I am contemplating that phrase from the featured article. I am 2.5 years post-op. My lowest weight [i.e. nadir] was 139 lbs and I lost my period at that weight. I decided 142 lbs is my ideal.  From my nadir, I lost 143 lbs which I interpret/understand to be "excess weight."

Since that time, my weight has bounced between 139-147 lbs.  My surgeon's assistant told me varying 7 lbs is "normal" and I shouldnt be too concerned if I flux inside this 7 lbs (i.e. 139-146 lbs).

Well, in my 2.5 post op years, I have KNOCKED on the door of 148 lbs THREE times. This is outside the 7 lb range.

When I contemplate the statement that patients regain 5-10% of their weight I understand it to be for me to 7-14 lbs. To be considered a "regainer" I would have to weigh JUST 146-153 lbs. [Math: 143 * 0.10 = 14 lbs.  143* 0.05= 7; 139 [nadir] + 7 =146; 139+ 14=153 lbs].

In my opinion, surgeons should do more to IMPRESS on their patients how little weight gain is needed to fall into this "regainer" classification. IN my opinion, being told that it is ok to vary within 7 lbs (i.e. 5%) is too lenient and gives too much wiggle room to the patient. Indeed, the clothes that I wear (primarily dresses) still fit me when I am 146. In general, I feel patients that have hit their goal should be told to weigh daily, believe that scale. In my experience, my clothes do not reflect a "change" until I am 10% over my nadir.

In general, I further believe surgery patients should have it IMPRESSED upon them how hard it is to lose the regain.  When I hit 148 lbs it took me a MONTH of really SUPER strict eating AND exercising to get back to 142. A MONTH for 6 lbs. Gone are the days of being able to lose 2 lbs in a day!

I think these statistics and pitfalls should be further contemplated and communicated between us as OH'ers but WLS centers shoudl also be more blatant about regain and actually sit with EACH patient after they have met goal and DO EACH PATIENTS MATH WITH THEM to show them HOW LITTLE a "REGAIN" is.

This may seem harsh. I have been successful and want continued success. I have seen MANY successful patients on these boards and I assume they want the same success 10 YEARS OUT that they are having NOW.

These are just my musings after only 1 cup of coffee. Forgive typos.

SkinnyScientist.

Hi duff.

This post is empty.

I look forward to your thoughts and insights

Ok - I have it figured out now, I am not able to put arrow symbols in the text field ! this the blank posts.

You make great points and I agree wholeheartedly. The prgrams need to place more emphasis on regain and maintenance. I felt the weight loss phase was easy, I am 20 months post op and have been out of my comfort "zone" more than once. Always due to my being ****y, complacent, and moving away from gave me success. I am glad I have this forum to reiterate the value of following what each and every one of us already knows. It keeps me on task and while I know what needs to be done, I need the reminder at times that I do not have this on my own if I revert back to old habits. Thanks for making great points, Mike

You are so right Mike!

On another note, I initially saw all those deleted posts and thought "Wow! I am really on a roll for rubbing people the wrong way today!"

:)

Centers DO need to talk more about regain.

My surgeon set my goal weight and then advised me to go 10, 20 or even 30 pounds under that goal while still in the honeymoon period.  He does that with all of his patients and some of them do look exceptionally skinny during year two.

By the end of year three nobody was too skinny in my support group.  Everyone gained back 10, 20 or 30 pounds during year three and everyone was glad that they had the extra cushion of loss to cover at least part of that gain.  I still see my surgeon yearly.  I remember being upset one year because I had weighed one pound more than the last year's visit and he did laugh at me.  It was a milestone gain of 140 that year and 139 the year before.

Every year I have to work harder to stay within five pounds of my 136 pound goal weight.  Regain get easier every year and taking it off gets harder.  I allow myself one week to lose one pound and sometimes cannot achieve that.  Years ago, I would lose seven pounds on one week of Weigh****chers plan.  My body is much more efficient at holding onto weight then it was before my surgery.  Without daily weighing I would quickly regain a lot of weight.  

"My body is much more efficient at holding onto weight..."

-I think we all struggle with this pre-op and post op. I am trying to run freaking marathons to keeps my weight off/in the zone.

There are days I long for a famine..but then we would run out of vitamins and I would die because the ONE thing I DO need is my SUPPLEMENT ARSENAL (i.e. vitamins).

I love bodybuilding.com. They made me feel good about my vitamins. I have a supplement arsenal!

I haven't found too many specific, published statistics to support the 5 - 10% claim. The closest I've found is from the ASMBS:

As many as 50 percent of patients may regain a small amount of weight (approximately 5 percent) two years or more following their surgery. However, longitudinal studies find that most bariatric surgery patients maintain successful weight-loss long-term. 'Successful' weight-loss is arbitrarily defined as weight-loss equal to or greater than 50 percent of excess body weight.

Before making an emotional reaction, I'd like to see their data.