seriously, I am having a pity party this evening...I am just over 2 months post-surgery and have only lost 30 pounds...that wouldn't be so bad except that I lost 20 of those pounds the first couple of weeks after surgery when I was on liquids...not even sure that can really be "counted"...anyway since then it has been like lose a pound...then stall for a few days...lose another pound, then stall...just very frustrating...and I am following my eating program for sure...I am averaging 600 or 700 calories a day (I write down everything I eat or drink), not doing great with the liquid intake but getting most of the protein in and taking all of my vitamins...I think my main problem is lack of enough exercise...the problem is that I have such a low energy level, and I have not lost enough weight yet to be able to do much more than walk (which I do almost every night, but can only walk for about 30 minutes max)...I know I need to exercise more and I was committed to that going into this, but I had no idea I would be so lacking in energy...I guess my main "pity party" whine is that I paid a lot of money for this surgery, took the risk, and I have been following the program pretty well...I eat no starches--for two months, no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cereal--not even a lousy cracker...and certainly no desserts/sweets...I have even completely given up my beloved Diet Coke...it is dairy (yogurt, cheese, eggs, milk), lean meats (turkey, chicken) and beans occasionally....also some cooked veggies and the occasional bites of fruit...I have given up so much in the last two months to lose a lousy 30 lbs, 20 of which was during a liquid diet...geez...for the last couple of years, I had a stable weight (albeit a super obese weight) but I ate pretty much what I wanted and/or craved (without bingeing)...I guess I just had wanted more of a pay off by now...ok, my venting and self-pity rant is over now...thanks if you are still reading....and I am giving myself a hug since there is no one else here to hug me

thanks everybody for the support and encouragement...it helps to know I am not alone or unique in my feelings...I am a little better today emotionally...one thing is that I know I shouldn't be weighing every day--even my NUT told me not to...the "problem" is that I truly suffer from OCD and if I don't weigh myself every day, I will obsess about it...after reading all of your posts and doing some soul-searching, I think more of what I am feeling is fear rather than frustration or self-pity...the fear is that I will fail--or that I am failing at this...the very real fear that I will stop losing weight now and this 30 pounds will be it...in many situations in life, I tell myself that I can't let fear hold me back and prevent me from fully enjoying and experiencing life...yet it seems to always come back to that on some level; i.e., fear seems to be the root of a lot of my challenges emotionally...I once read a book my therapist recommended that was titled something like Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway...I am going to try to make that my mantra for now until I get over this current emotional state...thanks again for "listening"

It's a big deal to be able to isolate our feelings and get to the root of an issue that's bothering us.

Fear is a natural thing and I know that you know that. We've made a tremendous (expensive!) change and it will cause a ripple effect of other changes in our lives. It's a huge thing to deal with and it's only complicated by the fact that we're also afraid we'll be that 1 person that fails miserably at this.

Keep up the good work and keep trying to understand the feelings behind your behaviors. I swear that this is worth the time and effort. We still battle these issues on the vet board - it's not as if these parts of us change just because we removed most of an organ. We still have to talk things out and deal with them. VST is a great place to find people going through the same struggles.

Good luck!

~Cheri

Slow and steady wins the race! Do try to work on the water. You can't lose weight if you are dehydrated.

seriously' date=' I am having a pity party this evening...I am just over 2 months post-surgery and have only lost 30 pounds...that wouldn't be so bad except that I lost 20 of those pounds the first couple of weeks after surgery when I was on liquids...not even sure that can really be "counted"...anyway since then it has been like lose a pound...then stall for a few days...lose another pound, then stall...just very frustrating...and I am following my eating program for sure...I am averaging 600 or 700 calories a day (I write down everything I eat or drink), not doing great with the liquid intake but getting most of the Protein in and taking all of my Vitamins...I think my main problem is lack of enough exercise...the problem is that I have such a low energy level, and I have not lost enough weight yet to be able to do much more than walk (which I do almost every night, but can only walk for about 30 minutes max)...I know I need to exercise more and I was committed to that going into this, but I had no idea I would be so lacking in energy...I guess my main "pity party" whine is that I paid a lot of money for this surgery, took the risk, and I have been following the program pretty well...I eat no starches--for two months, no bread, Pasta, rice, potatoes, cereal--not even a lousy cracker...and certainly no desserts/sweets...I have even completely given up my beloved Diet Coke...it is dairy (yogurt, cheese, eggs, milk), lean meats (turkey, chicken) and Beans occasionally....also some cooked veggies and the occasional bites of fruit...I have given up so much in the last two months to lose a lousy 30 lbs, 20 of which was during a liquid diet...geez...for the last couple of years, I had a stable weight (albeit a super obese weight) but I ate pretty much what I wanted and/or craved (without bingeing)...I guess I just had wanted more of a pay off by now...ok, my venting and self-pity rant is over now...thanks if you are still reading....and I am giving myself a hug since there is no one else here to hug me [/quote']

(((((( HUG )))))). Feel what you are feeling, get it out, and come back fighting even harder..you loss 30 and that's 30 off toward your goal...here for you just as u will be here for us when our pity day comes...

Big hug.... Just think that these are 30lbs that you will never have to lose again! Nothing worth having comes easy, that seems especially true of this surgery lol. Hopefully the posts will show u that u r not alone, we are all in this together. Stay strong :-)