Gained almost all weight back

[kgfan1 3]

So I first had VBG (banded gastroplasty) in 2001. I lost 100 pounds and then plateaued and stayed at the new weight until 2012. All of the sudden I couldn’t eat anything. I threw up everything I ate. I had an endoscopy which showed scar tissue blockage. I had a revision into a gastric bypass. After that the weight flew off, eventually I had lost a total (including the 100 from the first surgery) 197 pounds. Three pounds away from my goal of losing 200 pounds. Then all of the sudden weight loss stopped. One day I had a few sips of Mtn Dew and I didn’t get sick. So the next day I had a whole glass. Then a whole can. Wow, I had all that sugar and no dumping. Maybe I can have a candy bar. Same result. You see where this is going. Now eight years later I have gained 160 pounds back. It makes me physically sick to think of what I’m putting my body through, let alone the emotional part of feeling like a big fat loser (no pun intended). I cut out the Mtn Dew and am drinking Mtn Dew Zero. I want to cut that out too but can’t find a drink that satisfies me. For those of you who know the feeling of gaining weight back, how are you handling it and do you have suggestions on how to get motivated to start losing? I’m desperate and need feedback. Thanks ahead of time.

[ChubRub 1,702]

I'm so sorry!! I'm sure there are some Vets that will have much more insight and advice than I do, but the first thing I would do is eliminate soda immediately. Soda is crack to me, and is also a gateway drug that leads to more and more unhealthy eating. I was addicted to soda for many years, and used soda to wash down many sugary treats and well as fast food.

If you don't like plain Water, try crystal light or gatorade zero. I've promised myself that no matter what happens in my life, I will never have soda again. Much like an alcoholic or drug addict can't have "just a little" I know that I can never have soda again, nor do I want to.

Lots of HUGS!!!

[summerset 5,265]

2 hours ago, kgfan1 said:

One day I had a few sips of Mtn Dew and I didn’t get sick. So the next day I had a whole glass. Then a whole can. Wow, I had all that sugar and no dumping. Maybe I can have a candy bar. Same result. You see where this is going.

Unlike many others on this board I absolutely abhor the "abstinence forever, never again" approach with a passion because in too many cases it leads to the exact same problem that made you gain back 160 lbs. People start bingeing on the "forbidden foods" they denied themselves for a long time. That's not unusual and it happened after the diets we used to put ourselves through before WLS.

I personally think it's a huge mistake of treatment teams to hammer the "abstinence forever, never again" mantra into the heads of their patients instead of steering them into the direction to learn to handle these foods in a sensible way because most patients will sooner or later try these "forbidden foods". They're tasty, they are maybe old favorites and (maybe that is the worst trigger) your environment views them as normal foods that can be eaten without feeling like a sinner that has fallen from grace.

So now that the damage is done it's of course a huge and bitter pill to swallow. However, you now know that the approach you tried before didn't work for you. So you can do different and better this time. Yes, you need to cut down on calories but instead of denying yourself all the foods you like, incorporate them within reasonable amounts. Read about "normal eating" (the books of e. g. Geneen Roth or Karen Koenig have a lot to offer), it can help tremendously with emotional eating or strong food cravings.

Do you still have restriction? If so, you still have something to work with and while the road ahead is a long one you can still make your way to a substantial amount of weight loss - but maybe you want to choose a slightly different road this time since the road you travelled before got you back to your starting point in the end, running around in a painful circle.

[minimamaz00m 61]

+1 on Geneen Roth books, she has definitely BTDT and has great advice.

[GreenTealael 25,329]

3 hours ago, kgfan1 said:

So I first had VBG (banded gastroplasty) in 2001. I lost 100 pounds and then plateaued and stayed at the new weight until 2012. All of the sudden I couldn’t eat anything. I threw up everything I ate. I had an endoscopy which showed scar tissue blockage. I had a revision into a gastric bypass. After that the weight flew off, eventually I had lost a total (including the 100 from the first surgery) 197 pounds. Three pounds away from my goal of losing 200 pounds. Then all of the sudden weight loss stopped. One day I had a few sips of Mtn Dew and I didn’t get sick. So the next day I had a whole glass. Then a whole can. Wow, I had all that sugar and no dumping. Maybe I can have a candy bar. Same result. You see where this is going. Now eight years later I have gained 160 pounds back. It makes me physically sick to think of what I’m putting my body through, let alone the emotional part of feeling like a big fat loser (no pun intended). I cut out the Mtn Dew and am drinking Mtn Dew Zero. I want to cut that out too but can’t find a drink that satisfies me. For those of you who know the feeling of gaining weight back, how are you handling it and do you have suggestions on how to get motivated to start losing? I’m desperate and need feedback. Thanks ahead of time.

Perhaps try a clean diet challenge, they are all around the internet (Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, etc)

Usually the first step is cleaning house, pantry kitchen, garage , terrible job, deadbeat significant other, etc. to get your mind and space set up for success.

Usually the first few lbs you lose from removing the problematic things will help motivate and propel you forward until the behaviors become habit again

You did it before, you can do it again. Good Luck ❤

[kgfan1 3]

Thanks for the ideas. I am definitely going to go to Crystal Light or flavored water for starters. One pound at a time I guess. Again, thanks for the inspiration!

[Pckeys 28]

Agree with all suggestions above but wanted to add this: Mountian Dew Zero uses acesulfame potassium, aspartame and sucralose as sweeteners. acesulfame potassium and sucralose have a massive effect on insulin at the pancreatic level (they dont raise blood sugar, but will act on your pancreas to raise insulin levs - which is worse than raising blood sugar levs).. it will be next to impossible to mobilize fat in that state.... crystal light is the same but uses them in less quantity

when looking for something to replace it, find something that does NOT use either acesulfame potassium or sucralose.. otherwise you may as well just be eating sugar.

Edited July 17, 2020 by Pckeys

[Camella 209]

I was sleeved 7 years ago and regained all the weight. I maintained my weight loss for 5 years and then over a 2.5yr period I gained it all back. I am now scheduled to have a revision surgery. I feel a lot of shame about regaining, which I am now learning isn't helpful. What I have learn't from regaining is that I have an addiction to food. For me to be successful going forward I need to focus on what motivates me to overeat, and come at the problem from a psychological perspective. Despite everyone saying that you need to work on your head, after my surgery I thought I would never regain and I could get away with not looking at how I became morbidly obese in the first place. I don't know what is happening for you, but if you haven't already I would possibly look into Overeaters Anonymous or seeking help from a therapist, plus a dietician.

Edited July 17, 2020 by Camella

[kgfan1 3]

Oh wow! Thanks for this information! I’m definitely going to switch to flavored water. Drinking something that effects my insulin levels is not good. I appreciate the help! Thanks.

[summerset 5,265]

While artificial sweeteners are not exactly a health food (I try to stay with stevia and erythrith, the occasional sucralose in Protein shakes), this whole insulin thing seems to be way overblown. In the end it's always CICO.

Try to get the basic things right first, the fine tuning is for later. Don't make things too complicated, at least not in the beginning.

A nice summary on artificial sweeteners and insulin levels if "insulin" is a major concern for you: https://www.zerofasting.com/which-sweeteners-break-your-fast/

[abiebaby 24]

My bariatric team specifically recommends using crystal lite to hydrate if you can tolerate Water. Take that for what it's worth....

Sent from my SM-G986U using BariatricPal mobile app

[summerset 5,265]

For what it's worth: Effects of nonnutritive sweeteners on body weight and BMI in diverse clinical contexts: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

[kgfan1 3]

Thanks everyone for your knowledge. The whole artificial sweetener thing is so confusing.

[BigSue 1,359]

I just had my surgery two weeks ago, so I guess take my advice with a grain of salt, but I was able to lose 60 pounds before my surgery just by doing two things: tracking everything in the MyFitnessPal app and intermittent fasting.

If you're not tracking what you're eating, that will be a major step in the right direction. It really helps to look at how many calories you're eating, and MyFitnessPal will calculate a calorie limit based on your current weight and weight loss goals. I'm not stupid and I know how to read nutrition labels, but something about seeing all my food listed in the app and having a clear goal really made me start thinking about what is or isn't worth the calories. It motivated me to find lower-calorie items because they felt like a good "deal." And I could still indulge if I wanted to, but I'd have to give up something else that day to stay under my calorie goal. The app makes it really easy, by the way, because you don't have to manually enter the nutrition information. You can just search for the food on the app, or if you're eating something with a barcode, you can scan the barcode.

Intermittent fasting was also a great help to me because it made me feel less deprived. I did a 16/8 fast (fast for 16 hours, feed for 8 hours). My feeding time included lunch and dinner, and I skipped Breakfast. Splitting my calories between two meals instead of three made it much easier to stay within my calorie goals. If I had a small lunch, I could really pig out at dinner and still be under my limit. I learned to be patient when I wanted to eat something because I could tell myself it's not that I can't have it, I just have to wait until later to eat it. Since I was going 16 hours without eating every day, I got out of the habit of snacking, even during my 8-hour feeding time, because I just got used to waiting until mealtime to eat.

[Hopefulmommy44 11]

We're in the same boat, so we can encourage each other. I had vsg in 2012, followed by a baby, along with weight gain in 2014...followed by another baby, and even MORE weight gain in 2016. Just started a diet reset 2 days ago, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm 80 pounds away from my goal weight with vsg...so this won't happen overnight. How are things going for you?