Hey Lisa, Yea I too have gained. I was freaking out but I have stayed the same weight since last Sept, well I have actually dropped a few. My lowest was 150 which had me in a size 8. I got back up to 174 which killed me. I have been watching more closely plus I went back to work after being home for 6 years. I am down to 165, I would love to be about 155-160 that was a good weight. At 150 I didn't feel great and looking at pictures of me at that weight , I really didn't look all that great. I hope to believe it is normal for us to lose maybe too much at first and then our body adjusts. I swore I didn't want to live on a diet for the rest of my life, but you know if you write it down you see it. So I try to keep a journal. I try not to eat after 7pm which I will bump back to like 8pm since the weather is so nice and we are eating later. It is a disease we are never able to cure. I just would like it to stay stable. You take care. It was nice to see and hear from so many. Jane

Hi Bridgett, Thanks for the reply. I agree with what you said about the 5 day pouch test. I only got as far as day 4. I may try it again. I too know how to eat but can't seem to get the motivation that I had when I was 1st doing this. My mother-in-law gave me a membership here to a local gym here but I haven't been able to go since I was in a train accident and have been out of work since 3/26/08. I found a snap fitness center but it's like 10 miles from my house. I may contact them for a free week. It's time I have to do something. Agains, thanks for all the good advise. Chat soon, Lisa

Hi, Lisa - sorry to hear about the train accident and you're being unable to exercise for a while. That makes it tough to lose or even maintain... I know I went on at length in an earlier post, but I wanted to offer one additional suggestion that has been helpful to me. As I mentioned, I've been keeping a daily food journal for a couple years now. So I have a pretty good idea how many calories I can eat and maintain, what I need to cut out to lose, etc. About a year ago, I started thinking about my calories like I think about my financial budget, meaning that I have a certain number of calories to "spend" during the day and I work hard to stick to that budget. I make a quick food plan when I get up in the morning and am packing my lunch/snacks for the day, then I leave myself 500-600 calories for dinner and a bedtime snack. If I "overspend" during the day because I eat something that wasn't on my plan, then I'll look at where I can cut something else out later in the day. It's not really different than what I was doing before, but by thinking about it like I think about managing money it just seems more doable. The other thing is I do not berate myself if I choose to have a treat -- cookie, chocolate, etc. -- as long as I stick to my daily "budget." Rather than looking for a quick way to drop the regained weight, look for small things you're doing that are adding unintended calories to your day. Remember that consuming an extra 100 calories per day above what you're burning through your metabolism and exercise can add up to 10 pounds per year. But the upside of that is you can lose 10 pounds per year by cutting out as little as 100 calories per day, as long as you do it consistently!!! Good luck getting yourself back on track - I'll be checking back in here to see how you are doing! Kellie

Hi Jen, Thanks for the reply. I haven't gone to the gym in over 3 weeks. I was involved in a train accident here and am out of wor****il 4/21/08. Once I get the ok I will go back or I will take a walk around my condo once the weather gets a bit nicer. I will try to keep a food journal and see how it goes. If I eat something with sugar either right after, within a few hrs or the next day, I get very sick and end up in the bathroom. Not sure if eating it was worth it, but it did taste good I have to admit. Let's hope we all can get back to what we were doing while losing right after surgery. Chat soon, Lisa

Lisa, I'm so sorry to hear that you've gained. I too have gained also...20 lbs on the dot!! I'm afraid too that I'm going to gain it all back and end up being a complete and total failure! Motivation and confidence are the key to this I think and I don't know how to get it or find it. Baby steps I suppose! I've been under a lot of stress and my whole life feels like it is in a blender right now. My husband accepted a job in Austin Texas and moved half of our stuff down there. We aren't able to sell our house for what we owe, so I'm stuck here. He's gonna try and make his way back to Colorado if he can find a decent job. Meanwhile, I've been turning to food and ignoring my exercise and just plain out feeling sorry for myself. It sucks. I know I tried the 5 day pouch test but I got sooo sooo hungry the second day that it just fell apart.I've tried it several times but just couldn't make it past the liquids. The thing about all of this is, I know how to eat and I know what to eat but I've just allowed myself to put things in my mouth that I know I shouldn't. And...sitting on my butt after work when I know I should be hitting the gym. I'm thinking alot of what's going on..with me..at least is in my head. I've got to get that straight and then the rest will follow. Have you seen the guy on TLC who does mental exercises? I think it's called "I can make you think" I'm sure if you go to TLC's website it is on there..he is on Sunday nights..pretty good ideas. I don't know about you but I've tried going to the local support group here but it's more geared for people who are recently pre op/post op or less than a year out. So I wasn't really getting anything out of it so I quit going. This is hard to do this alone. I talked to one of the gals I work with who had the surgery done a few months after I did and she confessed to me that she has gained 40lbs. I suppose I can't complain too much about my 20. She is having terrible cravings for sugar and I get those too. I'm trying to go and drink something when I'm wanting something sweet and I guess it's working...slowly. I did take a big step on Friday. I was sooo upset last week when a coworker of mine comes up and said geeze you're getting a tummy and patted my stomach (where the extra skin is) and then another coworker came up and said are you pregnant?? How embarassing and it really hurt my self esteem and I cried for hours when I got home. Sooo this Friday, I signed up for a gym membership. I don't know if you have this club out in Mass..but it's called Snap Fitness and it's a 24-7 workout club. I went in tonight and worked out for a good hour and a half. I liked it and it was no meat market! I'm going to see if I can go in before work and then I'm able to keep my nights open to relax. Here's their website..Snapfitness.com and you can put in your zip code to find a club near you if they have one. I think if we all support each other here again like we did when we all had this done, we can get back on track with things. I hope you are doing well...and hope everyone who comes back here to post and read are doing well also. I know that this is an embarassing problem but I know we have it in us to fix it..it's not too late! Bridgett