post-op VSGs who've started gaining
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(3) Logging my food, even the bad choices. Interestingly I found that logging a bad choice helped me see that it wasn't as bad as I thought, that my day had not suddenly become unredeemable. That short-circuited my temptation to use one bad choice as an excuse to eat all the "bad" foods I've been avoiding, acting like a food maniac for the rest of my day.
This is ABSOLUTELY me. I make myself log everything I put in my body, no matter what.0 -
I am almost three months out of surgery...thank you all for your stories... the last week I have been testing limits and struggling. I just want to eat! So I am glad I am not alone.
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Hello, I am new to this group. My name is Rachel and I had a sleeve done in 2010..the first 8 months post op i lost alot of weight,about 85 lbs..I was type 2 diabetic,about 1 year later developed hypoglycimia(low sugar) there is no meds for this,my sugar has dropped to 50 sometime. So the only thing is when I try to not eat much my sugar level plumith down down so, then i eat..well all this snacking has put on the lbs..i am very upset wwith it! Limited to no excersie due to back issues,walk a bit. I know I went up 3-4 sizes up.I really need help with this and hopeing for someone who might have the same issues,used to go to weight loss meetings but didnt care for that! Still do shakes in morning. How many calories are you all taking in in a day? So glad im on this group,need some friends who are going thru the same thing as me.Thanks0
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I am in the same boat. I am 7 months out and was doing so well. However, for the past several weeks my have been at the same weight and began snacking constantly. I feel like i am truely hungry all the time.I am almost three months out of surgery...thank you all for your stories... the last week I have been testing limits and struggling. I just want to eat! So I am glad I am not alone.
I am feeling very disappointed in myself and afraid that I will gain.0 -
Completely get this topic. While I haven't gained anything back (And I'm thrilled with a 125 lb loss at 11 months out) I also have been stalled for almost 2 months. All_In, have you thought about seeing a therapist that specializes in obesity/overeating? I've been seeing a great person for the past two years, participating in a group as well as some private sessions. I just know that A) I wouldn't have gotten to the VSG decision, and more importantly
wouldn't be getting through these stalls, without having the support of that therapist, and what I've learned about myself, and ways to cope.
I still have 100 lbs to go, and it's soooo slow now... which just gives my brain more opportunity to think about things I want to eat. I've really had to go back and look at my food logs at about 4-5 months out to remind myself of what I was doing, and that I was existing perfectly fine. I think it's a constant brain reset, and at some point the more you do it, the less you have to conciously do it, if that makes sense.
Keep making the effort! We've all worked too hard to give in!!0 -
Thanks for your stories. being a slow loser I have to work for each pound. I am 42 lbs down in five months. I find on some of the boards people put slow losers and people that have not reached goal down. My surgeon told me yesterday it can take up to 2 years to reach goal and 70% of excess weight loss is success. This surgery is a tool not a solution.0
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I am 3 months post op and I can totally relate to the slow weight loss. I was one of those people who never had any nausea post op and could eat anything right from the get-go, and still can. It has been a battle for each pound lost. I worry so much about not doing the right things, but My doc and the dietician all say I am right on track and doing fine, and they look my food journal over each time I go for an appointment. I think it is my own expectations that are unrealistic,. I know that if I keep doing what I am doing I will be successful. It just may not be in the time frame I have for myself. I think it's hard for some to realize that just because they removed part of your stomach doesn't mean they remvoved your brain or the behaviors that you have developed over a lifetime. While I definately don't regret having the surgery, it is not a walk in the park by any means. It takes a lot of hard work.0
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Going to support groups really helps me, but my pet peeve is when people are pre-op and telling me how they have researched the surgeries and only found wonderful things. Having the difficulties we all are facing of gaining, old habits coming back, etc. I just can't stand the fantasy these people are being fed.
I finally found a really good support group. It's eating well after bariatric surgery. One of the things the nut. said she finds over and over from people coming back after gaining is grazing and liquid calories. She said if you were a grazer before, you usually have a problem after with the same thing, but sometimes worse. She talked about planned snacks as appose to grazing.
It's hard, but I think back to what I use to eat, and I'm amazed. Had I kept on going at that rate of calorie intake, I was killing myself. I really enjoy the gym and exercise now (thanks to my wonderful hubby), and I will be journalizing for the rest of my life, but that's ok. I originally lost 86% of my excess weight and then gained 18% of that weight back. I'm glad I did the VSG because now that I have lost alot of my weight I can feel every pound up or down and it motivates me to do better.0 -
Hi, don't think I have ever posted, I really need to be accountable for the changes I want to make in my life. I am coming up on my 3 year surgeraversary and have gained back 40 lbs! At first it was easy to deny that I was gaining weight back, but I am done living in denial! I don't EVER want to be heavy again, I do want to be healthy and eat healthy. I can't eat alot at one time, but I am making horrible food choices. I am admitting that I am a carb/sugar freak and that is my issue. I will choose to eat something sugary instead of filling up on protein. It is nice to see others that are struggling with sugar cravings as well. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you better 0
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I am 5 months post-op and am finding I am grazing a lot and eating when I am not hungry. I am afraid I am going to stretch my sleeve out. Starting this morning, I am going back closer to basics. No snacking! When I want to snack, I will go walk the stairs in my office. I also need to start taking my vitamins again...
Thanks everyone for sharing...it's nice to know I'm not alone with this struggle...0 -
I am a little over three months and i just want to eat as well...it is so weird. I knew I used food as a crutch but I had no idea to what degree. I just keep thinking Rome was not bulit in a day....these habbits will go away if I work on them.0
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I'm 1.5 years out of surgery and have lost a total of 45 lbs to date. I will admit that most of this was my own doing through snacking. Avoid snacking at all costs! Although I did not gain weight, I plateaued for about 9 months because of it, not cool.
I am now back on plan and actually decided to do medifast temporarily to help me shrink my stomach back down (if I stretched it, not sure). It has been a great option for me because it keeps me focused on the proper portions, I'm not hungry and my blood sugar is level.
As far as the sleeve goes, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I love that I do not crave things anymore and am satisifed on much smaller amounts of food and I'm not hungry! My goal is to lose about 45 more pounds.0 -
I have been struggling as well not with regain but just to get the scale to move down, but my "story" per say seems to be different from most everyone else. I had my surgery in June 2011 and just four months later, got very surprisingly pregnant in Oct 2011. I had gone from 250 at surgery down to 199 in those four months before getting pregnant. I regained about 30lbs and had my baby 5 days before my one year surgiversary. Well, here we are 8 months later and I have lost all I gained by about 8 weeks pp, but I was nursing so didnt worry to much about losing more. I stopped nursing in Dec 2012 and have been stuck at the same 195-198 since I was 8 weeks pp. I have been working out as much as time allows and eating as clean as I can, but working fulltime and have three kids and I have split days off makes it hard. I am just trying to get back to basics and to cut out the carbs and just go back to my shakes and chicken if I have to. I would like to lose another 40 to reach under 160. Maybe one day!0
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I was one of the VERY lucky ones and lost 30 pounds lower than my surgeon's goal. It was so easy for me ... the weight just came off & I didn't have to religiously follow ALL the rules except for monitoring my protein.
Well, 3 years later, that "EASY ROAD" was a bad deal. I didn't learn anything about eating slow, choosing healthy foods, etc. I'm up 17.1 pounds from my "I feel AWESOME weight:" I totally let things slide during the holidays and put on 8 of those since November 2012. I'm really trying to get back on track, but it is so hard. My head screams "SNACK ATTACK" in the evening!
While I can definitely eat more than 6 months post op, I definitely still have restriction. Of course, the restriction is the best when I eat my protein first. But man, carbs taste good! I'd also gotten into a habit of a glass (or two) of wine in the evenings. Trying to restrict that & only have wine on the weekends. I've just started that this week, so time will tell if that strategy works for me.
Any suggestions for dealing with the Snack Monster? I think if I can overcome that, I can get back to my desired weight & not hate looking in the mirror so much.
Thanks for your help and comments.0 -
Here's something to try. I borrowed this from the board that I was a regular on a while back. I've used it before when I was in a stall. It does work.
The BASICS BOOTCAMP:
For 5 STRICT DAYS I will eat only...
Proteins: Seafoods, Poultry and eggs, Dairies, nuts/seeds including Peanut Butter.
Veggies: Green only.
Fruits: None.
Breads/Cereals/Other Carbs: None.
Fluids: One gallon of water (128 oz.)
Protein drinks (RTD or Powder).
Avoid: Sugar and Sodium
At this point, you should have shaken most of the cravings. Keep in mind that the sleeve is just a tool and it still requires a good amount of discipline. This really helps get things back on track. You might also want to schedule an appointment with your nutritionist if you haven't been in a while. I am sure that they can get you back on track as well. The main think is not to throw in the towel and say you've failed. You can get this back, but it will take work. Hang in there. 0 -
Thank you.0
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I got below my surgeon's goal (154), but wanted to get below 140 as my personal goal. I got within a couple of pounds of that, but I've basically been off track for close to a year. I look back at my MFP entries from a year ago, and I see cookies, and brownies and such, and that was on the days when I was at least entering my food - really bad days I didn't track. I've known since before surgery I was an emotional eater and borderline binge eater, but the first 9 months went really well. Then I got sloppy, bounced around within an 8 - 10 pound range for about 6 months, and then started to gain - by which I mean I was up and down, but the lowest weights were climbing.
After the holidays, I finally got my head back in the right place, banished the crap from my diet, and got back on track. I lost 12 pounds in the first couple of weeks, since then it's been more like 1 or 2, but at least things are heading in the right direction. I've been eating right,exercising, and tracking for 5 solid weeks, and this morning I was back to a weight I haven't seen since October (or September?)
Here are my strategies:
(1) Focus on the goal. For the first few weeks I journaled, every day if I could find the time. I needed to get my goals back front and center of my mind. That was crucial for me for motivation, and made me really stop and think about my choices.
(2) Get the crap carbs out of my diet. I'm a carb and sugar addict. I can't stop at a little. I have a lot of trigger foods that are best avoided entirely. Some things I simply eliminate and don't really honestly miss. Other things I find substitutes for. I also added L-Glutamine to my diet which got me past the worst of the carb cravings in the first weeks. Now I often forget to take it, but I'm not sure I would have made it through the first week without it.
(3) Logging my food, even the bad choices. Interestingly I found that logging a bad choice helped me see that it wasn't as bad as I thought, that my day had not suddenly become unredeemable. That short-circuited my temptation to use one bad choice as an excuse to eat all the "bad" foods I've been avoiding, acting like a food maniac for the rest of my day.
(4) Setting short, achievable goals. I can't control what the scale does (dammit!), but I can control me. I started out just aiming to stay on track for an entire week - I'd gotten so far off track that that alone was a huge achievement. Once I'd gotten to a week, then I aimed for two, then for a month. The scale hasn't always cooperated, but I know I'm doing what I need to, and that's all I can control.
So, I'm down 15 pounds of my regain (I'd say 10 of those were carb / water bloat), and I have about 9.5 to goal. I hope I'm past the worst part, which was detoxing from all the crap I'd let creep back into my diet. At least for the moment, I don't crave it, and I'm pretty happy with what I do eat. I'll be two years post-op the end of June, and I so want to crush my goal by then!
Great advice, thanks for posting!
I'm 15 months out from surgery and while I haven't really gained weight these last few months I have been gaining and losing the same 5-6 pounds, its very frustrating. I will admit I haven't been making the best food choices and exercising, so I cant blame it on nobody but myself.
I've lost 135lbs so far, and I still need to lose about 65 pounds to get till goal, it seems like I never will lose this. I'm really interested about the L-Glutamine, I am a TOTAL carb addict, and for some odd reason since surgery I crave sugar way more then I did before.0 -
I stopped losing at 7 -8 months and found that for me I need to keep my cal intake at 900-1200 cal and up to 1500 on workout days. I have plato ed but I know its cause I have been indoors and not out walking like I used too. I know I should get to the gym but I am working on that mental obstical of public gyms ( I don't like being bothered by the trainers, they are like sales men lol )
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Thank you for this topic...now I know that I need to go back to my support group and 're-group' my own efforts. I am about 11 months out and I am not near my goal at all. Old habits are definitely hard to break!0
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Here's something to try. I borrowed this from the board that I was a regular on a while back. I've used it before when I was in a stall. It does work.
The BASICS BOOTCAMP:
For 5 STRICT DAYS I will eat only...
Proteins: Seafoods, Poultry and eggs, Dairies, nuts/seeds including Peanut Butter.
Veggies: Green only.
Fruits: None.
Breads/Cereals/Other Carbs: None.
Fluids: One gallon of water (128 oz.)
Protein drinks (RTD or Powder).
Avoid: Sugar and Sodium
At this point, you should have shaken most of the cravings. Keep in mind that the sleeve is just a tool and it still requires a good amount of discipline. This really helps get things back on track. You might also want to schedule an appointment with your nutritionist if you haven't been in a while. I am sure that they can get you back on track as well. The main think is not to throw in the towel and say you've failed. You can get this back, but it will take work. Hang in there.
@Johnlatte: Thanks for posting this! My problem is my water intake...printing this out for reference!0
