9 years out up 40lbs

Any advice on how to get back on track? I'm to the point I can eat everything, with the exception of ice cream and more than a few bites of sugary foods. A coworker told me she has a revision to make the pouch smaller? Has anyone else done it? Did insurance cover it? I need to get back to heathy! My BP is back up and my arthritis and back pain are worse than ever!

Any advice and direction would be greatly appreciated!

My two cents would be to encourage you to start working with a nutritionist on a regular basis.  He or she will be able to give you all sorts of pointers on ways for you to eat more healthily.  If you think it'd help, start going to support groups again as well.  Not sure what kind of exercise regimen you're on, but find out from a doc what's a safe level for you and find ways to motivate yourself to get that much in.  Keep reading and posting, and try to remember how much motivation you had to make healthy choices during the period you were losing/maintaining. 

I would suggest going back to basics: a protein forward diet (with protein first at every meal) with limited carbs, drink lost of water (but never with or right after meals), and controlled portions (measure them if you need to, because it is VERY easy to let the portion sizes creep up as time passes).  I would also suggest tracking for food for a little while to make sure you really know what, and how much, you are eating and how many calories and carbs you are taking in.  The same eating plan that got the weight off the first time will get it off again.

it is unlikely that there is anything wrong with the size of your pouch.  If you exercise portion control (you don't NEED to eat until you feel completely full), even if your pouch is slightly larger than "typical", the exact size of your pouch doesn't matter very much.  The problem is more likely the food you are taking in versus the calories you are burning.  How many calories a day do you eat?  How much protein?  How much exercise?  Most people can see where the problem is if they track each of these things for a week or so.  

I am coming up on 6 years out and I know how easy it is to have the portion sizes creep up, to let too many carbs or snacks creep back in, to make too many questionable food choices (I can eat all but 3 things -- onion rings, apple skins, and the membrane around citrus fruit segments -- so I can even eat ice cream (up to somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 a cup before I feel sick)  so sometimes I find myself choosing something higher in fat or calories too often and have to reign myself back in when the scale starts to creep up.

Lora

I am 3 years out and have put on 30lbs. I and my husband are back to basics tomorrow. We have prepared and bought everything we need to start the week off right. Good luck to the both of us.

I can't speak from experience as I've not yet had the surgery.... but from what I've seen on these very helpful message boards, when people say they need to get back on track, the veterans tell them to go back to the basics. Start eating & exercising like you just had the surgery done. Good luck !!!

Thanks everyone!  It's hard!  Working in front of a computer all day was the start of my gain!  I'm joining a Lu ch time walk group and start with some protein shakes. They seem to help keep me fuller longer!  I'm sure ill be back for more advice and moral support!

To be that many years out and have controlled your weight to the point you have...you are to be congratulated.  Nine years is a long time.

I know it is not easy sitting all day before a computer.  I do not drive and spend most days inside, with the exception when I walk.

These are some of the most helpful tips I've learned from the Vets here. Perhaps they might work for you as well.

Simple carbs, bad carbs, create cravings in many of us.  I am profoundly amazed how controlled my hunger becomes when I faithfully limit things like breade, crackers, chips, white rice, pasta, white potatoes, sugar, high glycemic fruit, high carb cereal.  When I purge my body of bad carbs, and limit all carbs, I am not bothered by hunger, and the scale begins to move downward again.

I must move my body each and every day.  For me that means walking.  My surgeon said 30 minutes per day for the rest of my life.  He said good food choices every day for the rest of my life.  This was a tool, and he said if I did not conform, I would regin and there would be nothing left to be done.

I have found the longer I wait to drink following eating and the longer I wait to drink prior to eating, the better/longer fullness lasts.

Another point another Vet made years ago was never let 5 become 50.  She is many years out, and 3 pounds is her max regain at all times.  I set mine to 5-6, but even that can get out of hand.  When you consider how far you have come, 40 pounds is doable.  Do a search on OH looking for posts by those who have lost 40 or more from regain.  They have great advice.

For me the truth is wen I regain, it is entirely my fault.  I have no one or nothing to blame.  It is always quality and quantity and lack of exercise.  I will be 4 years out this Fall, and losing regain can be difficult if I don't eliminate carbs, drastically eliminate them.

Like one said, working with a nutritionist would be very helpful.  Log your food...every bite.  It's amazing how quickly a bite here and there adss up. 

You can do this.