Hi everyone,

I'm new here and would love any tips or advice. I had the gastric sleeve done in August of 2017. At first I did great, but after 18 months i stopped losing my BMI never even got to overweight status. Now I'm struggling with regain, and I'm finding myself back on yo yo dieting. I lost 110 lbs and I regained 20 lbs already. It's really upsetting, I don't want to go back to a BMI of 52. If anyone ever dealt with this please tell me what worked for you.

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Have you talked to your doctor or RD? Maybe it's time for a tune-up and check-up? Believe me, they want to know these things are happening to you while you are still at 20lbs regain rather than 120lbs.

Are you weighing and measuring and logging your food?

Why do you think you are regaining and didn't make it to the BMI you wanted? Do you have any underlying medical conditions that were unresolved by the surgery? Are you on any meds? What is your age, activity level, etc. So many questions!

We want to help. Start by filling out your profile and giving us a couple samples of your daily food intake...

it's unfortunately happened to a lot of people - and I know if I wasn't super diligent with closely monitoring my weight and logging everything I put in my mouth, it could easily happen to me as well.

if you're not still tracking your food, get back to doing it. And get back to eating what made you lose weight in the first place (NOT all the way back to liquid or soft food diets - but protein first, then veggies, then, if you have room, a serving of fruit or "good" carbs, like whole grains. And watch those calories!)

Fluffy's suggestion about seeing your surgeon and/or RD is a good one - they may be able to work with you as well. And she's also right in that 20 lbs is not 120 lbs. Twenty pounds you can lose. Losing 120 lbs esp this far out would be a huge struggle. Get on it before it gets too out of hand!

I'm in no position to give advice because I am currently losing and I'm also a newly sleeve patient. I can tell you that I've spent a good amount of time on this forum and I've learned a few things from the vets:

1. Food logging is vital! I've noticed that the ones who maintain years out are still logging their food. They're able to see what they are doing wrong if there's a gain and catch it quick. Basically they have more control of their weight. I've already accepted the fact that Ill most likely be tracking for many, many, many, years lol.
2. Keeping up with your appointments is just as important. I've read that a lot of maintainers see their surgeon once or twice a year just to check in.
3. What @FluffyChix and @catwoman7 said! I see a lot of maintainers weigh their food still and eat as if they are still losing (protein, veggies, fruit/good carbs in that order)
4. Lots of maintainers weigh themselves on the same day every week. I've also read that some even weigh themselves everyday so that they can control any spikes in weight gain.
5. Maintainers are doing some kind of physical activity every week or more.

Once again I am in NO POSITION to give you advice so please don't take it that way. These are just my observations from reading this forum. I'm hoping to observe and learn more so that I can be just as successful as them at keeping the weight off. Obesity is a disease and it should be treated as such, constant thought and action for the rest of our lives.

10 minutes ago, MarvelGirl25 said:

Obesity is a disease and it should be treated as such, constant thought and action for the rest of our lives.

^^^^^This is truly profound. It IS a multi-factoral disease recognized by the AMA and ASMBS (sp? chemo brain catching me) and insurance board. Most bariatricians and bariatric surgeons readily admit (when asked) that this is a disease (obesity) and once MO and some say overweight not even obese, you will battle it for your entire life or suffer regain.

So it's a case for us of being in a state of NED (like with my Stage 3C BC). I can never say I was cured. This surgery does not offer a cure. It offers a brief 3-5 year window to reset your body's metabolic thermostat to defend a lower set point. But the body is smart and wants to get back to the state it knows. Some studies show that the microvilli increase post RNY and DS to ease the malabsorption and take in more nutrients. All studies show as we heal, we are able to eat more and more and more volume to the point of 5 years out most of us will be eating at our pre-surgery volumes (or just about).

That's why Dr. Weiner says that we should never buy into the myth of restriction and malabsorption. It's why we MUST learn new skills and behaviors with food and use the time to develop new food preferences and new gut biomes that crave more good foods than bad.

So at best we are in Remission or NED (no evidence of disease). And the longer we can trick our body into staying in that state, the more chance we have of long term success. It's like pulling weeds. Pulling a couple of weeds each week? Meh. Totes doable. Weeding a 1 acre garden? Total bull crap! LOL. It will take huge effort!

Thanks for the advice I will definitely make another appointment with my surgeon. As far as my eating habits are concerned I have been slacking. I find it really difficult to eat right. I'm a picky eater, and if I'm ever in a rush and have to grab something I usually just grab a bag of chips. Those calories really add up!!! Any tips for picky eaters ? I hate feeling like I'm on a diet again and just want to be "normal". Also which app is the best for food diary ? The fact that other people care and answer has motivated me to get back on track. Like all of you have said taking action now at 20 lbs regain is definitely better than letting my weight spiral up.

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3 minutes ago, chayarg said:

Thanks for the advice I will definitely make another appointment with my surgeon. As far as my eating habits are concerned I have been slacking. I find it really difficult to eat right. I'm a picky eater, and if I'm ever in a rush and have to grab something I usually just grab a bag of chips. Those calories really add up!!! Any tips for picky eaters ? I hate feeling like I'm on a diet again and just want to be "normal". Also which app is the best for food diary ? The fact that other people care and answer has motivated me to get back on track. Like all of you have said taking action now at 20 lbs regain is definitely better than letting my weight spiral up.

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I too am a picky eater. I just try and eat protein and if I'm craving something I go for a healthy version. I absolutely LOVE pizza so I get quest protein pizza or chicken crust pizza. If I'm in a rush I do beef jerky or similar.