A Cry for Help!

Hi... I am 25 years old and I am 19 months post op... I have lost 108lbs to date which is great, but not where I want to be... I haven't lost any weight since my 6 months when I was told that I can eat carbs... Everyday is a constant battle and I feel like I am failing.... I need any help I can get... I don't know what to do or any advice anyone can give me... Normally change scares me but this is a change that I wanted... today was my last day at my job of 8 years and I am heading into a new career a career that will help me with my major (graphic design) my new job starts the 26th and I am very nervous but I really want to start losing some more weight... I am ready for this change... any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated (recommeded books, diets)... I want to be out of my plus size clothing Jamie

I just ordered two books that I have heard mentioned on many previous posts. "How Much Does Your Soul Weigh?" by Dorrie McCubbrey and "Life Is Hard, Food Is Easy" by Linda Spangle. I think they are both supposed to help with emotional eating and such. Do a search for them and see what you think. Also if you have time to search the boards daily, I find that many posts here really do help me. Keep me in check when I need it, or at least make me think. The grads board is much more informative for people further out. Congrats on your new career change!!!!!!!!! Hopefully you find yourself back on track soon.

You are not failing! You have lost 108 pounds! You have just strayed a bit but you can get back to the program. Many of us have carb issues, me included. I love carbs. I could live on bread! But I know I feel lousy when I eat carbs, but I still do it. I am 25 months out and have lost 110 pounds and am 10 pounds from goal. I've gained about 6 pounds recently and that scares the you know what out of me. So I'm trying to re-evaluate what I'm doing or not doing. What I've found is that I eat way too many carbs. Carbs make me hungry and then I want to graze. If I purge the carbs, I don't get as hungry and don't have as many cravings. I'm working really hard right now to get those 6 pounds off and hopefully 4 of their friends. I'm back to basics. No carbs other than low carb veggies. No fruit, no bread, no crackers (very hard to give up), no potatoes. Protein and veggies and lots of water. I'm also trying to eliminate any of the artificial sweetners as they can increase the carb cravings. Watch your portion size. Plan your day ahead of time and that's all you eat. Try to identify any problem times of the day where you tend to graze or make unwise food choices. Change your routine during those times. If you aren't exercising, do! If you are, change what you are doing! Use fitday.com to track your protein grams, calories and carbs. Be sure to get 80 gms of protein a day. Take your vitamins. And most of all, come here for support. You have done great! You just need to get back on track. You can do it! Lyn

Next month I'll be 1 year out and I still need to loose another 30lbs and lately I'm having a really hard time cuz I'm eating anything and everything. Today I started doing Weigh****chers. It worked for me before but I had such a hard time sticking to it. It should be easier this time around cuz I still have my tool (I can't devour a large pizza in one sitting like pre-op). WW is proven that it works, as long as you stick to it. I actually didn't have any problems today and actually were below my points and I still was full, even getting in all my protein and then some carbs ... no deprivation there! I figure since I can eat basically anything now, I might as well try it again and live a normal lifestyle instead of my constant dieting of not eating, eating once a day, only eating protein, ect. ect. After all of that I end up eating wrong and getting sick. That's my only advice. You've done great sofar, you just need to get back on track! Thinking of you and good luck!!

Hi Jamie! Congratulations on 108 lost~that's fantastic! My only advice would be if carbs are a problem for you, then get back to the basics~push protein firs****er water water and exercise. Maybe you just need to change things up to jumpstart your body again. And coming here daily really helps me~it lets me know that I am "normal" and that what I'm going thru is sooooooo normal for someone that's had wls! Hang in there and don't give up! Hugs, Tracy B 328/152 5'9"

Jamie, congratulations on the 108 lb loss. My suggestion (this is what works for me) to try is decarb yourself for 3 days. Eat nothing but protein (lean beef, chicken, turkey, tuna, fish, shrimp, eggs, cheese) 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. After day 3 start adding in good vegetables and low glycemic fruit. I also suggest drinking a minimum of 80 oz of water a day, start exercising if you aren't or change it up if you do. The more carbs we eat, the more I body craves them, so in order to get that craving under control you need to get them out of your system, hence the 3 days of protein only. Amber recommended a couple of books, I do have the Life is Hard, Food is Easy book and started reading it last night, wow the first chapter is an eye-opener. I bought mine off of amazon.com, Ebay has had some copies too. WLS and good health is a lifetime commitment, we will stumble but being aware and proactive will get us back on track. I wish you the best. Dana

I think you answered your own question when you said you stopped losing weight when you added carbs back into your diet. Some people can eat carbs and lose weight, personally anything over 20 grams of carbs stopped my weight loss. I am 29 months out and still have to be very careful with the carbs. The weight will immediately attach to my hips if I add too many carbs back to my diet. We each have to figure out what works for us and work out program. Best of luck!

Jamie, You are not alone!! I've been crazy with carbs lately and feel as if I am sabotaging everything lately, including my stomach size and self esteem. I know I feel horrible when my eating is out of control, I feel out of control, then my eating is out of control and I feel out of control....the vicious cycle we all know. I've found that really sticking to lean protein and drinking water and making the effort to REMEMBER I had a wls and that I cannot eat like a 'normie' helps. For the first time in my life, I look more 'normie' than I ever did. I found a free food tracker on fitday.com that I like to use when I get in trouble. I lie to no one but myself if I enter my food there and can look at the black and white. Hope this helps!! Take care, Joy