Question:
I feel like a WLS failure ...

Why isn't this surgury working for me ? I feel like I eat like a mouse yet the scale isnt changing ! - I need some major help - My desire to eat has not changed . I can eat a lot still without being full - I know this is just a tool but I think my tool is broken - I am so so depressed - I am turning to all of you for help ..    — [Anonymous] (posted on May 22, 2001)

May 22, 2001
I am 7 weeks post-op and feel somewhat the same. The first week I lost 51 lbs.!! The next checkup one month later was a 10 lb. loss. I was very disappointed but my Doctor was very encouraging and stated that I looked completely different than the last time he had seen me. Try getting measured, some times a balky scale will discourage us when in fact it's inches that we lost. I noticed that I had guilt feelings after eating. I think it's because in the past when I was this full, it was because I had stuffed myself with icky nasty junk foods. Good luck
   — Pat C.

May 22, 2001
Where are you in the process? How much have you lost? Is you fear of things that are black & white or "what ifs"? Do you really eat a lot? If you are under 1 yr and eat more than 4 oz, that might be a lot if you started with a 1 oz pouch. If you are trying to eat 3 large meals per day, you'll be hungry and stretch your pouch. Try 6 tiny meals instead. You won't get starved, won't stretch your pouch and your blood sugars will hold more steadily. You also didn't say if you are drinking lots of water and getting plenty of protein supplement in. Those will also affect how full you feel and how satisfied you are.
   — vitalady

May 22, 2001
Dear, we need more information. When did you have surgery, what type, how much have you lost? How long since the scale stopped moving? How much is a lot to eat? How often do you eat a lot? The reason I ask is because plateaus create these feelings in all of us at one time or another. We tend to revert back to our pre-op feelings of inadequacy and failure. The vicious emotional cycle continues with discouragement and giving up...after all, that's how it always happened before with diet, drugs and exercise. While we're giving up, we might as well prove how this was never going to work in the first place, and then the self-sabotage begins. We compare ourselves to others and find them so much more successful at the program than we are - more compliant, better weight loss. Shouldn't I have lost 60 lbs. in the first two months like she did? This is obviously not working! I wanted to be at goal in nine months (after all I had only 127 pounds to lose) - I've failed. There were times I had given up and went on week long chocolate binges. Thanksgiving was brutal for me - I gained three pounds - and I mean I was not fluctuating; I actually gained. I gained four pounds in February because I was stressed out. I gained EIGHT pounds overnight in March, just when I had reached my lowest adult weight ever, no less, because I donated blood and it sent my body into a tizzy, and it took a month to come off. All I could think of then was that I just put my goal a month behind (nevermind I might have just saved a life - who cares!). So twice I did indeed sabotage myself and once I was a victim of my own medical ignorance. I had to identify the reasons before I could deal with them. The first thing I did was take a deep breath and tell myself, it will come off. Maybe not as fast as you want, but statistically, you will likely lose 80% of your excess weight. Secondly, I had to prepare myself that I may be one of those who only lose that 80%. After that, I had to get back on task and for me, that always begins with protien. Protien curbs the cravings, in a nutshell. Then the water, then the exercise - even if it is only 1/2 an hour of walking. I had to avoid chocolate at all costs. I had to modify my behavior and not push my pouch to its limits. I still am not 100% compliant with the program, but every effort you put into each basic requirement will still pay off. I set goals for myself based on my average monthly weight loss. Last week, I posted here that it may take 6-10 months to lose the rest based on my chart. Then I lost seven pounds in the last week, so I'm on track again. I let go of the expectation/desire to wear a bikini this summer and decided that it just wasn't as important as the fact that I feel fabulous and look great. At the same time, I was working on two yards digging and planting. I was drinking alot of water. I was eating small meals, even if they were loaded with carbs (exercise will burn carbs), they weren't loaded with sugar. It took almost two weeks for my body to reflect the effort - this doesn't happen overnight. Please don't give up! You've gone through so much to come this far. Don't let this needling fear sabotage all your effort. Relax a bit, stop beating yourself up and identify the improvement zones. You'll get back on track and pretty soon you'll lose a pound here and two there and you'll get encouraged again. Good luck to you and God Bless.
   — Allie B.

May 22, 2001
This is for Pat who answered this question. Did you really lose 51 pounds in a week????? WOW to say the least. I didn't even know that that was possible! You go girl!
   — Barbara H.

May 23, 2001
It seems like a lot of us are having this problem! I have lost 60 lbs in 5 mos and the scale hasn't moved in 8 wks. I wish there were a way to tell if the pouch has stretched without having an endoscopy. Isn't there some symptoms? If the pouch is still "tight" do you continue to have that awful heavy feeling when you eat too much? I still get it occasionally. Even if the pouch is stretched, doesn't the malabsorbtion from having intestine bypassed still help us to lose? Anybody know?
   — Marilyn C.

May 23, 2001
It seems like a lot of us are having this problem! I have lost 60 lbs in 5 mos and the scale hasn't moved in 8 wks. I wish there were a way to tell if the pouch has stretched without having an endoscopy. Isn't there some symptoms? If the pouch is still "tight" do you continue to have that awful heavy feeling when you eat too much? I still get it occasionally. Even if the pouch is stretched, doesn't the malabsorbtion from having intestine bypassed still help us to lose? Anybody know?
   — Marilyn C.

May 24, 2001
Can I make one observation? You never mention how long it has been! I plateaued for two weeks right after surgery and have since started losing after DOUBLING the daily protein. You are comparing your old failures to a totally new situation and that isn't being fair to yourself. This is a new day, and you have a new stomache. You cannot stretch it out that quickly, you would injure yourself trying! Head hunger is powerful but, as someone else said, protein is a great fighter of that. Stop thinking about what could go wrong and just have a good long cry. This is going to go right if you work your food plan. Take lots of vitamins, eat TONS of protein and RELAX!!! You are gonna be fine. If the stress gets too acute you might talk to your doctor about Paxil or something similar. Good luck Sweetie!!!
   — Sandra W.

June 5, 2001
after the first two weeks of my surgery i was not losing anything. i was ready to have an x-ray of my stomach because i thought that it didn't work either. but after i changed my eating behavior to more healthy foods my weight loss took off, i think it is just an adjustment period that your body goes through every now and then. it is not your fault, and as for the hunger, your mind has not caught up with your body yet, you mind says to eat but your body says no. it gets easier and the weight does come off, just give it time and eat healthy. good luck sarah
   — Sarah B.