Feeling bad, not sure why

I am feeling so lost.  I had my surgery in July 2009.  At my lowest, I was down to 155 and felt great.  I'm on an upswing now, weighing in around 175, and I just can't seem to get things under control. I feel sad, depressed, helpless, hopeless.  My boyfriend and I moved in together in August and we are both gaining weight and are unhappy.  I don't want these feelings to create an unhealthy lifestyle for us, or worse, break us up.  I just don't know what to do.

Do you have someone you can talk to like a therapist? I had my surgery Dec 2009 and my lowest was 159 for 5 minutes but I have settled at 169-170 thats were I am healthy looking and feeling. Maybe your regain was just normal bounce back. You know your body readjusting.
There is always hope. Change is hard but can be done. I would suggest some personal theray and maybe treatment for depression.
I wish you all the best.
Audra

I know that I'm eating too much and I have no energy to work out.  I could believe that I would land around 160, but 175 (and occasionally more) is just too much.  I feel so dumpy.  I think you're right; I need to talk to someone.  The weight gain, fatigue, and stress of moving in with the boyfriend is just too much.

Hi Brandi:
I (generally) find that people lose the 1st year, maintain the 2nd year and gain the 3rd year. You are not alone. Count your calories to see what is going on. My dietitian suggested keeping track of food so that you can look back to see what you ate before "hungry times". Do some foods make you more hungry in a little while? I have also read that people in great relationships tend to gain weight together (you are comfortable with him). I have another hat to toss into the ring. Ghrelin is the hormone which makes us feel hungry. Our ghrelin level goes up before a meal and when we lose weight which makes us hungry. On the other hand they know that ghrelin levels stay lower in bypass patients. They know that ghrelin levels are lower in obese people compared to normal weight people (which does not make sense). I think that if we have a hormone we have a receptor for the hormone. I think that around year 3 our ghrelin receptors either increase in number or increase in sensitivity. I think obese people have more or more sensitive receptors as well. Of course there is not a study which has been done on receptors. There was a study done at U Washington in 2002 that showed the ghrelin levels highest in normal weight people, and lowest in RNY people and the obese people were in the middle (which didn't make sense). Also you may want to force yourself to exercise because that causes endorphine release which will make you feel better. I thought the RNY was going to make it easier but when it comes down to it we still have to work very hard to lose and keep off weight.

Good health to you,
Tri

Thank you for your observations.  Your observations definitely hold true for me.  My problem is I have been binging and having cravings of late, but I got in to see a new therapist last week as well as going to my PCP for bloodwork.  Doing something proactive makes me feel more hopeful even if I'm not making really great food chocies as yet. 

I don't know what to think about the information on ghrelin, though.  It's interesting.

Hi!

I had my RNY on 7-31-09 and the going has been rought, but it's important not to lose hope.  My weight loss was compromised by three ginormous thyroid tumors that popped up six months after the bypass and the subsequent thyroidectomy and tweaking of the horomone supplements.  My weightloss practically stopped for 4 months, but kept persevering and now I'm 5 lbs from goal. 

Never lose faith, never lose hope and never, ever give up.

Best of luck in your weight loss journey!