Rogofulm

Update: The restriction from the 5-day pouch test appears to still be working. I can't hold as much food as I could before and I stop eating sooner. I'm not munching as much or as frequently, and I broke the habit of eating fistfuls of peanuts every 20 minutes. The hunger is starting to return, though, but it's easier to keep the beast at bay longer – at least for now. I'm not really losing weight, but I'm also not gaining. Remember on our previous diets how "the last few pounds are the hardest"? Well that's where I live now. And since my honeymoon period is apparently over, my body doesn't ignore calories like it used to. So I still need to figure out where I can cut them without being hungry all the time. Statistically, a 10% bounce is expected from our initial weight loss total. In my case that would be around 12 pounds. But I'm fighting like hell to try and keep that at 3% or less, and then eventually muscle it back down to where I want to remain. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Make good choices!!!

When you're more comfortable with your pants buckled around your waist, than you were when they were buckled under your belly.

Keep hammering at it. Good luck!

I thought my weight had stabilized at my goal when I stayed there for nearly six months. Then it started creeping up by a few pounds. I'm working on hammering it back down, but it's much harder now at 18 months after surgery than it was during the first year. So heads-up to those of you in your first year – Take full advantage of your "honeymoon period" to get down as low as you can because it does get tougher as you get further out from surgery.

In October, roughly 16 months after my surgery, I had been maintaining within 1 pound either way of my goal weight of 145 for nearly 6 months. At a kid's party, I avoided all the sweets, but ate a bunch of breaded chicken nuggets over two days - and nothing else out of the ordinary. My weight went up by 3 pounds, and I decided to get a handle on it immediately. BUT..... It wasn't so easy this time. For three weeks I tried to knock it back down, doing just what I had been doing before, but my weight wouldn't budge, except to bounce in the 148-149 range. No need to panic, right? Yeah, but 3 can lead to 5, which can lead to 10, and THEN you might have a problem because now it's not coming off as easily as before. that's when I figured out that my "honeymoon" was over, and I'd have to work harder than I did before. So I decided to give the 5-day Pouch Test a try. I followed all the rules of the 5DPT to a tee, and at the end of 5 days my weight was only down about a pound. But I found that my sleeve was getting full sooner and I was staying satisfied longer. Which is exactly what the website promises! And it helped me break some bad habits (tons of peanuts and pistachios) that had crept in. It also reinforced the "no drinking for 30 minutes before or after meals" rule. It's been a little over a week now, and the restriction is still working. My weight is still bouncing around, but it's starting to work it's way back down. This morning I saw 145.9 for the first time in about 6 weeks. One more pound and I'll be happy! I'll keep you posted..... By the way, "Sleeve Reset" and "Bariatric Reset" are much better names than "Pouch Test".

Okay maintenance gang, I have some "experience" to share. In October, roughly 16 months after my surgery, I had been maintaining within 1 pound either way of my goal weight of 145 for nearly 6 months. At a kid's party, I avoided all the sweets, but ate a bunch of breaded chicken nuggets over two days - and nothing else out of the ordinary. My weight went up by 3 pounds, and I decided to get a handle on it immediately. BUT..... It wasn't so easy this time. For three weeks I tried to knock it back down, doing just what I had been doing before, but my weight wouldn't budge, except to bounce in the 148-149 range. No need to panic, right? Yeah, but 3 can lead to 5, which can lead to 10, and THEN you might have a problem because now it's not coming off as easily as before. that's when I figured out that my "honeymoon" was over, and I'd have to work harder than I did before. So I decided to give the 5-day Pouch Test a try. I followed all the rules of the 5DPT to a tee, and at the end of 5 days my weight was only down about a pound. But I found that my sleeve was getting full sooner and I was staying satisfied longer. Which is exactly what the website promises! And it helped me break some bad habits (tons of peanuts and pistachios) that had crept in. It also reinforced the "no drinking for 30 minutes before or after meals" rule. It's been a little over a week now, and the restriction is still working. My weight is still bouncing around, but it's starting to work it's way back down. This morning I saw 145.9 for the first time in about 6 weeks! One more pound and I'll be happy. I'm going to put a copy of this in the "Sleeve reset was successful" thread too. And I'll keep you posted on how it goes.....

Since I didn't hear it myself, I don't want to put specific words into anyone's mouth. My guess is that it has to do with statistics showing that weight loss tends to slow after 12-18 months. For what it's worth, I copied the following from diabetesjournals.org: "The vast majority of weight loss after gastric bypass is accomplished at or around 1 year after surgery (1,2). Twelve to 18 months after surgery, some patients continue to lose a small amount of weight while others begin to maintain their lower weight. At eighteen to 24 months after surgery, almost all patients have stopped losing weight and most patients are maintaining or regaining weight." And this from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: "Following weight loss surgery, patients may lose weight fairly rapidly at first, and then as time passes the weight loss becomes more gradual. Commonly, weight will stabilize at about 18 months after RYGB and DS."

Yup. I heard that too. But it's easier to gain than to lose, so.......

I'm nearly 6 months into maintenance, and three weeks ago it got harder. Prior to that, as long as I avoided carbs I could eat lots of meat and nuts with no ill effect. Three weeks ago for my daughter's birthday party we served chicken nuggets. Every time I passed the platter I'd eat one or two – for two days! I didn't do anything else crazy – no sugar, no other carbs, nothing! But my weight started going up, and after 5 months of maintenance within about a pound, I was suddenly up 3.5. I will confess that my Fluid intake went down a bit at the same time and my walking had slowed down. So it was a perfect storm of small things adding up to make a big difference. Plus, a friend told me that our bariatric coordinator, a nurse, says that our metabolisms change at about 18 months after surgery -- which is pretty close to where I am. I suppose that may be affecting it as well. It's taken me three weeks to lose 1.5 pounds, but I still have about 2 to go to get back to my "ideal "weight". I'll get there, but I'm putting this out as a warning to everyone in maintenance to stay vigilant at all times. And whatever you do, don't avoid the scale --it helps you keep aware of where you are before a little gain becomes a big problem.

When you start tucking your shirts into your pants because you realize that you look more slender that way than untucked, and you want to show off your new bod.

Ehhhh..... This part makes me nervous. Many years ago I lived next door to a girlfriend who decided we needed to see other people because I wouldn't marry her. We both agreed that would be best, but stayed "together" without actually changing anything, until one day she met someone at a party. They started dating, and shortly thereafter he moved into her house. Well --- All of a sudden I felt strongly about her again. I guess it was more of a possessiveness thing than a true romance thing. But I went into a deep depression, quit eating, lost about 100 pounds, and mourned the relationship until I finally moved away from her and stopped watching her and the new beau through my window. After I moved, I started getting better almost immediately. But my point is, that the proximity may be fine... until one of you starts seeing someone else. Then the pain can be unbearable. And for you, that would be another major hit. You might want to talk to a counselor and/or lawyer about the advisability of moving out before that happens. Just a thought.....

And that just goes to show that solutions are not one-size-fits-all. We all have our individual issues to deal with. I wish you great success!!!

The handles make them easy to manage, they keep drinks cold (or warm), and they're 24 ounces, so 3 of them (1 after breakfast, 1 after lunch, and 1 after dinner) makes 72 ounces for the day. There are tons of other options out there, but I just find them really conducive to drinking all that I should.

Yep. I think we all know what the reason is. As it has been stated previously on this thread. Unfortunately, it's the same reason people disappear from Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, AA, the gym, or any other voluntary addiction or behavior modification program. I have a dear friend who was very active in her bariatric support group for a couple of years, until a period of stress led her to revert to old habits. Now, much of the weight has come back on and she can never find time to go to support group meetings [sigh]. And THAT'S why we need to keep talking about this stuff here!

Thanks, Andrew! These are the things we need to keep hearing. Oddly, other peoples struggles help us remember that we need to continue putting in the effort, even/especially in maintenance. Hope you get your arms around the beast soon! Try a few days of ketosis by eating only Protein. That might give you a quick start.

My doc wants you to get annual checkups, both to check on Vitamin levels and to see how you're doing. I realize that he has a financial incentive for this. But if you make it an annual requirement, it's one more accountability check on yourself. And as long as insurance covers it – why not? It's also an opportunity to talk about any issues you may be having. My doc says he also wants to see you if you're struggling, because they have ideas and suggestions to help get back on track. And if you're okay, it's a chance to show off how well you're doing to someone who really cares about your continued success.

Yes you did. I saw that after my post. That's okay, doesn't hurt to reinforce it. Cheers!

I guess we all have to go with what works best for our individual psyches. Being obsessive about my program is what got me to goal weight, and what will hopefully keep me here.

Not so sure about this. I mentioned to my 86-year-old Mother's doctor that I was giving her a supply of 30-gram Protein shakes. The doc said that was a bad idea. My Mom's kidneys are weakened from diabetes, and that much concentrated protein could overwhelm them and have bad results. So my suggestion would be to check with your doctor if you have any reason to worry about your kidneys. That being said, I drink my protein shake for breakfast every single morning, and have no intention of stopping, even in maintenance.

Yup, it kinda sucks. But it sure tells us what we need to do (and not do), doesn't it?

I appreciate the information you have posted. I am close to 7 months post-op and was pretty discouraged by the info posted by rogofulm. I plan to print out your post too. I think it will help when I reach maintenance. Thanks for thinking of us and sharing what you learned. Hey Borg, I'm so sorry that my post discouraged you! I knew that was a risk when I wrote it, but sometimes we need to understand the hard truths in order to stay completely focused and not take our foot off the throttle. Just like before surgery when they tell us that the risks include *death*, we need to know what our risk factors are so we can make daily choices fully armed with the necessary information. Please try to use it as motivation, not as an impossible hill to climb. As you've read from this thread and others, long-term maintenance is definitely achievable. And the people who remain fully engaged in their programs, including facing the daily challenges, are the ones most likely to succeed!

Hi @@Olivia12215! From your description, it sounds like you're doing the right things. You said you make make "great food choices" and mention 3 of the big 4 things to do every single day: 1) 60-80 grams of protein; 2) 64+ ounces of fluids; 3) moderate exercise... But you don't mention 4) very low carb intake. Are you logging what you eat with My Fitness Pal or another app? Could there be some extra sugar or starch sneaking into your meals? Could it be from fruits, fruit juices, sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole wheat bread, too many milk products? These are all areas to examine. If, in addition to Protein, fluids, and exercise, your carb intake is nice and low, then you may indeed be a slow loser. If that's the case, just keep hanging with @Babbs. She's the queen of slow but steady success! And you might try changing up your exercise routing by alternating between walking and some strength training to confuse your muscles and your metabolism. Good luck!!!

Hi @@Mooseknuckle! Well you've gotten a lot of good advice about what you're eating and about your knees. But your original question was about why you stopped losing after 3-4 weeks. So below is my standard response to that question. It contains a link that explains what's going on. Hope all the terrific support you're getting from the BP family helps gets you through this rough patch!!! Congratulations! You have reached The Dreaded Week-3 Stall. It's perfectly normal, and just about all of us have suffered through it. You're not crazy, and your doctor didn't screw up. In fact, you might not lose any weight for two weeks or even longer. But don't worry – after that, the pounds will start falling off if you stick to your program. And, the inches will continue to come off even while the scale isn't budging. Here's a good article that explains why it happens and why we all have to go through it. Hang in there. Pretty soon it'll be in the rear-view mirror and you'll be dropping weight again! (Apologies to BP regulars who have seen this repeatedly, but it's a big deal to those who are going through it!)

Also.... I don't mean to imply that after 18 months all hope for change is lost. It most certainly is not! But we all know that the "honeymoon period" is our best opportunity to make profound lifestyle changes that can carry us down the road. After that, it just takes more effort.

He didn't specifically mention the return of the ghrelin gremlin, although he did impress upon us that hunger returns in spite of the restriction, and our healthy eating habits need to be well-established so as to avoid falling into old patterns. I think the point he was making is that our metabolism stays "confused", for want of a better word, for about 18 months. After which, it recognizes that this is the new "normal" and settles-in for the long haul. I'm extrapolating now , but it may be that whether our metabolism settles-in at a faster or slower rate may depend on our nutritional and exercise patterns. I could expand that to include our muscle mass as well, since that contributes to our metabolic rate, right? So in my case, at 14 months out, I have about 4 months to build up additional muscle mass to support a faster metabolism. I doubt that it's quite so cut-and-dried, but it may be worth using 18 months as a target time-frame to have all our ducks lined up, whether they be eating/drinking habits, exercise routines, or muscle mass development. That last piece is an "aha moment" I'm having even as I write this. Thanks for the question, @@VSGAnn2014, it caused me to think more deeply about the topic, and may encourage some needed changes; specifically, the urgency to add strength training to my routine. Okay, I'm tired now....