Restart: Anyone want to chat with a WLS old-timer? :)

I just posted a new blog update here: http://www.obesityhelp.com/members/stephanieintx/blog/2017/0 9/24/restart-anyone-want-to-chat-with-a-rny-old-timer/

But if you don't want to go read, just suffice it to say that I am 11 years out from my RNY, am still glad I had the life-changing surgery, and am now battling regain.

The reason? I'm sitting more (mostly for my job), started drinking with my meals, started having carbs, mostly just lost sight of my goal.

Anyone else battling the issue of regain? Let's chat! I'll also be glad to answer any questions new folks have about living longterm with gastric bypass. It's not perfect! I've made mistakes. I'll be honest.

Anyway, just wanted to say hello and I hope you all are doing well!

Thank you so much for coming back here to help us newbies! My questions:

Did it ever feel really physically uncomfortable for you to drink with meals?

When you got to your low weight, did you do it by counting calories and/or carbs or did you have a different method?

Why are you choosing to use protein shakes to lose the regain?

Did you make the choice to transition to maintenance once you got to your low weight or did it just happen?

What worked for you to maintain your low weight?

Thank you!

Hi Mahonia! Thanks for asking those very good questions. I sure appreciated it when I was new and people could answer my own.

First, with drinking, it only really hurt when I started sipping a Diet Dr. Pepper. I shouldn't have ever picked them back up. Don't do it. :) Now, occasionally I'd have pain early on when I drank hot tea, for some reason. Now, that rarely bothers me.

I got to my lowest weight by drinking at least two protein drinks a day (also to help me keep my hair, which still shed a lot for awhile) and eating two or three small meals. I was told by my surgeon to keep my calories at 700-800 a day. Tiny meals, so that was super easy at first.

I am using the shakes again to help me not have to deal with food during the day while I am at work. I know what I will be having; a 20 grams of protein yummy shake. Then for dinner I'll have something healthy, but meat and veggies only. No carbs like bread or pasta or potatoes. Once I get to goal again I will begin adding back in a small meal for breakfast or lunch. Having mostly protein and minimal carbs really, really helps me feel energized and back in control. When I am allowing pasta and crackers, etc., I almost immediately feel tired, sleepy and start having cravings again.

I really didn't have a maintenance plan per se, but I was told by my plastic surgeon when I was 147 that I had very little body fat left, and that if I continued trying to lose weight I'd begin losing muscle. But that only lasted a short time. My body did the typical bounce back, and I steadied at about 160 and feel like I look better there. At 147 I looked skeletal. But I just attempted to keep the same diet, maybe with an extra piece of soft fruit or berries.

Again, my weight was doing great until I started drinking with my meals and allowing myself to have "just one" piece of candy, or cookie, or serving of pasta. I am like a heroin addict; when I opened the door to that stuff again, it began a downward slide.

So now, since I want to lose a solid 70 pounds, I will not allow myself any of that. I'll get that protein and walk more often again. I've rearranged my work schedule to allow myself to do that in the morning.

How are you doing since your surgery? Is it going as well as you'd hoped? :)

Thank you for your answers! I'm doing well, but am finding it hard to stick to my calorie goals now that I am almost 6 months out from surgery. I am 15lb away from my final goal and determined to get there but every day is a struggle in getting myself to not eat too often. I have been getting carried away with protein bars, artificial sweeteners, yogurt, and cheese. I'm scared of my weight loss stopping and super scared of regain - I can see how easy it would be for me to go back to old habits.

Old habits die hard. That is true. But you can make the choices you need to keep yourself "eating clean."

I find that eating on a schedule helps. Like plan to have your meals at 9am, 1pm, snack at 4pm, dinner at 7pm or whatever works for you. If you have a schedule to stick to, it helps when you have so-called head hunger, which I have always battled with. Then you can say to yourself, "I can have a snack in 30 minutes. I can wait." It sort of helps develop the muscle of making yourself wait. For whatever reason, we have a tendency to want instant gratification, but this an help us build the "patience muscle." lol

Cheese and yogurt are favorites of mine, too. Protein bars I really only allow myself when traveling, for convenience. They're too easy to devour when feeling tired or emotional, and get carried away. Also, I find that when I don't drink enough water, I eat more. So I have a 20 ounce bottle of water with me at all times, at work or at home.

And of course, walk or whatever makes you happy. :) I don't know how old you are, but as I've aged along with my surgery, I feel that when I don't exercise as often as I should, I feel more stiffness and less happiness. Also, more tired. So keep up whatever you're doing, and add more if you can! :)

I just want to echo what Stephanie said. I have also struggled with Protein bars. They are not part of my plan, and I didn't use them at all for the first year post-op. Then I started keeping them around for when I travel or other "emergencies". But I failed. I would always eat them. Sometimes two or three, and the calories can pile up FAST. For the most part, I do not need them, and I can hit my protein goals with "real" food. I allow myself to have them when I travel, but I literally by exactly how many I need for the travel period to hit my goals, and that's it. I just can not have them in my house!

I find that if I fall off the wagon these days, it's usually eating too much / too often, but if I make myself stick to my plan, and the falling off the wagon results in me eating too many fruits/veggies, there is little damage I can really do. I might not have a great day, but it's pretty tough to go over about 2,500 calories on sugar snap peas and apples.

Thank you! helpful information!

I see that you've had some reconstructive plastic surgery - how has your tummy tuck fared with the weight gain?

Hi Gwen! It has done well; I just find that since there aren't fat cells on my belly anymore, the ones in other places show the regain, instead; my thighs and hips, mostly. Tummy is still nice and flat! I am looking forward to getting the weight back off again, of course, but I still have an easier time wearing clothes than I did when I had a belly.

Cool! I hope that you're able to find the support here that you need and to figure out how to better deal with food in your future life. You'll get there!