weight regain after gastric bypass?

I am 7 years out from gastric bypass surgery and a 168lbs loss.  it was indeed a successful surgery and I felt great for the first time in a long time.  Sadly the last 3-4 years now I have regained 50lbs and I am again faced with depression and feeling of failure and hopelessness, self esteem flushing away and I am in need of friends to help.. The been there and won that battle is what I need for encouragement.  I cannot and do not wish to hear the exercise and drink more water stuff, although good for you its not necessarily a daily availability for me with my current job.  I have not really strayed from my diet although I am able to eat more before that honeymoon "full" feeling appears.?  Is there anyone out there that is willing to be my support hose? lol Maybe someone wanting to be a team and conquer this together?  I have a big difficult goal, I want to try and lose as much of the 50lb regain in 2 months.. My baby girl graduates high school and I want to look & feel good. 

Kellie

I had a 90lb regain and I have lost 50 of it - I am 5 years out. I can totally relate to feeling like a failure and being depressed and hopeless about it. I had a serious grazing/sugar problem - that's the basics of my regain. Food was my drug of choice. I finally had to give in to  big resistance to OA and give it a try and it's worked miracles for me. That's the only thing I can really credit to the weight loss. It's taken me just under 4 months to lose it. 

Just as a side note- you're going to set yourself up for failure either physically/mentally or both if you put any kind of time limits on your WL. Those kinds of expectations lead to a lot of disappointment and disappointment for most of us means more eating and the cycle just continues. You will find much more peace and serenity if you focus on following a solid plan and not on the scale (which we honestly have no control over what our bodies want to do or how fast it's willing to let go of the fat). 

My current plan includes :

Lots of OA stuff - reading/writing/ meetings

Abstain 100% from flour/added sugars/personal triggers

eat 3 meals a day with protein being the main component with some veggies and small amounts of carbs

1 protein or fruit snack 

I never eat outside my meal/snack times regardless of what's going on. I cook most of the time. 

Water is ehhhh for me. 

I don't exercise per se but I'm quite active - usually just long walks with my dog and a hike on the weekends. 

Congrats on your loss and regain loss.!  I appreciate your encouraging words.

Kellie

I'll be ten years out from RNY in a couple of months, and I'm dealing with regain, as well. It's not that my surgery has failed, it's mostly that I got my head OUT of the game. I started drinking with meals, I started eating sugar, started snacking on crackers from the vending machine at work, etc.

Pair that with the fact that I can't walk the three miles a day that I used to walk, and that explains the gain. 

I'm working on it, though, and some days are more successful than others.  I am focusing on eating protein and vegetable meals, leaving off the pasta and potatoes, etc. I had to give up peanut butter, because it is a trigger food for me. I'll tablespoon my way through a whole jar in a matter of days. Not. OK.

As for walking, I'm focusing on getting up more during the day at work and walking the stairs. On Friday, I spent thirty minutes walking up and down the block our building is on, and logged about a mile. It felt good to be away from my desk! 

I also plan to get back to my surgeon's office for "restart" classes, which they offer twice a month. Plus there's a support group once a month. I want to go because I need to start thinking like a WLS patient again. I have gotten too far from that, and I see myself gaining, and gaining, and if I don't do something different, I will be obese again. I can't accept that!

Hope that helps, and I hope we can stay in touch since we're in the same boat. 

p.s. my oldest son is getting married next year, so I have that incentive, too, like your daughter's graduation. 

Sounds like your on the right track.  Thanks for sharing.  Goals are good to set so we have something to work towards.  I hope we both make our goals.  Please feel free to keep in touch and maybe we can inspire, encourage and even kick each other in the butt along the way!  lol  Wish you the best..

Kellie

There is a group here on OH specifically for those of us who struggle with re-gain, you may want to check them out at:

Back On Track Together

Personally I've had a 40+ pound regain (which I re-lost) and then because I apparently didn't learn my lesson I also had a regain of over 50 pounds.  I've lost all of those pounds and actually have now gotten to my lowest postop weight EVER.  Even lower than I was after that "honeymoon" period wore off several years ago.

You can do this.  I'm pretty sure you know how to eat in order to lose weight.  Don't get discouraged or give up! While losing the regain may be slower and more difficult once you're some years out, it most certainly can be done.

Never, ever give up.  Fall down seven times, get up eight!   =)

Wow!!! Great job with the regain battle! That gives me lots of hope and inspiration!

Amy thanks for the heads up!  Congrats on your success!!  I appreciate your encouragement!  I will definitely check out the group. 

Kellie