Need help with getting back on track

I say getting back on track, I don't think I ever got off track, but for some reason this isn't as easy as it used to be!!!  So I'm not sure where I went wrong?!?!  I've started running, like 4 miles a day, so I exercise plenty (and I lost ALL of my weight with NO exercise).  I TRY to watch my food, but I'm so lazy that I admit some days it's not good.  I've been doing Ideal Protein and failing miserably (even after paying for it and it being expensive).  I am back on my vitamins b/c for a while I didn't take them and felt like poop.  I do not write down what I eat and I know I should BUT it becomes more of a nuisance than anything, pushes me away from healthy eating all together and I return to eating bad.  But I have never written down my foods, so I don't understand how it was so easy to lose 90+ lbs and now it's creeping back on despite my efforts to do well?!?!  And I feel as if I do write down everything, it's not going to change my mind on the foods I eat?  Or does it?  I can look at my food choices and know exactly what to eat, how to eat it and how much to eat.  but will writing it down really make me lose weight?  I can't figure that part out.

I had plastic surgery and got the body i wanted, yet now I'm gaining inches like there is no tomorrow.  I'm up 2 pants sizes, I'm up 20lb. and I'm  just lost as to what I should do.  I still have all of my surgery paperwork that I read frequently, and I even went back to phase 1 (as hard as that is) to start over in October.  did great for 2 weeks, lost 15lbs. but gained 5 back.  I do have reasons that make it hard for me to eat good (3 kids under the age of 7, a husband that works long hours, who doesn't have to diet himself, a full time job that is demanding) BUT I can't let those get in the way.  I've lost my taste for salads.  I do NOT drink any carbonated drinks, ever.  I can't.  I can't eat and drink together, even if I wanted to, or I'll throw it all up.  So i still have these restrictions, yet I'm still gaining weight.  They've tested my gall bladder, tested my thyroid, tested my  hormones (like last week) and ALL is 100% great. 

My water in take is 2 - 50oz water bottles a day.  Maybe I need to up the water in take?  I hear that I'm eating too many calories, but then I read online about exercise and how you have to eat so your body doesn't hold on to fat.  I've been looking online for meal plans.  I just don't know what else to do.  I have a husband who worked so much overtime that we paid lots of cash for my surgeries and I see him getting frustrated with  my weight gain too.  It's just not good!!!

It was easy before because you were eating way fewer calories than a body of your original size needed.  Now your body needs fewer calories to function, so the key now is finding the balance of what your body needs to maintain (or a little less to lose) the weight you want to be.  Bear in mind that some bounceback is completely normal (and 20lbs isn't bad), which is why people work so darned hard to lose as much as they can in the beginning, hoping the bounceback will level into an area they are comfortable with.  It sounds like you know what to do, but need to kick yourself in the pants to do it.  Instead of eating what you feed your kids, why not feed your kids what you need to eat?  It's not terrible to feed them meat and veggies, and leave the indulgent pasta and such for eating out treats.  That's how I treated my changes, and they did fine with it.

If you are not tracking your food, how do you know how many calories , carbs, and protein you are consuming? In order to make some changes, you have to know where you are starting from. Food tracking can help you with this. Exercise Is wonderful, but if your diet is poor, the pounds will come back on and your clothes won't fit. It certainly does get more challenging the further out from surgery that we get. Obviously, some negative foods have crept into your diet, which accounts for the weight gain. Focus on protein and green leafy veggies. 

Hi there,

I hear your pain and I see, without question, that the battle is in the mind.  That is the real battle field and with each failure, it's making the voice of failure that much louder.  I would think that talking to someone who has experience with eating behavior issues would be a good way to go.  Until the negative talk, the self talk is calmed, it is that much harder to think positive and feel motivated to make those life style changes stick. 

What you are going through is not unusual.  In fact, it is very common. You are not alone but I think you need more support.

Thanks ladies!!!  I do need support and am willing to go to support groups or a therapist, but I don't know where to start with that as well.  My surgeon wasn't very helpful when i saw him at the end of last year (almost 3 years out).  I voiced my concern with gaining and stomach pains (which all tested out to be ok) and he pretty much didn't have anything else for me but to see a Gastro Dr.  So that's led me to online searching for diet plans, etc.  His office has support groups but he's based in a city 1 hour away so it's hard for me to make the meetings that are only once a month...

In any case, I have to get back focused.  I pulled my book out once again and will start with phase 1, just to reset myself with carb cravings.  I did it back in October and immediately lost 15lb but gained 5 back.  And i was ok with that, but it's moreso to reset my cravings and try to get back on track.  It's not anything I'd do more than a week or two.

Trying to stay on track with that is hard for me to do.  I know what to do, I just can't make it stick.  I got into baking and decorating cakes on the side.  I try my hardest not to taste, but it happens.  Then I feel as if I have to taste the cake to make sure it's good, or to perfect a recipe.  I took classes and have bought all sorts of supplies to decorate so leaving it behind to better myself is the right thing to do, however, I can't forget that time and money I invested in it.

I wish so bad that i could join a gym.  Once I get into a physical routine, it's ok for me to stick to it.  I did it before having kids but quit when I was pregnant.  Then I had my VSG after my third child.  I have yet to join a gym b/c I just don't have the time.  it upsets me but oh well.  Such is life...