Advice needed- Regaining weight

[JillianMarie 0]

Has anyone gone through this cycle where you started regaining weight and you had to change your food/eating to get back on track? I want to turn this problem around ASAP! Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Edited July 3, 2010 by JillianMarie

[mommaof4yoopers 3]

I've been in a stall and I think logging my food has really helped. Or taking pictures with my phone of everything I put in my mouth. After doing that, I was shocked when I reviewed the log/pics.

Good luck...

[JillianMarie 0]

Thanks Melisa, i've started taking pictures with my blackberry to force myself to realize what i was doing to myself and it has been enough motivation to get back on track! Im having a real problem with the sweet cravings though!!

[MINI-Me 196]

One thing I do for the sweets is Russell Stovers sugar free Peanut Brittle. One square is about 45 calories, but it takes a while to eat. It's the perfect portion for an after dinner "treat".

[JillianMarie 0]

yum that sounds good! We actually have a Russell Stover's factory about 25 minutes away from here where they make the candy and sell everything Russell Stover's makes, including all their sugar free candy. I need stop by and pick some up.

[Jachut 487]

I think any WLS is always going to be just a tool - you will always have periods in your life where your eating slips and you have to get back on track - after 2 and a half years of maintenance I know I sure do. My natural tendency is to gradually slide into living on caffeine and sugar.

It doesnt make you weak or destined to fail, its what you do to get back on track that counts.

And bands and sleeves do tend to counteract the lightening fast 20lb gains that happen when you're on your own. You gain, but its manageable.

[goodlife 3]

What are you eating that you are already regaining weight?

[JillianMarie 0]

What are you eating that you are already regaining weight?

I had been losing, then was able to stabilize and maintain with exercise and my busy lifestyle, eating about 1300 calories a day. But the past week I got a cold and ear infection, was running a fever and had body aches and was very fatigued, so i basically laid on the couch the entire week and didn't move. And instead of losing my appetite all together, my appetite actually increased, it usually does when I'm sick for some odd reason unless I'm sick with a stomach bug but that rarely happens. I felt so awful this week that I reached out to comfort foods- and was asking to gain weight from them so it was my fault- I was eating chocolate, chips, crackers, and i had a terrible sore throat for a few days and during those days consumed a whole container of ice cream. I just basically laid on the couch and picked at food slowly all day. It's no wonder I gained weight. I'm putting things back into perspective now that I'm better now and my fever is gone, that I have to get moving again and toss out the junk food!!

I am concerned though because I AM able to eat a lot more than i should be able to after having this surgery. I was told that they used a 34 bougie on me, but there could be a chance that he was lying? I don't know!

[deedee 5]

I understand where you're coming from. I too become hungry when I'm sick (except a stomach virus) and tend to eat more comfort foods and I was sick A LOT this past winter/spring.

I'm only 11 months out, but around 9 months I remember one week putting on 5 pounds in about 1.5 weeks. I let myself get into some old habits...one week I ate out everyday and grazed on a lot of snack foods for all my other meals. I didn't gain anything, so I just continued, but the next 1.5 weeks (although I did start to get a little better) I noticed the scale start moving slowly upwards. I cut back on the eating out (completely stopped going out for lunch at work), decided to buy some healthier Snacks (granola bars, yogurt, fruit--as I don't tend to crave these as much and will stop when full), and just started taking more notice of what and when I ate.

I decided that if I continued to go up in pounds, I'd go back to low carb and/or measuring foods/counting calories, etc., but really didn't want to feel like I was on a diet. I just tried to do what I thought a "normal" person would do in this situation and it worked.

Good luck getting back on track! That's just one thing I love about this tool...it's still there when we need it.

Oh, by the way, I too seem to be able to eat a lot more than others mention on here. I also never truly lost my hunger either. So I guess we're all different.

[LAN2k 18]

I find it strange how I can put on 2lbs in a day from just a few bites of let's say a pie or a piece of cake! So I can eat a bowl of warm Cereal in the morning with my scoop of whey, 2 ounces of cubed cheese with a few low cal/carb pita puff crackers for lunch...a fork full of sauerkraut with a 2 oz piece of Kielbasa sausage for dinner and then a small slice of custard/cheese pie topped with strawberries, blueberries and pineapple-and gain 2lbs the next morning!...That to me is INSANE and proof that my formerly OBESE body had metabolic issues cos otherwise no normal metabolism would gain weight from so little food as I just itemized! It's like really sickening and makes me angry.

[JillianMarie 0]

I understand where you're coming from. I too become hungry when I'm sick (except a stomach virus) and tend to eat more comfort foods and I was sick A LOT this past winter/spring.

I'm only 11 months out, but around 9 months I remember one week putting on 5 pounds in about 1.5 weeks. I let myself get into some old habits...one week I ate out everyday and grazed on a lot of snack foods for all my other meals. I didn't gain anything, so I just continued, but the next 1.5 weeks (although I did start to get a little better) I noticed the scale start moving slowly upwards. I cut back on the eating out (completely stopped going out for lunch at work), decided to buy some healthier Snacks (granola bars, yogurt, fruit--as I don't tend to crave these as much and will stop when full), and just started taking more notice of what and when I ate.

I decided that if I continued to go up in pounds, I'd go back to low carb and/or measuring foods/counting calories, etc., but really didn't want to feel like I was on a diet. I just tried to do what I thought a "normal" person would do in this situation and it worked.

Good luck getting back on track! That's just one thing I love about this tool...it's still there when we need it.

Oh, by the way, I too seem to be able to eat a lot more than others mention on here. I also never truly lost my hunger either. So I guess we're all different.

Wow DeeDee we have a lot in common! I thought that I was the only person on earth that ate more when i was sick. Part of it is hunger, when I'm running a fever despite feeling awful, I truely get hungry. But then i get the head hunger and just the munchies because i am depressed that i am unable to get anything productive done and am just wasting my time laying there. And am usually alone at that. So I fall back into the "food is the only thing that medicates me"" mode. lol. You are very right though about the sleeve being there for you when you need it thogh, and I am ever so grateful. All it takes me is a few days, or a week of changing my eating habits back to healthy food and walking everyday, and I drop those pounds that i gained from the slacking and inactivity. And the sleeve makes it easy because when i put the right foods in my stomach, I don't get hungry. If i eat fruit, oatmeal, and lean meat or chicken, a small amount goes a very long way so i don't feel deprived and can get my calories down easily. For that I am grateful for and I love my sleeve for it. However, I must admit i somewhat miss the days i had a few weeks ago when i had stomach pains that stopped me from eating after taking 2 bites of anything :/ Didn't matter how good something tasted, i wouldn't eat it because i knew it would make me sick! Not anymore!!

[Jachut 487]

Sliders! This applies equally to a sleeve as to a band, easy foods that liquefy when you chew them.

With a band, there is no difference to the amount of Cookies I can consume now than I could before I was banded. I can still down a packet of Tim Tams (google that little Australian delicacy) in minutes and I can still eat an ENTIRE family block of chocolate. They just slip right on through. But if i eat the right foods, portions remain very small.

Its choices, pure and simple. And along with those slider foods generally come a large dose of salt and sugar that make you bloated and put on weight very quickly. It is physically impossible to gain 2lb of FAT from eating a piece of pie though and if you get back with the program this weight will disappear.

The trouble is too that to date, science has not come up with any sure fire way to lose weight other than calorie restriction. But it is very true that on a diet of 800 to 1000 calories a day you DO lose muscle and you DO slow your metabolism very significantly. There is no way you could continue to eat that way without the help of a sleeve or band, but the truth is, after a year or two or more of eating so low, there is no way you can go back to normal eating without massive weight regain. Its why we need these tools FOREVER. There's no learning better habits and that's enough, our bodies are damaged by the weight gain and weight loss process in ways that mean we have to be small and careful eaters forever.

Edited July 5, 2010 by Jachut