Hi there. I had RNY gastric bypass in September 2001, and lost about 150 lb. in a year and a half. I was too skinny at that weight (never thought I'd EVER be too skinny!), so I decided to go up about 20 lb. Did that, and maintained that weight for nearly six years. I was exercising four or five days a week, tracking my food intake, and generally doing what I needed to do to stay healthy, and I felt the best I've ever felt in my life.

Then in 2006, a bunch of things happened that forced me to take on a lot of extra work, and with it, extra stress. At first I was able to keep going to the gym, but gradually I found that the work was overwhelming my life--and I couldn't let it slide, because our family business (and thus our family finances) depended on me pitching in and doing what needed to be done. I could feel the weight coming back, and a couple of times I was able to get enough traction to take it off, but eventually things got to be too much for me, and I had to choose: stop working out and keep our house, or go to the gym and be broke and homeless. Hmm. Which should I do? :ohwell:

Last spring, I decided that enough was enough, and work was under control enough that I could afford a couple of trips to the gym each week. I tracked my food religiously, stayed close to my target calorie intake of about 1,250 cal., and at the end of an entire month, found I'd lost a grand total of...nothing. In fact, I'd gained two pounds. I can't even begin to describe the despair I felt at that time. I couldn't figure it out--unless I'd somehow destroyed my metabolism by eating so little for so many years? I threw up my hands, and thought, "Well, screw it. If I can't lose weight even with an intact gastric bypass, there's no point even trying."

Things got even worse in September, when I fell down a flight of stairs and smashed my ankle. Broke both bones, shattered the head of the larger bone, and tore out every ligament in the area. My surgeon said I'd walk again, but warned me that he couldn't work miracles--there were several places where he was unable to reattach the pieces, and I'd just have to hope it eventually heals.

Over the winter, I gained even more weight, and this past March, I made a decision: I'm not as indispensable at work as I was six years ago, so I'm only working half-time now. I found a program in my city, run by a doctor who's incredibly knowledgeable and compassionate about obesity, and I'm working with him and his team (nutritionist, physical trainer) to get myself healthy again. They did some metabolic testing and found that while my metabolism has definitely slowed, it's not as bad as I expected. I know it'll likely take at least a year to lose the first 50 pounds, and I'm fine with that (sort of...part of me would really love to go back to the early days of the RNY, when I could lose 15 pounds in a month--whee! :bigsmile: --but I know that's just not realistic).

I've been at MFP about a month and a bit, and I'm feeling like this is very do-able. Hope we can attract a few more "bypassers" to this group, as I have a feeling we're definitely not the only ones facing this issue!

Hi, it's nice to meet you! Thanks so much for setting up this group.:flowerforyou:

One thing I did when I was trying unsuccessfully to lose weight last spring is set my calorie level too low. Like you, I set it around 1,200, which my nutritionist tells me is too low! I know that sounds weird, but the way he explains it, if you focus on a slightly higher amount--in my case, around 1,400-1,500--and divide that up into three meals and three planned snacks, you'll actually lose more weight. (I mentioned this in more detail in my blog post yesterday, if you're interested.) I was kinda skeptical at first, but I tried it, and it's actually working!

The other thing is that I now take higher doses of vitamins, as it turned out that I was severely deficient in B12, iron, calcium, and D. I don't know if taking the vitamins is helping me lose weight, but I do feel a lot better, and I'm pretty sure at least some of it is that I'm no longer severely anemic!

It'd be great to see more bypassers here. I know for sure we're not alone!

Hello everyone! I am Sharon and I had RNY in May of 2008. Highest 354, Lowest 170 (for about a day), and my current is 233. I moved and got married about a year ago to a man that can really cook!! I feel so ashamed that I have gained over 60 lbs back. I look at my old pictures and I want that again! I have the tool I just need a kick in the butt to get back to it and leave the carbs alone! The carbs and Pure Protein bars are my biggest downfalls. I look forward to visiting this group often for tips and help to get back on track! We can all do this with a support group and encouragement!! So...let's get going!

Hi, Sharon and Kym--

I think we've all reached the point that no one really talked about when we were first considering our surgeries: after a couple of years, the hunger DOES come back!

The other thing that I noticed is that almost everyone who's had surgery and regained some weight afterwards feels a sense of shame and public humiliation. Because we've lost weight in such a dramatic and noticeable way, it's like our bodies are now on public display--all those people who noticed us losing weight can see us getting heavier again. No one who hasn't had a bypass seems to really get it: the surgery doesn't give us a free pass for life, it just helps us get to the same point as everyone else. It kind of levels the playing field, and now it's up to us to stay in a comfortable weight zone.

Sometimes I feel like, if I had this surgery, I should be able to lose weight and keep it off forever, and if "forever" doesn't last that long, well, there must be something wrong with me! But when I catch myself getting into that mindset, I try to turn off the judge in my head. I'm not a failure, but I do have a chronic health condition called obesity. I can keep it under control, sometimes better than others, but my control isn't perfect.

That's where food tracking comes in; it helps me maintain control over this chronic problem I have. Same with going to the gym regularly--it's a strategy to keep on top of the obesity, and not let it regain control of my health.

I will post on Obesity Help website as well! Good night to all!

I had my RNY bypass in August of 2006. I weighed 370lbs at the time. Surgery went great… I was down almost 80lbs by Christmas… wicked. LOL. I continued to lose a total of 180lbs… I made it to 190lbs… I don’t even remember ever being that by the way… I was looking smaller and I was happy and proud. My high blood pressure was totally gone and I was off meds like 2 months after the surgery. Then as things evened out after a year or two… I got complacent… less attentive… reintroduced bad habits. I knew they were bad habits… yet I did them anyway… stupid. Anyway I gained 15lbs back… which I was disturbed by but they said to expect a small rebound… Then in the fall of 2008, November 14th to be exact… I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. We had tried so many years and I went through gastric knowing that I wanted to have a baby was one of the main reasons…. It was a good day… :-)

I did great through the pregnancy… except I kept losing weight. I wasn’t gaining… this lead to doctors grilling me on what I was eating and more ultrasounds… me trying to force myself to eat more… I was getting dizzy spells… crazy… anyway… my Perfection was born in July 2009… at the end Momma and baby were healthy. I was at 186lbs… less than after the bypass…. But it came back quickly… I found it hard to snap out of the pregnancy mode of eating whatever I wanted… and gradually regained yet again.

Then last April (2011)… I blew my knee out at work and was off work for 2 months with the physical therapy and surgery… oy. I was destroyed… I don’t like to rely on other people… I’m not good at it. Of course it had to be my right knee… so I couldn’t drive. So I had to be shuttled to therapy and drs appts and everywhere… I couldn’t get down on the floor and play with my 2 year old… chase her around… carry her to bed… I got really down and food has always been my best friend… especially in those times…. So here I am. Not nearly where I started… but not where I want to be. I put 83lbs as my goal just to try to appease the BMI gods…. I don’t like that Obese percentage label… However, realistically… if I can get back to around where I was after having my girl… I’d be happy if I could stay there…

As to why I was always big since I’ve been little… I am not completely sure… I think there should’ve been some serious hardcore psychological treatment after the surgery… maybe it would’ve helped to not be where I am again. I know everyone just says will power… I have will power… I have the desire… and yet I still do stupid things. I dunno…

Well there you go…my story in rambling form… LOL Now… if I can just get rid of all this excess skin. baha

Hi all. I swore this wouldn't happen, but guess what - here I am hoping to be able to get back to healthy eating habits. I've gained back several pounds after my Gastric Bypass that I had a few years ago. I am so upset with myself and have decided that I need support - can't do it alone. Here we go again......I want to be successful so I am dedicating myself to becoming a healthy eater again, in small portions. :happy:

I started at 380 on 8/5/98 when I had my RNY. Got down to 178 and felt GREAT then I reintroduced the evil sugar monster and regained 70 lbs to get back up to 248. Lost back to 171 for a second then back to 178 but then I moved with my hubby far away from home and regained back to 203.5. I've been struggling to get back to the magic number of 178 where I felt the best but I keep back sliding into the sugar, argh....I'm glad I caught the regain before it was 70 lbs this time but 25.5 lbs is getting impossible to get off and it is getting harder to maintain to even get back to my original goal weight of 178. I have always been hung up on the numbers. I'm also glad I'm not alone and I'm hoping someone here can help me and I can do the same for you. Thanks!

Hello kindred souls. So glad I found a group who gets what I am going through. My name is Pat and I am a 55 year old mother of two adult sons and a grandmother to a wonderful little boy and girl.

In 2004 at 285lbs (5'4") I had a RNY. My surgeon takes a conservative approach to the surgery so the first 80 lbs melted off and then I stalled. Lost a little, gained a little, cleaned up the food and was losing about 1 lb a month until I was down to 177. Pretty happy there. Then in January of 2011 I took on a huge project at work that consumed me. The sugar was completely out of control. (quad tall breve mocha, 3-4 a day for those of you who speak *bucks) I knew it was bad, my ever expanding a** was proof, but wasn't able to deal with it at the time.

By October the project was over and I started cleaning up my food, but I was still gaining. By the end of the year I had gained about 40lbs. I was in panic mode at this point and checked in with the doctor. After numerous tests, including a nasty upper GI to check the surgery, the verdict was that there was nothing wrong with me. Well darn.

In January I created my MFP account but didn't do anything with it. By July when I decided to get serious, I had gained another 20lbs. Now I'm up about 60lbs. As I am sure you all know, I swore this would never happen to me. But it did.

So, in July I started doing a standard, low cal, high protein diet. I logged everything that went into my mouth, including the vitamins. Started with calories at about 1200, the first week lost nothing, the second week lost 9lbs and then stalled again. Sigh. Started dropping the calories and still wasn't losing, maybe a half a pound a week. BTW, did you know that a few years after surgery your body figures out how to absorb the calories again? Google it, its depressing. Anyways, went on vacation, and off the diet. (Cruise Ship!), gained 5 lbs back of the 10.4lbs I had lost.

Returning from the cruise I have decided to take a different approach. Old school Atkins. It has the potential to reset the metabolism and it will help to get the protein in. Because, even though your body figures out how to keep the calories, it still can't absorb the nutrients. Go figure. Anyways, in the first week lost the 5lbs I put on during the cruise and working on week two. Feel free to friend me, I need all the support I can get.