Why are they doing better than me!?

I had my VSG in September, I was 233 to start, lost 20 pre-op on liquids, 214 on the day of surgery and am 173 today.    I am not guffawing at my progress at all, I am VERY proud of what i have done so far.  I have also become an athlete, I run 5ks and am body building.  But I am not LOSING anymore and this is what frustrates me. 

People say, Muscle weighs more than fat, but via ratio, I should STILL be losing!  I am only 5'2 and am still obese.  My scale has only moved 2lbs since the week before Christmas.  I admit I indulged for about 2 weeks, but have been back on track and working hard. 

I was ok with it at first figuring I was just stalled, but I think it's something else now.  This is going on too long.   I track what I eat, focus on Protein etc and yet am still struggling.   I admit I could do better with my fluid intake.  Water is a shortcoming for sure...

Whats happening now is I'm seeing all these people do SO well who DIDN'T have 80% of their stomach removed.  They are kicking my ass.    

What sucks is I felt soo good about myself, I was on a roll, it was slow, bu tit was going.  Now I feel like maybe it wasn't worth it, and I think it's depressing me. 

My girlfriend says I burned myself out over it because I "obsessed" too much, writing down everything I ate with the rule "you bite it you write it", made sure I ate and drank all the right things and the right amts... was the freaking poster child for WLS.... but am starting to loose the groove, my lack of success is doing this to me. 

So, lay it on me.  Give me some advice, how do you stay on track when you feel like giving up?   We sacrifice so much, how do you keep it up forever???

Thanks! 

Discouraged Mel

probably you need to adjust the amount od cals and carbs you are eating

YOU CAN DO IT !!!!

It is hard to give advice because I don't know the amount of calories, protein and carbs that you are eating.  The most likely scenario is that you are eating too many calories and carbs and possibly not enough protein, but I am only guessing as I don't know the actual numbers.

I was in a looooong stall for what seemed like forever. I kept going up 3 pounds and down one. I got some good advice from some of the vets. Your fluid intake is EXTREMELY important. Especially if you are working out real hard. We should be drinking at least 64+ oz a day normally but when we work out we need more . I upped my water (just plain water) to 100+ oz and I lost 4 pounds the next day. Also, I have recently been tacking everything on MFP and I noticed my carb intake was very high. My NUT doesn't want me counting calories or carbs but everyone on here does. Less than 40 g of carbs. I kept my carbs down and yep another 3 pounds. I know how it is to get discouraged. Keep your chin up and drink tha****er. Hugs. Jessica

Since you didn't note it on your post......

The obvious thing would be to look at your calorie/carb intake.......

With you activity level you would have to be in excess of 1200cals a day and higher on the carbs..... like 80 or more.....

Just a guess.....

frisco

I know how you feel..I have three colleagues who started losing weight when I had WLS. Two women and a man. The man lost 25 lbs. the women lost close to what I lost...one was losing because her husband left. The other one I think was doing the Ducan diet. Time will tell if any of them will keep the weight off. I just keep saying to myself that I am not them. For years I was never able to stick to a diet to lose any significant amount and keep it off so while it is a bit depressing seeing my friends and colleagues lose without surgery...I am still glad I did it because I could not have done it without.

So that is the head part...now to jump start your weight loss again...maybe tell us what your day looks like food wise. And yes, muscle weighs more but is leaner. Are you losing inches?

Maybe slack off the body building some and alternate running and walking.  Don't know what you are eating, but it could either be too much or not enough. Your body may be holding on to weight because you are working it too hard.

A couple thoughts- without knowing your macros these are just shots in the dark..

A pound of fat weighs the same exact as a pound of muscle- we all know muscle doesn't weigh more than fat, just takes up less space.. so getting smaller while staying the same weight could possibly be happening. Measuring your body helps, as does just paying attention to how things fit. 

Slacking off and indulging for a couple weeks or three can def take some time to bounce back from. It takes me nearly a month to drop off a couple weeks of crazy vacation eating if I go that far (I don't go deprivation diet-eating crazy after a splurge trip, so it's a slower process for me now, but it keeps me sane.).

You track- but what and how? What are your macros? Do you eyeball or weigh & measure? For me- I need to do the nitty-gritty weigh on a scale routine every day still, or else my portions would start to creep a bit. More working out generally='s more appetite, without the controls in place of measured intake, you could have been getting a bit of a creep in there w/o realizing it maybe? This is a very common pitfall with working out.. Your routine sounds great, especially the bodybuilding. Lifting heavy is the best way to ramp up your metabolism, running is another matter- but so long as you are not overdoing the cardio (cortisol increases a lot with excessive cardio) you should be ok. If anything has to go by the wayside for a bit- switch it up to less intense walking/hiking- but don't stop the lifting.. it's very good for us all.

I did eat almost exclusively protein and fats to lose that first year with just a smattering of veggies- but my restriction was (still is great) but was really tight that I couldn't FIT much more in than what I needed to make my protein goals, if I could have- I would have been eating more veggies all along. So check yourself- see if things need tweaking in that regard since weight loss really falls heavily on intake rather than expense- what you eat is going to drive your losses far more than any workout routines. Activity is positively great though- just needed to put that in there so folks don't think I'm anti-exercise.. It's wonderful for health, mobility, stress relief and for maintaining a healthy body, just not a replacement for slack eating when we need to lose excess fat..

As far as how do you keep going? Don't get discouraged by the huge picture.. this may just be a stall from your body bouncing back from holiday eating.. but it's just a small blip in the rest of your life.. You have the remainder of your time here to make improvements and keep the healthy ball rolling, there is no deadline you have to shoot for. Try to perceive what you are doing and make what you are doing sustainable and enjoyable for the long-haul. It has to be something you can sustain or else we fall into the trap of thinking of these things we are doing now as somehow temporary which will not work, we know this..

I hate saying this since it's so pat- but it has to be your lifestyle, your new normal- better make sure it's something that you can live with! For me- I am taking it one day at a time, trying to make the best calls at every opportunity, making small changes that keep me active and off my ass, and doing things that I enjoy (and not stressing over things I'm not doing).. and eating in a way that makes me (my body, mouth, and brain) feel good. 

You now are healthier than when you started- right? You can keep making small tweaks or maintain those already in place (and obviously working!) and get healthier as time goes on. Allowing yourself the thoughts that this somehow was not worth it is like telling yourself that all that you've accomplished in these months was for nothing because you are not *there* yet.. but when you re-think a bit, you are better off now than you were then, so what are you really mourning? You are letting yourself fall into a trap of seeing the end as somehow different than the middle or the beginning.. when it really is a life-long process of small decisions. As someone on the other side of this, and past the losing stage, it's not a whole lot different.. and that to me is a good thing.

Hope this helps a little!

Thank you everyone. 

I do track on MFP 
I stay within my ranges, but do see some flaws (carbs of course). I Measure everything, weight and size.   

My settings are: 
Calories 800
Proteins 80
Carbs 60

So, it sounds like my fluid intake could be a major part of it, and then taking time to bounce back from the holiday over-indulgence.  

I take my measurements, and have had some changes there too, Up in a few areas and down in others.  (*I'm guessing that is because of building muscle).  

Based on above info, try to up your protein 20 and lower your carbs by 20 or 40, and increase your water to 100. If you're doing muscle resistance you need to up protein I think.

I started at 215 and just got to 165 basically at 4 months instead of the 3 months ( I was almost there but have only lost 5 this past month! Also working out, and following my own above advice! If it's not protein rich, don't eat it for a week and see if your weight drops. I realized I was getting in carbs from die****ers and jerky.... Back to real water and fresh chicken)

Good luck to us both!!

Christina

I'm no vet but that's what I think they'd say

Christina