Question:
WHAT CAN I DO PLEASE

HI IM 4 1/2 MONTHS POST-OP DOWN 80# FROM 322 I FEEL REALLY MAD WITH MY SELF AND VERY SAD I HAVE 2 FRIEND THAT THEY DID THE SURGERY A 1 AND 3 MONTH AFTER I DID IM JELLOUS SORRY IF I SPELLED WRONG THE HAVE LOSS A LOT OF WEIGHT IN FEEL HAPPY FOR THEM , BUT THE PROBLEMS IS THAT THEY DOING SO GOOD THEY DONT EAT SUGAR THEY EXERCISES AND DIET AND SEEMS THAT I CANT DO THAT I CAN EAT ANY AMOUNT OF SUGAR AND NOT DUMP AT ALL I DONT EXERCISES AND DONT DO ANY DIET THATS WHY I HAVENT LOST ANY WEIGH IN THE LAST 6 WEEKS I FEEL SO DEPRESS AND SO UNHAPPY HOW CAN I MAKE MY SELF DO THE RIGHT THING PLEASE I DONT HAVE ANY DOCTOR , OR INSURANCE I DONT ATTENT TO ANY SUPPORT GROUP , I STAR THE DAY EAT LOW CARB FOOD BUT THE END OF THE DAY I HAVE TO EAT SOME SUGAR IT LIKE A DRUG PLASE HELP AND BE HONEST BUT NOT HARD WITH ME I FEEL BAD BECAUSE I FEEL THIS WAY.    — mabel S. (posted on November 7, 2002)

November 7, 2002
Hi Mabel, You havent lost weight in 6 weeks, so you lost 80# in 3 months?? THAT IS GREAT. Do you have any Idea how amazing youve done? You should be proud. Now for the hard part.(hope not too hard)what i have learned and i had to really pay attention to this... This is not a miracle Cure. You still have to "work" your tool. YOu may still just be feeling some depression left from surgery. And im sure it doesnt help to have your freinds "working" it better than you (or so you feel)First, please dont compare yourself to your friends. You took this life changing step for YOURSELF. As far as addiction to sweets, you must know that the more sugar you have the more you want. At some point you must substitute other things for that "high". We are so fortunate to live in a time with GREAT GROCERIES where there are things such as splenda or sugar free items to help with that. Ive read of alot of people being slow to getting the exercise started and have done well. But it will come that you must do this for your health (and flying flab!!!)Maybe you can concentrate on just starting anything (walk 15 min,3Xweek)to make you feel better about yourself. I definately think you should research finding a support group. For now AMOS is all I have too and I think it is great. Hopefully, you will soon lose the depression and come to a place where you can start a group or share this wonderful thing with your freinds too. Yall should be rejoicing together. Im sure they are really grateful to you for taking the first "plunge".... Please email me. Im a newbie compared to you and im sure there are things you could help me with too. Marilayne [email protected]
   — Marilayne M.

November 7, 2002
Hi! You are doing super. I am 7 months post op and down 85# which compared to some too is lower but for me I gained that 85# in 12 yrs so losing it in 7 months is pretty good I think. I have been on a 6 wk plateau and have learned to roll thru them. Your body is changing, adapting and your loss will continue. Suggestions that might help and I know definitely help me are to: Get moving - any kind of exercise whether its walking, treadmill, in my case my Gazelle, walking thru Walmart, take your dog for a walk, etc. Push the water - go for about 64-80 oz a day; up your protein and lower your carbs. As far as the sugar goes, eating carbs breeds wanting carbs and sugar is carbs. So if you reduce your carbs and substitute other things it should help. To offset the sugar craving: drink a lot of water when this hits: a craving lasts about 15 min. Substitute sf popsicles, a pretzel, piece of fruit or chew on some cheese, piece of chicken or something protein. About 72 hours of getting sugar out of your system should help reduce or eliminate those daily cravings. Meanwhile, don't be so hard on yourself or compare to others. You are doing super.
   — AJC750

November 7, 2002
Mabel, just because you can eat any amount of sugar does NOT mean that you should continue to push the amount of sugar you can eat into your system. The others are right, sugar is quite addictive. I'm with ya on that one! I have tried to limit my sugar intake and keep sugar grams below 10 or so at a serving. Most of the time I can do it-once in a while I go over and while I don't dump, I can tell that it increases the cravings. Don't beat yourself up for having some sugar-just try to limit the amount if you can. We are so used to feeling the guilt for eating that we still feel it today, and beat ourselves up even though we have lost substantial amounts of weight. Now, why are you not exercising?? Is it because you cannot due to a medical reason, or is it because your not motivating yourself? Trust me, if you can, exercise will go a long way towards making you feel better about yourself and helps to break those pesky plateaus. Also increase your water-that helps to break the plateaus too
   — Cindy R.