Ive talked to quite a few fellow gastric bypass patients recently and we all have one thing in common: About the third year after gastric bypass we get hungry. And we eat more. And weight starts to creep back on. In the worst case a patient regains so much weight a revision surgery is required to again reduce the stomach size and facilitate weight loss. In the best case, the patient catches the problem early and reverses the trend.

In my third year out when this happened to me and I saw the scale jump ten pounds I called my counselor at my bariatric center. She told me Get Back-to-Basics immediately. She recommended that for ten days I eat like a post-op newbie. Jell-o, chicken broth, soft-cooked eggs. No solids. Lots of liquids. No snacking. Take my vitamins. Drink lots of water.

I was so terrified of regaining the weight that I followed her directions exactly. She told me, You have already done this once when you had surgery. You certainly can do it again, and this time you are much healthier. She was right!

The first day was hell. I was hungry and crabby. The second day was not as painful. By the third day Back-to-Basics was routine. By the tenth day my weight was down 7 pounds, my body felt lighter and happier. I felt unpolluted. Best of all, my tiny pouch seemed to be tighter and less tolerant of over-filling and thats a very good thing! I was eating like a newbie again, recommitted to following the four rules and succeeding after weight loss surgery.

Now, to be honest, Ive had to employ this technique more than once to get myself back on track and avoid weight regain. Sometimes Ill go Back-to-Basics for a long weekend, just to refresh and rejuvenate my body. I like the power the mindfulness of Back-to-Basics gives me, the complete awareness of my body and its needs. I like being able to remind my mind and body of this powerful bariatric tool. I like that when I do see a weight gain I can quickly get it under control by employing past practice that I know works.

Are you in your third year and hungry? Give the Back-to-Basics a try.

Copyright 2005 Kaye Bailey - All Rights Reserved.

Kaye Bailey

An award winning journalist and former newspaper editor Kaye Bailey brings expertise in writing and personal experience with gastric bypass surgery to EzineArticles.com. Ms. Bailey developed a passion for writing at an early age. As a teenager she found writing her feelings about obesity helped her cope in a world that is often cruel to overweight children and adults alike.

Ms. Bailey says she found out she was fat in kindergarten when another child told her she was fat. ?I didn?t even know what fat was but I could tell it was bad and I didn?t want to be fat. Until that day I had been unaware I was different. But there I was, a five-year-old girl sitting cross-legged on the floor learning a new word that would define me.?

At age 33 she underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. For the first time in her life after multiple failed diet attempts she lost weight. She said the decision to have surgery took courage, nerve, and a little bit of plain old faith. But she learned surgery was the easy part. Dealing with newfound emotions, struggling with food choices and fighting to keep from regaining weight were unexpected bumps in the road following massive weight loss with surgery.

Having spent most of her life overweight Ms. Bailey is strongly empathetic toward the obese, particularly overweight children. This compassion compelled her to found the website LivingAfterWLS.com, a fast-growing resource of information, understanding and support for the weight loss surgery community. While weight loss surgery is publicly perceived as an easy fix to obesity Ms. Bailey maintains the struggles after surgery challenge the vigor of even the most dedicated individual. As WLS becomes more readily available patients are finding there is a lack of long-term aftercare and support from bariatric centers.

The LivingAfterWLS.com site is complimented with daily blog. The blog, livingafterwls.blogspot.com offers readers the chance to comment or leave feedback about fresh content added daily. This site contains success stories and recipes as well as general information and WLS inspired topics. Complementing the site is a monthly newsletter titled ?You Have Arrived? available exclusively to people who subscribe through the website or the blog. The path forward includes community forums, nutrition and fitness tracking tools.

Ms. Bailey makes her home on a ranch in the Rocky Mountains with her husband of eight years who has been her consort in life after WLS.