Everyone,

I am so afraid I'm going to gain all the weight back! I started at almost 300 lbs. when I had my surgery in July of 2015. I was in the high 160's with only about 10 lbs. to go until I reached the goal weight I had set for myself at 150. My surgeon originally said he thought I'd probably level out at 180, but I refused to accept that as my goal weight. Now, I am wondering if he actually knew because of his experience that 180 is about what I'd be able to maintain, or if I allowed his words to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I have been gaining and am so unhappy with myself, but can't seem to get it together! I am only 5' tall so I just can't be happy with that weight. I see people who have lost weight to the point that I would consider them "skinny" and, while I don't actually want that goal for myself, I can't understand why I can't take charge of myself and finish this job! I am begging for advice about how to keep this issue from becoming a "run away train"! I need help and direction to get myself back on track and would welcome some tried-and-true advice. My life is so incredibly better....it would devastate me to go back to the old way of (non)living. I am dancing, walking and enjoy feeling like myself after 30 years of being a bystander who only watched everyone else enjoy life. Please show me the way! I am so afraid of what could happen! I would appreciate any and all support and help you can offer! Thank you!

You had surgery a few days after me. I know that now we can eat more, and the further out for surgery the less motivated we can become. I had more to lose than you so I am still losing, even though it is slow. So I understand where you are physically with your sleeve.

Do you weigh your food?

Do you track your food?

What do you eat?

What are your daily macros? Protein? Carbs? Fat?

You didn't provide anything in your post that would help people help you.

Return to the habits that helped you to lose weight. I'm almost two years out as well, and have had a bit of regain but have been able to lose it again by going back to tracking my food on MyFitnessPal and following a lower carb (under 70 carbs, so not strictly low carb, but moderately so) plan, and exercising more. You've already lost 118 pounds, which is fantastic. Just see this time when you've had a regain as a bit of a vacation for yourself, and now you're ready to get back to work. Don't be discouraged, just get back in there. There's a girl on Facebook who goes by Fit Miss Bliss who has been really successful with losing weight post-VSG, and she has a lot of recipes and ideas. One of the habits that helps her the most is meal planning. On Sunday night she prepares lunches for the first few days of the week, and makes a meal plan to follow. She includes snacks. I think that's wise because it gives you a roadmap to follow for the week.

I am exactly two years post-op since I was sleeved in April 2015.

Losing a regain after undergoing bariatric surgery involves no special insider secrets or magical sorcery. My personal mantra is this: "The road to regain with a sleeve or bypass is often paved with snacky slider foods such as Lays, Pringles, Fritos, Ruffles, Doritos, popcorn, pretzels, crackers, breads, Oreos, Fig Newtons, and ice cream."

Sliders (a.k.a. slurry foods) do not produce that important feeling of satiety or fullness in the sleeved stomach or bypass pouch, so we can eat unlimited amounts of them. They slide rapidly out of the stomach and into the intestine, promoting fast weight gain. If you eat sliders, I suggest you cut them out your life cold turkey ASAP.

Revert to what you did during those first post-op months. Eat abundant lean protein such as chicken, fish, and beef. If you are still hungry, eat non-starchy veggies until full.

Due to its high thermic effect, protein cranks up your metabolic rate because it requires more calories and energy to for your body to digest than slurry carbohydrates. Consider this: after eating 10 yeast dinner rolls you will never feel full. However, you cannot eat 10 tilapia fillets or 10 chicken drumsticks. You will be stuffed with one or two servings or fish or chicken.

The 10 yeast rolls had 1200 calories and you are still hungry for more. The one tilapia fillet or chicken drumstick had 110 calories and you are feeling full in relatively short order.

Ketogenic lifestyle is an amazing tool to use with this.

I'm at a normal BMI (23) after weighing almost 400 lbs, and I can tell you that the last 40 lbs or so were tough to lose. And so is maintenance. I have to weigh or measure everything I eat and track it religiously. It is SO easy to go off the rails if I'm not monitoring it pretty closely. So it can be done, but it takes dedication. I'd just go back to your plan and try to really stick to it.

Main question is, are you weight lifting?

Sometimes weight gain isn't really fat. It's muscle. When you work with weights, your fat can disappear and what's left will turn into muscle, giving you one or two pounds of weight gain. It's not a big deal, especially if that's what you're going for. It's also not bad.

Just hang in there, you got this. I have faith in you :).