ChunkyChicTrying

This right here is exactly what you need to remember.

To basically sum up what EVERYONE here has said - TRY NEW THINGS - not everything is a good fit for everyone - we all have what we like and don't like, I personally LOVE BOOT CAMP - my hubs who is VERY FIT, and can do all the items they ask with ease, while I fight through each work out, he HATES IT! My friends like spinning, zumba, swimming,walking, running, you name it. Just like food we all have our tastes, the most important thing is no matter what it is even widow shopping at the mall (slow walking) it means your moving and that is more than 98% of us can say from before.

I cannot stress enough what Matt Z. posted is spot on - there is no *TRICK* or MAGICAL thing to do but hard work! Even being so new out from surgery it is sort of clear you have not yet addressed your emotional issue-connection to eating with ie. stress and life. DO NOT THINK YOUR ALONE! I am 4 yrs out from surgery and regained due to a year of over stress and horrible things happening but I recently took self stock and got myself into psychotherapy to address what I was doing to myself both mentally and physically. Nothing is wrong with you, and nothing is wrong in asking for help! Call your surgeon/weight loss team! Tell them what your going through, ASK FOR THERAPY! Not just group therapy most ALL insurance converse some form of mental health. Get what you need and DESERVE! You deserve to be healthy, you deserve peace of mind, but remember our sleeves are TOOLS, they are NOT THE SOLE ANSWER., It is work, dedication and perseverance that will get you to the finish line. We all need to remember if we were food addicts prior to surgery we will ALWAYS BE A RECOVERING FOOD ADDICT. We need to keep ourselves in check, and it is the hardest fight one can endure! Alcoholics can stay away from places that serve or sell alcohol, same with a drug addict, but we as food addict must eat to live, and it will always be a trigger struggle. So long as you truly admit that to yourself and self check and correct and get help when you spiral, you WILL BE OK! ~ChunkyChicTrying

Some people post surgery experience varying dental problems. I personally have not had too much an issue but a friend of mine has had TONS of issues! Multiple cavities, cracked teeth and bridges later! I would ask my surgeon then Follow what your surgeon recommends and honestly I would call your dentist office and ask to speak with your dentist when he is free! He knows your mouth (ie from dental records, xrays or any dental work he has done and his hygienist will have notes in your file about levels of plaque build up and your current oral care habits from a cleaning perspective) I would explain what your doing VSG surgery and what would he recommend so your pearly whites stay just like they are!

Walter, First I applaud you for your self courage to recognize you lost steps with your WLS team and the steps they gave you to lose the weight. I too stand where you are but further down the path. I am 3 years out lost 132 and have put back on almost 60! PLEASE, PLEASE listen to FLUFFYChix advice and start back on your path to doing what you know is RIGHT! You can do it! I am currently in the process of doing it too and a few weeks into reconnecting with MYSELF I can say its going well! The first few days SUCKED but you know what, I rather a few days of GROUCHY ME than 3-4 more lbs!!! My only add of advice is call your WLS team (yes I know that one is a obscenely bitter dose of reality to swallow to do, but DO IT FOR YOU!) get back in there let them help you figure it out and most importantly I found out you need get hooked back up with someone for some weight loss psychotherapy! ADDRESSING what is going on mentally will greatly help you in all sides of life not just losing the weight! Hugs my fellow sleever! You CAN DO THIS, you can overcome the small bump in the road!

Hi All, Thanks for taking time from your busy day to read this and maybe help a fellow sleever out! Quick facts I am FEMALE, almost 4 years out from Surgery Sept 2014 Highest weight 347 - lowest thus far 234 currently 297 (fully clothed heavy clothes on phone/key ect.. in pocket at work tonight) Here I stand at work saying to myself - your almost at 4 years post op - never made goal and have had a 63lb regain whilst saying WTF is wrong with you in my head! Can I blame 1 other soul NO, it is my fault and solely my fault alone. No one has forced me to graze, or eat items off plan. I allowed the stresses of life to effect me that I somehow YO-YO'd myself to my present state! I was an emotional eater before this journey started and counseling helped greatly. This being said I am taking full charge and abruptly and radically changing everything back to the simple basics. My new health insurance will start on the 20th and the first thing I am going to be seeking is psychotherapy to assist in figuring out ALL MY TRIGGERS; not just the ones I know and can steer from easily. The hard ones that have me eating things absent minded that I don't even know I have ate the item till its gone! One thing I am fairly certain of is I have not stretched my sleeve out, as if I try to eat to much I completely feel it, and I will get a sick feeling! So despite my piss poor choices and personal planning, I haven't gorged myself to stretch my sleeve. Of course some things go down easier and in greater quantity than I should consume, but alas that is my reason to halt this madness. The last 2 years have been beyond a roller coaster of emotions with things changing from bad to worse to horrid to acceptable and back again a few times...Nothing I have gone through I wish upon NO ONE EVER! That said I put in a order for my favorite Protein Shake (mixes with Water perfectly and tastes insanely too good), gotten all my Vitamins sorted and will jump to the store to pick up everything else I need to start the full on liquid 30 day pre-op diet I had to do before surgery. I think this is the BEST possible way to reset my mind, actions and allow me the time to get help for therapy along with I hope new friends here to help me along the way by merely listening and offering the advice they can, as I will openly accept all advice! My Husband recently got me a Cybex 8000 Arc Trainer (i posted a picture of my baby below) - the one piece of gym equipment that I would stay on at the gym for 2-3 hours prior to and just after surgery when cleared to work out! This has me completely wanting to be on it all the time but with the regain every ounce of my body is revolting, and my asthma has started again and that is something that drastically reduced itself when I was 245 and lower! So I plan to start back at 20 min - 2 times a day and grow from there. My main purpose for this tireless rant is I need those who have had regains advise and or empathy. Though I know I am NOT the only person in the world to face this issue, it feels as such! To make matters worse I am my own worst enemy when it comes to self loathing and bashing so any camaraderie will be a huge blessing to me. If anyone else has NEVER reached GOAL, FALLEN off track, somehow picked them self up and got it right the second time, please reach out! I am at the point I am looking at myself as a complete and utter failure for the lack of follow through! HELP ME! ~ChunkyChicTrying

I want to take a moment and thank everyone who replied to my post! First let me start with I have been so far in my head even my surgery date was off!! Its 2015 not 2014 and i am only 3 yrs out on the 15th! That being said..... I ordered a bunch of protein items and shakes I love, completely cut out all the CRAP that even remotely was touching my day to day routine both food and person wise - toxic people can be huge triggers! I am proud to say I am 100% back on track with eating and getting my mind right! 5 days and made it through the headaches from the detox off any remaining small amounts of caffeine and am eating 1200 or less cals a day typically about 950-1000 and over 120 grams of protein~ Not hungry had a couple cravings but had good planning and healthier choices on hand which I know is key! I have been walking a lot more and using my arc trainer and though I shouldn't have I did for haha's jump on the scale today and I am down over 6 lbs. I will stay off the scale except for 1 time a month and if I have a MD appointment I must we weighed at tell them I don't want the results told to me. Most importantly hopefully very soon I will be back with a psychotherapist to further rectify my issues with eating! We all can do this and we all are important, and though the mental game we can play on ourselves is ROUGH, no one is a failure, as my grandma would have said when she was alive, *I haven't failed, I only found a way that isn't, wasn't, or didn't work for me! Now I must find a new way to have it happen the w2ay I want!* So these words have become a mini mantra for me! I will find the way that works - so long as there is air in my lungs I will fight the best fight forward I can, and thank God for the humility to know when i have fallen and need some help I just might not be able to give myself at that time! I will keep you all posted on my progress - If you private me I can provide you my FitBit name or My Fitness Pal link so we can encourage and help each other out! We all empower each other in our own ways, and some of us may take something from all anyone on this thread has said with out responding. ~Chunky

Hi All, Thanks for taking time from your busy day to read this and maybe help a fellow sleever out! Quick facts I am FEMALE, 2 years out from Surgery Sept 2014 Highest weight 347 - lowest thus far 234 currently 277 (fully clothed heavy clothes on phone/key ect.. in pocket at doctors yesterday due to a cold) I try to eat healthy most the time, but often fail due to a few silent sabotage's or piss poor planning on my part to ensure I don't succeed. I take full ownership of where I currently stand and choosing to eat some very unhealthy things at times due to convenience. But I am worried I have stretched my sleeve, but then I sit with my tiny plate and realize no that's not the case, rather I have begun to graze! Graze I do and on crap, I used to self soothe with food and was a huge compulsive stress binge eater, I have tackled many of those issues and talk myself down when I can but still find myself failing miserably. I have a few friends who had surgery around the time I did and they ALL met goal or are within lbs of it, I think that is part of my problem I am trying to compare my loss to theirs. But then I know logically that cant be done as each journey is INDEPENDENT of each other! My issue is at times I have to work 48 straight and planning with food or even the time to eat it, is at best HORRID! I used to make sure I ALWAYS had at least Protein shakes within reach and other healthy low cal things. But at 3am when NOTHING IS open but the crap place even the so called healthy items they offer are CRAP... Guess my rant and need is has anyone else NEVER reached GOAL, FALLEN off track, somehow picked them self up and got it right the second time! I am at the point I am looking at myself as a complete and utter failure for the lack of follow through! HELP ME! PS... If you did the pouch test / reset which one did you use and which was most effective! ~ChunkyChicTrying

I am 2 years out from surgery but remember where you stand all too well... The thought of what the hell did I do to myself, once you are allowed other foods and they make you sick. My first meal was a scrambled egg white, could barely keep it down, and then I tried yogurt, no good either and all the while my mind was messing with me. Take a breath sip on some warm tea, or really cold tea, my sleeve loved very cold things and not warm things. Even today I can eat my food cold as if its too hot I only can heat a bite or two and I am over full! But go slow, I know this is not the magical answer you may crave but its all a mind game honestly. I stand 2 years out and still play with that devil of witch in my head called *head hunger*. It will pass and come again, its totally a mental game, right now your just learning how to cope, and work with your tool! TAKE YOUR TIME! YOU GOT THIS, ONE MINUTE AT A TIME IF NEED BE! Yes, you do get semi back to normal then you worry your eating too much or grazing which is worse! This is a journey of CONSTANT LEARNING, I myself 2 years out still must relearn and reassure myself EVERYDAY!

I have the fitbit one the Aria, and i love it, i also wear a fitbit charge to track my movements!

I ONLY drink premier Protein shakes, I get chocolate 12 pack case at bj's wholesale club for 18.00, this month they have a 5.00 off coupon and our local paper had a 5.00 off coupon (use can use 1 of their coupons and 1 manufacturer or 2 manufacture coupons) so i got 3 cases for 24.00. As someone else said keep them super cold, theres no after taste that's harsh at all! they truly go down like chocolate milk! They are great my hubs likes the strawberry creme and vanilla! You can even buy them on their web site and have them shipped. I have also tossed a decaf instant coffee pack into one i added ice in a blender too to make a mocha frappe it was the BOMB! Also with the vanilla I have lots of friends who use the Torani sugar free syrups to flavor them in hundreds of ways!

my hubs eats the vanilla one he says it isn't as good as Protein bars but as something different its ok. I wanted to try the chocolate ones but the kid at the store where I buy my protein said it was down right nasty; so i haven't tried it as i am very fussy, I have a great chocolate protein pudding from New Direction that is really good but it is NOT a ready mix like the one you wish to try. I have found also that many Protein shake powder can be made like a pudding, by limiting the liquid

I am super proud of myself today! I meal prep for the week as I type, baked chicken breast low carb veggies, salads and Protein shakes, getting my 7 days ready! Sunday will be me day and prep day! Got in a 1 mile walk, not much but better than I have been the last 9 months! I have to remember to keep myself grounded and well Rome was not built in a day, so I am in for the life change I must face for the long haul! Other thing I did not realize how far I fell short, my vitamins! All those are portioned and zip-lock bagged for easy daily consumption! Thank you my new found friends/ WLS sisters & brothers, I appreciate all your help understanding, guidance and even scolding at times we all need the reality check!

Agreed! Inshallah!

"@@ChunkyChicTrying May I ask what you do? Is your job literally killing you? Is it worth it?" Funny but its the nature of the what all my 12 yrs of schooling was for, I specialize in Cardio/pulmonary medicine, it is worth it, yes and NO, huge double edge sword I help save others but at the cost of myself! and I have begun to think about private practice

I was not nor am looking for a fast answer what I was looking for your provided EXACTLY, I was and am seeking others who understand have been their or are their; I know it boils to the basics but I seek what others have done in addition to fundamentals. THANK YOU

First I must state I know this is life long, and have no issue with resolve of watching every morsel I consume, I wear a fitness watch and do well with tracking everything. My honest real issue came when I started working 110+ hours a week and not doing what I used to do everyday ie (walk 4 miles and bike 11 miles) yes I did that every single morning without fail and I know full heart; I didn't loose weight as fast as others, as I was building muscle in place of the flab. (currently i do not exercise at all!! My body joint hurt because of the even small weight gain my body is revolting literally~ I am ready to do ALL that I must! I am looking if someone has gone through this for guidance and the best fight is fought informed! SO I seek knowledge of where to start besides the fundamental basics, as I am sure I can not be alone in this!

I am 2 years out from surgery and can say its a BEAR at times still now, not hungry per-say, but my old fat girl mind is telling me oh yea those smell good your hungry, or well its the only thing within reach and you need to eat regardless if its healthy or not. My best advice is what I too (2 years out) still have to remind myself of and plan for - Keep a bottle of Water with you at all times, a premixed low cal high Protein shake (I prefer Premier Protein premixed shakes for on the go) and cut up celery/cucumbers for when you just MUST CRUNCH! What ever you do DO NOT GIVE IN! I made that mistake stalled my weight loss and put 20 back on! Hold strong my friend you CAN DO IT! hugs ~Chunky