The down side of doing well

Hello,

I am 11 weeks post op. I had my surgery January 24th. I also feel like I havent had the surgery. It seems that I have no trouble with any food. I do get a 'sore' tummy if I eat a bit too much and it has taken a few weeks but now I know exactly when to stop. The portions I eat are much much smaller then ever before. But it is definitely a mind game. I crave all my old loves but have been careful to stay away from them. The first few weeks after surgery I lost a good amount of weight but at about week 3 I stalled for a while. Then I started losing again and average about 2 pounds a week now. It is not as much as I thought I would be losing but I am still lower in weight than I have been for a very very long time. I lost 26 pounds before my surgery and have lost 33 pounds since my surgery. I did start out on the 'smaller' size so knew that I would probably not have mounds and mounds of weight falling off for a long period of time.

I started running again...something I havent done for a long time...and I totally love it!! It feels really really good to be able to do it again and I am hoping as I increase my running time that my weight will start to come off a bit quicker.

Ladytazz I didn't think of it that way before but that's exactly what I'm hoping for....being the version of ME that just eats less and is okay with it.  That gives me perspective I didn't have....thank you!

Adrienne we are really similar.   I hesitated about posting this because I know there are several people on here having real problems after the surgery, and I didn't want to offend anyone.  But I also thought that there had to be others who feel how I feel. 

Our old lifestyle is in the VERY recent past.  We've had a lot more experience with fast food, pasta and donuts than we've had with small portions and protein first.  I ate what I wanted when I wanted it for most of my life.  This is new, and it's hard.  I know some people are very strict with this lifestyle, and some believe in moderation.  I don't know know which camp I'm in yet....or which is going to work better for me.  I think moderation would make sense for me IF I'm able to control it.  Control has NOT been my strong point in the past.  :-/

Congrats on not giving in to the donut craving, BTW.  It's ridiculous how powerful that pull is.  I'm glad you got what I meant by the original post.....it wasn't coming out the way it sounded in my head. :-P 


Meg

I agree with you guys I have weak moments,I didnt get this fat by having self control and making good food choices,everyone sounds like they eat perfect and dont make bad choices, im finding that hard to do.I think with me it has to be portion control like you said.Bad habits die hard and like you said surgery was done on the habits.

Meg - we have the same surgery date - and apparently nearly the exact same experience. The ONLY thing that has given me any trouble is eggs - and I never really liked them before the surgery - so that's probably why! I would definitely find a good nutritionist. I've called mine like 6 times in the past 4 weeks! I'm SO thankful - my surgeon's office and the bariatric clinic I went to is SO comprehensive - they have counselors (for all the mental stuff we go through!), nutritionists, nurses, etc - all in one place. My nutritionist - Dave - is fantastic!

The second thing that has helped me is writing everything down - I use www.mynetdiary.com - I can keep track online - or on my iPhone (a free app). I can track my exercise, water intake, nutrition intake, vitamins and meds - all in one place. I have also been setting an alarm on my phone so that I get into the habit of eating and taking my vitamins regularly.

If I find that I'm 'hungry' - which at this point is pretty much a head thing for me - I drink some water. I measure EVERYTHING!  have a bunch of the gladware mini containers - If I open cottage cheese, I just measure it and portion it into the containers. Same with chicken, or yogurt or whatever else I eat. That way everything is portion-controlled. I have a scale and I weigh all the meats I eat. I have only been eating the portion sizes that have been recommended thus far, even though I know and have no doubt I could actually eat more (like until I'm stuffed and sick).

I have also been using the Hungry Girl cookbooks (www.hungry-girl.com) - Really good food, great taste - a lot less fat/calories/sugar - no 'deprivation'. I went through and 'flagged' (post-it flags) all of the high protein recipes. So far - I've liked everythign I've tried!

Anywho... that's what's been working for me thus far. I hope this helps! Good luck to you! 

~Karen

I know how you feel about wanting the consequences. I have had maybe a hanfull of days early on when I had a sore pouch or diahrea. Now I can eat anything i want. I hate that! I really dont feel like I had anything done. Im not complaining I just feel like if I had consequences for not eating right It would be easier to make better choices. if that makes any sense.