6 Simple Ways to Gain Your Weight Back

[CharlotteKat 90]

I had gastric bypass surgery 5 years ago. I was incredibly determined and managed to lose 180 lbs. in a year's time. I'm 5' 9.5" and I went from a size 28 to a size 10. Now, I've regained a lot of weight and I'm starting over. I thought it might be helpful to list the steps that caused my weight gain. My goal is to tackle these 6 and starting moving in the right direction. Does anyone else have additional things that contributed to regaining weight?

1. Stop weighing yourself
2. Stop tracking your food intake
3. Stop exercising
4. Drink liquids with meals and ignore the 15 minutes before/30 minutes after rule
5. Start eating your old favorite foods
6. Stop visiting Bariatric Pal forums

[The Greater Fool 2,054]

1 hour ago, CharlotteKat said:

I had gastric bypass surgery 5 years ago. I was incredibly determined and managed to lose 180 lbs. in a year's time. I'm 5' 9.5" and I went from a size 28 to a size 10. Now, I've regained a lot of weight and I'm starting over. I thought it might be helpful to list the steps that caused my weight gain. My goal is to tackle these 6 and starting moving in the right direction. Does anyone else have additional things that contributed to regaining weight?

1. Stop weighing yourself
2. Stop tracking your food intake
3. Stop exercising
4. Drink liquids with meals and ignore the 15 minutes before/30 minutes after rule
5. Start eating your old favorite foods
6. Stop visiting Bariatric Pal forums

Welcome back.

I understand your pain and frustration. You are well on the road to getting and staying on track by taking an inventory of your mistakes. Keep up the good work.

We all have our methods for keeping ourselves on our path, and while we may each be different in the details, the path is the same: To do what we need to do to get/keep ourselves healthy.

We are here to support you in any way we can.

38 minutes ago, mattk53 said:

#7 Drinking Alcohol

Yeah, another on the list of things that can become problems.

Many of these things often begin with "just this time." If we can manage "just this time" and it really is just this time, no harm no foul. We just need to be careful that it doesn't become "just one more time", then "just this week", until you stop thinking about it.

It's never too late to return to your successful habits. You can do it. Really.

Good luck.

Tek

[wondering1 103]

Charlotte how are you doing now that you started over?

[CharlotteKat 90]

Update - I have lost 3lbs. since my post last week. The 2 biggest things that have helped me get back on track is observing the 15 minutes before/30 minutes after meal rule for liquids and tracking all of my food on MyFitnessPal. Exercise is next on my to do list now that I've gotten the food situation under control.

[summerset 5,265]

- starting out with a non-sustainable diet and/or exercise routine

- not making yourself familiar with "flexible control"

[Stella S 612]

When I stop getting my Water and daily I know I’m on the slope. Best and returning to your successful habits

[GradyCat 3,695]

That's a good list. Those are the things that caused my 10 lb weight gain. Well, that and going into Walgreens every Friday night to buy chocolate! 🙂

[soniadelbosque 0]

Hi! I am 4 years post op and have gained a lot of weight back but can’t find the paperwork to start over. Does anyone have it to share with me? I want to start back with liquids and then soft foods.

[Creekimp13 5,840]

Big one in my opinion: Refuse to go to therapy.

If I gain, I know I need to go to therapy. I'm not ignorant about the poor choices I'm making....I know this stuff backwards and forwards and I am noticing every ounce of the gain (even if I'm ignoring it.)

If I gain...I'm choosing to make poor choices. There's always a reason for being self-destructive. Gotta tackle the reason to make good choices.

For me, not going to therapy when I know I really should...is the quickest way to get in trouble.

I don't go all the time, but when really hard stuff happens....I'm over being proud and defensive.

I just go. And feel better. And make better choices. Boom! I lose weight.

For me...weight gain= out of control food addiction being used to medicate emotions. Therapy helps me sort that out. Seems like it should be obvious by now, but it's not. Addiction is sneaky.

[sideeye 1,440]

I'd second the therapy, and add in a "medication". If you have depression or a mood disorder, don't hamstring yourself by drawing a boundary around medications. I'm not saying you HAVE to take meds - just don't start from a position of ruling them out. Keep an open mind.

Stress is a huge regain trigger for me, and not in the typical comfort-eating way. Stress builds up in my jaw and throat, and is only minimally impacted by meditation and exercise. I find myself eating so that the action of chewing loosens my jaw muscles, and then the action of swallowing expands my throat. None of this is post-surgical in nature, it's all a weird stress-related physical tic, but it absolutely results in me eating more to alleviate pain but could SEEM like it's emotional eating. Alcohol relaxes those muscles too, and similarly adds calories.

When I go on low-dose medication, those things are considerably reduced and I can manage the remaining stiffness with hot tea. Obviously this is one extremely specific case, but shows how completely quirky the causes for regain can be. I'd already figured these tics out with a doc a decade ago but if I hadn't, I'd want a therapist/doc to provide that outside-in perspective.

[TipTop in TX 81]

On 1/3/2021 at 11:16 PM, soniadelbosque said:

Hi! I am 4 years post op and have gained a lot of weight back but can’t find the paperwork to start over. Does anyone have it to share with me? I want to start back with liquids and then soft foods.

Hi soniadelbosque. Different doctors have different diet plans. Which surgery did you have? Most doctors will email you their plan if you have misplaced yours.

I had VSG and I went online to look at the 5-day pouch reset and the 10-day pouch reset. I decided to do the 10-day reset because I felt the 10-days would get me under better control.

I am 4 days in and have lost 4 lbs. I'm sure it's because it is mainly liquids for the first 3 days. The one I am doing does throw in a vegetable Soup on the 2nd day that helps with the hunger. It really hasn't been bad though.

[thefinalgirl1971 26]

For me, not keeping my brain chemistry straight. Everytime my depression or anxiety starts kicking my butt my eating goes off the rails completely.

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