Hello everyone, my friends who have lived a few years with this new tool and most especially, those who are choosing to have RNY surgery:

*First off, I'm not preaching; I don't think I know everything; I am just trying to help, and this is just an offering of friendship and understanding. Hope you find it helpful and doesn't **** anyone off.

I read posts like this when I was about to have surgery, and took them in but did not truly realize what they were saying to me until I went through it myself, naturally. 

RNY changes your whole life. Please don't think of this as a quick tool that will work FOR you for the rest of your time on earth. It won't. YOU have to use IT to help you have control. Your weight will always be an issue for you. You have to always concentrate and think through what you eat. 

The first year out is magical. Truly.  At first it's pretty rough, but once you get to understand your new anatomy, you'll get the hang of it. And your lil pouch will teach you what it can and cannot tolerate. It will be very blunt with you.  You'll be spitting up foam and apple peels, food not chewed well enough, food too dense, food too heavy. You'll feel so full to the point of the food being stuck at the bottom of your throat and you'll have to bang on your chest with your fist and have your partner/sister/brother/mother, etc. pat your back like a baby until the pouch decides if it will accept the food, or if you're going to be forcing it out by hurling. 

However, the first year is soooo nice because you lose weight so rapidly, you have adrenaline, you have feelings of commitment, you have an "I can" attitude. You get smaller clothes. People notice. Your hair falls out a little because your body is trying to adjust to your new anatomy (yes, I'll say it again, because it's true!) and it figures that hair is the least important thing on your body and to preserve your being, it lets go of the hair. Nioxin and similar products help you to not lose as much, but does not make it START to grow very much. You'll notice little baby hairs coming back in sooner or later.  And then it may fall out again.  And then it'll grow back again.  There are sacrifices. Lots of them. 

This is the time frame when you HAVE to get into GOOD, HEALTHY, PRODUCTIVE habits with this tool.  I am telling you this because I am almost 3 years out (in July) and I gained some weight after losing MORE than my goal weight the first 2 years. I was at 150, and I got back up to 175!!!!!  I suffer from a painful condition, CRPS (Google if you care to know--too hard to explain), and depression. After a while, it becomes just like before the weight loss surgery.  You need to be disciplined.  I went on birth control which made me gain weight. I went on another medication (Abilify) which made me gain weight.  I started eating TOO MUCH and my pouch stopped making me suffer the consequences after a while.  I was scared I stretched it out, actually.  I went to a Nutritionist last month to get me back on track, and she has me on a 1200 calorie diet, using measuring cups again and all that good stuff that you do in the beginning. I am now down to 166.

You need to walk, exercise, burn calories in some way that you find tolerable or even enjoyable. I am now losing about one pound a week. You HAVE to burn calories to lose weight when you're at my stage in the game- maintainence is a ***** because it's so hauntingly familiar.  But if you get to your goal weight, you can keep it off. You just have to consciously CHOOSE to continue what you have been doing.

And never, ever, ever stop taking your supplements. They are a necessity like electricity and running water. You have to pay for them. You just have to.  They are not a luxury, but a necessity now. No exceptions. Bariatric Advantage has a nice automatic delivery program so you don't forget to get them or have to wait for them to be delivered, and waste all of those days not taking your supplements while they are being shipped to you.

 I just wanted to vent (thank you for letting me!) and also warn you and beg of you to make the right choice and REFUSE to allow yourself to fall into bad habits. You did not go through all of this to gain weight, look at pictures and hate yourself.  You did this to lose weight, look better and most importantly....BE A HEALTHIER PERSON. 

The results can be fantastic... please don't do what I did.  And if you do, please get back on track as soon as you notice the weight gain! Because the old familiararity of "only" losing a pound a week is frustrating, when you're used to loosing consistently and quickly. 

OK, that's all I have to say right now.   Please feel free to ask me anything.  I'll try my damndest to let you know what I went through, or, I'll let you know if I have no freakin' answer for you. 

Love, 
Lauren

Good post.  It is good to see the farther out folks tell their stories.

 Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I find it very helpful when people are willing to bare all and put it out there.  

Thank you so much for sharing. I'm at 6 mos and truly going thru the honeymoon stage of this journey. Love wearing smaller clothes, love having more energy, all that and more. But your story brings the "reality" of the journey up front and personal. I'm going to print this out and keep it handly to read frequently.

 that makes me feel like $1,000,000  thank you!

Thanks I needed this today!!

I hafta tell you - your post came right on time for me! I am at a year out and starting to relax the rigidity on the measuring and taking that extra snack or two. I can eat many things I couldn't early on... and you're right - it is so easy to slip back into those old habits when the consequences aren't there, or they are much less.

Thanks for pulling my head out of the clouds for a few moments so that I can refocus

You wrote this, and it describes me to a "T"

I read posts like this when I was about to have surgery, and took them in but did not truly realize what they were saying to me until I went through it myself, naturally.

Thanks for the insightful post.

Thank you so much for sharing this.  I am  weeks out and just starting to get into a daily routine but still have a very long way to go.  I have been careful and fortunate in that I have not experienced dumping and most foods I tolerate well.  I am being very careful about my food choices but it's easy now.  I keep reminding myself that now is the time for form the good lifelong habits.  Thanks for sharing your story, I enjoyed reading.

 Thank you for the great information!

I have a question-does your pouch still give you a sense of restriction when you eat? Are you still able to eat far less than you did pre-surgery?

 Bbearsmama, 

Hi! Yes, significantly less. The nutritionist has me eating 1 cup of food per meal TOTAL. Protein goes first, then whatever else is there.  I was eating much more than that, and found that 1 cup is satisfying, it was just that I stopped doing what I was supposed to be doing--measuring.  At the end of the "feeding" (haha), I am satisfied. Thank GOODNESS! The only time I sometimes stilll feel hungry is after a protein shake as a meal. I guess because it is liquid. But I just use that time frame wisely, and drink, drink, drink to keep my mind occupied (after a half hour, sometimes longer, of course! Very important!****il late morning snack. Getting the 64 fluid ounce as a minimum is sooo important, because it flushes the fat out of our bodies.  I didn't learn that until about a year out.  And knowing WHY you're doing something encourages us to actually do it! :)

Congrats on three years! I'm coming up on my three years soon as well, and agree with you. Those good habits MUST be learned in the first year while you lose NO MATTER WHAT. It's after that time period when you have to rely on using what you learned to KEEP YOU THERE! Glad to hear your getting back on track! Congrats again!

 Thank you! Keep up the good fight! :)

 Thank you!  I am fighting a small regain.  This week I am finally down 5 lbs, first time in a long while...thanks to advice just like this. I use my tool again, and I am thankful for it.  I wish I hadn't strayed, getting back wasn't (still isn't) easy. Very good tips!

Thank you for sharing. Today is my 1 year anniversary and what you wrote are good points to remember. I haven't lost any weight in over 4 months. I'm hovering at 155 lbs, 10 lbs over my goal weight. My pouch luckily still lets me know when I've done something wrong but I am beginning to notice my old eating habits are slowly come back. I'm eating more carbs than I did a couple of months ago and sneakingin snack-size chocolates that are laying around the office. And more importantly, I've been able to notice what triggers my old eating habits. Now it's just getting the courage to "change" those habits and stick to the plan. Hearing that maintaining the weight loss is a life long battle is a nice reality refresher. I feel myself getting a little ****y and overly confident - time to re-eavulate and fix the triggers that can once again grow into problems.

Againthanks for sharing and providing some pointers!

Very nice and spot on.

 I like your signature. Whenever I am puking, or suffering, I say to my husband, "I'm not complaining... hurl... I chose to have this surgery...hurl... and I chose to eat that one bite too many.."

WE CHOSE TO HAVE THIS SURGERY, so we must not punish ourselves by CHOOSING THE RIGHT PATH AFTERWARDS! Only have ourselves to blame if we see re-gain. Gotta work harder then. 

 Good post.  I am 2 months away from 5 years out and I try very hard to emphasize to people that they MUST use that first year to really revamp their eating habits or they will struggle to maintain the loss and not regain once the caloric malabsorption ends... that they NEED tjoe new habits for the rest of their lives.

Lora

 COngratulations on losing 185 pounds! Holy Moly! And for keeping it off. Did you experience any time periods of re-gaining any weight? 

My weight has been pretty stable, BUT I also have a 5-pound "gain" limit.  I weigh myself once a week only (twice a week if there has been a large jump from the previous week, since tere is obviously some water retention going on), and if I hit that 5lb threshold, I increase my protein a bit, increase my fluids a bit (which, in my case, means actually getting in the full 64 ounces they want us to get all the time), and drop all non-dairy, non-veggie carbs (I get a lot of my protein from dairy products so dropping those carbs is not an option****il those 5 pounds come back off.  (It is usually actually less than 5 pounds of true weight... maybe 3 pounds of fat and 2 pounds of extra water (which drops off right away)... So it usually only takes 2 weeks to get the extra weight off.)  

I have had to do this 3 times in 5 years, but I am not especially strict about what I eat.  If i really want something that is a less than healthy choice, I will have it and then try to be more conservative about the rest of my food chocies that day or he following day.  I also have some kind of small (100 calorie or less) planned treat every day (usually it is a small amount of chocolate (e.g., 2 Hershey dark chocolate kisses or 6-8 M&Ms) or a spoonful of my favorite full-sugar, full-fat Haagen Dazs ice cream, but sometimes it is half of one of their lunch-size bags of pretzels or chips).

It might not work for everyone, but it works for me and keeps me from feeling at all deprived or like I am on a perpetual diet (which would be the kiss of death for me, psychologically, as far as maintaining the loss).

Lora