained 12 # over holidays well NOT holiday any more,  so I appreciate the share, I am struggling with some stressor good stressor but they are stressors and i  did great for 1 week nothing happened and then I really said forget it, but NOW is the time for me to try again esp before more shows up, so writing down every bite, low carb and back to basics, also it is weir it feels like my body was just done at 65# lose???? I cannot xplain it, smae foods like it just reach a point of something???? So back on track,.

Tracking is very important.  

Im in maintenance and still track everyday.  I typically cook up a bunch of food on the weekend, so the week is hassle free.  An easy meal is a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store with veggies.  Planning makes everything much easier.  

I find not thinking ahead makes me go off track more often. 

Good luck!

I'm a big fan of low carb because it really helps keep cravings in check. But other people find success simply by eating dense protein first, then some veggies, then a couple bites of carby stuff, in which case there's not a lot of room for carbs.

However, for easy low carb meals, I have a repertoire that works great for me. YMMV, of course. I am SUPER lazy, so these are lazy cook approved. I'm like one step above bachelor chow.

* Steak. Pan fried or grilled. Couldn't be easier or more delicious. I like mine with a pat of kerrygold butter and a few bites of green beans.

* Boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I dust them with a lot of spices and bake them in the oven. I broil them at the end to give them some color. Sometimes I add thinly sliced lemons to the pan. Very easy and more delicious and harder to overcook than breasts. I like regular thighs too but my method for cooking those is a little more involved and I'm lazy. 

* Taco pie. Make taco meat and let it cool. Add some eggs and a little cheese and press it into the bottom of a pie pan. Top with some cheddar, jalapenos, black olives. Bake until the cheese melts. Serve with sour cream and pico de gallo. 

* Egg cups, either in mini muffin tin or regular muffin.

* Antipasto! The laziest meal on the planet. Salami, fancy cheese, a few olives, a tablespoon of hummus. 

* Ham and cheese roll ups. Add some pickles to the middle. Or heat up in a non-stick frying pan.

* Plain greek yogurt, I add Mio to it for flavor & sweetness. Or I make coffee yogurt: splenda + instant coffee.

* Cheese sticks. 

* Pork tenderloin. Stupid easy to make. 

* Sausage patties and sugar free ketchup mixed with tabasco sauce.

I keep frozen veggies on hand so I can portion out a bariatric sized amount. But honestly I still don't eat a lot of veggies.

The great thing about the sleeve is that you're eating such small portions, if you cook ahead of time, you're set for the week.

Your taco pie recipe sounds yummy!