Ok I'm here to officially whine. I was six months out on Monday. I had my heart set on losing 100 lbs by then. Didnt happen and I've lost only 9 lbs since Feb. 7th. This is so discouraging. My loss has been sporadic at best since surgery. Dont get me wrong guys, I am so proud of myself and so much happier and I am so thankful for the weight I've lost (from 258 to 169). I guess we all feel like we are slow losers at times and i go weeks and not lose a pound and then you hear how folks are losing 2-3 lbs a week. Kinda gets to you. I am doing all my protien, drinking my water, watching my carbs and what I eat. I dont over eat. I am still only eating 3 ounces per meal. I dont do sugar, flour, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and such. I eat meat, cheese, eggs and salad. But the last couple days I have been so down in the dumps that I am sitting here right now munching on spaghetti!!!!!! Seems the last couple days I have done nothing but eat things that I shouldnt. and on top of not losing, I am hurting when I eat something. Mid ways on right side of my back gets the most horrible pain and then moves to my tummy. I know I should call my doc but Im so discouraged I dont even want to see him. I havent had any episodes with depression and Im not depressed now. Just plain ole disgusted. I think alot of it is this blame loose hanging skin that is so ugly and makes me feel ugly. Im 5' tall, 169 lbs and still wearing a size 14/16 and I keep seeing where others are down to size 10's at this weight. I know better than to compare myself. I know this. I know I shouldnt but I cant help it. Ok I'm not going to whine any more. Just please ya'll tell me this is normal. I feel like I am so behind everyone else. I dont have those drastic losses like most folks, I cant brag and say Ive lost 3 lbs a week. Heck my scales wont move! Ok thanks for listening guys and dolls. I so appreciate it and love you all for taking the time to listen. I wish you all the best and wonderful success. Hugs to you all! Carol Lap rny 9-22-03 258/169/110 hopefully!

Persistence pays off, and after QUITE the battle with her insurance company, Melissa "Misty" Reed is FINALLY going to be having her WLS on Wednesday, March 24th. Could you take a quick moment out of your day and wish Misty well on her upcoming journey to the Losing Side? Thanx so VERY much!! http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/status.phtml?N=R1049774463 Kimmer

Hi Sheila! Sounds like you are doing great! Way to go! ... and YES, I'm going through many of the same things (and I see others are too). Yes, my hair is coming out in bunches, and as others have said, it supposedly slows down - and all the post ops at my support group say the hair comes back, so I'm not too worried about it. I do use Nioxin shampoo (doesn't seem to help, but smells nice and does a good job - so I'm using it). I take biotin supplements (don't seem to help too much, LOL - but maybe things would be worse) I also take a flax oil supplement and try to eat fish. This maybe is helping since my skin and hair is not too dry - so those good omega-3 fatty acids may be helping. Protein shakes - ah, that's another sore point. I could not tolerate them after surgery and so concentrated on eating tuna, cottage cheese and meat for protein. I can drink them now - and the ones that work well for me are: Nectar - fuzzy navel (I can't stop raving about it, it's the only one that doesn't have a yucky fake taste), Designer Whey (choc and strawberry - only mildly gross and NOT sickeningly sweet!) I try to drink these for breakfast. They help curb my apetite and help me boost my protein. I too worry about the weight loss ending and the gain starting. Every day I stress about this and hope it doesn't happen. I've lost weight before, and the WORST thing was one day, when the diet "ended" or something clicked in my brain, that the weight piled on like gangbusters and I seemed powerless to stop it. Looking back, I know what happened - I ate more, probably a lot more, out of some type of backlash and the weight flew on - probably as fast as it flew OFF now. The good thing is that now with the surgery, food intake is limited. This is not to say that I couldn't go "around" the surgery and mess it all up. But why would I do that?!!? Well, anything is possible, but in my mind I try and really think with an awareness about what I'm eating and what I'm doing to my body. That's the difference now. It's like now all of a sudden I "see" the connection. Hopefully my "fear" will keep me vigalent and on top of things so I can keep all this weight off. Some days I feel like I can eat a lot - too much! I worry, it freaks me out. Then again, other days I can't eat. More and more I see that the surgery solved part of the problem - but not all those pesky problems in my head regarding food issues, etc. I take it a day at a time and try and think about what drives me to eat and what has driven me to eat all these years.... but that's a whole other saga. Just wanted to share my experiences. It was so nice that you posted this and that all the others responded, because reading everyone's experiences are helping me come to terms and understand my own. Great job! Hugs!

I HEAR YOU! I do have sugar cravings BAD, and have always had them. I actually do dump... i thought I didn't, but it was because I only ever had a little bit of sugar. But if I eat more than a few bite fulls, I do feel very sick. (e.g. I have had krispy kreme - 1/4 to 1/2 is OK, a whole one and it's over - dizzy, sick, yuk) For me, I've fond that I am HIGHLY addicted to certain foods - in particular those that are sweet and those that are starchy/salty. For me, the only way is to AVOID. I can't have it in my house, I can't wander and buy it, I just have to stop. That is WAY EASIER said than done. A few things help - I try not to even have too many artificially sweet things, because that seems to keep my cravings going - BOO HOO. I try and start each morning with a protein shake (I do Nectar fuzzy navel because it's tart and not sweet sweet or one of the designer whey shakes, because they are not too sweet). That holds me over for a good long time. Then I try to focus on water. Water, water, water. I find that this helps a lot. I could go all day just eating and forget to drink. Of course then I don't loose, feel sick, and am probably becoming dehydrated. Eventually on that pattern, I'd go back to where I was - and I can't let that happen. Fortunately to date, that has only happened a few days total. I have to constantly remember to "follow the rules". You mention that this does not help you - is it that you still want sugary things after drinking these? Don't tolerate them well? For me it i**** and miss - but in the last two months I can finally tolerate protein shakes, and they make me full and slightly nauseated (well, that's not quite the right word), but they really make me full and take the edge off. The other thing is that I find that for years I ate sugar and startch to make myself feel good and avoid pain (I never realized this), but I still crave comfort from food - and when I have that feeling, I try hard to focus on what I really want. It's NOT the food. Heck, sometimes I think I don't really even like it, just want it. It's been hard for me, but these things help. Sorry, I'm rambling a little because I'm rushed, but I just wanted to write a quick note to say that I can empathize what you are going through. HUGS!

hello everyone i am so glad to see you all are doing so good with your weight loss! My grand total for my 6th month was 77 pounds! I started at 254 and i now weigh 177.I have been doing tea bo and LOVE it!I need to lose 17 more pounds and i will not be overweight anymore! BUT i would like to get down to 145(i am 5'6" )so i actually have 33 more pounds to go!YEAH!!!Take care everyone! Julie