Hello fellow sleevers,

just thought I would start a thread for all those who want to get to goal in 2012, regardless of where we are in the process.

I posted it the 'Slow Loser' thread, because that is what I am!! (I am not complaining by the way, just pleased to be a loser...lol)

For me to get there, I know that at 18mths out I need to be strict, accountable and have support from those in the same 'place', who understand that the sleeve isn't a miracle but a tool.

I have done well so far, but the weight hasn't 'melted' off me and since 6mths post op I have had to fight for each and every pound. At first it made me a little bitter, frustrated and I started to get into a 'dark place' about it, now the scale victory tastes sooooo sweet!

I have taken the month of December 'off'... I needed to rest from the constant worry of food, cals, water, carbs and protein... my head was spinning and I was starting to feel very frustrated and overwhelmed at not being at goal again. I needed time out!

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas period and I have eaten what I wanted and when I wanted it; this includes ALL foods, no food was off limit and I let my sleeve do its job! The quantity was low but I still enjoyed every mouthful. Interestingly, I found that my cravings were satisified very quickly... 1 or 2 biscuits/sweets, and so on, hit the spot, instead of 5,6,7,... you get the picture. Subconscious damage limitation? I don't know but I like it!

I have learnt a lot by doing this. I now know that I can eat a little more if I 'try'... I know that I can enjoy food again without feeling guilty and I know that food doesn't have to be the enemy. So, with all that, what was the outcome? Yep, I have gained 2lbs above my personal bounce! Oops!

I am not, in the slightest, worried about this because I KNOW what is the cause... sugar and salt! And this time, I am sure it will come off as quick as it went on!

So, what is the plan?

Per my surgeon's instructions: I am going back to basics... yep that ole one...lol

• 3 meals a day - no snacking.
  
• Weighing my meals between 6-8oz depending on what is on the plate.
  
• Protein first, followed by veggies.
  
• Plenty of water.
  
• A limit of 1000 cals a day.
  
• Continue with my exercise - boxing twice a week, gym in work 1-2 times a week (depending on work load) and walking my dog (just over a 2 mile circuit). The exercise is the only thing that I have stuck to in December... I actually enjoy it now!!
  

As a side note, and I ain't sure if my American friends can get this, but here in the Uk, on SKY there are a few fitness channels. I have recorded some aerobic workouts that are really good... they're free and can be done at home... this is saving me some money on classes and DVDs and if I don't like the workout I can delete and look for another!! Bonus!!

Ok, who is ready to join me on the final stretch to goal... hope on board and enjoy the ride my friends...

Anybody got a really good idea WHY we don't/can't lose these dadgum (good old southern word) pounds once we reach goal/setpoint? I have always lost weight easily and DID even lose quickly with VSG. I regained over a period of months 12-13 lbs and boy, it's like pulling teeth to get these things to go away. I have religiously (well, maybe one small slip here and there) truly been rigid with low carb and I have, on a GOOD day, lost 5 lbs in a month. And today, 3 lbs on a BAD day! lol Down 2, up 2, down, up two, down one, up two. You get the picture.

Even though I am really at a somewhat normal weight/BMI 24.9 right now, it looks like I could STILL lose weight again after 3 years like before.

What do you think happens to our metabolisms/bodies that changes this so drastically? I mean, if I even have a BITE of something with high calorie/carbs it seems I lose the ground I have fought hard for in a MUCH shorter time frame. Ha!

I know you all have the same issues. We've discussed. But really??? Is my body so rigid now that I'm going to have to be this strict for LIFE to be able to MAINTAIN??? Yikes!!

I say this with some humor because I am "okay" with where I am, I'd LIKE to get back to my low bounce area and hold it but seems like it ain't happening! (and I want to be at the same weight I was last year when I went for my annual with surgeon. lol)

Peace!

Nannie, did you read this article about weight gain? Its 8 pages long...but has some really interesting info....

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&adxnnlx=1325167965-awQ/TLyuKlv21t2HqMl8kg

Nannie, did you read this article about weight gain? Its 8 pages long...but has some really interesting info....

http://www.nytimes.c...uKlv21t2HqMl8kg

That study that the author referred to from the New England Journal of Medicine is indeed very interesting. I intend to print it out and scrutinise it in detail. It may indeed be true but alas it is not very encouraging!

We must now learn how to reset our dials!

Thanks for sharing

Bookleen

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That study that the author referred to from the New England Journal of Medicine is indeed very interesting. I intend to print it out and scrutinise it in detail. It may indeed be true but alas it is not very encouraging!

We must now learn how to reset our dials!

Thanks for sharing

Bookleen

I have not read the NEJM study yet, but one would hope that the reduction of ghrelin from VSG might help mitigate some of the hormonal back lash it talks about...

And um, is it and when you LIKE to eat your gummy prenatal (yes, prenatal for hair growth) because they taste like candy and are sugar coated? ????????????????????

And um' date=' is it and when you LIKE to eat your gummy prenatal (yes, prenatal for hair growth) because they taste like candy and are sugar coated? dde04dde04dde04dde04dde04[/quote']

Those were supposed to be smiley faces of you got numbers and oh yes, it's the small pleasures in life. Lol

Here you go, Coops, Feedyoureye and others!! (from the NYT article)

There is no consistent pattern to how people in the registry lost weight — some did it on Weight Watchers, others with Jenny Craig, some by cutting carbs on the Atkins diet and a very small number lost weight through surgery. But their eating and exercise habits appear to reflect what researchers find in the lab: to lose weight and keep it off, a person must eat fewer calories and exercise far more than a person who maintains the same weight naturally. Registry members exercise about an hour or more each day — the average weight-loser puts in the equivalent of a four-mile daily walk, seven days a week. They get on a scale every day in order to keep their weight within a narrow range. They eat Breakfast regularly. Most watch less than half as much television as the overall population. They eat the same foods and in the same patterns consistently each day and don’t “cheat” on weekends or holidays. They also appear to eat less than most people, with estimates ranging from 50 to 300 fewer daily calories.

Sigh!!

Oh dear... So these bmr on line calcs are over estimating our intake by up to 300 cals... That is quite a lot! And in translation, by me eating 1200-1400 Cals a day, with no exercise, I'm actually eating to maintain!

Drats!

That means, to lose, I need to eat less... Hmm, not sure if my body and mind could cope on 1000 or less a day now!

Oh well, when I'm ready looks like I'm gonna have to rethink food choices and exercise!

I suppose it does make sense... I did read the article... Interesting and depressing at the same time!

I'm finding this article kinda depressing and very TRUE! lol

Janice Bridge, a registry member who has successfully maintained a 135-pound weight loss for about five years, is a perfect example. “It’s one of the hardest things there is,” she says. “It’s something that has to be focused on every minute. I’m not always thinking about food, but I am always aware of food.”

“I think many people who are anxious to lose weight don’t fully understand what the consequences are going to be, nor does the medical community fully explain this to people,” Rudolph Leibel, an obesity researcher at Columbia University in New York, says. “We don’t want to make them feel hopeless, but we do want to make them understand that they are trying to buck a biological system that is going to try to make it hard for them.”

HERE IT IS ---- The data generated by these experiments suggest that once a person loses about 10 percent of body weight, he or she is metabolically different than a similar-size person who is naturally the same weight.

The research shows that the changes that occur after weight loss translate to a huge caloric disadvantage of about 250 to 400 calories. For instance, one woman who entered the Columbia studies at 230 pounds was eating about 3,000 calories to maintain that weight. Once she dropped to 190 pounds, losing 17 percent of her body weight, metabolic studies determined that she needed about 2,300 daily calories to maintain the new lower weight. That may sound like plenty, but the typical 30-year-old 190-pound woman can consume about 2,600 calories to maintain her weight — 300 more calories than the woman who dieted to get there

A result is that after losing weight, your muscles burn 20 to 25 percent fewer calories during everyday activity and moderate aerobic exercise than those of a person who is naturally at the same weight. That means a dieter who thinks she is burning 200 calories during a brisk half-hour walk is probably using closer to 150 to 160 calories.

Oh dear... So these bmr on line calcs are over estimating our intake by up to 300 cals... That is quite a lot! And in translation, by me eating 1200-1400 Cals a day, with no exercise, I'm actually eating to maintain!

Drats!

That means, to lose, I need to eat less... Hmm, not sure if my body and mind could cope on 1000 or less a day now!

Oh well, when I'm ready looks like I'm gonna have to rethink food choices and exercise!

I suppose it does make sense... I did read the article... Interesting and depressing at the same time!

Evidently, because they are based on normal bodies and our metabolism has been altered. It really makes sense to me now. I kept thinking, "I've been stringently doing Atkins for a month and only 3-4 lbs down." Whereas before, I would be down probably 15 or more lbs. Given that I could STILL stand to lose another twenty pounds and be at a good level, it seemed strange to me WHY my body wasn't cooperating as before. So, I guess Coops, it's either go lower in calories and carbs to GET there and try to maintain long enough to make our bodies respond.

Here you go, Coops, Feedyoureye and others!! (from the NYT article)

There is no consistent pattern to how people in the registry lost weight — some did it on Weight Watchers, others with Jenny Craig, some by cutting carbs on the Atkins diet and a very small number lost weight through surgery. But their eating and exercise habits appear to reflect what researchers find in the lab: to lose weight and keep it off, a person must eat fewer calories and exercise far more than a person who maintains the same weight naturally. Registry members exercise about an hour or more each day — the average weight-loser puts in the equivalent of a four-mile daily walk, seven days a week. They get on a scale every day in order to keep their weight within a narrow range. They eat breakfast regularly. Most watch less than half as much television as the overall population. They eat the same foods and in the same patterns consistently each day and don’t “cheat” on weekends or holidays. They also appear to eat less than most people, with estimates ranging from 50 to 300 fewer daily calories.

Sigh!!

Oh dear... So these bmr on line calcs are over estimating our intake by up to 300 cals... That is quite a lot! And in translation, by me eating 1200-1400 Cals a day, with no exercise, I'm actually eating to maintain!

Drats!

That means, to lose, I need to eat less... Hmm, not sure if my body and mind could cope on 1000 or less a day now!

Oh well, when I'm ready looks like I'm gonna have to rethink food choices and exercise!

I suppose it does make sense... I did read the article... Interesting and depressing at the same time!

This is so frustrating.....How can we eat less and still be healthy. I'm eating about 1200 to 1500 calories a day and haven't lost anything for a while...... Now I'm going to have to get in a routine of exercising.....I'm so bad at this....Oh well, I'm right with you guys on here......Cheers to research.....

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1105816 Link to New England Journal of Medicine homrone change article.

Taken together, these findings indicate that in obese persons who have lost weight, multiple compensatory mechanisms encouraging weight gain, which persist for at least 1 year, must be overcome in order to maintain weight loss. These mechanisms would be advantageous for a lean person in an environment where food was scarce, but in an environment in which energy-dense food is abundant and physical activity is largely unnecessary, the high rate of relapse after weight loss is not surprising. Furthermore, the activation of this coordinated response in people who remain obese after weight loss supports the view that there is an elevated body-weight set point in obese persons and that efforts to reduce weight below this point are vigorously resisted. In keeping with this theory, studies have shown that after adjustment for body composition, people whose weight is normal and those who are obese have similar energy requirements for weight maintenance11 and equivalent reductions in energy expenditure30 after weight loss. If this is the case, successful management of obesity will require the development of safe, effective, long-term treatments to counteract these compensatory mechanisms and reduce appetite. Given the number of alterations in appetite-regulating mechanisms that have been described so far, a combination of medications will probably be required. Several such combinations are undergoing evaluation,34,35 but none have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Bariatric surgery has well-documented favorable effects on appetite-mediating hormones, hunger, body weight, hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and mortality.36-38 However, because of the attendant costs and long waiting periods, bariatric surgery is not readily accessible to most people.

So, looking at the last section in particular, it would appear that although it may be difficult to lose and maintain weight loss, and that we,after losing a significant amount, may have hormonal challenges and have to eat a low calorie diet, we as WLS patients might be ahead of the game?!

And, I'm also wondering that after a year or more of being at the same weight, the body might readjust its needs....did I read that right? Does that mean that once the body has adjusted to the new and lower weight it might shed more fat?

I'm also interested in the leptin discussion... On marksdailyapple.com, I'm sure I've seen a thread about leptin reset? Gonna have to look it up and see what this leptin hormone is all about!

Anyway, I suppose this information at least helps us understand why our bodies are hanging on to that last 10-30 extra pounds.

So, looking at the last section in particular, it would appear that although it may be difficult to lose and maintain weight loss, and that we,after losing a significant amount, may have hormonal challenges and have to eat a low calorie diet, we as WLS patients might be ahead of the game?!

And, I'm also wondering that after a year or more of being at the same weight, the body might readjust its needs....did I read that right? Does that mean that once the body has adjusted to the new and lower weight it might shed more fat?

I'm also interested in the leptin discussion... On marksdailyapple.com, I'm sure I've seen a thread about leptin reset? Gonna have to look it up and see what this leptin hormone is all about!

Anyway, I suppose this information at least helps us understand why our bodies are hanging on to that last 10-30 extra pounds.

One of the studies in the article said after 6 years the factors were still in place. Longer studies need to be done. OUCH. However, I think this knowledge is power for sure... I don't like that I am predestined to be more hungry and need less fuel to maintain, but I sure feel like I have more of the story of why my body acts the way it does! Im not sure I want to eat much less... I have made a cut from my 1530+eating exercise calories to 1320+Exercise- I seem to have lost a pound or two...still watching to see if it stays off... I really felt much less hunger on the higher amount of food, that first level was supposed to put me at losing 1 pound a week.....NOT. The new lower lever is supposed to get me 1 1/2 pound loss a week.... still seeing if the numbers go down or level out or go back up. After 3 1/2 months of upping my exercise and eating at these two levels I have only this week lost the 2-2 1/2 pounds. So there ya go. I just went back to my last 5 fitbit weekley reports (I have only been using it that long) it tells you how many cals in and cals out...It looks just like what these reports say... according to thei calculations, I have been eating between 4000-6000 calories less than I burn every week.Of course taking this report into consideration, that 4000 end is probably just maintaining.

one is from when I was eating more, the other was from this week, after I made the cut to lose 1 1/2 pounds a week.

Well, Girls, it is definitely eye opening. I, like both of you, don't really see how I can eat much LESS calories or protein and still be able to walk upright! Lol. And Feedyoureye, it is hard to believe that only 1350 calories AND exercise won't get the weight loss it should. That's why I am concerned for the long haul. Reading about having to be rigidly strict for the rest of your life is not appealing to me at all! I love the fact that at 3 years out I have been able to somewhat maintain but sure want to get back down to my original goal weight and maintain. Coops, if you find anything out about the leptin reset let is know. Well, since I had a dinner tonight with lasagna and bread along with homemade pie I'm side the scale will reflect tomorrow morning. ????Maybe ill try the Fastdiet. A month of Atkins doesn't seem to be much better although I think I have lost some inches because clothes feel looser even if the scales don't quite reflect what I would like them to be.