Almost to goal, help me get back on track! :)

Hey y'all!

Its been a while since I've logged in. But my wedding is coming up in May, and I want to get back to losing!!

Some background; I'm 5'1", 30 years old, F, and got my VSG almost 3 years ago.

I got down to 129, (first goal was 130); and over the course of last year got back up to 140 :0

I began tracking again a few months ago, however I'm only down 7 lbs and I need some guidance/refresher knowledge :) My new goal I've set is to get to 120, or wherever I feel is a happy place for me.

I typically get between 80-100 grams of protein per day, carbs under 60grams per day, calories around 1000-1200.

I am losing... but veeeery slowly.

Do I need to take down my calories??

Avg day will look like this:

B: Coffee w/ half half

S: Greek yogurt w/ flax seeds & chia seeds

L: Grilled chicken or beef and spinach

S: Premier protein shake

S: Cheese

D: Grilled chicken or beef and spinach

Hi,

Good for you to take matters in hand before it gets any worse. I find that maintenance is challenging. I have to treat it just like weight loss, but with a few more calories and a few more opportunities to cheat. But I don't think I will ever be "done" managing my obesity.

For me, its all about carbs. If I keep my carbs below 30 per day, I can stick to a diet. If my carbs are higher, the carb monster takes control and I break the diet too much. so I'd suggest trying cutting back on carbs and see if that helps.

The next suggestion is to weigh and measure and log everything you eat. I'm really good at fooling myself and I need to track to keep myself honest.

Good luck with your diet. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. I wish you the best.

Carol

Your basics seem solid - you might find that you need to decrease your calories, but if you're losing weight that means you're on the right track.

Way to go for getting back to it!

You have already taken the hardest step by saying enough is enough and now I want to get back on track. I maintained 118-125 for over 10 years after losing 200 pounds. Due to a personal tragedy I gained and hit the 190 mark a year ago. After several starts it finally clicked and I am back to goal losing 60 pounds of regain. Here are some steps that helped me and I hope they will help you too! You may have several starts and stops but don't give up, don't beat yourself up. IT WILL CLICK!!!

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery? How many meetings, classes and such did we attend? We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success. And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods. Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains and fruits.

Journaling

Get back to journaling. This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life. Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating. It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband. It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food. Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker. Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself. Make them realistic and small. Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat?, calories, and sugar. Important, vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan).

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea? I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass. So I was either pushing to be diabetic or get cancer. I found once I started carrying a bottle of water around 24/7 (yes had one at my bedside) I lost the cravings for the sugar and I KNOW those artificial sweeteners are not good for me. Look I am old and if you add up all the artificial sweeteners I have consumed I am sure I am at the rat in the lab getting cancer threshold.

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what, I kept moving. If I could not go to the gym I would walk. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back. So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV. Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group.

Keep me posted on how you are doing.

Thank you all!

You've all given me some good tips. Tracking on MFP has been huge for both maintenance and losing.

Gwen, yep I am losing afterall, when I avg it out, its about .75lbs a week so far the past 10 weeks. I am in "normal" BMI range now, so I'm sure slower loss is not abnormal. Plus, I typically only show scale losses two weeks out of the month (week prior to and of TOM are a no-go).

I'm feeling like lowering carbs may be a good place to start if I can.

QUESTION:

What are everyone's thoughts on "net carbs" when it comes to supplements for dietary fiber? Do you count those as carbs? I have been.

Here is what I think about net carbs:

If it's fiber from vegetables or other unprocessed foods I subtract it from total carbs.

If it's erythritol, sorbitol, xylitol, or allulose I subtract it from total carbs.

If it's any other sugar alcohol or supposedly indigestible fiber I don't subtract it and try not to eat it for my digestive comfort .

I'm sure you will loose it by wedding day! Stay positive and drink slot of water.

Best of luck

You are probably eating close to the maintenance calories for 5'1" @ 120. So your loss will be very slow. I am 5'3" and my maintenance calories are 1250. When I want to drop down in my comfortable weight range, I try to eat around 800 calories (as I did during the initial weight loss phase).

That's what I was wondering! Thank you :) I will experiment!