Right after surgery I was able to lose weight faster than a speeding bullet, my restriction was more powerful than a locomotive and my metabolism could easily leap a tall building with a single bound. Today, my kryptonite is time. Time has made me once again a weight loss mortal. I am able to gain weigh even though my diet has remained healthy. I don't lose the weight gained as fast and I am able to eat more. What to do? I actually fore saw this problem.

The first year of my WLS journey when I was researching and going through the process to be approved I went to as many group meetings that I was allowed to attend. I always picked the brain of the people in attendance. Like many on this board they were ALL newbies with the success stories only newbies can tell. Not a single failure in the group. That is until one day a woman showed up and started telling us her story. She was five years out from surgery lost a lot of weight and put most of it back on. She warned everyone that things would change as you get further out from surgery and that it wouldn't necessarily be for the better. She had wished that she did not get caught up in the euphoria of her early success. She said that it's like winning the lottery. One day you have more money than you'd ever dream of having. If you don't plan on saving it you'll go bankrupt. That's what happened to her. She won the weight loss lottery. She lost more weight than she could have dreamed losing. Trouble was, she didn't plan her long term weight loss and now, she went "bankrupt".

As I went through my daily routine I came across others who had WLS and many had indeed gained the weight back. I was in my doctors office and the medical attendant there told me about her failure when I told her that I was going through the process to get approved for WLS. She told me that it creeps up on you. Two pounds turns to four, four to eight than you're back to where you started. You start to Feel helpless and give up. As I went to the group meetings pre and post surgery I noticed not many people stuck around. There were no veterans in the group just eager newbies who can attest to the success of WLS. Seems as if the veterans drift away and either gain the weight back in silence or just get tired of hearing the same stories of success over and over.

I knew that I would probably lose my WLS super powers someday and I had hoped to plan for it. First, I did lose a lot of weight in the mid 90's and I never thought that I'd get back to being obese. I was so wrong. Like my medical attendant experienced, five pounds turned to ten then to 20 and you know the rest. It took me less that four years to gain back the weight and then some. It took another 17 years to get WLS. I decided that I would use every tool that I could in order to keep the weight off and maintain my health. I joined Over Eaters Anonymous. It's another support group away from the support group my surgeon has. I started seeing a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. ( I'm a compulsive over eater) and I have family and friends who have had WLS who I can call to get and give support to. I also weigh myself every week at the same time on the same scale and set a "Red Alert" weight of 160lbs. ( Have a log since the day of my surgery) If I go above the 160 I know that I must redouble my efforts. Here is where my lost WLS super powers comes in. Despite all this I am having a difficult time losing the five pounds that I am over. I feel as if I am now a mere weight loss mortal who has to work two to three times harder to lose and maintain the weight loss.

I can't say it wasn't expected. From all the people I spoke to I knew this day would come. It's that, I was once a WLS immortal and now I have to struggle like all others to lose weight. My saving grace (I hope it is) I planned for it since I went through it before and I took the advice of those who went before me seriously. For all of you newbies who are experiencing the euphoria of being WLS immortal plan for day like me when you lose that super power.

Just a note, there are many who do maintain their WLS super powers. They are on this forum and they are truly superstars. They unfortunately are the exception to the trend. I find their advice to be invaluable and I look for their posts for such advice. To everyone, good luck with your new found health.

this seems to be very common, actually. Most people have a 10-20 lb gain after hitting their lowest weight, and I was prepared for that - but even after that, you have to really start monitoring yourself or you're very likely to gain even more. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that I'll have to diet for the rest of my life or I'm going to put on a bunch of weight. Luckily I figured that out before much damage was done, since it's hard as heck to lose weight now ?

Nice gentle reminder

Thank you for the reminder. I hope the newbies take note.

I had a weight gain due to moving in with my Mom to take care of her. I gained seventy lbs. I have lost forty but am struggling with the thirty left before I make it back to 200 lb. I lost the forty just by moving out of my mom's house away from all her goodies. This last thirty is a killer. I have a lot of issues surrounding food. And dieting often exacerbates them. It tends to be a trigger for me. So how do I diet with out dieting is my constant struggle.

The newbie should not be scared away they just need to take note that the struggle isn't over just because you lost the weight. I so wish it had.

this is something ive been scared of since i joined this forum -- regaining weight. when i did my pre-op class, there was a woman who was going back through the process and it's .. scary. i do tend to recognize my unhealthy habits now better than before.. I managed to lose 70 lbs from keto 2 years ago and gained all, and more of it back. im almost 50lbs down from surgery, but the stalls come so easily.

i know that this is a lifelong commitment.. i understand that.. and it's hard to see much further than the end of the day for me sometimes. But this forum is a good place to be reminded that life doesn't end when the weight is gone..

Agree with the rest - Thank you for the reminder! I'm new to this and definitely DON'T want this to be all for nothing.

Things to really think about. I'm pre-op, and doing a ton of research, thinking, and reflection on past attempts. I think I have a lot of anger around my weight. Mostly about that thin people seem to be able to eat whatever tf they want, but if I eat the same things, I gain. It's frustrating that I see to have gotten dealt the crap lot. I've lost 90 lbs a few times in my life, and always gain it back plus some. I'm at my highest weight ever now, and am at the point where I can't exercise to help get it off anymore (pain from fibromyalgia and a screwed up foot). I need the WLS just so I can exercise again. Now that I've hit the highest point (weight), I feel like I'm at the lowest point (mentally). Just writing that right now made me cry [emoji17]

what most successful long-term vets seem to do is to set an acceptable weight range for themselves - and if they see themselves going over that, it's all hands on deck until they get back into range again (with ideally a little wiggle room). It's a lot easier to take off five lbs than it is 50. So that's what I do now. I know it's easy to gain because I spent a month in India last fall and came back about five lbs over range. I had no access to scale while I was there, and although I wasn't eating like a pig, I ate more than I would if I was home. And...it showed. It was a bear to get off, so I learned my lesson...

GREAT POST!!

I definitely have this anxiety about gaining the weight back. Im 15 months out and no im still in a bit of a safe zone, but like you i took note of people before me who were successful and also those who failed. Ive noticed a lot of people who have failed, 1. didnt change their eating habits, only ate less while the restriction was in place and just counted on that, and 2. didnt incorporate a workout routine to stick too.

I also dont look at how i eat now as a being on a "diet" but rather this is just how i eat now. I notice how my "normal" friends eat and realized how bad i really ate when i was obese. i was always confused when i would go out to eat and my buddy would get fish and not that big juicy burger. and why did he always have leftovers and i didnt. it was crazy to me when i sit back and look at it now. having a healthy relationship with food has made everyday easier and im enjoying it very much, but i think ill always have a little of that anxiety of going back to who i was. but i know if i keep up with working out 5-6 days a week and keeping a balanced clean diet ill be ok. I just have to stick to it.

5 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

what most successful long-term vets seem to do is to set an acceptable weight range for themselves - and if they see themselves going over that, it's all hands on deck until they get back into range again (with ideally a little wiggle room). It's a lot easier to take off five lbs than it is 50. So that's what I do now. I know it's easy to gain because I spent a month in India last fall and came back about five lbs over range.

This is part of my game plan as well.

Thank you for this post. I am still in the approval process for a sleeve but my biggest fear is not losing or losing and gaining back again. I too lost 70 pounds on weight watchers about 15 years ago and swore I would never be fat again yet here I am. 3 miscarriages and years of unbalanced thyroid hormones and probably depression from the situation led to this but what doesn't kill us makes us stronger and more determined right?

One thing I was thankful for was that in my WL surgical center's WLS support group, there was such a great mix of both veterans and newbies.

Our moderator for instance, was a veteran was was almost twenty years out, and kept her weight off! We had a lot of veterans that were more than a decade out and managed to keep their weight off, and I found that to be incredibly inspiring.

I'm only eight (almost nine) months out, but the most important thing I've learned from veterans was to never fall back into old habits. We had a required reading assignment of "How to Self-Soother Without Food" and were given a ton of handouts about the different kinds of overeating. The most important thing I learned was understanding your root for overeating and triggers. For example, I overate as a way to cope with C-PTSD. Others overate to cope with loss (one lady for instance, started overeating after losing her daughter to childhood cancer), a bad breakup, etc. Then there were those who were just triggered by the smells of unhealthy foods, like anything fried, etc. The key thing is to understand your root(s) and triggers and sticking to those new lifestyle changes in order to prevent going to back to bad habits.

Anyways, I'm probably just rambling and probably don't have a place to say anything yet since I'm still technically a new post-op.

Good luck to you!

8 hours ago, JAKE H said:

I also dont look at how i eat now as a being on a "diet" but rather this is just how i eat now. I notice how my "normal" friends eat and realized how bad i really ate when i was obese. i was always confused when i would go out to eat and my buddy would get fish and not that big juicy burger. and why did he always have leftovers and i didnt.

you're right. I don't know if I've mentioned this on this forum before (I know I have somewhere, but..not sure where), but during the few months before I had WLS, I watched what my female co-workers ate for lunch in the break room. There were a couple who typically ate what I would have called a "normal" lunch - sandwich, chips, and a couple of cookies. Or some takeout meal - like a sandwich. sub, or burger and fries. But a majority of them usually had what I would have considered (and STILL consider), "diet" food. For example, a sandwich and an apple. Or a thing of yogurt and half a bagel with cream cheese (or maybe a whole one of those "skinny" bagels with cream cheese). I just came to the conclusion that a lot of normal-weight women eat like that most of the time - and that the two I mentioned who ate more were probably really active or were blessed with really good metabolism (I know men can eat more - but still, I bet most normal-weight men don't eat as much as we think they do). So anyway, that's what I consider "dieting" for the rest of my life. Eating like these never-been-obese women. I'm five years out from surgery, and that's pretty much the way I eat now, too.

Thank you all for sharing. I’m only a week post op and regaining is one of my biggest fears.

8 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

There were a couple who typically ate what I would have called a "normal" lunch - sandwich, chips, and a couple of Cookies. Or some takeout meal - like a sandwich. sub, or burger and fries. But a majority of them usually had what I would have considered (and STILL consider), "diet" food. For example, a sandwich and an apple. Or a thing of yogurt and half a bagel with cream cheese .

Interesting. I'd consider a sandwich with fruit and/or vegetables/small salad or pickles on the side as a "normal lunch". Or a sandwich with a yoghurt as dessert. It's a common thing to bring with you to the office and a popular choice at the cafeteria if one doesn't like what's offered for warm lunch that day.

The combination of sandwich, chips and cookies for lunch sounds weird to a German. The burger/fries or other fast food combo is the "unhealthy but tasty" occasional choice for lunch for most people I work with.

I really like the idea of having a “red alert” weight. When I regained weight before WLS I would get frustrated and give up because it always felt like starting over. I let it get so far out of hand that it *was* starting over. I never halted myself quickly enough.