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At goal but how do we stay there?

C

CCPM

Fighting on day by day
Not there yet at goal myself but having read Nic and Silver surfers posts re hunger returning on the stalls thread I thought I'd put this up as a seperate topic. We recently registered 2 new patients at work who had bypasses several years ago and who have regained a great deal of weight. On other sites I've seen many people discussing this regain scenario and some going in for revisions. I'm not seeking to scaremonger but it would be great to hear what others feel about this possibility and how they feel they will seek to control this if and when hunger returns. A lot of people comment on weight thats gone for ever and it would be great if thats is the case but it appears that it might not be and being forewarned is being forearmed I hope.

M
 
Brilliant thread M, and a subject which in my opinion is not discussed enough and is perhaps a little taboo.

Im not a bonafide 6 month post opper, so will leave the comments to the more experienced peeps - but wanted to say thanks for starting the thread.
 
I agree with what you have said M, you here people go on about 'weight gone forever' but has it really.
I'm not sure that any of us that have reached goal can really comment until we've managed to maintain for a year or so at least, certainly everyone regains hunger at some point, for some it comes slowly over time and i've known others it happen to over night, sadly whatever people say we all regain a measure of hunger.
We also lose strenght and the will power we all had immidiately pre op, we set out strong and foucus, but a year down the line i've found my strenght waining and as Nic said the slip back to bad habbits is easy.

There is a percentage who will fail and regain, this is what the 5 day pouch plan was created for, for those paitents that lose focus and control of there pouch it helps to re introduce them to restriction and healthier eating habbits, its easy for us to fall into old habbits with slider foods and lose control, i've had to stop myself buying a tub of ice cream today, not because i cant eat it but more because i really dont need to eat it, ice cream is a slide food and full of hollow calories !

My long term strategy will be to eat a healy balanced diet, high in protein and careful with my carbs, and to maintain an exercise regime where by i know i can have the small treats and still keep a check on my calories in, wether this will work or not i dont know yet.
 
Thanks SS

I'm hoping that by getting this section of the forum going with questions or topics that cover issues faced long term people will stay on the forum who have or are gaining the experience to post information that will help everyone as they get farther out and add to the already excellent information for those that are pre-op and immediately post op. Nic, Shel, carole and yourself are key to this and I'm so pleased to see you posting here. Over time I feel this will make this forum have a much wider and deeper appeal which in turn may attract more long termers.

Popping back into my box now for another think.

M
 
What a fantastic topic.
Although i reached my goal i was delighted to loose the extra lbs to get me nearer a haelty BMI. I tend to find my weight fluctuate by 4lbs depending on how many carbs i eat. So i have now started checking my weight daily and if its on the higher side have a low carb day but if on the lower side allow myself the extra carbs.

Im still changing shape and think i will probably loose a few more lbs but having a stage of maintaining is a good learning curve. My BMI is now 25.6 so would like to get it below the magic 25 and then i know im in that healthy range and have that 4lbs to play with there.
Hope that makes sence
carole
 
Hi M

I agree, in the past long termers have seemed to disapear, not sure why that is or maybe they just get there lives sorted and to a point that they dont need or feel the need to contribute to a support forum, so return when they start to struggle.

Thinking back certainly for me the first 6 months post op saw my biggest lose, no matter what i ate or did it just seemed to drop of me, i've always eaten a high protein diet mainly because i like meat and have a particular like of dairy especially cheese, so for anyone starting out now my advice would be to capitalise on the first 6 months as much as you can, and the things you learn from that first 6 months will carry your lose on well beyound your first year.

My longer term goal now isn't to lose any more weight but focus on getting fit, for the first time in my life i have reached a measured level of fitness and it feels great, and i want more, i'm hoping that a raised metabolism and watching my diet daily will keep my weight in check, but still allow me enough freedom in my diet to enjoy myself from time to time, and unlike Carol i dont weigh in every day, infact i've not weighed myself since well before Christmas as i'm no longer hung up by the scales any more, week after week i'd pray for a lose, now at my stage i can feel if i've gained or lost anything, plus i'm not a slave to the scales anymore.
 
Silversurfer said:
Hi M

I agree, in the past long termers have seemed to disapear, not sure why that is or maybe they just get there lives sorted and to a point that they dont need or feel the need to contribute to a support forum, so return when they start to struggle.

Thinking back certainly for me the first 6 months post op saw my biggest lose, no matter what i ate or did it just seemed to drop of me, i've always eaten a high protein diet mainly because i like meat and have a particular like of dairy especially cheese, so for anyone starting out now my advice would be to capitalise on the first 6 months as much as you can, and the things you learn from that first 6 months will carry your lose on well beyound your first year.

My longer term goal now isn't to lose any more weight but focus on getting fit, for the first time in my life i have reached a measured level of fitness and it feels great, and i want more, i'm hoping that a raised metabolism and watching my diet daily will keep my weight in check, but still allow me enough freedom in my diet to enjoy myself from time to time, and unlike Carol i dont weigh in every day, infact i've not weighed myself since well before Christmas as i'm no longer hung up by the scales any more, week after week i'd pray for a lose, now at my stage i can feel if i've gained or lost anything, plus i'm not a slave to the scales anymore.
Click to expand...

couldnt agree more richard thoes first 6 months really are the crux to weight loss and maximising it.

As for the long term goal of fitness again is something that i am also aiming for.

I think one of the reasons for me suddenly using the scales is that i have had a hormonal coil fitted and know one of the side effects can be weight gain so in effect although i havent taken my eye off the ball eating wise i suppose its a subconsiouse thing that i started doing because of that.

Hopefully once its settled in i will settle down with the scales and go back to weighting if and whan i remember.
 
I'm keeping my eye on you long termers;):DDon't go off and get lives:mad::mad:, as we need to know the answer to this one;)
I've lost nearly 7 st in 6 months, and am hoping to lose another 5 stone, and hope upping my exercise will help:D
 
Someone posted in a thread last week the question of "What will we all do when our weight loss journey has finished?" My reply was that I dont think it ever will finish.

The thought of regaining the weight I have lost scares me to death. I currently have a tool that enables me to control what I eat, I still have decent discipline and my diet is varied and it seems to be working for me.....

But I do have the odd slip but its my pouch that gets be back on track, the thought of it stretching or head hunger getting to me does worry me but thats when the second stage of our "battle" begins... and i think its harder than the first stage to be honest.

I still have about a stone and a half left to lose till i have reached my "goal" that on day 1 i put down as the weight I want to be and i know i will get there as am now training for a half marathon so the weight is bound to come off......

I plan to run the great north run or some other half / full marathon every year for the rest of my life now, if i do that i think the weight will stay off but forever is such a long time......
 
Excellent thread M!

I think that keeping the weight off after a bypass is absolutely the HARDEST part of our WLS journey. I realized this fact when I was about 4 months post-op. I had mentally prepared myself for the first few months to be hard slog, hating the taste of food, eating purees, possibly getting sick alot, etc. But what really happened was that I sailed through the early part, no sickness, loved food, loved purees and the pounds just melted away. That should have been a happy realization but it wasn't, I realized I was far from the hardest part so I panicked a little. After I calmed down I did some research and found some bloggers that were 4, 5, 6+ years post-op and read like crazy. Apparently some regain (15-20lbs) happens to many bypassers in the 5 years after their surgery. Mostly a return to old bad habits is responsible but for some it is strictly down to the compenstaion their body makes over time. So for some of them they are eating exactly what they ate at 6 months post-op, 1 year and so on but now they are 10-20lbs heavier! I don't say this to freak anyone out but it is important to point out. The pounds are not gone forever and sometimes it is not just about maintaining your weight once your reach goal, sometimes you may need to look at waht you eat and then make some adjustments to your carbs/calories/treats! You are never done with your wls journey, just the amount of time and energy you actively need to put into it decreases with time.

Nic:)
 
We all need to read this - pre and post-oppers alike !

Wow - I'm so glad this thread has been resurfaced as there's so much wise advice here for us all. (Can we make it a sticky please ?)

For me, as I lose the last few pounds to my goal I am worrying about how to maintain. It is very grounding to read that we need to keep our eye on the ball and not get complacent.

For our longer term post-oppers here - I think we'd all welcome some more advice and personal experiences to help us plan ahead ?

What are your top 3 tips ?
What have you done that you wished you hadn't ?
What haven't you done that you wished you had ?
 
Speaking as someone who is almost 2 years post bypass and never managed to quite get to goal - 1 1/2 stone to go but the scales stopped moving 7 months ago. I think that people like us are always going to have to watch their weight and we have to remember that there are some things that we really cant eat anymore. I speak personally as Im terrified that if I tried off the shelf chocolate, sweets or cake as opposed to sugar free, I wont dump and then I will eat and eat and eat and before you know where you are, I will be horribly fat again. I use the dumping threat as an anti cheat mechanism and Im also blessed that if I eat too much of anything thats sugar free, ie with sweetners then I get violent diarrhea. Also liking what you see in the mirror is a great antidote to food - I now have a full blown shopping addiction but I dont eat rubbish!! Im in the system for my cosmetic surgery which hopefully will trim off another 10lbs if I get approval - then it will be back to the shops again!!!
 
Thanks Caroline - like you I want to rely on the threat of dumping to keep me on the straight & narrow. I'm dismayed to find I am less intolerant now and worry about my willpower to keep resisting long term :cry:
 
Thanks for bringing this thread back to life, Rose, and thanks to Caroline for her experience.
I, too, have reached the next step in my journey - how to live without regain and cope into my second year. I'm looking forward to reading people's experiences and insights.
 
i'm almost 2 years post op and am still losing but only just! I agree with Caroline that the reflection of myself in the mirror is what stops me from eating rubbish again, its the first time in my life that ive actually liked the way i look and im not letting that go for anything! I dont really dump and can eat anything but for some reason since ive lost weight i have found the willpower, dont get me wrong i do have treats and enjoy them its just nowadays i know when to stop. xxx
 
Thanks Lisa, that's very reassuring !
 
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