Maintenance Honesty

For the longest time I have worried about mentioning the few pounds that have creeped back on and I tried not to say to much about them.  I didn't want any of the posters thinking about having WLS second quessing themselves or the newbies regretting having their surgery thinking that all of their weight was going to come back on. 

Yes, I have gained a few pounds but I don't have a single regret about having my RNY!!!!   It was the BEST decision I have ever made!  My only regret was waiting until I was in my 50's  to have it done.  Have I been successful....YES!!!   I still have 83 pounds off and I'm thinner than I was 38 years ago when I got married!!! 

In my case WLS was easy.  I didn't have any complications and the weight just seemed to melt off.  I followed the rules during the losing stage or Honeymoon Period. I drank my Protein and avoided bad carbs like sweets, pasta, potatoes, rice, bread etc. 

After being at goal for awhile I think I started getting a little ****y.  Maybe I didn't believe in the Honeymoon Period.  Maybe I thought I was the exception and I could handle it.   For awhile I got away with eating a little bread, a handful of chips, 100 calorie bag of cheezits, and even a piece of cake without gaining.  Then reality set in!  By letting  these "treats" slip back into my menu I got hooked on carbs again. 

WLS works...BUT you have to be smart enough to understand the Honeymoon Period ends and Maintenance begins with a blink of the eye.  Not quite that fast but after 2 years (or 3 in my case) it just seems to happen over night. 

If you have decarbed during the Honeymoon Period Don't be foolish like I was to think you can add junk food back into your menus on a daily basis and keep your weight off.   Those carbs really aren't going to make you any happier but keeping those pounds off are!!

To those on Mainteance...It's time to take control!!!!   To those who are still enjoying the Honeymoon Period...Stay in Control!!!!

Roz

This is great!

I've heard it said that WLS helps "get us under the wire" so that we can get active and learn to eat.  It is not a magic bullet, and by going back to our old ways (jI'll have just a little bit here and there), we can undo the surgeon's wonderful work. 

I have come to realize that it is very hard to change the ways of an individual who was a disfunctional eater for over 55 years.  Yes, I lost weight, but always regained all of it and more back.  I swear, it won't happen this time.

So what's different - I now have a tool that tells me when I eat too much, and I have a much better support system - doc, physician assistant, support groups, nutritionist, and this group.  I'll need everyone of them to succeed.

Good luck to you and everyone on this journey.

Wonderful words of wisdom, Roz.  It's way too easy to slip back into old habits and it amazes me how much I can eat some days.  Especially if I am not eating meals but snacking.  I know you can get those pounds off if you want to.  I know I wasn't happy at 111, I don't want to be back there again.  but not 119 either.  We can do this.  Your support has meant so much to me and everyone else.  Your star isn't any duller because of a few pounds.  If you are happy and happy with how you are eating, more power to you.  If not, I know you can do what you need to do. 

 This whole thing is an education.  Roz, I think that 90% of WLS patients could write your post.   We have to learn what works for us.  You've learned that lots of carbs ont work for you at this point.  What works for us is a continual learning curve.

You are a brilliant shining star for so many of us.  Please don't ever feel that you can't post your truth here.  I can personally say that I learn more from a person's struggles than their day to dy success.  It's how we deal with the tough times that really counts!

Like I've said from the beginning, let's all see where we are at the five year mark.  I have to say that you're doing pretty darn good.  This LW forum is not that old.  It's time for us all to start the conversations about what long term maintenance looks like and how we will handle and manage it.

Preach it, Roz. This is true for all of us, even us ****y DSrs.

--gina
 

Thank you Roz.  I haven't posted lately, partly due to issues I dont' want to get into, but also because I have been stalled for the past year and it is my fault, and mine alone.  I have felt terrific since surgery and accomplished what I wanted to with the weight loss, but now I need to face the facts and get the final 30 pounds off.  I just spent the last few weeks having a lot of tests done to see if I had bladder cancer and thankfully I don't, but I am having a kidney stone blasted tomorrow.  Having smoked for 42 years, taking ACTOS for my Type II D, and other poor lifestyle choices do catch up with us, but it is never too late to take control.  I am careful about what I eat, but am having a very hard time not eating in the evening, or self medicating with food.  I'm so glad all of you are here.

Sue

I am so glad your tests came back okay.  I hope your surgery to blast the kidney stones went well.  I have had 3 of those procedures over the past year done. so I have become an expert.  they are no big deal.  Unfortunately, I end up losing a ton of blood, run horific fevers and end up septic (urinary sepsis and in the blood) each of the 3 times) requiring me to be hospitallzed for 10 days each time.  it was no fun.  I lost so much blood that I needed a transfusion 2 of the times.

I finally had my urine tested afterwards and found out what was causing the stones and got on preventative medications and my last CT scan in April was so much better than the one in January when they had been growing back again.  I still get chronic bladder infections which I dont know if that will ever stop but as long as they can control the stones, I will be  happy.

Once we have gastric bypass, we are very high risk for kidney stones.  If your doctor didnt capture a stone during your blasting to test (they dont always due this) then you need to go to a Nephrologist (kidney specialist) to get your urine tested for what is causing the stones as soon after the blasting as possible so things dont change.  My doctor sent my urine to a company called Litholink and all they do is deal with kidney stones - you can check out there website - litholink.com  it has a ton of information that can be very helpful to you on what causes them, how to prevent them and just alot of other info.

I take vitamin B6 - 100mg daily to help clear out the calcium oxylates in the blood, to go along with this you need to take calcium citrate with each meal.  As gastric bypass patients, we tend to have enourmously high calcium oxylate levels which are very high risk factors for kidney stones.  We also get low citrate levels which we can take potassium citrate daily to increase the level.  We also need to drink an enourmous amount of fluids to avoid dehydration.  Dehydration is the number one cause of stones and if not corrected they can become severe - you need to make sure your urine is clear and drink atleast 64 ounces per day but up to 80 ounces per day.  Some people have high uric acid levels which is another cause of stones.  The urine tests can determine the causes adn treatments - they test for all sorts of vitamins, minerals and stuff.

I do hope you are okay and all went okay

Roz,

Thanks for then post!

And Lucycat....I have so missed seeing you! (and have wondered how you were often).

I really appreciate a post like this as I know for me, I sometimes struggle seeing newbies
lose weight so easily post surgery.....I really feel like I have had to struggle to get each of
my pounds off and it is hard to not get discouraged if there has been a struggle at some
point in this journey (be it early out, at the 1 year point, or years out like some of you are).
Some of us really struggle as well with a food addiction component so this can make maintaining difficult at times. BUT, this does not mean we should hide our struggles; success isn't a # but the ability to never give up and to keep on keeping on. I keep trying to celebrate
the positive changes in my life especially when it comes to my health being so much
improved. As the chaplain I work with told me today, "when are you going to start seeing
what we see in you Jennifer". Brought tears to my eyes.

Blessings to ALL...



~~Jennifer

Jennifer, I'm sitting here laughing because you weren't around for my first year when I was the official slowest loser to ever grace the pages of the LW forum.  I struggled so hard for each and every pound.  At month 6 I was exercising 3 hours a day/7 days a week with a personal trainer and shed 3 pounds that month.  On and on it went.  It took me close to two years to reach my goal and it's not even a low goal, just getting to a normal BMI.  You are doing great and I hope that you do listen to the wise words of your Chaplain!

Thanks for the great tid bit! Can you repeat that every day! I WILL MARK IT AND READ IT EVERYDAY!