3 Years Out, It Coming Back To Me Now

[jnwl905]

Long Time No Talk. It has been three years since my surgery and unfortunately the, "Thrill Is Gone" and I'm seeking help. Last year in October, before my husband and I went on a cruise I was 3 pounds from my goal weight of 145 and was wearing a size 7/8 which was a little tight but comfortable. Overall, from my surgery date (05/29/2014) up until we left for the cruise I had lost a total of 62 lbs. I expected to gain a little weight while on the cruise and did my best to prepare. I walked everywhere, exercised every day, took the stairs, and avoided the elevators like the plague.

I admit I ate more than I should but I tried to eat small portions and limited my sweets. When we returned from our trip, I could not weigh myself right away because my son had broke my scale. He was using it as a chair while giving my grandson a bath. I brought a new one two-weeks later, stepped on it, and discovered I had gained 7 pounds, I was back at 155 pounds. Nothing to panic about, I can loss this was my thought (FAMOUS LAST WORDS). By the time Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled around I was back at 160 (12 pounds gained), but I was convinced I could still loss the weight. Then my Birthday and Valentine's Day came then went, I was at 163 (15 pounds gained back).

I just stepped off the scale a few minutes ago and I am now at 168 (20 pounds gained). At this point, I have gained back a third of my weight and I do not know what to do. It seems as if I cannot stop eating, especially sweets. I remember when people who saw me everyday would tell me that I was too skinny but I do not hear that anymore. People who have not seen me in a while still mention my weight loss but I think even they are beginning to notice the weight gain.

I know I am feeling sorry for myself and there are people who are worse off than me but I cannot help but whine and get this off my chest. As I said before, I am not looking for pity or a pat on the back with someone saying, "There, There". I am looking for a suggestions, I am looking for solutions. I do not want to gain anymore weight and would like to lose the 20 I gained. I am exercising and cutting back to my post-weight eating portions but the desire for sweets is so overwhelming, it is hard to control the desire to eat all the cookies, cakes, and candy that I can get my hands on.

I heard about the five-day reset but I do not know if it will work after three years. If anyone have suggestions that worked for them please let me know, I am willing to try anything. If all else fails, I might try the lap band surgery which is kind of like having the gastric sleeve all over again. If anyone else has gone to this extreme please tell me about your experience.

Thank you for letting me vent and I look forward to hearing your feedback.

Jennifer Wright

[Sandra3]

Hello Jennifer,
I'm only 15 months out so I don't know how my body will react at three years, but statistics show that a regain is expected after 18 months.
If I was you I would not go with an other surgery because it seems that your main problem is nutrition and will stay the same after the band.
Sweets are addictive. You should clean up your closets/pantry/fridge and start fresh.
Good nutrition = protein first, veggies, fruits, calcium, small ration of carbs.

I know that when I have sweet cravings I have issues with my anemia again.
When did you have a blood test for the last time? How are your vitamin levels? your iron could be low.

Take care.

[Christie13]

Hi Jennifer. I think you definitely need to go back to basics to squash your cravings. I do think you could still benefit from the pouch reset. I am attaching a link from one of my favorite sites for sleeve information. http://www.obesitycoverage.com/the-p...weight-regain/ I know that when I eat carbs they make me crave more carbs. I am very carb sensitive. I follow a low carb lifestyle. I do not count carbs but I make good carb choices. For now I know I need to do it this way. It is also what my nut recommended for me. I know that this is hard and I really hope you can get your eating under control before it gets to the point where it is no longer feasible to lose it. As for the lap band, I definitely do not recommend that. The reason being is that the surgery has fallen out of favor, there are lots of issues with band slippage, and there is a lot of maintenance visits required. Do you have any local support groups you can attend?

[Ann2]

Jennifer,

Welcome back.

Based only on what you've said in your opening post above, it sounds like you are hooked on sugar at the moment. The ONLY way I know to conquer those urges is to cold-turkey ALL sugar. Of any kind.

When I'm trying to change a bad habit I try to control as many things as I can that would distract me. In the case of sugar, I would throw away everything in the house that has sugar in it. Or I'd put the remaining sugary things in a cabinet and put a frickin' lock on the door. I'd be very clear with everybody in the house how much losing 20 pounds means to you and tell them explicitly that that means you need their cooperation (in whatever ways might apply).

If you have sugar in your workplace that tempts you, you'll have to figure out other things -- like maybe not taking any money with you to work.

Another thing -- it's possible (don't know, but possible?) that you're using sugar to comfort yourself about issues / decisions / conditions / relationships that you're uncomfortable dealing with. I dunno, but this is a possibility. If so, sugar won't do a damn thing to help you resolve things. But eating unlimiated amounts of sweets will make you fat again. So if this is what's going on with you (again, I don't know if it is) I'd suggest you address the things that are really bugging you.

Finally, every way you can find to be accountable -- here, in life, with a therapist or a coach -- you should ratchet up. I assume you have a scale that works. If I were you, I'd weigh every morning. Research shows that those who weigh every day lose more weight and maintain their weight better than those who don't. Of course, that could be because those who weigh every day are just more motivated to lose weight. I dunno. But still -- weighing every day sounds like a winning behavior.

Unfortunately, nobody can do this for you. It's all on you -- how you control your environment and your behavior.

And no, you don't need a lapband to do this. Your sleeve is still there and will help you if you go back to eating the healthy, nutritious foods that will nourish your body that's probably sugar-bombed out at the moment.

You can lose these 20 pounds. Many people have done it post-op. Best wishes to you!

[Ann2]

One more thing -- although many people do regain weight down the road it is absolutely not something you should expect to happen because "that's how it is" or be satisfied with regain.

I'm coming up on three years post-op (in August). I lost 100 pounds and am still 100 pounds down.

I absolutely, positively do not want to regain any permanent weight. And yes, vacations and holidays can put on a few pounds. But the trick (in my experience) is to get RIGHT BACK TO BASICS after that's over. I speak from considerable experience on that front.

[Ann2]

Jennifer, one other thought ...

Are you taking an antacid to keep the production of your stomach acid low enough for your sleeve (compared to your big ole stomach you used to have)? It's commonly known that excess stomach acid stimulates appetite. I swear that one winter several years ago (pre-op) I gained 20 pounds solely because I "forgot" to take my antacid and felt hungrier than normal.

Oh -- and eating lots of sugar INCREASES the production of stomach acid. Of course it would, right?

[Kindle]

Fortunately Ann covered it, so this will be a short post. Ditto to everything she said....especially the going cold turkey on sugar. That is ESSENTIAL. Also ditto on the not accepting any regain just 'cause "they" say it happens. I'm 3 years 4 months out, lost 100 pounds and still down 100 pounds. But it is not easy. It is an everyday struggle. I find myself caught up in the carb war occasionally, and the only way I can win is to cut everything out and go back to basics. Even if thats 5 days of protein shakes to clear out my cravings and solidify my resolve. And you can't let holidays and birthdays be an excuse for bad habits. Own your journey and be accountable every single day.

[Pam G]

Go cold turkey on the sweets....get them outta the house. When we eat sweets, we crave sweets. Once you stop the sugar, the cravings subside considerably. And that means ALL 'sweets', not just the obvious cookie/cake/candy, but also honey/agave, etc.

Have you ever tried LOW carb? I mean LLLLOOOOOWWWWW carb....like less than 20 gms a day? it's pretty much just meat, eggs, a little cheese (just a little), fats and veggies that grow above ground (leaves, asparagus, broccoli, brussels, cauliflower....you get the idea).

Get back to tracking EVERY SINGLE MOLECULE THAT GOES INTO YOUR MOUTH! Weigh all your food....all of it...and put it into your tracking app. You can enter it all in the night before, so you have a set plan for the next day that you can stick to.

[DesertGal]

My daughter's name is Jennifer Wright, so this was strange to see!
When I began my pre op diet back in December, after attending my first nutritional class, I CUT OUT sweets cold turkey, then and there. Boy was it hard, but I did it. Carbs were next - and maybe worse- but I did it and lost 41 pounds by my surgery day last month. I know from memory that if I had a slice of cake at one of our birthdays, I'd be having a few more slices later that night... and I'd crave it first thing in the morning. (I haven't craved it since December).
Like others said, cut out sugar cold turkey!
Best of luck!