Good Morning. Maintenance for me...

...is like waiting for the other shoe to drop and my old body's propensity to hold on to weight and fall apart take over. Yep, I have a fear of regain. I know it's statistically nearly impossible for me to regain all my weight but that fear is still out there on the periphery of my "vision". I guess it still goes back to my view of my body being the enemy and my WLS being my weapon.

I know over time my body will be able to absorb more carbs and store them as fat and I have no control over that. I think that's what drives me nuts...lack of control. Our bodies will adapt to our surgeries and try to return to their old steady states that made us fat to start with.

Some VSGrs say keep up the exercise and eat low carb, that will keep your metabolism burning bright and keep the weight off. Vitalady says to give your body the protein and vitamins its looking for in abundance to keep the body from thinking it needs to adapt. NUTs are notorious for trying to "make" us normal by slowly reintroducing carbs to our diets. But, we have no long term studies or proof IMO that these or none of these are correct.

We are cutting edge in this weight loss maintenance game.

--gina

I too have a fear of gaining weight back. Though I am still in the weight loss mode I can see sometimes temptations and emotional eating could come back to screw up my success.

I think if we are diligent in our accountability, speak to someone who can help us along the way and keep sharing here we will find the right path for us to follow without gaining too much.

Thanks for sharing your truth, WLS isn't a child's game that's for sure.

 I can definitely relate to the body being the enemy thing  .    

When  y'all  say carbs ... I'm assuming flour and fat .... in  various combinations ..and even sugar .  

My  body seems to run  very well with  ( complex  , high fiber  FRESH  largely  carbohydrate)   Foods ( also known as  vegetables and fruits and whole grains and beans )   as opposed to Junk as  fuel ....fat free  of course and a limited amount of  lean  protein . 

I don't really seem to lose weight on this regimen ... on the other hand  don't really gain it either  . 

considering how stressful my life is right now  and how  many meals I'm forced to eat in  WAY less than ideal cir****tances  ...  I'm FINE  with that . 

I like  having  physical strength  and endurance  and the  ability to work day after day  from  the dark of the morning into the  dark of the night  without falling apart .,.. and my labs  are good too .  

I think if I rigorously cut the sugar and flour out  I'd lose some ....also if I  ran ... but right now  its just often not practical .  

What  I've  really  learned about  since my WLS is EMOTIONAL  recovery from compulsive overeating .  

 Interesting how I was in the twelve step fellowship for that  FOREVER  and  yet  I  got a lot of the benefits  THAT QUICK   when I  received the  amazing blessing of PHYSICAL  recovery  first .   Maybe  I just needed  some  emotional space to heal  ..who knows . 

In  any case I  find that  I am a LOT  more aware  of turning to food for emotional solace now ..  and a lot more  able to say  NO  i CHOOSE  not to sabotage my body and recovery and pick up that  first compulsive bite .  

And I NEVER  regret not eating  whatever was seducing  me with its siren song    the next day lol !    

Overall I  would say THAT is  the key to successful maintenance for me  now .... not eating when I  am not hungry .... 

so not eating for entertainment  

not eating because I'm bored 

trying to FIX the  sources of ongoing frustration in my life rather  than medicate  my pain every day  with excess food  and tolerate them 

completing esteemable acts ( slowly building the life I WANT )  so my  overall life and cir****tances get significantly better and more rewarding and food  doesnt remain the only source  of  reward in my life .  

I consciously  turn  to my list  of  OTHER  non food related comforts  for my emotional solace now ...  like my garden,  my  cuddly  live teddy-bear cat ,   my peaceful  quiet and beautiful apartment .   I  VALUE  my serenity  and  will  stomp all over  the selfish  men   who would impose their nasty moods .... as a way of defusing  THEIR  feelings  !  

Guess what  ?   it works  when U say STOP it  ! ( at least when U say it  Loudly and consistently  lol ! )     Its more or less  like training a dog .  

A Harder problem is renegotiating unfair  unwritten " contracts "  as I'm having to do  ... that  really  brings  out  THEIR tendency to stomp all over  U like a roach to re- gain control over the  situation lol ....  which is  very stressful  for BOTH  parties 

The  thing I  really like  is  I finally feel ALIVE  after so  many years of hibernating within my own  failing  body .... 

so what if I stumble and fall , taking baby steps in recovery ....  at least  I'm TRYING to improve  !!  

Every day I thank God that He gave me this wonderful amazing second chance at life  ....

Great attitude, Ava! You are in a tough spot and you seem to be working hard on getting things in order. I admire that.

I too eat a fair amount of carbs - maybe up to 70 a day sometimes. It works for me and gives me energy. I should focus on the better ones though. I just love cornchips. I choose to eat a few of them almost every day by dipping them into cottage cheese. Then, I'm getting in protein and get filled up fast. Some days though, I keep my carbs at around 25 and feel good about that too.

The "not eating unless you're hungry" theory really should be what we stick to for maintenance. That's a tough one!

Gina, look at the long term DS'ers...have many of them regained all that much weight? I mean more than 10-15 lbs? And was it from ignoring what they needed to do to maintain? If I am not mistaken most DS'er's EVEN long term stay within 10 lbs of their goal unless they had to go on medications that caused weigh gain.

Remember, it's VERY hard to BREAK your DS. We don't go back to absorbing like a RNY'er does. We do start reabsorbing again but nothing like a RNY'er does. And the shorter your common channel is the less you have to reabsorb. I'll stand a better chance of regain than you will cause I have a longer common channel.

Stop worrying. Stress will make you gain.

Liz

Liz,

If you don't mind me asking, how long is your common channel?

I don't mind you asking at all. My surgeon and I decided on 175 for mine. We were going for 200 up until I was in pre-op for surgery, he came by before they rolled me into the surgeical suite and I asked him if we could go for the 175 instead, cause in our appt we had talked about 175 to 200. He agreed and that's what I got.

But that is how I ended up with a 175 instead of 200 at the last min. :) 

Liz

Thanks!  Dr. Keshishian told me he customizes the DS for each individual patient so a patient who is a lightweight (like me) would not have as small of a sleeve and common channel as a patient who has a lot more weight to lose. 

I see people on the DS board who post about 100 common channels and I wasn't sure if that was the norm but now you have given me a point of reference :)

I have a Dr Elariny's standard DS. 100cm common channel and a 60f bougie sleeve (3-5oz volume).  Some surgeons mostly do a standard and some will make adjustments. I think it's a philosophy thing for them.

Okay, interesting.  I have only had my consult with Dr. K so we didn't go over size so I am now anxious to hear his thoughts on DS size for me at my pre-op appointment.

:)