Struggling badly!

[brandeett 52]

I have gained 25 pounds back. I got my surgery July 2015. I'm embarrassed and ashamed of myself. I feel like a failure. I was doing terrific for the longest time. I didn't go back to the surgeon for my yearly surgery anniversary because I'm ashamed. I'm hungry all the time and craving sweets like mad. Worse than even before I had the surgery. I'm not eating right. I have lost that "restricting feeling" when I eat. I also lost "feeling nauseated" when I eat touch sugar. I don't know what to do. My current weight is 260. My goal is 150.

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[Bufflehead 6,358]

The carbs and sugary food are what is making you hungry. It also doesn't engage your restriction, so you can eat a lot of them. No one like to hear this, but you have to stop eating them, all of them, immediately.

Take three days and eat nothing but lean, unprocessed meat (no sausage, bacon, deli meat, salami, jerky), eggs, green veggies, and healthy fats (olive oil and grass-fed butter. Eat as much as you want, whenever you want, but eat only those things.

This will help you kick the cravings for carbs and sugar. You also won't ever feel true hunger as you get to eat as much as you want, whenever you want. So, you will learn to distinguish true hunger from head hunger/cravings. Also, even eating as much as you want, you won't gain weight and will likely lose.

After those three days, keep eating that way for two days but get (or revive) a myfitnesspal.com account and start tracking your intake.

After those next two days, add in modest amounts of dairy, fruit, nuts, and beans/legumes. Set a calorie goal for yourself -- I would think you will lose weight at 1500 calories -- and stick to it. Avoid grains, starchy veggies (potatoes, peas, corn, sweet potatoes, lima beans), sweets, liquid calories, and alcohol. Stick to your calorie goal.

You absolutely can do this, I promise. 25 lbs may seem like a lot but it really isn't that much to take back off. I have done it before and I know you can too. Good luck!

[KristenVSG2014 1,872]

@@Bufflehead's advice is always spot on. I would suggest you read, "It Starts With Food". It will help you understand and get control over your relationship with food.

You've got this!

HW 290+/SW 261/GW 160/CW 159

[WLSResources/ClothingExch 3,443]

Feeling embarrassed and ashamed is only making things tougher for yourself. Instead, try feeling human. You're not at all the first and won't be the last to regain some weight. If an annual checkup at the surgery practice is routine for sleeve surgery, by all means make an appointment. They've seen and heard it all. They want you to succeed. By reconnecting there and having a session with the RD (of course in addition to the sage advice from @Bufflehead), you'll feel the support.

I'm not familiar with the book that @@KristenVSG2014 suggested, but her opinions are also sound. For an extra dose of support and reclaiming your throne, try "The Beck Diet Solution" by Judith Beck, PhD. It's a wonderful help in taking control. It works best if read from page one rather than jumping around. Do the exercises, make the cards and all. Be sure to you look at this book, as she wrote a later book with a similar title. It gives less hard-core guidance because sections outline a food plan which isn't geared to surgery folks.

You've done it before, you can do it again.

P.S. I'm where you are.

Edited December 15, 2016 by WLSResources/ClothingExch

[Bufflehead 6,358]

I second @@WLSResources/ClothingExch 's rec for the Beck Diet Solution. That book helped me tremendously! Ignore what she says about exactly what to eat or when as it doesn't work for wls people (example, she says to drink a lot while eating) but follow her exercises and do all the tasks no matter how cheesy or ridiculous they seem. It works!

[brandeett 52]

Thank you so much everyone!!

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