Message from Tracy24th

Since this post went into the twilight zone: http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/wls_grads/a,messageboard/a ction,replies/board_id,5491/cat_id,5091/topic_id,3528285/  I thought I'd repost it for Tracy24th: On February 13, 2008 at 7:42 AM Pacific Time, Tracy24th wrote:  "So I have lost alot of weight and sure i am proud of that, but it just seems like i am a bottomless pit for food. I dont think ever since i have had the surgery that i have felt "full". I always stop myself and dont eat big meals, i mean i have a protein drink for breakfast w/ an apple, a salad for lunch and usually chicken and some sort of veggie for dinner. I mean after i eat i just know that i could eat more, and sometimes i think the surgery didnt work, or my pouch is stretched somehow, i mean i was told 6oz in weight is what the pouch can hold, but then i read about people who take 2 bites and are full, is that just one of those everybody is different things, or should i be concerned that i never get that full feeling, i mean i know that i dont need to eat more but its hard to know that i could. and also my pouch doesnt seem to mind any foods, i actually wanted to see once what the whole dumping thing was about and it was recently and i ate like a cookie, and a 1/2 piece of chocolate cake and nothing. no matter what i eat i feel fine, and i dont know if that is a blessing or a curse? its like i am back on a diet that i was on before the surgery and having to stick to it cuz i can just eat anything i want and am just fine, its not fun. It would be nice to know that someone out there is the same way. Thanks"

Dear Tracy (or is it Angie?) I can understand a lot of what you are saying. I very rarely feel full and sometimes, I feel like I eat no differently than I did "before".  I have spent years and years eating low carb, no sugar, very little "junk", more veggies, etc.......  I know that my portions now are usually smaller than they were before, but a lot of times, I can't see that much of a difference.  I can eat a salad plate full of food with no problem.  That is 3-4 oz of meat, 1/4 to 1/2 c of veggies, and a small amount (1/8 c?) of say, brown rice.  The biggest difference is that I don't have seconds, and no drinking at meals. I have even thought at times that maybe they didn't really do surgery, and there was some mistake made in the hospital.  Of course, my surgeon's both laugh at this thought and tell me to "relax, everything is fine".  They are not concerned in the least. To make things worse, I have lost 70% of my excess weight, but the losses stopped at 10 months and I have not lost (or gained) a single pound since.  I have been trying to "tweak" my program for 4-5 months with no change in weight or size.  More food, less food, more exercise, less excercise, more protein, less protein.  I ALWAYS get in around 100 oz of pure water in addition to decaf coffe and any other beverages.  I do dump though, I found out by eating too much fat tree-sugar free ice cream (go figure!). I stick to around 1200 caliries a day and stay with the program because I am TERRIFIED of regain. I have to say that it really stinks to see everyone else having such great success and I fell just like I did "Before"----then, as now, no matter WHAT I did, I could not lose another ounce after a certain point.  The only difference now is that "before", I could only lose 20-25 pounds, this time I have lost a total of 92----20 of those in the pre-surgery diet and 11 on the 2 weeks of liquids (making my loss since surgery a whopping 61lbs.)  The bright side is that makes 61 pounds I could NEVER have done without surgery. I don't think I have any answers, but I want you to know that you are NOT alone!  It DOES feel better to whine a bit......

It's Tracy... :-)  I was just posting it for her :-) We're not sure if she posted here or it magically appeared here due to some fluke... I think I'll edit my post to add the link to the twilight zone thread ;-) Angie