Weight Gain 2 Years Post-op

[Idairene 37]

I'm 2 years out and initially lost over 110 lbs. I more than passed the expectation of my surgery team. Over the past six months I have gained back more than 15 lbs. My surgeon is okay with my weight gain because I'm still within my expected range, but I am not. He also said that they do expect some weight gain about 2 years out as your body adjusts to its new size. What I also learned from my team is that you need far less calories post surgery than a normal person. Because you have essentially flushed your system out, your heart, lungs, muscles need much less energy just to work normally. They compareded it to a car needing less fuel after a tune up. So translate fuel or energy to calories. Much less calories are now needed and that as time goes on and my body continues to adjust, I may continue to drop in the amount of calories I can tolerate. So it appears that I need to limit my daily caloric intake to approx. 1500 calories to simply not gain. Even though I'm active, running, walk, kayak, ski etc on a regular basis. Doesn't seem to matter. In fact it was suggested that I might not be able to tolerate 1500, that as time goes on I may need to reduce my caloric intake even more.

I still find I need 5 smaller meals a day. Do the math, that means 250-300 calories a meal. I know I've been eating more than that. So I struggling with accepting that if I want to keep the weight off, I need to live on a highly restricted calorie diet, which basically severely limits my intake of sugar, alcohol, carbohydrates, meat and fats. I lost the weight on low fat cottage cheese, greek yogurt, salads with vinegar or yogurt dressing, fish, Beans and low-fat cheese as my primary nurishment. I am realizing that I need to follow that diet for life and it is challenging, particularly when it comes to social events and dining out.

I am praying for fortitude and solice to accept this as a permanent lifestyle change and would greatly appreciate hearing your stories and knowing that I am not alone.

[Proud2BMe 1,016]

I would say just the opposite. Limiting your calories will slow your metabolism. You need to become more active and exercise and move more. Our bodies adapt to our situation.

For the 15lbs gain, I would go back to the pre-op diet for 2 weeks and see if I could drop that quickly and then work on maintaining the weight loss.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I think all these one-size-fits-all instructions about how many calories we need post-op are baloney.

Just as we saw with our skinny friends, I think our post-op calorie / nutritional needs will vary considerably person to person.

I know people who can't eat more than 1,000 calories or they gain. Right now, I'm below goal, but still losing slowly on 1,700 calories/day (and I am NOT a gym rat -- just more active generally and walk more than I used to). BTW, I'm 13 months post-op. And yes, some of those calories are from wine, dark chocolate, bread and Pasta. But most of them are from pretty nutritious foods -- dense Protein, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, etc.

I also can't *prove* it, but I think slider food (high carb) calories add weight more rapidly than the same number of calories found in more nutritious foods.

If what you're doing isn't working for you, I think it's time to conduct a serious science experiment (with only one person -- you -- as the lab rat). Track your food religiously. Try various regimens, e.g., low carb, lower cals, higher cals, Paleo, whatever, etc., and see how your body responds to that. Exercise more, exercise less, exercise differently. Switch things up. But you have to control the "treatment" and you have to collect all the data.

That's how I'd approach it. Not everyone likes that approach, however.

Good luck!

[glitter eyes 1,398]

The original poster clearly stated that she is very active- so that is probably not the reason and moving more may not help since it sounds like she moves a lot.

I agree with VSGAnn2014 that everyone is different. I think her idea of tracking all your food and experimenting on what works best for you!!

Not everyone needs to increase their calories, however, some people on this website do better with increasing them.

I have religiously tracked my good through this process and what makes me lose is if I eat around 1,000 calories and only consume around 30-30 carbs. I can maintain on around 1200 calories and 50 carbs. It truly is an experiment.

It sounds like you are a motivated individual and will be successful once you discover what works for maintenance. Maintenance is a journey all in its on!!

Good luck

[Idairene 37]

Thanks for your posts. I'd really like to hear from folks that are 2-3 years out of surgery. There are different challenges then. The Hunger and cravings come back, you've tried the same recipes and tired of learning new ones. The excitement of fitting in clothes or in an airplane seat is now something you take for granted. Your support system is less and there's a social and cultural expectation for you to go back to eat "normal" again. You've become active and have switched to a number exercise routines. And the reality hits that it is low fat cottage cheese and Greek yogurt as your primary diet for the rest of your life. In short, the thrill is gone and the hard work is really up to you