We see them all the time. Hell, maybe we'll write one someday...

OMG, I've regained! What do I do???????

You know what I like to do?

I like to go back in that person's post history and read about their diet habits in the beginning when they were losing....get a feel for what kind of dieter they were.

And I almost always find that the re-gainers....were super strict, super disciplined, never-touch-a-carb, low calorie extremists.

And it kills me...because the advice to these folks is always the same.....get back on your super strict diet! up your protein! don't touch a carb!

And I'm sitting here shaking my head.

Why do people return to what doesn't work? Over and over and over. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

Don't mean to just pick on our Ketovangelists....there are plenty of Passive Pollys out there who ate junk constantly, never kept track....and wonder why their weight went back up after the honeymoon.

My point is.....if a particular strategy ends in failure.....why in the world would you return to it? Why encourage someone to return to what didn't work longterm?

if the goal is longterm maintenance....why send them back to another stop-gap measure that fails them in the long run?

Ketovangelists....try something different if extremely low cal and carbs doesn't work long term for you! If you eventually lose your mind and fall off the wagon, maybe the wagon you're on doesn't fit. Try something more moderate so you can stay in control long term.

Passive Pollys....try something different! If a total lack of structure is resulting in your surgery being useless.....add some freaking framework to your diet. Work on healthy limits without going completely overboard. Be accountable.

More and more, I believe an addiction to EXTREMISM is what keeps people fat. So many of these folks are either "I must be in COMPLETE CONTROL"...or "I am helpless against my eating"....there's never any middle ground.

Stop with the extremism.

Knock that shite off.

It's hurting you.

There have been a few individuals that posted on this board that restricted their diet to such a degree that their bodies went into starvation mode. That really messed up their metabolism.

This is not a problem right after surgery when your body begins to use up your reservoir of fat, but rather towards the end of weight loss phase. So as you transition into maintenance find the happy medium where your weight is stable.

@KCgirl061 I agree. I just don’t think it’s possible to do everything correctly and still gain the weight back.

On 07/29/2018 at 00:00, summerset said:

Hence you can see a lot of regain posts with the tenor "Heeeeeelp!!!! I used to be so good with weight loss and following the rules but I fell off the wagon!!!!"

_____

I don't know if it's really "all in your hands". I doubt it. WLS is a (surgical) therapy. Like all therapies it doesn't have a 100% success rate. There will always be people who have better outcomes or worse outcomes than others. I know people don't like to hear this: but as with any other therapy there is quite a bit of luck involved how your body and mind react to this surgical therapy.

There is work to do of course and how good your are at doing this work, depends on a lot things. And some people simply don't need to work as hard as others. Remember high school or college? I bet anyone on this board here had a classmate who didn't have to study hard to get good grades while others had to struggle hard to get even decent grades. Same with WLS. Some have to work harder to get the same results while others just fly by on less effort.

I’m gonna agree with this. Honestly I would LOVE to be able to say it’s grit and “working my tool” that’s allowed me to maintain a 135+ lb for five years... but I think it WORKED for me. Yeah I could eat junk but i honestly don’t want to the way I did before. Yeah, I work at it, but not the way I did before, only to regain. One day we will know which surgeries (or other therapies) work for whom and why... but the sleeve WORKED for me. I am, dare I say it... normal in a way I never was. I’m like any woman pushing 50 who needs to be careful, but not like before.

On 07/29/2018 at 15:43, GreenTealael said:

What I'm a but more concerned about are the people who claim to follow their plans to the letter and regain. I would like to hear from these people.

Is this real? Are they deluding theirselves? Any science behind this phenomenon?

I think that’s a delusion. I think if they actually tracked they would realize that.

On 07/29/2018 at 17:00, KCgirl061 said:

Sorry but I have to believe they are deluding themselves. There is just no way with a metabolism reset and keeping a nutritious diet under 1000 calories a day there is no reason you should regain that weight back.

I think even 1000 is low. They should be able to maintain at a higher level than that depending on their age and weight and musculature.

9 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

What I'm a but more concerned about are the people who claim to follow their plans to the letter and regain.

[...]

Is this real? Are they deluding theirselves? Any science behind this phenomenon?

Since all this diet and exercise stuff has to rely on self-reporting I doubt we will ever know for sure.

I must agree with everyone a little. You all make great points and I don’t have a long opinion to anyone’s post. Everyone is different and we all have different results. We all have different addiction levels and we all eat differently. However, I truly believe we have to work at this for the rest of our lives. Maintaining our low weight. Hell- I’m too short to even gain 10-20lbs back if I want to stay this small. So... everyone’s goal weight is different. I don’t understand regain though like most Vets- because I can only eat 1/4 cup at a time... 10months out. I am however hungry quite often . So I eat Clean calories all the time. So my calories don’t add up as fast. Time will tell. We all have motivations that keep us from over doing it and from gaining weight. Whatever that may be. Mine is feeling sexy in size 4-6 clothes. Feeling light as a feather when I walk. Etc etc ... good luck to everyone!

Ok well we will see because I will be SUPER honest with y'all when the time comes, so...

20 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

What I'm a but more concerned about are the people who claim to follow their plans to the letter and regain. I would like to hear from these people.

Is this real? Are they deluding theirselves? Any science behind this phenomenon?

I think they are deluding themselves. However, on the flip side I think their are folks out there that do everything right and whether it is starvation mode or a sh*t metabolism, will stall out before goal and will lose no further. But that is not regain, that is unwanted maintaining.

Taking this article from another thread

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html?rref=collection%2Fseriescollection%2Fthe-science-of-fat&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=collection

But a greatly slowed down metabolism could explain why people are eating low calories, but still gaining

I guess in some ways I am extremely fortunate because the surgery changed my digestive and metabolic system in very drastic and noticeable ways. I physically am unable to tolerate the foods that I used to be able to eat huge amounts of. Most of my pre-surgery foods make me incredibly sick. Fried chicken and pizza aren't soft enough and no matter how much I chew or take small bites, I cannot eat them. I end up throwing them up. I even have difficulty with steak. I have to cut it into very tiny pieces and chew the flavor out of it. I don't really like steak anymore - I prefer chicken and turkey. I used to love Tortilla Chips (especially the Sweet Chili variety) but they physically hurt my stomach now. I cannot even do wraps. Wraps are so fiberous that my stomach just cannot process them.

Thank you for this explaination Mattymatt, I find this already in my preparations and I do believe it will intensify post-surgery. And new is good, New is fine, I will just have moved into a strange new world and that may be a hidden benefit I hadn't planned for.

I believe there is one common denominator we all have with weight loss surgery, It is easy to lose the weight, the hard part is maintaining the weight loss. I guess that can be said about dieting as well, It's easier to lose the weight than to maintain the weight loss. There are many different opinions on how to successfully maintain the weight loss but only you and maybe your healthcare professional can make it work for you. No matter what path or technique you use remember it will always be your choice to make. If one succeeds or fails it will be on the merits of the choices that one makes. There is no one plan that works or as some say no one size fits all. If there were we wouldn't have so many options to choose from and we would all be successful. While someones plan might not work for me I'm glad to see we have a forum so that others can get that vital information as it might just work for them. My approach isn't for everyone but, I don't expect to it be. I just want to let others know that it's out there and they can make the final determination if that's the path for them. I'm sure everyone here wants everyone to succeed and to be healthy. We can always agree to disagree but we must always be able to put the ideas and tips out there so we can at least give others options they might not have considered. Everyone, I wish you continued weight loss success and good health.

OK, wow 10 pages..... I read like....one. Too much drama. I am a poster from way back. Just popped on for a few comments cause the title applied to me right now.. How's everyone doing....??

Here's my imput from my experience. We all are getting or got the surgery because we COULDN'T lose the weight or always put it back on.........desperate....last ditch effort. And.....for me it worked. I lost the weight. But

As it is not a magic bullet, some was the surgery and most was my dieting & exercise effort. (go figure)

So, just like always in the past .......I regained (some. not all) When the benefits of the suregery wore off and hunger and cravings returned.....I, of course went back to some bad habits. Put on 30 lbs.

So here's the punchline.......Of course I know what will work. And now, with no other options available I simply have to get back to what I was doing after surgery. And it will come back off.....And I will continue to struggle with cravings and diet. Sorry guys. Those are the facts. Everybody has their own way of doing it, and all you can do is accept it and get it done. Have a nice day guys.

Hey.....no- one can force anyone to accept their views on anything here..... so the drama is kinda wasted.

On 7/12/2018 at 10:32 AM, Creekimp13 said:

We see them all the time. Hell, maybe we'll write one someday...

OMG, I've regained! What do I do???????

You know what I like to do?

I like to go back in that person's post history and read about their diet habits in the beginning when they were losing....get a feel for what kind of dieter they were.

And I almost always find that the re-gainers....were super strict, super disciplined, never-touch-a-carb, low calorie extremists.

And it kills me...because the advice to these folks is always the same.....get back on your super strict diet! up your protein! don't touch a carb!

And I'm sitting here shaking my head.

Why do people return to what doesn't work? Over and over and over. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

Don't mean to just pick on our Ketovangelists....there are plenty of Passive Pollys out there who ate junk constantly, never kept track....and wonder why their weight went back up after the honeymoon.

My point is.....if a particular strategy ends in failure.....why in the world would you return to it? Why encourage someone to return to what didn't work longterm?

if the goal is longterm maintenance....why send them back to another stop-gap measure that fails them in the long run?

Ketovangelists....try something different if extremely low cal and carbs doesn't work long term for you! If you eventually lose your mind and fall off the wagon, maybe the wagon you're on doesn't fit. Try something more moderate so you can stay in control long term.

Passive Pollys....try something different! If a total lack of structure is resulting in your surgery being useless.....add some freaking framework to your diet. Work on healthy limits without going completely overboard. Be accountable.

More and more, I believe an addiction to EXTREMISM is what keeps people fat. So many of these folks are either "I must be in COMPLETE CONTROL"...or "I am helpless against my eating"....there's never any middle ground.

Stop with the extremism.

Knock that shite off.

It's hurting you.

How many pounds you gained?

personally I gained 6 pounds this months.. although I am doing crossfit and tons of weight trainning.. Maybe 75% of it is muscle and the remaining 25% is fat due bad habits.. but is never to late to come back to track.. how are your food portions like now?

one more thing to ad.. are you watching your macros? Calories in vs calories out? I would do a yo yo diet removing carbs.. people digest carbs faster than others.. just find your balance tho.. really hope you get back at it.. best of luck

Edited August 4, 20187 yr by Back2fit