Happy but scared!!

Ok first of all I'm a lurker most of the time but need some clear thinking. Had my rny aug. 05 - have lost 108 pds and couldn't be happier. Actually I have lost more then my dr. wanted Ok I'm 5 pds. away from being under weight. I am not trying to lose anymore and bounce between 3-5 pds. anyway it dawned on me the other day I'm 16 months out and the window of the 18 months is about to close. I know that the work never ends and I need to watch what goes into my mouth but I have this oh my god feeling and I'm so scared! My DH says I have nothing to worry about that I don't eat enough to worry. I still drink 4-5 protien drinks a day and eat about 2 cups of food a day. Just had my labs done and they were perfect. Anyway what scares me is the post from our dear friends on here that have regained. I would freak if I gained it back. I think one of my blessings is that I dump and I mean I'm really sensitive to sugar so it's not in my diet at all. However I'm a carbaholic!!! Anyway I'm just a bit freaked right now and for some reason I can't cleary look at how blessed I am. Sorry to ramble just afraid of the regain. Does it happen to everyone? Thank you for your thoughts.

You know, I believe that fear can be a good thing. I, too, am fearful of regain. I am 28 months post op and at my goal of 140 pounds. I have not had any significant regain. I fluctuate between 140 and 142 pounds, depending on the time on the month. I watch what I eat, carefully logging everything in my fitday.com food journal. It keeps me honest. Congratulations and keep up the good work. XOXOXO, Sharyn

First of all, there is nothing magical that happens exactly at 18 months to close that window. Yes, things slow down for most folks but if people want to continue losing they have to be very viligant about how many calories they take in versus how many they burn via exercise/activity. As for regain, again... monitor your intake, beware of the BLTs (bites, licks and tastes becuase those calories count as well) and make sure that you do not fall back into old habits. For most people, I do not think it is necessary to measure and write down every bite and track it in fitday.com unless that works really well for you and doesn't cause you to obsess about it. For me, I spot check things. Keep a mental tally now and then. If the scale goes up a few lbs I evaluate what quantities, frequency and what I'm eat and make adjustments. Every one of us probably even as early as 6-9 months post-op could eat enough calories to stop the weight loss and start to gain by simply grazing on higher calories foods all day long and intaking more calories then we burn. Do I worry about regain? No. Have I regained? No. Did my husband regain? Yes. He regained about 15% of what he lost and is working to get that down. How did he regain? By eating more carbs, not monitoring his intake as much as he should and by not paying attention to the scale and stopping the regain early on. Kathy

Hi Kris! Fear of regaining haunts me too. I'm almost 2yrs out, down 178lbs and holding steady for several months now, but I'm still scared! I've never been good at "maintaining" or I wouldn't have ended up at 328lbs. There have been times when I've lost control~I am still an emotional eater, a thing that I'm working on~and I've gained a few pounds pretty quickly~that's scary! Thankfully b/c I'm a daily weigher, I've been able to nip it in the bud so to speak and get right back on track to get those pounds right back off. The scary part is what if I couldn't get myself back together? Would I just continue to gain? Everyone is right~we have to keep track of what goes in our mouth and then we'll be ok. Its amazing to see that if I work my tool it still works!!!! No one is perfect, we just do the best we can from day to day so if you stumble, that's ok~just be sure to pick yourself back up quickly. I will always have a 328lb woman sitting on my shoulder to remind me where I've come from! Good Luck! Tracy B 328/150 5'9"

Thank for your reply - It's really funny we are all so alike aren't we!! I to am a daily weigher. Talked to the dr. office today and they said if I get under 125 I have to come in right away. I bounce between 128 and 131. I just need to use the tool and my head!!! Thank you again!!!

I think it's pretty normal to be concerned about weight gain. After all we were concerned with weight loss. I think if you have the right mindset and you've really changed your habits, you're safe. My check and balance is I step on the scale each and every day. The only days it doesn't happen is when I can't pack it with me to take on a trip - then the FIRST thing I do when I get home is run to the scale as if it were a long lost friend. It keeps me super honest. Do I like the scale, not really, but I appreciate it's honesty with me and how "honest" I've been with myself.