Any advice helps I’ve regained 40 pounds and I want to get to my goal weight which is 66 pounds away I’ve went back to basics but struggle mindset wise and can’t afford the therapy part ? any advice?

Robert Lustig says it’s not what you eat it’s what’s been done to what you eat. Look at his book metabolical and Chris van tulkes ultra processed people. Sugar is as harmful to me as cocaine only difference being coke is hard to get, expensive and illegal. If they sold it in sweet shops …

the psychological part is huge - dr Nicole perrera on insta shares lots of free stuff and has a great workbook which is cheaper than therapy. You can nip this in it’s fatty little bud (or butt!) right now!!!

To borrow a phrase from an eighties cartoon “I [you] have the power!”

This is a hard one because on the one hand, it's fairly easy to advise how to change your diet and lifestyle.

Here are some basic things to try:

• drink at least 64oz water per day
• remove all processed foods and sweets from your house and diet and replace with fresh fruit and nuts/seeds (this includes artificial sweetener and protein shakes if you're past 3-6 months post-op)
• make sure you hit your protein goal (probably 80g) with high-quality lean protein every meal, every day (meat, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese, beans)
• decrease or eliminate your grains/starches and always opt for whole grain when you do have it
• eat only at mealtimes
• increase your vegetable consumption
• increase physical activity (for example, get 10k steps per day)
• keep a journal that includes both a food journal and an emotions journal, and use this to see if you can find patterns or triggers in your behavior

The motivation is a whole other issue. None of these changes are likely to stick if you don't have the motivation and mindset you need to do it.

Personally, I found a lot of information and motivation from reading Dr. Matthew Weiner's books, A Pound of Cure, and also the one that explains how weight loss surgery really works. I also get a lot of inspiration from watching YouTube vloggers and podcasts. Here are a few of my favorites:

https://www.youtube.com/@LouisesJourneyxo

https://www.youtube.com/@apoundofcure

https://www.youtube.com/@nicoleislosingit

https://www.youtube.com/@kakisrnyjourney5376

https://www.youtube.com/@thistothatlife

Finally, if you can, get friends and family involved in supporting you by checking in on your progress, going for walks with you, maybe cooking meals together. And post here for support!

If you feel like therapy can help you consider finding one that takes your insurance or even payment plans. I didn’t do it the first time around because I couldn’t find anyone taking new patients and I gained my weight back. Now I am facing revision and working on starting with one that is private pay but I asked if she can give a lot of homework so I hopefully won’t need as many sessions. You don’t necessarily have to do like every week I don’t think. I haven’t met with her yet but I’m hoping I can do like once or twice a month to start and do my homework in between. I have a regular therapist and she wants to speak with her so my hopes are she will basically tell my regular therapist how to help me and I won’t need her too long. I will be posting about how it goes I’m sure. Lol

A bariatric therapist is absolutely worth any time and money invested. Also reach out to the nutritionist at your surgeon's office. Make sure you move your body everyday. Prioritize protein and fluids (try limiting slider foods and junk as much as possible). If you must snack (beyond the allotted ones in the diet your nutritionist gave you) make sure they are healthy but tasty. Look at the calories you're burning vs consuming. Watch your carbs and fats. Watch how much sugar and salt you consume. It's really all about getting back to basics. And there's no easy way to change your mindset, you kind of just have to really want the results more than you want to undo the progress you made. Then you have to retrain your brain.