"They" said I'd gain it all back.... are "they" right?

 The only soda I drink is Diet root beer from A&W on tap. They know me know in the drive thru.
I'm sorry about your frustration. I have gained weight since I had the kidney transplant (3 months of high dose steroids) and since my mother died. It is not stressing me out. I don't know why. I'm giving myself a break. When I freak out and you are doing better you can tell me it will get better.
Deb T.
p.s...it gets better

 You guys are a few years ahead of me so when I get there you can both talk me down the ledge. The only thing certain for me is change.

I always LOSE weight on steroids. They're like super-appetite-eliminator for me.

For now I still fit in my beautiful dress. I'll make hubby take a picture of me next week, with my new nails and hair. I think I'll wear it to school on the first day. I'll post it too.

Big HUGS! I'm right there with you only I know I've allowed too many carbs back in in the evenings after my surgeries and during recovery. And I wonder if I have the courage to stop and lose again, and if I can. I'm still really active and fit, but my clothes are tights and I'd like to stop. It's mental, and I know that, at least for me.

I'm not even going to get on your case about moving. I know how you feel about exercise and am proud of you for whatever you feel you can do. If you just aren't up for it right now, so be it. We all have times when we just want to be a slug. Such is life and we all have to fight our demons to do what we need to do. Yours is exercise, mine is night munching and head hunger, which I thought I had under control until I had my first set of surgeries last September.

If the RH is so much better with the fats, then I think you do need to work those into your food plan. Cutting back in calories until your body is starving isn't the answer. I don't know what is, but when you find out, let me know.

I'll be thinking of you my friend.
Jan

Well... it's August 1st, and it isn't much, but we went to costco. I walked vigorously around and felt good about myself. I figure it was 1/4 or 1/3 of a mile of walking.

Tomorrow I'm walking to the doctor's office, so hubby won't have to leave his exercise early to take me to the doctor. I think they're 1/2 a mile (or is it 1/4 mile) ? Anyway... I'm going to walk there tomorrow.

That will make it 2 days of moving my butt as of august 2.... that's good. It'll be early enough to not die of heat exhaustion, though I won't have the ability to drink (They'll be doign blood workup)

The control of the RH makes me NOT want to change what I'm eating. I had a minor BS ccrash today, and that reminded me of why I eat what I eat, when I eat it.

Hello-
I know I'm not an RNY'er, I am a VSG'er, and I know the surgeries are very different. I just want to tell you about my sister. She had RNY in 2005. She experienced a regain of about the same amount as you. She couldn't get it off for a year or so. Finally, she tried something. She figured out that she only absorbed 62% of fats after RNY and 60% of complex carbs. She told me that once the malabsorption stopped, she didn't change her fiet or complex carb in her diet. Well what she did was change her diet to cut out 40% of her fat intake and 40% of her complex carb intake to help her eat about the way she was as if she were malabsorbing again. She lost the regain and went down to her ideal weight. She has been there ever since. I am not trying to tell you I know what is right--or what will work for you. I am also not a naysayer. I think RNY is a great surgery. My sister has done so well with it! I just wanted to share with you what worked for her. I hope you can get an answer to this somehow. Best wishes to you and I hope you don't get too down!  No weight loss surgery is easy--no matter what naysayers preach--and it takes a strong person to go through it  and live it. Big hugs going your way.

I appreciate the help. And it very well could be the whole malabsorption thing. I have cut back on my carbs, but I did that specifically to help with Reactive Hypoglycemia, and I replaced my carb-heavier snacks with protein/fat heavier fats.

Cutting back much on the fats might destabilize the reactive hypoglycemia.

It's funny though, for a long time I was eating almost zero-fat (and losing).... but now that I have reactive hypoglycemia, that comes first.

I imagined before I had this surgery I would live in the gym - like in years past.  Throughout my life I have sporadically exercised but nothing like beginning in 1997 when I lost 70 pounds.  I worked out 3 hours per day 7 days per week.  O f course I regained and lost those 70 pounds 2 more times before my surgery each time living in the gym.

Since my RNY I have spent very little time in the gym - actually almost no time.  I have finally concluded the gym represents failure to me.  I have asked myself why I will not get motivated to go - especially because my oldest daughter has made working out as much  a part of her life as eating and breathing.  Yet I still do not go even when she encourages me.  We used to work out hard together. 

When my surgeon told me all I needed to do was walk 30 minutes per day... that comment went deep into my soul.  He gave me permission to simply walk and for only 30 minutes and said that was adequate.  So that became my goal.

I do not walk every day.  I skip walking weeks at a time, but I always seem to find my way back to walking.  As you probably know, I am visually impaired.  That means if I do not walk and my husband is on shift, I am shut in my house and am literally sitting on my butt all my waking hours, and I mean literally sitting getting zero exercise of any kind. 

Like one poster said, I too have no answers, but I have read your posts since joining this site, and I have no doubt you will figure out what you need to do to correct this.  It took me some time to finally use the block button, but I refuse to read or believe  those posts about how we RNYers are doomed to gain back our weight or those posts telling me what I should or should not weigh.  There are far  too many successful Vets out there for us to learn from. 

For a period of time I had RH.  At the lowest my blood sugar would drop  into the high 30s and always low 40s.  I had some fairly bad episodes happening far too often.  Thankfully I seem to have outgrown RH.  I do occasionally have an issue, but it is nothing like in the past.  Nevertheless I can relate, somewhat, to what you are dealing with. 

I know you will find the solution that works for you.

Dasie, thank you so much, I really appreciate the support. That's what I needed. To know I wasn't alone, that I wasn't a failure. That I could speak about it openly and in doing so find the strength within to work on this issue to bring it to resolution.

The RH is a big factor in this... My two low recorded blood sugars were 32 and 28. Another time, prior to having a blood glucose monitor, I woke up in the night bathed in sweat, and clocked my heart at 240 beats per minute. That heart rate alone is enough to make a person feel like death is imminent. I stuffed my face and I stabilized. If I hadn't, I would have had to get my husband to get an ambulance. In a sleepy seaside town while on vacation, and all the roads iced over with thick blac**** it would not have been good. I felt horrendous in all those situations. I worked hard to live in a way that wouldn't affect my blood sugar. I wasn't well controlled. When I upped my fats.... it was a remarkable change. I didn't need to check very often, and it was like I was cured. However, a few times along teh way, I've had more sugar and less fat, and the old RH rears its very ugly head. So it's something I have to live with. But the low blood sugar is a very strong argument against changing my diet too much. I've tried. But I haven't had any luck.

I'd love to believe that walkign 30 minutes is what I need.... I've pledged to be on my feet 60 hours this August. My hope is that this will focus my attention on the important stuff, and shave off a few pounds. I'd like to get down to 160's..... That's my golden goal. But for now, I'll settle for getting to the 170's.

As a teacher you have such a demanding job.  You always have to be "on," so to speak, and it is physically demanding.  I was always exhausted by the end of the - both mentally and physically.   So that makes the blood sugar issue even more impacting.

Has your doctor/endo suggested the medication that is prescribed for this?  For some it works well.  It might be worth a try, unless of course you've already tried it. 

You really have serious drops.  Like you said, the heart rate alone would have been enough to scare anyone.  I wonder why some have this issue and others do not?  Is this something that can occur even many years out for us?