Regain will always be lurking around the corner....

My personal experience with WLS was that the weight loss phase was really quite easy. There were some physical challenges with my new anatomy, etc, but the actual dropping of weight happened quickly and somewhat effortlessly for me. My fear was always maintenance.

Like many of you I'm sure, I'm a weight loss pro. I've dropped 50+ pounds on so many different occasions that I lose count. However, I've never been able to keep it off. I feel like I spent the vast majority of my life losing weight or gaining weight, and my weight kept getting higher and higher. And there was no end it sight, because if I wasn't losing, I was packing on more pounds. Always.

When I shifted into maintenance mode about 2 years ago I was full of anxiety. How would I do it? How long could I maintain before I inevitably fell off the wagon? I was full out doubt that I would be able to manage in the long run, and promised myself over and over that i would not ever go back to being MO again.

For the first year of maintenance, I continued to weigh, measure and track every morsel of food I ate, but I really began to resent having to do that. I just wanted to live a more "normal" life. About a year ago, I made a conscious decision to stop weighing/measuring. I continued to weight myself everyday so that I could hold myself accountable, and knew that I always had that "tool" in my arsenal if I were to need it.

Things went well for most of that next year, and then I started to fall off the wagon around the holidays. I was very good about eating to plan, and not having "junk food", but I started to do more grazing, and overeating because there was always an excess of food around and many food-based events.

I gained a couple of pounds and told myself "well, that's not so bad to only have gained a couple of pounds when I've been eating ridiculous amounts of food - that will be easy to take off". Then a couple of pounds became 5, and 5 pounds became 10, all in a matter of a few months.

My current targeted maintenance weight is 152. As of a few weeks ago, I was up to 164. I stood there looking at the scale in disbelief. How did I let it get to this? How was I up over 160lbs? 12 pounds isn't a TON to lose, but it's a heck of a lot more than 2 pounds.

The hardest part was getting started. To making healhy eating patterns my norm again. After several months, my habits had changed, and going back was proving to be difficult.

But in reality, it wasn't. The upside to this story is that after several years of weight loss and then maintenance, I really do know how to do this. It's very simple. Eat healthy food, don't snack, and cut out any high calorie density foods (nuts, avocados, etc).

I decided it had to be done. A few weeks ago I just made myself do what I need to do, and you know what? It wasn't really that hard. The mental hurdle was BY FAR the most difficult part.

I'm please to report that when I stepped on the scale this AM, I weighed in at 152 lbs. I think I might try and lose a few more as a buffer to help ease my mind ;-)

While I'm very disappointed in myself that I even let it get to the point I did, I'm trying to stay focused on the positive. I didn't let it get completely out of control. I've reinforced to myself in a very big way that I do know how to do this, that I have all the tools I need to be successful.

And, to some degree, it was a good reminder that regain will always be lurking around the corner. I know that no matter how many years, or decades, out from surgery I am, I will never be "normal". I will always have a problem with weight gain, and I need to be ever vigilant about it.

I just wanted to put this out there to get it off my chest. Thanks for reading!

It's all-out the basics for me. If I stop doing all the little things that got me to goal the scale goes up and my pants shrink. Great job and great post. Thanks for sharing!

Nice job losing that regain! I have been hovering around 4-5 pounds higher than my weight prior to this past summer and I just can't seem to stay focused long enough to drop it (because it requires so much more consistency at a low calorie level than just after WLS).

Jester, thank you for posting this. And congratulations on your maintenance "adventure" and on the lessons you're still learning. In my experience, the lessons haven't stopped.

I'm 4.5 years post-op, and I STILL weigh every morning and I STILL plan/track everything i eat.

Happily, I still weigh 100+ pounds less than I started. Fortunately, I'm a control freak -- NOT that I don't splurge from time to time. But so far (and that's an important thing to remember ... SO FAR) I have been able to maintain without letting things get away from me.

I don't know how I've been lucky enough to understand this, but for me the best lesson I've learned is the lesson of beginning anew. Every day. No matter what happened yesterday, every morning is an opportunity to begin anew.

That's all we have -- today. It's such a gift -- today.

We are so lucky to have been given this gift.

Jester, thank you for posting this! As I was reading this, I could see myself. I went down the very same road. I stopped tracking and wanted to just eat healthy without tracking. That led to grazing.... 5 lbs turned into 10 and 10 turned into 20 and that turned into 40!! After gaining the first 20, I thought what is the use.... my tool is not working anymore. I messed up for good. When I got up to 40 lbs regained I went back to my dietician and doctor. I got back to the basics on Dec. 1st. I have lost 12 of my regained weight. I agree with you...... we will ALWAYS have regain lurking around the corner. I will "always" have to track and weigh daily. I am "so glad" my tool still works!! I can never go back to the old way of eating! Thanks again for sharing your story! Congratulations!!!

Congrat to you, too, allbygrace. You're back in the game and winning it.

:)

Hello,

How do you get the tracker?

I use My Fitness Pal. It's free online. Go to www.myfitnesspal.com.

Best wishes.

Ann

Hi,

I need some support. I was a previous OH regular, posting 2 or 3 times a day and making positive connections with great people who supported each other. That was OMG...7 years ago....is that possible???

So I've really gone off the deep end...emotionally, mentally, physically and now I am 10 pounds away from my pre-op weight in December 2007!!! I cannot even describe how bad I had myself and how disappointed I am in myself. I have several physical problems, the main problem being MS and now menopause, which is delivered 12 pounds to me over the last several weeks. WTF???

So despite how I really feel about myself, I am not diving into a bag of chips, a cheesecake or a bottle of vodka. In all actuality, I'd choose the vodka over anything else because I just have no appetite and usually pick or graze rather than have a balanced meal. I'm starting to think that my hormones are so out of wack that my metabolism is grabbing every little fat cell in my body and holding on for dear life......

So I don't eat much, I drink coffee all day, I do drink water-somewhat and have limited mobility because of the MS although I am heading back to the gym today because no matter if I lose or not, I cannot let MS take my mobility from me and the only way to curb that is to move so move I will!

I am looking for supportive friends who maybe are struggling post-op with body changes, hormones, menopause, etc that is keeping the weight on rather than off. I will be a regular on OH again because it was my lifeline and honestly there are days when I feel like I just cannot do it alone.

Spend a week logging EVERYTHING that passes your lips. I use MyFitnessPal. It will show you what you are actually eating, rather than guessing.

I've gone through menopause as a post op and yes, the older you get the less calories you need.

I was able to lose 61lb of regain last year on 1200 calories per day - it was slow but sure, but it absolutely is possible if you stick with a strict, clean, eating plan.

Reconnecting here is a good plan, I've pretty much been here every day for well over 10 years - it really keeps you accountable and plugged in.