theworldaccordingtoeggface.com

Shelly is more than four years post-op. She has maintained her weight loss, and shares her daily journey, including what she eats, in her blog. It might help put you back on track, if that is your desire.

No, see that is just it. She is SUCCESSFUL. I am not. I do not know what is causing my failure. I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO DO, DO IT, BUT IT IS NOT WORKING. I follow all the instructions that everybody is telling me to do, but my body is not REACTING according to what it is supposedly supposed to do. I need and want to talk to other people that are in my predicament. I mean if I don't eat enough calories a day, I feel weak, agitated and extremely depressed. I just feel SICK. So if I eat, say, 1,200 calories a day to at least MAINTAIN my current weight, it is not enough! I find myself needing to eat at least 2,500 in order to feel "human". Maybe something is wrong with my chemistry/my biological makeup, hormones, whatever, I just play games with food all day, trying to stay on course, and then bottoming out and feeling guilty. It is the same old same old, as before the surgery. During the onset of the weight loss, I turned into another person, I felt so YOUNG AND ENERGETIC! Could not believe it! Wasn't hungry, followed all the instructions to a tee, lost the weight, everything went perfect, now I am always tired, I go to exercise enough to get my heart rate up and I just get exhausted and hit the wall and need to eat more so I can feel back to "normal". I eat cottage cheese, protein, protein, protein, I walk alot. AND NOTHING! I mean, I have to live, I have other responsibilities in life and I cannot obsess 24/7 every second of the day about counting calories, etc. I am simply worn out by it all. AND THEN THE GUILT, OH THE GUILT AND THE FEELING OF FAILURE. All that work, going through the surgery, and the diet and psych classes and all the medical tests, etc......and NOW FAILURE. I have gotten back up on the saddle time and time again, just to keep falling off, to no avail comes success. Is it my attitude, I ask myself? I am willing to admit if I have a crappy attitue towards all this, but I can sincerely tell you I don't, I am trying to be as honest and sincere as possible with everything. And people just keep saying "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" , I honestly feel like I have pulled the bootstraps so much they have completely torn off the boot! LOL I HATE FAT. Tonight my husband and I went to Claim Jumpers and I got a salad with grilled chicken, and just ate the chicken, while I watched him eat ribs, garlic/cheese toast, big salad with blue cheese, mashed potatoes with gravy, just pork'n it down, without a feeling of guilt, and I'm just looking at him feeling anxious, but trying to remember it's not his problem, so I am watching everybody eat, feeling agitated, but smiling, trying to stay positive. Geez, there were ALOT of FAT people in there, and I thinking to myself, oh please God, I don't want to be that way again. And I am just looking at them thinking oh gross, WTF why am I BEING JUDGEMENTAL TOWARDS THEM. Because it is MY FEAR of being fat again, not THEIRS. Anyways, sorry about the ranting and raving, maybe this is more for a journal. I just want to know if there are other people out there that are going through similar circumstances, if there are I would love to talk to you, to get some ideas on how you at least, if anything, COPE. Thanks so much for listening.

hello, I am pre surgery so can't help you with not succeeding after surgery. I will tell you though something that has helped before even surgery and it is still a struggle but very doable. I read Gennine Roths, Women Food and God, she really talks about the whole aspect of this problem. I really enjoyed it and she is even online for questions exactly like you have.
She does alot of sessions on line and inperson. Check it out it is great.

Robin

It sounds to me that you really need to visit a psychiatrist or therapist. It's not about the GBS for you.

I'm not trying to be harsh, or mean or anything like that. It just seems by your post that you are in a very unhealthy place mentally and it's coming out through your view of food and eating.

Nothing we say about what you should eat, etc will help right now. You need to get some help into why you are not happy and feel that you need to eat more to be normal.

It's a mental thing. You need to get that straight before you can get your eating straight.

I woud like to ask you to do us a favor. Here is a site to help you get support from folks who know:

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=wls+regain+support&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

The favor is, please continue to post here and gain the experience of newly successful WLSers and continue to share from your perspective.

I know there are others like you here, who don't feel comfortable sharing. Your openness and fresh desperation ( a compliment) is sucjh an important wake up call! Thank you!

Yeah, definately keep posting here, I'm hope we can help even a little bit.

Stimpy... I wish you luck, and hope you find the answers that you are looking for, the ones that will help you succeed.

I have had GPS on July 13 2010 and have lost 75lbs so far and been stck since turkeyday.. havent gained any back but not losing. I worry that one day I will gain it back.. It is still a struggle every day to NOT EAT what I want. Unfortunately sweets do not casue any problems for me and they are still my weekness.

I do hear your pain and according to what you posted:

"I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO DO, DO IT, BUT IT IS NOT WORKING. I follow all the instructions that everybody is telling me to do, but my body is not REACTING according to what it is supposedly supposed to do."

My suggestion would be to consult with your GP and get a referral to an endocrinologist. Sometimes we have other issues to consider other than GBS and psychological reasons, especially as peri-menopausal or post-menopausal women. For years i suffered with a whole host of physical and psychological "symptoms". It wasn't until i saw a HOLISTIC endo that i found out the causes of these were easily remedied with NATURAL hormones including estrogen, progesterone, pregnenolone, cortisol and thyroid. Sorry, but i am not in the same situation you are, so you can choose to ignore the suggestion. Maybe this book will give you some answers though. THE PHYTOGENIC HORMONE SOLUTION by Saundra McKenna. Hope you get the help you need to overcome this. I'll send you prayers.

Hi. and thank you.

@Kobobly08 thank you for the suggestion of "women, food and God" by Gennie Roths. I will look for it my next trip to the mall. It might be able to enlighten me, although I do have prayer everynight, and I sincerely ask for answers, maybe this could be the one. Thank you so much.

@Liz4tin: No your not being to harsh. I totally agree with you about "getting my head right" I do see a therapist once a month (who just happens to be STICK THIN, ha! and we mostly just talk about coping with REALLY major issues, like money, etc, coping with joblessness, lack of health insurance for my husbands med. issues (see how complex human beings lives are?), but yeah, maybe I need to focus more time on ME and MY issues, even though I feel she would assume this a petty problem. (But maybe that is just MY assumption) Anyways your right, I am not ashamed to admit that I do take a "mood stabilizer" and have for a long time to deal with the upheavals in life. Its kinda like, hmmmmmm....how much thought and energy do I give to this problem versus that problem, etc. etc. I'm sure you know what I mean be this, I guess maybe I mean to say I put the "weight issue" on the back burner, and dealing with all the other "junk" in life. But your right, sometimes I need a harsh shaking to wake myself up. Thanks.

@RickyDee55: THANK YOU SO MUCH! That link you sent me IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR! I look forward to reading the forums and learning.

@SweetSal: YOUR DOING GREAT! And you WILL be the one to keep it off! Do not read too much about people that are struggling, no two people are alike, 99 percent chance you will keep it off for a lifetime. So don't go down the road of anxiousness.

@Misa888: Thanks for the book suggestion. Yes I am going to be 55 and I am going through menapause, and I am on estrogen and progesterone. I do not believe they are "bioidentical" like Suzanne Sommers is always talking about, I'm sure they are man-made, but what the heck - they WORK! No more hot flashes and waking up ALL NIGHT LONG!

So there you have it: its all out there: I'm on psych meds (like alot of the population) and I take hormones - possible could be holding me back, but I was on the psych meds pre-surgery, and the hormones are supposed to SPEED UP the metabolism. Also the mental part of we are all unemployed and there is no work to be found: Stir it up into one big witches brew: and voila MAYBE all these factors could be the reason? I guess I just need to learn how to "outwit" them, kinda like a drug addict or an alcholic? Neither of which I have been. I dont think I'm a foodaholic, I REALLY SINCERELY BELIEVE i EAT ONLY WHEN I AM HUNGRY. When a baby cries when it is hungry, you feed it, and then it stops crying, thats how I feel when I am hungry, "normal" thinking clearly again. But maybe not, I guess I'll just have to keep trying to figure things. out. THANKS ONE AND ALL......

Don't be ashamed to work on yourself. If you don't take care of yourself and your problems, who will?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help for issues. I hate the stigma America has on mental issues. My psychology teacher in college told me that the only people in the world who don't have psychotic breaks are those that are just psychotic all the time.

Seriously, if your therapist is going to think you are petty to worry about yourself get a different therapist. You are the most important thing right now and she/he should understand that it's important to get perspective on your issues before you can work on your other problems.

I agree with Liz - we are the one's who have to be proactive since there isn't anyone else who has as much invested in us as us!

I thought about private messaging you but our hormones are just a factor, esp. post GBS. So... not trying to hijack your thread but just for additional clarification... there is a huge difference between synthetic and natural hormone replacement - HUGE! I have been working with my practitioner for 3 years and i still don't really have a complete grasp of the complexities of how all the several hormones interact - but she does thank God! Besides the flashes and insomnia, among other symptoms, I used to wake up in the morning several times a week crying uncontrollably. I was pretty whacked out and didn't have a clue it was hormone related. Within a week of starting the natural hormones, my partner actually said to me, "You're back! Good to see you!". Since GBS, i have scheduled consultations so we can monitor and adjust my dosages because we know the dietary changes and rapid weight loss can affect hormone levels. Just how it is...

In the phyto hormone book there is a list of the emotional, psychological and physical symptoms that can manifest when we are out of whack endo-wise. At least 3/4 of them i had experienced over the years. No, it isn't the answer to all our problems. However, it has helped me with stuff i thought was all in my head or was just "the way i am". I was wrong. The book is selling on Amazon used for a penny. Great reference book. Good investment. Peace, Misa

Cool....thanks. You know, throw in the hormone factor, the rest of the daily stressors in life - and I mean talk about COMPLEXITY! Yeah, I totally BELIEVE IN HORMONE REPLACEMENT. But with my insurance the synthetic is as good as it is going to get. But I definitly check into the book, what the heck - a penny!

I think ANOTHER FACTOR, why I have gained 5 lbs. this last two months, is my HUSBAND has been out of work for 1-1/2 years.....and I REALLY think I am going crazy with him here with me. God I feel like I am suffocating! But I dare not hurt his feelings. I think this is depressing/agitating me, because I HAVE TO BE HIS MORAL SUPPORT, and it is wearing me out and depressing me so I eat more.....THERE I SAID IT.....BINGO. I KNOW that is why I have been eating. I just want to be alone in my thoughts and in my space. I say this as he sits on the couch watching football, ugh! All I want to do is sit down and be by myself and either paint or do crafts or something creative....WITHOUT ANYBODY AROUND ME....I feel like such a be-otch. But no, not really, anyways thanks for the hormone advice...TRUST ME...HORMONES MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY YOU FEEL....I was up all night sweating and burning up, then getting cold, then burning up, and since I have been on hormones I have very little if not any symptoms.

I just want to say I remember you stimpy and my hat is off for your blatant honesty. Good God. Bravo for you.

But I want to know isn't it just bottom of your pouch which is allowing you to eat so much?

How can you eat 2500 cal of solid food a day?

I'm not judging just asking.
Question, if you ate say 4 oz of solid protein say cow or bird, can you eat that much without stomach pain?

Finally and honestly what do you do in a typical week of exercise?

Pls no judgement just wondering!

Brett

I am 27-years post Stomach Stapling and 36-years post Take-down Jejunoileal Bypass. About 10 years ago, I was prescribed folate therapy. Last year my doctor added B12, D3, and calcium. Will get results of my most recent blood tests, Thursday, Jan. 26th. I've been searching the 'net for info on why bad things are happening now. And, what can be done about it. From what I can gather, I need digestive enzymes and supplement therapy. (I ordered some.) But there is nothing, about what has triggered malabsorbtion/maldigestion, this far down the road. Will be interesting to see what my new Primary Physician prescribes. The last PP tried to let me die! Oh, well!!

Am looking forward to hearing from you!

doubleb: No thats cool, I mean even if you did judge, ah maybe the truth would come out about me that I am denying, eh! eh! HONESTLY, I do not REALLY exercise, because like I said, it was getting me nowhere (I felt), and PLUS it am getting more and more tired when I do exercise, which makes me hungry, so I always compensate by eating more. And yeah, dude, I can EAT, sometimes, yeah, I can only eat so much BULKY FOOD or normal food, but my brain/psyche/emotional FEELS BETTER when I have enough calories in me to THINK STRAIGHT. God, does that make sense? When I don't get enough calories, I'm dragging and my mood is negative and agitated, etc. BUT when I eat enough calories, I FEEL better mentally/emotionally. NOW if I do like I am told and eat the protein in varying amounts throughout the day, just getting no less than 60 grams, by the end of the night I will be laying in bed agitated - JONESIN for something to eat! Crap I try, but it is a constant mind game. And REALLY after a maximum of 2 days doing protein I get sick to my stomach, start feeling gross and feeling like is this WORTH IT to feel this crummy? Then I say "this is all in my head, your NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH, DAMNIT" and I start ALL OVER AGAIN, WITH THE SAME RESULTS! I want to scream! What the hell am I doing WRONG! I am getting psychotic almost. Like I said the first two years WERE GREAT, OMG! Running 5 miles a day sometimes, but ALWAYS WALKING A MINIMUN of 4 miles a day. Hiking (once 4 miles straight up the mountains and back down again. Riding bikes at beach 10 miles. Now I just get worn out if I try to do that, and then my body crashes a nd I gotta eat! Do you think I stretched my pouch out? Is there anything I can do to correct it? Anyways sorry for rambling on, but this is kinda therapeutic for me. I APPRECIATE HONESTY....So whatever feedback/advice NEGATIVE or POSITIVE you can give me would be greatly appreciated.