I’m making my third surgiversary post a few days early. Hubby and I are about to take a little vacation, so I’ll be away from my bathroom scales on my VSG anniversary date, August 18.
The bottom line is I’m doing GREAT! I weigh every morning, but pay most attention to my Monday morning weight, which today was 134.4 pounds and 1.2 pounds less than I weighed a year ago on my second surgiversary. 😊
How I Maintained a 100-Pound Weight Loss During Year Three
I simply did the same things I’ve done in the past. Early on, while losing weight, I found my groove by (1) eating a nutritious, balanced diet, (2) becoming much more active through exercise and daily living activities, and (3) meeting my own needs first through much, much improved self-care.
Below are some specific things I did this past year:
• Continued to make nutritious foods the bulk of my daily menus (70-80% of my daily calories come from dense protein, 5-7 colored veggies, whole grains, and dairy products)
• Had some daily treats like 5 ounces of wine and a biscotti
• Exercised at least 5 days a week (yoga, aquarobics, walking)
• Was very active in daily life (housework, gardening, mowing, errands/shopping, recreation)
• Took prescribed vitamins/supplements/meds daily
• Managed the best I could life’s never-ending stresses, tried to live in the moment, and tried not to ruminate about real and imagined bumps in the road
• Practiced better sleeping habits and (finally!) weaned myself completely off Ambien (a big win for me)
• Continued to see my shrink monthly to spot issues early and for coaching about stress management
• Recorded everything I ate and drank in My Fitness Pal, which for me is an incredible mindfulness and discipline tool (my current maintenance calorie budget is 1,725 calories with typical daily macronutrients of 190 carb, 50 fat, and 100 protein grams; I seldom eat exactly this much—sometimes less, sometimes more, but this are averages based on my MFP records)
• Avoided grazing between meals (I do have 1-2 snacks daily, which include some protein)
• Made meals last longer by taking small bites and chewing well
• Didn’t drink with meals or 15” before or 30” after meals
All that should sound very familiar to WLS patients, because the behaviors are what many surgeons advise us to do while losing weight. Yes, during the post-op weight loss phases we can’t eat that much and should minimize or avoid unnutritious foods. But otherwise, what we learn to do while losing our excess weight serves us well when we get to maintenance. In other words, this ain’t rocket science!
What Were Some Year Three Challenges and Successes?
1. More stomach capacity, depending on what I’m eating: Three years post-op I can eat 10-12 ounces of meat, veggies, and whole grains during a 20-30 minute meal, after which I definitely feel full. To be clear, this is considerably less in volume than I used to be able to tuck away. And sometimes I can now eat more than that, especially when spending a long time at table (on cruises, at holiday and celebratory dinners) or if the meal is mainly processed carbs (pasta, slurry and slider foods). But those meals are not common occurrences.
2. Night-time grazing: This past year (every month or so), for the first time I fell prey to night-time grazing that had nothing to do with physical hunger. On those occasions, I wound up eating highly processed carby, sweet slider and slurry foods--mostly cookies and crackers. Needless to say, I found this disturbing, which is why I have focused a lot during Year Three on stress and sleep management.
3. Eating the same things: I can get in a real rut eating the same things for breakfast and lunch. I still love a GNC Lean 25 chocolate shake for breakfast, and my favorite lunch is a turkey/cheese/tomato/light mayo sandwich with sliced carrots on the side. I used to angst about this, but realize I could have worse problems.
4. Dark chocolate – whoops! About 6 months ago I saw that my daily treat of dark chocolate was becoming more of a food group. Therefore, I banished chocolate from our kitchen. It’s hard to over-indulge in a trigger food when you don’t buy it.
5. Yoga ROCKS! Fifteen months ago, I started taking twice-a-week yoga classes and have seen so many benefits from the practice--in strength, balance, and calmness. I’m now building a daily yoga practice. Yoga’s benefits are gradual, but stable. If you think yoga could benefit you, please check it out. Protip: Yoga is not just for girls. 😉
6. Good habits and healthy lifestyle continued: I am not perfect. Never have been. Never will be. Don’t even want to be. But for the last three years I’ve been pretty consistent. This consistency has raised my self-confidence about maintenance. When I have “food accidents” or go on vacation and eat richer and more food and drink, I’ve gone back to my nutritious lifestyle eating the next day or when we return home. As a result, my Year Three Monday morning weights ranged from 133 to 138 (for the record, the 138 weigh-in was the day after returning from a 20-day transatlantic and European cruise!).
7. A new body weight set point? This is purely a theory, mind you, but I think that maintaining a fairly stable weight over the last 19 months has helped my body build a new “set point,” making it increasingly easier for my weight to remain stable. However it’s working, my maintenance success, much more than the weight loss, has been the miracle of my weight loss surgery and positive self-care I’ve learned and practiced the last few years. That NEVER happened for me before WLS!
Year Four MIght Be a Booger!
I’ve read a lot of stories by sleevers, including some on this board, that Year Four is when people who’ve maintained up to now are challenged harder than ever. I’ve also seen reliable research findings that support those stories. Still, it’s also true that some sleevers do maintain their weight through Year Four. But if regain is in my future, I hope I will be able to navigate that WLS challenge, too, and a year from now still be maintaining my 100-pound loss.
Conclusion
For everyone out there who’s considering WLS, merrily losing weight, working to maintain their weight loss, or fighting to lose regained weight—you can win your weight war by never giving up. I was 68 years old when I was sleeved. I’d tried everything else to lose and maintain a weight loss, but had failed. Truly, my only brilliance in all of this has been not giving up.
No matter your age, weight, fitness level, or health, get up on that WLS horse and ride it to your good health. I guarantee you’ll get bucked off more than once. But your obligation every time that happens is to get up, dust yourself off, and climb back on.
Year Four, bring it on! Yeehaw!
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