6yrs out - I have fallen of the wagon!!!

Hello fellow gbs patients!

I am 6yrs post op and have undergone a lot these past few months high stress living, back to bad food choices, lack of exercise and am looking to take control of my self before I am too far gone, any help is greatly appreciated! Anyone who works midnights and knows how to establish a good eating/exercising regime would be super helpful!

Good Afternoon! Sorry to hear that you have a had a rough patch. I don't work an evening shift so I don't have any advice to offer there but wanted to suggest viewing and participating in the daily menu thread on this forum. Lots of support and accountability can be found there. Also, remember the basics- protein first, hydrate and nothing to drink with/30 mins after a meal. Best of luck to you-you CAN do this.

Although I don't work midnights, but have to work evenings every 3 weeks 2-1030, my sister does have to work midnights on a rotational basis. She is two yrs post op. (She originally had the band 4 yrs ago). For her it's a matter of being organized. She knows when she gets home she needs her sleep. She can't sleep long just 2 1/2-3 hours. So she goes about her day, cooks laundry etc. Then around 430 she goes back to bed until 830-9.

Thats her schedule. I think it's good to pre cook and freeze ready to go meals.

I have lost weight and gained weight on the night shift. It depended on what I was eating. I ate about every 4 hours. I had emergency protein if the shift was busy.

I gained a lot of weight with life stressors. The sooner you can find a way through the easier it will be.

just empathy. I've done night shift. It's hard. We had no cafeteria and so we basically ate crap out of vending machines or sent someone to pick up burgers. One thing that I have done is that I've subscribed to emeals low carb menus. Not just dinner. Breakfast and lunch too. I want all the planning done for me. :) Of course, you have to cook to do that, and not everyone wants to do all that cooking, but it works well for me.

Oh I can so relate! I'm also 6 years out and having the same problems. I work 12 hour nights and it seems the more tired I am, the poorer my choices and of course I'm tired so exercise is out. I could go on and on, but this isn't about me.

I'm trying to pack high protein snacks and making the time to sit down to eat them. I tend to graze and that contributes to the problem obviously. I take a "meal" and I take my half hour to eat. I try to get out of the Unit to eat because there is less distraction. Some nights I do better than others, but I've accepted it is a challenge and I'll do my best to get back on track. I come home in the morning and do some stretching exercise and I'm trying to exercise on my days off.

I wish you luck.

Take care.

I worked the midnight shift for 28 years. You have to decide when you are going to eat. Some people don't eat at night. I often ate junk food and sugar to keep myself awake. Before WLS, when I was in my 25-40's I would have a small meal about 200 calories when I got home from work then sleep when my kids were in school. I then ate a full dinner with the family (my breakfast), put them to bed and brought my lunch to work at night. When I got older, and my kids were grown I would stay awake longer after work and go skating and golfing and then sleep from 2-3 pm till I woke up and then eat my big meal and go to work. A lot depends on when you sleep. After WLS, I have worked on the afternoon shift. I would eat one 200 calorie meal at work, and have a protein shake for break time. Lunch was only 20 min, and break was 10 min. You have to make sure you get sleep, and then divide your day into 4-5 mini meals. When I transitioned to days on the weekend, I allowed myself 5-7 mini meals (often awake for 24 hours on either last day of the week or first day back) On my short day, I would only eat 3 meals. (That is the crash and sleep day when you "catch up on sleep".) Don't use food to stay awake. You can just as easily eat a hard boiled egg then a quick sugar "pick me up". Just like day people have to plan their food for the day, a night time worker has to do the same, especially as there are not very many healthy food choices at night. Have healthy pre-measured snacks available. Eliminating the quick sugars will actually help not feeling so tired from the sugar high/low and get you thru the night.

You have already taken the hardest step by saying enough is enough and now I want to get back on track. I maintained 118-125 for over 10 years after losing 200 pounds. Due to a personal tragedy I gained and hit the 190 mark a year ago. After several starts it finally clicked and I am back to goal losing 60 pounds of regain. Here are some steps that helped me and I hope they will help you too! You may have several starts and stops but don't give up, don't beat yourself up. IT WILL CLICK!!!

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.