Pretty sure I broke my tool, anyone else fall off the horse and successfully got back on?

So, It has been a long time since I have been on here. Life has happened. A lot of life has happened for me. Changed location, changed jobs, had a baby and now starting school full time. I am prepared for some hate. I am prepared for some lectures but I am hoping for some advice and some overall help. I am just feeling lost and in the same place that led me to have surgery in the first place.

Shortly after surgery I moved back home to another state. I had insurance where I was before and had my RNY. When I moved back home I did not have any insurance. I didn't qualify for medicaid and my employer didn't offer any insurance so..... I never had ANY follow up care for my surgery past the 1 month check up. I followed all my guidelines, took all the right vitamins and pills and whatnot. I felt pretty successful having lost over 100lbs and holding steady at 170 (from 298) for 2.5 years. Then, I got pregnant.

I got health insurance. I saw an OB/GYN and my primary care docs regularly and everything was great. I barely gained weight through pregnancy. All of it was clearly for the baby. I had a very healthy baby. Went into the hospital at 196lbs and left 2 days later at 165lbs. Then came trying to balance attempting to breastfeed, hormones, NOT working and NOT leaving the house for a few months. Along with that came anxiety and depression and lots of trial and error with medications. I began to fall into the comforts of old habits. I didn't even realize it was happening. I was so preoccupied with caring for this tiny human that I completely forgot about myself. Now here we are a year later and I have gained 30lbs. Holy crap! How the hell did this happen?!?

Once reality struck I started to pay attention to things. I noticed I was eating crap. Lots of pizza. Granted, only one slice at a time. But I would graze over the day and eat lots of pizza. Then I started to notice that things no longer upset my stomach the way they used to. I can eat ice cream and not get sick. I have had pepsi and not gotten shooting pains. I can get a coffee from Dunkin and not die of heartburn or sugar. Lastly, I can eat a hell of a lot of food and not feel full. Now that I am aware I have made several changes but the weight is still not moving. I measure my food. I stopped getting coffees on the way to work. Pepsi is out and there is WAY less pizza in my life. I even joined a bootcamp and went every time! However, I am still ALWAYS hungry. I feel as if I could keep eating. I am scared to call a Bariatric Doc because I have been a crappy patient. I am terrified that no one will want to help me now but I really want to get back on track.

Has anyone else fallen off the horse this hard? How did you get back to where you needed to be? How did you restart this? Any advice other than a slap in the face? (which I feel I deserve) My original personal goal was 150lbs and I was only 20lbs away and now I am at 200lbs. I need to lose the 30 I gained and then the 20 to goal. I have no idea how to get back there again.

Girl!  I am right here with you!  

The only time you fail is when you give up trying.  By logging back onto OH you have proven that you have not given up.  So get back to basics.  Join us over at the AMAW (all meat all week) thread and start over.  The tools you need to succeed are still in place.  

I got pregnant with my daughter 5 months after my surgery (tsk! tsk!)  I lost 90 pounds, but gained 23 during pregnancy.  2 years later, I am up an additional 30 pounds.  I have a loooong way to go, but I am here and so are you.  It will be ok.  

Back to basics is really the way to go. You really should see a bariatric surgeon. They might scold you, but they'll also hopefully help you. You'll need to get a full set of labs done, and start your vitamins and supplements again if you've stopped. People have absolutely fallen off the horse and gotten back on. I did. Hopefully some others will chime in.

You'll need to kick all the bready, carby foods to the curb and focus solely on protein. Getting away from those types of carbs ( bread, sugar, pasta...things of that nature ) will not be easy, but it can be done. If you eat steak, eggs, cheese, chicken, fish, shrimp, bacon, or turkey-those types of foods, you'll get full more quickly and stay satisfied longer, which will keep you from grazing and will help fight the carb monster. Make sure you are getting plenty of ( at least 64 oz a day ) hydrating fluids as well. Don't drink your calories for now.

Eat dense proteins that aren't breaded or fried, cut out sugar in all forms ( I'd forego fruit too, at least to start, but that's just me. ), weigh your protein, eat properly sized portions ( 3-4 oz, though if it's chicken or steak, I can only manage 3 oz  ), and log your food into myfitnesspal.com-taking these steps will help you get back on the horse. Make sure you get at least 60 grams of proteins per day ( I'd go for 80-90, but again..that's just me ), and keep your carb intake to less than 40 grams. If you feel like you need veggies, non-starchy veggies and salad greens should be okay, but honestly...I'd skip those for now-especially the salad greens. They crunch down to nothing and don't help fill us up.

If you have started drinking with your meals, that will need to stop. Remember the 30 minute rule? No drinking for at least 30 minutes after eating.

People have come back from worse regains, so it can be done. It will take you longer to lose the weight, but it will come off if you get back to basics.

You need to examine why you're grazing. Boredom? Stress? I "bored-eat" more than anything, so I have to keep my mind occupied. I'll stress eat sometimes, but not often anymore. I color, journal, go for drives, or play game apps on my phone to de-stress. Coming up with a game plan to counteract your grazing is just another part of the puzzle of beating the weight gain. If need be, consult a therapist to help.

Good luck!

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. I stayed between 118-125 for over 10 years.  My husband got sick and passed away recently.  I gained for the first time.  Make these changes one at a time and they will help.  

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.

Something that my surgeon stresses from day one, but most surgeons don't talk about.

At about two and a half years out, you will regain ten, twenty or thirty pounds.  This is not from boredom, eating carbs, moving, having a baby or other things in your life.  This is the way that the body recovers from being starved after RNY.  The theory is that the intestines develop more and better cilia. 

Cilia are hairlike appendages inside the intestines that grab food and hold it against the intestine until the calories can be absorbed. 

To lose weight and to maintain loss, you have to eat less food.  It takes less calories to maintain 165 pounds than to maintain 200.  But it is 350 calories less.  That could be some soda and chips or a candy bar, a small doughnut, bread and butter or a slice of pizza.  It could even be too much protein. 

The first thing I did to deal with regain was to stop drinking protein shakes.  I went to Weigh****chers for the accountability.  I finally lost the weight when I started using a digital food scale and My Fitness Pal to track everything I eat.  I weigh myself every morning on a smart scale that gives me computer readouts of my weight, BMI, fat conten****er weight and bone density weight.  

I count calories and know exactly how many calories I can eat and not gain.  There is no workaround for calorie counting.  You either do it or you weigh more than your goal weight.

I wear a Fitness Tracker and get my steps in.  I do physical exercise every single day.  Either at the gym, in a swimming pool or walking outside or inside a store.  I know how much I can eat and what happens when I eat too much.  I will be nine years in October.  I am still at goal, but I still work at it every day.

Hi White Dove!  I appreciate it EVERY TIME you say these things.  I need to read them every time.  Thank you.

Your honesty is awesome and you've gotten some great advice on here so far.  30lbs is by no means the end of the world, and you can easily get yourself back on track.  

Back to the basics for sure.  You know how to do this...you already have.  Weigh, measure, drink water, be diligent (nothing carbie or sugary, no treats, no cheats ) and find a form of exercise you enjoy.  You can do this!!!!?

No hate, no slap in the face.  That's not what OH is about.

What was said above^^^^

I had a lot going on, and fell off the program.  For a while I maintained my loss with no gain, then I gained 10 pounds and knew if I didn't get back on program, I could gain everything back.  It is not easy, and I've fallen a few times, but I keep trying.  This week I'm doing the AMAW (All Meat All Week) challenge....you can read about it on this board.  I have to stop eating carbs -- they are my downfall!!

Wish you the best of luck.

I'm relatively new to the whole process, but I certainly wouldn't think a 30 pound regain meant my tool was broken.  It's great that you're addressing the problem now, not when you have regained almost all the weight you lost.

My surgeon says this, "Come see me when you have regained 10 pounds, not 100, and we will address the issues". You're 30lbs up, I certainly wouldn't be afraid to call your doctor.  I'm sure he/she wants your success as much as you do.

I am in the same boat.....I had my WLS surgery 6 years ago and I lost 150 pounds.  Well, 4 years ago I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and had to have a double mastectomy and 4 months later reconstruction surgery......then 1 year ago I had a complete hysterctomy. I have had a rough few years and have put back on about 50 pounds due to surgeries and medicines and just lack of paying attention to what I am eating. I am just so aggravated with myself and really need to get back to basics and am struggling with where to begin......I am thinking that coming here will get me motivated to start losing and help me remember how to get this weight off.