Fear of Regain.....

Hi there,

I will be two years out next month.  I too and scared of the dreaded "regain"...  I have had a gain... and I can eat much more than I could a year ago.  I had a 11 lb regain from my lowest.  My surgeon said it's "bounce back weight", and just said to watch the carbs.  I follow the same rules you posted above, but I am exercising too.  I find I am hungry a lot more often.  I am thinking I may need to looking into OA mtgs or something, I think I have a unhealthy relationship with food sometimes.... I am ALWAYS thinking about it!!!  And, when I am bored, I am scouring the Internet for new recipes... although they are most often healthy ones I am always looking for them!

I know the key for me will be consistently staying with my exercise routine and watching my food intake (I post my daily eats on the lightweights board).  My goal is to eat the best I can 80% of the time, and allowing (best quality) not so good choices to indulge in sometimes.  Ideally, that's realistic to me.  So, I am a work in progress and probably always will be :) 

Good luck to you Nessa!

thanks for the well wishes.

I am still losing if I eat perfectly.. but then I get too bony to be honest

last night the BF was complaining I hardly eat but since the ulcer repair I can eat a lot. I ate TWO tacos for dinner last night.....

i am amazed that the stuff i crave now is stuff like cottage cheese and fruit and salad although I do eat a lot of refined carbs....

I can't wait to go back to exercising.

I can EASILY eat two tacos!  And sometimes do too!

Yes, exercising definitely helps me think twice about eating something carby or higher in calories.... I think to myself if it's worth it more or not... Plus, it just makes you FEEL good!

About 6 months ago I'd say I could basically eat whatever and maintain, but I think now EVERY single thing I eat is being absorbed again.

I think it's healthy for us to fear regain and will probably be what keeps us maintaining how we should!

Nessa,
  Thanks for posting this. Such a timely discussion for me, as I enter the maintenance period (or more accurately, the "I've reached my personal number goal, now we'll see where my body wants to settle" period). For the last year truthfully I've been pretty obsessed with the scale, particularly as I got closer to my goal. Been working with my therapist on detatching myself from the numbers since they only drive me crazy -- but it's a process.

No answers from me on fear of regaining (something I'm really worried about too), but it sounds like you're doing very well overall. Congratulations on maintaining this healthy lifestyle for two years and counting.

And as always, I appreciated Kelly's insights.

Best,
Laura

I hear ya Nessa, I too live in fear of the regain. So far things have been good have gained 3 lbs but I ride my bike several times a week anywhere from 6-22 miles a day to avoid it.

Hey there...

I started to realized that this 'fear of regain' is actually a GOOD THING.  It's this fear that keeps my eating mostly under control.  As I fluctuate past a given number (for me right now it's 170... if I go past that I go into newbie mode and cut out all bad carbs for a couple weeks), I jump on it and stop the increase immediately.

Maybe an adjustment in mindset is required here.  We should be thankful that NOW we like where we are enough to not let a ton of weight pile back on.  Way back when I could go up 10 pounds and not get particularly bent out of shape about it... it was a drop in the bucket.  Now that we've all seen the other side, we have the presence of mind to fight it and not let the regain get out of control.

If you start to drift up, you KNOW WHAT TO DO.  Take comfort in that... if you want to stay where you are, you know how to work hard and change your eating to get back to that place.

It's all up to you... how bad do you want it?  Speaking for me, I want it... in fact, I think I want to make that push towards my goal that I kinda gave up on a while back.  I know that if I want it, I can make it happen... so can you.


tori

I hear you.  Lately I range from 130 to 134, but I have to watch it closely.  I popped up 6 pounds in early Spring, and it took a while to get off.  I've noticed when I slack on walking,  it is eaier to bump up.  135 is my max.

As of last week, I'm 3 years out. I'm 5'7", my highest weight was 339, and my goal weight is 140 (I set that, not my surgeon). I maintain between 135-140. I was obsessed with regaining around the 2 year mark. Over the holidays last year, from about November to January, due to grazing and eating too many holiday sweets, I gained 10 pounds!! I freaked!! My boyfriend loved it, but me not so much. I started tracking my food (something I had never done before) and limited my calories to 1300 (down from 2000). I got them off in a month with really no effort. Since then I have stayed between 135-140. I do weigh everyday and if I am up 3 pounds, I cut back for a few days until they are off. Gaining really does not scare me anymore.

Laura

  I am only about 15 months out, but I have been boucing between 144 and 147 for a while now.  I get seriously panicky if it gets up to 148.   I weigh myself daily because I am terrified that I will stand on the scale and see 150, so I keep thinking that if I keep an eye on it (because 150 is SO CLOSE), that I can go back to newbie mode at 149. 
  The obsession is stupid.. really, it is.  I could gain 20 lbs and be just fine (as far as my health and my looks go), but something in my brain says that if the scale ever says 150 I have lost control and it's ALL coming back.   Gaining back 10 or 15 pounds will put me in .. what?  A size 6 or an 8?  Didn't I just about **** myself with excitment when I got into a size 8 in the first place??
  I have read that a lot of us have a bounce back of a few pounds once we stop losing.  To me, because the "magic number" is so close, that is horrifying.  
  As stupid as it sounds, I miss the "freedom" of being fat.  My life SHOULD have been all about my weight back then, but it wasn't.  I was just thinking about it yesterday.. wondering when I could go back to living instead of being a slave to my scale.  I am so ready to have the "shiny" wear off this toy.  Ready to have something other than my weight be the topic of conversation when I see friends and relatives.  
  I start a new job on Monday.  None of those people know I was ever fat.  Maybe that will help. 
 

I started working in a new school after I got to goal. It is so fabulous to not be known as "the fat teacher who lost weight". I blend in now and I love that. I do talk about my surgery and my weight loss, but it's not how I am primarily known. To me, there is a big difference.

Laura