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4.5 years out

I am approximately 4.5 yrs out from sleeve surgery and struggling. I lost 120lbs after surgery. I kept it off until about 10 months ago when I gradually started gaining. I have gained about 50 lbs back and I am distraught about it. I contacted a local bariatric office today for help in getting back on track. I worked so hard to lose those lbs and gaining scares me, I dont want to get back to that 274 lbs. I dont know how to make it stop. I need a support group or friend that has been through my struggles and can understand what I am feeling. Hopefully I can find a bit of that here.
 
I am approximately 4.5 yrs out from sleeve surgery and struggling. I lost 120lbs after surgery. I kept it off until about 10 months ago when I gradually started gaining. I have gained about 50 lbs back and I am distraught about it. I contacted a local bariatric office today for help in getting back on track. I worked so hard to lose those lbs and gaining scares me, I dont want to get back to that 274 lbs. I dont know how to make it stop. I need a support group or friend that has been through my struggles and can understand what I am feeling. Hopefully I can find a bit of that here.
Welcome to the group. I'm sorry to hear that regain is starting to happen. I am only 9 weeks post-op so I haven't been through your struggle but I wanted you to know that you have been heard. We do have people of all different time frames pre and post surgery here so hopefully someone else will be able to give you advice on where to go from here. You can also go through old posts to see if anyone has talked about regain. I would click on the "Search" button on the upper right side of the screen and simply search "regain" to see what others have done and mentioned. I wish you luck on getting back on track. Please let us know if we can help in any way (even for you to vent or celebrate with).
 
I am approximately 4.5 yrs out from sleeve surgery and struggling. I lost 120lbs after surgery. I kept it off until about 10 months ago when I gradually started gaining. I have gained about 50 lbs back and I am distraught about it. I contacted a local bariatric office today for help in getting back on track. I worked so hard to lose those lbs and gaining scares me, I dont want to get back to that 274 lbs. I dont know how to make it stop. I need a support group or friend that has been through my struggles and can understand what I am feeling. Hopefully I can find a bit of that here.
Congratulations on your loss and keeping it off for years! You should be very proud. :)

I think reaching out is a great step in the right direction. Both with this group and with your local bariatric team. I'm only 8 months post-op so I can't offer advice, only encouragement. You are still 70 pounds lighter than you were 4.5 years ago! Think about how thrilled you were to be at this weight when you were loosing! I know that in order to loose, we have to believe we're worth the effort. Try your best to veer away from negative thoughts. Yes, you've stumbled but forgive yourself, you're only human and all is not lost. You're not far from where you were, just a good few months on track and you'll be back at goal. Positive thinking goes a long way even if you have to fake it till you feel it. Please keep writing and keep us updated. I wish you all the best, you can do this!
 
I dont know how to make it stop.
That statement is the key to your problem. You DO know how to make it stop. You've already done it. When you start to say things like I don't know how to do something or other, that's the opposite of an affirmation. That is the way you convince yourself repetitively that you can't do something. That is simply not true.

You need to stop saying that to yourself and look at what has happened to you and how you lost the weight. You didn't lose the weight from having the surgery. You lost it because you changed your eating and your habits. You lost it because you loved the person you were becoming.

That voice in your head is a problem. That voice in your head is your eating disorder and unfortunately no amount of surgery can cut that out. So what you're really struggling with is a battle of will. If you listen to that voice, if you let it get stronger by repeating its negative message, you will gain all your weight back and more.

You definitely do need a support group but you don't need to talk to somebody who has been through what you have been through. It's possible that if you find someone like that, you will enable each other and just go back to your bad old ways. You need to read success stories and you need new things to tell yourself.

The ability to change this lies within you. If you got to heaven and saw all of its beauty and found unspeakable joy, would you ask if you could please go to hell instead? I think that reclaiming your life and getting down to a size you love and health you never had before is heaven.

You're the only person who can fix this, but guess what? You can! Stop pitying yourself and look at the reality of how you were eating before you started to gain back the weight. Then go back there. Do what you know works.

Self-pity is the most dangerous thing you can allow in your life. It will stop you from reaching every goal. Self-pity is the same as saying I don't deserve this. You do! So get back to the way you were eating six months ago or a year ago and as soon as those pounds start to come off, congratulate yourself and keep on going.
 
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