Help! Gaining it back

Hello,

I am going through some very traumatic weight gain. I had RNY 11 years ago and have been really successful with it, until the last couple of years. Especially in the last few months the weight is just coming back with a vengeance. I still can only eat little bits at a time and my eating patterns really haven't changed since the surgery. As soon as I get a chance I am going to see a doctor about it. The only thing I can think of is that I have reached and am going through menopause, and the past year I have had a sit down for 8 hours at a time job. Before that I was in a job where I walked around all the time and was on my feet. Around 2010-2013 I looked and felt great, was in a size 12 and today I had to buy some new clothes because I am now a size 18. Any suggestions, other than I need to make it a point to walk a couple of miles every day?

Weigh and measure every bite. Track your intake somewhere like myfitnesspal. Eat fewer carbs and more protein. Track a typical day and then cut back 500 calories from that. Get a fitbit to measure your steps.

What Laura said. Our metabolism usually slows as we age, but not a lot, and not all of a sudden. The simple answer is that we eat more, whether we realize it or not.

Weigh and track your food to see where you stand. Then you'll know how much toocut back in order to lose.

My son (who has not had WLS) went from a 12 hour desk job to a 12 hour mechanic job and has lost 80 lbs in 9 months - no difference in his eating ...    being on the move vs sedentary job means you will have to cut back on your eating, plain and simple.

Track every bite and work on a 1200 calorie protein forward diet - I recently lost 27lbs and I'm past menopause, so it is doable! 

Thanks (to everyone)! I live in the Phoenix area and on my way home from work is a trailhead with many trail choices. There are some that are more difficult than others so what I am thinking is that instead of going home from work and lopping down on the sofa to watch movies I am going to hit that trailhead and start walking. I have a monitor app on my phone that tracks steps. Also, I got an account on this thing called SparkPeople where you can track your calories. I feel encouraged now!

Menopause can slow down your metabolism a bit, as can thyroid changes.  Good to have that all checked out.  It sounds like the biggest culprit has been the job change.  I think the idea about a fitbit is a great one!  I am getting one for Christmas - 1st goal: 10,000 steps per day.  Coming from a newbie viewpoint, all I can say is make this focus on your health the MOST important issue in your life right now.  Very best of luck to you!

try standing at the computer. It made a huge difference to me.

I had the RNY done about 15-16 years ago and lost about 150 lbs. I regained 100 lbs. much to my dismay. My stoma was still extremely tight but my pouch was stretched. I had the Apollo Overstitch done on 11/16. I had the surgery on a Monday and went back to work the next day. I felt no pain and only had a fat lip from the endoscopy tube to show for it. I've lost about 35 lbs. but I have been on a liquid diet for almost 2 months now so I can't say the weight loss is strictly from the surgery. I was told that scar tissue has to develop around the folds and sutures that the surgery created so I elected to extend my liquid phase. My doctor's office originally required that I stay on liquids for one month. I noticed from reading the message boards that the WLS patients who started on phase 2 after 2 weeks on the liquid phase weren't as successful as those who were on liquids for 2 months.

I do feel a great deal of restriction. I went to two parties on Christmas Eve and "treated" myself to actually eating food. At the first party I ate one vegan meatball, a tablespoon of au gratin potatoes and 2 brussel sprouts. I didn't feel any restriction. However, at the 2nd party I ate more traditional holiday food (dressing, mac 'n cheese, and some green beans). I had a couple of tablespoons of each. This was a VERY bad idea. It took a little while but I felt a great deal of restriction that lasted for hours. I was really uncomfortable and regretted eating the 2nd time around even though it was 2-3 hours apart.

I'm back on liquids today and feel much better. My next office visit is 1/20/16 and I hope to be at or around 200 lbs. (Onewonderland). I had planned on starting on soft, mushy foods then. However, my mantra is nothing tastes as good as thin feels. With that being said I am seriously contemplating continuing on liquids until I drop down to 175 which would be another 6 weeks on liquids (?). This would leave me with only 25 more lbs. to lose. I could then transition back over to solids. IDK. I would have to check with my doctor's office to see if this would even be healthy to do.

Revision is not for everyone but I thought I would share my story.

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...  

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 bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains 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?, 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, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back.  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

Great suggestions. I am in the same predicament and am taking my RNY back!!