Really struggling right now. For the first time since my surgery, having willpower issues. Any recos appreciated!

I'm 3 years out and gained back 15lbs since March. I'm struggling to lose the weight too.

There are 3 things that have worked for me in the last 3 weeks.

1) watch my portion size, go back to using my old bowls and plates - that way I know how much I'm eating.

2) stop eating when I'm satisfied and not over full. Frankensleeve lets me know when hes too full, but I've gotten back into the "clean your plate" club. I've decided, I'd rather put less food on my plate, rather than have too much and feel the need to finish it all.

3) reduce/eliminate sugar, high glycemic vegetables/fruit, processed/canned/frozen foods and meals. I'm cooking as much of my food as possible and eating things "that are the ingredients for other things". :-)

My primary diet is pretty simple - roasted/crock pot pork or chicken, vegetables (brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower), high Protein bars, limited fruit (at most 2 of these per day - apples, pears, plums...), and nuts (less than 20 per day - almonds, pecans, ...no peanuts)

I have up to 3 cheat meals per week - Tuesday/Friday/Sat night. I don't go crazy, but I do eat a few more of the "bad for me" foods.

So far it's working. I've lost 5 lbs in 3 weeks.

You can follow my adventure in Battling Regain in this thread:

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/352539-ive-regained-weight-what-do-i-do-about-it/

I am 29 months post-op RNY surgery. I put my approach to maintaining my weight loss in a short article at http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf

OP, when was your surgery? That would help out quite a bit to know what tools you have available at this point in time.

In addition, wherever you are, exercise jumpstarts metabolism and helps suppress hunger as you do it...you will get hungry for recovery later, but the sleeve will help you become satisfied quite rapidly. If you want to up the calories, I think that's fine, but under no circumstances should you drink any calories...you want to earn some satiety for every calorie you let in so that you can stop. You may be struggling to find satisfying foods compatible with your stage of post-op, and I can assure you that this subsides over time. I am assuming you aren't too far out, and that therefore you are in the hardest phase right now.

Thanks...I'm 25 months post-surgery. Exercise is a key and I've been lax. Still, the hunger issues and bad habits have popped up. Need to focus.

I'm in the same boat as you are right now. I had surgery Aug of 2013 and this is the first time that I feel like my appetite is completely back. I agree with you, exercise is key!! I wanna follow you thread to see if you get any more good advise:)

I'm 23 months out and experiencing much of the same. In the last few months I've gained 10 pounds (from my lowest weight) and it's freaking me out.

I exercise 6 days/week and harder than ever. But, my appetite has increased and I snack on Cereal more than I should.

I still log all food and exercise. Need to eliminate or reduce cereal and reduce carbs.

It was so easy beforehand. I know 10 pounds isn't much, but it keeps increasing slowly and I know I have to control this now before it gets out of hand.

Thanks all. Lost 4.5 lbs since my post. Still not eating all I should and gravitating toward my bad habits...but just tackling it day by day. Some days I fail but I don't let it get me down. Trying to get protein first always. I'm weighing myself every 3 days. To me, it's do my clothes fit like they should. Let's keep in touch...I'll update you if I can get back down my 15-16lbs. Strength in numbers. THANK YOU ALL!