I need to tell my entire story. Sorry if it's a bit long.
I was sleeved 5 years ago. I started at 280 lbs, had high blood pressure, GERD, and bad sleep apnea. After surgery, I lost weight remarkably fast. I was past goal (190) within 9 months. I got off the blood pressure medication, and my sleep apnea was cured. Then I kept losing. Everyone was telling me I was losing too much, but I just couldn't stop. The lowest I got down to was 169. At 6'1", people were telling me I was too skinny. Once the weightloss stopped, I fluctuated between 170 and 180 for the next year. In that second year, I decided that I wanted to try running. I had never run in my life, or done much physical activity of any kind. I started with the couch 2 5k app on my phone. I could barely run for 30 seconds without stopping when I first started. Within a few months, I was 'running' 5ks. I put it in quotes because it was more like half running and half walking, and I would finish in about 40 minutes. But I stuck with it, kept signing up for 5ks, and by 2015 I had done 2 half marathons. All this time I was still around 180 lbs. Then, I decided I needed to do a marathon. I somehow needed to prove it to myself. I think this was the worst decision I ever made (I'll explain in a bit). In January of 2016, I started a 5 month training plan I found online (Hal Higdon), and followed it religiously. I somehow gained 20 lbs in those 5 months of training. Some of it may have been muscle, but I think a lot of it was extra snacking I was doing throughout the day to make up for the calories I was burning from all the running. So by race day I was in the mid 190s. Race day came, and it was pure hell. The weather was cold and rainy. I think it worked to my advantage for the first half of the race. But the second half was along the New Jersey shore, and the rain and sea-wind just chilled me to the bone. I hit a wall. It took me about 36 hours to stop shivering after the race. I finished, but wasn't happy with my time. But I did it and no one can ever take that away from me. But somehow I messed up the arch in my left foot during the race. I stopped running after the race. It just sucked all the joy of running out of me. This is why I regret doing it. So then, over the next year and a half, I fell into some bad habits. I continued the snacking between meals that I had been doing during race training. I developed a Tostitos and Pure Leaf Sweet Tea addiction. By the beginning of this year I weighed 213, and was put back on blood pressure medication.
I decided to try to start running again in January of this year. I started running 5k three or four times a week. I also cut back on the snacks and carbs and started tracking my calories again. My restriction is still pretty good, and I was only eating about 1,200 calories a day. But the scale wouldn't budge. Finally, about a month and a half later, it did move, almost all at once, and I weighed 208. Now, it's 3 months after hitting 208, and I'm still 208. I'm running religiously, and pushing myself to get faster. I'm still not breaking any land speed records, but I'm doing 5k in about 26 minutes.
Is this it for me? Am I stuck at 208 forever? I can't possibly eat any less than I'm eating now. I tried the 5 day pouch test to reset things. I just don't know what else to do. I'd like to get to 190, that is a good weight for me. 200 is like a magic line for me where my blood pressure goes up if I go over it, so I'd like to get under that and off the medication. Any advice would be appreciated!
