Dealing with Regain

I honestly thought I could live a "normal" life when I surpassed my surgeons goal weight. I was 267 before surgery, he predicted I would get down to 167, I got down to 143. I thought I had it and well I didn't. We are not "normal" and weighing myself every week for the rest of my life is my life now. I have to keep in check, avoid slippery foods, exercise ever day or 5 days at least etc... unfortunately I thought that after the surgery and we were forced to eat smaller amounts that I could live a life free of dieting etc... I knew that would have to work at it etc.. life happened and what not but this is my life and I have accepted that I am not "normal" I am a weight loss surgery patient and though that does not define me, it does dictate how I live my life if I want to feel fit. Thank you for your reply =)

I'm in the same boat. Two years out and regain. :-( I've found that my appetite has come back with a vengeance. I hate always having to fight it! I miss the feeling of not feeling hungry at all and having ti remind myself to easy at the beginning of this journey! Insanity workouts are a killer! Goodfor your for getting back on it! 

Regain creeps up on ya! The appetite issue is something that I have started battling. You can eat more, the surgery did not take away your love of food or cravings etc... I have learned that avoiding slippery foods and weighing in every Monday is helping to keep me in check and keep an eye on every change in the scale. My problem is I got too comfortable. I tried to live life as a "normal" person and lets face it we are everything but! And yes you can start to eat more etc.. I have learned however that our "tool" still works! I have started eating off of a small serving size plate and exercising every day and my pouch is back to telling me I am full after half of my meal! That is the best part of this surgery, no one can take your "tool" from you, and even if you veer off course, it is still there. Insanity is awesome, I hate to exercise BTW and this program kicks butt!!

You must embrace a lifestyle change with your thoughts and eating habits. Weight loss begins in the mind, not the stomach.

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Physical Hunger Vs. Emotional Hunger: 

Physical Hunger:  Comes on gradually and can be postponed.

Emotional Hunger: Comes on suddenly and feels urgent.

Physical Hunger:  Can be satisfied with any type of food.

Emotional Hunger: Causes specific food cravings (pizza, chocolate, ice cream, etc...)

Physical Hunger:  Once you are full you can stop eating.

Emotional Hunger: Eat more than you normally would. Feel uncomfortably full.

Physical Hunger:  Causes satisfaction, doesn’t cause guilt.

Emotional Hunger: Leaves you feeling guilty and cross with yourself.

Thank you for putting it all down like that! You are so right!! That will help me a lot =)

Yes I have regained 20lbs in the last year as well. Its nice to hear others are going through this as well. Thanks for posting.

The lbs can creep up on ya fast. Best to stay on track ;-) Good luck and If you ever need support I am here =)

You have already taken the hardest step by saying enough is enough and now I want to get back on track.  Here are some steps I hope will help you. They helped me...  Also, be sure and join the Back On Track Together group link in my signature area.  

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery?  How many meetings, classes and such did we attend?  We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success.  And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods.  Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies and fruits.  

Journaling

Get back to journaling.  This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life.  Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating.  It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband.  It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food.  Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker

Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself.  Make them realistic and small.  Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat, fiber, calories, and sugar. Important vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan)

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea?  I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass.  So I was either pushing to be diabetic or get cancer.  I found once I started carrying a bottle of water around 24/7 (yes had one at my bedside) I lost the cravings for the sugar and I KNOW those artificial sweeteners are not good for me. Look I am old and if you add up all the artificial sweeteners I have consumed I am sure I am at the rat in the lab getting cancer threshold

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what I kept moving.  If I could not go to the gym I would walk. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lift weights. When I stopped, the weight came on.  So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV.  Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group.

Keep me posted on how you are doing

I was at this second hand store and saw a neat pair of pants but with elastic . I said, elastic makes me gain weight. No one understood. Pre op all my clothes were elastic. I tossed them all