Thursday. April 4th

Weight: 135.6

Sunday Macros: Cals - 1,445, Carbs - 137, Fat - 46, Protein - 96, Sugar - 52, Fiber ? 20

Veggies/fruits: 3 (goal is 7)

Sleep: 6

Exercise: Aquarobics

* * *

Carbon, your neighbor should be ticketed! That was an awful story. So sorry.

It's still raining here. Enough, already! I would have slept longer, but the electricity went off at 2:00 am, which set off the house alarms. Couldn't go back to sleep, so got up and did laundry, bathrooms, floors, etc. Then went to yoga class, grocery shopping, library, errands, etc. Running out of steam now, though.

BTW, aquarobics yesterday felt so great. Going back to the pool is just what I needed to do.

Lately, I've been talking online with nearly a dozen other WLS friends about their maintenance challenges. Some are sleeved, some had bypasses. Most of them are around 3 years out and struggling hard to lose a 5-20 pound regain. They're finding it hard to lose weight now. The topic is: "If you could go back in time and change things to avoid regain, what would you do differently?" Common answers are:

• Not get ****y or sloppy and think I had the problem licked
• Avoid all sugar
• Keep measuring my foods
• Keep tracking everything
• Weigh more often (don't be an ostrich)
• Don't taste or nibble while cooking
• Keep trigger / dangerous foods out of the house
• Don't celebrate often with food and alcohol -- find other rewards without calories
• Keep doing what I was doing right after I reached goal

Common regain factors / contributors reported are these:

• Increased capacity of sleeve / pouch
• Stress eating in response to family / work / financial / medical issues
• Insomnia and night-eating
• Depression and anxiety
• Injuries / medical conditions / plastic surgeries that have interrupted or halted exercise regimens

I know this isn't news to anyone here. But thought some of you might be interested in the "obviousness" of what those who've regained wish they'd done differently. FTR, these aren't stupid people -- they're all bright, hard-working folks who are struggling with using food inappropriately after reaching goal. Again, not news. Interesting to me is that, although none of them are therapy-averse, only one of them is actually in therapy and no one is involved with a structured support group.

Thoughts? Observations? Reactions?

P.S. Come on, sunshine!

Great bunch of insights Ann. I suggest you post this on the main forum so newbies can avoid these mistakes. I sure have done some of these.

Sending you some mental sunshine. We have fog but no rain. Diane S

You might have figured I have a lot to say on this subject! LOL! What I can tell you is that not one of those would be on my current list of what I would do differently (I never stopped weighing & measuring both food and myself- even during gain cycles. It wasn't my planned meals that got me back to fat.)

What would I do differently?

I would.....

consider and accept the possibility that I might have an eating disorder or food addiction and begin to explore what role that has played in my obesity.

work on accepting that all or nothing thinking was counter productive and always brought negative results.

embrace that there are no "bad" foods. Food is neither good nor bad. It is simply food. How one's own body reacts to food is unique and places no value on any food. We place good or bad values on our food because of our diet dysfunction.

accept that will power is limited and that avoiding foods long term would back fire on me.

Focus on listening to the signals my body has been trying to give me for years about my food intake.

I'm struck going back and reading my 4 quick "regrets", if you will. They are all action oriented. Hmmm.... I think this is good.

Thank you, Devon. I so appreciate your observations.

Carbon - what a RUDE neighbor! Jiminy Cricket, that man needs a two by four upside the head!!!!! I've accidentally not brought the dogs in a few times on warm summer nights and they've sounded off at 11 - 12 at night. I've been absolutely curdled with remorse and embarrassment when it's happened and an write apology email to my neighbor across the horse path ASAP. He's terribly sound sensitive and a maintenance drinker so he sleeps poorly. Can be a f*cktard, too, when the mood strikes him, so I stay on his good side. Your neighbor needs a good, strong lesson in neighborly conduct.

Down .6 from Tuesday. I am down not quite 7 pounds in the week since starting Vyvanse. This is without conscious dieting, but a few days of little appetite and not pushing it the rest of the time. I think the biggest difference is the lack of thinking about food and the lack of drive to eat between meals.

It's timely that Diane S posted about the night time eating. That is the ONLY time I feel any real pull to eat since starting Vyvanse. However, there is something about the way the medication works that slows down the impulse to grab a spoon or shove something in my mouth that allows me the time to talk to myself and decide if I really need/want something to eat. Other than a taste of late night PB, I've been successful abstaining from eating.

Was able to eat a small lunch again today. YAY!

No exercise this week except for the 1/2 mile I walk with the kids every day. I've been busy after school and just not feeling like going to the gym at 7 or 8 pm. I will most definitely go tomorrow. It's the way I like to start my weekend - with a good work out.

Shel, can the Vyvanse and the anti-depressant work together? I notice I am even more upbeat and positive with the Vyvanse. I am wondering if that could be a combination of the two drugs or if it's simply a matter of my pleasure about how well the Vyvanse is working.

Hope we all have a wonderful evening free from unwanted, mindless eating!

As far as I know, there have been small studies where drugs like Vyvanse were added on with some success to drugs like fluoxetine. But, I think those studies were small and short (maybe several weeks? I don't remember.) In general, I don't think the combination is well studied and it isn't a common technique for depression management.

Enjoy the effect! You are still in the early days of the Vyvanse and I would guess that some of what you are feeling is temporary and will change over the long haul. But, I am just musing....I have no idea, really. You will be your own study with an N of 1.

Dave? Do you have a thought on this?

It also occurred to me when reading your reply that it could also be the fluoxetine could have built up and reached the maintenance level since it's just about 6 weeks. Doc and Pharmacist both said it might take 6 to 8 weeks for full effect to be reached.

I am enjoying my observations of my reactions to the new medications. Since starting the fluoxetine I often think to myself that I wish I had known that I had been chronically depressed for years. My English repression and German stoicism have not served me well in the area of my mental health. If I had understood back in my late 20s and early 30s when the depression really took hold and sought appropriate help I wouldn't have had two decades fraught with that chronic, mild, almost ever present depression.

However, as Dorothy said to the Scarecrow and Tinman, "..., that doesn't really matter now, does it? We know each other now! To Oz?" (Me talking to my Fluoxetine and Vyvanse!) LOL!

I take anti depressant,anti anxiety, and bit of an antipsychotic with the vyvanse. My first day my face literally hurt from smiling. I normally have almost flat affect of expression. It lasted only the day. I was greatfull for the day but even months I had a mood lift. Not so much the past few days but up until now I have had good mood, productive days, less pain, better social interaction and better thought organization. I hope your positive effect will continue on. In the studies, the better results were on the higher diesels. I have been at 70 for a couple of months now. More positive outlook on life than on the 50s until recently. And it my pass and bump back up.