Help...

  • Don't know what's wrong with me...I feel like I'm back to being my old self again. I feel tormented by food and have spent the past 10 days grazing on junk...sweets, crisps...not as much as I used to but more than I want to.
    I'm terrified that I'm going to loose the plot here and just eat all the weight I've lost back on.
    I don't feel full as quickly as I used to and I feel like my portion size is creeping up...I'm only six months in to the surgery but I fell that I must be doing something wrong.
    I'm tired and I feel really low...everything seems a mess. Lost my commitment to exercising...have to drag myself to the gym. All I'm doing is going to work and sleeping and tonight I feel like I just don't want to go to work.
    I've had some trouble with depression in the past and I feel as if I'm entering familiar territory. I've always "coped" with food and I don't want to start that again...
    Is this a familiar story to any of you?
    I'd love to hear from you if it is...I'd just love to hear from someone who knows what it's like...
    Sorry to be such a whinge
    Heather
  • Heather,

    I haven't posted here in awhile because I have been going through what you are going through RIGHT now. Only you are smart to realize it after only 10 days. I am almost 2 years out from surgery. I STOPPED loosing weight 10 months after surgery. No one could figure out why, not my surgeon, not my regular dr., not even my nutrionist. I was doing everything right. I maintained my weight up until about 6 months ago and then I hit a wall. I realized I could eat anything I wanted to, except ice cream, and it didn't make me sick. There in began the grazing binge. Now, 22 months out from surgery, I have gained back 35 pounds. My summer clothes from last summer, are too tight to wear. I am currently working with a nutrionist and an endocronologist to try and figure out what went wrong and how to get it right again. Learn from my mistake and STOP now. If this is depression, SEE a counselor, DO something, ANYTHING, but don't let it get to you. Or you could end up like me, 2 years out of surgery and already gaining weight.. YUCK.. You don't wanna do that..

    Good Luck!!!!

    Amy Lyn
  • Yes that's what happened with ole Alvin too, except he is so into the exercise thing that he hasn't gained any weight back. He lost for about 10 months and then started the grazing, then learned that he could really eat anything, yada, yada yada. I tried griping and nagging, but finally realized that that didn't do any good. I know if he every lets up with his vigerous exercise routine that he will start gaining, and I really hate to see that happen.
  • now hear this. posting is NOT only for those who are doing well. it's even more important to come here and jabber away when we're NOT doing so well. it helps us all learn from each other.

    ok. lecture done.

    what you've all described is so very very common. and we all have to figure out what happened. but you, heather, i'm really concerned about the possibility of depression here. the hormone changes that come with this massive weight loss can indeed set off depression symptoms. so please go take care of yourself...

    i know a couple of people who have kept their weight stable by eating one meal a day. but i know more people who have added 10, 20, 30 pounds or so. some of them have had the stoma tightening procedure and are starting to lose again.

    i ran to the dietician. and we ALL KNOW that most of them are useless. but this one said several important things to me.

    first: anyone who has gotten heavy enough to qualify for the surgery has insulin resistance syndrome. the surgery outsmarts that for awhile and the insulin resistance goes away. BUT IT COMES BACK after a year or 18 months.

    second... mine was back, and the only thing that had kept my weight steady was all the exercise i'd been doing [just like ole alvin!!!!]

    third: if i didn't handle the insulin resistance, i was doomed to gain more weight...

    soooooo. no more grazing [and that's hard!!!!] eating more veggies with each meal even breakfast [cucumbers, cherry tomatoes]. eating every 4 hours.

    please, ladies. get the help you need and deserve. and come here and post. some of it is emotional, some is habit, some is insulin resistance. whatever it is... we can all get through this.

    we HAVE to.
  • Thanks so much Jiffy for you post. I have been dealing with my gyno for a year now trying to pregnant and so far nothing. Not even a normal cycle. So the last time I saw him, he ordered a insulin fasting test thinking maybe my levels went back up. If they are, then I have to go back to my endo. I am almost hoping they did, because at least that would explain things. I am doing Atkins right now and trying to loose at the least the 35 pounds I gained. Sigh. Do you know by any chance, is the Insulin Fasting Test even accurate considering you aren't supposed to eat for 8-12 hours before and for someone like us that is like 20 hours! LOL My dr. didn't know the answer to that and I am hoping that I am wrong in thinking they might be wrong.. Anyway, thank you so much and I will definately be sticking around more to try and get my motivation back up there..