weight gain :( x-posted in Ontario forum

Hi, I have been away for a while but I am wondering if the same thing has happened to anyone else. No judgment please, I just need words of wisdom. I was doing well following my RNY and then got pregnant, despite being careful because for some reason no one would give me birth control. I hit my lowest weight of 194 when I was about 7 Months pregnant with DD. When all was said and done, I was 206. then over the next several months I went up to about 245 pounds (over 4 months) I wasn't perfect, but I certainly wasn't that bad. It stayed there for about a year and a half and then stated to creep up again to 252.

May 1st, I committed to getting back on track and fully commit. I have been compliant since May 1 with only one or two small tweaks from the dietitian. No diet pop, no coffee, no refined sugars, no white starche****ting my water, fibre and protein target and compliant with vitamins. I have also been exercising, doing a program set up by a professional. I do 5 sessions of cardio per week, plus minimum two lower body, upper body and core work outs per weeks (I usually get 3 core and upper body in).

So I have been on plan for 15.5 weeks and working out like a beast for 6.5. The scale? Not.One.Pound. I am so frustrated and discouraged. So part of the gain was behavioural for sure. But nothing explains this. Even  I am trying so so so hard and sticking with it despite lack of results. Even my clothes don't feel any looser. I feel awful and tired all of the time, but the endocrinologist isn't concerned about thyroid nodules and falling TSH. I am so fed up, even with the RNY, my loss was slow and painful compared to most others.

Help! Has this happened to anyone else and how did you resolve it?

What is your plan? Are you weighing or measuring your portions? What are you eating?

I have been over my diet with the dietitian at the weight management clinic. She approved everything and added a fruit serving and reminded me to measure and use small plates. Which I do. I weigh and measure everything. I keep my protein in the 70-90 g per day with an average calorie cost of 10-15 cal per gram of protein, generally 1000-1150 calories per day.

For exercise, I am working on jogging on the treadmill in intervals with brisk walking x30 minutes Currently I am running 10 out 30 minutes, increasing by two minutes of running each wee****il I get to a full 30 minute run (I tend to get injuries if I progress too fast). I also go mountain biking (plenty of hills to ride up) for 30 minutes twice per week. My strentgh training are a series of exercises design to provide a full body work out. there are a total of 18 exercises with 3 reps each. I have been super-compliant and have been really good about managing head hunger thinking about what I would have to do to to burn the calories off. My one bad. I had one cupcake a week ago. other than that I have been really good and I am proud of it.

Based on the ticker in your signature, as you currently pregnant? If so, that's probably a pretty good reason why you might not be losing weight.

No I forgot to change it. I actually lose weight when preggo. Definitely not pregnant.

Well, you're doing a lot that is RIGHT. Here are a few things to think about. (And yes, I've dealt with regain my own self! 6 years out and moving the right direction now!)

At 1000-1150 calories, your intake may be more "maintenance" level than "weight loss" level. Yes, you are exercising but that doesn't mean you get to eat the calories you burn. I find that I can lose at 800-1000 - but over 1000 and I do well to hold my own. (Reading again, I"m making an assumption here - do you mean that your total calorie intake is 1000-1150? That's how I'm reading it but the term "calorie cost" is not familiar to me.)

I know you're working on an approved plan and again - doing a lot right - but a few thoughts.

One - watch out for fruit. I allow myself fruit about twice a week. Not every day. 

Two - track what you eat (you may be doing this) on an app like Lose It or My Fitness Pal and look at the balance of protein, carbs, and fats. Also check out what's happening with sodium. 70-90 gm of protein seems like a lot - I'd be interested what others currently aim for. My target is 65 gm. 

Three - when you choose protein, try sticking with fish several times a week. I swear, if I eat fish, I lose weight. Limit red meat, but it's not off limits entirely. I have it about once a month.

Are you getting healthy fats in the balance (avocado, a few almonds)?

Are you using protein shakes or bars or all regular food?

I do know this. Losing regain is incredibly hard. I said once here that it's like chiseling granite with the end of your toothbrush. The weight WILL come off! 

Sadly dieticians are some of the worst people to get dietary advice from just as personal trainers tend to be the worst to give exercise advice. For people who are supposed to be educated in their fields they know very little about current WLS rules or exercise needed. A proper diet for weight loss is protein forward which means protein first always then a bite or two of non starchy veggies and maybe an occaisional carby veg or grain but I would say certainly no more than once a week and personally I only do it maybe monthly if that. I prefer just meat and veg myself, I keep mine under 20 grams a day and no fruit at all, it is nothing but straight sugar. Also during weight loss phase calories should be between 600-800 then when in maintenance you can go up to around 1000-1200.
Don't let anyone scare you with starvation mode or whatever they call that. We can survive quite nicely on very few calories. As obese people we don't burn calories the same as normal people do so we need more drastic measures

Also remember you are at that point in your surgery where the malabsorbtion is fading and you are starting to absorb more and more food especially carby types of food. So if you really want to get those pounds off I suggest you try cutting back on the amount of food, cut all fruits and keep up with your exercise also I don't know if you subtract your exercise from your food calories but I suggest you do not because we don't really know for a fact how many calories are used during exercise. So if you keep your exercise at or above what you are doing now and cut back on the food you should be golden and start dropping weight like crazy! Changing our food does far more for weight loss than upping exercise does. Do this for a month and see how you do, you will be able to chase that little one all over in no time!

Sounds like you are eating enough to maintain your current weight.  You need to cut calories in order to lose.  Like others have said - 800 calories a day with min 80gm of protein is what I ate to lose to goal.  I maintain on 1150-1200 and must be extremely careful or  will gain and gain fast.  

Good luck - you have an awesome tool and you can get where you want to be it's just going to take perseverance and dedication. 

You have already taken the hardest step by saying enough is enough and now I want to get back on track.  Here are some steps I hope will help you. They helped me...  Also, be sure and join the Back On Track Together group link in my signature area.  

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery?  How many meetings, classes and such did we attend?  We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success.  And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods.  Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies and fruits.  

Journaling

Get back to journaling.  This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life.  Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating.  It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband.  It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food.  Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker

Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself.  Make them realistic and small.  Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fa

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calories, and sugar. Important vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan)

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea?  I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass.  So I was either pushing to be diabetic or get cancer.  I found once I started carrying a bottle of water around 24/7 (yes had one at my bedside) I lost the cravings for the sugar and I KNOW those artificial sweeteners are not good for me. Look I am old and if you add up all the artificial sweeteners I have consumed I am sure I am at the rat in the lab getting cancer threshold

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what I kept moving.  If I could not go to the gym I would walk. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lift weights. When I stopped, the weight came on.  So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV.  Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group.

Keep me posted on how you are doing