The battle is for life but it's still worth it.

I haven't been on this site or posted in years and I'm still not sure what's compelling me to do it now either but here goes.

I had bypass surgery back on Sept 1st 2016. I was 320 and got as low as 175 and was used as the hospitals Gastric Bypass poster child. I was on busses, billboards, and newspaper / magazine adds. No pressure there to stay thin huh? Then the little demon that sits on your shoulder started winning the battle and my weight did go up a bit. I was eating right and tracking everything. Getting exercise on a regular schedule and was really comfortable where I was personally, and emotionally. When the demon won my weight went back up to 230 but I wasn't going to let that demon come back. I wasn't going to go through all this crap again. I did a reset and brushed off the bariatric meal plans, dusted off my bike and my running shoes and said not today and have settled back in at 195 and have lived here for 7 years now. I still eat the wrong thing more often than I should but I remember that moderation is the name of the game we play, and sadly my brain isn't wired for that game so I have to be mindful about it daily.
I feel like I'm rambling here and I could go on forever about all the ups and downs (more ups than downs for sure) that I have gone through but I know I hate reading super long posts from other so I'll get to the point.

Here it is. The magic bullet if you will. There are lyrics to a song by Led Zeppelin that say "yes there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road your on"! Always, alway, always remember that. No matter what your current situation, weight, finance, relationships, you name it, only you have the power to make positive change in your life. So dust off the old diet, dust off the old sneakers, dust off the old Angel on your shoulder and kick off the demon and go get the results you want. It ain't gonna be easy but is anything really worth while easy?

Thanks for letting me ramble but it was posts like this that I connected to when I was struggling and I hope just one person gets inspired to change the rut they are in after reading this to make positive moves for there own future.

I heard Dr Nowzardin from My 600 Pound Life speak at the OH conference last month. He said 75% of weight loss surgery patients regain all or most of their weight. He is doing a new show in January that will focus on patients *****gained and had revision surgery. You are doing wonderful. Congratulations.

I do remember him saying something like this, but I wonder if it's because he specializes in very high BMI patients. I just checked some statistics from NIH and it said the average gain at the five-year point is 15% of the lowest weight achieved (which means if you get down to 140 lbs, you'll be at 161 at the five-year mark). Although it said that 37% of patients had "significant" regain at the five-year mark (it didn't translate that into a percentage of regain, though). I also read that regain is more significant in the super obese, so I'm wondering if that's why his percentages are so high (??)

I was told by my Surgeon in Syracuse NY, that the average gain post op was 20-25% of the total loss. I have used that as my goal since 2016. Lost 145 so 20% is 29lbs. Lowest weight was 175 and now living at 195 which means I'm happy to be below average!!

me too! I lost 235 lbs but have gained back 30 +/- since then, so that's below 20% of my total loss, too...

Congrats that is still something to shout from the rooftops.

Just logged back in today and my mind is blown by this site. So glad I used it. Your joinery sounds like mine. Thank you for posting this because I needed this reminder. -Nina

Nina:

You got this. Walk, Run, Bike, do whatever your body will allow. It help support both physical health along with Mental health and if you're anything like me you are totally mental.LOL

Thank you, I will have to go back to my basics and move with intention. I can use the distraction from the things that I allow me to make the bad choices more often. It's totally mental.

I'm so grateful for this site I forgot what a major part it played to keep me focused motived. I wonder how many come back to this site for that community we had.

Good luck on your journey.

You got this. It's all a mind game and that's the hardest muscle to train unfortunately. I have faith in you that you can get to your goals. Do you have faith in YOU??