Has anyone who is more than a year out..

[Joelle]

regain any of your post op weight?? I was at my primary doctors yesterday and saw a pamphlet that said a typical gain of 5-10% is normal after the first year.. Is that true? It didn't specify which surgery.

Thoughts?

[juniper]

i work with a lot of ppl who have had the bypass or sleeve. the only ones that have gained the weight back are ppl who eat like they did before the surgery. you have to change your habits or this will not work in the longrun. I have dieted all my life and this will be my last lifelong dedication to my health. my mother had both legs cut off due to diabetes , she is bedridden, she has had stroke, cancer and diabetes thanks to her unhealthy diet. i refuse to die that way.

[becca72]

I find that if I do not stay on plan...it is VERY easy for the weight to creep back on. I have regained 5-10 lbs at times, but find it is a lot easier now to get it back off than it was pre-op. I try to keep a nice bounce back weight to stay in my new comfort zone

[leesooim]

I'm still in the process of losing my last few pounds to hit goal, but I can absolutely see how people would regain once they hit goal. I feel that it's a thing of getting too comfortable and relaxing in your food choices/eating habits. A lot of people regain because, as juniper said and the information sessions I've attended taught, they get back into old eating habits, a lot of the time without even realizing how much they've slipped.

I think a big part of NOT regaining more than a few pounds is to always be mindful of what you're eating and how much you're eating. For us sleevers, I also think grazing is a very big enemy for us, so I feel as long as you're making healthy eating choices at least 5 days out of 7 a week, paying attention to portion sizes and living moderately active, you will most likely end up maintaining your weight once you reach goal/a year or more post op.

[Socaldixiegal]

I'm not there yet, but my mom had bypass several years ago and lost a significant amount of weight (about 150 lbs). She lost down to probably about 155 then regained a few pounds and settled in at around 165. Would probably loose another 10 - 15 lbs in excess skin but doesn't want the surgery and they're retired so expensive! She looks absolutely fabulous and honestly looks better with those few additional pounds back on. She has completely changed her eating and focuses on doing everything you're supposed to diet and exercise wise. She's done amazingly well.

Sometimes that little weight gain, may just be the body adjusting to a balanced weight? Here's the thing though, my mom didn't focus on achieving a specific weight on the scale so the slight regain really didn't phase her. She's in her 60s so wasn't going to exercise like crazy to maintain a "goal" number. Also, when the weight was regained, she wasn't eating poorly so knew that it wasn't a diet related regain.

I would think that if the regain is happening AND the diet is slipping that's the thing to focus on, but if you're still on plan eating wise and having a slight regain, it's probably just your body balancing.

[5DogMa]

Remember this is JUST a tool. You will be on a low calorie diet for the rest of your life to maintain the weight loss that comes off fast in the beginning. Like was said before, you have to adopt a life style change and to do that is a mental more than physical thing. Because YES you CAN gain the weight back. I think support groups and therapy can help. They fixed your stomach but not your head and for most this has always been a head game.

[janerose]

A year out and have kept all 88 pounds off - I fluctuate three pounds up and down - weigh myself everyday and keep in check that way.

[Munchkin]

Whether to regain the weight is totally up to you (us).. we have the tool, it is up to us how to use it.

I gain 5lbs in 2 weeks over Christmas. 5lbs isn't very much but 5lbs each year will add up real quick. I work very hard to get that off because I don't want to let 5lbs turns into 10lbs and then before I know it 80lbs again. People who have been obese have to make life changes (diet and exercise) and eat less than normal weight people. I don't accept that we will gain 50% of the loss back in a long run, I don't wake up one day and gain 40lbs. It is up to me to fight against obesity. My surgeon said that after the first year (the honeymood period), you will need to buckle down in the second year. I also read that the first two years after weightloss is critical in the maintenance of the weightloss. After 2 years of maintaining the weightloss, you have learned how to do it right.

[compact]

I have read a study that found some regain at 3 years out, but people were able to stabilise their weight and were still happy with their overall loss. I agree with the other comments here.

[Scubagecko]

This is a great question. Thanks to all the veterans out there reminding all of us newbies that eating healthy is not for a year out of our lives that our lives are about getting and staying healthy now.

[incredibleshrnkngshirly]

I am five months away from having my sleeve for two whole years. I have gained seven to eight pounds since Thanksgiving/Christmas. I do not exercise and I had fallen back into poor eating habits. You can and will gain the weight back if you are not careful. I have heard horror stories of the stomach being like a balloon that will continue to stretch if I continue to push it. Now that I am totally petrified that I have screwed up my sleeve, I'm back to eating my tiny portions and going into Weight Watcher mode. I still have an eating disorder that lives between my two ears! I find great comfort in what others say in ways of encouragement so I don't feel so alone now, but I'm still scared I may have messed up. I'm a size 16 and I remember how I thought that was skinny...now I feel fat no matter what I wear or what the scale says. :-/