Hello all,

I'm a 47 year old female living in South Central PA. I hit my 1 year surgery anniversary on February 15th. I've list over 75 lbs., and I've stalled. Those old emotional fears are creeping back in and I'm afraid I'm done losing weight. I can eat more food and sometimes I'm not making the right choices. I feel like I'm living in constant fear. Does/did anyone ever experience this? Any seasoned mentors out there with some wisdom to spread? [emoji6]

Hello,

It must be difficult feeling that you have reached the end of your journey and have not accomplished your goal. But, there are several things you can do to help regain your momentum in the weight loss process. First, realize you have lost 75 pounds in the past year! That's a huge accomplishment and since you have done that you can go further. Set a new weight loss goal with reason why you want to reach that goal. For example, do you want to fit in to a smaller dress size before summer, get off of a medication, manage a chronic medical condition more effectively. Only you can decide what will motivate you to get back on track. The way you lose the weight is how you initially lost the 75 pounds. Things that work may be to start tracking your food and liquid intake. Use a food tracking device like My fitness pal. Eat protein first, fill up on meats, eggs, eat non-starchy, low carb vegetables. Even though you may be able to tolerate higher fat, higher sugar foods know that they will not help you reach your goal. Try to exercise as much as you can. This doesn't have to be running a marathon or circuit training but walking around the mall or park several laps. Even doing stretches can help burn calories. I wouldn't consider myself a seasoned mentor but October will be 3 years post-op and my weight has been stable overall. I have times where I crave chocolate, potato chips and just want to sit around and not move. I know what the outcome will be as I dealt with the morbid obesity for years. This is a second chance and I will do all I can to make the best choices to keep the weight off or take weight off that I have regained. I hope you can reach out to your Surgeon's office for extra support as well. Best wishes.

I'm in PA too, very rural but sorta north not quite central. I live in Coudersport, PA... I travel 2 1/2-3 hours to State College no Danville- Geisinger Medical Center for care... there's no local group by me either...