Wht Gain & what helped me

I've been reading the posts here and see quite a lot of 'grad's regaining some weight. Myself, included. Since 4/04 I've gained weight. I've found a way to start losing again and thought my experience might benefit some of you. Here is some background. I had my open RNY on 4/9/04. My starting weight was around 254. By 4/05 I had lost 107 lbs making my weight 147. I thought 'now's the time for some plastic surgery' I had an abdominalplasty with hernia repair in April 05 and continued to lose or stay around 147. As I was healing I felt better and felt I could eat more. I stayed within my 1 to 1.5 cups of food but felt I was eating every few hours. My belly actually 'growled' so I fed it. Problem is I wasn't drinking enough water and not working out as much as I normally did, hence the weight gain over a few months. By Oct 2005 I was up to 160 lbs. I was ok with that at the time and thought 'this could be normal' my gastric bypass surgeon & nutritionist weren't too concerned and they told me to stick with protein, water, exercise, etc. By May 2006 my weight was 168.5 per my Dr's scale and my scale 172, Holy Crap! I knew I had to do something NOW. I talked to both Dr & nut and here is what they have recommended. Since May 5th, I've lost 8lbs, not yo-yo'd like I normally did. Feel satisfied and in control. Yippee. Here is what I do. ? Eat no more than five meals a day. Three main meals and two snacks. This I KEY. ? Drink 64oz of water a day NO SODA ( I was starting to drink some diet) ? Meal consists of no more than 8 oz. Protein, veggies and fruit. If your still hungry then have a carb/bread/pasta ? Exercise at least 5 days a week for 30 min each day. ? Write down everything you eat, keep a journal. ( Before, I only did this during the week. By keeping track I found I ate a lot on the weekend, by snacking etc) ? If you're hungry EAT. I found, I'd have brk at 8am and be hungry by 10, my Dr said, eat even if it's a small amount. Your body is telling you it's hungry. ? Knowing I can eat five times a day, keeps my mind off of thinking 'oh when can I eat, what can I eat,". I no longer think about food all the time. I hope this helps some of you, I was at my wits end and was afraid of gaining my weight back too. Good luck L

Thanks for this post and congrats on your 8 pounds gone. You seem to have had some really remarkable success. Keep it up. Karen G

Great suggestions!!!! Congratulations to you!!!!! Tracy B 328/152 5'9"

I have to agree about the no soda program. I was always told post op no soda until I was looking for a break from the Crystal Lite all the time. Not sure what it is, because I only drank the diet, but man, I want to blame it because I too was gaining when drinking the soda. I am a carb cheater at times too and if I can keep a beef jerky or string cheese around when those mad munchie**** that really helps. Have a great day! Tammy McDonald open rny 10-20-2004 287-195

Luann, thanks for this post. I'm printing it for future reference. Lots of great suggestions. Hugs, Lucy

Thanks for all your kind words, I felt so compelled to post this since it's worked for me. We just have to take each day as it comes. FYI. You might ask about sweets, for me I can't eat them so it's not an issue, but you can imagine the Dr said no. Gotta do what works for you.

Hi Luann. Thanks for the great suggestions. I find that if I wait too long in between meals, that I become famished. When I'm at that point, I'm grabbing carbs, something sweet just to satisfy me until I can get my meal prepared. The bad thing about that is then I'm too full to eat my protein! Just wondering. How many hours do you go until the next meal or snack? Thanks again and congrats on the 8 pound loss! Cathy

Hi Cathy. Typically I try and wait 3-4 hrs. Sometimes that doesn't happen. I'll have breakfast at 8am, be hungry at 10am and have something small, This would be my 2nd meal. Have lunch around 12 or 1. Then have dinner around 4 and have a snack at 6 or so. No more than five meals a day. Even if you pop a few peanuts or protein in your mouth count that as one meal. Let me know if you want more ideas. And, good luck

This is great, thanks. I am going to hit that Plateau Busters regimine for 10 days, then start in on what you said. After trying Weigh****cher's again and have NO results, I decided that we're just not the same as everyone else. Our bods are doing different things with what we take in and I think many things head right to extra fat. -=db=-

Dee, Your right, I think our bodies remember so well being fat that it wants to stay that way. It wants to revert back to the 'old way' I struggle every day. My only salvation is to log in my book what I eat how much I exercise and how much I weigh. I compare it from week to week and look at patterns, reasons for gaining and reasons for losing. We all have our struggles with this, good thing the board is here to help us along. Best of luck to you !!