First I want to say that at 2 year currently I don’t consider myself a success because, losing weight is easy, maintaining is the hard part. I really hope that some people that have maintain for some years post here.

Most of the posts from long term WLS patients are about their failures, regain and trying to “get back on the wagon”. We need more positive posts for people that are doing well and enjoying their post-op life.

Hopefully this can be a resource for other people.

• I followed my post-op plan to the letter almost for the first 6 months. I did not heavily experiment, I did not push limits. I did not advance my food stages. This provided a mental reset that completely changed my outlook and relationship with food. The mental reset from following the food stages and changing my relationship with food in the first 6 months was the most valuable experience.
• I do not feel deprived. I found a way of eating that does not feel like a diet. I can eat food that I enjoy and I still really love and enjoy eating food. Food enriches my life, it doesn’t control my life.
• Weighing my Food
• Tracking my Food
• Weigh myself every morning, record it once a week
• Staying calorie aware and spending my daily calories like currency
• Planning for eating out. If I am going to eat out for dinner, I allot extra calories for dinner and cut back on my food earlier in the day. If I eat lunch out then I cut back on dinner.
• I exceed my initial goal for myself pretty rapidly (250) and I have gone further in my weight loss than I ever dreamed I could when I started this. All the benefits from being so close to a normal BMI motivate me to defend my weight loss diligently. I know the difference between being morbidly obese and just being overweight and being overweight is far more comfortable.

On 7/5/2018 at 2:42 PM, mi75 said:

I'm 4 years out also. In complete transparency, I fell off the wagon bad about 16 months out. I went through major life changes (moved, changed job, lost a parent, went back to grad school, graduated and went back AGAIN for a PhD, hubs changed jobs, etc.). Yes, major changes.

When I fell off, it was very gradual and I hardly noticed it until I had regained almost 40 lbs and got some seriously sobering health news last fall. It kicked my butt into gear and I went strict Keto and have lost all of my regain and continue to lose even more.

While I never even reached goal the first time around (I think that I had so much change during my honeymoon phase that I lost focus) I know that at this point I WILL get there and I plan to have my plastics done next year after I graduate for the FINAL time!!!

For me, I don't count macros too closely, I just focus on Protein, Water intake, moving every day, good sleep hygiene, supplements and I TRY to manage my stress so cortisol doesn't go sky high (I get serious belly gain when my cortisol goes up, and I have it clinically monitored every few months).

Yes I fell away, yes I regained, but YES I have figured it out and am making it happen. Even if I'm 4 years post op, I'm proof that it's never too late for anyone!!!

I know this is an old post, but I wanted to thank you for sharing. I really REALLY needed to hear this right now in my journey. I was sleeved almost exactly 3 years ago. Everything was awesome for the first 18 months. I felt amazing, I got within 9 lbs of my goal weight by 12 months out. I was training for a 10K... then a lot of major life changes, as well. I'm a single mom. Have been for 11 years, so that part wasn't new, but I had my heart broken again in early 2017 (devastated, really), 2 changes of job/career in less than 10 months following that, problems with my teenagers, and a pretty major depression brought on by another heartbreak that I fought for the better part of 6 months recently. I turned to alcohol to numb myself since I couldn't turn to food and, as you can imagine, that did not go well for me. Tons of empty liquid calories and no motivation to exercise or eat right... when I did eat, it was small portions but I was losing the battle to get enough protein and water.

I don't list this as excuses, because I know I need to own my poor choices. And I want to start over.

I initially lost over 115 lbs and maintained in that range for nearly a year before it fell apart. I've gained back about 85 now.

I have been beating myself over it and hoping that its not too late to turn the ship around. I still have the tools... Thank you for letting me know its not out of my reach.

I'm trying to get back to basics this week with protein and water... and also am 1 day alcohol free (which doesn't sound like much yet, but I'm motivated to keep going)

Chrys- how are you doing now? I try to keep up in the forums every couple weeks. I hope you are doing better. it IS possible to get back in focus of yourself and lose the regain. There's lots of threads in the vet's forum.

Bringing back an old thread to ask people what macros they follow, if they log food? Also, several people said they stick to a diet similar to what was prescribed by their doctor...but mine didn't really prescribe anything at all other than 40-60 grams of protein a day.

So I have gained 10 pounds back at 5 yrs out, and I'm unsure what to do to get back on track. I'm 5'1, 43 years old, a stay at home mom on my feet much of the day homeschooling, cleaning, etc as well as mowing the lawn with a manual reel mower twice a week, edging, etc once a week, etc. Still nursing my toddler, although she gets most of her calories from food.

help?

1 hour ago, Katie Loesch-Meyer said:

Bringing back an old thread to ask people what macros they follow, if they log food? Also, several people said they stick to a diet similar to what was prescribed by their doctor...but mine didn't really prescribe anything at all other than 40-60 grams of Protein a day.

So I have gained 10 pounds back at 5 yrs out, and I'm unsure what to do to get back on track. I'm 5'1, 43 years old, a stay at home mom on my feet much of the day homeschooling, cleaning, etc as well as mowing the lawn with a manual reel mower twice a week, edging, etc once a week, etc. Still nursing my toddler, although she gets most of her calories from food.

help?

Welcome back. Ten pounds is a small gain.

Bariatric basic diet link below.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319724.php

I’m 51 and five years out, My weight loss calories are around 1100 ish, carbohydrates around 56. Protein 60 to 100 grams. You may need to dial your calories up or down by 100 to find your body’s personal weight loss calorie range.

8 hours ago, Healthy_life2 said:

Welcome back. Ten pounds is a small gain.

Bariatric basic diet link below.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319724.php

I’m 51 and five years out, My weight loss calories are around 1100 ish, carbohydrates around 56. Protein 60 to 100 grams. You may need to dial your calories up or down by 100 to find your body’s personal weight loss calorie range.

Thank you! And yes, I know it isn't a big gain, but at my height it doesn't take much for my clothes to stop fitting. And this weight is ALL in my belly - ugh! Also, I never got down to a very low weight - went from a BMI of 41 to a BMI of 29. So was still overweight at my lowest. Getting above that gets me too close to obese for my comfort. Plus bad habits....but it's like I've forgotten the good ones, lol.

Also, looking at what you wrote, and what a trainer/homeschool mom said in another place, I think my protein is WAY too low right now. I tried eating more protein yesterday afternoon and evening and for the first night in forever wasn't craving food and munching all evening! I'm going to be very happy if it turns out to be that simple. And it would make sense - I really have gotten away from "protein first" for snacks/meals and stopped protein supplements. I think I get enough to get by, but not enough to thrive.

Set up Myfitnesspal again, going to focus mostly on protein at first so i don't get overhwlmec.

On 11/6/2019 at 11:11 AM, Katie Loesch-Meyer said:

Set up Myfitnesspal again, going to focus mostly on Protein at first so i don't get overhwlmec.

Join us here also:

Hi! I haven't posted in several years. I'm 5.5 years out from my sleeve surgery, and maintaining at about 10 lbs above my "perfect weight" goal. Still down 105, though, and trying to exercise the ten pounds back off. So I consider my journey thus far to be a major success. I eat everything I want EXCEPT sugar and white stuff. Period. That's my secret. No refined sugar, ice cream, fruit juices, alcohol, bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, and rarely fruit, corn and peas. Other than that, I eat whatever I want.

So here's my best tip: If you decide that you will NEVER eat any of the foods listed above, then you never have to decide whether or not to eat something. If it's on that list, it's a NO. If it's not, it's a YES. Every food decision is pre-made. How simple is that? And once you leave those foods behind for a while, you don't miss them anymore. As long as you don't ever open that door, the boogeyman can't tempt you.

Two other tips: Get your 64+ ounces of fluids in every single day, and ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN whenever you're away from home. I never go to a party, get-together, or even a long drive without bringing my Crystal Lite iced tea and a bag of almonds. Those two items can carry me through any situation. (And they have, many times!)

So that's my system. It's worked for over 5 years with excellent results, so I don't see any reason to change it.

Good luck to all in maintenance!!!