I passed my 6 month surgerversary on the 13th of this month and while I am happy that in that time frame I have lost 100 lbs. I feel like I am completely screwing up and stuck in the world's longest stall. What's even worse, is that I think I'm doing it to myself and I can't figure how to get out of it. Or more to the point, my chick voice in my head can't get me out of it.

Pre-op and even the first few weeks of post-op I lived on these forums seeking the wonderful advice of everyone here and also trying to help those who needed the same advise. It was a huge help to have the support right at my fingertips. Fast forward until about late October and where I have seen the begin of my stall (since October, I have lost a whopping 10 lbs and have kept gaining and losing that same 10 lbs. since then and it's making me nuts!!)

I am petrified that I've stretched my sleeve or that something is wrong or (as nuts as this sounds) that my doctor didn't really do the sleeve but just has me thinking I did (you know, like a placebo). I am at 6 months and many times I feel like I could eat what I want. I've even "tested" the waters a bit - I've tried candy (and when I say candy, I mean like a box of Swedish fish consumed within an hour) and did not get sick at all. I tried a gyro and actually ate 3/4 of it before I realized I was full but for the fat content in it, it probably should have made me sick. See what I'm saying here and why my head thinks something isn't working the way it should? To me, I should not be able to do these things - my new tummy should be rejecting it but it doesn't. So to add to this madness, I'm also not tracking anything (I know, mistake!) and on top of that I am having big problems when I'm at home - I am a snacking crazy person. I easily consume more calories at home than I do during the day - during the day I'm actually really good (I'll have a Protein shake, maybe some apples, a cup of tuna .. things like that) but when I get home, I just mindlessly find myself snacking and constantly getting up for more Snacks. I'm even constantly breaking the rule my doctor gave me about drinking Water (no water 15 minutes prior to a meal or 30 minutes after) ..... and that's if I'm even drinking my water; I have been horrible about getting 64 oz. in the last couple weeks.

So, I don't know what to do. I've tried jump starting the tracking again but it goes by the wayside by the time I get home (gee, I wonder why!) I figured I always did well when I was here, so here I am and back again to try and figure this out. Okay I know what to do but I can't find the motivation to do it. Where do I start so I don't keep failing? And to make matters worse, TOM has been visiting me in the worst way literally the past month and it isn't helping matters!

I am so sorry to hear about your predicament. You have done a fantastic job losing 100 pounds but you are not done yet. You need to buckle down and get back to basics: protein, little veggie, no carbs and water. You need to track and make a plan for yourself: you have done this before so you can do it again. You must want to get to goal!! Plan out your food for the day, also start a list of things you can do instead of eating; clean out a closet, read a book, paint your nails, go for a nice hot bath. You need to stick with your plan to be successful. I know that this is hard but you have come too far to give up now. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!

Perhaps the new year will prompt you to re-commit to the process. Don't give up on yourself, and you may need counseling to help you through this process as self sabotage is something so many of us with long term obesity deal with, with our without our sleeved stomachs!!

You may need to clean out the cupboards of foods that are too tempting ro resist and plan some Snacks that are better choices. Your sleeve will not reject most foods, and in fact if that is what you were looking for, the gastric bypass would have been more effective, and for many years the gastric sleeve was a pre-curser to full gastric bypass, so this is still a viable option for you if you have insurance and your doctor concurs.

Unfortunately, the sleeve is just a tool to limit intake one session at a time. If you keep eating, the calories will mount.

I am losing slowly as well, but I keep on trying. I bought some string cheese and olives to nosh on if I need a snack, and I do buy the Weight Watchers frozen dessert bars for late at night watching TV. If you are doing well during the day, try and mimic the same thing at night, PLAN what you will snack on and make sure its healthy...i.e. an apple with some Peanut Butter spread on it, some deviled eggs, popcorn, olives, beef jerkey, some nuts, some low fat cheese.

Just don't give up. You can do this, and if you need help, heck get whatever you need, even hypnosis!!

Good luck on your journey!!

I am seven months out and losing much slower now. I had read on the forum about the honeymoon phase and they aren't kidding. I'm now down to losing a pound every couple of weeks or so, but I'm not exercising right now as I hurt my back in a fall a month ago and am still nursing it back to health. Once your sleeve heals, many don't feel the same restriction that they had in the beginning. That is definitely happening to me. Like you, I plan my meals during the day at work and eat very healthy. One week, I had lots of business meetings later in the day so I didn't do so well in planning my evening meal and snack and didn't eat as well as I should. I actually gained two pounds that week, so I now make sure I have no bad Snacks in the house, and I make sure I know exactly what I am going to eat for dinner and that it is healthy. A previous poster said, the sleeve is just a tool. If you were prone to unhealthy snacking before the surgery, you will be prone to unhealthy snacking after the surgery too. You have to change your mindset and focus on healthy eating all the time and use the sleeve to help with restricting the amount of food you eat.

Just refocus on what you know you need to do and you'll do great! Good luck.

Duranfan, I'm 7 months out and I know exactly what you're talking about. There is nothing my sleeve cannot tolerate. But I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I believe it's a myth that you should not be able to eat something, be it sweets or high fat foods. Yes, there are people who cannot tolerate those foods early on, but there are plenty more like you and me who can eat anything. You are basically at the point now where the physical limitations of the sleeve are only going to do so much for you. But the behaviors you learned during your honeymoon phase....those are the things you need now. You learned how to eat, drink and track your food. You need to rely on those things from here on out. They will work for you. They are still working for me.

You can do this.

I'm with Bean on this one. I too am have reached the point where, for the most part, it's up to me now.

You are not alone. I can eat anything. I can say for the most part I don't want fried foods or greasy meats, mostly because of how they make me feel, not ill, but greasy sweat and stuff like that.

I can also say, hydration is key, I've noticed on weeks that my Water intake is low, I don't typically see a loss you've done so well, don't get discouraged now, you're only 6 months into your new life. You know what to do, and how to do it. Now, as Nike says, "Just do it".

I think this is the downfall of the sleeve for many people.

Some on here say' date=' "well track what you eat and control yourself". Well, if we were good at that we wouldn't have needed surgery.

Gastric bypass takes care of a lot of what you're looking for. Not to say you cant keep losing with the sleeve, it just wont smack your hand when you do something wrong. I always have to laugh when I see people write "no dumping syndrome" as a "positive" for the sleeve. In my opinion, that's a negative.[/quote']

Even with bypass surgery one can still regain weight and eat around the bypass. Same with the lapband. Overtime people figure out what they can eat that won't bother their sleeve/pouch/band and then eat too much. I have a coworker who had bypass and he eats nothing but rice and gravy....and whiskey. And he's gaining again. The RNYtalk.com forum is full of threads like this. The only way to succeed, even with WLS is to learn some new eating behaviors...and that takes a level of commitment that most of us did not have in our pre-surgery lives. But it can be done.

I so feel your pain! I've been stuck just under 180 for two months now. I've sort-of lost the inspired feeling and have let myself get sloppy with what I put in my mouth. Forget about exercise - my treadmill is dusty!

I need to figure out a way to give myself a good swift kick in the butt! I go in for my one year check-up in a couple weeks and I have a feeling I'll be getting that swift kick in the butt then...

Hey Bean' date=' take a look at the Head Hunger thread.[/quote']

I was about to say, "which one?" At any given time there could be several.

See, now this is why I knew this was the place to come back to in order to start getting my head straight again about this. I figured a "back to the basics" would help and it does. It certainly helps to know I'm not alone in having this happen to me and that I have some misconceptions about what should be happening with my body. So far, I'm back on track today - it's only 5pm and I have 80 oz. of water in already, can feel my body happier and haven't eaten anything that I didn't plan to. Granted, I still have to go home ... but I have my grilled veggie wrap all planned for the evening.

Duranfan' date=' I'm 7 months out and I know exactly what you're talking about. There is nothing my sleeve cannot tolerate. But I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I believe it's a myth that you should not be able to eat something, be it sweets or high fat foods. Yes, there are people who cannot tolerate those foods early on, but there are plenty more like you and me who can eat anything. You are basically at the point now where the physical limitations of the sleeve are only going to do so much for you. But the behaviors you learned during your honeymoon phase....those are the things you need now. You learned how to eat, drink and track your food. You need to rely on those things from here on out. They will work for you. They are still working for me.

You can do this.[/quote']

Hi butterbean, when you said that the restriction lessens as time goes on can I ask how much can you eat at a time now please? Not that I am planning on stuffing my face or anything but is it closer to what "normal" meal for a "normal" person would be or is it still much less? I know everyone is different I am just curious.

Thanks in advance Lorraine. Xxx

I've been mulling this over....I think one of the solutions is to develop a core group of people that will hold you accountable. Someone online who if you stop tracking will call you on it. Someone in your family/work/friend who if they see you eating too much will gently remind you what your goal is and that eating those extra Snacks won't help. Also someone from your medical team. It could be a monthly weigh-in at your PCP office. Or see a NUT. I still go to my NUT once a month. Let me tell you, it keeps me honest! I do have to pay out of pocket ($25) but it worth every penny.

Your first step towards getting your life back on track was posting here. Good luck!

Hi butterbean' date=' when you said that the restriction lessens as time goes on can I ask how much can you eat at a time now please? Not that I am planning on stuffing my face or anything but is it closer to what "normal" meal for a "normal" person would be or is it still much less? I know everyone is different I am just curious.

Thanks in advance Lorraine. Xxx[/quote']

A typical meal for me might be 1/2 cup of egg beaters (equivalent of 2 eggs) with 2 oz chopped up chicken breast and shredded cheese. Or 3 oz grilled chicken in a lettuce wrap. Lettuce wraps are very filling to me. Or maybe 1.5 cups of tossed salad with a little chopped up chicken thrown in. On a plate it looks normal to a normal person who doesn't over eat. But it is not the huge heap of food that I used to eat.

I average 1500 calories a day now. In order to get that many I still have 1-2 Protein shakes a day (I really like them) and I usually have raw almonds as my go to snack.

Yes but not like before. Since the beginning I've been eating on a 3 hour schedule. I have some protein at every meal. Sometimes I'm hungry at that point, sometimes not. But I look at it like putting fuel in the tank. I keep putting fuel in there so the engine can always run. I don't want it to run out because then I will be tempted to eat whatever I can get my hands on.

BTB, where do you get the chicken breast? You do cook it or buy already cooked? And then do you make an egg scramble w chicken & cheese? I think I'll try that.

And how do you handle your long shifts? What type of foods do you take to work? I'm looking for foods that I have make ahead of time so i always have food ready to eat in the fridge. Thanks!

I grill or pan broil several chicken breasts 2 or 3 times a week then chop them up. I also occasionally buy those pre cooked packages of fajita meat at the grocery store. They are good but high in sodium so I don't like to eat them too much, but they are good in a pinch. I make little omelettes with chicken, chopped bell pepper, mushroom and cheese and the egg beaters for breakfast almost everyday. For work I will take some chicken or beef fajita meat and make lettuce wraps with a little cheese. Or else I'll take some frozen fish and microwave it. I like the Gortons brand. A microwave is all I have available and I work 12 hour shifts so I have to make due with simple foods.