4yrs post-op & Alcohol

I am 4 years post op, reached my goal weight at 10 months post op.  In the last year and a half, I've gained 10-15 lbs (fluctuates).  I'm still in my same size clothes...can see a "little pooch" but nothing major.  I do consume alcohol...light beer....nothing heavier alcohol wise.  For eating, a typical day for me is 2 cups of coffee, 4 triscuit crackers w/ cheese, child size lunch portion, afternoon snack of some sort of nut and a reasonable dinner, still not eating more than I did post op, on occassion, I do eat some rich foods.  HELP!  Can I get the weight off? How? or is this just where my body decided it wants to be?  I'm 4'11" and 130lbs.

Your message line leads me to believe you need info on alcohol - are you thinking that is the cause of your weight gain? Going farther down the post, you talk about the quantities that you eat.  What I'm not seeing is if you have taken the initiative to actually track your calories.  The amount of food you eat is not necessarily relative to the amount of calories that you are taking in.  If you sometimes eat "rich food", that is fine. What may be a problem is more calories than you need, over time, which leads to slow weight gain. Are you stuck at this weight and want to be lower?  Your answer is go back to basics.  Keep track of your daily intake, calculate your daily calories using one of the on-line trackers.  Are you exercising regularly?  If not, start today.  If yes, then keep track of your work-outs. You gain weight when your calories IN exceeds the calories you need to get through the day. As far as alcohol - well, please clarify the question.  If you are thinking about the calories it contributes, calculate it in to your daily intake & see if that's enough to put you over the top.  A light beer has about 110 calories, a bottle of water has O calories - it's a personal choice how you want to spend your calories. I hope this clarifies things (at least a little)

I guess that is what I am asking...could alcohol be the factor for the weight gain in the last year or so?   How many calories should we "intake" a day & how does an average person figure that up?  Where is there an online tracker?  No I don't exercise, never did even post op nor when I was large. Yes, I want to loose the weight that I have put on & get back to what I was at a year post op.   I don't think that triscuits & nuts are bad "fillers" during the day considering how many meals we are supposed to eat now (if I recall correctly they said 4-6 small meals).   Thanks for your help...need advice, need to get the weight off!

The online tracker I use is fitday.com.  There you can create a free personal account and input all the foods consumed for the day.  It will give you all the nutrition facts for individual items and what you consumed the whole day.  Be careful though; it is very specific.  Sometimes I have to look long and hard, but I do find what I'm looking for.  

Alcohol will provide extra calories, so it can be a source of weight gain over time. How much should you take in each day?  Your calorie level is very individual.  There are machines that can measure it - like a MedGem or other similar machine.  You would have to go to a professional who has one to have this measure done.   For the average person - Track your calories for a week or so.  You will probably find that you have patterns of eating and your calorie intake day to day only varies by a 100 or so calories (that's the average - some more, some less)  If you want to lose weight, you need to find places to cut your calories.  If you take away 2-300 calories each day, you will lose weight.  If you start to exercise, you will lose even faster. Nuts & triscuits aren't "bad" foods.  They are snack foods.  They have a decent amount of fiber, but contain more fat than an apple.  Make sure you are getting your fruits and vegetables in.  Nuts should be in your diet occasionally - unless you are vegetarian and are using them as a source of protein.  It's 9 peanuts to the mile! Each tablespoon of peanut butter has about 100 calories.  There are better snacks if you want to lose weight. You put the weight on slow - so work on making changes you can live with over time.  If you stick with it you will be healthier, and lighter in time. Good luck!