comingupmilhouse

I'm 10 1/2 months post-sleeve, and I've had what I KNOW is a lot of success--HW of 406 exactly one year ago, 368 on surgery date, and I'm 228 today. Though...I was 221 only five days ago, but dear friends in town equaled two days of fantastic wine and eating all day as we played tourists in my hometown...aaaand I found myself at 231 on Tuesday morning. And now I want to scream: How did I screw up my own great progress, after a January of doggedly trying to break a stall, finally succeeding...and now I have to re-lose these ten pounds before getting back to it?? What's making it so anxiety producing is, I know this "weight gain" is mostly water--I mean, I can clearly see that my wrists and my feet especially are swollen, but the water weight is being pretty stubborn these past two days in coming off. This might be a fight. Dang it! How did I set myself back like this!! I have two questions, then: First, any tips on how to shed off the excess water? I am hydrating throughout the day, since a friend said that it's good to keep flushing your system (or something, it sounded believable). Tomorrow, I'm cutting way way back on salt (though I have to have some sodium or else I get light-headed)...any other tips? Second, anyone else go off-diet and yet found themself get back into the groove?? I have had some off-days before--just a couple over almost an entire year, and never more than two days in a row, but this feels different. Scarier. Like I derailed myself and there's no correcting it--maybe because I felt SO CLOSE when I saw that 221 on Friday morning. Like I could actually do it--my surgeon set a goal of 180 which I always thought was ridiculously impossible but when I saw the 221, yeah, suddenly I thought I really COULD get to the 180, let alone the 200 I had dreamed of when I thought of a "goal weight" pre-surgery. And now I've just slid so far back. Any experiences that you've had successfully coming back on the tracks, I'd love to hear--or even just bald reassurance, because I'll take any encouragement you have!

You and I are nearly identical--surgery day weight, current weight, eight months. I've been doing a dance around the 242-244 range for two weeks now, and I'm choosing not to panic (despite the panic wanting so badly to erupt) because I was losing so steadily for most of the fall so it seems inevitable that my body would suddenly go "WAIT." I don't have any wisdom about when it will end, but at least: This has to be normal, since I'm right there with you, too!

Thank you! And hey, we're both from Louisiana, too, so if you're in NOLA like me, you CAN lose weight in Food City, USA

Thank you both, so much!! Reading these was like the equivalent of taking a very deep, slow breath--and then nodding to myself at the end. I can do this, damn it. I'm not going to spiral into freakouts and assuming the worst. And FluffyChix, I have totally done the same thing, about goal weights, though for me, the 180 feels like the Barbie Dream Weight! Like what cat woman7 said, a total pipe dream. I HOPE I can come back on here and say, "Hit 180 and still going and need to come up with a new goal!" because--god, wouldn't that be amazing??

I'm at 8 months and a week: I was 406 before I started the pre-surgery diet, 368 on the day of surgery, and am now at 244. Which is awesome, SO awesome, but my surgeon and I set a goal for 180, and the idea of being under 200 pounds for the first time I can literally remember is so important to me. (Also I have clothes from a long-ago weight loss waiting for me in my closet which fit at around 210 pounds that are super cute and also totally mocking me by being super cute yet still too small.) So all I can do is think about how I'm Still Not There Yet...and then when I don't lose for a day or two, I panic: Is this the end? Is this when the surgery push stops, and I'm just this weight forever? I know, I'm super paranoid. I know, I'm overreacting. But does anyone else just get that freaked out fear that, with you getting closer to where you want to be so badly, that it will all end? How do you manage those feelings?

I don't know if you have a therapist already, but a good one is such a help to process how hard this all is (I mean, I'm at two months, you know SO much better than me). Though I'd encourage a life coach: I found one who is so positive and encouraging, even when I'm just cemented in my head and in a bad place, she can help me find a release and feel optimistic, find a way forward. It's a little more constructive and action-oriented than just a therapist, but more than that, she's a cheerleader for me. But. You deserve a cheerleader NOW, so: You can do it--you already did it! You're amazing! You got this.

Yes, they did, though I had zero issues that first month, so I was told, "Use as needed from here out." I guess the need has arisen, huh?

Hey y'all-- I'm two months post-sleeve and something a little odd's been happening lately (maybe the last week, though the past few days is when I've really been paying attention). I get hit with just massive, intense hunger pains; they seem to radiate out of my stomach. It doesn't make much sense, though, since I will have eaten at least an hour before. (I've also been sticking to the high protein, low carb diet, so this isn't a sugar crash or anything.) A nurse at my surgeon's office told me that it's likely thirst (huh!), and if drinking doesn't make it go away, then I can turn to a little snack like nuts. But she said it is most certainly thirst. Interesting: I mean, often when this happens, my mouth IS dry... But I'm not sure why the hunger pains don't go away after I drink something--perhaps a sign I'm really, really dehydrated? I HAVE started exercising in the past week, maybe I'm more dehydrated by that than I realize... Anyone else experience this?? Is this maybe stomach acid, too? Oh, who knows. Any feedback is appreciated! Also, unrelated but I just want to say: Two months as of Sunday; 38 pounds lost in pre-op diet, 41 pounds since surgery. 27 pounds from now I'll finally cross 300lbs, and oh my god, y'all. I got a long long way to go after that, but it's incredible that something that was only a dream two months ago is within reach. Makes these weird hunger pains worth enduring

Me too. Six weeks in and this is my second stall. I'm doing everything right, and yet... It's just dispiriting to have done all of this and feel like it's not working. So. What I'm doing to stay positive and keep on track is that I pulled out a few pieces of clothing that I'm really close to fitting in to, like five to ten pounds away, plus the dresses I was wearing pre-surgery up on the wall to remind me that I'm making progress and hang in there. And I spent yesterday doing fun stuff, like going to the movies and getting a blow out. And I'm going to put my scale away until Friday because seeing the number not move every day is not a loving thing to do. We'll get through this, damn it!

I'm two weeks post-op, and on Thursday, I have a big work dinner; it's at a conference, it's being hosted by some fancy folks, it's a big deal to go and network and blah blah. Last year was a four-course affair with tons of industry gossip. In other words: awesome. But I checked out the menu online, and I think there is maybe ONE thing I can get, maybe, and it's a soup appetizer. Any advice on how to navigate this? I'm honestly thinking of telling them all I'm getting over a stomach bug and need to be cautious with what I eat, that my stomach's still way off. The threat of vomit always scares people into leaving you be, right? But any advice on how you deal with dinners when you can't eat even CLOSE to normal is helpful.

My office mates were all so freaked when I caught myself from blacking out--and honestly, so was I--I am kinda impressed of how quickly I was able to spin a story as to why I couldn't eat their offered sandwiches, fruit, and cookies (oh, the cookies!!) and needed to stick with very, very soft foods. Too bad no one had some nice, cream soup in the fridge, huh?? Thanks for the blood pressure tips--I'll call my doc since I am being medicated for that, see if she has some insight. I'm for sure not eating a lot of salt, since I'm just doing protein shakes/JellO/a little soup/protein water, that would make a LOT of sense. It's for sure been a MAJOR struggle to stay to the plan, but I've been doing it every day before today; my appetite is tiny, it's my brain that's the issue. But it's nice to come here and read that I'm not alone. Thanks, everyone, so much.

Thank you SO much! I was trying to hide from everyone how freaked out I am; this has helped me relax a lot, instantly.

This rattled me so badly, I created an account to come and get some advice... I am two weeks post-op, everything going fine though I can't seem to get more than 500 calories a day. I had a tsp of peanut butter yesterday that got me up to 800, but...you know. 500 isn't great. I'm drinking my protein shake/water today, and I'm dizzy, and after bending over, I nearly blacked out; my coworkers (who don't know I had surgery; they just think I'm on a "strict diet") declare that I am starving myself and give me one of the folks' mashed potatoes to get in some calories. I gobble down like...a half cup? A bit more? Without pausing. SO hungry. (And I do feel tons better, just FYI. That awful dizzy, pass-out feeling is gone.) What has me rattled is that my stomach...has done nothing. No discomfort. No sign that I overate. Hell, it's taking the mashed potatoes as easy as if it were a protein drink. It's pushed back on having too much soup, but not this. What?? While I'm going to contact my nutritionist because I need to figure out how to get in more calories, right now I need some feedback on...what, did I stretch out my stomach suddenly so much to accommodate all of what I ate? Why am I just dandy? I don't know. I'm so unnerved, I'd rather be weak and dizzy than scared that I ruined everything.