Question

Lately, the scale has been creeping up.  Not dramatically but enough to cause me some distress and to be honest, I don't understand.  I am eating the same as I have been.  I'm still exercising at least 3 days a week.  I'm still weight lifting and drinking my water.  I am almost at my 2 year point and I've heard people say that at 2 years, things change.  Those who have 2+ years out, is this the case?  Does weight start to come on easier?  I am starting to track my food again to see if maybe I'm sneaking things in that I shouldn't.  I'm also going to up my protein.  I am starting to incorporate a protein shake as I still find it difficult to eat all my protein.

I would appreciate any and all other advice.

I'm not at 2 years, but one of the nutritionists at my surgeon's office often stresses that at about 2 years what can happen is portion creep, which can add a couple of hundred calories a day if you don'****ch it.

Several folks here have said they saw an increase in capacity well after a year.

I think going back to measuring and logging will help you. Also be aware that "calories needed" calculations for "normies" aren't great for us. Research shows that folks who've been obese and then lost need on average 20% less calories to maintain and burn 20% less calories in exercise than folks the same weight who have never been obese.

I could have written this post. Over the past week, my weight went up 3.8 lbs and was down 2 lbs this AM. I still measure, weigh, and log my food. I have been consistent about the resistance and weight training, but my aerobic exercise has decrease a bit. I have been staying in the same caloric range and my protein intake is high. If I had been eating a lot of carbs, sweets, and starches, I could understand it, but it seems a bit weird. I am going to have my body fat tested next week. That may help me to determine what is going on. I may have to cut my calories a bit and up the aerobic exercise.

My best advice is to start logging, weighing, and measuring your food. I do those things and my weight has been creeping upwards.

gail

P.S. I am a couple of months behind you re: surgery date.

Yes, without a doubt, it gets harder around the two year mark.  Many people gain weight in the 2-3 year time frame.  I think it has to do with many factors.  Potion creep, eating just slightly more off plan, learning to work our sleeve and becoming a bit more lax about this whole thing in general seems to all contribute.  I think going back to tracking closer is a great idea. 

One thing I hit on my accident two weeks ego, is to go back to all protein and veggies for a little while, like one full week, seems to significantly reduce the hunger and cravings while simultaneously reducing my capacity.  I ended up eating my soup for most of the week and at the end could barely tolerate more than 2 ounces of dense protein again.  I am not saying you should do this, but it was very eye opening to me to see the results and to know this option is there if I should want it.

Careful with a sudden downshift after two years. Our metabolism is so screwed already, things are better done slowly, in stages. We don't want to reinforce our body's belief that we are starving and need to pack on and maintain weight!

Most people have no idea what to expect when it is time to start maintenance. Most have seesawed or plateaued for some time with hopes of losing "a little" bit more. Many have not had a recent lab done. Then, without notice the gain starts. The normal reaction is to freak and decrease calories, up protein and increase exercise. We need lab results to determine possible current medical system explanations. Sometimes, we have slipped a little here, and slid a little there. Jumping to the "all ready" is a mistake.

We need to log throughout the WLS experience, but many let it go when losing regularly. Once we are at Maintenance we need to log food carefully. NOT JUST CALORIES, but full nutritional info. If you begin gaining, and are concerned, start the "Once a Week Plan." That means changing one thing at a time, so you can measure and verify your progress. Change everything at once and you can't tell, even if you start to lose, what works and what doesn't. If you know the carbs are way off adjust and see what happens, but don't change anything else. If this doesn't help:

1. As above, log everything you eat. Women can try 1000C and men 1200C, as these are the bottom of Maintenance range (top of weight loss range). Measure for 5-7 days. Adjust accordingly. Maybe 100 calories at a time. Only reduce calories to 800C and 1000C respectively. You should see a real difference. Remember to continue current level of exercise, neither adding nor deleting activity. If the calories don't work, then stop at the lower levels and:

2. Increase level of current exercise. Don't CHANGE activity. Keep everything as consistent as possible, including water, supplements, etc.

3. If at the lower calorie range, and increased exercise, you continue to gain weight, there is probably more than food and exercise going on.

Check any changes you make with your team or GP. This is what I have tried and have seen others try. For me, the gain cintinued, so I went to my GP and I found that Metformin broke up the Insulin Resistance that can screw up your metabolism. The important thing is to keep records of food and exercise over the period you are making changes and correspnding weight. This gives your professional something to go by. ***This is opinion based on experience and should not be used as medical advice***

Yeah, at a little over two years I had this. suddenly seemed like i could eat quite a bit more and be comfortable. i gained a couple pounds at christmas and kept them until just now.

i agree that portion creep occurs and that journaling is a good idea. i never stopped that. increasing protein is also a good idea as thats what my doctor told me to do in weight loss phase to speed it up.

my doctor says this is a "mature" sleeve since i feel like i can eat more. so i eat raw carrots and cukes and such which i couldn't tolerate for a long time and its nice. also, Elina says somewhere around 2 years we start having more fluctuations in weight both up and down than we did previously and in that respect we are more like normal people.

and BTW, last night i ate a few too many raw carrots and a couple of other healthy things and ended up with a belly ache and a mild case of foamies. so sleeve is still on patrol and will get you when you least expect it.

diane

 I am 27 months out this week. I can definitely eat more.  I was a very slw loser, taking 18 months or so to get to where I am now, so I am still tracking food daily.  I'm getting in a lot more activity because I'm not working.     It's so easy to let portions get a little bigger.  I'm trying to eat more raw veggies and salads.  I go up and down between 141-143.  I would like to get that range from 136-139, but I haven't found what works to shed more weight.  Maybe I should say that I haven't found the willingness to drop my calories from 1000 to 800 to get it going.  I hoped that upping my hiking to 2 hours up in the hills to 3-4x a week would do it, along with other exercise, but no.

 How is your metabolism. I would get lots of feedback from labs and Doc before reducing calories below 1000 and upping exercise. You may be compounding a metabolism issue. The lower you go the harder the starvation hold...

 Thanks for the advice. My metabolism was shot long ago which is why my doctor wanted me to have surgery. Years of low carb dieting nd exercise didnt get the weight off me.  During month six post op I was eating z800 calories and exercising 3 hours, six days a week. I dropped three pounds that month.  That was when I was put on thyroid meds.  My body just does what it wants without a lot of rhyme or reason.  I just have to be vigilant.