The fear of regain is REAL!

[Nibbler 71]

Maybe its too early in my journey (4 weeks postop) to comment but I can tell you i'm scared ...very scared.

i have gained 3 lbs in the last eight days. Today is my Dr. appointment and I'm praying hard for:

1. I got so dehydrated that its normal

2. My WII scale is not accurate

3. Its muscle gain because I got sooooo weak post op. (i didn't seem to bounce back as fast as most people who tell their post op stories.

How could i possibly gain weight on 5-600 calories a day?

How could I possibly let this happen after going through such major major surgery?

I must be successful.....or i'm just dead. I'm no spring chicken, no time left for me

[rnsamantha 352]

I am realizing this fear too. I'm almost 6 months out and over the last few weeks my eating habits have started to slide. I haven't been tracking food as diligently, and I've been snacking on carbs (a tootsie roll here, a handful of chips there, a cookie). I gained 1.2 lbs last week. There hasn't been any all out binges, but the grazing and "I will just have a little" mentality has sabotaged my weight loss this week. I love the fact that I'm no longer a plus size now that I've lost 90 lbs. I'm still 13 lbs from my goal though, and even that is at the upper limits of my BMI. This week has been a reality check, and makes me afraid that if I can revert back to this habits and gain so quickly in my "honeymoon" period maintenance is going to be another beast altogether. Time to get refocused!

[Babbs 14,681]

@@Nibbler

Yup, WAY too early to start panicking.

What you're going through is completely normal. At around 3-5 weeks, we all go through a stall. What you're going through, although you see a gain, is just a stall and an adjustment.( I gain when I stall, too) You know as well as I do you can't gain weight on 500 calories a day. It's just your body doing it's thing after a large loss the last few weeks.

Also, this process isn't as Fluid as people would like to think. We don't just magically drop weight right on schedule every week for a year. If you graphed it, the lines would look more like stair steps. Up, down, flat....it's just how the process goes. This may be your first stall, but it certainly won't be your last! It's all normal. Like @@Inner Surfer Girl says "Embrace the stall!"

Early out ( under 4 or 5 months) I believe losing weight will just happen organically, naturally. After that, I do believe that if you're not following plan and grazing all day or eating too many sugars and starchy carbs, you CAN gain weight or stall it completely. Only you will know if you are following your program well enough to know whether a stall or gain is just an adjustment or frankly how you've been eating. That's why it's so important to track and journal during the weight loss process. To hold yourself accountable and be able to make the necessary changes to keep the weight loss moving along the best you can.

[Bndtoslv 292]

I've found out two types of foods are very easy to pass, they're chips of every kind and Cookies, they probably over-indulged in these two types of Snacks, or they drink a LOT of non-diet soda/sugary drinks, otherwise I'm confused as to why they'd gain weight, my stomach is roughly at 5-6Oz capacity at 8 months, I've eaten Chimichangas, daily, for a week and I did not gain weight (these were 5Oz microwave chimichangas - around 4 a day), in fact I lost weight because my caloric intake was actually lower than 1000 calories, the only drinks I had were Coke Zero and Tea with Splenda.

I've also abused some sweets every now and then and still my weight keeps going down, currently changed to a 36 pants size last week.

There's something they're not telling you and I bet it has something to do with sugar.

Your metabolism will change. As a revision patient I need fewer calories. In short your body becomes more efficient over time. The first few years losing and maintaining will be easier than it will be for you 5-10 years out or longer.

[Nibbler 71]

Well I'm back from my 5 week checkup and feeling better about things. Met with the dietician and the Physicians Asst. They were both very helpful and said that its physically impossible for me to be gaining at this stage of the game. This nasty stall is just my bodies way of adjusting.

I have gained weight on every diet i've ever been on.....and it always starts when i hit that dreaded plateau. I have great fear of failure because past behavior is all i have to judge from.

I cannot fail....I will not fail.

Thanks for letting me vent.

[VSGmary 418]

Hey @@Elode thank you for this "timely" post, its a massive reality check for me! I've been in some funk lately since my beautiful mum passed away and i've put on 6lb as of this morning ????. I take full onus for this. After 12 months working hard on me, I know what I've done wrong and why, i just don't understand why I'm sabotaging myself and eating the crap I'm not supposed to be eating and not exercising as much as i should be. I need to snap out of this but i just don't know how ????. I pray that i can get back on track and stay on track and that starts this morning, its 5:45am and I'm getting ready to go for 1.5hr walk. Hopefully next time i post on these boards i will have lost what i've recently put on!

[Babbs 14,681]

@@VSGmary

I'm sorry about your mom I lost my mom 5 years ago, and it's still hard. Hang in there! Make sure you're taking care of yourself!

[Pillar2butterfly 391]

We all know LUCK is not what makes this WLS a success....it's is a TON of hard work, surgery only removed most of our stomach. Daily motivation, and heaping helpings of willpower is what makes it work. Good for you for not lecturing them...it sounds like it would not do any good anyway.

[Elode 8,093]

@@VSGAnn2014 Exactly! Thank you! 99.99% of you got it and that's all that matters

@@kimdlawson06 THANK YOU!

[Elode 8,093]

@@VSGmary I'm sorry to hear about your mom. If I lost my mom I would be a mess. I hope I get to read some wonderful updates from you soon! You can do this!

[IncredibleShrinkingMan 437]

I am sorry you have to see these and internalize them, but as you suggest, I think they are wielding a predominantly positive influence on you. I think you know at this point when to act in an opposite manner from what you observe, and you seem to be very savvy at that. Let's pray that, in turn, you become an inspiration to them, rather than just a broken pixel on their screen of excuses.

[IncredibleShrinkingMan 437]

Also, did you take these pictures or did you find them? Whichever the case, I am surprised they were willing to be photographed with contraband, as in the case of the first two.

[Elode 8,093]

@ They put them on FB for all the world to see. I get the sarcasm remarks via FB messenger.

[*Lexie* 1,486]

Great thread, I've been away for a while so this was a good read. I sure wish I still believed all those pre-op fairy tales; the sleeve will do all the work, once you lose the weight it's gone forever and being thin will make me happy. Go ahead and laugh but I actually believed all that. But I am "lucky" because I had a good doctor that set up great support and this site that educated me otherwise.

I am sad for those that have the surgery and don't lose weight, even when it's their own undoing. We all have our unhealthy relationships with food or we wouldn't be in a place of needing surgery to lose weight. I think some people don't become aware of their food issues and continue with the same bad habits. I'm so happy that I'm no longer in denial about my unhealthy relationship with food and I'm working to improve it (slowly but surely). I believe anyone that tears down other people does so because they are unhappy with themselves. @@Elode, every time your family members minimize your success or send you food pictures, the underlying message is that they are sad they haven't had the same success as you.

[Nibbler 71]

Well said @lexie

I know why I overeat. But that doesn't mean that this surgery will "cure" me. I do know however that for the first time in my life I feel not only full.....but satisfied as well. I'm hoping the removal of most of the grelin monster will be enough to do it this time.

The dietician i saw yesterday told me that 6 weeks post op is a very difficult time, full of doubt and fear.....and that pretty much sums up how I've been feeling. I need to start each day with more positive thinking.