X-Post-What if this IS the normal? What if regain and bounceback are PART of our successful...

i'm one of those 20 or 30 year olds! if i ate 2000 calories a day i would gain like crazy (at 27)! eating around 1500 and slacking on my exercise it's starting to creep. i need to be around or under 1000 and working out like crazy to lose. 

Yep.  Two years is different than just one year, but a LOT different than 4 or 5 or 10!  (I would also bet money that she will continue to be successful, but most people are not nearly as disciplined, and need to hear that message.)

Lora

thank you very much for your videos, I wish  to see more videos of people who have more than 2 years after surgery. I am in the pre op, and  i want  to see people who have  live with the operation  for years, but unfortunately this is rare.
You can not imagine the peace that one gets to see people in forums that have years after the operation. thanks

There are many of us here beyond 2 years post surgery who have maintained the loss. My stand on "bounce back" or regain is simple....more calories going in than are burned. Nobody wakes up one morning 20 pounds heavier than they were the day before. It may be OK when the number of extra pounds is 5 or maybe 7, but that is where you, me or anyone is totally responsible for their diet and exercise. That is when anyone has to decide (post WLS or not ever having WLS) where the scale is going to go, up, down or stable.

The number of calories that you need to stay the same weight decreases as we age. A woman aged 25 and me at 55 with exactly the same level of exercise and calories will not have the same results. If she is staying stable, I would be gaining. If I were staying stable she would be losing. Caloric intake is a dance that humans have to play (along with exercise) for our whole life. When we are children right through old age. As post op it is our responsibility to take that control for long term success. If anyone decides that they are happier 20 pounds heavier, then don't blame it on "bounce back".

Martha 

I 100% agree - people *****gain a significant amount of weight really haven't embraced their maintenance and I believe it's because they get convinced that what they are doing at 2 or 3 years is what they will be doing forever ...

This is a constantly changing lifestyle - I have to work waaaay harder at 8.5 years out than I did at 2, 3, 4 or even 5 ...  Menopause is a ***** and it really takes work to still be mindful at this stage than it was when I was still a newbie and boring the pants of anyone that would listen to my "journey" LOL!

I think the vast majority of us go into this thinking that we'll be the ones that will always do EXACTLY what we're supposed to and we'll never be one of those that puts on a pound, let alone 20!   Think of how many of the newbies that were here a year ago - people who were posting 4 or 5 times a day are still hanging out here ...  Where are they now?   They might pop in for a one year congratulations, but basically they are off doing their own thing and living their new life ...   Already they feel like they have it cracked I'm sure!   The few that do hang around and pay it forward are much more likely to not be posting here in another year or three moaning that they've gained 40!!

I don't think regain is inevitable but I do think it's a lot more common than people on here think!

Yep, again-Kim. I think we are saying some similar things indeed. And OH the sorrow of Menopause INDEED!

Appreciate it!

Cheers,

T

Menopause & Surgery at the same time  

I was NOT someone who was the "I'll always follow the plan" person.  I knew that I had to find ways to accommodate treats and occasional excess in order to be successful long term.  Like most people who are more than 2 years out, though, maintaining the weight loss after that point is MUCH harder than losing the weight (which is pretty automatic and relatively easy if people quit stressing over small fluctuations and stalls).  I have had people send me angry PMs telling me that the losing phase is NOT the easier part (even though they, invariably, are still losing!). Whatever. Those are the people who also disappear before the first year is done.

I agree that regain is NOT inevitable, but does happen to many.  The difference is that some of us DO something about it while it is just 4 or 5 pounds instead of 20, or 30, or more.  Some of us also have worked very hard to address the psych issues that contributed to the obesity.  The only person I know "in real life" who gained a large portion of her weight back did no therapy even though she knew she had issues from childhood abuse that were at the heart of her weight problem.

Lora

Hi Martha,

Whilst your reasoning seems to be based on scientific evidence, we are much more than a mass of biological processes. Looking beyond the scientific and mathematical facts, I think it's important to perhaps examine the other facets of why we may gain weight. There are many psychological and emotional reasons, as well as the basic caloric intake/ energy expended equation.

Nowhere in my post have I stated that bounce back or regain is something magical. However, we are complex beings and many of us have different emotional and psychological reasons why we may experience bounce back or regain. Also, research has yet to definitely say one way or another the long-term effects of weight loss surgery. There simply has not been enough in the way of research, discussion and time post-operatively to make facts out of hypotheses. 

I still think it's worth the conversation and I would not want to see the door shut so fast with such a one dimensional view. We are worth so much more. And there are so many of us.

I say let's pop the hood and take a look-see underneath.

Thanks again,

Peace,

T

I agree that it is very worthwhile to look at the emotional, psychological, and behavioral contributors to our obesity (since those same things, if left unaddressed, often contribute to regain), but I think that there is a limited amount that can be done in this forum.  As a counselor who is finishing a Psychology PhD dissertation, and who periodically does pre-op psych evals for WLS, I can tell you that the majority of women with severe weight issues also have some kind of history of abuse or assault, and although there are common themes that go along with this, it isn't really the kind of thing people can work through in a public forum.  The behavioral aspects can be addressed here -- and frequently ARE addressed here -- but that is just the top layer.

I share your concern that surgeons and insurance companies stress a pre-op psych eval, but yet require no post-op counseling.  Even for people who do not have underlying psychological issues, short term counseling can be beneficial for the psychological aspects of the surgery itself, the dramatic weight loss, and related issues (body image, etc.).

Lora