How quickly regain can happen!

I give myself a 10 pound range. It really helps elimate any fluid shifting weight. I can gain 5 pounds in a day in fluid after a bad shift at work.
I can stay in the 10 pound range without stress. Now if I go over the 10 mark I cut the carbs,drink more, and get moving.
Good luck,
Deb T.

I stick with the 5 pound range, but don't normally take action until two consecutive weekly weigh-ins above that limit in order to be sure it's not jus****er retention.  I probably would stress less with a larger range, but  -- on the other hand -- losing 5 (or, now 7 pounds) seems manageable but somehow to have to re-lose 10 pounds has much more of a "yikes" factor for me.

Whatever the chosen boundary, I personally think that's the best way to give yourself some room to enjoy life/eating/food but still keep things under control so that the 5 or 10 doesn't turn into 30 or 50 or more...

Lora

Hi Lora!!!

What a timely post!  I got on the scale yesterday for my weekly weigh-in and..... WOW..... I was up 6 pounds in one week????!!!!!!!  I've been holding steady at 145 pounds for a couple of months now, varying a pound in either direction.  So seeing 151 was very shocking.   In the past two weeks or so, I let a lot of emotional stress (marital problems, financial problems, job-related concerns, and my long-lost god-daughter [whom I almost adopted as my own daughter 16 years ago] coming back into my life) get the best of me, and I began eating indiscriminately AND eating a tremendous amount of sugar-free chocolate every day.  Chocolate has become my Xanax and my Prozac.   Oddly, I have never stopped writing down everything I eat in my food journal, but even as my intake and calorie count went up, I still kept on eating.

OK, so I know maybe 3 or 4 of these pounds are period weight as mine is on the way.  But the rest...... all me.  I agree that 3500 calories does not always equal an extra pound for some of us.  It may take LESS calories than that.  For example........... I gained 6 pounds...... 6 x 3500 = 21,000.  Divide that by 7 days..... I would have had to eat 3000 calories above my daily intake.  Even I am not capable of doing that anymore (before RNY - yes, I could have!). 

I go food shopping later today so I am getting my eating straightened out starting today.  Getting back to my more structured eating schedule isn't going to be too difficult.  The big problem for me is going to be the chocolate.  Sure, it's easy to say JUST DON'T BUY IT.  What kept me in line for quite awhile was sugar-free hard candies.  I'm going to have to go back to that.  I hate the fact that eating calms me down!!!!!  Also, when I cut my calories drastically, I become very crabby and jumpy.  It's going to take a lot of praying to get through this.

Keeping you in prayer Lora!   :)

This is an interesting post to me, because it sort of confirms how very fragile our metabolism becomes after this surgery.  I have not had mine rechecked yet, but my doc checks it again about a year from surgery.  I was told they found some patients actually drop their RMR to about 600 because of the very low caloric intake over their first year.  As a result of hearing that, I took it upon myself to do whatever I could to preserve my current metabolism by eating higher calorie foods when necessary to keep my calories at about 1200.  Even though my food intake has continued to be about 1/4c to 1/2c the first year, I would use high calorie foods at the end of each day to help up my intake.  My logic behind this has been, eventually I will eat a more normal diet and the calories will come naturally through the foods I consume.  I don't want to gain as a result of eating already less than normal calories.  On the bright side, my malabsorbtion has allowed me to continue to lose the desired weight and I'm now under my goal weight, so I'm working very hard to find my maintenance level.  But it seems to be very close to the calories I consumed prior to surgery (1200 to 1400).  I just still can't get that much in with regular food.  That really is a lot of food when you eat a normal healthy diet.  I seem to be in that up two pounds, down 3 pounds stage for the last 2 months.  I don't worry much about it since I've surpassed my goal weight.  I jus****ch it very closely to see how my eating plan is helping or not helping.

Good Luck with our never ending endeavor to maintain a normal weight.