I really need some help to re train my mind!

I have not posted here in a long time. I had surgery march of 05. I am a little over a yr post op. My lowest weight was 135. I went to the Drs the other day and I weighed in at 160. I know what I am doing wrong I just feel like I don't have the control to stop! Yesterday I ate this B- banana/leftover chinese mid morning-banana L- Half peaunt butter and jelly on white bread/banana D- Cup of cheesy brocc soup from freindleys/ Chicken ceaser salad 7p.m.- Ate the rest of my salad from freindlys 8p.m-5 girlscout cookies 8:30-2 handfuls of ranch doritos 9pm- 2 strawberry poptarts I dont ever drink water unless i am eating. I eat and drink at the same time. How important is it to drink a lot of water? Does it help you lose weight? Please help me with some suggestions for my bedtime snacking issues. Its like i cant fall asleep unless i eat.

Stephanie, First off hun take a deep breath and relax!!! ~hugs~ First maybe go see a Nutrionist, let them get you back on to a schedule of eating better. Also did you ever deal with why you eat???? That is a big thing as I am in the middle of learning myself take care of those issues and it really does help.... You should always drink your water hun, it will also help you stay full. Also at night i try to save my fruit or veggies to pick on, with some f/f dressings. Also for crunchy things the soy chips are not that bad. I wish you all the best hun Debra P

Hi, Can I be honest? I feel compelled to suggest to try to try some better and more filling snack choices. I have years of experience with the type of snacks from above too! LOL, so I'm not knocking you. But I've heard starchy, sugary foods are not filling. I can't keep any of that stuff in my house, or else it will be eaten by me. My kids don't mind the healthy stuff so that's good What has helped me out: Soy crisps, low fat cheese(slices or string), rice cakes(the flavored ones are yummy), SF yogurt if you don't dump on it. Just a few snack suggestions. I also see some snack on beef jerky. Kristine

It doesn't sound like your eatting a lot...maybe you just need to buy alternatives to the junk your eatting. I.e. instead of girl scout cookies...buy protein bars (or if you must south beach has high fiber, high protein cookies..but i don't know how they taste) ranch doritos can be replaced by crackers and cheese. Veggies dipped in ranch dressing...etc and pop tarts? well you got me...but i'm sure you can find some low carb high protein alternative on line or in the store. Although i had a different surgery, from my understanding it's important not to drink with the RNY because it pushes food out of the pouch and causes you to experience hunger much sooner. Maybe if you break this habit, it would help with the feelings of "i need to eat". I did see a doctor preop in manhattan named dr. Gage ( i think he was on East 79th or something like that). Part of his program involved behavioral modification, where they actually set up eattign situations and retaught you how to eat. Maybe something like this would be useful to you.

my GF is 5 years out. her low was 140 now she's 170. What happens is what happens to everyone with or without the WLS. What happens is your buddy gets to its lowest point, it pushes it self to as low, then gains back to were it feels it should be. Its like a bounge cord, its pulls as far as it can then pulls back up to were is needs to be. Its the same reason all if us have failed on diets. but now because of are surgery are bodys will take care of it for us. so it sucks but our weight might be were is going to stay at

Hey first of all dont beat yourself up. Its time to get up brush yourself off and go back to basics. The most important thing you can do for yourself is go see a therapist and or a nutrionist. You need to find out why you are eating, why you are eating what you are eating and how to change your behavior. Stock the house with good snacks. That way if you need to snack, there is only the good stuff to grab. I make sure that i have strawberries and cucumbers all the time. I use the strawberries when i am craving sweets, its its really bad i add some splenda and it takes care of it for me or some sugar free cool whip. If i crave crunch and salty i eat the cucumber with some salt on it. That way even if i eat the who cucumber its not like i ate a whole bag of chips......We can trick our minds that way. One of the key is to have the right food available. Its very hard sometimes, i have 4 kids plus a husband who is like a kid and they bring junk home. Im not perfect but i try to make it so even if i want to grab the wrong thing i cant because its not available. A therapist is so important i think for anyone who has had this surgery because our minds were not operated on only our stomach. We got fat for reasons other then hunger and if we dont take care of those issues we will always go back to bad habbits. I hope that helps some. Feel free to email me anytime ,,,LisaMarie

Stephanie: HI! You are not alone, I posted this info so often I finally saved it and now is sent to all members of my group: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/OSSG_Off_track/ Please join! A good therapist who specializes in WLs or eating disorders is a great idea as well! Jamie's BACK ON TRACK TIPS Your surgery hasn't failed; you are just not using your tool to its potential that is all. It is there still; you need to get back to basics though. Remember it isn't the surgery alone that makes us lose weight it is the lifelong lifestyle & behavioral changes we make that enable us to lose weight and keep it off. Dumping isn't guaranteed after surgery and may decrease the farther we get post-op....with that said: You know the rules of the tool, (what you aren't doing)....So how to get back to basics? You have to just take one step at a time; it doesn't have to be all or nothing that is old thinking! What do you feel you can conquer first? Write down your goal for the week, then work on it, once you have one goal under your belt start on another, be patient and kind to yourself, no one said this was easy! It is hard and no one is perfect! But you can change. The negative habits didn't happen overnight so neither will positive ones! But they wont happen if you don't start somewhere! Asking for help and admitting the problem is a great first step! Get to a local support group at least monthly if available, this keeps you focused on what you are doing and accountable to yourself...Life will always be busy but you need to reprioritize health as a higher priority and taking care of yourself has to be more important than anything else! Here is how I'd break it down (not necessarily what to do first, just an example of the goals I'd set and work on one at a time!) some you may want to break into 2 parts also.... Goals: a.. #1: part 1:Fluid: resolve to drink 64 ounces ( This will keep you full longer and tension on the pouch) of NON-carbonated-NON-calorie fluid a day. (water, crystal lite, diet Kool-Aid, diet V8 splash, tea) In other words don't drink your calories! Part 2: DO NOT DRINK WITH MEALS and WAIT 1-2 HOURS AFTER MEALS TO START DRINKING....(OR U WILL JUST MAKE YOURSELF HUNGRY AGAIN...SOONER!) we can all wait a while and eat again esp. if we drink soon after or with a meal....It is called grazing, we have a leaky drain and after a little time we have more room in the sink to fill so we can all eat a while after we eat, I know at a restaurant I can eat more as the meal is spread over time, if I eat at home I cant eat 1/2 as much as I eat in 20 min and then I'm full and I'm done. b.. #2 Vitamins: resolve to take a multivitamin, and calcium 1,000mg a day. (just to give you some energy!)Maybe some B12 liquid/tablets sublingually to boost energy and metabolism! c.. #3 Protein: resolve to get in 65 grams a day either in the food you eat or by supplementing with shakes. EAT PROTEIN FIRST!!! IT fills the pouch!(less room for carbs) d.. #4 Meals: resolve part 1:to eat ONLY 3 meals a day over 5-20 minutes no longer, (and possibly one small nutritious snack of fruit or nuts etc...)....NO grazing. Part 2:Composition of meals: 50% protein leaving 25% of meal for veggies/fruit and 25% carbs (pasta/bread/rice/potatoes). This means most likely giving up McDonalds for a while or making better choices when you are there...It doesn't have to be 100% of the time but should be the way you eat more like 90% of the time!) e.. #5 Exercise: resolve to exercise 30 min 3x a week, then increase to 60 min 3x a week or 30 min 6x a wee****il you are exercising 30 min daily (or more)! It helps you cope with stress, so you don't turn to food, it will help the wt loss and also give you energy! You will feel better about yourself and be less apt to go for the carbs. f.. #6 resolve to either get involved in a local support group monthly (weekly would be better but at least 1x a month) and or get into therapy to deal with your food issues and look at why you are sabotaging your happiness. We all have food issues/demons and we all need to face them eventually the surgery is a great help but the brain is a hard organ to change and unfortunately they didn't operate it when they shrunk our tummy! g.. #7 if above are overwhelming many go back to postop and start liquids for a few days, then advance to soft/mushys such as yogurt and pudding and cottage cheese, then onto pureed then solids, many say this retrains the pouch and our brains to snap back into it...Again it is all hard but just my 2cents/suggestions! Good luck! Glad you are looking at the issues and wanting to deal with them! Be proud of yourself for that and you can do it, we are all here with you to help! Now is a great time to start, not everything but one thing....Do not put off to tomorrow what you can do today! Think this way if you wait you may have another 20# or so to work on after the holidays! Holidays and parties are always going to happen, we can always find an excuse to wait or a reason why we can't, search within yourself and find a reason why you can and do it (make this your gift for the holidays to yourself, nothing tastes as good as health and thin feel!)! Take care.... Jamie Ellis RN, MS, NPP Lap RNY 10/9/02 320/163 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery) Dr. Singh, Albany, NY Plastics 6/9/2004 & 11/1/2006 Dr. King Albany NY "Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!" [email protected] PS carbs for me = hunger, so this is my detox plan: MY recipe for success: FIRST YOU IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM SECOND YOU FORMULATE A PLAN OF ACTION! THIRD you post it here so we can support you (Being accountable to someone outside of self helps!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOW MY PLAN was it takes about 3 days to overcome the HORRID/VICIOUS carb addiction cycle for MOST (the physical aspect that is)... SO STEP ONE: I detoxed my house of all foreseeable triggers/carbs. (Join me on the pitch and ditch car) STEP TWO: I loaded my home with things allowable such as cheese sticks, pepperoni, jerky, eggs (hardboiled a few ahead), sandwich meats, stocked up on shakes so I had variety for the 3-5 a day I could use, low carb veggies etc..... STEP THREE: I was following the south beach phase 1 plan (adding shakes as above), so I had the book and there is a document explaining the reason it works/the plan in the files under http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/OSSG_Off_track/files/ first folder back on track tips and plans.. Karen B's timer plan is there and many find that SO helpful! I KEPT IT HANDY TO READ/REREAD in times of crisis. STEP FOUR: Place motivational sayings all over, on computer on fridge (like nothing tastes as good as healthy & thin feels0, you can do this, its only a craving and will pass in a few minutes! STEP FIVE: List a bunch of things to do to pass time when a craving happens (it will happen and it will pass!) take a walk, drink a cup of water, have a shake, call a friend, email a friend, email the group, brush your teeth, listen to music, pet an animal (walk the dog), journal your feelings, give self a mani/pedicure, deep breathing/relaxation, go for a ride (bike or car) etc chew gum, have a sf hard candy. HAVE IT HANDY, as when we are impulsive it's hard to think so go to the list not everything will work all the time but it helps delay! STEP SIX: MUST PLAN, plan meal, prepare take fluid and food with you, if you fail to plan you plan to fail as we say here on off track. THIS is about progress, NOT perfection so don't beat self up, know that things improve with each passing day u get the refined carbs outta your body. It really gets easier cause if you don't put the junk in the hunger really decreases it is amazing!>>>>Again south beach worked for me...took me 1 mo to lose my 10# regain following this it was the hardest week 1, after that hunger was minimal and my willpower could handle the HEAD cravings (it couldn't handle the physically driven ones from how I was eating...bread=hunger kinda thing)... STEP SEVEN: WRITE IT DOWN if it goes in your mouth, at least week one...then tell us how u r doing, many use www.fitday.com and I also recommend exercise of some way shape or form for the body soul and mind! TOGETHER WE CAN DO THIS! IT is hard, but you just gotta do it....READY SET GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another saying we have is its WHAT U DO 90% of the time that matters, this strict carb reduction isn't forever, you can reintroduce things at a later date, for now it is no carbs like bread & crackers cause they aren't your friend, they give lots of calories and little nutritional value and well they make u hungry sooner with NO satiety (full feeling) I agree a burger or a pork chop sits with me for hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pop tarts are one of my favorites, untill I realized that 2 of them is over 400 calories. That was a wake up call for me, when I realized how much exercise it would take to burn off that amount. Betty Jo Lap RNY 7/11/03 399.5/210/150 239 inches gone

probably "bounce back weight" the further out you get your body begins to adjust to the surgery. your body now has the ability to asorb more calories, where as, before you might be able to lose weight on 1000 calories, the further out you get it possible to now gain eating that same 1000 calories. the question you have to ask yourself is, are you comfortable at this weight, you don't want to cut back your calories to the point to were you will be miserable? I was told expect to gain back 10 - 15 pounds. Try eating more protein and cutting back on the refine carbs and of course exercising. I got down to 135 and was tired and miserable all the time. I went back up to 140-145 and feel much better. I would love to be 135 but I have to be realistic my body wants to be heavier !!! donna open rny mar 18 2003 282/143/140