Danpaul

Six months post WLS and you've been put in a position to fail. Not by your doing but by an inconsiderate person. You have only ONE CHANCE to do it right. Only one. You need to give it your best shot and not have an inconsiderate person sabotage your path to better health. I once again bring up the comparison to being an alcoholic . Would you allow anyone to hinder your recovery from alcohol by letting them bring it into your home? NO, so why allow him to sabotage your recovery from poor health and obesity by allowing him to bring in junk food? The choice here is very simple, for you to succeed with weight loss and getting back to good health he cannot be a part of your every day lifestyle. Get rid of the food or pack it up and drop it off to the place he is going to but you need to get it out of your home. Remember you are only six months out and you've already gained weight. I'm out four years and I will tell you it gets harder NOT easier to lose and maintain the weight loss. Your in the best position of your life to lose the weight. Don't let Mr. inconsiderate ruin it for you. Despite what you might hear, insurance companies will not pay for a do over. Make the best of this golden opportunity.

I have other friends and family who have had the surgery. That's three different surgeons between all of us. There were three DIFFERENT post op plans that we followed. So far. we all are doing well. Follow YOUR surgeons plan.

It's a life long struggle

Misconceptions abound. My often cited one is looking at a person who is poor and obese. People will say look at that person complaining about not having money but probably wasted their money on food. The misconception is, poor people have poor food choices. Their diet consists of cheap over processed carb based foods. Eating these on a consistent basis will eventually lead to obesity. These poor food choices are direct marketed, readily available, easy to consume and cheaply priced. I too was a victim of this until I started to eat better quality food to maintain my weight loss. I don't know how many times I had to explain this to people who have no clue about food nutrition. I can't blame them, until my WLS I didn't know as well.

Looking good. Now, in the coming months the most difficult part of the journey will be upon you. The maintenance of your weight loss and the continuance of your good health. Many before you have experienced the overwhelming joy and gratitude of such a rapid weight loss. It is such a great experience and due to surgery attainable. In time our bodies start to revert back to some sense of normalcy and the battle to keep the weight off will be a daily struggle. You're doing everything right and all is going to plan, best of luck on your life's battle with weight loss.

Tony you are so correct. I belong to Over Eaters Anonymous. In some buildings that we rent space to have meetings AA will also have their meetings. This is usually in a church or private school. I would hear snide comments from some building staff about OA that they would never think to say about AA. Such as thats the fatties meeting or referring to the group a chubby's anonymous.

I'm four years into my journey and like many here I too experience the same trials and tribulations of bariatric weight loss life. I'm a strong proponent of support groups as I had to form my own (with friends/family0 who have had WLS. It has helped me and I hope them immensely. Just by offering a tip on a method to help really makes all the difference in our success.

Two out of the five family/friends that have has WLS have constant hunger. The only saving grace is they have a food restriction due to the surgery. Their surgeons tell them that in some people, like them it is normal. The one piece advice that I can give you and that they practice is, do not eat around your restriction. Meaning, once you feel full (even after a few bites) STOP eating. The restriction despite your feeling of hunger will do it's job and let you know when it's time to stop eating. Do not eat around it. Both are two years post op and both have learned that the surgery did not stop them from feeling hungry. They did learn that the restriction is their most potent tool to lose weight and to try to keep it off.

We were all conditioned to not waste food. Remember Mom saying, eat all your food there are people starving in(pick a country). I've learned that I don't have to waste food in order to not work around my restriction. (That's what we do when we are full and continue to eat) When I eat and my restriction kicks in (thank goodness after 4 yrs I still have a pretty good one) I stop eating, put the food in a container, store in fridge and eat the next day. I will eat the same thing for a few days so that I don't waste the food but most importantly so that I'm not tempted to work around my restriction. I went to a therapist. This therapist was recommended by others in my support group. I honestly didn't find her to be as helpful as talking and interacting with others who had the surgery. One other note to the OP, your family has to be in your corner 100%. Mom should not have had a large dinner with you only days post op. That's like a recovering alcoholic who has sit through a cocktail party. It will not bode well. I also find that drinking plain water or herbal tea helps control the craving to eat. It does two things, first the action of getting the drink takes your mind away from the food and the liquid helps to fill your stomach so that you eat less.

Stall and Loridee, out of necessity I had to form my own support group. Are there others that you know who have had the surgery that you can talk with? I found that just by talking and bouncing ideas around we all benefited. I told my surgeon that he should try to set up a way for his patients to exchange emails so we could network. Prior to covid he had two group meetings a month. He tried zoom meetings but they were not effective. So far he hasn't done it. I subscribe to Dr. Becky Gillespie on you tube. She doesn't give bariatric specific weight loss advice. Hers is geared more for us mere mortals and it's usually backed up with the science behind it. I find that fasting for 12 hrs a day helps me control my weight. I don't eat between 7PM - 7 AM. I'm also considering a longer fast but don't want to try until I'm absolutely sure that I can commit. One thing I've found out from not only my experience but with others, if you do not commit to a plan it will never work.

I'm four years into my surgery this month and here are the things that I've learned. At the beginning most will feel mixed emotions. Euphoric due to rapid weight loss, concern due to stalls and minor setbacks and trepidation due to looking at how others are doing and you feeling you're not doing enough. The one feeling we all have will be a renewed confidence in ourselves due to the fastest weight reduction you might have ever experienced. We attain our goal weight. We then transition into making wise food and lifestyle choices. No longer are we to eat the things that made us obese and unhealthy such as the three C's, Cookies, Cake and Candy. We will get more exercise. Maybe we park further from the building, maybe we join a gym, maybe we walk, run or work out. We are feeling great and we love our new selves. Next we work on maintaining the weight loss and our healthy lifestyle. One thing happens, we decide since we lost so much weight it couldn't hurt to visit our friends the three C's. If only for a short while and only in small amounts. Hey, why park so far? It's really cold/hot, I'll park closer. You're still feeling confident even if you gained only 10lbs of the 100 you lost. Hey, you're still down 90lbs. No problem, I can lose the 10lbs. I've lost far more than that after surgery. Then we realize, we are no longer weight loss super beings. We are just mere mortals who now have to work hard to lose the weight. Our bodies after time (usually after the one year mark) will not give us that rapid weight loss we once depended on. Here is when your determination and or lack of it will affect you for the rest of your life. We will all get back on a diet or healthier eating plan to lose the weight we gained. The majority will not succeed because it is not as easy it was when we first had surgery. Some will become complacent and throw up their hands and surrender. The weight will come back and the thoughts of a revision will come to our heads. Unfortunately, most insurance companies do not allow for a do over. For a few they will overcome and work on shedding those pounds. They will succeed due to a variety of reasons such as a good support group, using the honeymoon period wisely and really making better lifestyle choices or simply losing one pound at a time instead of trying to lose all of it at one time. Since my surgery four years ago I had five friends and family members undergo the surgery. We ALL gained back some of the weight. Some were able to lose it and regain their healthy lifestyle. Some never were able to lose the weight and went back into the habit of eating for gratification. This is what I did. I originally got down on myself. How did I after three years let myself gain 10 lbs. I vowed to get it off. My 1st week I lost 1/2 a pound. I was devastated, how could this be? The next week I gained a pound. Why? I needed help!! My regular group meetings were cancelled due to covid so I lost valuable support there. I decided to call my family and friends who had the surgery. I spent hours talking to everyone, I told them about my struggles and they told me about theirs. We all came away with a few good ideas of what to do. First don't look to lose the WHOLE amount in one shot. It won't happen and it will derail you from succeeding. Set a goal of 1-2lbs per week. Don't worry that some friends or family might be losing more. We aren't in competition with them. Look at the little things. One friend said she stopped putting Crystal light or Mio in her water. She only drank plain ice water. It seemed to help her jump start her weight loss. Another friend said he started taking the stairs instead of the elevator. He climbs seven flights at least once a day. Another told me her husband who did not have the surgery brought snacks home and that she would eat them. She purged her home of the unhealthy snacks as she did right after her surgery. I started to implement these and other ideas and I have lost 5lbs in five weeks. I'm at the half way point to getting back to my goal weight. We are not super humans we need help and we need encouragement in order to succeed. There are a few on here who have done a tremendous job on their own and they are to be commended and emulated. For me, I need and I will take all the help I can get. Everyday is a struggle to be healthy. I told my surgeon that all this is happening after only four years, how do people succeed at maintaining the weight loss? He said sadly, the majority won't.