7 YRS OUT FROM RNY...NEED SOME TIPS/ADVICE FOR REGAIN

Hi all, I am 7 yrs out from RNY and have slowly regained about 30lbs over the last 3-4 years.  I was doing great until I had a total hysterectomy that put me down for about 8 wks...I stopped exercising entirely during that time and never went back to it.  I have fallen back in to some bad habits...drinking with my meals being the biggest one.  I still can't eat a lot at one time and I know my problem is not over-eating.  About 6 months ago I got serious about losing this regain and actually started to lose again...then my mother passed away unexpectedly and I put it on the back burner again.  So, 2 months ago I got serious again and joined my local gym.  I have been very consistent with going...I do cardio and weight training.  I feel like I have exercise under control...my diet is the problem.  I don't over eat, if fact if anything I don't think I'm eating enough.  I know early after my surgery I had stopped losing and that was the problem, I wasn't eating enough.  I aim for roughly 1700 calories a day, but I rarely even get close to that, especially after burning 400+ calories at the gym every other day...some days I may net only about 700-800 calories.  Has anybody else had this particular problem and if so, how did you overcome it?  I just can't seem to make myself eat during the day.  I can literally go all day without eating and it doesn't bother me...I try really hard to not do this but it seems to be happening day after day after day.  Just looking for any kind of tips or advice...my scales nor my tape measure have not budged in 2 months and I've had blood tests run and everything came back normal...so what gives?

I just reached my 6 year anniversary and have also had to deal with some regain. There are many threads in the grad forum on this topic if you read down the list a bit. The answers really boil down to doing what we know how to do....

I will say that a target of 1700 calories seems high. Even with exercise, we don't "cash in" our calories and get to eat more, or erase what we have already eaten. This was explained to me in a much more professional way by a personal trainer - so forgive my amateur description here! But if you are exercising it will help you in a multitude of ways. You will burn more just standing still than if you were sedentary. My typical day's eating keeps me at 900-1100 calories. 

My suggestions when it comes to dealing with the weight are these:

1. Use My Fitness Pal or Lose It to track your food for a solid 2 weeks. See what the calories, carbs, protein, and sugar intake actually looks like. 

2. Back to basics on food - protein first. Then veggies, as a source of complex carbs. Omit the bread, rice, pasta, etc if they have crept into your diet once again. 

3. Drink your water - 64 oz. a day minimum. 

4. You're right that drinking with meals is not good for us - I find myself doing it on occasion. Be conscious and very aware to try to break the habit. 

5. Spread out your meals - or some level of food intake, even if it's a protein drink - through the day. You are probably doing crazy things with your blood sugar by waiting a long time to eat. Personally if I go all day without eating, I get too hungry later on and my food intake turns into a train wreck. If you are not eating all day - then packing in 1700 calories late in the day - that's a lot of food in a short period of time. 

Best of luck to you. Just do what's good for YOU!

Thanks so much for your reply!  Water is not an issue for me, I drink 80+ oz every day and I use the Lose It app to track my food, but I've only been paying attention to the total calories and not which foods are making up those calories.  I have to go back to the basics with protein first, thanks for that reminder.  Great advice, thanks again!

Ignore net calories. You can never judge accurately what you burn. Weigh your food. Scales are accurate, measuring cups and eyeballing are way off.if you know what you are taking in, you'll know how much to adjust.

If you are maintaining, you are eating the number of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight. To lose you need to cut back. Many people maintain on 1200 calories. I would suggest cutting back from 1700 to 1200 and see what your body does. As Grim said, weigh your portions and be honest with yourself about how much you are eating. Exercise is great, but do not subtract those from what you are actually eating. This never works. Good luck!!

ETA- 30 pounds over 4 years is only an extra 70 calories a day. A little too much each day definitely adds up.

I will be doing the 5 Day Pouch Test to shed a few pounds as well as to make sure my pouch is still working for me. You are more than welcome come along as we fight this. I plan on starting on Tuesday or Wednesday. I am going to vlog my journey on my youtube channel so I am able to show others what I am doing and eating.

youtube.com/joylynn82

Diet is always the problem.  :::sigh::: 1700 calories is a lot for a WLS post-op person.  I eat around 1400 and I'm happy with my weight, even if it is not what my ultimate goal used to be.  You probably CAN make yourself eat during the day.  Try and remember how you ate after surgery.  I know I eat 6 times a day, small amounts.  I'm never actually hungry.  I, like others, also track my food.  I write everything down and turn it into an accountability partner at the end of each day.  Anything with calories gets recorded.  I also track my emotions, fears, resentments, etc. so I can see what sometimes causes me to eat unwanted food.  Not eating enough can cause a stall in weight loss, but it won't permanently derail it.  Eventually your body has to let go of the weight if that truly is the case.