4 months out...need help to change things

Hello all!
    Just a little update...I'm 4 months out and have lost 57 lbs!!!! It has been amazing! But....I have fallen off the waggon. I got the flu a couple of weeks ago and lost 3lbs,and in about a week discovered...I'm starving!! I have tried not to eat everything in site, but it is a struggle. I have hunger pains, physical and mental ones and my new sleevie seems to have opened up. I am only supposed to eat 3 meals a day, but I have a protein shake in the mornings, to combat the head hunger and to get in 70 grams of protein daily.
    I feel like my little sleevie can hold so much, last night for supper I had a 3 oz (cooked) hamburger on the sandwich thins bread.....is that alot??? I know carbs are the devil, but sometimes I have to bread....I try only to have it once a week. I know I am doing well, and everybody is diffrent, I just would like to know if I'm about right or am I over eating? Should I be eating fruit?
    It seems like ever month, I play yo-yo....I lose 3 lbs...then gain 1, and then stall...Thanks for letting me rant, and for all your advice!
                                                                                      Sherry

Sherry, it sounds like you are doing great.  Congrats on your losses.

At 5 months, I started doing the bounce thing.  But I keep losing and that is all that counts.  4 lbs in Jan, 8 lbs in Feb, 6 lbs in March. 

My plan just started us on bread at 6 months.  I have had 1/2 a thin sandwich round on 2 occasions.  I try to not do any bad carbs (sugar, white flour, rice, potato) but do allow myself 1 good carb a day like beans, ww bread, fruit and try to eat non-starchy veggies 2x a day.  My plan is for 4-5 meals (a meal is 2 oz protein, 2 oz veggie or fruit) plus 2 protein drinks a day.  I don't think I could eat a 3 oz burger and a whole sandwich round at this point but I had RNY, not a sleeve.  And if I were only eating 3 x a day, I may be eating more at a meal.

I'm definitely NOT a sleeve guru, and I'm sure someone will chime in about it.  3 oz of cooked hamburg on the sandwich thins would be ok for me, and I may even want something else, but I'm 2 1/2 years out...

As far as head hunger goes, we all get it at some point.  I know it was about 5 months when I started feeling hunger again.  Also, I know carbs can make me feel hungrier too.  "Decarbing" takes about 3 days, and once I've done it I feel SO much better - the starving feeling and "I've got to eat NOW" is gone.

You're doing great! 

No first hand experience here, YET! If you are in to books and the self help thing go get the book Ten Thin Commandments - - it was recommended by Brandilynn on this site and it is a really good read and has lots of info about the head game.

The audio book is narrated by the author who sounds like Billy Crystal and it just cracks me up because I envision Billy in City Slickers mode talking to me about my health!

Thanks for sharing your experience...
Meg

This is so interesting that you mention The Thin Commandments.  Dr. Gullo was my weight loss doctor in NYC for an entire year back in 1998! I lost 100 lbs in one year in his care. Then I had some health issues and gained it all back in 2002. By then I had moved away and could not see him again, or believe me, I would have.  He was fantastic and I highly recommend listening to the audio versions of his books. As I am writing this to you, I realized that I should really share his books with the group. So I am going to post a longer version of this as a new post.  Thanks for taking me down memory lane! 

Kathy

Thanks on the tip for the book - I just ordered it from my library!

Thanks all for your advice, I am going to get a copy of the Thin Commandments, and try some new strageties! Sherry

Sherry, I had RNY so mine is a different, but I tried the 3 meals a day like my NUT wanted me to and I was starving.  I now do 3 protein shakes a day in between my meals and they really help me. 

As for bread, I use these high fiber low carb wraps(tortillas).  They have more fiber than they do carbs and only 71 calories for a whole wrap - I only eat 1/2 of one. 

I think we each have to find what works for us individually.  57 pounds in 4 months is great!!  Congratulations on your success so far.

Linda

Hi Sherry,

You're doing great with the weight loss.

My plan is to eat 3x a day, 3-4 hours apart and nothing else besides calorie free fluids.  I remember at my 6 month follow-up when I told my surgeon that I was eating a string cheese snack at 4pm because I was going to exercise 2 hours before dinner, he told me to knock it off.  He said that a string cheese at 6 months would turn into a lot more later. 

Many people on OH drink protein shakes, some multiple shakes a day.  I think you need to find what works best for you.  At almost 14 months out, I'm trying to do the 3x a day routine to keep myself from eating/snacking/grazing.  We all have to find what works as we move further along.

Now about that 3 oz burger w/bread.  Please remember that the bread is a slider and it will enable you to eat more at that meal.  At Christmas (10 months post op) I was able to eat a burger that was 3-4 oz and 1/2 bun.  It was the kid size burger at 5 Guys Burgers.  Now I can eat 4oz but if I add the bread I'll be sick from being too stuffed. 

Can you take a walk when that head hunger hits?  I combat it by eating enough dense protein, then after 45-60 minutes drinking water or herbal tea which keeps me completely filled up.  Try eating more protein without the carbs and see if the scale doesn't start moving.  How much exercise are you getting in daily?  Get yourself back on that wagon before the ground scrapes your shins pulling you along behind it.

 "Please remember that the bread is a slider and it will enable you to eat more at that meal. "

That's what I was going to say!