I'm almost at a year after surgery, and I find myself wanting to eat junk a lot. I crave salty snacks, sometimes sweet. I try to keep healthier choices around, but sometimes I feel like eating and eating. I haven't lost weight in several months, and I have a hard time getting motivated to exercise. Any tips on how to overcome some bad habits? I know I'm not the only one struggling, so maybe someone has advice that will help those of us who are going through weak times. I've always said that I will make the most of my surgery, and follow the rules. I don't know what's wrong with me, that I keep falling off track.

So you have lost 34 pounds since surgery?

The Honeymoon's over Sweetie..........At least you made it to a year.

I 'm at seven months and desire to eat has already returned. I think about certain foods that I had no interest in up till now. It's tough. I just get more determined and realize I will have to kick in some additional effort. Mix it up some. cut way back on calories for a few days to jump start the metabo..... Whatever it takes to get the last pounds off and secure my ability to control any desires so I will NEVER go back to my old ways.

Hang in there and try even harder now. Don't give up.

I also have a desire to eat food that I shouldn't (lately this would be cheddar chex mix, white cheddar cheez-its, and nutter butters), and there are plenty of days where I eat a few handfulls of all three. The trick is to limit yourself to how much you eat, not to never eat anything bad for you.

For example, I recently had some plastic surgery work done and the first week was long and boring, so I tended to snack more than I usually do. I would have one of the to-go cups of cheezits and one to-go cup of nutter butters throughout the day (which is, yes, 900 calories), but I had no real interest in anything else, so I just had a few days of eating my calories in junk instead of healthier stuff. Now that I'm a little more past that point, I just don't keep the junk in my house and then I can't eat it. Fortunately, I also tend to get pretty much instantly sick if I eat anything more than I should, so that helps things a bit too.

Another example, last night at dinner, I had maybe half of one of those soft pretzel things (125 calories-ish), a bite of a sandwich (maybe 25 calories), and a few chips with salsa. My overall calories for the day was only about 900, but I don't ever feel deprived. If I eat healthily 90% of the time, I can enjoy the times I eat a little unhealthily and the sleeve keeps me from overdoing it.

My best advice would be to keep junk food out of your house, but also enjoy it occassionally and in limited portions. Your sleeve should make you sick if you eat too much, which will discourage repeating that in the future, and it will help you learn to enjoy a few bites of something instead of the entire plate. That, for me, has been the greatest thing ever, because I was never a one oreo girl...I would eat the whole package in one night! Being able to have a few bites of something and being done with it has been the real blessing of the sleeve for me- not having to live a life where all I ever eat is chicken and veggies.

Good luck to you!

To finediva: I haven't updated my info lately. I lost 50 pounds in about 7-8 months, and none since. I still have 30 to go to get to my goal weight. I need to find some resolve and stick to the plan of protein with fruit/veggie at meals, and very few snacks. My surgeon says zero snacks but I just can't do that. I definitely need to stay out of the snacks. We usually have stuff in the house for our teenage daughter; but we've always kept sweets out for the most part, which is good because I have a major sweet tooth.

I think part of my lack of motivation is that, even though I've lost a lot of weight, I still look at myself and see the same body as before. I can't adjust the body image in my mind for some reason.

@@losin_it thanks for the update. I'm so happy you lost 50 pounds. I'm in a 2week plus stall and thought maybe you stalled and never regained losing. As for the snacking, try to snack on protein. Cheese, hard boiled eggs, deli meats. The sugar will only make you want more carbs. I'm in a little different place than you. With my small weight loss I am already seeing a smaller person. Get back on track as soon as you can and rock that sleeve.