I'VE LOST AN ENTIRE FAT PERSON, AND I AM STILL OBESE!

I AM 3.5 YEARS OUT FROM MY RNY. MY BEGINNING WEIGHT WAS 460. DOWN TO 420 DAY OF SURGERY. 12 MOTHS OUT I WAS 225 POUNDS. I GOT PREGNANT. AFTER HAVING MY BABY I GOT UP TO 280. I'M BACK DOWN TO 260. I STILL HAVE SO FAR TO GO. I FEEL DISCOURAGED. I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH MY SURGEON'S OFFICE AND WORKING WITH A PERSONAL TRAINER. I HAVE SEVERE ARTHRITIS IN MY KNEES. I'M ONLY 30. I REALLY WANT TO GET BACK TO 225 AGAIN. THAT'S WHERE I WOULD BE QUITE HAPPY WITH THE SKIN AND MY BUILD AT 225. AT THAT WEIGHT I WAS HAPPY AND COULDN'T SEE MYSELF ANY SMALLER. I FEEL LIKE A FAILURE BECAUSE I HAVE GAINED. BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN A YEAR AND A HALF SINCE MY SON WAS BORN, AND I STILL AM PACKING ALL THESE EXTRA POUNDS. BACK TO MY SURGEON'S OFFICE TODAY. JUST IN NEED OF ADVICE AND SUPPORT. ARE THOSE OF US WHO WERE SUPER MORBIDLY OBESE TO START WITH DOOMED TO GAIN SOME BACK? ARE WE DOOMED TO BE OBESE FOREVER?

Your life has changed forever since surgery. Some good things some bad things.  Just know in your heart that will never let your self get over 300 pounds again.  Set goals.  You know in your heart want you have to do .  So just do it.  I know it not easy or simple.  I so live with the same fears.   Will  ever be a normal weight.  For me normal is under 200 pounds.  I start out at 390 pounds .360 pounds the day of surgery. for the last 6 month between 205 then back up 215 pounds.  I have lost 190 pounds.  My family said,s I should be happy to be where I am.  But, I can tell my younger Nieces and Nephew,s are dissapointed that I am not smaller.  I think don,t given it enough effect.  I dieting since before they were born..  I want to be happy and,  I would give anything to be thin for once in my life. , I am so scared of regaining.  I don,t care any more if do lose any more.  I just don,t want to regain.  I can eat  more now and I seem to be hungry all the time now.  The effect of the surgery. Seem to have worn off.  So that just means . I have to work twice as hard.  It does break my heart that I have not made it under 200 pounds. I do remember being 180 pounds in the fifth grade.  So even the idea of being under 200 pounds is a dream.that I am afraid to wish for or I would not even hope for.  I thought it was a miracle when made under 250 pounds. 

You have so many good things going for you.  Your able to have a personal trainer.  You are only 30 years and Have been  able the wonderful experience of being a mother.  You something to live for now.  A reason to make your life better.  So not do give up.   Be Happy and Enjoy every minute of your life  that God gave you.  I,m   so ashamed  to  say but, I  43 years old and have never been out of a date with a man.    Let a lone even let myself dream of being a mother.  You have already hit a home run in your life.  You Have already hit the ball out of the ball park and You are still worried that you will not make  it to first base.  You have to learn to love yourself for who are not the imaged person you dream of being.  That does mean that you have to stay fat  and not dream your dreams. You need to enjoy life in the moment and not wait to get Skinny.  Every person road they travel on is  so different. But, Most of our fears are all the same. 

(((hugs)))

I understand what you are saying, but I read your post and think what a huge accomplishment you've made. You have gained weight back, but you have maintained a 200 lb loss and you made a human being. That is no small potatoes.

Are we doomed? I don't think so. Do we have to fight harder than a lightweight? Yes, I do think so. Sometimes it makes me crazy to read posts by lightweights who got to onederland (or goal!) in less than six months and still don't think they are losing fast enough. That is when I have to remind myself that this is only about me. I determine my success, and sometimes this struggle is really one minute at a time.We cannot let anyone else be our yardstick.

Arthritis is a tough one, but every day you make the right choices and fight for your health you are claiming victory. You can do this!

HI Dawn,

I strongly encourage you to see a chiropractor for your knee issues. Not just any chiro, but one who has a gym attached to his office who does graston (muscle stripping). 

I was in very bad shape knee wise. I had an mri due to terrible pain and inabilty to walk after i heard something popped one day in my knee. The MRI showed lots of arthritis and bone on bone issues. The physician sent me to an Ortho guy who started giving me cortisone shots so i could walk. The pain without the shots rendered me useless. I couldn't walk from my driveway into my house without wanting to pass out from pain. I would lay in bed and want to cry when I rolled over. This went on for 3 years. Every 3 months, I went for the injection and a month later the pain would slowly start again. I counted the days to my next painful injection. Man they hurt!

Flash forward. I was having some stiffness in my back and a friend talked me into going to a chiropractor. As soon as he examined my back he asked me about any knee pain?  I explained my life and he told me he could heal me with exercise and graston. I was like...no you dont understand it's bone on bone. He then smiled and said, I can heal you. He did. 

I went 2 days a week for graston )muscle stripping) for 16 weeks and he showed me the floor exorcizes I needed to do with a matt and a foam cylinder. He also asked me to start walking on the elliptical to strengthen the muscles around my knee. It took about 12 weeks before I noticed a distinct improvement.

I am no longer  a weather vane. I no longer know 2 days before anyone else we are getting precipitation. I no longer need shots and I no longer need graston. It is a miracle. When my knees got better i was able to exercise more and lose weight and get in shape much faster.

Immobility from any injury, arthritis, bone spurs etc derails us and we gain rapidly. I am so happy now i had that stiffness in my back. It changed my life!

Here is a sample of graston on a back...mine was on the back and front knees

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpazksg--JA

Good Luck!

Sharon