Gail Engebretson

I'm 13 years out and have had a few rollercoaster rides - also do to periods of loss in my life. But I've continued to overall maintain my 170 pound weight loss. I went through a similar struggle at the 2-year mark. It's common. Good for you for continuing to try and to work on this. The diet mentality is a tough one to break but it can be very harmful. The idea of going back and doing a "reset" is a good one but I don't particularly like the one mentioned above. You can reset your pouch in about 3-5 days without going back to liquids and puree and soft foods etc. That uses a lot of "sugar-free" items which aren't great for you in such quantities and can trigger more craving. There a couple "back on track" programs out there that have you go onto basically only protein - with some green veggies thrown in. It's not a diet, but it resets the pouch which is totally different. After 3-5 days of this you'll notice your capacity going way down. Then just go back to good nutritional eating, following the rules of the pouch. The rules of the pouch are the most important actions you can take to ensure losing and maintaining. The 3 most important rules are #1 Protein first (dense protein like chicken, fish, eggs, beef etc.) #2 no liquids with your meal and don't drink for up to 2 hours after. #3 Eat your meal fairly quickly - eat until you are quite full but not overly full. You fill up faster and feel full longer if you eat quickly. Cutting back (don't think of it as restricting) carbs such as grains (esp. wheat products) helps keep your cravings down which can be a constant battle for many of us including me. We never need to diet again - it's counter productive. But I know that I absolutely need to follow the rules of the pouch if I want to stay successful. Good luck!

First of all - Blondie66 - rarely do any of us have the eating down perfect. If you think you could do better maybe start by changing just one small thing, get that in place as a habit and then another small thing to change. Most of us can't change everything at once - it's too overwhelming. If you've kept the weight off you must be doing a lot of things right! Lindairene - that's a big change to make in a short period of time. The first thing I'd probably do is look carefully at what changed in the last 6 months. Did eating patterns, types of food, or amounts of food change? Did your exercise routine change? Did you go thru hormonal changes? etc. Once you know what changed then you can work on changing them back. If nothing changed then it probably is a matter for the medical professionals. If you're having a majorly hard time changing things back then it might be good to get counselling or some coaching. Good luck?

First of all - Congratulations on the weight loss - to all of you. I know how hard you've been working and what determination you have. I also know really really well the fear you are facing. I was in the same place 12 years ago. My surgery was 13 years ago this month. I lost 170 lbs and have managed to keep it off - Yeah! I was really afraid of re-gain those first couple of years - especially as my appetite came back. I've roller coastered a bit at times but have managed to stay within about a 15 lb range. Don't let the fear stress you out because that can act as a push into old eating habits. Here's a few things I did to help me stay stable. I changed my eating habits drastically in that first year while I could. I cut out all sugar, went low on the grains, stopped all fast food with the rare exception, and went organic. It was easy to do that in the beginning when I was v. motivated because I kept thinking long term. I set up good solid exercise routines - doing things I liked like biking, dancing, swimming and walking. I continued to do those things because I liked them. I didn't get on the treadmill or exercise bike because I didn't like them and knew I wouldn't keep it up. I also set up and have continued to do a simple weight training routine. I got help when I needed it - used the professionals in my program but also went outside for psychotherapy and life coaching. Lastly I worked hard at not freaking out when I did gain a pound or 2 or even 10! I'd just do an inventory of where I was getting slack - esp. with the rules of the pouch - and trusted myself to get back on track, even if it took me a few days or even a week. I didn't freak out, go into despair and start that downward spiral of beat myself up, eat more, beat myself up more, eat more, etc. This is all simply put here but I put in a lot of work and time and continued vigilance yet learning to let go and enjoy life up to this day. I know I'll never gain back that weight. Good luck to all of you. The fact that you are concerned and looking long term is a great sign that you'll make it!