10 years and 40 lb gained

Hi Everyone. I can't believe it's been this long since I've been part of the wonderful community that helped me to loose all my weight. I'm inspired reading everyones post. For a while I thought I was doing great maintaining my weight and realized it was normal to regain a few pounds after surgery. I continued to tell myself that for the past 6 years and today I look up and I am obese and miserable. I do know that my weight loss was a success but to some level I ignored the fact that it was a very real possibility that I could gain weight if I stopped excersising and ate poorly. I'm here as a reminder of the things that motivated me to loose in the first place. My entire family is overweight and no one seems to understand how I feel about being 190lb right now. They just keep saying "at least you're not as fat as before" My highest was 278. For a split second that gives me some comfort but it doesn't exactly change how I feel. I've been up and down hovering between 170-190 for years. My lowest was 147 and I loved how I felt. This time it just feels absolutely wrong for me to have gained 40+ pounds and content with that.

Just looking at this website and all of your success has definately motivated me to stay on and work toward my inital weight loss goal from 2002 of 130lbs. One day at a time. Thanks for reading and I welcome any suggestions or feed back.

The hardest thing is to know what you are capable of and not quite being able to acheive because you're in your own way.

Well... you know what to do... don't we all?

At least we knwo what works and what does not... I know carbs make me gain weight. 

I'm a couple months shy of 2 years out from VSG.  At my lowest I was around 140 and have let myself fall off track, eating candy and junk that I know I shouldn't eat.  It's like I'm trying to see how much junk food I can get away with eating.  Well, the answer is not this much!  I've let myself gain to 154, so 14lbs, but I know if I don't nip this in the bud it will spiral out of control.  All my clothes still fit me, but the scale tells a different story.  I also just spent a lot of money on plastic surgery that if I let the weight gain get out of control will have been a waste.  Today is the first day I'm back on the forums and trying to get myself motivated and on track again!  I hope you are able to get yourself back on track also :-)

I'm in the same boat.  My 10 surgery anniversary is on the 27th.  I am now officially back on track, but have been struggling.  Losing it the second time around is definitely much harder. If you would like additional support there is a group on here called Back on Track Together, you are more than welcome to join.  It has helped me.  Wishing you all the luck.  Feel free to message me and let me know how you are doing.

Stephanie E

My mother died Oct 2011, followed by my father 10mos later. I have gained 40 of the 200lbs I lost back in this ammt of time. I am scared I cant make the change back to the healthy mind set I had while my mom was here. I have just been diagnosed with Fibermyalgia on top of the muscular dystrophy I have fought with for years. Adding depression from the loss of both parents in such a short time has gotten me back to comfort eating. I graze all day long, like im trying to stuff the space that held my mom with food. Not working so well. With the fibermyalgia it hurts to move, but then again it hurts not to move so thats just a lame excuse, and I know it. I spend most of my time trying not to burst into tears. Christmas was huge in my family, so the holidays bring out alot of emotional eating. I sure miss my mom, and still have to hold back the tears every day.

I am in the same boat. I lost down to a size 4/6 and I felt I was a bit too small, so I tried to regain some and gee - I didn't stop gaining until I hit 40 pounds. I want to lose again and I don't know how! I can't seem to get started back in the other direction and I need some guidance.

We all know what we need to do, but it can be so hard, right?  Heaven knows there have been times I've wondered to myself what happened to all that motivation I felt pre-op.  

Ever been in a bad relationship?  You know the kind, where the guy reallly doesn't treat you right, where you're not getting the support you need, where it clearly has no future, where deep down you know it's not right, but you can't quite break free of it.  You break up, and then he tells you he loves you, and you're right back in it again despite your best intentions.  I think of my food habits like that.  Sure, it feels good temporarily to dive into that sugary treat, or that bag of popcorn, but I know it's not giving me what I need, and it's going to make me feel like crap later.  But it's so hard to leave it alone, right?

Well, how did I ditch the bad boyfriend?  Lucky for me, he dumped me (thank GOD - I nearly married that jerk!).   Oh, I thought my life was over, thought I'd never get over him, thought I'd never find someone else who loved me.  But, guess what?  I met an awesome guy who loves me more than I could ever deserve and makes my life more wonderful than I could have hoped for.  He's my friend and my partner and my support group and cheering squad.  There's NOTHING that would tempt me to let the jerk ex-boyfriend back into my life, because I've found someone who makes me so much happier.

So, I think that's the key to permanent success at weight loss.  It's really hard to simply drop a bad habit, but if you can replace it with something that's more rewarding, that's MUCH easier.  When you first had surgery, you probably hated the post-op diet, and you felt like crap, but you didn't really have any choice - you had major surgery and your life was changed whether you liked it or not.  Then, the rapid weight loss started, you felt awesome, you kept needing smaller clothes, and the compliments started rolling in .  REWARD!  That was all the motivation you needed.

But eventually, you need to find a new motivation, or that ex-boyfriend (aka chocolate) starts calling your name and whispering sweet nothings in your ear.  You've got to find something new you love more!  And, you may have to keep finding something new you love more.  But if you can build yourself a life that's rewarding and full of joy, that will make maintenance 100 times easier than the white-knuckle method.

So, spend some time figuring yourself out.  Why are those old food habits tempting?  Where are your weak points in the day, and what strategies can you use to combat them?  If you hate to exercise, can you find something new you actually enjoy?  If you have a terrible time with carb cravings, can you cut the carbs, substitute with low-carb replacements, and incorporate some supplements into your diet to help your body get what it needs?  If you're a stress eater, how can you reduce your stress, how can you find rewards that relax and soothe that don't involve food (a hot bath?  a cup of tea?  playing with your dog?  A short walk out in the fresh air?), and again, are there foods or supplements that will help with stress (GABA, 5-HTP, Kefir...)?  

I think so many of try to white-knuckle our way to success, and blame ourselves for lack of willpower when we fail.  Willpower isn't going to hold you long term, you need to find rewards and support.

That was an awesome response.  You made things so much clearer. Thanks for posting this, you have helped me more than you know.

I am seeing so many posts about weight regain. I have been responding to all of them with the same message: do the Paleo or Primal lifestyle after weight loss surgery. I follow the Primal BluePrint (very similar to Paleo but allows some dairy) and it has enabled me to keep my 100 lb weight loss from RNY off for 10-years. 

I highly recommend the Primal BluePrint 21-Day Total Body Transformation to WLSers wanting to transition to this plan of eating. It is a 21-day plan that guides you through shopping and stocking your pantry, exercises, daily affirmation and challenges, and of course eating. I wrote all about my 21-day total body transformation on HealthCentral. You can read the series of articles beginning here: http://www.healthcentral.com/obesity/c/276918/149743/transformation 

The Paleo and Primal diets coordinate with the recommended eating plan for WLSers as stated in the Pouch Rules for Dummies. You can read more about that in my article here: http://www.healthcentral.com/obesity/c/276918/139125/bariatric-tools

I hope that these articles are of help. I cannot emphasize enough the vital importance of eating this way in your ability to lose weight and keep it off for the rest of your life. Cheers to lifetime obesity management!

Living life well-fed,

My Bariatric Life