I had RNY surgery 6 years ago. But now what do I do?

I have been struggling from day 1. Always comparing myself to everyone else's progress. I've lost a total of 45 pounds in 6 years, but I lost the first 20 lbs in the first month. The rest have been absolute torture I stopped losing weight after about 3 months and have struggled with every pound since. I only recently stopped daily 2 mile walks and I've gained 5 pounds.

I'm having (actually always have had)trouble with making new habits. I recently moved and started a very stressful job. My food habits have become atrocious. Quick meals so i can make it out the door to work that consist of pop tarts, waffles, honey buns, sour cream and onion potato chips. I don't eat ALL of these at once, but I DO eat at least 2 of them. Lunch is a sandwich. tv dinners, corn dogs, pizza rolls, etc..... dinner is usually left overs from past meals.

I actually still have restriction and definite signs my body tells me when i'm full but most of the time i ignore it and keep right on eating.

I have ZERO support system at home, so I thought I would give you guys a try. Please help me get back.

What were your habits in the beginning? I feel the need to start fresh. Do what I was supposed to be doing all along, but because I was never introduced to any support system, (not even my surgeon... and especially not my husband)

As incentive, my doctor says he will sign for me to get a tummy tuck and upper arm reduction, but he says I have to be at 150 for 6 months. It's taken me 6 YEARS and I'm stuck at 190.

I cant do protein shakes, just the smell of them make me want to vomit. and I have recently become lactose allergic, so that has made things a little harder.

Does anyone have advice for me?

Welcome to OH! There are a lot of supportive people here who have dealt with regain and/or slow losing so I hope you will find the information you are looking for here.

First things first *(and you already know this) eating crap is not helping! So what should you eat??-- Our pouches are designed for dense protein, like meats. I guarantee you that even though you can probably eat an entire bag of chips, you will be struggling to eat 4 oz of chicken without feeling super full! Try committing to eating just meat and veggies for a week and I GUARANTEE you that you will see a big dip in the scale. Low carb is the key, and for me to lose, I must stay well below 40 carbs a day. The foods you are describing are very high in carbs and sugar so cutting those out will be a huge help! You should also aim for over 80g of protein every day--so again, meat is your friend!

Don't worry at all about drinking shakes. Those are totally unnecessary at this stage--they are only for newbies whose pouches are still healing. I like them, so I still have them occasionally, but it is not a requirement! There are, however, plant-based protein powders and nut milks that you could experiment with, if you are interested in going that route.

Another few things that help me stay on track:

1.) Log everything into the website or app called My Fitness Pal. That will give you an accurate picture of the calories and carbs you are consuming and help you see what foods to cut back on.

2.) Stop drinking with meals. Don't let fluids flush the food through your system too quickly. Wait at least 30 minutes so that you can stay satisfied.

3.) I don't know if you already do this, but I have 6 small meals instead of 3 large ones. That way when I am bored and ready for a snack, I already have a high protein snack planned out and ready to eat. No grabbing a honey bun!

4) Don't be scared of fat. Eating "whole" foods is better than diet foods, because those are loaded up with sugars and chemicals. Plus fats keep you fuller for longer. But this only applies to "real" food--like meats, oils, avacados, and yogurts. Don't look for the highest fat Little Debbie...that won't work... ;)

5.) Every day, a bunch of us regularly post our menus for support, accountability and advice. Go back and read through what people are eating typically, and make a grocery list based on what you see and like! And please join us on the thread and post your menus, too. Lots of us can relate to the daily struggle of wanting to eat crap. You will get a million times more support here than you will at home, just because we are all going through it with you.

Good luck and keep coming back for the support.

Love this and needed to hear this today! Thank you!

What a great reply, thank you so much!

You eat a lot of carbs from what I am reading in this post. Simple carbs like pop tarts, chips, honey buns and processed foods are the devil for anyone trying to lose weight and even more so for us RNYers. The first thing I would do is cut out the sugar and junk food and start eating dense protein that is going to keep you full for longer. I know how it is trying to get out the door in the mornings. You can make egg muffins in advance and wrap them individually and keep them in the freezer. Pop one in the fridge before you go to bed and pop in the microwave right before you walk out the door and you have a good protein filled breakfast. You can adapt the recipes to put what you want in them. I am lactose intolerant and just put lots of veggies in mine.

You need to be eating lean proteins and veggies at every meal and detox from the carbs you've been eating. Throw away the pizza rolls and corn dogs and tv dinners. They are packed with calories and carbs and sodium. I do meal preps in advance and grab and go. Steam in the bag veggies are a good go to for quick foods. Nuts make a good snack. I just have to do singles bags of nuts because portion control is hard for me.

It's not always easy eating healthy, and it's more time consuming which is why you have to plan in advance so that you have what you need and don't grab the junk. If I let myself get too hungry or don't plan my meals in advance and have them ready to grab, I will talk myself into eating the quick carb filled foods.

Good luck to you. I hope you can get yourself back on track. You'll feel so much better putting better quality goods in your body.

Thank you

You don't need to go back to protein shakes. They will never make you feel satisfied. You do need to make dense protein like chicken, beef, pork turkey, your priority. Your diet should be meat and non starchy veggies. No bread, pasta, crackers, rice, potatoes, or anything with sugar. Limit your fruit to one very small serving per day. Fruit will slow or stop your weight loss because the body reads fruit as sugar.

Carbs will never make you feel satisfied. We can eat a boat load of them and the more you eat them, the more you crave them. You will need to detox from them. It will be white knuckle for a few weeks, but once you stop eating them, the cravings will stop.

You need to start measuring your portions out and eat only what you measure. You need to train yourself to be satisfied with a small amount of food. Eat by the clock, not by what your lying stomach is telling you. You say that you ignore your full sensation, instead you should ignore your hunger sensation. Hunger is not an emergency. It's OK to feel hungry. You can force yourself to wait until your next scheduled mealtime.

The biggest mistake we make is to continue to chase the full sensation. You will never have that same sense of full that you had before surgery. Many of us use that full feeling for comfort or to ease stress. Eating will not make your stress disappear. I had to adopt the attitude that food is fuel and nothing more. I had to change my attitude toward holidays and celebrations and make it about family and friends and not about the food.

If you are drinking with meals, STOP! Drinking with meals allows you to eat a larger amount of food at one sitting. No drinking for at least 30 minutes after you eat. Drinking with meals is the biggest reason for regain. Don't drink your calories either. Anything you drink should be calorie free or very low in calories. You need to be drinking at least 64 ounce of fluid per day. If you feel like eating, try drinking something first. Sometimes you think you're hungry when you are actually dehydrated.

You can do this! Keep coming here for accountability. Check out the what are you eating threads to get an idea of what others daily menus look like. Spend your day off making WLS friendly foods to freeze that will be easy to grab and go. This website (http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/) has lots of recipes and ideas for what to eat.

Thank you for your good advice. I rarely drink anything bu****er, even before surgery. I used to tell the waitress to just take my glass away but have been sipping through restaurant meals lately. I will go back to no drinks at the table again. 64oz has always been hard for me and super hard now that I have a job where I have to go several hours without a break.

Not to throw blame away from myself, but I really don't have support at home. My husband has never, NEVER supported my decision for WLS. He gets angry and always says "Why do I have to be on a diet, just because you are". He has the metabolism of a bird, he eats and eats all day long and has always been as skinny as a rail. He likes the junk food so it's always in the house. I need to find a way to balance my battle with him....

I would suggest maybe trying some counseling also. This will help you find out what YOU want to do. Your weight loss is up to you - no one else. It is always great to have supportive people in your life but it isn't necessary, you make the decisions on what to eat or what not to eat. Talking to a counselor will help you with support and clarity.

Good luck with whatever you chose to do to help you achieve your goals.

Ceci

The one thing I would add to all of the excellent advice you have received is to invest in a smart scale and use it.

We avoid the scale because it seems to be stressful to look at our weight, but it is actually the opposite. Not getting on the scale sets us up for big disappointments when being weighed is unavoidable.

Weighing daily lets you have the fun of actually seeing the weight go down as you follow you plan.

Getting on that scale every single morning is the real key to success. Avoiding the scale is sure setup for denial and for failure to lose. A smart scale will let you track and keep accurate records of your weight, bone weight, muscle weigh****er weight and BMI.