--Don't be discouraged...

I know each and every one of us are struggling, whether we are struggling to lose those last 30 or so pounds or struggling to keep our weight at goal. I am 5'9" and I started at 348 lbs. I was 2 years post op as of July 22th. As of this morning, I weigh 190 lbs. My goal is to be at 170 lbs. I have 20 more to go. The last 10 lbs I lost, I just recently lost in the last 3 weeks. I got tired of the scales yo-yo-ing back and forth. I would lose a pound or two and then gain it back. This went on for about 7 months. So, I went on a low carb diet and started drinking 7-8 16.9 oz. bottles of water a day. It is hard to drink that much water, but I keep the top off and keep the bottle in my hand and turn it up constantly. The low carb diet is really the hardest the first 3 days. If you can make it 3 days, you won't even crave any kind of bad carbs after that. I can find myself eating alot these days. I am still the same person and I love food more than ever before. I am the type of person that I can look up recipes on the internet for hours and hours if I could. I have been trying low carb casserole dishes and different things like that. I will try to post some of them when I can because they are really good. Also, I got all of those clothes off my my excercise bike at my house and wiped off the dust. I get on it every evening and ride it for 45 min. to an hour. I actually hate sitting there stationary like that for that long starring at the wall, however, I found a certain technique that makes me not want to get off at all. I started reading books. I am not a "book reader" kind of person, but I went to a flea market and bought some Stephen King and John Grisham books. I can't seem to put them down. I only allow myself to read when I am on that bike. If I am at a really good part of the book, I have to keep riding in order to keep reading. Sometimes I find myself riding for over an hour and It didn't even seem like it. I also get up every morning at least 30 minutes earlier than before and go outside and walk. --Also, one more thing..... I quit snacking. I only eat 3 meals a day (that is probably the hardest thing) and I drink water, water, water in between. However, at night I do allow myself after supper and before bed (when I am watching t.v.) to have a protein milkshake. I put some carb countdown milk in the blender, ice cubes, scoop of Isopure vanilla shake, vanilla flavoring or a spoon of peanutbutter and mix it all up. --It is a great evening snack.We all need to motivate each other. I read everybody's post and see each and everyone of us struggling. It is hard, I know. If we can keep each other motivated and post some of our "techniques" that are motivating us, maybe it can help somebody else. I sure hope I have helped somebody today.

Thank you for words of encouragement and congratulations on the weight you have recently lost. I am 2 yrs post op and very discouraged today. I got within 7 lbs. of my goal and have put back on 13 lbs. Now I have 20 to lose. I can't seem to get these 13 back off to say the least. I am walking and really watching what I eat and the scale won't budge. I will just have to keep trying harder.

I am 14 months out and am trying to loose the last 22 pounds. It is frustrating! I started at 311 and this morning I was at 181. I really want to be at 159 in order to have a "normal" BMI, I am 5'7". I stared a low carb thing yesterday, I am glad to hear it gets better after 3 days. To be honest, I have been really, really bad with working out this summer. I let life take over and put working out on the back burner. That was very, very bad of me! I swear, I am going to work out when I get home today! Here is my though that made me get my act together, when I was 311 pounds I remember feeling overwhelmed by how much I had to loose and I always thought if I only had 25 pounds to loose I could handle that versus the 150 pounds I had to loose. Well, here I am with only 22 pounds to loose. I didn't come this far to fall 22 pounds short of my goal. Thanks for the encouragement, I needed it! Erin

Congratulations! I wish you continued success! For me, being in the "maintenance mode" is the scary part of all of this~I do not want to gain any weight back, so I feel like I must closely monitor everything I do. So far its working. Tracy B 328/150 5'9"