Various Questions and Fears

I had gastric bypass almost 3 years ago April 4, 2012. I originally lost 150lbs almost immediately. I was comfortable at that weight despite it still being 215lbs. I carry my weight different than others in my opinion. I maintained that weight, but got pregnant and now have a 10 month old. I gained 80lbs during the pregnancy! I did not eat a ton and still am unable to eat a whole lot in one sitting. If I was to eat 2 ounces of steak I'd still be stuffed. Since I quit breastfeeding 2 months ago I went on a water pill to get rid of some water I am obviously retaining and through that and dieting lost 27lbs. I did gain 8lbs almost overnight when my water pill was lowered (original high dose to get rid of water and now a lower one to maintain). this 8lb gain is killing me mentally!

Anyways, on an average day I am eating between 800 and 1200 calories. I watch my carbs, protein, sodium etc. I am getting no results. 

Unfortunately my 10 month old still does not sleep through the night and I have been tired for 10 months now..lol. I have read that not getting 8 solid hours a night can contribute to weight gain? I do work full time but really need to get into a better exercise routine. Has anyone out there had any success with the 25 minute workout type things?

Even before getting pregnant I was at like a 1 year stall despite diligently tracking my calories daily.

Any great suggestions out there? I feel like I'm treading water all the time since there are no results!

Calories in, calories out is king.  Take your current weight and multiply it by 10.  That is roughly what you need per day to maintain your current weight.  Subtract 500 calories from that and that should put you on the way to losing a pound a week.  Are you certain you are logging absolutely everything?  If you weigh ~285 right now, you could eat 2000 calories a day and still lose weight.  

Are your limbs puffy and if you press into your lower leg, does the indention go away immediately or does it linger?  If yes, then you may have serious edema issues and need to be evaluated by your doctor.  

Lack of sleep can cause problems with weight loss, but again, if you are operating at a significant calorie deficit, lack of sleep won't make you not lose weight.  Upping your exercise is an excellent idea for general health, but it probably won't suddenly cause you to lose weight.

Take a long, honest look at what you're putting into your mouth.  You have a 10 month old--are you mindlessly eating bits of what you prepare for your child?  Are you logging the handful of nuts?  The chips before Mexican food?  The bread on the table at dinner?  All of these little bits can add up faster than any of us want them to.  :D 

Don't panic.  You still have your incredibly useful tool.  Focus on the basics of protein forward and make sure you're eating slowly and chewing well.  Don't drink with meals for 30 minutes to a full hour after.  Take a hard look at your routines and see where the calories are coming from because they're not coming from the air!  :D  

Keep your head up and go back to basics.  Use your tool as it was intended and you'll have success again!  Please let us know how you do.  :D

Jen

I am going to echo what Jen said. Are you measuring your portions? If not, get out the measuring cups and food scale.

If you have a stroller, you can go for long walks with your baby. My daughter and I take long walks every day. It does not do much for weight loss, but I know it's good for my overall health. I can tell my muscles are more toned and it clears my mind.

Having a baby is exhausting (I do not miss those days). Hang in there. It does get easier as they get older!!

Don't forget having a baby (and getting older) can change your metabolism, and maybe now that you've stopped nursing you just need to cut back a little extra?

Post exactly what and how much you eat.  A few days worth. 

There are fits that makes me gain weight, even if my calories are relatively low.

My body Will retain almost any carbs from grains, starches, fruits, So...I stay away from that. Grain- any grain, wheat, rye, rice...etc...my body doers not care of it is simple or complex. "See starches= retain, gain weight...

Same with starchy veggie. Really not my friend. 

Last...bit not least... Wine... Neither carbs nor fat.... But if I drink Wine- I may gain 1- 4 lbs, even on a low cal diet...

For sure you can lose your regain and even more if you want to.  You need to eat dense simple protein, limit carbs and weigh and measure everything you eat.  I am sure if you do this then you will see where you need to tweak your food choices in order to get yourself back into the losing mode and out of maintenance.

Jen makes some excellent points - and if you are concerned about the water weight then you should have it looked into by your doc - could be something else entirely.  It's exhausting to work full time and care for a small child. How are your labs?  When my B12 is lower than 800 I feel exhausted.  You may have low iron levels?  

Keep your self well hydrated too.  And come here for support.  It makes a huge difference for me when I am active here towards my personal accountability as well as feeling like I am with others who've BTDT.

Good luck - you can do this!

You've gotten some really excellent advice here. I can't really add anything to it...so I'll wish you much good luck! 

I experienced a bit of a regain myself, and having taken the steps above as outlined by Jen, I've lost 4 lbs so far. 

You can do this. It is definitely work, but it is so worth it! 

Sorry it's been so long since I came back to check on answers! 

Right now I'm at 271 and that's from a higher dose of water pills. I still have 56lbs left to get to where I was after surgery. About 40lbs until I'm prepregnancy weight and a good 100lbs to be where I need to be.

Could it be that I'm not eating enough calories? 

I log on myfitnesspal on my phone and love it, but like I said am not seeing results, which is actually scary.

I am trying to do as low sodium a diet as possible since i know I retain water easily. For drinks during the day I have one cup of coffee in the morning and one when I get home from work and otherwise try to drink 2 liters of water during the day. I do not drink pop or anything with calories because why drink calories.

Breakfast is consistently a protein shake (handmade at work with a co-worker) or a bare naked bar. So this can range from 9 to 30gms protein and very low in sodium.

For lunch I would love to have a salad with lunch meat for protein and all of the stuff I love like green olives and banana peppers but when you start logging each bit of that the sodium levels are astronomical! So I quit doing that and went to usually some sort of left over that I've frozen a small portion of. Today that will be homemade chili. 

Supper varies, but a big constant in my life is omelettes, spinach omelettes with 2 farm fresh eggs and 2 tablespoons of shredded sharp cheddar. 

I definitely don't eat bits of what my daughter eats unless it's the half of a scrambled egg I made her she didn't eat. Otherwise she's into baby food pears only and some of the baby cheetos. I'm trying to get her to branch out but scrambled eggs seems to be where it's at for her...along with green beans she can feed herself out of her own big girl bowl. I'm trying to instill good eating habits early! 

SO that's my normal days....

yesterday I had an off day and had no breakfast because the atkins shake I brought with was so nasty I couldn't do it. I ate about 1/2 a cup of spaghetti and spaghetti sauce with meat in it. 1/2 a cup total that is. Nothing on top of it. It was so busy here i had no time for anything else during the day and had supper at home last night of a whole baked chicken that my husband put in the oven for us (i ate 2 oz), about 2 tablespoons of hashbrowns with a small amount of ketchup on them, and a tablespoon of corn and admittedly I only got the one liter of water in yesterday too. 

I do have horses and would love to get my exercise in with them, but the weather here has been rough. I do have a stroller and I need to get out more with that too. We live on a farm so mowing the lawn with the push mower is a good exercise for me too. My husband thinks its torture, but I think it's good exercise! I also almost daily run around the yard throwing the ball for the dog after my husband who works early and my daughter go to bed so that he is worn out enough to leave me alone when I finally get to bed.

Unfortunately I sit a lot at work, but when I get home I am rarely sitting, there's always something to be doing!

according to the equation of calories I should be at 2210 calories a day to lose weight! I run around the 1200 or less per day as a general rule. There are times that goes over and times that I am under that...

I definitely need to get into some sort of exercise routine that I do at least 4 times a week for sure. Any suggestions on what I could do in the hour after my daughter goes to bed? Just simply going for a long walk maybe would help.

I definitely am retaining water right now like I said above. When I was really heavy (375lbs) I retained a lot of water and could indent my calf to the point of it being a huge bowl shape and it would stay that way for a long time. While pregnant I was pretty good until the end when I had pre-eclampsia but also seemed to somehow gain more water while breastfeeding. My doctor is taking it rather lightly and I'm actually quite concerned that there may be some underlying cause at this point. I can one day wear my wedding ring and the next it's like it's made for a whole different person! I have a favorite pair of cowboy boots too that are too big one day and the next pinch to the point of pain...