More anxiety about not losing weight

[kmacum]

Hello, I'm new to the forum. I honestly didn't think I would ever need to join one for support, but I now realize I do. I had my surgery on 11/30/07. Since the day of my surgery to now, I've lost 25 pounds. Plus, I lost eight before the surgery, so about 34 pounds. I feel like I should be losing more.

I have to confess and personally, if everyone reprimands me, it's exactly what I need. I've been eating sweets. Like M&M's, Reese's...I had a milkshake last night. In my, not so normal brain, I add the calories together with everything else that I eat and it's still under 1400 or so. So, again, in my illogical mind, I should still be losing weight.

I figure if I have a a South Beach Diet meal replacement bar for breakfast and lunch (210 calories each), that adding M&M's (260) calories shouldn't be too bad. Obviously, that's not working.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm not eating enough. You know "they" always say if you don't eat enough your body will stop losing weight.

I exercise four times a week (except I took a break last week) and overall I'm feeling better. But that number on the scale drives my emotions and drives me crazy.

I go for my second fill tomorrow.

Help and advice is welcome.

[Clynn]

You already know you're doing yourself harm by eating the sweets so I don't know how much good a reprimand will be right now. Just keep in mind that sweets will raise your blood sugar and make you feel hungrier later on, and milkshakes are especially bad since they go right through the band. Try keeping track of every last calorie you take in on paper instead of in your head. Your head wants the sugar and will lie to you to get what it wants, so I think you'll be surprised if you start keeping a close track on what goes into your mouth.

You have to outsmart yourself here. Don't let any sugary things in your house so you aren't tempted to eat them. Instead keep healthier foods that you like around and focus on those instead. For instance, instead of having a milkshake, keep some frozen strawberries and a bag of splenda around. Then you can have a smoothie that is quite tasty with no more sugar than what's in the strawberries and the milk. You can find lots of recipes on the net, just replace sugar with splenda or whatever non-calorie sweetener you prefer. I'm told stevia is also quite good, but it's more potent so you don't need to use as much.

Until you start letting the band do its job, another fill will have minimal benefit.

[kmacum]

I think your last statement about letting the band do its job puts its in perspective for me. Since I'm such an emotional eater, I've figured out how to work around the band and that's bad and that's my problem.

So, I'll wait 30 minutes after drinking something before I eat, I'll wait 30 minutes after the meal to drink and I'll keep track of all calories.

If my stomach is growling, should I eat? Is it best to eat three meals a day or five or six smaller meals?

[snowbird]

Okay, first of all, you are losing at a rate of over 10 lb per month. That is excellent. I don't know as I would really want to lose faster than that.

You know why you are not losing more.

Since you are eating so much less, you need to make the calories you are eating count. By that I mean your body needs proper nourishment, not M&M's.

If you are filled properly and eat meat and vegetables, you will not be able to eat too much. You can, however, continue to eat badly.

If you absolutely need the sweets (and I do, I know) try to stick to sugarfree chocolates. Russell Stover has some really good ones. I also like Reese's sugar free peanut butter cups. For me, they satisfy the chocolate craving, but don't make me want to eat the whole bag like the sugared ones do. Plus they have undesirable side effects that stop you from eating too much.

You may find that your problems are solved after your second fill. I found I was tight enough that I didn't enjoy eating enough anymore after the second fill, so it wasn't a big deal to give up most of the treats.

You aren't alone, and you aren't evil, but you do have to help your band do what it is designed to do. Like Clynn said.