5th Anniversary

I've reached the 5 year mark!  I had my surgery in April 2011, not too long before my 51st birthday.  I reached my first goal of 150 lbs by that December, and kept losing until my lowest point of about 137--that was sometime in the summer of 2012.  For a while I kept losing even though I was trying to maintain.  In the fall of 2013, I noticed that I could eat more volume, and my weight went up to about 143.  This was okay!  Then came the next two falls.  In 2014, I gained 14 pounds and found myself at 157.  I used an anti-inflammation diet in early 2015, and lost down to 146.  In the fall of 2015, I started out very committed to avoiding any gain.  No sugar! Keep weighing daily!  Then something happened (depression? loss of commitment?).  I dove into the holiday food and gained 17 pounds.  17 pounds.  It happened so fast. I found myself at 163 and feeling pretty scared and disappointed.  I know that when I weighed 244, 163 would sound pretty damn good.  But my BMI qualified as overweight, and it was enough gain that most of my clothing did not fit comfortably and most scary for me--I couldn't keep up with my regular bike group.  If that continued, I was afraid that gaining even more was likely.  A coworker had had a lot of luck with the Fast Metabolism Diet (FMD), so I got the books and prepared and my husband and I both started the diet in mid February.  Today I weighed 142.  I feel like I'm back from the brink.  I'm worried about mood and seasonal weight gain again.  I mean, I knew last year and it happened anyway.  My husband and I continue to eat mainly the foundational foods of FMD, and I'm hoping that style of eating remains sustainable for the long haul.  Good luck to everybody on this journey--wishing you all peace and happiness and health.

Very inspiring!  Congrats!

Hey!! Nice to see you here! Sounds like you've had your ups and downs but you are still rocking it!! Congrats on your success!

Alison, so nice to see you!!!  I hope you are well!

I am quite well! A little above my comfort zone weight wise but have chewed my way through almost 60 lbs of a 90 lb regain so I have no complaints - life is good. 

You go!! Wishing you the best.

It is so great to hear from people who are 2+ years out and their struggles with weight gain.  It teaches me that I have to be disciplined, that this new way of eating, isn't temporary - it is a way of life.  I'm currently not struggling with - oh, bummer I can't have that.  I've come to the conclusion that "I don't want that", "I choose not to eat that".  It is a better way of thinking for me.  Thank you for sharing and I have confidence that you won't gain weight over the next holiday season. 

Congratulations on your 5 years!  It seems like you've got the hang of this and are very mindful.  Great job :)  Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for posting! 

I'm over 3 years out and trying to claw back down about 15 - 20lbs.  I think diligence here is hard.  Your post is very encouraging :)

Thanks for posting this.  I needed some inspiration today.