Do you have a call your doctor for help weight?

My surgeon said I should have a weight that if I gain that much I need to call for help. I'm trying to decide what that will be. My highest weight was 272, 260 at surgery and currently 140.4. My initial goal was 160, then 150, then 140 and now I'm thinking 136. However, as my mom constantly reminds me, the doc said to stop losing weight at 149. I will be happy maintaining at 140-146. I'm thinking my threshold "get help" weight should be 155. Does anyone else have a number? Has anyone hit that number and asked for help?

Interesting question - I've never really thought about this.  As I'm thinking about it I don't know what my doctor could actually do?  If I'm gaining weight and out of my "comfort zone" it's because I'm doing what I should NOT be doing (eating white flour, sugar, high carbs, not taking vitamins, not drinking enough water, not exercising).  

Is going to my doctor going to change that behavior?  Hmmm....not sure an apointment with him/her would be enough to "scare" me back into good behavior.  Because that's all they can really do.  I'm also not one of those people that somehow "forgets" what to eat or what my plan advised in the very beginning - a topic that always mystifies me when I see it on these boards 

Having said that - my current weight zone is 130-134.  When I hit 135 I know it's time to dial the food back in and look at my behavior and choices.  If I'm not able to do that and my weight continues to climb (which has occurred), I head straight to my therapist and up my OA meetings to 2-3 a week and work more closely with my OA sponsor.  Those actions have proven to be very effective at reining in the beast that is my eating disorder.  Going to my family doc or WL surgeon?  Not so much...

That makes sense to me. Perhaps they think they can help in the same way your therapist of OA does. I live in a small community and I don't have acces to OA. That would be a good question to ask them. Perhaps they plan appointments with the nutritionist or support groups. I am a 5 hour drive from my surgeon though...

OA has dozens and dozens of online and telephone meetings that you can join in on...and you never have to speak if you don't want to   They also have lots of great podcasts out on their website so you can listen to speakers at your convenience.  

My past successful weight loss attempts were always followed by some regain and extreme shame. This would be quickly followed by massive denial and extreme regain.  Isolation ruled the day, no one was allowed in to help.   

Intellectually I know that that regain is nothing to be ashamed of, but wow, when I am in that moment I just can't deal. 

I have been thinking a lot about what is going to be different this time and I think your surgeon's idea may help me.  Having a "call for help number" is objective data so I don't have to depend on my feelings to guide me.  The number should be low enough that I haven't quit weighing myself (ie, denial hasn't set in.) 

Anyhoo, I don't have an answer to your particular question....but thank you for posing the question!

I will chime in to say that contacting my surgical team and working with my surgeon's dedicated MD for post ops did not do me a bit of good to stop my regain. Believe me, I wanted it to, but it did not!

What worked for me and got me back on the losing track was seeing a nutritional counselor and a therapist who specializes in disordered eating. Sadly, I had to hit my bottom after a 30+ pound weight gain. (Happily, I've lost a good chunk of that!)

Regain, in my opinion, is not about not knowing what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat, etc.... It's about the emotional triggers that cause reversion to poor eating habits, which are often followed by the hormonal and physical issues perpetuate poor eating (cravings, insulin reaction, leptin responses, inflammation, etc...) not to mention the emotional cycle that many of us fall prey to after a binge or off plan eating experience. Getting a handle on those things I think will be very important to long term maintenance.

^^^^ A million times - this!  

Wow.  I think having a "call for help" weight is a good idea.  I've never heard that recommended before.  I think it would have to be high enough so that it doesn't get triggered by water retention or  few bad days.  But low enough that I'm not ashamed of myself for blowing it.

I think 10 to 15 pounds up would be my "call for help" number. Right now I'm at 166 which is one pound over my comfort limit.  I try to stay between 160 and 165.

 My NP is very practical and brings a rationality to the weight loss process that I think would help if I started to regain.  I'm going to add this to my weight loss strategies. 

Best wishes,

Carol

From what I have seen over the years at my doc's support group, thirty pounds seems to be a point where most can pull it back and restore semi-normalcy; beyond that it's much more touch and go where some can succeed while others look seriously at a revision to get back on track. On that basis, if one is keeping 5-10 lb as a personal tripwire to get back in line, then something like 15 lb makes some sense to pull the fire alarm and call in some outside help while the problem is still manageable.

i think if i ever get to my goal of 130-135ish then my call for help would be 150 i know when i was in high school once i hit 150 it was all down hill from there