Time to call myself out

Hi everyone.  It's been a while since I posted, and I've gotten off the wagon.  Time to make some changes before things get too bad.

Back in April, I hit my low weight of 190, and I stayed in the low 190's for the next three months.  But in July, when I had my skin removal surgery, my weight started creeping up.  I think initially it started with the lack of activity, but it also didn't take long for me to start making bad choices.  The straw that broke the camel's back was last week's election, and since then I've been doing a lot of stress eating.  After this horrible week, my weight was up to 206.9, the heaviest I've been since January 4th, after the holidays.  

Fortunately, after only 2 days, I've already started to see things get a little better.  I'm down to 204.8 as of this morning.  205 is my extreme upper limit, so I'm glad I'm under that, but with no wiggle room.  I'm determined to get back down to under 200 by the end of the year, and to get back to where I really want to be, under 195, by the end of January.

During my whole weight loss journey, this site was so helpful.  My constant check-ins and progress I would post helped keep me on the straight and narrow.  I have no doubt that my backslide was helped by the fact that I stopped coming in here so often.  So I'm throwing this out there, making myself accountable, and making sure that my backslide stops.  

Welcome back! Jump on the menu thread so you can post your meals. That really helps me stay focused... and reading posts like yours reminds me that accountability, even to a bunch of folks on the computer, really helps in the long run! I love learning the good, bad, and ugly! Thanks for sharing! 

And good job getting back in line before you gain too much! 

Glad to see you Back! It's so easy for life to get in the way and for good habits to give way when stres****s. Kudos to you for catching yourself quickly and for making yourself accountable. It's why I still hang around here everyday even though I'm overv4 years post op. It keeps me on the straight and narrow.

Way to take control. As others have mentioned visit us on the daily menu thread.

I'm glad you caught this early Bill. The first line of every "regain" post I've seen is 'I used to be here every day, but got away from it, and now I'm up xx pounds."

Keep checking in, and start kicking some ass.

The elections have left me feeling pretty depressed and overwhelmed.  My queer little family is terrified and we are all struggling to feel safe.  None of that is better if you are less healthy though. We all need to keep our self care guard up and make sure we are as healthy as we can be moving into this era. I'm with you fam. Message me anytime. 

~E

We are so glad to see you!  You have already taken the hardest step by saying enough is enough and now I want to get back on track.  Here are some steps I hope will help you. They helped me... 

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery?  How many meetings, classes and such did we attend?  We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success.  And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods.  Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains and fruits.

Journaling

Get back to journaling.  This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life.  Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating.  It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband.  It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food.  Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker.  Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself.  Make them realistic and small.  Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat?, calories, and sugar. Important, vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan).

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea?  I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass.  So I was either pushing to be diabetic or get cancer.  I found once I started carrying a bottle of water around 24/7 (yes had one at my bedside) I lost the cravings for the sugar and I KNOW those artificial sweeteners are not good for me. Look I am old and if you add up all the artificial sweeteners I have consumed I am sure I am at the rat in the lab getting cancer threshold.

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what, I kept moving.  If I could not go to the gym I would walk. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back.  So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV.  Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group.

Keep me posted on how you are doing.

Wow! Reading through this thread I have a new thought process to my gastric bypass surgery. All I have been able to think of is the surgery and how I'm going to recover...get through the sipping 1 oz every 15 minutes to keeping stuff down to not getting dehydrated or malnourished. I have fear of failure. Reading that it is still a struggle sometimes after surgery I am kind of encouraged!? I have a cleared view how important it is for me to get ready in strength and nutrition now~2 months before surgery. I'm looking forward to reading more about your journey's.