very scared and needs some answers

Hi my name is Barb and I am new to this board...I havent figured out how to put a picture up or anything else...but I had my sleeve done 8months..I have lost 90lbs....however right now..I gained 3lbs recently and I am wondering is it possible to stretch my sleeve out so soon.  Has any gained there weight back after surgery or  does anyone know if its normal to gain a few pounds...will I still be on a roller coaster ride of gaining and losing weight forever...I know it dpends on my eating habits but I am very careful with what I eat and am trying to follow all the basic rules my surgeon told me about prior to surgery....I would love any imput form anyone..and appreciate anyone who takes the time to respond and let me know about gaining weight after hitting their goal weight.


starting weight  212
pre-op weight 189
gaol weight 125
current weight 127 :(

I am 5 feet tall  ( a little history about my last 8months)

Hi Barb, welcome to the fun board. Sounds like you have been very successful with your sleeve. It can be very disconcerting when a couple of pounds come back and you can't think of anything you did that could make it happen. As you read this board (note the daily weigh in feature) you will see that most of us are up and down a couple of pounds all the time.

You probably haven't stretched your sleeve. My understanding is that it just doesn't stretch that much. Your gain might be water/salt and such.

Most of us were given very specific instructions about the weight loss phase and exactly what to do but when it comes to maintenance, there is no formula. I still journal all my food at 16 months out and may do so forever. REally helps me keep my protein up which i am convinced is critical.Also pretty easy to forget stuff if you don't journal. So just do it and weigh everyday. There are daily accountability features on this site that show up everyday to weigh in, record exercise and so forth.

I am also using the goals feature on my page to set some things like "I will weigh no more than 125 on May 17" (18 months after surgery) and again on December 23, 2011, one year after reaching lowest weight. So like the weight loss phase in which I had goals and graphs and milestones, I am trying to create the same thing in the maintenance phase. Breaking it up into segments of maintaining the same weight for a few months. Still struggling with the exercise thing. my nemesis.

Anyway, hope this helps. There is a lot of good info here on maintenance issues and the fear of regain so read a lot of the old posts.

Diane

Hi,

You seem to be at the right place.  Welcome.  It is normal to fluctuate a bit in your weight.  Could this weight gain have anything to do with water weight? Monthly cycle? Or are you really gaining?  It is sometimes hard to know what the real answer to that question is.  Has your eating changed?  If yo say no, are you sure? Are you still journaling every bite that goes into your mouth?  If you are not, I would start there and see what you are really eating on a daily basis.  Unfortunately, it is also quite common to gain some weight back after we hit maintenance, but at 8 months, I think it is a bit too early for you to start gaining.  We can help you better if you tell us the amount of calories, protein and carbs you take in every day and the amount of exercise that you do.  We can help you work it through in your own head what would be best for you.  This is a great group of people and we love to help.  Once again, welcome to our little piece of OH.

thank you for taking the time to respond...the information you both gave me is great and helps me to try and work throu this.  I will write down everything that goes in my mouth for the next week and post again that way we can see what might be going on.  One thing I have struggled with is writing a journal but as I read post I see that is crucial to staying successful.  again thank you and I will be doing what you guys told me to do..

do you want to talk about your surgeon's specific rules? since they vary from doctor to doctor.

tracking is an excellent idea.

What has helped me the most, is weighing and measuring my food, and using an online tracking tool, such as Sparkpeople.com. There are many others, but this is the one I started using last May and I have continued to use it. The tracking of food intake keeps me accountable for what goes into my mouth and helps me to keep track of carbs, protein, fats, and other nutrients. I will continue to do this for the rest of my life, since it has helped me to be successful. In the past, whenever I have stopped doing this, I have regained the lost weight.

I am 4'11" so we have similar stats. My high weight was 210, surgery weight was 177, and today I weigh 115.3.

Are you exercising? Research shows that food journaling and exercising are the tools that successful long-term weight loss people utilize to maintain their weight. We must always be mindful of what we put into our mouths. It is an ongoing process.

What are you eating/drinking on a daily basis? Sometimes a few small tweaks can make all the difference.

I am having a lot of trouble with a re gain too. Before if I strayed from my food plan, I'd gain a couple but could take them off immediately by going straight back to protein. This time it's different.

I can eat perfectly now and the scale does not budge for at least a week and it makes it hard to want to eat protein only when it's not helping. It's harder to  lose the farther out we are from surgery.

Are you keeping track of your eating?  If you are in a calorie deficit and the scale shows a 3-pound movement, then you know it can't possibly be a real "regain," because putting back on 3 pounds of fat would require you to eat more than 10,000 extra calories, which is pretty unlikely.

I'm a year out this week and my weight bounces around in a 3-4 pound range, so I think it's completely normal.  Just keep any eye on the scale and make sure it goes down as often as it goes up, if you know what I mean.  And I will probably log my food and exercise forever, just to keep myself honest.