Years 3-6

Elina, I agree.  It's called self discipline!!!  Or my motto "I eat to live not live to eat"

If I didn't eat mindfully it would be easy to eat all day "with no restriction" carbs are easy to do that with and  calories = pounds. 


P.S. everyone:  I love the maintance board much more than the VSG...just saying!

I know what I need to do to not regain, and in truth, I no longer live in fear of gaining the weight back.  I simply follow my maintenance rules and have a goal of being at goal every third Wednesday on my support group day.  If I am up even a little bit, I bring it back down before that Wednesday.  I don't drink my calories, or graze or eat unhealthy foods most of the time.  I treat myself when the scale gives me the green light and I want a treat, and refrain from treats if the scale is even a tiny bit up.  That's it, maintenance in a nut shell.  I eat mindfully and weigh myself everyday, I will never gain my weight back.  I know this sounds ****y, but I really believe it now.  At almost three years out and five pounds below Dr. Cirangle's goal weight, I think I can do ****y every now and then and be forgiven.   :)

Elena...I love this method you use, and for the most part, it's how I've chosen to handle maintaining as well. I am and will always remain an every day weigher. My lack of attention in the past is exactly how I got to WLS. The scale reflects bad choices...and reflects good choices as well.

As far as the study is concerned, while I respect the information, I can't support the study. I work in the medical device industry, so I have first hand knowledge, that unless a study is tightly controlled, the results can be scewed by so many different factors.

Maybe it just reiterates the one fact we know...weight can be lost...and it can be re-gained. I know for me personally, while I'm more relaxed in my maintenance than I was in my losing period, I can't ever let my guard down!

Heidi

I am very happy that I don't have problems with GERD. I still take Protonix every day, but every other day, half the dose. I tried to go off of it, and was off for 6 months. It was just not worth it to me to be off of it and have to deal with acid regularly. With the Protonix, it's well controlled.

Maintenance for me is a struggle. It's hard for me with all the temptations in this world. If I snack, I immediately gain several pounds. I have to be very careful. I have to weigh every single day. It's worth it though! I refuse to go out and buy new clothes. I really have to watch my carbs.

It does worry me though, that I will not always be able to hit the gym as much as I do now. I will be 60 in the fall, and I just wonder how much longer I'll be able to work out hard. I have a lot of back and neck problems. I'm sure keeping my weight off is the best thing for my back though.

My friend was sleeved a week after me, and is still at goal. She eats anything she wants, and is never careful. She eats junk food every day, and candy like a kid on Halloween. It's so not fair!

Hope I'm not too late for this thread!

Hey Sass -- As a fellow back-pain sufferer, YES, keeping your weight off it important!  I let my weight creep back up by 30 pounds, need (another) back surgery, and am fighting like mad to get off as much weight as possible before my surgery in July.  It would have been so much easier if I had not fallen back into bad habits!

But I wouldn't worry too much about getting older and not being able to work out hard.  First of all, you may not be able to keep up a really hard workout as you get up in years, but plenty of old folks work out really hard.  When I was able to go to the gym I saw them regularly.  Also, I think of my old mama (gone over 20 years now), who loved nothing better than to be active.  When she was in her 70s, she took aerobics classes three times a week, rode her bicycle up and down our back street, and mowed our lawn as well as three or four other lawns in the neighborhood, as she said, "for the old people."  Ha ha, they were not much older than she was!  She did all that stuff up until her final illness.

So don't worry about what you might not be able to do in years to come.  Just do what you can now, and that will help you be able to do more as the years progress. 

--Dorothy

I am 5 years out (as of May 11th). I'm not even sure if I know what GERD is, but I don't guess I have it, or I'd know. lol I feel completely normal. I still can't eat as much as a normal person, but I can gain weight. I gained a little about 6 months after hitting my lowest, but that was a good thing, as I got too thin. I am still in the normal weight zone, so I would call it a sucess. My lowest I wore like a size 2, and have been steady in a size 8 for a while. I'd love to be a size6, but I think we all wish for what we aren't. I agree there is not "standard" for this surgery, so the data will be all over the place. I do know I could gain weight, and I work out 3 to 4 days a week. I watch the scale and if I see it creeping up past a number I'm not happy with, I cut back and "diet", but I don't usually have to do that very long. I no longer have to take any medications. I was on blood pressure pills years before my VSG. It's been at a perfect number since surgery.

Great post! This is all good to know. At 26 months out, I'm still doing really well with no regain. I also weigh myself everyday so that if I go up a little I know immediately to rein things in eating-wise. Thanks for sharing all the great info!