Frustrated Beyond Belief - Advice Please

I'm not a happy camper this Sunday morning.
It's been about a month since I've started cracking down and getting back on track. I want to lose the 35lbs that I regained over the last three years.

In the last month, I've lost exactly 2 pounds. I lost four, then put 2 back on (I believe due to muscle being built through excercise).

I eat 1200 calories or less per day (I used to average more than 2000) and get a minimum of 90g of protein. I limit net carbs to roughly 125g or less. I do at least 30-45 minutes of cardio 5 days per week in addition to some conditioning (crunches, pushups, dips, and squats).

Has anyone had more success with eliminating dairy items? I eat cottage cheese and yogurt almost daily and have noticed that I feel bloated most days for at least part of the day.
What am I doing wrong?

My numbers seem on track, but the scale (and my clothing) are not showing any results.

Help!

(Edited to fix a typo.  Original post read 1400 calories.  Its supposed to read 1200)

I am not sure what it maybe but I know for myself if I ate 1400 calories a day I would maintain my current weight and not lose anything.  My doctor had me drop my calories to no more than 1200 daily and 100 to 135 proteins a day.  I work out 6 days a week 35 minutes at home and if I have the time like this week I will head to the gym and hit the treadmill for 3 minutes.  And a full hour work out on the weekends. 

I don't eat pasta, rice or potato.  I do have a Sweet potato twice a week and if I have a sandwich it's on 100 calorie sandwich bun.  And dinner is only proteins and a cup of veggies. 

I hope you find an answer to your problem, consult your doctor or dietation.

-Wanda

Thanks for your response.  I had to edit my original post.  The 1400 calories is a typo.  Its supposed to read 1200.

Hi there:

I went over every menu that you have posted on here and I really believe you are carb heavy and that may be slowing your weight lost.  I saw a lot of fruit and grains and starches.  I did not see any green vegetables at all.  If I were you, I would cut my fruits to 1 a day, cut out all starches, (rice, potatoes, corn, carrots) sub in some green salads and vegetables.  If you need something to sweeten up the cottage cheese add some SF syrups or PB2 powder for flavor.  Find yourself some good protein bars, shakes, and puddings to help with the protein count.  Meat, eggs, and cheese in moderation.  Limit the bread to 1 serving a day.  Cut out the occassional wine/beer for awhile until you reach your goal or as a weekend treat only.  Keep up your exercise, you are doing great there.  Also, are you drinking at least 64 ounces of fluids a day?  What about your vitamins?  How are your labs?  I hope that some of this will help you to figure out what you can change to help get the scale moving.  This work for me, I don't see why it would not work for you.  Good Luck.

Thanks Tess, those are excellent places for me to start.

I'm no longer under care by my surgeon (its been about 10 years since surgery) but my labs were fine about 6 months ago at my usual checkup.  I take a daily multi-vitamin as well as additional iron (chronic anemia). 

Getting my water in is a challenge, but I'm getting better at it. 

I can definitely see that carbs are not my friend (even the good carbs I've been eating).  I'll have to add some green veggies and add some chicken/fish to that for more protein.
I've relied on powders and meat for most of my protein intake.  I'll definitely look into the protein bars as well.

While my eating has improved this last month, I definitely need a lot more fine tuning to get back into WLS eating habits and not simply general "dieting" for non-surgery patients.

Thanks again!

Tess already gave you great pointers. 
I would gain weight on 125 net carbs a day.  I gain weight on 80 gr of net carbs a day.. (the only carbs I do not count is fiber).
The only good carbs for me are non starchy carbs from green veggies and some fruits. (mostly berries). Most grains I had to eliminate. I will eat flat-outs wraps - but no more than 1 wrap a day - (2 meals) and always with protein and fats.  Once in while I may get some good quality chips or crackers - but no more that once a week when maintaining or even every 2-3 weeks.  (when I am losing).
Unfortunately post op RNY - my body compensate (and most post op RNY) and reacts to even little carbs to make too much insulin. That stops fat loss and promotes fat storage.
 

Thanks!   I've got some great information and I'm relearning a lot of things about my RNY body that I'd forgotten.  After 10 years of living with an RNY body, you'd think I'd know the ins and outs by now.  But after letting things 'slide' for so long, I feel like a newbie and am relearning my limits all over again.

I am going to do some tweaking to find my personal sweet spot.  I read up on calorie cycling and I've calculated my total weekly caloric intake and I'm going to bounce the calories around so that my body isnt used to X amount per day.  I want to see if that makes any difference.

I am also going to start dropping my carbs down to less than 90g per day (especially once my Quest bars order comes in and I grab some different groceries later this week).

I DEFINITELY need to increase the water intake. 

I also really need to add some green leafy veggies into my diet.  It can be interesting cooking in my house because my family (husband and son...daughter is away at college) are meat and potatoes guys.  Anything that resembles a green vegetable gets tossed by the wayside.  I'll compensate with adding salads for myself.

Great. My Bf will at greens - but in moderation.
But - some veggies are "free" food for me. That includes: salads, spinach (raw or cooked), peppers, mushrooms, broccolie and calliflower  (steemed or cooked only - raw is so hard on my pouch)  and so on I do not cook or make a lot of it - but - once I do - I have for a good few days.
I eat meat, fish, - my BF - that plus some veggies + carbs.. So easy to do.
Good luck.
BTW: quest bars have a lot of fiber - I got really gassy at first and got a bit constipated - (too much fiber-  may make it harder - so watch for water intake) It is better now - but start slowly with the bars. Good luck. We all need it. This place is a great reminder what we need to do.

Thanks for the 'heads up' on the Quest bars and possible gas issues.  That could have been potentially embarrassing since I work in cubicle land....

I will definitely try them on a weekend FIRST!

what is (bf) in this post..and do you only count net carbs or are you talking about 90 g carbs period...i am taking in 50 net carbs or trying not to go over ... help..lol