Help. 69lb regain-I am ashamed...now what????

Tess,

When you lost your regain, how many years were you out?

I will be 8 years out in March and I started my correct way of eating in May of 2011 so I was a little over 5 years out.  Reached my goal in February of 2012.  Had a tummy tuck in May of 2012.  Maintained my weight through April of 2013 and had the second half of a lower body lift.  Gain about 10 lbs. over the course of about 4 months.  I have since lost the remaining gain and am currently holding again in that 155-160 range that my body seems to like.  I would love to get on down to 145 so that will be my next goal for 2014.

Thank you, Tess.  I will be 5 years out in July and am happy to know that you got your regain off during that time frame.  I never reached my goal, so I am getting off regain and trying to lose additional weight.  Thank you for for your post.  You don't realize how much your post have encouraged me in this journey. I had gotten to the place where I wanted to stay in the house, because when I would go out, I would see people that remembered how small I had gotten, you can just see the look in their faces.  Some people actually want us to fail at weight loss.  You have helped me out so much.  When I want to take a bite of something wrong, I always think about your post and how successful you have been.  I know that it was not easy for you, but you did it and I want to do the same thing.    Be blessed and have a wonderful Christmas.

You are so very welcome!  People gave to me on my journey back and I want to give to others so that they know it can be done again.  I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and I do understand about other people not wanting us to succeed.  My regain was very public as it took place during the most stressful time of my life, at my daughter's wedding.  Instead of wearing a beautiful size 10 gown, I walked down the aisle in a 16.  At that time, I just needed to get through it.  Afterwards I went into a depression that keep me so down that it took me another 9 months to acknowledge that I had to get a hold of my life.  My daughter has always been proud of me through thick or thin but on Mother's Day 2011 she asked me if I was happy.  It struck me like a ton of bricks that, no, I was not happy.  The next morning I through out all the junk in my house and walked again for the first time in a long while and I never looked back once.  You are making that decision now.  Once you start, don't look back.  I am praying for you.

Oh my goodness Tess, I did not realize that you had gone through all of that.  Well girl, God is using you know to bless others. thank you for your prayers, I most definitely need them.

I just wanted to say Thank You also for sharing - I am 3 1/2 years out and have gained about 25 pounds from my low (that lasted only about 4 days!).  I exercise a lot, but I am eating way too much, snacking etc.  I came back to OH to find a group just like this and to help me get back on track.  The fat girl who was me is not coming back!  I am trying to focus on food as fuel and not the emotional side of things.  It's been hard over the last year or so, my job is boring and I work 100% from home now and I have found it very hard to not eat out of boredom.  Anyway - Thank You for posting your story, calories etc.

Natalie

Thank you Natalie.  If I can help you personally just let me know.

Darlene

Hi there.  Tess is absolutely correct in that your pouch does still work, and you CAN lose the regain.  I just lost all of my 71 lb regain over 9 months.  I did it a little differently, with a higher number of calories and riding my recumbent bike, almost every day.  It has become a way of life, and I know every day when I wake that I will be eating right (not dieting) and my bike is waiting for me.  For me, exercise is a huge key to dropping the lbs and especially for maintaining, so if you're not moving, you should try and get something going, if not sooner, then later.  I really didn't start the workouts until about 2 months after starting my eating plan.

I now ride my recumbent bike 7-15 miles per day, and just entered a December challenge on Myfitnesspal to ride 100 miles for the month.  I'm already 74 miles ahead!  I can't believe I actually lost the regain, but (for me) it didn't happen until I joined BOTT and started being accountable for what I was doing to myself.  I'm still working towards my previous pre-op goal of 160, then my ultimate goal of 145-150 so I will have a few lbs leeway in maintenance.  Just be patient and not so hard on yourself, because you have the tools and you can do it too!  Hope this helps :) 

I totally relate. I have been out of touch, living in the real world...the normal world...forgetting where I have come from on this weightloss journey.  I have gained 30 pounds in the  last year and feel awful.  I no longer like living in my skin.  I suppose the question is not how, but why, did this happen.  I'll start back to August 2012, my annual visit at my surgeon's office.  The nurse practitioner told me "Your surgery has done everything it is going to do for you.  Any more weight you lose will have to come off the old fashioned way."  Wow!  I never succeeded the "old fashioned" way.  I failed daily when I tried to lose weight the "old fashioned" way.  I walked out of that appointment feeling defeated and a predetermined failure.  I had trained and walked/ran 3 half marathons in the previous year, had lost 115 pounds, and now i had to rely on what lead me to have surgery in the first place?  I was amazed at how quickly the old thinking came back and took over.  AND I LET IT!  My husband got very ill and spent 4 weeks in the hospital in November/December of that year (2012), and it all snowballed from there.  Financial difficulties, overstressed due to taking on more responsibilities as a result of my husband's disability, etc...  All excuses, but reality.  So, here I am, my clothes don't fit, I refuse to buy bigger ones, struggling to get back to who and what I was a year ago.  

My plan:  Go back to that nurse practitioner (yes, I haven't been back for my 2013 annual check up), and tell her not to EVER say that to anyone else again, get back involved with support from people who know where I am and have been, walk the journey with people like me, change my thinking, adjust my eating and get moving again.  

Here's to being back on track...CHEERS!