Help! Rebound Weight Gain After GBS and Quitting Drinking Wine

Friends - It will be my 4 year gastric bypass surgery anniversary in October of this year. My highest weight was 311 pounds. 

I got down to 145 pounds and maintained that weight until August of 2014. Since then I have put on 15 pounds (5 in the last week!!).

I  thought it was my fitness that needed to be changed up so at the beginning of May I started doing more weight training - high intensity cardio for 20 mins plus about 45 mins of weight training and core work, on the rest day I do a 45 min swim. I continued to gain weight. I went from 155 to 158. I was told this might be muscle tears and inflammation. 

As I was still not seeing any results I gave up my wine habit (this was very hard but I am clearer headed). This was a transfer addition post GBPS. I had been drinking at least 600-800 empty calories in wine each night for the last two years. I continued my fitness routine and instead of wine I drank copious amounts of various tea's. I stayed under my calorie intake and I should have lost more than three pounds. Instead I gained three more in a week 158 to 161!! 

I am now at my highest weight since reaching my goal and I'm defeated, depressed and just beside myself as to what to do. 

If anyone has experienced this and can help me to get back to my goal I would really be grateful. 

Thank you! 

HI!

I think that this has happened to quite a few of us.  Including myself.

There is a site, under Community, Groups, Getting back on track.  

Also there are a lot of wise vets on here, Frisco, Elina1, Kairk to name just  a few.  

Please don't panic.  That just goes around and around in circles.  At least that is what happens to me. 

You might want to consider going back to how you ate when you were losing the weight. 

All the best, but I do know that you are not alone. 

The vets you mentioned all had the VSG, not RNY. That makes a difference, or, well..I think it should anyway. I'd never tell a VSG'er how to fight regain since I'm not as familiar with that surgery type, but that's just how I roll. Plus, Elina deactivated some time ago; unless she's returned recently.

I so agree with this 100% and I would never publicly give regain advice or any other advise specific to a surgery I didn't have in an open online forum like this even though I've worked with a bariatric RD on nutritional/food prep coaching for several RNY and DS patiants.

It is very intertaing to see a few RNY patiants giving advise in the VSG forum when they have no clue on how the VSG works besides what's written in the brochure. On the flip side there seems to be a couple of VSG noobs that knows what's up with multi year WLS weight management issues and they haven't even lost the weight yet.

frisco

FYI,the VSG wasn't an option when several of us had our surgeries. It also doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand how a VSG works. It's a restriction only surgery where neither the Cardiac or Pyloric sphincters are changed. It is a fully functioning stomach just a much smaller stomach. I assure you we have followed all the advances over the years and are pretty confident in advising anyone on how to get back to the basics when they slip. 

How many calories a day are you eating? Cut back 500 calories a day to lose roughly a pound a week. Stopping the wine is great, but you also need to focus on your food. Good luck!

That is my point - I am tracking and eating no more than 2000 calories a day and I burn off 500-1000 calories a day and adjust my eating based on that. The math has been easy to follow and track, and that is my point - I should have lost weight but the opposite is happening since I stopped drinking wine. 

I don't know if my body is going into storage mode because I no longer have the sugar from the wine? 

I am certainly not a vet, but I can tell you at 17 months out that I would NEVER lose at 2000 calories a day.  In fact, I have tested it repeatedly and 950 to 1150 calories is maintenance level for me -- I must eat under 950 to lose weight.  I also work out every day -- but have learnt to never deduct that from my food allowance.  The amount burned is notoriously overestimated and only causes me to eat more.  The great majority of vets state that 1200 to 1500 is maintenance for them.  I sadly suspect you will need to cut your calories in order to lose what you desire. 

I hope this helps!  Good luck -- and congrats on dumping the wine habit.  

You have it backwards. You are supposed to be eating 800-1000 and burning off 200-500 thru exercise. 

Are you sure you're burning 500-1,000 calories a day?

I'm not being rude, but it would take a lot of INTENSE ACTIVITY to burn that much (think pro-athlete). A good rule of thumb is a one-mile run burns just over 100 calories. Of course it varies based on body weight, speed, intensity etc, but it always reminds me that I really have to haul it just to burn 100 calories. A lot of the fitness/food trackers, even cardio equipment, often provide inaccurate calorie-burn counts. 

Keep that in mind when you calculate activity, and be careful not to overeat based on these adjustments.

Good luck!