Back on the Saddle

I have to admit, I became complacent.  Worse than that, I became ambivalent.  Things in my life were going well, I was pretty happy with how clothes looked on me, I had (have) a girlfriend I like a lot who seems unconcerned with whether I lose more weight.  At first I just assumed I'd probably lose weight even if I didn't stick to "the program."  Then when the loss stopped, I switched to kind of thinking I was "reasonably satisfied" being slightly overweight. So two problems crept in: candy and lack of exercise.  The first started with Halloween and then kept up through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year.  But even when the free, "lying around" candy dried up, I found myself going out and buying it.  Hundreds of calories a day, for no good reason.  I wasn't a candy eater before surgery, it doesn't make me full post-surgery, and if anything, after 30 minutes I'm looking to eat (more candy or real food, even if I ate real food only an hour or two before).  As for the lack of exercise,  that was mostly caused by a knee injury rather than lack of willpower.  Even after things healed, I was slow getting back to regular exercise because of all the holidays/vacation/etc. Anyway, a couple months went by and basically my weight stayed the same.  And my candy eating had gotten the point I often felt lethargic or tired.  Then suddenly I remembered I had goals left unattained, and they were about health, not lifestyle.  So I've cut the candy (well, almost, I allow myself a piece or two a day when I pass a jar, but not a handful).  And I've gotten back to three times a week at the gym.  The result is I've lost ten pounds this month, and  have set a new goal of losing 13 more pounds and seeing 199 by the end of April (reasonable, I think).  The date for my body fat goal (19%) will be reset after that, probably June or July. I think my experience illustrates two points that have been reiterated many times before on here.  1. Bad news: WLS is a tool, not a magic bullet.  If you don't work it, you won't achieve your goals. 2. Good news: WLS is a powerful tool that will give you a major assist if identify the proper way to use it.  To restart my loss, I didn't have to go on any crash diet and I'm not constantly struggling to maintain the changes I've made (unlike diets before, especially diets after months when there wasn't much left to lose).  I still eat a variety of foods and have very satisfying meals.  (If anything, I'm more satisfied now than before I cut the candy.)  I simply identified a couple problem areas and took moderate steps to fix them. Sp if you are stalling, before you undertake a major overhaul or give up because it seems hopeless, see if there are one or two key changes that might restart your progress.

you pretty much summed up my post "lost 10 pounds". this time out the surgery kept me from feeling starved AND it stayed off. now i'm just a regular guy who has to watch what i eat and diet if i don't. we went to dinner last night. i had a jones for spaghetti and we had an apple tart for desert with ice cream which we split. so.....an hour later i'm throwing up all night and my gut still hurts this morning. point is, i went back to sweets and eating wrong stuff. i gained and hated it. i did what you did. i took stock of the situation and decided i had enough. discipline is much easier with the surgery. that's the point i wanted to make and it seems you did too......carbonblob

Thanks for the commonsense approach.  For me it was both candy and carbs.  After gaining 13 pound, I just cut back on the carbs and candy (not going hog wild), walked daily and the weight I had regained, came off easily.  "Work your tool" sounds so Main Board, but it really is true.  Thanks for keeping us accountable...Brian

Well, I've been kicking myself cause we had lunch provided for us at work today as a salve for having to spend half the lunch hour in some retarded, useless, tits on a boar hog,  state mandated, training. And of course it was pizza and I had a piece. My first return to an old comfort food. And then I come on here and find you guys discussing eating to  much candy. I guess maybe the world won't come to an end cause of me having a piece of pizza. I still wished I'd skipped it though.

JFish, we're all human.  We're morons when we make mistakes and Don't Learn from it.  Or at least that's my view on it.  You made a mistake.  Sorry to tell you that your human like us.... =) Just learn and move on =)