I'm struggling. Two weight loss surgeries already. HELP.

If you are eating pre-surgery portions that is exactly why you aren't losing weight.

At 6+ months out our sleeve has healed more so you can eat more.  While there is still restriction to a degree, we can definitely eat.  I mean, I can probably eat a TON more.  I see people here post that they get super full after four ounces.  I know if I wanted to push myself I could probably eat a giant sandwich if I wanted to, or other gobs of food.  I don't, though, because I weigh and measure my food.  I've been reluctant to test this because I don't want to get in the habit of overeating for psychological and practical reasons.  It is hard to stretch the sleeve, if not impossible, if you eat properly.  If you consistently overeat pre-surgery portions, it becomes more likely.

I am saying this both as a counselor as well as a recovering food addict: waiting for restriction and keeping on eating will never replace measuring and weighing food.  You still have to measure and weigh and portion control.  Low carb is fab for weight loss, but you will even gain on a low carb diet.  It's our job to stop ourselves from eating... not our new sleeve's.  There is no replacement for measuring and managing what you eat - not restriction from the sleeve for us, nor malabsorption for RNY and DS patients.  Even they have to watch what they eat, too.  Any of the WLS procedures will have weight regain without behavior change.  

I have been sloppy since surgery this June myself.  I've cheated and tried to get around it when I'm depressed.  We all make mistakes when we recover as addicts.  The truth is that we need behavioral help too.  

I'm a good example of this.  Even while having super bad binge eating disorder, I've still lost like 120 pounds since surgery.  I could've lost more if not for my mistakes, but the thing about mistakes is we don't get mad and quit - we pick ourselves up, figure out what we goofed with, and move forward all speed ahead.  I don't like to mention it much, however I was a high-risk patient for surgery behavior-wise.  I have severe BED, and I am still in counseling.  If I can do it, everyone else can too, even though it seems hard! We both got this :)

Let me first say how sorry I am that you are going through this I know how incredibly frustrating it can be when it seems like the weight will never be under control and I wish that on no one. My immediate advice would be for you to see your surgeon because even if you're a compulsive eater the restriction in the beginning should have taken care of that (at least in the beginning). Not saying the pouch won't stretch eventually, it will and is designed to but 18lbs in 8 months doesn't sound right to me. I lost that in the first 2 weeks just from only being able to consume liquids. 

My second advice is to beginning logging everything you consume (accurate amounts too) so if you have 3 or 4 servings of something put it and I would recommend doing this before you even attempt a diet plan. A very wise professor of mine once said, how will you know what's wrong if you don't examine what currently is. Try myfitnesspal. It's free, has lots of foods that covers many cultures and even has the barcode scanner for the lazier few like myself :-)

Third advice and this will be the most difficult. Try not to be discouraged. If you give up on yourself, you'll never make it. YOU CAN DO THIS, IT'S HARD NOT IMPOSSIBLE.

Once you've armed yourself with the tools and your ready to make your changes, set small goals for yourself but make sure none of them involve food. Food is never a goal and remember if you are not physically hungry then food is not the answer. 

Sign on to this site daily if you can can and look for the "whatcha eating VSGers" and say what you are eating. You have no idea how much it will keep you accountable. I used to do this on another board and sometimes it was the only thing that kept me from cheating.

Believe in you, you can do anything!