Gastric Bypass Surgery Support Group
Gastric bypass (GBP) is any of a group of similar operative procedures used to treat morbid obesity, a condition which arises from severe accumulation of excess weight in the form of fatty tissue, and the health problems ("co-morbidities") which result. If you are considering gastric bypass or have had it, join the community where we share our experiences and find support.
I know what a lot of people will say to what I'm about to post "you're doing great! Look how far you've come, focus on that!" And believe me, I do realize how far I have come. But that doesn't mean I don't have further to go, and therein lies the problem...
I will be 12 months post-op on Wednesday. I have lost between 121 - 122 pounds, depending on the day I weigh. I am very frustrated. I excercise virtually every day - I am either walking 3-4 miles, doing a walk/run for 3-4 miles, or I am at the gym doing strength training, kickboxing, zumba, core class...you name it, I pretty much do it. Getting ready to try my first cycle class tonight (and hopefully it won't hurt my knees!).
Anyway, I have been at about 143 for the past few weeks. On Friday, I weighed and dropped down to 141.6, which is my new low. It is my time of the month so I figured that this week, I should be holding about steady a that point or dropping a bit lower since I'm losing my water weight. (Man I hate that bloated feeling...). I weighed yesterday and today and I'm back to 143. I'm SO TIRED!!! My goal is 140 and I know that is "only 3 pounds...", but 3 pounds is a lot to me...because it can be this 3 pounds here, and that 3 pounds there and next thing you know it's 3 x 33 pounds back on! I do limit my carbs, but I will admit that I find it hard to stay below 120g of carbs some days because I take a lot of iron (bartiatric and specialty vitamins from the Hematologist for my anemia) and so I eat prunes just about every day. I need them to help things "move along" and I would rather deal with it the "natural" way if possible. So a serving of prunes has 26g carb alone, so more than a quarter of my daily requirement. However, I counter that as best as I can with my other meals and snacks.
I feel guilty if I have even 1 graham cracker with peanut butter (a favorite treat for myself), or a handful of trail mix with chocolate chips in it (but still under 20g carb for the little bit that I eat). I feel like I shouldn't have eaten that and some days I think I just need to return to nothing but shakes.
I don't get it because my husband has dropped under 160 and he's 5'10" and he had surgery 7 weeks after me and he's eating and eating trying to stop the weight from coming off. He's looking to regain a few pounds and maintain there. My friend who had surgery in 2010 dropped to 135 and she is 2 inches taller than me. So what is my problem??? Why is it so hard, when i am working my butt off, to get that last 3 pounds off? It is so demotivating some days - I feel like I shouldn't even care or bother anymore, and I don't want to be like that (because then I want to emotionally eat and that just isn't the way to solve the problem). I see people who have had GBS and don't track ANYTHING and they just lose and lose, even when they are far out like me. I'm so discouraged and feel like I will never make it!
I know, I know...121/122 pounds is nothing to sneeze at and I should be proud of that. And I am. I am very proud of that. I am proud that I can even run 1/2 mile when I never would have been able to do that a year ago. It's just that I want to reach my goal...and this is not an unrealistic goal...it is one my doctor (not surgeon) set for me. I was wanting to aim for 130 pounds, but at this point I feel like that is totally unachievable given the way I feel like I'm killing myself just to get to 140! At least at 140, I will be in the upper "normal" range for BMI and that's all I'm aiming for. Am I crazy??
I will be 12 months post-op on Wednesday. I have lost between 121 - 122 pounds, depending on the day I weigh. I am very frustrated. I excercise virtually every day - I am either walking 3-4 miles, doing a walk/run for 3-4 miles, or I am at the gym doing strength training, kickboxing, zumba, core class...you name it, I pretty much do it. Getting ready to try my first cycle class tonight (and hopefully it won't hurt my knees!).
Anyway, I have been at about 143 for the past few weeks. On Friday, I weighed and dropped down to 141.6, which is my new low. It is my time of the month so I figured that this week, I should be holding about steady a that point or dropping a bit lower since I'm losing my water weight. (Man I hate that bloated feeling...). I weighed yesterday and today and I'm back to 143. I'm SO TIRED!!! My goal is 140 and I know that is "only 3 pounds...", but 3 pounds is a lot to me...because it can be this 3 pounds here, and that 3 pounds there and next thing you know it's 3 x 33 pounds back on! I do limit my carbs, but I will admit that I find it hard to stay below 120g of carbs some days because I take a lot of iron (bartiatric and specialty vitamins from the Hematologist for my anemia) and so I eat prunes just about every day. I need them to help things "move along" and I would rather deal with it the "natural" way if possible. So a serving of prunes has 26g carb alone, so more than a quarter of my daily requirement. However, I counter that as best as I can with my other meals and snacks.
I feel guilty if I have even 1 graham cracker with peanut butter (a favorite treat for myself), or a handful of trail mix with chocolate chips in it (but still under 20g carb for the little bit that I eat). I feel like I shouldn't have eaten that and some days I think I just need to return to nothing but shakes.
I don't get it because my husband has dropped under 160 and he's 5'10" and he had surgery 7 weeks after me and he's eating and eating trying to stop the weight from coming off. He's looking to regain a few pounds and maintain there. My friend who had surgery in 2010 dropped to 135 and she is 2 inches taller than me. So what is my problem??? Why is it so hard, when i am working my butt off, to get that last 3 pounds off? It is so demotivating some days - I feel like I shouldn't even care or bother anymore, and I don't want to be like that (because then I want to emotionally eat and that just isn't the way to solve the problem). I see people who have had GBS and don't track ANYTHING and they just lose and lose, even when they are far out like me. I'm so discouraged and feel like I will never make it!
I know, I know...121/122 pounds is nothing to sneeze at and I should be proud of that. And I am. I am very proud of that. I am proud that I can even run 1/2 mile when I never would have been able to do that a year ago. It's just that I want to reach my goal...and this is not an unrealistic goal...it is one my doctor (not surgeon) set for me. I was wanting to aim for 130 pounds, but at this point I feel like that is totally unachievable given the way I feel like I'm killing myself just to get to 140! At least at 140, I will be in the upper "normal" range for BMI and that's all I'm aiming for. Am I crazy??
Also, on the prunes, 26g of carbs is not bad when they are good carbs. I, too, freaked out over bananas having so many (I eat one daily or I have horrible leg cramps). My "nut" said if they ere good carbs not to worry as much. So don't worry about the good carbs. My mother had GBS 12 yrs ago....she will tell you this (what she told me). One is, eat what you can keep down. Two. Food is NOT your enemy. Treat yourself from time to time. Third. You CAN do what you put your mind to. :)
Don't get discouraged. I know it's hard. Also, have you tried the puch test? It could jump start you back into weight loss for those last 3 lbs!!!
Chin up lovely! Chin up!!!
Secondly you ARE doing great.
Thirdly, the reason that your husband is losing so much more is because males have much more muscle mass than we do so they naturally lose faster and more than us.
A friend of mine's husband had surgery 7 weeks ago and he's only 30 lbs to his goal!!!
How many calories are you eating? How much protein are you eating? Are you measuring your carb count?
If you're overexercising and not getting enough calories, your body will hoard what you do eat and you won't lose. I was having that problem and my NUT told me to increase my caloric intake. As soon as I did that, the pounds started melting off again!
You're playing with 3 lbs...that's it hun, 3 lbs. Not 100 lbs. Please be kind to yourself. You have come a long long way and although to be at that 140 mark is your goal, your body may be saying, "I'm comfortable at 143."
HUGSSSSSSSS
Laurie
I can understand you wanting to stay natural, but it has a cost.
Personally, I would switch to some kind of med/laxative/fiber so that I can reduce my carb intake.
I am only 7 months out, but I stay around 50g of carbs per day.
I want to add my two cents worth. I think your problem is the SCALE! Get off and stay off for a week or two or three. It is not the numbers but how you feel. The wt will come off. You body will tell you when you are at your goal.
When I hit my goal of 150 The wt kept coming off. I notice the more protein I took in, the more I lost. I have had some very stressfull weeks and guess what. I took in over 100 grams of protein and the wt started coming of even more. My goal has changed over time to be 130. I recently hit 125, not because I want to but the stress and energy and eating more protein has got me to this low.
Muscle is more wt then fat. How is your body feeling? Do you like how you feel? Once you get to that point the rest is a mute point. The wt is just a number. My MD would not give me a goal but suggested where I would end up. I am beyond that. I was happy at 135 I LOVE 130. 125... Well. I feel kind of guant, if you know what I mean. Oh ya. I am two years out.
Hang in there. put the scale in the closet and promise not to take it out for 2 weeks. The scale is just a number.
ENJOY where you are!! You have come a long way!
Good Luck
JILL
Thank you everyone for your feedback. I don't know why, but my surgeon does not like for his patients to take Miralax, they say Milk of Magnesia. But that's something they say a max of once a week is all I can take.
And you're right...I do need to stay off the scale. I know it's just numbers, but as you can imagine...it is so mentally important for me to SEE that goal weight. Could you imagine if you never saw anything below 200 pounds? I know that may be an extreme example, but that's the only other time I can think of that it was this important to me to see it. Especially when my husband just keeps losing and losing and has no problem eating a freaking bowl of raisin bran!! ACK!!! Men! :-)
Prunes are okay to eat if you wish though. I freaked out about my carbs once. I messaged my nut about it. She told me I needed AT LEAST 70 to 100 carbs a day. She did not want me under 70 carbs but would like me to get closer to 100 carbs daily. BUT to each his own. EVERY nut/surgeon is different. I trust my syrgeon fully seeings how he has been doing WLS for over 30 yrs! He did the old GBS (stomach stapling) on my Grandmother over 25 yrs ago. So you can count what he says as safe and truth. He's been doing this forever lol
AND I agree that you should stay away from the scale for a week or two. :)
Try a few of the things people have said and see what works best for you! EVERYONE is different. BUT believe me when I say prunes will NOT cause you much issues (carbs wise) IF you are watching your carbs in other areas. fruit carbs are good carbs.
And men do suck big time! LOL They lose soooo fast! Seems us women can look at a piece of cake and gain weight and the man can eat it and lose 10 lbs lol
I know you want those three pounds so badly, but what about having a "range" you are comfortable with? Say, 140-148? If you look at it like that, you are below the half-way point in your range! And it will still give you that feeling of "I'm in control, I won't go above this range". Best wishes, I hope you are feeling better soon.