Vets..... whats your honest view....

I was watching addicted to food and 2 of the patients in rehab were post op RNY who weighed about 300 lbs. I also see on here and IRL post ops who gain their weight back.

Now as a pre-op this got me thinking and honestly freaking out. I guess the reason I am freaking out b/c I have failed every other "diet". I am NOT going into this thinking that, but for a brief moment I did think that while watching.

As a vet... What is YOUR opion as to why some people regain their weight?  Actions? Behaviors?

I guess I am wondering for those people who are addicted to food (like myself) how does having the surgery change that?

I have a therapist (the one who did my 3 visit psych eval) who specializes in eating disorders and WLS that I plan on seeing every week, *****ally gets me and I really like.

For myself, I think I could regain, but I'd kind of have to work at it.  I'd have to make poor food choices almost all the time.  And I'd have to graze, eating little bits almost constantly.

It's not that it's always easy for me to make good choices but I don't think I am addicted to food.  I think if you are addicted, you're doing the right thing by seeing a therapist.

Regain can happen with any surgery from carbing away. However, many of us, particularly the severe obese, are born with a broken hunger mechanism, which, from my experience, can only be corrected witht he duodenal switch. Since my revision, I have felt more at peace with food than ever.

The reason why people regain their weight is that they fail to follow the rules. In the beginning if you fudge some of the rules , you can "get away" with it. But as time goes on, the bad habits of not following the rules catches up to and you start gaining weight.

I am big on reading books to help me stay on track. I just bought the following book and I have found it invaluable ih helping me recognize my bad habits and encouraging positive behavior. Its a simple book that provides a set of principles to follow to long term WLS success.

The Success Habits of Weight-Loss Surgery Patients
Colleen M. Cook

I really think its wonderful that you have taken the step to visit a therapist.  A lot us struggle emotionally after the surgery. Staying in touch with a therapist will help you uncover any such issues before they become a problem.


I dont  mean to bore you with giving you titles of books. But they DO help a lot.  As you mentioned you are addicted to food.  So are all of us.  That how we ended up getting to point of WLS.  What helped me and my friends redefine their relationship with food is the following books. It focuses primarily on how we look at food emotionally and how to detach ourselves from it. It like a therapist in a book. Dont be surprised if you find a copy of this book at your therapists office :)

The Emotional First + Aid Kit: A Practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery, Second Edition
Cynthia L. Alexander


I have gone through a lot of  struggel with food and emotions two months post of. I was completely lost.  So I have been there and done that. Thankfully I am back on track due to the wonderful people on this forum and by the books that I have mentioned.

Feel free to send me a personal message if you want to talk offline about something or just want to be friends :)

Thanks...I am buying them.

I totally agree with Kelly.  I know I will have to live diligently and watchful for life.  I am totally okay with that.  When I was younger and a normal weight, I resented always having to watch everything I ate.  I gained so easily.  As I grew older the physical and emotional pain of being obese eclipsed those resentful feelings.  I now embrace the fact that yes, if not wise and careful, regain could happen.  But having surgery gave me the opportunity to develop new eating habits and a healthy lifestyle.  It is all about the choices we make each and every day.  There are no easy outs for anyone.  That is why I need this site.  It keeps me connected to the reality that this was a tool that gets us wjere we need, but it is up to us to remain there.

People regain for a variety of reasons, but there are two BIG ones.

The biggest one is going back to much the way they ate before surgery (and often that is a result of NOT having really learned a different way to eat during the first year... which is why some fo us get so exasperated with posts about people eating ice cream and pizza when they are only a couple of months post-op)!

During the first year, you can eat almost anytnhign and still lose weight because of the VERY small size of your new and healing pouch, and because of the significant malabsorption of calories.  By the time you are two years out, though, you WILL be able to eat MUCH more than when you were two months or even 6 or 9 months out, and the malabsorption will be GONE.  You will absorb every calorie you eat.  Some people's metabolism is even further destroyed by the severe caloric restriction of that first year, so it is even EASIER to gain weight than it was pre-op!  If you did not truly learn a healthier way of eating during that "honeymoon period", you WILL almost certainly regain weight.

The second reason is that people fail to address the emotional and psychological contributors to their obesity. NOT everyone who is obese is a "food addict" in a clinical sense, but we all have SOME psychological issues that enabled us to get to be morbidly (or super morbidly) obese, and the surgery does not magically take those issues away.  Some eat for comfort, some eat to ease loneliness or anxiety, some have some really bad behavioral habits that cause them to overeat.  If you do not address these issues in some way, they will almost always come back and bite you in the ass.

Lora

I plan to find these books, too.

I agree with everyone above - I could gain the weight back if I went back to eating the things I ate before surgery.  If I sit on my butt and don't move, like I did before, I could gain it back. If I choose to deal with my emotions, fears and problems like I did before, with food, I could gain it all back and more probably.  If I start to think this surgery is a premanent solution, rather than a jump start tool, I will probably gain the weight back.

I will CHOOSE to keep this weight off by following the rules of eating, exercising (mentally and physically), remembering my RNY was only a TOOL and staying plugged into the RNY community locally and online.

Good luck with your surgery!

as far as I know, every living thing is "addicted to food". My cats and dogs insist on it regularly.

Sort yourself into volume or grazer, take out the mentally ill or character flawed part of it. We all continue to be addicted to food.

You can sort out your particular downfalls, but skinny ppl have them, too.

For one, I think that "definition of insanity" thing applies here (you know the one, "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result"...). If we don't change the habits that got us here to begin with we will eventually end up right back where we started.

For me, the difference RNY made is that it gave me back the hope of actually being able to succeed this time. I just knew if I could ever just get the weight off I would NEVER go back again, and I still believe it to this day. Granted, I am only 15 months out, but I am determined to be living with my success story 5, 10, 20 years down the road and for the rest of my life. And that success begins with every choice I make, every day.