chiquitabananaz14

Hello my fellow WLS peeps. I am on a mission to lose 50 pounds that I have regained. I am feeling hopeful and know that getting back to basics will do it. I would like this thread to be a place where we can come and be transparent and accountable. I plan on checking in with a weigh in every Monday starting tomorrow. If you want to join me, let's do this! Heightist weight: 289 Lowest: 157 Goal: 150 Attached is my before surgery pic, me at my lowest and where I am today. May God bless you and keep you[emoji173]️ -Mariela

Hello ladies. I have been so busy with life that I have neglected to check in or keep up with posts on this thread. I found a group on Facebook called No Bariatric Regain, Back on Track that has helped me tremendously! It's such a great place for support and their plan works! There are so many people that have lost the regain and so many people on the path to do it. I encourage everyone to go find the group and become a part of it and I'm certain that you will find the support you're needing as I have. I am not the best thread admin as I don't check in often but on this group you will get so much support and responses within minutes!! Please check it out, that's where I will be, hope to see you guys there!

Hello friends, This past week has been one of breakthrough for me and learning so much about myself. I was asked to share some of my poetry with the Young Adults at my church last Friday and it was the first time that I felt truly confident and happy with who I was. I was happy with the person I was becoming and stepping in being- like really living. My identity was not wrapped around what I looked like, obsessing over a number on the scale or the "I'll be happy when" mindset. I am actually happy. Truly uncovering the depths of my being and who God created me to be has brought me freedom. I am done obsessing over my weight and letting it consume my life and shaping my whole life around if I am losing or not. I want to be healthy, I want to be alive, I want to truly enjoy my reality and I believe I am doing that! I still plan on controlling my weight but I am no longer allowing my weight to control me. This is an NSV for me, big time!

Try not to be frustrated and get down on stuff that is out of your control. Sometimes the waiting part of our process is where we grow most. Trust that in the right time, it will all come together. Praying for you

Beautiful family!! So awesome that you are a writer, I love that.

Mary I am so sorry to hear how you are feeling about yourself. This is definitely a journey and one that has little to do with our bodies but everything to do with our mind and heart. I have come to learn that my weight is a direct manifestation of what I have going on inside, the bigger I get the more I am suppressing and not dealing with. I am barely scratching the surface and digging up the roots that caused me to be almost 300 pounds in the first place. It's only through my relationship with God that this is even possible. I bought the lie that if I look good, everything else will fall into place but it's not true! Yes we can get on a diet and continue the vicious cycle that we have been on our whole lives or we can get to the root of the issue which is the beginning of our journey. I encourage you to start that journey to getting to the root so you can be free and my journey began when I accepted Jesus into my heart and allowed God to show me who I really am apart from my relationships, my career, or what I think about myself. Some physical things you can implement are getting back to the basics of what you were doing when you first had surgery. Protein, protein, protein! Cut the carbs, up the water and get your body moving. You can do this!! It's not over, you are on this earth for a reason and have so much to offer every person you come in contact with. Praying for you Mary

Go girl! You got this, very inspirational! Keep it up. Welcome!

Hello friends, Yesterday was a very busy day for me, in fact this whole last week has been. Here is my check in for the week. Slowly going down but going down, yes! Hoping to be out of the 190's soon. Missing some of you all that used to post a lot but have been silent over the past few weeks. I want to encourage everyone to stick with it and continue being transparent as this is a safe place to get support. It's a journey and won't happen overnight. Realizing I gotta change my brain and the power that I have given to food. I'm learning, I'm growing, I mess up but I refuse to give up. Rooting and cheering for each and every one of you. Last week 197.6 Down 2.2 pounds from last week

Welcome twistedbarbieLA! Are you getting in all your protein and water? I know that carbs play a big role in weight gain for me and something I let back in my diet slowly over the years that caused my weight gain. Try and get back to the basics of what your surgeon prescribed right after surgery

Awesome that you are weightlifting Slim, keep it up. Yea, sometimes the scales plays games when we add something to our routines that it's not used too. Give it a few weeks and you will see the fruit of your labor. I want to start weight lifting too, I was in a really good routine of going to the gym daily but fell off when my daughter got on summer break and my nieces came to stay with me. I used to go when I took her to school but now my schedule is super out of whack.

Go girl. That's what I call dedication! Is it weird that I kinda like cold food? Lol

My Monday check in. Down this week also!

Awesome Slim!!! Keep it up!

Went to a friends wedding yesterday. I hope you all are having a great weekend.

How's everyone doing?? Hoping and praying everyone is doing well!

Welcome! So happy you are here. We are all in this together and here to help support one another. It sounds like you have a great insight on what you should do and what you need to cut back on. Stair breaks are awesome, keep those up for sure! As far as snacks, I wouldn't be the best one to ask about that since I try my hardest to avoid them. Rooting for you!!

Hello Everyone, So much to say, where to begin? Hmmmmm. Ok, so I had RNY Gastric Bypass surgery back in 2013 when I was topping the scales at 289 at my heaviest. Having been on every diet under the sun by age 16, being approved for WLS was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. At the ripe age of 23, I had the idea that if my weight was under control then my life would be great, my life would have meaning, I would be happy. Growing up hating yourself because of what you look like is so lonely, it's so painful, and a prison that nobody can set you free from. As I have grown and matured over the years since my surgery I have gained a greater understanding of the why behind the what. What was the issue? I was obese, but why was I obese? The why is not addressed when someone signs on the dotted line after being approved for WLS. I am 7 years out of surgery and I had to learn the why through grueling life experiences that ran me face first into, well...ME. I will forever be grateful for the tool that was given to me through my surgery but I have come to realize that if the why isn't dealt with then my tool will be of no use to me. After my surgery I lost 132 pounds from my heaviest weight going from 289 to 157 and I loved it! I was on top of the world fitting into my size 8 jeans and able to wear whatever I desired but soon my life started to spiral downwards. Since I was no longer able to overeat, I substituted that for an unhealthy relationship, drugs and alcohol. To the naked eye my life seemed great because from the outside everything looked wonderful. The reality is that I sold myself a lie when I convinced myself that when I lost weight my life would automatically be great. Don't get me wrong, losing weight is wonderful but in my case it was much deeper then the extra pounds I was carrying. I needed healing from a life long battle of rejection, abandonment and emotional wounds that shedding 132 pounds didn't cure. I maintained my lowest weight of 157 until 2015 along with my out of control pain pill and adderal addiction and emotionally abusive relationship but it all came to a head when I found God (don't tune out if you don't believe as this is my truth and my experience) in January 2015. In surrendering my life to God and with His power, I was given the strength to leave that relationship and leave the drugs behind and thats when the real work began. In the last 2 years I have gained about 50 pounds and have come to realize that I never dealt with the real issues that caused me to almost be 300 pounds in the first place. I am in a really good place in my life right now as God is helping me tackle the root issues of my brokenness that manifests itself in self destructive behaviors like compulsive overeating or substance abuse. Emotionally I am at a place now that I wish I would have been when I had my surgery, in a place that I can appreciate the tool that has been given to me but more importantly having an awareness of what is going on within. I believe that I had to gain this weight to really appreciate not only what I have but knowing that my weight can't make me or break me. I no longer live in fear that I am not good enough like I did for my whole life leading up to WLS. I allow myself to feel and not numb my emotions with outside things which has been a constant in my life. So unlike most stories of feeling like a failure after regaining weight, this is a success story and one that is still being written! I want to document my journey to losing the regain and hope to encourage, inspire and open the dialogue to similar stories like mine. This is life peeps, if we aren't growing, we are dying. I started on Tuesday going on walks and getting back to the basics and am down 5 pounds and my goal is to get to 150. I know I can do this and would love the support from my fellow WLS community. My first time around, I did it alone but i know that there is power in unity and community. Be Blessed family. I have attached a progression picture of me at my heaviest, my lowest and now. -Mari

So I didn't do horrible today but could not resist my dads cheesecake and my sisters homemade macaroni and cheese. Back on track tomorrow.

Happy Fourth of July friends! As we embark on this day full of food and questionable choices, let's remember what our goals are. I had a rough week mentally last week but still wanted to be accountable to what I said I was going to do. Stepped on the scale and was down. Goes to show that sometimes our own self talk is what hinders us most. I am choosing to be kind to myself again. Since I didn't follow my plan to the T, I was feeling like a failure but I jumped back on the bandwagon and am moving forward. I am in this for the long haul, good, bad and ugly. Love you all. Highest weight: 289 Lowest weight: 157 Regain Weight: 210 Current Weight: 198.2

Thank you for the encouragement Slim. I am Blessed by this thread and am happy that other people are also.

Thank you for your encouragement Kathy. The old me would bolt at the sign of failure but I am in this for the long haul! So blessed to have this space to share with you all and get to our goals together

Welcome!

So awesome!!!

This past week has been really rough for me. I do spoken word poetry and was asked to write a piece to share with my church. All week I have been stressing and using food as a way to comfort myself. This process of changing my mindset and coping mechanisms goes far beyond diet and exercise. I have something deep rooted in me that is putting up a fight to remain but acknowledging that it's there and wanting it to be gone is huge for me. Continuing to accountable and share my struggle is what I believe will help others as well as myself. I will get through this and I trust the process. I really don't want to get on the scale this week. I don't want to feel defeated and make it about a number I see. I want to take this week to get my mind right and not sabotage myself by feeling defeated. This is a mind thing for me and a painful one at that but I want freedom from it and God is really showing me where I need to begin. I hope everyone else is having a good week, just wanted to share where I'm at.

So glad you are here! With those changes, you will get to your goal! Rooting for you.