VJ If this is psychological then get psychological help for it. It is my belief that most people know what the root of a problem is. So what is the root of your problem? I personally still meet weekly with a "group" of women. We met each other in a facilitated domestic abuse therapy group. After the official group was over we continued meeting on our own. I also have an appointment in about 10 days to see an individual therapist that I started seeing to help me deal with the domestic abuse issues that were happening in my life. I am the person I am today because of this therapy that I received. It really helped me to look deep into my life and change things that I wanted to change. I feel as if I am at the strongest place I have ever been mentally today because of this. I guess what I am trying to say to you is that going and talking to someone if this is a psychological problem is what I would recommend. All of the changes that we go through after having surgery are pretty intense. That is what is sending me back to therapy. In some ways it is pretty scary to have men actually "see" me now. I used to be invisible. I do not want to do anything that will cause me to sabotage my weight loss as I know that this is the best thing I can do for my health. Sometimes old "self-doubt/self-hate" issues come back to me. Your title of 5x help is pretty telling to me. It is obvious that you really want to help yourself. I hope that you are able to find some answers for yourself soon. Are you able to discuss any of these concerns with your surgeon? Obviously you can not continue to "spit" and not eat. Search deep and find some answers for yourself. Concerned about you... Sharon

I think that what you are really looking for is what vbg'ers eat successfully. You are probably correct that lack of eating is causing you to retain/gain weight. It is probably water weight. You also seem to realize that "spitting" is not the answer to being successful with this surgery. Okay with that said. The one piece missing to this puzzle is... "When did you have surgery??" This is a difficult question to answer without this little piece of information. Also -- Have you been going back to your surgeon?? Is it possible that you have a "stray" stitch sticking out in your pouch irritating you?? Also when you do actually swallow food in what quantities are you eating?? Your post raises more questions for me before I can answer your questions. However... let me try to muddle through this. When I was very early out post-op -- the first 3-4 months were pretty miserable for me. I enjoyed the weight loss but hated that I could not keep anything down. I basically threw-up everything I ate. It took a lot of analizing what/how/when I was eating to finally figure it all out. I think also that my pouch needed to heal. To this day I can not stand to overeat even one mouthful. I have to be very consious of how hungry I am before I eat. I can't be too hungry or I may eat too much. I can't be stressed out when eating... etc. Basically when it is time for me to eat I am eating for FUEL not for emotional needs. It took this understanding of food to get me where I can keep the food down. I usually have to lay down for 10-20 minutes after eating. So if I choose to "eat" lunch while at work I have to go lay down on the couch that we put in the women's restroom. If I don't I will probably be throwing-up. Okay with that senerio in mind if I don't have time to lay down then I choose to NOT eat. That does not mean that I won't drink something... generally milk... maybe coffee... etc. for lunch. There are also "safe" foods that I have figured out that I do not have to lay down after eating them. One of my "safe" foods is Hotdog Chili with no beans (I buy it at Walmart for .33cents a can). Today this is what I ate... Breakfast 1 almost closed handful of cheese (I did not need to lay down) Snack 1 Granola bar with fruit filling 1 cup of coffee with cream/sugarless sugar Lunch 1 10oz can of hotdog chili (I did not need to lay down) Dinner 6 Tablespoons of Malt O Meal (I did not need to lay down) Today I did not eat anything that was hard or dense. Today I ate "safe" foods. Today I did not overeat at any given meal and best of all I did not throw-up. I applaud you on being so candid. I wish you luck as you figure out how/what/when to eat! Best Regards, Sharon -120#

Hi Tammy! Woo Hoo on the Saturday DATE and have fun dancing on Friday. Too late in the day for me to do a Thursday committment. But my Friday committment is to walk while at work -- I Sharon Chute commit to walking 1 mile while at work on Friday, October 8!!! Did I say WOO HOO?? Yeah Daily Committments ~~ I know they work if I just make them. No big plans for the weekend for me. I will probably be taking my son and his 4 friends to the Fright Farm that is put on by our county sheriffs department. Other than that I will be listing additional mosaic tile sets on my web site... is that considered a big plan?? Loving Life... Best Regards Sharon -120#

Has anyone had their VBG done on a military base?

Well, since I already blew the 'no sugar' thing (mmm, taffy for breakfast) ...and I can't exercise because my knee HURTS! I don't really have a daily committment, but I wanted to get the thread going again anyway! Anyone have any big plans for the weekend? I am going out dancing on Friday and have a date on Saturday. Happy Thursday! Tam