Regain????? With a DS?????

JazzyOne,

My weight loss window was about the 18 months that normally gets mentioned for DSers.  After stalling for over a year, I got busy and focused and lost more weight to my goal, but it has not been easy to maintain.  I noticed from about 5 years out that my absorption started to improve and it became harder to  maintain weight loss.  At 10 1/2 years post op, it is much harder to maintain, easier to regain, but still no where near where it was pre-op.  

Not only do our stomachs get larger, they usually start to produce more Ghrelin over time, increasing hunger.  In addition, our intestines usually create more villi (hairy things that absorb) in response to the malabsorption and actually have the capacity to regrow intestine.  It's all part of homeostasis...

Regain can happen, no matter what surgery is chosen.  Because we have a higher malabsorption rate, it may take longer, but it does not mean it cannot happen.  

I wish I had your DS instead of mine Jazzy. 

Every pound past 70 lb weight loss has been a struggle.  I have been really dieting, playing games with carbs to fool my metabolism, exercise 6 days a week, extreme low carbing, even counting calories.  I never thought the DS would crap out after so short of time.

I struggle to get the last 30 lbs off to reach goal.  If I eat above 1,000 calories (so I'm absorbing roughly 600 calories) for more than 2 or 3 days, I will gain weight back.

How long is your cc?  How long have you been stalled?

My cc is 75.  And I can lose the weight if I drop my calories, so I'm not stalled.  I'm just down to 900 calories now.

Looking at your blog, you posted about a 17 pound regain (from 160 to 177):

Getting back to goal...and down to one plastic...
on August 14, 2013 9:19 pm

Today I weighed in at home..and I am now only 17 pounds to goal again.  New weight: 177.0 !!!!! 

I am curious about this too.

That was in August.  My weight does bounce around, mostly depending on fluids.  I can go to bed and "sleep off" several pounds. The weight that shocked me was in September, and I've been away from my blog for a while. I have changed my siggie to reflect today's (10/7/2013)  weight.

The day that I got up and was shocked,  I was only 8 pounds from my PCP's absolute minimum for me pre-plastics (160, 5'5''). Her reasoning being that I am a middle aged woman, I have other health issues (Lupus (SLE) and fibromyalgia) and about 15 pounds of loose lower body skin with adhescient fat deposits, which will take care of the remaining weight once it is removed.

I will be close to my "chart weight" after surgery.  In fact, I just had a visit with my PCP last week, and she was aghast, and very unhappy with my weight.  Sub-q fat on my upper body is all but gone.  You can see my rib cage through my chest, and clavicles are very prominent, which they were when I was a teen.  I have always been a "pear-shape"  even as a child. I have a  wide pelvic structure.

It has dawned on me that perhaps my scale is not as accurate as it could be.  The bathroom sink fell on the scale I had that measures BMI, etc. So I got a comsumer-type Weigh****chers scale just to make do until I can replace that one.

I eat complex carbs, mainly in the form of fruits, and still lose weight.  However, when I eat sugar carbs and refined carbs, I can put on weight.  This is one of the reasons I have to be careful with carbs.

Vicki-

I very rarely eat simple sugars or simple carbs.   Always complex, and I do include whole grains, and use 100% whole wheat or 12 or 15 grain bread (the two types that don't bother my gut).

I also still use protein shakes, as I cannot get enough protein in with food alone, so I get the carbs from the milk.

My lowest weight was 164, but I am back to about 175 now. It's my own fault though because I've slacked on my strict eating and have ate more carbs and junk lately. I'm sure if I changed it, I'd drop right back down.