Almost 3 years out, still struggle with regain & the scale gives me the evil eye!!!

Yes, I have crossed into the realm of normal. Thanks for the compliments the best part is I am wearing jeans smaller than my skinny daughter. I will always need to watch my carbs. I don't think of food when I am in my routine but take me out of my routine--I struggle.

Keep sharing!

Love this post because I'm struggling to find balance in maintenance and  in weight loss mode again because of regain!!!  It sucks!!!  This is all getting in the way of living my life!!! lol. I'm loving it!  I just am not happy that my body is not responding how I'd like it too.  Last summer, when I gained it came off quickly...this time...not so fast.  It's lingering and I don't like it but evidently  I'm not  not liking it enough to do something about it.  I can eat a few chips and gain... So does that mean I can never eat chips again???  I think you're right about the weighing part...I'm have been seriously thinking about hiding the scale and weighing once a week or maybe once a month.  It's a mind game for sure! All we can do is keep on...Slim is a wise women!  Hang in there, Jenn!  We are in a better place then before...I'm in this with you for sure.  I will get this 10# off and will try to get a little lower just because.  My body is fighting it all the way and apparently so I am!!  lol 

I hear you on everything. Still experiencing life is a better person made this journey so worthwhile. But the scale thing, I mean it. I also think I need to wait less than a week at a time because not even a week at a time is showing me the results I want to see. It is so frustrating when I'm eating less than 900 cal a day in the scale doesn't move.  I seriously sometimes do not understand why it is so different. I know I'm not eating 500 cal a day anymore but people I know who attempt to lose weight are eating about 1200 to 1400 cal a day and losing weight. Granted, it's slower than we used to.  I just have to except that I'm going to feel deprived in my diet and maybe see 1 pound or two lost a week. It really is back to the way it is before. I'm okay with it. It's not like I gained all this way into weeks so I don't expect to lose it all in two weeks.  It's a good thing you were catching your Regain at only 10 pounds. It is doable but I really do feel that 10 pounds should be the red zone for most people. Once it gets more than that, it really is hard to get the weight off.

I have faith in you to do this. Keep us posted!  :)

Hi Jenn, 

I just want you to know that I feel your pain.  Regain sucks and it does seem to get worse the further out we get.  I have to watch what I eat, how often I eat and drinking my calories all the time. It ticks me off, but I hate the alternative even more.  I love your honesty and your "realness" and I believe in you.  I believe in your ability to keep trying....that's all any of us can do.  Hugs my friend.  (ditch the protein drinks and eat lean protein, couldn't help myself, sorry).  :)

Thank you Elina for chiming in. The main reason why I decided to go back to protein shakes was only because it seems to be easier with my current schedule. I'm extremely busy with working long days at work and being a single mom. Plus I'm in the process of moving and it is just so much easier to make a protein shake in the morning and for dinner, that's why I chose that route. I was really hoping just to kick start my diet and just make things a little easier to where I didn't have to think about it as much. I am really more in favor of dense protein myself but I kind of overdosed on that lately. It just didn't seem to be working for me or I just felt like I needed a break. But isn't it funny how now I feel like I'm already sick of shakes just one week after drinking them.  I'll never give up. That is one thing I know for sure at this point in my life. I'm not sure if it's because I'm older and I feel like this is the last chance that I have to get healthy. I may not be a spring chicken but I still feel young enough to live life even better than I did when I was 20 years old. :)

You know what...you're about the most genuine person I've ever encountered and I love you for it.  Thanks for your honesty and the sharing the brutal reality you're facing.  I hope that as I continue on through loss and maintenance I can be as real as you are!  You're awesome!

Tricia, you're going to make me cry! I sound like such a wuss but I guess I'm in just in a fragile state of mind lately. So much is going on yet I realize that I have neglected myself because of the stressful times I've been in but also at the same time realize that more than ever I need to take care of myself. It's so easy to get off track and stay there and just give up. I don't want to get up and I don't plan to. Thank you for your kind words.  They meant a lot to me!

I hear you!  I'm sorry for your stress.  I don't know what's up w/ me lately or if it's just that I've hit that 6 month mark but I see how those old habits want to creep back in.  I haven't given in, yet, but I'm still riding the loss.  Even so, they're there.  I feel them all of the time and I have to work to overcome old desires.  So being 3 years out - I just can't imagine how hard it is to stay on track when life keeps getting in the way.  Keep fighting the fight.  You're doing it a day at a time and you're dragging us all along behind you.  Some of us are starting to kick and scream a bit so thanks for the warnings and the heads ups and the encouragements!

Jenn,

I had surgery in 2007 and have had my ups and downs.  Some people love their protein shakes.  I have not had one for about five years.  The first thing my NUT told me to do when I asked about regain was to get rid of the protein shakes and eat real food.  Protein shakes are good for getting nourishment in when we are newly post-op and not able to eat enough food.

But later on it is a great way to add a lot of calories in a short time.  You can get a protein shake down faster than a plate of meat.  The dense protein keeps me full a lot longer than a shake would.  I also don't do the Greek yogurt now or other slider foods.  I concentrate on lean protein and high fiber. 

I do weigh every single morning and know about the two pound gains after a day of particularly low calorie when I expect a reward from the scale.  I can no longer do quick weight loss.  I have managed at times to get off one pound a week by staying at 800 calories, but that weight comes back when I try to go back to normal eating.

What does work for me now is a half pound a week of loss.  For me that come to 1150 calories a day and I can do that without too much trouble.  I have lost all of my interest in sugary foods.  I also don't like pizza anymore.  That feels like I need therapy in a family that really worships their pizza. 

I go to If It Fits Your Macros http://iifym.com and compute my calories, fat, carbs, protein needs.  Then I use My Fitness Pal to put those goals in and to track.  My maintenance calories are 1400.  So cutting 250 a day does give me a half pound a week in loss.

Knowing that I am working towards my goal helps a lot.  Maybe losing ten pounds is going to take me twenty weeks, but what else do I have to do?  I bet if you stay at that 800 calories for a week you will see a pound off on the scale.

Omg.  Actually I am only giggling because eating 800 cals a day is looking like 1 pound a week & that's a crying shame, lol!!!

I swear, it seem like when I got closer to goal I was still losing at least 2-3 pounds a week at 800 cal a day. See how crazy this is when you're this far out?

Thank you so much for your input. I really am going to take it to heart. The reason why I was bringing back the protein shakes & Greek yogurt mostly was to cure my sweet tooth. Honestly, I don't think either one of them is helping me to be honest. I almost feel like I will be better off eating a hard-boiled egg in the morning for breakfast. It won't stuff me but all feel satisfied enough to wait until lunch time if I really have to.  As low-calorie as my Greek yogurt seems to be, it really doesn't seem to be helping. I keep thinking I would just give it more time but I really don't seem to be benefiting from it.

These bariatric advantage shakes were very expensive. About $70 for two flavors so I will eventually finish them up but I think I will go back to maybe just substituting one meal instead of two. Or who knows maybe I'll just drink them when I feel I am short on time.

My sister is a dietitian and she was concerned about the quantity of meat I was eating at one time because sometimes I would not be eating vegetables with my protein. So then I started to switch it up by making sure I always have some type of protein with vegetable that way I wasn't eating as much protein at one time. I guess I was just trying to switch it up really but I really do feel like dense protein is the way to go. Again thank you for chiming in.  Those of you further out can give me the insight I need.  :)