Intro and seeking support

[Guest guest]

Greetings everybody! Please let me introduce myself. My name is

. I had a proximal Lap RNY in March 2002. I was always one of

those slow losers, but by last September was down to 178 (from 270).

But, in September, I moved overseas for my work and things have just

been so dificult since then. I am up to 184, and really trying to

get back on track to reach my goal of 160 before I am home in

September...or atleast get back in a downward trend. I know the

things I am doing wrong, and am really trying to turn things around,

but really need some support on this on, and there just isn't any

supprt where I live now (far eastern Europe, CIS-block country,

small expatriate community.)

I fully accept responsibility for the pounds I've gained, and for

not losing anything in over 6 months, when I should still be going

down. I've been so stressed here, and have fallen back to the old

comforts of carbs and sweets and grazing. I also drink here more

than I did, which is just liquid carbs. I am cutting that down to

just weekends. I'd like to cut it out entirely for the diet sake,

but sometimes, after a day here, you just need a beer with your

friends! It is also more difficult here because food and alcohol are

such a focal point of socialization, both in the expat community,

and in this part of the country (world?) in general. Eating here is

a major production...even lunch is expected to be a multi-course

meal. I'm avoiding that by going home for lunch, and am trying to

focus on my workouts on the evenings Mon-Thur at least. So there is

certainly situational circumstances that have made this hardeer on

me, but I've been weak and made bad choices to cope with the

excessive stress of living and working here. So I am trying to be

better in that regard.

One thing that I'd love to get feedback on from folks is how much

you can eat. Some days I feel like I can eat so much, and I don't

know if it is normal, if my pouch is stretched out, or if I have a

mechanical failure. I just don't know. Will some of you please share

with me how much you can eat at a meal?

Also, for folks withg strong carb addictions like I seem to have,

what are some of your tips for how you've dealt with it? Two days

with now sweets (the real downfall), bread, crackers or

starches...pretty good, but how long can I go?? What has worked for

you in getting the carb monstor back out of your blood?? How long

will it take?? (And unfortunately I've never dumped.)

I guess I know that I've come so far. I am a size 10, which is

awesome, but I really want to readh a " normal " weight, which is 160

for me. I guess in some ways, I feel like I am letting myself down,

like I've failed.

Thanks for listening!