The Dread R word

REGAIN

Let me first say it's been ages since I posted anything here and I can't help remember how I couldn't go a day or even an hour without checking the forums. I think that definately has contributed to the issue at hand.

So Im a little over 3 years out. I never truely got down to my "goal" weight of 150 but did get to about 175 and I realized without surgery to get rid of the excess skin and such I probably would never get that small. Which is was WAY OKAY with me..I was feeling great, felt like I looked great...basically most things were going, you guessed it GREAT. And this was pretty much the story until about 09/2012.

During my journey I experienced alot of the typical WLS "side effects". I was seperated from my spouse for almost a year (his choice to leave), I struggled with a transfer addiction (alcohol) among other things.

I think most of the areas in my life I have made some really big improvements. But ever since coming to work at home for my company in September I have noticed a steady increase in weight. I have currently gone back up to almost 225. A couple of months ago I decided I needed to get back on track so I joined weigh****chers to try to get me back up on that wagon....and nothing. I stuck with their program, counted my points, increased my physical activity and all I did was yo yo..I lost 4lbs the first week that just keep coming and going week after week. 

So what am I doing wrong? I know I need to contact my surgeon...but like any lapse "child" im hesitant cuz I know Ill get a well deserved tongue lashing. But as I wait for that appointment any pointers out there on what I can possibly do or take a look at that might help restart this tool of mine?

Go back to eating how you were when you were following the post op diet. (Not saying go back to the beginning but at about 6 mo) Eat protein first, aim to get in a min. of 60g of protein, don't drink with meals of for 30 mins afterwards, After you eat your protein if you still have room then eat veggies. Stay away from the white stuff, bread, rice, pasta etc. No sweets! if you've let them back in.

It may also help you to see where you truly are with your eating if you use a tool like myfitnesspal to log all the food you are eating daily. See how many calories you are at, are the majority of the calories coming from protein? Then adjust as you need to.

It's still a matter of calorie in calorie out. so once you see how much you are eating cut it by 500 calories and that will be a pound a week. It's going to be much slower than it was right after surgery but I've seen with a friend of mine that it can be done!

Keep coming here and reading and posting on both this main forum and the RNY forum to get the support you need!

I'm very new here, and, I really think the "stay away from the white stuff" suggestion is excellent - no breads, no wheat products / gluten, rice, potatoes...This has helped me a lot.  I also read the book "Wheat Belly" that really changed my mind about starches and gluten.

For many people surgery means a loss of 100 pounds, a regain of 20 pounds and then a lifetime of working to maintain a net loss of about 80 pounds.   To do more than that, you have to stick to a low calories, high exercise plan for a long, long time. Weigh****chers is good, but was too much food for you if you did not have a consistent weight loss on their program.

Set yourself a goal of losing one pound a week, by eliminating 500 calories a day.  Your goal weight is 150, so your maintenance calories are ten times that or 1500.  Cut back to 1000 calories a day.  In a week you should be down one pound.  In ten weeks, ten pounds, in a year you will be at your goal of 150.  Excess skin weighs very little.  You might want to start setting aside some money every week towards plastic surgery. 

What you are doing now is wishing for a great body.  Do you know the difference between a wish and a goal?  It is the same thing, except that the goal has a date attached to it.  Set your goal date now.  Start tracking and planning.  Track what you eat and what you weigh.  Never go a day without getting on the scale.  Journal every day about your food intake, your emotions, and your dreams. Make your dream come true.  You will have a hard year, but you can then enjoy being at goal for the rest of your life.

 

Someone once said that goals not written down are merely childish wishes.

S - specific

M - measurable

A - attainable

R - realistic

T - timely

You don't deserve a tongue lashing and it's unprofessional and inappropriate for your surgeon to treat you that way. If that is really how he treats you, I suggest finding another surgeon, one that is respectful of his patients and behaves in an appropriate, professional manner. It is your surgeon's job to help you figure out why you've regained and to advise you about how to get the extra weight off, not to verbal abuse or intimidate you.

In addition to seeing your surgeon, I suggest meeting with a registered dietician that has experience with WLS patients. Weigh****chers is a good program but since it's not designed with WLS folks in mind, it may not meet your needs now.

I notice you say your weight has increased since you started working at home. Other than working in a different place, what's changed? Are you eating more food or different food than you ate when you worked somewhere else? Did you get more exercise before you started working at home?

Finally, have you been seeing a therapist to deal with the issues in your relationship and with the alcohol addiction? I don't really think divorce or separate and alcohol addiction are "typical WLS side effects." They happen sometimes after WLS but certainly aren't inevitable. One study found that about seven percent of people that had RNY were addicted to alcohol before they had RNY; an additional three percent developed an alcohol addiction after RNY. I don't know if something that happens to three percent of people is really a "typical side effect," But regardless, the point is, if you have an addiction, you need treatment for it. Also, as I'm sure you know, alcohol is usually high in calories and can easily lead to weight gain.