Escape Pod

I recently started intermittent fasting, two meals a day within a 6-7 hour window. I'm really finding it works well for me, but I'm 6 years post-op, so I have a bit more capacity to get good nutrition in those two meals. I read about it from others on this forum several years ago but it sounded too hard. Turns out I adjusted fairly rapidly so I'm not really hungry when I'm fasting, and it's really helped with disciplined eating.

I recently started intermittent fasting, two meals a day within a 6-7 hour window. I'm really finding it works well for me, but I'm 6 years post-op, so I have a bit more capacity to get good nutrition in those two meals. I read about it from others on this forum several years ago but it sounded too hard. Turns out I adjusted fairly rapidly so I'm not really hungry when I'm fasting, and it's really helped with disciplined eating.

Whats a coaching program? How does that work? I have assiduously not touched a complex carb since dec 5 2011. I work out 3x week land with personal trainer and 2 to 3 x week swim. I ve gained 10 to 15 above my lowest. I suppose i could pack in Cookies etc but i still have not broken that fast. I have messed up with the no liquids right after a meal. I do overeat baby carrots. Sometimes i indulge in low fat string cheese. Sometimes blue berries....but i have gained in spite of everything and i hate that aspect of this struggle because there is no reward for the hard work. Yes. Being a smaller size. Fitting into an airplane seat [just ONE!] tying my own laces, wearing a swim suit,...yes it is a reward but i do not think it commensurate with the efforts i expend. Nope. For all that work i want MORE.

This is just my experience, you may do better than I have.
I was in the same boat as a pre-op, I was a sugar addict and a binge eater. I'd read every self-help book I could find and spent a year in therapy pre-op but none of that helped. After surgery for the first 6 months or so I had no urge at all to overeat, or to eat foods full of sugar and carbs. I dropped 105 pounds in a year to get below my goal weight, my surgeon told me I was a "superstar", I was skinny and active and happy, but could already see the struggle with food was back.
Now, at 6 years post-op I've regained half my loss and am working to take it off again. Honestly, I've spent the past several years battling sugar addiction and carbs again. I feel good restriction when I'm eating Protein and veggies, but boy can I pack in the Cookies, or chocolate, or whatever. Got myself back on track a few times over the years and got closer to goal, but nothing I stuck with for more than a few months. I've finally found a coaching program that's helping me understand not only why I overeat, but what to do about it. I've dropped 20 of my 60 pounds of regain, and believe I'll be getting those skinny clothes back out of boxes by the end of the year. My post-op stomach helps me feel satisfied with small portions of the right foods, the coaching is helping me stop wanting the wrong ones.
Some people manage to make the switch after surgery and never look back, others of us return to our old habits. I strongly recommend you find a therapist or coach, or some other program to help you address the reasons you're overeating sugar and carbs. For the first 6 - 12 months you'll feel like a million bucks and the plummeting scale numbers and smaller clothes and compliments will replace the joy you're getting from food. In my experience, once you're at or near goal the joy from those begins to play a smaller role and you're at risk of going back to overeating.

Bryn, don't you dare apologize and the same goes for tamz too. Geez, Karelia posted if anyone wished they hadn't done it, and those few souls who are brave enough to admit this is harder than they expected aren't allowed to post in peace. Nobody's trying to convince anyone not to have the surgery, but an honest discussion of the variety of experiences post-op ought to be possible, and this ought to be someplace you can come when you truly feel like crap and get a little support! Many of us may not have friends or spouses we can share fears and tears with.
Honestly I don't think anyone who was truly sorry would hang around here very long. I've already found myself another forum with more long-timers, where the conversations are generally a lot more introspective, and the people are a heck of a lot kinder to each other. One poor woman posted this morning that she is sorry, one year post-surgery, because her life for the past year has been one complication after another. She's getting a ton of love, support, and where possible advice from those who've been there. Am I sorry I did this? Certainly not, at least not at this point. I'm so grateful to have had no surgical complications, to be able to be off the narcotics, to be able to keep down all the Protein supplements and liquids (knock on wood) and for having enough energy most of the time to get out and walk several times a day. But at the moment it hurts like crap, maybe I got out of a chair the wrong way yesterday or something. And I realize that I'm one of the LUCKY ones - life is a lot harder for those who had complications or are suffering from a lot of nausea. I for one think it's pretty clear Karelia is very intelligent, ready to make as well-informed a decision as possible, and perfectly capable of distinguishing the relatively minor pains of immediate post-op from serious long-term regret.

Bryn, don't you dare apologize and the same goes for tamz too. Geez, Karelia posted if anyone wished they hadn't done it, and those few souls who are brave enough to admit this is harder than they expected aren't allowed to post in peace. Nobody's trying to convince anyone not to have the surgery, but an honest discussion of the variety of experiences post-op ought to be possible, and this ought to be someplace you can come when you truly feel like crap and get a little support! Many of us may not have friends or spouses we can share fears and tears with.
Honestly I don't think anyone who was truly sorry would hang around here very long. I've already found myself another forum with more long-timers, where the conversations are generally a lot more introspective, and the people are a heck of a lot kinder to each other. One poor woman posted this morning that she is sorry, one year post-surgery, because her life for the past year has been one complication after another. She's getting a ton of love, support, and where possible advice from those who've been there. Am I sorry I did this? Certainly not, at least not at this point. I'm so grateful to have had no surgical complications, to be able to be off the narcotics, to be able to keep down all the Protein supplements and liquids (knock on wood) and for having enough energy most of the time to get out and walk several times a day. But at the moment it hurts like crap, maybe I got out of a chair the wrong way yesterday or something. And I realize that I'm one of the LUCKY ones - life is a lot harder for those who had complications or are suffering from a lot of nausea. I for one think it's pretty clear Karelia is very intelligent, ready to make as well-informed a decision as possible, and perfectly capable of distinguishing the relatively minor pains of immediate post-op from serious long-term regret.

I know this is hard to hear, but everyone's journey is unique. It's frustrating when others are losing faster than you are, but there are SO many reasons this can be so, and the most important one is, it's your body, and it's unique, and it's going to do its own thing. You can rage away, and be frustrated, and let it derail you from progress, or you can relax, accept, and hang on for the ride. You WILL lose weight - it's inevitable post-op, because your calorie intake is so low. You may lose it in spits and spurts, you may lose slow and steady, but you will lose it. The question is, will you learn to change your habits to keep it off 3, or 5, or even 10 years from now? Think of this journey as a marathon- focus on the long term goal, and make steady progress, and enjoy the journey. Try to fight the temptation to compare your progress to others - it won't change anything, and can be frustrating and counter-productive. Hang in there!!

Bryn, don't you dare apologize and the same goes for tamz too. Geez, Karelia posted if anyone wished they hadn't done it, and those few souls who are brave enough to admit this is harder than they expected aren't allowed to post in peace. Nobody's trying to convince anyone not to have the surgery, but an honest discussion of the variety of experiences post-op ought to be possible, and this ought to be someplace you can come when you truly feel like crap and get a little support! Many of us may not have friends or spouses we can share fears and tears with.
Honestly I don't think anyone who was truly sorry would hang around here very long. I've already found myself another forum with more long-timers, where the conversations are generally a lot more introspective, and the people are a heck of a lot kinder to each other. One poor woman posted this morning that she is sorry, one year post-surgery, because her life for the past year has been one complication after another. She's getting a ton of love, support, and where possible advice from those who've been there. Am I sorry I did this? Certainly not, at least not at this point. I'm so grateful to have had no surgical complications, to be able to be off the narcotics, to be able to keep down all the Protein supplements and liquids (knock on wood) and for having enough energy most of the time to get out and walk several times a day. But at the moment it hurts like crap, maybe I got out of a chair the wrong way yesterday or something. And I realize that I'm one of the LUCKY ones - life is a lot harder for those who had complications or are suffering from a lot of nausea. I for one think it's pretty clear Karelia is very intelligent, ready to make as well-informed a decision as possible, and perfectly capable of distinguishing the relatively minor pains of immediate post-op from serious long-term regret.

Bryn, don't you dare apologize and the same goes for tamz too. Geez, Karelia posted if anyone wished they hadn't done it, and those few souls who are brave enough to admit this is harder than they expected aren't allowed to post in peace. Nobody's trying to convince anyone not to have the surgery, but an honest discussion of the variety of experiences post-op ought to be possible, and this ought to be someplace you can come when you truly feel like crap and get a little support! Many of us may not have friends or spouses we can share fears and tears with.
Honestly I don't think anyone who was truly sorry would hang around here very long. I've already found myself another forum with more long-timers, where the conversations are generally a lot more introspective, and the people are a heck of a lot kinder to each other. One poor woman posted this morning that she is sorry, one year post-surgery, because her life for the past year has been one complication after another. She's getting a ton of love, support, and where possible advice from those who've been there. Am I sorry I did this? Certainly not, at least not at this point. I'm so grateful to have had no surgical complications, to be able to be off the narcotics, to be able to keep down all the Protein supplements and liquids (knock on wood) and for having enough energy most of the time to get out and walk several times a day. But at the moment it hurts like crap, maybe I got out of a chair the wrong way yesterday or something. And I realize that I'm one of the LUCKY ones - life is a lot harder for those who had complications or are suffering from a lot of nausea. I for one think it's pretty clear Karelia is very intelligent, ready to make as well-informed a decision as possible, and perfectly capable of distinguishing the relatively minor pains of immediate post-op from serious long-term regret.

Bryn, don't you dare apologize and the same goes for tamz too. Geez, Karelia posted if anyone wished they hadn't done it, and those few souls who are brave enough to admit this is harder than they expected aren't allowed to post in peace. Nobody's trying to convince anyone not to have the surgery, but an honest discussion of the variety of experiences post-op ought to be possible, and this ought to be someplace you can come when you truly feel like crap and get a little support! Many of us may not have friends or spouses we can share fears and tears with.
Honestly I don't think anyone who was truly sorry would hang around here very long. I've already found myself another forum with more long-timers, where the conversations are generally a lot more introspective, and the people are a heck of a lot kinder to each other. One poor woman posted this morning that she is sorry, one year post-surgery, because her life for the past year has been one complication after another. She's getting a ton of love, support, and where possible advice from those who've been there. Am I sorry I did this? Certainly not, at least not at this point. I'm so grateful to have had no surgical complications, to be able to be off the narcotics, to be able to keep down all the Protein supplements and liquids (knock on wood) and for having enough energy most of the time to get out and walk several times a day. But at the moment it hurts like crap, maybe I got out of a chair the wrong way yesterday or something. And I realize that I'm one of the LUCKY ones - life is a lot harder for those who had complications or are suffering from a lot of nausea. I for one think it's pretty clear Karelia is very intelligent, ready to make as well-informed a decision as possible, and perfectly capable of distinguishing the relatively minor pains of immediate post-op from serious long-term regret.