Gained almost all weight back

[wondering1 103]

So this is my first post back since 2013. I was sleeved in 2011. I weighed 278. I lost 105 pounds and got to 173. Fast forward to today and I am now 220! I am ashamed I have gained back 47 pounds. I was happy around 185-190 and I’d like to get back there. How have you been doing? Anything working?

[livingstone 137]

Hi guys - I'm in a similar boat. Sleeved March 2015 at 292lbs. Got down to 177lbs. Was pretty happy there but was aiming for 165.

Started to gradually gain - by Jan 2020 I was up to 200, and then because of the pandemic and lockdown (boredom eating mainly) I was up to 220 this January. So I've not regained all my weight, but still regained about 40% of it.

I'm on week three of trying to lose my regain. Down 10lbs so far (but some of that in week 1 was probably Water weight). This is what has been working for me:

1. Keep it simple. It's calories in vs calories out. I tried Keto for two days and was so miserable that it was never going to be sustainable. So I'm just going for a straightforward trying to consume 1000 calories less than I burn each day - i.e. less than 1750.

2. Within that calorie allowance, I allow myself to eat anything I want, subject to the following rules.

3. My first calories get used on a Protein heavy Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Only after I've logged all of those do I get to incorporate Snacks.

4. No drinking with meals or 30 minutes either side of a meal. But otherwise lots of water.

5. No fizzy drinks except at weekends. I never had a calorie problem with fizzy drinks as my weakness was Diet Coke. But now I only drink sugar-free cordial (Robinson's Orange and Mango or Orange and pineapple for those in the UK).

6. If I want a snack, I have to have a drink (water or cordial) first to see if that stops the craving.

7. Everything - and I mean everything - I eat is measured and recorded on MyFitnessPal before I eat it. It helps me see the impact of a particular choice on my calorie levels for the day, and sometimes leads me to make a different choice.

8. Six days of the week, I must be under 1750 calories. One day a week (usually Sunday) I allow myself up to 2500 calories but only if I have 'banked' enough calories during the week. So if, say, on Monday I consume 1500 calories rather than 1750, those 250 go into the bank and I allow myself to use them on Sunday (up to the maximum of 2500, which is roughly what I burn in an average day of activity).

I've been doing that since 4 January, and have gone from 220lbs to 210lbs. I am aiming for 2lb loss a week for the next three months, and then to slow it down to about 1lb a month for another three or four months.