Tale of Twin Cities

Just got home and hour ago from a conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I thought about you guys constantly. This was a national, annual conference for Information Technology folks in the Human Services field. Hundreds and hundreds of people from all around the country and it's a big deal. While state government doesn't have much money, the vendors who want to sell us stuff do and they really go all out to try to get our business. There's a constant flow of free booze and food, a sky box at a baseball game complete with someone to wait on us hand and foot, tailgate parties, carnivals with jugglers, fortune tellers, more food, cookie breaks, more food. I really thought I had this in control. I actually met another wls buddy there and every morning we walked three miles before the meetings started. When others took a cab to the ball park, I walked there and back. I walked, walked, walked at lunch time and each day logged at least 6 miles. The first day, I worked out in the hotel gym for two hours in addition to my walk. At the continental breakfasts, I only ate the fruit. I limited myself to one glass of wine a day. At the dinners, I ate the boiled crab and shrimp and avoided the chips and junk food. I passed on the breads and desserts. I avoided the cookie trays except for one afternoon when I ate the raisins out of one oatmeal cookie and threw the rest away. At the tailgate party, I had a hamburger patty with no bread, no chips, no nothin'. I was Gooooood! There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to come back a few pounds lighter than when I left. I gained 9 pounds!!!! 9 pounds in 4 days! How in the hell do you gain 9 pounds in 4 days?!?!? That's more than 2 pounds a day! I'm really depressed about this. Any ideas or words of wisdom? I'm so bummed. Connie

did you fly? you probably have water weight that will go away. or maybe you worked out so much you gained 9 pounds in muscle! your such a good wls person that i'm sure that will be gone in no time. i hate it when i gain its so easy to go on with no reason for it to go on and so veryhard to make it go away. the making it go away takes alot of wor****ep reminding myself that now i'm thin - so now i have the thin issues. when i was fat it was easy to go on and not that hard to go off. but back then i'd gain 20 pounds lose 10 feel good about losing 10 and figure it would be ok to eat that box of fugies.

You are in good company, sweetheart. Here we are, a full two-and-a-half years post-surgery and there is no rhyme or reason to our newly constructed physiological makeup. For instance, I've been taking a sleep aid at night for a few months with no problem whatsoever; last night, I almost screamed in agony and pain. The same goes for food and weight gain. If I were to try to make sense of this for you, I would say that you are retaining water AND you've built up some nice, hefty muscle mass from all that walking and working out. Although I've always heard that muscle weighs more than fat, I didn't really buy into the theory until this leg injury -- during the 8 weeks I was literally unable to move (let alone work out), my weight kept going down. I got down to 141 and thought I was on a roll and would see those magical numbers in the 130s...ha! I've been walking and working out now for the past two weeks and I'm right back up to 145 (was 147 three days ago). I will say that I've been grazing on things I have no business being in the same room with (and I don't mean my husband) -- so the morale of the story, darlin', is DON'T DESPAIR! I KNOW how awful you feel about seeing those numbers. We all do. We all feel awful to see a weight gain when we look back at what we've done to lose the weight. Just breathe through it; get a grip; drink, drink, drink your water. Try eating nothing but salads and protein for 2 days and I swear you will feel better, no matter if those numbers move or not. It's all good, Connie. You'll be fine. Love ya, M.

I dont' understand the weight gain for no reason either. I we do the same thing day in and day out why does it happen? I'm menopausal so maybe its hormones? the lack of? who knows? sometimes I think that the doctors don't totally know either. Its a guessing game and our heads are playing it! Reenie I had something happen yesterday that reminded me that my tummy is smaller! I drank without sipping and whew thought it was going to come right back up! I've not had that happen in a long time. Just forgot that that opening while it might have stretched a bit is still tiny and can't handle a sunami of water. love ya

When our Happy Girl is sad, we sit up and take notice...are you feeling better today?

As I type this, I am sitting here eating peanutbutter out of the jar with a spoon, and the sad thing is that this was the best choice of several I considered! Connie, do you remember before WLS when we would eat 1 lb of chocolate and gain 5 lbs?? I think your experience fits into that same category! I admire you so much for your will power and drive to exercise. Ultimately when you choose the behavior you choose the consequences, and your long-term consequences will be positive. I did not panic when the scales showed a rise from my low a year out of surgery. But that rise is still happening. Slowly. The worst part is the carb cravings are killing me! And unfortunately, I fear the consequences of my bad choices! Maureen, I wish I could join you all at that support meeting Monday!! Joy

Hey, you're only a plane ride away! Joy, this is happening for all of us, I'm sure of it. It's the primary reason the communication on our board is so sparse now. I say -- no, I bellow -- CALL TO ARMS! Let's stop ducking and hiding our heads in the sand because we can't face the reality of what's happening...the surgery as catalyst for behavioral change and health and wellbeing served its purpose. Now, it's up to us. Hugs to you, sweetie. M.

Hey Connie; While I can understand your "Bumming" at the tale of the scale.....Let's get real here....There's no way in hell that you put on 9 pounds of fat in 4 days....I don't care if your diet was from the Paul Bunyan Cookbook!!!! It sounds like you were a model of good behavior, so relax. It's got to be water weight. Just relax and take a deep breath....I'm positive that the scale will tell the truth in a few days. I hope that I don't sound like an un-sympathetic ******* (I do feel your pain), but you need to think clearly about this. I'll bet that you take a lot of extra trips to the bathroom in the next few days. Take care and stop stressing about this. Big Hugs; Mike

Hey Guys, Thanks for talking me off the ledge. It is water weight. After I typed my hysterical plea for help, I took two Lasix, which I didn't take during the conference and peed away 7 pounds by morning. Packed a bag and was back on the road by noon. I just got home and weighed and have got three of the lost 7 back, but I know for sure that it's water. I'm so swollen that I can't see the bones in my feet or hands. At this point, the swelling is painful so hopefully, I'll find me under all this spongey skin sometime soon. Thanks for being there. I know I can always count on you guys for sane advice. By the way, I found a cure for constipation while in Minnesota. It would seem that being lost by myself on the streets of a strange city at 5:00 am will give me a bad attack of diarrhea. I don't think I'll try that as a laxative again. It took me three days to unclench my butt cheeks. Hugs, Connie