Words of encouragement for the head hungry struggle...

[Mark1107 35]

Hey everyone,

1st of all, the surgery has changed my life! Being 204 lbs at 6’0 tall is life changing! I haven’t been this weight since college in 1992. I have a football players body so broad shoulders big build. Everyone has commented how great I look. I had my surgery on 10/6/19

Heres the problem:

For the last 6 weeks I’ve stopped losing weight. I’m stuck at 204.

my stomach isn’t happy with pure Protein. Right around Thanksgiving, I started noticing that when I ate protein of anytype my stomach would growl and seriously cramp and be upset until I could mix carbs in with the protein -then my stomach would be satisfied.

Then I started eating a lot of rice. Sushi 4-5 pieces is satisfying with salmon and yellow tail with rice under it and I’m satisfied.

Then I went into my unhealthy eating habits. I eat a lot of candy everyday....realizing I have a disease, I threw out all of the candy today. I threw out all of my trigger foods. I threw out all of the chips I was eating. All of the junk food is gone from my house.

Please understand, I have a mental disorder called an eating disorder. My stomach hasn’t stretched. I still throw up eating too much, I have a small pouch, I’m still in the honeymoon phase, and even eating lots of junk each day lots of candy each day 4 months after surgery I haven’t gained any weight but I stopped losing the last 6 weeks since New Year’s Day.

Im going back to pure protein light veggies then a little carbs. I will muscle my way roll my sleeves up and start losing the weight. I want to lose 20 lbs and have a BMI of 25 but my wife, co workers, friends, family all say stop losing weight! You look like a cancer victim.

At basically 200 lbs and big broad shouldered football looking dude with a shaved head everyone says enough, but I’m worried with my bad habits that I arrested and threw away today, that eventually I will start gaining weight.

Ps my Dr. Said that since my body type needs 2500 calories a day to maintain that I would get to my target weight quickly, which I’m close to.

I also know when I get my veggies and fruits in, my candy & chip cravings disappear.

Any advice? Is it time for therapy? FYI, Kaiser my provider has horrible non existent opportunities for therapy, the wait list is 4-8 months to get in to see one.

Maybe a weekly support group would help?

Mark -worried

[AJ Tylo 1,399]

Get off the Protein in powder form since you are close, I had to also - I switched up my diet and used eggs and veggie protein to stop the growl - I only do shakes every other day now.

As for the head games - I say shake it off, you have came so far like many of us there is no way head games are going to ruin my fun - get a before picture and think back at how rough life was! No way Mr Head are you winning!

I bought a puppy to reward myself on this journey and me and him have road out the rough time and good times together! I am not into support groups, but that is just me, I spend more time looking for a date at a support group then why i was there.

But many here do support groups and if it works definitely do it!

No way head games can beat you after the hell and back you have gone thru!

[Lynda486 784]

Hello Mark,

Eventually we could all start gaining. I know that I worry about it. I am a month further out than you and was plodding along at the same weight for a month. I decided to go back to eating plain chicken and other meats. I try to eat very little carb, ususally 40 to 50 grams a day and 60 to 80 Protein and of course 60 to 100 oz of Water. Once I did that and kept my calories close to 1100 I dropped 4 pounds over night and the scale hasn't rebounded yet despite enjoying the race day on Sunday. It did seem counter intuitive to eat more to lose but it really did work and I wish I had done it when advised to do so. Good luck!

I forgot to add that I had tried Russell Stover Sugar Free Chocolates and they are so tasty. My problem is is sets me up to crave more sweets so I decided to give it up.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Lynda486

[Mark1107 35]

THanks guys. I appreciate the perspective! I'm going to the gym now. I will do better!

[VIN_IN_AL 55]

4 hours ago, Mark1107 said:

For the last 6 weeks I’ve stopped losing weight. I’m stuck at 204.

Experiencing those pesky repetitive weight loss plateau’s and the “Yo-Yo” dieting affect it seems to produce is one reason I am doing WLS this year. Unfortunately knowing that a plateau can happen after WLS is a reason why I opted out last year.

When I was on other non-surgical weigh loss plans over the past 5 years the only thing that worked for me when I got stuck at a certain weight (usually between 320 and 330) was to get a clear understanding of what I was consuming daily by using a food tracking program called MyNetDiary. There are many different food trackers available Apple as well as Android, but I felt the paid “Pro” version of MyNetDiary had the best combination of tools.

To get the scale to move in the expected direction I always reduced my net-carb intake, reduce my total calorie intake by 200 for the week and increased my physical activity. It always worked but eventually I would slide back a few months later after breaking the plateau, would stop that extra day at the gym, start overeating on those so called “healthy” Snacks and before I knew it I was back to square one.

I know what works, at least for me but I simply can’t do it consistently. I sure wish there was an easy answer but if there was, likely this forum would not exist and everyone would be fit and trim. 🤪

[AJ Tylo 1,399]

8 hours ago, VIN_IN_AL said:

To get the scale to move in the expected direction I always reduced my net-carb intake, reduce my total calorie intake by 200 for the week and increased my physical activity.

Fully agree Only way i can get the scale to move down is above! Increase in work out, Decrease in carbs and calories, increase in Water, and throw in a few fasts! ======= down in pounds.

[mcfluffington 179]

For me Bupropion, an antidepressant, helped with my eating disorder. Before I had my surgery I was in control of my eating habits enough so that I didn't gain weight this was due to Bupropion which was originally a drug for OCD which eating disorders have a lot in common with. Unfortunately, I was steady at 350 lbs thus the WLS.

There are drugs out their specifically targeted at weight loss patients and cigarette smokers that contain Bupropion.

Contrave is the one I heard about for weightloss patients.

The Bupropion and keeping my distance from trigger foods has always helped me.

Not that it is perfect, I had to move in with my mom and she lived with every trigger food imaginable. During that time I gained a lot of weight. But as soon as I left her house, the bupropion helped me at least not gain anymore. Then it was hard work of dieting that helped me get down 40 lbs.

Good Luck on your weightloss journey and I also think 204 sounds great for a six foot guy.

[momof3_angels 465]

Therapy is probably good for you at this point. But definitely consult with your nutritionist to get back onto a healthier diet again.

I don't eat many things that are just carbs. I try to stick to meat Proteins, but I satisfy my carb needs with beans/lentils/nuts. They help satisfy me while providing more Protein.

Rice is usually a big no-no. As is any bread, especially with yeast. They fill your stomach up with less nutritious foods. My nutritionist allows me to eat 6-8 whole wheat crackers with meals when I want a "bread" source. I also eat very small tortilla wraps (meat/cheese inside). Once in a while I will take pretzels or tortilla chips and dip them in hummus or a bean dip. But my diet is mostly keto-ish.... high protein, low fat, very low carbs. The high fat isn't good in Keto, but the fat you do eat should be healthy fats (not bacon bacon fat or the like sadly). Try to break the junk food habit! I restrain myself from eating junk most of the time. But I do allow myself the OCCASIONAL small treat. But for me, my biggest food enemy is "Cola". Pepsi/Coke are my addiction. And I do NOT drink diet. Nasty. I know I cannot ever drink it again or I will slip into all my bad habits before I know it. So... I found a flavored drink substitute that I am allowed to have: Vitamin Water Zero or Gatorade Zero. If I need something flavored to drink, I stick to those or unsweetened mint tea or something similar.

Anyhow, consult your nutritionist, schedule an appointment with a therapist, and start tracking your food again and work out! And support groups are great too, if you find one that works for you. I don't like the group setting, that is why I am here on this website. But I also have a co-worker that had the surgery 4 years ago... I get a lot of support from her too. And I am advising another co-worker who is considering having surgery. Both are therapeutic for me.

[Mark1107 35]

Thanks everyone. Some interesting observations...

when I was 298 I started taking Bupropion and Metformin. It was easy to drop 25-30lbs before surgery.

After surgery I stayed on both drugs and today I skipped the metformin and my nightly hunger pains and over eating at night went away! Maybe the Metformin was spiking my blood sugar needlessly? I hope to report back tomorrow night that I’m back to losing weight!

I only took Metformin and bupropion for weight loss not for diabetes or anything.