I am struggling like hell

I am so mad at myself I don't know where to begin. I am a complete failure.

I have struggled from the first day after surgery and have only lost about 20 lbs since April 10th this year.

I can eat anything I want and there is little to no restriction. I sometimes wonder if they even chopped my stomach at all. I do feel full, rarely, but it only lasts a short while.

I knew it was going to be hard but I thought I would get somewhat of a honeymoon period. I didn't.

Am I the only one that has not lost a significant amount of weight in almost 4 months out?

It's very frustrating. Can a stall really last this long right out of the gate?

I was off all my meds but I am headed right back on them. My doctor is confused and concerned about how I have not had success.

I am eating way too many calories a day (according to what other post on here) and I could be eating way more. I just don't get it. I thought the surgery was going to be a tool to help me lose weight but instead I am regretting it.

I need a head doctor to help me with my food addictions but my clinic does not have anyone I could talk to.

I feel like all my work to get the surgery done was for nothing.

1. Tigress are you getting in your protein?
2. Exercising?
3. Not drinking with meals?
4. Taking the correct vitamins?
5. Drinking enough water during the day?

Many people on here that I have read who had "re-gain" had to go back to the basics. Maybe just focus on that for right now. But you have lost 55#. Thats an incredible feat so far. Just keep pushing.

First of all take a deep breath. Yes you have a tool, but like all tools you need to learn to use it correctly for it to work correctly.

You said you know you are eating way to many calories so I will ask you what does your daily menu looks like.

Are you tracking/measuring/weighing things or just kind of winging it?

How is your water intake?

Are you taking your vitamins?

Once you answer the questions it will be easier for folks here to help you out.

It is not to late.

As for a therapist do you have to go through your clinic or can you find one yourself?

If you are eating simple carbs and not eating dense protein you will never feel restriction. If you drink with meals you can eat way more food too. We need to be measuring our portions and then stop eating.

Many if us use the full feeling as an emotional crutch. We have to learn to stop chasing the full sensation and start training our minds to be satisfied with what we measured out

The surgery was never meant to do all the work in losing weight. It falls on us to make the right choices and follow the rules. The good news is it's not too late. You can do this. Getting the head stuff right is the hardest part.

Start over. Measure your food portions. If you are drinking with meals, stop. Eat only dense protein and non starchy veggies. Skip the bread, potatoes, chips, pasta, rice,etc. Limit fruit to one small serving daily. Drink at least 64 ounces of fluid daily and those should be calorie free. You will stop weight loss if you drink excess calories.

You can still succeed. It's up to you to make the changes.

Hmm I see that you are a band to RNY revision? I hear that a lot of people struggle with this revision because feeling "full" feels completely different with the RNY than it does with the band. I've heard that LOTS of previous band holders easily overeat because they are looking for that full feeling they used to get, but that will never come back. The RNY full is much different.

I would recommend posting/looking on the revision board, also there are a few revision RNYers on here so hopefully they will chime in.

Additionally, what does your daily diet look like? Have you tried reducing calories to 600 - 800 daily? What happens? How do you feel?

I'd love to try and help! Please don't disappear.

Its very true. Depending on the state of their band, many can eat more after a revision. They can certainly eat some things they couldn't with a band. And the band often made them dependent on slider foods we shouldn't be eating.

Here is some additional information that I should have included in my original post:

I only get enough protein in because I drink the shakes and eat protein bars. I don't usually get much dense protein. I don't weight and measure my foods; I just wing it.

I walk a few times I week which is seriously not enough but I don't seem to be able to get motivated. However, I am much more active with general things than I ever was before.

I don't drink with my meals but I am not sure I am getting enough water in overall.

I get my proper vitamins in every day.

Also, I am not even sure I know what back to basics is at this point. I don't feel like whatever I did worked in the first place so why go back to it now?

I think if I tried to cut back to 600-800 calories I would be starving myself because I am always hungry.

You're always hungry because, according to your post, a majority of your food is carby/starchy and shakes and protein bars which will not fill you up. If you weigh and measure out dense protein and eat that, 800 cals a day should be more than enough to fill you up and keep you satisfied. Until you make the decision to eat an appropriate post surgery diet and weigh and measure your foods, I think you're going to have a really hard time getting the scale to go down.

Ok, so this is actually really encouraging information! I'm optimistic because this means that there is NOTHING wrong with your surgery or tool. As a matter of fact, I'm really surprised that you were able to lose 20 pounds in 4 months like this, I think a lot of people wouldn't have even lost that much.

What this does mean is that you've been given some bad advice and information from somewhere and it has caused you to be in this situation.

So, protein. Shakes and bars will not make you feel full :( it sucks but there it is. Shakes are liquid and just go right through you like water. You get the protein but that's it. Bars are sliders, they don't stick and will slide through your tummy in a tiny amount of time. You will not feel full with either of these and should not use them to feel full. You should only use them to get in your last necessary amounts of protein.

"I don't usually get dense protein" - Well I am sorry, but this is a must!!!! It is mathematically impossible to eat the amount of calories you need to eat, get the amount of protein you need to get, and not eat dense protein. (Unless of course you want to just live off shakes, and we already went over why that won't work) So first step is to change it up and really eat dense protein first! Let's see some chicken lol

What kinds of foods do you like? Maybe we can work out a 1 day menu you can try that's really dense protein forward and within calorie and carb ranges and you can just eat that for one day and see how you feel?

Are you sharing this level of detail with your surgeon/RD/nurse? If you walk them through, they should be able to help you identify the changes you need to make. (Their changes will look a lot like what everyone here is describing, I suspect).

If they are puzzled by why you're not seeing the results expected and you are sharing these details with them, that's concerning!

I know we had a lot to take in during the pre-op and post surgery, it may be a good idea to go back to your program materials. I'm just under 6 months and I've gone back to them a few times lately, especially the last 10 days or so!

Good luck!