I had surgery on 9/21/15 and i expected the weight to just fall off. Prior to surgery i lost 51 lbs. but post-surgery i have only lost 27. Overall the doc says I'm doing fine since I've lost 25% of my access body fat, but post-surgery I'm slow. i read all these stories on here about the weight just falling off and I'm struggling for every 10th of a lb. I take in less than 600 calories a day and exercise every day. the one thing i can say is I'm struggling to get the protein in. Could that be hold me back?

I can say i feel alot better than i did 78 bls ago and i'm very grateful for that loss. But i feel like a big loser (and not in the good way). I'm depressed and wondering if it was all worth it. My goal is another 115 lbs and i just can't imagine actually losing it at this pace.

Any ideas?

Hi Margie!  Sounds like you need some positive thoughts going.  Remember where you have come from.  Remember the aches and pains your body felt and how tired you were.  Compare those feelings to how you feel now.  Can you get around better than you did before?  Are you able to walk for longer periods of time?  Those small progresses do make a huge difference in the long term.  That's not going to change you today or tomorrow but as you age, you will see the difference.  Choose progress over perfection.  Also, yes...you need to get your proteins in.  Prepare mini-meals over the weekend and be prepared.  Carry them with you everywhere.  Set a timer to remind you to eat.  Being prepared when you are at work, not at home, or even when you are at home and these feelings come...this can make a difference too.  Be patient with yourself.  You are doing a great job and you just need to keep going.  Focus on proteins, look up some recipes and try them out, for things at this point that are made in small amounts but have high protein/fiber.  Stay positive!!!

Could you post a sample menu so we can give you some specific suggestions? 

Yourpresurgery loss is really great. It gave you a nice head start.

Usually for breakfast i have an egg (either a white or a whole one) and a piece of bacon. Today i added about 6 oz of oatmeal with protein powder. For lunch i always have 8 oz of  diet v8 splash with protein powder. Dinner is hard for me. sometimes i have a hotdog with ketchup and mustard (no bun) and about 10 grams of cheddar cheese. This usually stays down. the last few days i've had another protein drink in order to get more protein.

i sometimes have 1/2 serving of goldfish crackers or 4 animal crackers if i feel like a snack.  I'm afraid to try a bunch of new stuff because i have a fear of throwing up, although the goldfish came up last night but that was my fault because i was reading while i was having them and realized i was mindlessly eating (old habit).

i'm not very creative when it comes to food and cooking. I have been able to hold down rice crackers with deviled ham, hotdogs, and mashed/baked potatoes.

any ideas?

Have you been entering this into My Fitness Pal or anything like that? I am by no means a vet, having had surgery 6 months ago. But, I would check to see how many carbs you are having. And maybe adjust that. If you are looking for good menu ideas, go to the RNY board and there is usually a post about what everyone is having that day with the calorie and carb counts. If you are having issues with protein, maybe you could consider adding a protein shake in there? I think people would also warn you away from the hot dogs and crackers. Are you getting enough water? These are just my thoughts from what I have read/experienced myself.

Honestly?  I would ditch the oatmeal, v8spalsh, hotdogs, potatoes and any type of cracker.  You need to eat more protein, dense protein.

I would check out http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/  She has a ton of great post-op recipes and food ideas.

You also need to track your food.  If you were mindlessly eating goldfish and they made you sick that is something to really think about.  You are not even 2 months out why are you eating carby foods?

i can ditch it all. the mindless eating of the goldfish last night was a 1 time thing..not something i always do..just fell into an old habit for a bit..won't happen again.

The diet v8 splash is the only thing i can tolerate to deliver the protein. it has 10 calories and 2.8g of carbs.

my protein powder has 25g of protein, 110 calories, zero carbs and is soy. i cannot tolerate any dairy at all although i do ok with the cheese so go figure.

i do track my food on my S health app on my samsung phone. i also track my steps and my excersize.

i average 35 carbs a day. is that alot? when i had my appointment with the nutritionist, i wasn't very happy with it. Luckily i have another nutritionist resource and i'm going to call her.

thank you everyone for your suggestions. my sis in law told me about egg face. i'm going to check it out.

Hi

I want to be totally honest with you.  You should not be eating gold fish or hot dogs.  I am 11 years out and was a very slow loser.  It took me approximately one year to lose the 100 lbs I lost and have kept it off.

Protein needs to be in the form of shakes designed for us; chicken, fish, beef, cheese, eggs, turkey.  The rule I was taught was protein first, if you still have room, veggies, if you still have room fruit.  Avoid sugar, processed meats and crackers, carbs of any kind.  I was also told to avoid carbonated drinks...which I did for two years.  I rarely drink a diet coke once in a while.

When I was unable to consume a lot, I consumed either chili and scrambled eggs and string cheese.  It took me over a year to be able to eat chicken and steak, but ground beef was fine.

Good luck; I wish you success.

JA

Yes!  You are right on target!  Stay away from the snacky stuff!  Another good shake website is dashingdish.com.  Tracking food makes a lot of difference; and paying the $49.99 per year to track in detail on My Fitness Pal is worth it to me!

What she said.

Do you have metabolic syndrome?  Some of us do REALLY well on ketogenic diets (I.e. protein, nonstarchy veg and GOOD fats (in SMALL amounts)). I have PCOS and metabolic syndrome and I can stall my weight loss, slow down my weightloss, or even GAIN weight by including steel cut oats for breakfast and/or brown rice at lunch.

IT is really unfair and it sucks (i.e. having berries for fruit ALL the time..There are days wheN I go "wild" and actually let myself have pineapple)..but the fact is..if this is how your body runs, then that is the parameters you need to operate in.  It sucks..but that is life.

So give high protein, low carb (and low GI carb) a try for 2 weeks and report back what happens.

What does such a diet look like

1) hard boiled egg and/or protein shake for breakfast

2) tuna with mayo for lunch and/or tomoato for fruit

3) chicken for dinner and or zucchini or spinache or kale or green beans with almonds for dinner.