Anybody else STRUGGLING???

Hi gals --

I haven't spent much time here lately, but I still check it out now and then....so some of you may remember me and some of you may have never seen me before......I gained weight after my hyst (TAH/BSO Jan 2001) and then a few years ago managed to lose 30 lbs which put me at a good weight. Over the past year or so, 10 lbs has crept back on and no matter what I do I can't seem to get back to my goal weight. I'm really trying to get back the motivation I had when I lost the 30 lbs............but is it harder to lose the weight because I'm over 50 now, or because I seemed to have lost some of my willpower somewhere, or what? I'm at the gym 6 mornings per week (this has not changed over the years, the longest I ever skipped the gym was when I was in recovery from my hyst) and recently I've increased my cardio to more classes per week......plus I also do weight-lifting and Pilates. Exercise is not the problem........food is!! I'm really making an effort to eat the way I did when I lost all the weight........but boy it sure seems like the pounds melted off easier just a few years ago. What gives?!? I have visions of the scales creeping back up to the highest weight I ever was and I DON'T WANT TO GO THERE!! There are times when I feel like I'm obsessed with this whole issue but it's just always so in-your-face......seems like everywhere you turn it's all about size and looks -- diet is on the front page of every women's magazine (right next to the recipe for some ooey gooey dessert!!!)

I know 10 lbs is not a life or death issue, but it's really bugging me that I'm working twice as hard to get rid of it and don't seem to be getting any results. Anybody else out there struggling with the same thing?!?

Hugs --
Ann

Ann,
It's good to see you. I sort of know the feeling. A few years ago, I did fabulous with the special diet my doctor prescribed for some ongoing stomach problems. I really stuck to it and felt so much better. I dropped a few pounds and liked the way I looked. Than I started cheating every once in awhile and pretty soon my stomach started to rebel. For the last year I've been telling myself that I need to get back on the Candida diet, but just can't find the willpower to do it. So how come I could do it before and not now?

I too worry about putting on pounds. I kind of liked the weight I was at a few months after I started the Candida diet. My stomach looked better also. While I know I'm not overweight I worry about it constantly.

I have read and have had a few doctors tell me that as you age it is more difficult to lose weight. I've also read that we shouldn't focus on the scale, but how we feel and how the body looks. If you're fit and in shape, that's a good thing. I do know that it is easier said than done because I do focus on the scale.

Oh ((((Ann))))) Girl- it's great to see you

((((Sweetie)))) I'm sorry you're struggling: I remember just how hard you worked to loose the weight and how great you felt at this achievement

Know what? I could have written your post.... except that it's 30 lbs that have crept back over the past 2 1/2 years Like you, exercise isn't a problem: I bike to work every day that I can, go to Curves on the days when I can't and in the Winter, with my dog any time it's possible: In fact, I've probably been the most active I've ever been, since my hyst. However, the food is another issue: In the past 2 years or so, the longest I've been able to remain on my program has been 2 or 3 weeks. And, just in case, I've even tried changing programs: same scenario!!!

For me, it's also reached a point where I don't have a choice as my hypertension has been getting worse and it's reached a point where my GP is concerned: sending me for and electrocardiogram and told me I have to loose weight!!!

I don't know any more and I'm also feeling that it's become an obsession... but itseems that the more I worry about it, the more I stay off my program.

Do you think it's possible to get de-programmed into believing that a salad is just as good and comforting as chocolate or chips

Shortly after I turned 40, I discovered that in order to remain at my desired slimness, I could never (with the exception of at holiday gatherings and infrequent parties) eat any desserts, pastries, ice cream, candy, chips & dip, etc. I haven't eaten a doughnut in over three years, when I indulged in one when I was on vacation. I don't use butter at all, except for a few times a year when I make popcorn. I gave up my beloved "cheese and crackers" as a snack. I truly have to deprive myself in order to maintain my weight. If you came to my house and looked in my frig and cupboards, you would say, "You don't have anything good in here!"

It's hard to see all the lucious foods around you all the time, and having your mouth water, but not being able to indulge in the joy of eating them. I walk through the bakery section of my grocery store and look at all the different kinds of cupcakes, and fantasize, "If I could have one, I would pick out this kind."

In order to lose weight, I have to limit myself to two low-calorie meals per day. I exist on "coffee only" until mid-afternoon, when I have a salad or a container of yoghurt. For my evening meal, I have a piece of meat or fish, pasta or potato, and a vegetable. No bread, no dessert. It's not easy nor fun.

If there's one thing I've found over the years, it's that I absolutely have to eat breakfast.......because I head to the gym each morning, and I've got to put some fuel into my body before I go, or else I have no energy to put into working out and am absolutely starving when I get home and will grab and eat anything within reach. Coffee only until mid-afternoon is not an option for me.........and I'd end up with a tremendous headache besides. Breakfast is usually cereal and fruit, or half a bagel with a dab of peanut butter (good protein) and a yogurt, something like that. Lunch is usually spinach or salad with some kind of protein on it......turkey, salmon, tuna. If I snack in the afternoon (and I always seem to get munchy around 3:00 p.m.) it's fruit or a handful of nuts. Dinner is some kind of protein (meat or fish) with some kind of side dishes like potato or pasta or rice, and a vegetable.
This worked great for me in the past.....if I kept everything under 30% fat the weight came off (Heart Association recommended diet).

My big downfall is the sweet stuff. I don't miss chips, fries, fried food, junk food, fast food......but I love baked goods, like cake and cookies, and oh man don't let there be ice cream in my freezer!! I know that the 10 lbs I'm trying to get rid of came on because I just kept having extra little treats and telling myself "oh just this little bit won't hurt". If only!! But I'm back with my old plan that worked well for me when I dropped the 30 lbs, and it's working, but oh ever so slowly. I guess I'm thinking that since I've reached another decade (past 50) it's even harder to lose than it was during my 40's. I get so tired of the battle sometimes. Why can't I just get old and fat and not give a darn anymore?!?

I just read a book called "Passing For Thin" that was pretty interesting. The gal who wrote it started at about 300 lbs and lost over half her body weight, and the book is all about what she went thru emotionally, mentally, and physically and she dropped the weight and went thru so many changes. It got me thinking.......sheesh if she could do that, I ought to be able to lose 10 lbs................right??!!? So reading the book has sorta kinda got me kick-started in the right direction again..........I hope!!

's

Ann (aka Powerbabe!!)

Good morning, sisters,
I'm new to this side of the web-site. All my concentration lately has been on pre and post op. But now, back to the STRUGGLE. I think with some of us it's always a struggle. I've been up at 290, in 2001, and then down, 238, last week at my 6 wks post-op. And there was blood, sweat, and tears in between. But it is worth it. I got on the scale a couple of days ago and it was up 4 lbs. and my appetite is back with a vengeance. So time to rope myself in and realize, again, that there are many foods that I just can't have, or even have in the house. I'm also diabetic, so even more incentive. Wish that I had my exercise under control like you,Ann. That is my cross to bear. I hate it. Oh, well.
So I'm here and ready for encouragement from you sisters. This site has been a god-send for me before my surgery, as I know it will be now. Ann, by the way, my DH was raised in Sanford, and his parents still live there. We left central FL. 2 years ago from the Winter Haven-Haines City area( was there 30 years) and moved to the mountains of northGA. Great change after all those years. I always have to remember that the struggle is worth it.

I would have a constant headache and the shakes if I lived on coffee until mid-afternoon, as I have hypoglycemia. I know, because that is one of the reasons I was 50 lbs overweight at one time: we'd be sooooo busy in meetings and in trying to accomplish everything that we needed to do that I would forget to eat

One of the my problems is that I have a 10 yo who eats sensibly but enjoys treats... and deserves them as she's very, very active with soccer, basketball, swimming and other activities. I also have a 15 yo who is, like all teenagers, a big, mean, eating machine. Finally, as if that wasn't enough, I also have a DH who quit smoking 6 months ago, is having a hard time and is constantly hungry.. or eating to fight off the cravings. I think I would be thrown out of the house if I even tried to eliminate all the temptation But it does make it harder for me to stay on track, especially in the evening, when it feels like I live in a restaurant: they're constantly, constantly eating

However, ((((Carmen)))), you certainly are an inspiration... and I think, a saint for having this kind of will-power!!!

((((Ann))) that book sounds interesting and I'll look for it. However, I know the feeling of: if she can loose 150 lbs, I should be able to loose a meager little 30 lbs . The leader of the weight loss group I should be attending went down from over 300 lbs to about 140. That is simply amazing and, like Carmen, doesn't stray from the program, at all. However, I think, that when you've lost sooooo much, the motivation may be greater.

One thing that makes it easier for me, versus those raising a family, is that I don't have to have the "goodies" on hand in my house for others. Plus, my husband (who is very, very thin) cannot have high-fat, high-cholesterol foods on a regular basis due to a heart condition. Believe me, if I had bags of chips, cookies, and the like in my house for family members...I would cave in and "indulge" along with the others. Hot fudge sundae...here I come!

And the reason I can exist on coffee until mid-afternoon (usually) is because I don't get up until late morning, and I've never had much of an appetite until I have been up for at least several hours. I am, by nature, a "night eater." How I love eating a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a dill pickle while I'm propped up in bed watching Jay Leno.

I have read many times in various articles about healthy diet and weight loss, that it's best to always eat breakfast, because doing that will supposedly curb your appetite for later. I tried that for a time, and here's what happened to me: Eating a bagel, muffin, or bowl of cereal in the morning seemed to make me hungrier by mid-afternoon. It's almost like it jump-started my appetite...weird, huh?

I hear you all ladies!!!!!! As most of you know, I did well recently and lost 50 pounds. But all of that stopped and now I cannot for the life of me lose any more weight. I don't exercise one tenth of what you do Ann but I am certainly more active than I ever was before with walking and Curves. My diet is a modified version of the South Beach Diet and as for donuts.........haven't had one in 3 years. So what I want to know if this.............does your body find comfort at a certain weight and unless you eat like Carmen , it is happy there? I used to be the weight I am now years ago, way before my hyst. And then I gained tons when my life turned around with health issues and stress issues. Now mind you I was not this fit but I always remained the same weight without any real restrictions food wise but I did walk a lot. I just don't get it.........how could one lose 50 pounds pretty easily and then lose nothing no matter how hard they try! I hear ya Ann, but I would kill if it were only 10 pounds!

Emily s

(((Emily))) I think you're on to something: I remember one conference, years ago, where it was mentionned that our body remembers a certain weight and will tend to think that it's the right place for you I also remember that there was a way to get beyond it but can't, for the life of me, remember what the solution was

(((Carmen))))Thanks for the explanation: you see, I'm up early to go to work (ok: it's not early for most of my co-workers... but it is for . I also am the kind who can't eat when I wake up... that's why I tend to skip breakfast on the week-end... <sigh>. In fact, I've read the you need to have breakfast before 8 or will risk gaining weight. I rarely eat before 10 am.

Normally, breakfast is cottage cheese with low-fat, sugar-free yogurt or a hard-boiled egg. If I opt for carbs, I almost always end jeopardizing my day. I also do best if I weight until the afternoon to add bread to my diet. My sister is the same. BTW, one of the tricks I still use from one group leader is to have my cereals in the evening: it means that I don't end having nothing to eat... except vegetables... in the evening (when the restaurant is open ).