Maintenance Struggles

Alright, alright, alright. I know it's been a long time. I'm sorry. But let me take a moment and share with you a maintenance story. This story is relevant for everyone (gastric bypass or not):

As anyway who has read my blog knows, I've been sitting between 207-215 lbs for a long time. My scary weight is set at 220 lbs. I'm now 2.5 years out from surgery and I'm eating like a normal person. I can eat anything I want. If I eat too much bread, it sits like a dead weight in me and if I eat too much sugar, it gives me a sharp pain inside... but really otherwise I can eat.

PROBLEMS/DISCOVERIES:
1. If I eat sugar my body gets rid of it fast and then I get the shakes until I eat something real.
2. Some of my bad eating habits are rising up again.
a. Eating more at night
b. Eating more than I should
c. Eating when I'm bored
3. It's much more difficult to maintain portion control. I struggle with this a lot.

RECENT EVENTS:
1. About two months ago I hit 220 lbs. Granted I was wearing clothes but it was slap in the face. I spent a week trying to eat better and focusing on the water. It was a quick trip back down to 213 lbs.
2. Recently I weighed (naked) at 217.2. Eek!!! I know to some that will seem silly.. to be freaking out over the gain of 4 lbs but it's traumatic!!!! It's time to jump on it before it gets up any higher. So now I'll tell you the story of the last day or so....

STORY:
Yesterday (11/2), I tried really hard all day to eat better and drink a lot of water. I ended the day having chomped on approximately 1600 calories and guzzling approximately 80 ounces of water. Not too bad.
Today (11/3), I find myself at 10:08am MT having swallowed approximately 200 calories and just starting imbibing my first 32 ounces of water.

Interestingly enough, yesterday was fairly difficult but having gotten through it pretty well, I find that today is much better. The REASON? Because I had allowed simple carbs (breads, pasta, sugars) to get into my diet. Whenever that happens my body acts like an addict (well, because I am) and it throws a temper tantrum anytime I try to get away from those things again. Each day I stay away.. the stronger I get, the less the withdrawals, and the quicker I'm going to lose back down to the range I want to be at.

SAVING GRACE
My saving grace is that I still haven't had any fast food (other than the occasional taco or taquito from Taco Bell since March 2007. In that same time I haven't had any soda pop either. One thing I've learned about maintenance is that it's EASY EASY EASY to start eating bad. That's why you have to catch yourself anytime you gain a few pounds. So you can put back into play all the GOOD habits you learned while losing the weight. It's tough enough at that point. I can't even imagine how tough it would be if I let myself slide 20-30 lbs upward before jumping in. And I don't ever want to find out.

I expect that within a week (to 10 days) I'll be back down around 210-213 lbs. Until then I'm going to be testing my mental strength and reinforcing the knowledge I gained when losing weight: my mind can overcome my body's addiction for food.