I started by not following my own advice. I always tell people who ask that they should consider "the holidays" to be one meal, or at most one day, not a stretch of days or a season, when deciding whether to eat off plan for "the holidays." I did a terrible job of following my advice over the past couple weeks and as a result when I checked in with the scale, found myself up 9 pounds. So for those of you wondering whether it is possible for people to gain weight back with the sleeve and how long it takes, let me tell you, yes they can and it can be done very quickly!

So, I am following my own advice I have given here before for people who have found themselves off track, gaining weight back, and eating crazy things. I have done this before a couple of times and it is HARD but it works.

1. Throw away all off-plan food in the house. I don't give myself permission to finish up the Cookies or whatever. They all went in the trash.

2. Start right away. I did not wait until the end of the weekend, the New Year, or any other artificial starting point. My starting point is now.
3. Three days of nothing but unprocessed meats, eggs, and green veggies. No weighing portions or counting calories. Eat as much as I want whenever I feel hungry.

4. After these three days I'll go back to weighing my portions and counting calories. Probably another day or two of just lean meats and green veggies before adding back in things like dairy, nuts, and fruit.

Today is my first day of the carb detox. I find myself doing some serious internal whining about how hard it is and how unfair it is and I don't want to and one more day of Starbucks indulgences won't really set me back that much . . . but I will push through it and keep reminding myself that I get to eat as much as I want, whenever I want, it's just that I can only eat a few types of food. It will get easier.

@@Bufflehead Thank you for continuing to inspire me and show me how this thing is done long-term. I really appreciate your honesty and ability to look at yourself critically. You rock

This is perfect!! I am gonna do exactly the same thing!!! Thanks!!

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You continue to be an amazing inspiration, thank you!

Hi Bufflehead, yes, a reminder to all to stop in our tracks ! Did you have pain or throw up? How many months or years are you out? Ty for sharing!

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@@barbbbsss I am 3 1/2 years post op. I have never thrown up once post op (at least, not from food, I did have an episode with a migraine-type headache that had me throwing up -- completely non-eating related though). And although I have occasionally felt pain from eating too much, that is rare as I know how to recognize my signals for satisfaction and will be able to stop before I go too far. My problem has been with eating the wrong kinds of food -- anything high carb or high sugar is, 1) calorically dense, so you can eat a relatively small amount and gain weight; 2) liable to cause you to have cravings to eat more of that type of food; and 3) unlikely to cause fullness, since they slide right through your stomach without engaging your restriction. So, you can eat a lot more of them without feeling full or even satisfied.

Thanks Bufflehead. I'm on pre op and my mind has to be the strength and seems like you are taking the right steps to get control. I must say when eating only liquids I feel in control. When I was eating whatever I wanted I was out of control. I appreciate you sharing your story and keeping us all some ideas how to gain control again. Ty!

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Just checking in here for accountability -- I made it through these three days of nothing but unprocessed meats, green veggies, eggs, and healthy fats. It was not as hard as I anticipated, but it *was* hard! It got a little less hard every day.

For the next two days, I'll keep eating the same way but add in modest amounts of dairy and go back to tracking everything on MFP. After two days, I'll reassess and see what I think my best plan is going forward.

I'm in the same boat. Felt invincible and was staying in my buffer zone between 150-155 lbs no matter what I ate. Suddenly between Nov-Dec. the scale crept up to 165. Just started a 5 day pouch reset (even though I had a sleeve). Clear liquids and protein shakes for me. Cold turkey off the diet Dr. Pepper which has returned to a full blown addiction and replaced all water. We can do this!!!