Feeling complacent

[Tink22-sleeve 528]

I'm at 7 months post op and am feeling very complacent (contented to a fault; self- satisfied , and unconcerned)

I have been at a stall for a month now. No real loss or gain.

I have lost a difficult 55 lbs, and am currently at 189 lbs. But I have gone down from a 22 to a 14, lost lots of inches and have had too many NSV's to count.

I am feeling so good physically, and feel like I look "normal". I get lots of positive feedback about my weight loss. I'm happy with the sleeve.

My problem is that now that I'm feeling so good and looking better, I just cant stay motivated to keep up with the diet and exercise.

I want to reach goal, but life's not so bad right here either...

Is this a phase I'm going thru? Another growth experience? Anybody else feel this way?

[Georgia 2,911]

I have been there. It's not complacency so much as mindset to me. You DID reach size 14 and feel good about it. So our poor "fatty" brains feel good about it and now "Let's celebrate!" Too much work to keep on. I wouldn't "linger" there because you will lose motivation and regain some loss.

If you've picked up junk foods, quit cold turkey! Go back to basics for 5 days or so strictly. Cravings will end and you will be encouraged because you will feel the REAL sleeve restriction again and have a sense of accomplishment.

Go, Girl! You got this!!!!

[Supersweetums 1,164]

Complacency is a dangerous road to follow. I am not saying that you can never have a more relaxed approach, but if you become completely compliant, I can guarantee that you will fall back into old habits, and not only will your weight loss stay stalled but you will start to gain.

Any WLS takes a lifetime of being diligent. What that means is different to everyone. Some people need to continue to track everything. I always watch what I eat and weigh daily. You also have to find something that works for you that you can sustain for a lifetime.

And don't give up! I was a slow loser, losing 55lbs in the first 6 months, and then it took me another year to lose the next 25lbs.

You can do it! Get your head back in the game, find something that you know you can stick with and find your groove!

[LindaS 316]

I know what you mean. I was very happy when I was in the 180s/190s range, and I slacked off a bit.

But I didn't let myself do that for very long.

The truth is, I expect to gain weight back. Maybe not right away but eventually. I don't imagine myself being 80 years old and doing burpees to stay in shape. I'd love it if I could, but I just don't see that as feasible.

So, I am trying to get as small as I possibly can in order to give my future old self some wiggle room.

Currently, I'm in the 170s. I fluctuate between 173 and 176 most of the time. I like it when I stay below 175, which I was doing very well.

Eventually, I hope to push myself into the 160s. This means I need to diet and exercise.

Ideally, I would like to be at 155 because it means *100* pounds lost and gives me some wiggle room in the "normal" range of BMI.

I am happy where I am right now. I feel like I look great. Many people have told me I shouldn't lose more, but I am not just about the scales. I need to lose still, and I need to exercise.

I can give up here, but where will I end up in the future?

What happens if I break a leg and can't exercise for 6 months?

I need wiggle room.

So my advice is to be happy where you are but keep doing the things you need to do.

It doesn't always show up on the scale, but it will eventually.

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

I think this is such an individual journey and each of us needs to have our own "heart to heart" talk.

I started out at 308 and in my own mind i considered this surgery a success if I could get under (and maintain) 200#. Guess what, at about 194, my weight loss slowed/stalled. I had a few months of very slow losses when i had a heart to heart with myself if "this was it" or if I wanted to take advantage of the honeymoon period (first 12 or so months after WLS) to get smaller. I decided to go for it and really had to work it/push to get to my ultimate goal of 158. I am now maintaining around 155#.

My surgeon asked me "how I did it" and honestly I had to make a conscious choice to go for it and really push - exercise, eat low carb, track food etc.

[clk 3,519]

I went through this right around one year post op. I was down 92 pounds, wearing some size 8s and feeling pretty good about myself. Sure, I was still well overweight but I was so close to my goal (which was padded, anyway, to be easier to obtain) but I looked really good and all of my hard work was apparent to other people, too. Gotta love that validation. But some of the good things I was hearing were helping me to feel so complacent, too. People telling me I looked great as I was and to stop losing, etc.

I had a nine week stall ending somewhere around one year post op, too, and that was part of my feelings. I mean, my body was clearly at a happy weight and I wasn't losing anymore.

Eventually, I broke through that stall and slowly (oh so slowly) crawled to goal. I wound up losing another 15 pounds from 12-17 months post op. While that doesn't sound like much it was a pant and shirt size, a bra size and even a shoe size. In other words, a whole new wardrobe.

It's important to recognize that being content and happy with your achievements is a good thing. But complacency that makes you unaware of potential problems would be a bad thing. So it's critical that you walk that line and find the place where you are truly happy, not struggling to shed pounds and making yourself unhappy but also aren't engaging in behavior that will sabotage your success. I can only speak for myself, but when I don't have a goal in sight and I'm happy, it's actually easier for me to backslide in my eating. Have I experienced a regain? No - not outside of pregnancy. But I can see just how easily it could happen if I allowed myself to be so complacent that I forget I spent most of my life as an obese person with an obese person's habits and relationship with food.

Only you can decide if you want to push onward or stay where you are - I only urge you to be certain you don't get lazy.

~Cheri

[sarsar 824]

I went through this right around one year post op. I was down 92 pounds, wearing some size 8s and feeling pretty good about myself. Sure, I was still well overweight but I was so close to my goal (which was padded, anyway, to be easier to obtain) but I looked really good and all of my hard work was apparent to other people, too. Gotta love that validation. But some of the good things I was hearing were helping me to feel so complacent, too. People telling me I looked great as I was and to stop losing, etc.

I had a nine week stall ending somewhere around one year post op, too, and that was part of my feelings. I mean, my body was clearly at a happy weight and I wasn't losing anymore.

Eventually, I broke through that stall and slowly (oh so slowly) crawled to goal. I wound up losing another 15 pounds from 12-17 months post op. While that doesn't sound like much it was a pant and shirt size, a bra size and even a shoe size. In other words, a whole new wardrobe.

It's important to recognize that being content and happy with your achievements is a good thing. But complacency that makes you unaware of potential problems would be a bad thing. So it's critical that you walk that line and find the place where you are truly happy, not struggling to shed pounds and making yourself unhappy but also aren't engaging in behavior that will sabotage your success. I can only speak for myself, but when I don't have a goal in sight and I'm happy, it's actually easier for me to backslide in my eating. Have I experienced a regain? No - not outside of pregnancy. But I can see just how easily it could happen if I allowed myself to be so complacent that I forget I spent most of my life as an obese person with an obese person's habits and relationship with food.

Only you can decide if you want to push onward or stay where you are - I only urge you to be certain you don't get lazy.

~Cheri

Love this advice!