Gastric Bypass Surgery Support Group
Gastric bypass (GBP) is any of a group of similar operative procedures used to treat morbid obesity, a condition which arises from severe accumulation of excess weight in the form of fatty tissue, and the health problems ("co-morbidities") which result. If you are considering gastric bypass or have had it, join the community where we share our experiences and find support.
How do you address regain?
For me, I realized early on that when I slack off on drinking all my water, my weight pops up. The other thing I realized was that when I stop eating 5-6 times a day that my body thinks it is starving and goes into conserve and save mode, and the weight goes up. Eating a little something regularly keeps the metabolism going. I take all kinds of snacks to work with me like cheese, nuts, veggies, fruit, and pre prepared foods to nibble on throughout the day. And in between I drink water. I've also worked to move past the diet mentality of depriving, going without, cutting back, or cutting out. Instead I focus on adding back in what works. When I add back in what I know works, then the less healthy eating just seems to fade away, including sugar cravings. This works, I'm down 5 pounds!
One of the keys is not beating myself for eating something or craving something. So often people spend so much time judging themselves, beating themselves, berating themselves, and verbally abusing themselves, they get locked into a downward spiral and perpetuate the cycle through emotional eating. A huge part of this journey is learning how to say no to what (or who) doesn't serve us well, and learning to say yes to what does serves us well. Self abuse does not serve us, love and loving kindness does.
Louise Hay is a big proponent of doing mirror work. Look in the mirror and notice what you see. What does your mind want to judge? What hateful, critical words come to mind? Notice these, get protective, and say, "Hey, don't you talk to her/him like that"! Tell that person in the mirror how much you love her/him and praise them for what is good, wonderful, and special about them.
All this said, you may have noticed that I haven't mentioned increasing exercise. From all my studies I have learned that overexercising can stress an already stressed body even more, which will then affect weight because of an over active fight or fight system. Sometimes less is more. I am a walker and am involved in all kinds of home improvement projects that can be very physical. Great workouts! My work is also physical. I love this kind of exercise! Life exercise! It works for me with my physical needs and limitations. Others greatly value formal exercise programs. Whatever works, just exercise smart.
And talking about stress; stress can be detrimental not only to our health, it affects our weight and the ability to shed weight. Addressing the stress factors in our lives and actively doing something about them is very important. In many cases, stress needs to be addressed first before you can even begin to address the weight gain. Journaling, counseling, relaxing techniques, mindfulness, and movement styles such as stretching, yoga and tai chi can help to bring stress levels down. Adrenal supplements are also wonderful. When I hit year 3, a LOT was going on and I was totally overwhelmed with the stress. It took a year to get my stressed body ready to even begin to address regain.
Regain is not just about food. It is a about life and relationship, and how we respond or react to life and relationships. When we react, we move into stress mode which adds to regain. When we react, we make unhealthy food choices. When we step back and look at what is going on in our lives and consciously focus on responding to life and relationship, then things can shift and we can move ahead. There is a big difference between reacting out of old habitual reactions, and responding with conscious thoughtful responses. Reacting keeps us stuck in the past, the past patterns and habits. Responding lets us choose our responses and helps take us into the future.
Wow, I guess I needed to do a little writing this morning. Hope this wasn't too long. It just came out and I kept writing.
So, how do those of you who have reached your goals address your regains?
For me, I realized early on that when I slack off on drinking all my water, my weight pops up. The other thing I realized was that when I stop eating 5-6 times a day that my body thinks it is starving and goes into conserve and save mode, and the weight goes up. Eating a little something regularly keeps the metabolism going. I take all kinds of snacks to work with me like cheese, nuts, veggies, fruit, and pre prepared foods to nibble on throughout the day. And in between I drink water. I've also worked to move past the diet mentality of depriving, going without, cutting back, or cutting out. Instead I focus on adding back in what works. When I add back in what I know works, then the less healthy eating just seems to fade away, including sugar cravings. This works, I'm down 5 pounds!
One of the keys is not beating myself for eating something or craving something. So often people spend so much time judging themselves, beating themselves, berating themselves, and verbally abusing themselves, they get locked into a downward spiral and perpetuate the cycle through emotional eating. A huge part of this journey is learning how to say no to what (or who) doesn't serve us well, and learning to say yes to what does serves us well. Self abuse does not serve us, love and loving kindness does.
Louise Hay is a big proponent of doing mirror work. Look in the mirror and notice what you see. What does your mind want to judge? What hateful, critical words come to mind? Notice these, get protective, and say, "Hey, don't you talk to her/him like that"! Tell that person in the mirror how much you love her/him and praise them for what is good, wonderful, and special about them.
All this said, you may have noticed that I haven't mentioned increasing exercise. From all my studies I have learned that overexercising can stress an already stressed body even more, which will then affect weight because of an over active fight or fight system. Sometimes less is more. I am a walker and am involved in all kinds of home improvement projects that can be very physical. Great workouts! My work is also physical. I love this kind of exercise! Life exercise! It works for me with my physical needs and limitations. Others greatly value formal exercise programs. Whatever works, just exercise smart.
And talking about stress; stress can be detrimental not only to our health, it affects our weight and the ability to shed weight. Addressing the stress factors in our lives and actively doing something about them is very important. In many cases, stress needs to be addressed first before you can even begin to address the weight gain. Journaling, counseling, relaxing techniques, mindfulness, and movement styles such as stretching, yoga and tai chi can help to bring stress levels down. Adrenal supplements are also wonderful. When I hit year 3, a LOT was going on and I was totally overwhelmed with the stress. It took a year to get my stressed body ready to even begin to address regain.
Regain is not just about food. It is a about life and relationship, and how we respond or react to life and relationships. When we react, we move into stress mode which adds to regain. When we react, we make unhealthy food choices. When we step back and look at what is going on in our lives and consciously focus on responding to life and relationship, then things can shift and we can move ahead. There is a big difference between reacting out of old habitual reactions, and responding with conscious thoughtful responses. Reacting keeps us stuck in the past, the past patterns and habits. Responding lets us choose our responses and helps take us into the future.
Wow, I guess I needed to do a little writing this morning. Hope this wasn't too long. It just came out and I kept writing.
So, how do those of you who have reached your goals address your regains?
Regain and knowing how and when to deal with it is the essential key to successful maintenance, and in my view, maintenance is where the real challenge begins.
I gained ten count em pounds. Dropped one, nine to go. My plan thereafter, so to make the necessary adjustment anytime the scale shows a two pound increase that stays around for a week.
I think the reason I gained was because I stopped weighing myself every morning, so I'm back to that habit now. To make it easy, I moved the scale into my bedroom, right beside the closet, so now I stop on the scale before I dress. For me, it's an essential habit to remain self-aware. :)