My name is Debbie and I am 59 years old. I had the gastric sleeve in June of 2014. I have lost 52 pounds and have hit a plateau. I will loose a few pounds and then gain it back. I was addicted to sweets before the surgery and found that I could still eat them afterward becasue they are a sliderr food. I do well if I eat some protien first and then have a little bit of vegetables for dinner and a roll up of a thin slice of low sodium cheese and turkey for lunch. For Breakfast I can have a little yogurt with a little Kashi Cereal in it or a protien bar and coffee. The only time I can dink liquids with food is coffee. I have been trying for all this time to get more than 36 ounces of wate down in a day but it is impossible. It is easier if I use a straw to drink Water but I am afraid I am stretching out my stomach. I can eat three small meals and a snack but am beginning to wonder if that is to much food to continue to lose weight. I oiginally weighed 230 lbs and am now at 178 but I had lost 12 pounds the two weeks before surgery. I would like to get down to 160 but hate to exercise. I do yoga and work two jobs so I don't have time for a gym which I hate anyways. I could use some tips and advice.

Dance! I live in Washington state where we get a lot of rain, so it's not easy to get out to exercise, and I live in a very rural area so I don't go to town to go to a gym. So I invested in a couple of hand-weights, and I put on my favorite dance music and just bee-bop around the house (MUCH to my critter's dismay!) - look out! After several songs I am exhausted and feel energized! And I'm in a better mood for it, as well! You can fit it in anytime, and it doesn't take a lot of room to do it in. You can vary the music if you get bored, too. Have fun!

I suggest you check out a great post by @@*Lexie*, "10 Most Common Bariatric Post-Op Mistakes."

More water! Or decaf tea or dilute juice or crystal light or Vitamin Water or G2 or milk or whatever it takes to get more Fluid in. Have a bottle with you at all times. Sip from dawn till bedtime. You need H2O in order to metabolize body fat. Chronic dehydration is just as detrimental as caloric starvation when it comes to weight loss.

Doesn't sound like you're eating a whole lot, either, so you may need more calories as well as fluids. Have you tried Protein shakes? I make a large protein smoothie (24-32oz/30-40g protein) with different protein powders, milk or water, Fiber supplement, ice, sometimes fruit and sometimes Torani syrup everyday. I sip on this over 2-4 hours in the afternoon. I'm getting almost 1/2 my fluids 1/2 my protein this way. Throw in a Quest Bar, several small meals/snacks, some decaf coffee in the morning, decaf tea at night and I'm good to go.

Just try and mix things up and Hopefully you'll get through this slump.