Fat again...need help please!

Hello all.  I have been gone for a bit and I have gained quite a bit of weight.  I had a lap band for about 3 years then revised to VSG.  Lost more weight, got divorced, graduated from nursing school, moved to a new city, started a new career, got into a new relationship and gained weight.  I am sure that I have stretched my stomach and I need to make a plan to get back in control.  I am up over 200.lbs again when my lowest weight was between 150 and 160.  

Please , I need some real advice.  Can I try weigh****chers? Will someone share menu's with me?  I need some real, hands on advice.  Thanks in advance.

Angi ?

Absolutely you can try Weigh****chers if you think it would work for you. I would not buy their frozen meals or anything like that as they are too carb-heavy.

IMO there isn't one magic bullet that works for everyone. I have a plan for when I get over my comfort zone for weight. The first part I stole from kairk with a few modifications. I find it works really well for me! It is pretty hard core. I am a firm believer that for most people, when they need to lose more than a couple of pounds, just tweaking things a bit here and there is not going to cut it. That said, here is my plan:

Days 1 - 3: eat nothing but lean, unprocessed meat, eggs, green veggies, and moderate amounts of healthy fats. Drink only calorie-free liquids. Unprocessed means no sausage, bacon, jerky, deli meats, salami, anything like that. No sauces, no cheese, no protein shakes. Herbs and spices are fine. I eat as much as I want, whenever I want, and do not track anything in MyFitnessPal. If you let yourself eat as much as you want, you cannot complain about being "hungry." This eating plan lets me re-establish the difference between true hunger and head hunger and it helps me re-learn my true restriction. It's also healthy and it's difficult to eat so much that you will gain weight. I usually lose a significant amount of weight even though I am eating as much as I want.

Days 4 & 5 - start weighing/measuring my portions and tracking everything in myfitnesspal. Continue to eat the same types of food and eat as much as I want.

Day 6 forward: add in moderate amounts of beans, legumes, nuts, fruit (no tropical fruit), and dairy. Set a calorie goal in myfitnesspal (I set mine at 1100 per day) and continue to measure portions and track faithfully. No sweets, no grains, no starchy veggies, no alcohol.

Throughout: exercise at least 5 days per week, 30 minutes per day. I do not attempt to measure calories burned or eat them back, I just make sure to exercise.

Weigh every day.

Good luck to you!

This is awesome advise!! I'm so glad you shared it 

Nice personal adaption! Like you said, it's not a one size fits all thing! 

AngiVSG, you should try visiting the forum "Back on Track". You may find some tips there as well. Best of luck.

The good news is that your tool is still there, you just need to remember how to use it again.  Start off by weighing and logging every single thing you put into your mouth using something like MyFitnessPal.  From there, get back to your basics.  Here are mine, yours might be slightly different:

1. Prioritize protein and water
2. Deprioritize carbs, especially the refined and processed ones
3. Make the most of healthy fats
4. Eat three meals a day with no snacks
      a. Do not drink while eating or for 30 minutes after eating
5. Avoid liquid calories (breakfast protein shake is the exception)
6. Weigh portions, log everything consumed
7. Eat mindfully and with no distractions aside from real live people
8. Move as much as possible
9. Weigh myself daily
10. Be kind to myself

The reality is that your sleeve will stretch over time...and yes, the honeymoon is over for magical weight loss.  The good news is that your sleeve will never be close to the original size, so it's there for you even if you're not feeling it like you did before.  The key is that you need to eat like you mean it again and kick those bad habits to the curb to kick into losing again.

My surgeon told me the sleeve doesn't stretch as much as people think. They remove the stretchy part of the stomach. He said I might stretch 1-1/2 to 2 oz but that's it. Get back to basics, meat, meat, meat and super low carbs and non starchy veggies. I think you will be surprised about how much restriction you still have. Once you get over your carb cravings it will get better. Just the other day I ate some popcorn and the next day I felt like I couldn't eat enough! I was constantly hungry! 

I've heard (basically) the same thing.  The sleeve maintains a fairly constant size (with minor exceptions).  Going back to eating lean protein and not drinking during or immediately after a meal puts the ol' restriction back into high gear.

Hi!  I'm in the exact same boat!  I gained back 90 pounds of my weight.  On 15OCT I decided I'd had enough.  I got my food back on track.  Got rid of all the white carbs, and started tracking every bit of food I eat.  Back to 1000 cals a day, plus exercise, water, vites and PROTEIN.  I'm down 20 pounds since, and it feels great.  It's not flying off like before, but it has momentum.  And seeing it go gives me drive. 

I'm not the only one here doing a 'reset' right now either.

You're not alone.  This is the place to be, 'cos the support is what is invaluable.