Question:
Need help getting back on track

I had RNY 8 months ago and lost 71 lbs. I was stuck at 143 for 3 months - a nasty plateau. Right before my endoscopy (the day before Thanksgiving), I was down to 141 after busting my tail with exercise. Today, I was up to 144 lbs following turkey day and the weekend afterwards. I haven't been up that high in MONTHS. I ate way too much over the past few days. It is so hard to get back on track. I was doing so well after finally breaking that 3 month plateau, but to go back to it and even gain weight really hurts. Any ideas how to get back on track? Watch my food intake and start exercising again? And can a plateau last 3 months?    — C P. (posted on December 3, 2008)

December 3, 2008
You worked too hard to stop now. Jsut get back to the basics. Do a couple days of clear liquids to get your system over the carb cravings. Then back to portion measuring and lots of exercise. You can do it.
   — trible

December 3, 2008
I agree with Lis before me. You can do it hon. It's those dang carbs. My doctor gave me a little speech after my rny and told me that you have to look at some of those carbs like an alchoholic looks at booze. They don't try out just a little of it to celebrate. You have come so far and just need to forgive yourself for being human and get back on the wagon. You can do this one day at a time. Good luck!
   — katiecakes

December 3, 2008
I am sorry to hear you're having a hard time, but don't give up. I experienced the same thing during Halloween weekend and I thought I would never lose another pound. Everyone here at OH was very supportive and gave me the best advice. I was told to go back to the basics, (water, protein and excercise). Within one week I was seeing results again. You can do it too, concentrate on eating proteins and drinking pleanty of water. I promise, you will see the scale move, just hang in there. Good Luck.
   — [Deactivated Member]

December 3, 2008
Plateaus don't usually last 3 months...You might be at your bodies idea of ideal weight...BUT good news is that you still have several good honeymoon months left and if you tighten up on what you are eating and how much exercise you are doing, you can still lose some more...I suggest you begin weighing/measuring your food and counting calories, fat and carbs for now....Just eat what you do regularly for a week and keep a log...At this point you'll have an average of what you eat...You'll be able to figure out where you can cut calories, carbs or fats...To lose 1 lb a week you need to cut 3500 cals a week or 500 a day...Add exercise and you burn even more...EXPECT plateaus though even once you being losing again...But don't give up! You will continue to lose. Replace too many carbs with lean protein or veggies...Don't lose the complex carbs...just the sugar and white food (pasta, rice potatoes, white bread) You can do it slow and easy and aim for a lb a week....Take a short brisk walk after eating...even if you run around the mall or dept store after dinner...and don't eat anything a few hours before bed time...Take all your vits and drink water...If you feel hungry...drink first and see if that helps...Don't over eat..weigh or measure every serving...That should be enough if you take one suggested serving and no more!! You should be quite content with 3-4 ounces of meat and 2-3 ounces of veggies and a small salad with lite or no fat dressing. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!! I gained 10 lbs last winter and did it this way! Slowly, but I did it! Don't you dare bring home food you KNOW you shouldn't have! LOL (I try to convince myself occassionally that Peanut M&M's are a protein snack (better than a frosted cupcake, but that's how the self mind games begin with me)...and then I smack myself upside the head and go for the SF pudding instead and a bag of raw almonds or something more realistic!! LOL Yeah...I will always have an eating disorder...But staying focused and disciplined sometimes means you gotta get a little obsessive with doing the right thing...and weighing and measuring and logging food stats is a a really good way to get back on track...I get lazy again...too...but every now and then I will pull out my scale and weigh my dinner to make sure my 4-6 ounce chicken breast didn't turn into 6-8 ounces! Or my 1/4 c of whole grain didn't turn into a 1/2 C! Good luck!
   — .Anita R.

December 6, 2008
Oh, how I wish OH would make changes to this portion of the OH site, where our comments could be in small paragraph form in place of one long paragraph. I could write something short; but, I feel that would be inadequate. You are seeking help because you are on this exciting journey to be the best you can be. Hopefully what I write will be helpful to you. I do pray you attain everything you want in this life. The other posters have great ideas and recommendations on helping you get back on track. However, I must comment on your sentence asking if you should watch your food intake AND START EXERCISING AGAIN. Thank you for stepping up to the plate admitting you have an issue and are seeking direction. In your heart, I do believe you know you always and for the rest of your life have to watch your food intake and exercise, making every choice the best possible, and YOU MUST ALWAYS EXERCISE. But, since you are in the beginning stages (8 months post-op), you -- like the rest of us -- need to change our thinking and the word choices we use, if we are going to be successful. We need to work on our minds and get our minds in the right gear. If you drive a stick-shift car, you know you need to shift gears and you do so until you hear that your car is running smoothly. Something caused us to gain all this excess weight. The surgery did not give us an automatic car where all we do is put our foot to the metal and go, our mind not engaged, but running on automatic. We need to start our journey thinking of our journey as driving a stick shift car: training our mind to work with us in attaining our goals and objectives -- good health, slim body, vibrant personality, or whatever. We need to shift from Victim Thinking ("It is so hard to get back on track," "I was doing so well ... but to even gain weight really hurts") passing through or passing past Survivor mode ("Hey, I've done it and now I'm going to preach at all of you telling you how I did it", to Thriver Thinking. Thriver Thinking (driving that automatic) is when healthy eating is a natural way of life. You have strategies in place for dealing with emotional upheavals, so you don't return to victim eating. When you are faced with temptation you consciously decide between victim or thriver eating. And, eating is no longer the focus of life. To help you in this regard, put together positive affirmations, putting each affirmation on a different card. Put together 50 or even 100 positive affirmations. Sort them into categories. Then, when you arise in the morning, speak out loud a group of positive affirmations so you start your day on the right track. Keep your cards of positive affirmations with you so you can speak them out loud any time of the day. Google positive_affirmations, and you will see that there is a wealth of information available on the Internet. Affirmations could be such as, "My body feels great because I exercise "x" minutes each day." "I plan to exercise 15 minutes today." "I eat foods which are nourishing my body." "I love to eat healthy foods." "I love to eat vegetables, especially the green ones." "I feel better and better each and every day." "I am getting better in all ways." "Up until now, (admit your problem but put it in the past) I had a problem (admit a problem), but I am getting better and better, or I have plans in place to ensure I get better and better, or I work my plan." "I LOVE my healthy body." "I love how I feel." "Life is an adventure!" "I am responsible for my life." Your own words of, "It is so hard to get back on track" is a bad sentence with which to program your mind. That is the same as driving a stick shift and suddenly shifting down causing the shifting mechanism to scream in pain. If you have ever driven a stick shift car, you do know the sound! You can say, "Up until now, it has been hard to get back on track, (this is where you ADMIT your problem but put it in the past), but then you add, "but day by day it is getting so much easier for me to stay on track." You get the idea. Program your mind to accept the new you so you can drive an automatic in the future but you need to start your learning by driving a stick shift. Then, you will shift gears gears when the speed and momentum is right, until it is the same as driving an automatic. You want to dissolve into nothingness, the old you. This could be like parting out a car, keeping the good parts and letting the rest of the cluncker die a natural death in the junk yard. Regarding your last question of whether a plateau can last 3 months, the answer is, yes. It can happen for more than 2 years, even though a person eats the right foods, drinks the right amount of liquids, gets sufficient protein, does do great exercises, where everything right is being done, meticulously logging the daily results of food and activities, thinks and behaves as a Thriver and not either a Victim or a Survivor and yet the person still remains on a plateau. I know. I plateaued in August 2005, and then, this last August 2008, I commenced losing again. I had initiallly lost 135#, regained 15, and since August OF THIS YEAR, lost those 15# I gained back, and so far I have eliminated an additional 15 lbs. My total weight loss is 150# and with 30 lbs to go, I will be where I was before all this weight gain for me started. I know this is achievable for me. Quality food must be sufficient to sustain you and invigorate your life. Food is only food and should NOT BE THE FOCUS of your day. That is Victim Thinking. I plan to commence listing resources which have been helpful to me on my profile page. At my support group page, www.ObesityHelp.com/group/BellevueWA I believe I'll start a blog on Victim (where almost everyone is initially), Survivor (word and activity choices for folks who have achieved their weight loss) to Thriver (word and activity choices for folks who are thriving following their weight loss surgery). You are all welcome to join in in fleshing out these concepts. Again, I encourage everyone to participate in their local OH-trained support groups. Ask your support group leader to put on the Victim, Survivor, Thriver model developed by Lynn Meinke, at one or more of your support group meetings. This model was taught all support group leaders in November of this year. If your local support group leader has not yet participated in this training, it is still available on the OH leader board. Here is to being successful -- all of us! Have a stupendously wonderful life! Christine Gibson, MS, MA, OH Coach and Support Group Leader.
   — Christine Gibson