I am 2 months pre-op and i was doing very well loosing weight , i was down about 25 lbs than Easter hit!!  i let myself "splurge" a bit and now i cant get back into the swing of things, i am not motivated to exercise and i am eating like i was, and it makes me upset that i am not strong enough to go back to the good eating habits and not sit on the couch all the time.  Anyone out there going through the same thing or went through it?

I think this happens to all of us at one time or another, but I would caution you against sentences like: it makes me upset that I am not strong enough to go back to the good eating habits...

You ARE strong enough, but as long as you think that you are not, you will not make the amount of effort you need to get back to moving in the right direction. I know the lure of the couch is great, and it calls me more often than I care to think about. However, the call to the roller skating rink, the park, or the bowling alley can be just as strong for me, if I know I will not have to go to any of those places alone. So, my best advice is to see if you can set up some "play dates" with friends where you can get back into the swing of things gently and with company!!

Hang in there!! Believe you can!! :D

Huggles!!
~Sarah~

i am 5 months post op and I hit  rock bottom 2 months ago. I was eating like i was before the surgery.  We ALL fall down, but getting back up is what matters.

You are strong enough to do this. Dont sell yourself short.

Start with baby steps. This week resolve to eat less. Keep at it like I did and in about 2 weeks I was finally able to control my eating.  Then I started going to the gym. Once again, baby steps. I started the ellipitcal at 15 mins. I am now at one hour. Then you can focus on your water intake,  protein , vitamins. If you do everythign at once you may find it unsurmountable. So just take it little by little and in a few weeks you will be back in the game.

if you are upto reading I am going to recommend two grat books. The following book helped me redefine my relationship with food. I had 2 of my friends read this book too and they were equally impressed. Not surprisingly I also found this book on my pyschologists desk.

The Emotional First + Aid Kit: A Practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery, Second Edition
Cynthia L. Alexander

Speaking of which, you may have underlying emotional issues going on. I recommend seeing a psychologist.  This was sound advice given to by other members. I was about to see one when i managed to pull myself out on my own.

You can reach out to me personally and we can discuss anything you want offline.

It took me about 18 months to get through all of my pre-op preparation (taking care of medical problems). I've always struggled in trying to loose weight and after a lifetime of it found that I was so burned out that loosing weight was nearly impossible.

I did manage to loose about 20 lbs - and then regained it - several times before the surgery. It was really tough to focus and stay on any type of diet. Finally, I was given a date for the surgery (which helped my focus) and switched over to having a protein drink for breakfast and lunch with a yogurt for a snack, then a HUGE salad with non-fat, sugar free dressing for dinner.Drinking Crystal light when I had a sugar craving also helped.  I didn't loose as much pre-op weight as many others but was in the midst of loosing when I had surgery. I also focused on shrinking my liver as much as possible to ensure that even if I didn't loose a lot of weight, my liver would not be in the way. I used supplements + wheat grass juice. Nasty, but worth it.
 
I also realized that I really needed to kick up my exercise to help with the weight loss. My walking just wasn't doing much. I joined a gym and greatly increased my cardio and strengths training. What a huge difference!  Something to note - its really important to strengthen your upper and lower body strength before surgery. You will need it to help yourself get around after surgery in the first few weeks.  You can do this! Good Luck.

Thank you so much for the advise!!  My support people are great, but they dont"get it" how hard it is.  My office mate doesnt help at all, she is very very obese and is ALWAYS eating and munching so heairng her eat and seeing what she eats is hard.  i dont have the option of moving offices as we are the only 2 people in my dept.  I do know i have to be strong to get past her habits.

 I also really appreciated the advice in the Emotional Eating Toolkit - mentioned above.  Another good resource is   "The Beck Diet Solution"  - there's a book and/or a workbook.  I bought the audio book, and the workbook.    The workbook is good for journaling, but the audio book is something I can plug in and listen while I drive, walk, etc.   One of the key tools I picked up from this book involved changing the messages in my head. 

I know you are discouraged right now.     Falling down is normal - but success comes when you don't stay down, but  pick yourself back up and focus on making the  lifestyle changes.  

There is no one easy answer to solving a food addiction - it's a matter of adding to your tool kit, applying those tools (support, exercise, journaling, accountability,  WLS, protein  , etc.) .   

You don't build bad habits overnight - you don't fix them overnight. 

Jody