Bounce Back -vs- Weight Gain?

Bounce Back and Weight Gain mean the same to me....its a gain of some sort whether it be the body trying to find its sweet spot or just taking in too many calories. If I had it my way I would have this old body stabilize without a gain as long as those calories in were in the 1200-1500 range. Good question and lots of good responses. Debbie

I've been thinking about this for a while now, too. At my lowest after surgery I weighed 160, only stayed there a very short time, and then hovered around 165 for quite a while (this was about 18 months-2 years following surgery). I would have little gains up a couple pounds, but would go back to 165 or 166. Then, boom, before I knew it, here I am at 180! How the heck did that happen? I guess my brain thought my body would take care of the weight like it had been (ah, the magic!!) but that hasn't happened. Now I'm sitting here at 180, waking up and realizing that I have to "do" something to try to stay here and not gain more, let alone maybe even get back to 170 where all my clothes felt really good. When I was on the way down, I was ecstatic to hit 180, but now I feel a little fat! I would really love to get back to 170-172 and stay there, but I feel it's going to take extreme effort at this point. So whether or not this is "bounce-back" or regular weight gain, I can't say, but typically I'm not happy here either!!! LOL Carlita

Great question Lei, I've thought of this lately myself. I hit my lowest weight in January of 119 lbs. Within 2-3 days I'd "bounced back" to 122 lbs and it seems like this is where by body wants to be. I've tried several things to get to 119 again (just seems like a magic number to me) but my body is saying . I've upped my calories, lowered calories, upped protein, lowered carbs, added additional water and more exercise and the scale isn't moving. So maybe this is my "ideal" weight, not sure. Thanks for making us think. Hugs, Dana

According to my doctor, you don't have to bounce if you don't want to. The key is to commit to a minimum of 1 hr of cardio exercise EVERY DAY FOR LIFE!! Exercise, protein first and the rest will follow. He says the bounce or gain is a result of relaxed discipline. He told me point blank in my consultation, that I would have to exercise 1 hr per day or risk weight creep. He said it was normal for patients to start feeling good healthwise and relax their regimen. Maintain your regimen and the bounce can be kept at bay, and if you want to lose more weight beyond the honeymoon phase, exercise even more. The key is exercise and protein first, according to my physician. That gives me hope.... it means I am in control! That's my 2 cents for the day. (No I don't need change back!) Denise