Need to lose this weight

Hi I have had surgery about 7-8 yrs ago. I have since gained about 50lbs back. I am miserable. Nothing fits anymore and my bones are in pain again. I have arthritis in my knees. When I lost weight that helped my pain, but now I am miserable again. Any advise on how to get back on track and lose this weight. Thank you

Hi Daisymayb

You have already taken the hardest step by saying enough is enough and now I want to get back on track.  Here are some steps I hope will help you. They helped me...  Also, be sure and join the Back On Track Together group link in my signature area.  

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 carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies 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, fiber, 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, lift weights. When I stopped, the weight came on.  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 Kathy, yes I have started drinking more soda, and I am not moving as I should. I know all the wrong things I am doing. I used to walk 4 miles a day. I have gotten heavy and lazy and I hate where I am. I hate my clothes no longer fit. I feel I am depressed. I shouldn't be, I have a good life now, but I do feel it is a big part of my problem. I am going to speak to my Dr. on Thurs. Thank you for all your input.

The good news is you still can lose the weight if you get back to basics.  Eat dense protein first and then veggies.  Limit fruit to one serving per day (a serving size is 1/2 banana, or 1/2 apple, 4 strawberries).  Get all of the processed, starchy carbs ( bread, crackers, pasta, sugar, rice, potatoes, etc.)  out of your house.  Those kind of carbs are the BIGGEST reason for re-gain and the more you eat of them, the more you want.  They will cause cravings and we can eat a ton of them without feeling restriction from our surgeries. It will be "white knuckle for awhile but, after a few weeks of clean eating, those cravings will disappear.

If you are drinking with your meals, STOP!!!!!  This is the OTHER reason for re-gain.  Wait at least 30 minutes after your meal to begin drinking.  Drinking with your meals allows you to eat more and you gain weight.  It also will make you feel hunger much sooner.  This rule needs to be followed FOR LIFE!

Start measuring your portions out.  Portion sizes creep up over time.  We obese people have a skewed idea of what a proper portion looks like.  I had my surgery almost 5 years ago and I STILL measure EVERYTHING I eat.  I can't trust myself to eyeball portions.  I KNOW I would over eat.  I eat 6 very small ( 200-300 calorie) meals per day.  That means I eat about every 3-4 hours.  ANYONE can wait 3-4 hours before they eat again.  If you feel hungry or are craving something IGNORE IT!  Hunger is NOT AND EMERGENCY!  Nothing terrible will happen to you if you allow yourself to feel hungry for a few hours until you are scheduled to eat again. 

  Don't eat until you feel full.  Many of us use that "full feeling" as an emotional crutch.  It feels like comfort to us.  We have to relearn how to feed our bodies.  We have to learn to eat what we measure, be satisfied with that amount, and walk away. We have to take control and change our relationship with food.  Food is not to be used for comfort, to celebrate, for stress relief, to fill the void that boredom brings.  Food is fuel for the body... nothing more.

You still have a very powerful tool in your weight loss arsenal.  You just have to use it the way it was designed to be used.  Coming to OH is a step in the right direction.  Read as much as you can, ask questions and hold yourself accountable.  Many of us add a therapist to our medical team to help us exorcise those food demons.

You can do this!

Thank you for your response. I keep telling myself I didn't go through the surgery and all that process, to put this back on. I tell myself it is because I remarried and got fat and happy, I haven't worked for a year and I quit smoking, so yes these are all excuses. I know all to well they are excuses. I tried low carb way of eating, but saw no results. I didn't know if that was not working because of having this surgery or not. Thank you again for the advice.

I want to like this x 10. Great advice... For me the 'Don't eat until you feel full" is important to remember...