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I often tell patients, “The surgery does what the surgery does.” What I mean by this is that weight loss surgery almost certainly will affect how much food you can eat, but may do little to change what you eat. Weight loss surgery does not make you suddenly crave healthier and less caloric food. You have to make those choices for yourself. Additionally, while losing weight may make it easier for you to adopt a more active lifestyle, surgery itself will not make you suddenly fall in love with exercise. So making health behavior changes in addition to having surgery remains critical. So what specific health behavior changes have been shown to improve outcome? 1. Document what you eat – Many people strongly dislike writing down what they eat but there is evidence that this helps people after weight loss surgery as it does with non-surgical approaches. The reason is likely that documenting what you eat gives you valuable information about your behavior and allows you to make changes when necessary. Consider that your actual weight is the end product of what you eat, so weighing yourself gives you the results, but not the information necessary to make changes. For many, weighing themselves is a pass-fail exam. Either I’m a good boy or a bad boy. Consider that you can’t actually change your weight…you change what you eat and/or exercise, and that is what helps change your weight. Many people seem to have little or no objection to weighing themselves so why do so many people despise writing down what they eat? Writing down what you eat is the truth teller. It forces you to acknowledge what you are doing. To avoid seeing the truth, you can either change what you eat or stop writing it down. Unfortunately, many people choose the latter. The good news is that in the smartphone era, there are literally dozens of apps and other technological devices that can make documenting your food and activity level extremely easy. If you do a little research you can find one that is right for you. 2. Exercise – You probably saw this one coming as well because it makes sense. Regular exercise is a way of burning calories and losing weight that does not involve changing what you eat. Given how difficult it is to lose weight and keep it off, it would be silly not to take advantage of one of the few methods known to work. Ironically, it might not work the way you would expect. Many people who lose weight through exercise notice that it helps them not just by burning off calories, but also by affecting their food choices. In other words, when you discover how difficult it is to burn off 250 calories on a treadmill, you may think twice before having that chocolate bar afterwards. Not everyone finds this effect, but for those who do, it can make a big difference. When deciding what form of exercise to do, consider that you don’t need to become an Olympiad or a marathon runner. Many of the positive effects of exercise have been documented with just walking 30 minutes 3-4 times per week. If rigorous exercise is enjoyable for you, that’s great. But any time spent engaged in activity is beneficial...especially if you would otherwise be sitting on the couch watching all of those tempting food advertisements on television! 3. Stress Reduction – An increasing amount of research has documented a relationship between stress and weight gain. The obvious connection is that many people use food as a means of comforting themselves from distress, commonly called “emotional eating.” An interesting new discovery is that is that some people who report high levels of stress gain weight even when their calorie intake is unchanged. How is that possible? There is the suggestion that stress hormones and other chemicals may affect how our body metabolizes food and stores food. So even if you’re eating the same foods and the same number of calories, what your body does with those calories can vary. If you’re going to be successful in reducing stress, you need to begin by discovering what “pushes your buttons” and take steps to change. One first step could be to document the things that you find to be stressful. Sometimes just writing down your problems makes them less frightening now that they’re just words on a page. For other people, writing their sources of stress naturally leads them to write what they might do about them. Another good idea is to investigate some simple stress management techniques. Many refer to them as relaxation or meditation exercises. As discussed earlier, there are a number of excellent smartphone apps and other technology-based methods of relaxation that you can explore. No one is better than the rest so just find one that works for you and begin to incorporate relaxation/meditation into your daily routine. If reducing your stress requires more than practicing relaxation techniques, consider speaking to a psychologist or other mental health professional to get the help you need. 4. Get some sleep – Here’s another suggestion that you’ve probably seen in the media recently. There is growing consensus of an obesity-sleep connection. Like exercise, the benefits of sleep are more than meets the eye. The obvious connection is that if you’re up longer, you become hungrier and are likely to eat late at night. This interpretation is not wrong, however, new research suggests that people who get 7 or more hours of sleep tend to maintain lower weights even when people with fewer hours of sleep consume the same amount of calories. How is that possible? Again, it’s not just how many calories we eat…but what our bodies do with those calories. Unfortunately, an increasing number of people are so busy between their work and social lives (not to mention all those tempting television shows) that sleep is not a priority. Just know that making sleep the last priority comes at a cost. Consider how we train children to sleep. We create a nighttime ritual to ease kids to bed. There’s dinner, wind down time, then bath time, maybe reading a story or two in bed, and then lights out. Many adults however have a terrible routine. Eat a big dinner at 9pm, catch up on emails and pay bills, watch television for an hour or so and then fall asleep on the couch and stumble into bed at 2AM only to have to wake up three or four hours later. Try to change your sleep habits by changing your nighttime ritual. Eat an earlier dinner. Try to pay bills and check your emails at another time. Use the evening as wind down time. Rather than fall asleep on the couch, watch a set amount of television or Internet time and then turn it off and “put yourself to bed.” Begin by trying to go into bed a half-hour early every night for a week and see how you feel. If you notice some improvements in your level of energy, mood, appetite or other factors, see if you can make it permanent. 5. Join a Support Group – Some research has demonstrated that patients who participate in support groups lose and maintain more weight than those who don’t. Of course it may depend on the content of the group and who attends, but adding a social element to your weight loss and weight maintenance goals seems to help. This may relate to the accountability factor discussed earlier. If “we’re all in it together,” there may be more of a commitment to stick to your goals to help out the group. Or perhaps it motivates you not to be the one group member who is falling behind. Either way, participating in support groups seems to have benefits both in terms of weight loss as well as emotional well being after surgery. There are other suggestions of course, such as improving your diet by reducing carbohydrates in favor of lean protein and a more plant-based diet. However, for many people, changing their diet can push all of those emotional “diet” buttons; so before you make those changes (or in addition to making those changes), strongly consider some of the changes recommended above. There is evidence that the benefits are additive. For example, many people find that when they exercise, they sleep better and in turn these changes help them manage stress better. The key is to acknowledge whether or not some of the factors above are problem areas for you and to begin making small changes. Sometimes small changes can lead to big results!

I have been told that any mention of weight gained or lost is rude. I don't agree

Anyone else doing the 2 week preop diet feeling like they are failing? And might fail after surgery? Idk if its all in my mind or what but I just feel like if I have this much trouble staying on liquids now then maybe I will after aswell :-( plus ive been on the preop diet since last Wednesday and havent lost any weight....what the H is up with that crap? This has me worried that maybe my surgeon wont trust that ive done the diet and he will cancel. Im paranoid. They have a 10 lb weight gain rule...I havent gain 10 lbs...so I think im ok....but I havent lost anything either even though ive really tried! Feeling very discouraged.

Hormones, where you are in your cycle, can wreak havoc on weight gain or loss. Also I would take a look at the sodium content of what you are eating. I can tell you right now you mention pepperoni and that's very high in sodium. If you are using a food journal like MyFitnessPal you can look at your daily sodium intake. Just my humble opinion. Keep plugging away. Sent from my SM-G900T using the BariatricPal App

Well let's see. I am a wife to a wonderful husband for 21+ years and mother to 3 children (17,15,13). I didn't really have much of a weight problem as a child. I mean I remember being a little chubby around the age of 10, but it didn't last long. If anything, as a teenager I was a little on the too skinny side. I remember being 14 and my now mother in law wouldn't let my now husband take me to the mall unless a had something to eat....I guess I was smaller than I thought.....That is NOT a problem now-haha. It seemed my issues came from having children. I gained large amounts of weight with each child. I was able to lose it in between kids until the last one. With 3 kids under 4 1/2 and a husband in the ARMY....there just wasn't time for me. I sometimes felt like I didn't have time for a shower, let alone an hour a day to exercise...I was just too tired!!! It just seemed like my body changed. When I would lose the weight in the past, it would stay off....until I got pregnant again--haha. But the third time was different. I worked so hard....eating right and exercising almost every day....almost excessively. And a would get 30 or 40 lbs off and be a decent size 10/12, but the day I would start to return to a normal food intake (and by normal, I simply mean about 1400 calories)and drop back to exercising 3 days a week....suddenly I would start slowly adding on the weight again. About a pound a month. So six months in I would be 6pounds heavier....a year later I would be 12 pounds heavier. you get the picture. Before I knew it I would be 30 pounds overweight. I would get serious again!!!drop back to 900 calories start exercising everyday and would get myself down again. and you know the rest. Repeat-above cycle two or three more times over 10 years, then just give up. That’s where I have been for the last 4 years...refusing to repeat the cycle anymore. As a result, that 12 pound a year weight gain is now 50 pounds. Add that to the 15 pounds I could never get off in the first place, and here we are... needing to lose 65 pounds (really to be ideal weight that would be 80 pounds)---but I'll be happy with the 65 pounds.....Honestly, I'd be happy just to be able to return to a life of camping, hiking and swimming like a used to do all the time....regardless of what the scale says. So now I'm playing the waiting game. I will have my last appointment on Tuesday February 21 (my 40th birthday) and from there everything heads to insurance for approval. I have Tricare North and have heard they are pretty good about approving the surgery. I didn't want to get this far in the process and have the insurance company decide they wanted me to do the supervised diet for 3 months, so I went ahead and did it voluntarily with my GP (lost 12 pounds for good faith effort). Just being proactive!! So hopefully on Tuesday I will get a surgery date; the sooner the better. I would like to have it done by the end of March. We are taking my oldest daughter on a cruise for her graduation present the first week in May and I want to be nicely healed from the surgery before I put myself on a boat in the middle of the ocean for a week Well that’s it. If you can offer any insite into how long it takes for tricare to give approval or if you have tricare and can educate me on anything, please let me know. Or any other advise is more than welcome too. This is such a lerning process. Thanks, Tina

Obesity is a disease in of itself, and a lot of us don't have a food addiction. I didn't. I was diagnosed with PCOS two years ago, but I have probably had it for years. In 2014, before my diagnosis, I gained 50 lbs from May to August with no negative changes in my diet. Matter of fact, I changed my diet to no avail. The weight gain was due to the PCOS, not my diet. I'm having gastric bypass surgery after doing a lot of research. I still need my brain and hormones reset in order to lose weight and keep it off. I also did not have a weight problem when I was a child. I only started to have weight issues after I had my daughter. I couldn't lose the weight and keep it off. My point is there are many reasons why people need wls. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

I'm curious if you did the sleeve to RNY revision. If so, when? I had it done the day after Thanksgiving 2021. Reflux was gone immediately. I've lost 60 lbs. I lost it pretty quickly, I'm maintaining for over a month now. I was a little freaked out having problems with stopping the weight loss. I did the same thing with sleeve surgery in 2010. I can eat often, but very little at a time. I struggle with meat, an ounce is safe, maybe 1.25 oz, after that, it will end up 'sitting' between my ribs and 9 times out of 10 I'll have to throw up to get relief. Surgery was in Nov, then after a sonogram and endoscopy I had my gallbladder removed in March. (They also discovered a very large marginal ulcer. (What the heck is that?) I had to take a liquid medication 3xs a day and they did another endoscopy 6 weeks later. Ulcer went from very large to large. Six weeks later another endoscopy showed it was healed. Now I'm just focusing on trying to not lose more weight. Gaining 10 lbs would be fine. I'd like to stop there and maintain just under 150. How realistic is this, maintaining from now on. Sadly, sweets and some fried meats (catfish, chicken fried steak) are easy to keep down, mashed potatoes too. I have to weigh meat, and sometimes then it still gets to me. What's up with that? Any advice, insight etc would be greatly appreciated. Share you story with me if you've had the sleeve to bypass revision.

You certainly want to keep an eye on your calories as you move on from losing into maintenance and beyond. We often see people come through these forums who proudly proclaim that they do "full fat everything", which works well early on when capacity is minimal but then the struggle with regain later if they let their calories get away from them. From a practical perspective, the clinical use for a high fat/low carbohydrate diet is for non-WLS gastrectomy patients (from cancer or gastroparesis, typically) who need to minimize their weight loss and ultimately gain back lost weight, so there is weight gain built into the diet that you need to counter.

Hi Karri! Saw your post and I am looking for a mentor. I also work with crazy high schoolers (guidance counselor), live in South Florida, and am 34 years old and married, no kids. I was banded 3/25/08 and have been doing decently with the weight loss. These past two weeks have been difficult - I'm up in NY for summer vacation (my hometown) and needed an unfill right before I left due to issues. You guessed it - no restriction, weight gain, and I had to see a doctor up here in NY. I am just feeling at a loss right now and need to get back on track. I feel like this is so hard to "get right" and would love to feel like I'm not doing it on my own. If you're interested, I would love to buddy up with you!:ohmy: ETA - My birthday is July 3, so I will send birthday wishes for a successful surgery!!!

My doctor is recommended I have a bypass revision done (currently 5 years put on my sleeve) as I have severe GERD and weight gain. For those that have had this done….. which bypass did they do? Full ? Mini? Or? and did it help? Thanks in advance.

Thank you for this OP! I used to play competitive sport and stopping that but continuing to eat as I had before definitely contributed to my weight gain, as did so many lifestyle changes. So glad to hear your story and I only hope I can get there some day too. 💪

Sleeved on 5/22 and went in at 299.5, highest weight of my life. This morning I was 275. Thankfully I didn't have the water weight gain but we all have our problems. Maybe it was a trade out for the vomiting blood, and severe spasms due to hernia repair (I didn't know I had). Ill admit day 1-3 I was hating life and was definitely one of the 'OMG what have I done!' people. Today tho is day 12, and each day has gotten a little better. I track EVERYTHING on my fitness pal app and I'm getting at least 60oz of liquid and 60 protein....finally. Still having spasms occasionally and the tightness/bloating nearly every time I eat. I'm guessing from hernia repair. My diet phases seem to be different then most i've seen on here. I went home on full liquids and moved to soft foods after one week. Everything seems to be looking up. I'm starting to get excited about losing weight

Already feeling discouraged. I started at 244. DOS (1/25/13) I was 237. After all weight gain from air and fluids I was 250 but I have been losing every day since. By my first 1 week post op I was 234 and yesterday I was 229. I was so excited to be in 220s. Getting in fluids and protein has been difficult. Yesterday was the first day I finally got in all my required fluids and protein. Today the scale still said 229. So basically if I get in everything I'm supposed to I don't lose. I don't think it's a stall seeing how I'm only a week and two days post op. Yesterday I also had some creamy soups so today I will ONLY do my required protein and fluids without any soup but that stinks. I've been moping around about it so hubby trying to give me pep talk about how my body is still trying to heal and I need to focus that and the weight will come off bla bla bla. I know he is right but I just want to lose weight so badly I mean that's why I had this major risky surgery to lose weight. Why is it surprising that I'm obsessed with it? Anyone else feel like me a week out?

I wish i could encourage you, because i wish i didnt have to have the band forever... However, i know a girl who had it for 5 years, she did great, she lost 150 pounds, she was working with her surgeon because he was so proud of her success. She did support group meetings, she motivated patients before and after the surgery. She is the one who convinced me. She thought she was now healed from Her bad habits and would always stay skinny. Before christmas, her port detached and they discovered her band had leaked(the doc said it is because they did fills and unfills too many times, scary). Half of her body got infected, she had to have the infection drained for 2 months. She lost her lap band and was risky to put another one in. She gained 35 pounds in 3 months. She said she was back to what she was, she couldnt believe it, she was dping so good for so long, she had never gained a pound. She had to get the sleeve to stop The weight gain. I wouldnt have it removed unless it is causing problems

interesting concept there motherof4. . never thought about doing that. . maybe i'll try it next time a craving hits and i'm not really hungry. . .retraining really sucks. . . i struggle with it every day. . before surgery i thought it wouldn't be all that hard, damn it's hard! tomorrow i start my 5 day pouch test to get back on track. . .no weight gain yet, but it could happen any time soon huh?????? that would be a tragedy!

Just a quick tidbit. Last week at weigh-in on Friday morning, I was just a tad over 216, which puts me at right around 15 pounds to goal. This morning I stepped on the scale, and was shocked to see 223.7! I KNOW I've been good, eating carefully, exercising a LOT (tons of cardio plus weight training plus calisthenics at home plus now yoga), so there was no reason for that much of a change. On a whim, I stepped off and back on the scale -- hmm, 221.5. Somehow I'd lost two pounds in 30 seconds. Oh right, where you stand on a scale and what your posture is, etc., drastically affects the weight reading. Weighed a couple more times, same number, around 221. So then I thinks "oh wait, I've had one and a half BIG (22 oz) cups of coffee this morning." I know the old "a pint (16oz)'s a pound" adage, but just to be sure, I go weigh a full cup of coffee, and it's almost three pounds. So, I've drank four pounds of coffee -- check. Then I realize: oh, I usually weigh in boxers or in the buff before my shower, and I'm wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt; surely those can't weigh more than a few ounces? No -- they weighed nearly three pounds. So I chuckle, realize that the scale is just not super accurate, and go about my day. I do my morning calisthenics plus my cardio (30 minutes of intense sweating, probably losing another pint of fluid). I go upstairs to shower, and weigh again in the buff, after going pee, using my regular foot positioning and posture -- 216.7. What does it mean? THE SCALE LIES. It's good to keep an eye on your weight, but you simply CANNOT get too hung up on little blips along the way. You can EASILY swing the number a couple pounds in one way or another just by standing differently. For the reading to have ANY use, you have to make sure that every damn thing is the same -- same amount of Fluid, same clothing, same time of day, same position and posture on the scale, everything. Even then, tiny Water weight gains can add or remove a couple pounds in a day, easy -- and when you're further along the weight loss thing, like me, it's good to lose a pound or two (of fat!) per month, so these "little" scale fluctuations can EASILY swallow up your "real" weight (fat) changes, and you simply can NOT let yourself get too hung up. Better is to measure your body fat percentage, if you have access to a body fat scale (or best yet, a dunk tank) since what you really want is not for your weight to go down, but your FAT to go down. Also, measure your shape changes -- tummy, hips, arms, legs, etc. -- so that you can see where your body shape is changing even when your weight isn't (even though my weight has been stubbornly in the 215-220 range for a while now, I can tell that I'm getting *buff*, so it's still progres). Bottom line, the scale lies. PLEASE don't get too hung up on the exact number. It'll drive you nuts! Just keep doing what you're supposed to do (eat lots of lean Protein, lots of good complex carbs, drink lots of water, get lots of exercise) and... live your life! Edit: I should add that my scale is a good, high quality weight watchers scale; it's about as good and accurate (even for larger weights) as you're going to get in a non swing-arm scale (you know, the kind in the doctor's office). It's not just a case of a crappy scale, it's a case of all scales being imprecise, and other factors making as much of a difference as actual fat weight changes.

Since I have decided to be sleeved ( I am not yet) I have gained about 15 lbs. It really is the "worst" and "hardest" 15 lbs. I regret it terrible. I had no physical ailments related to weight except for my appearence yet since my recent weight gain, my feet ache, my back hurts and now finally my wedding rings no longer fit. You would think that would halt it as this stage considering I need to prepare myself. I have asked myself why, I can not come up with an obvious answer why I continue to sabatage when I am so gong ho and excited about being sleeved. I can say there is a fear behind it for I feel it but can not quite say it is because I will no longer have food. I realize I can eat in the future, I read read read on here. Look up all types of info on being sleeved but continue to just eat. I know this surgery is not magic fix it all surgery. It is hard work and dedication. I just keep saying -this to shall pass..... focus, focus, focus. Being aware is part of growing out of it right. I am surprised but not really so many are doing this. I am so glad I seen this post. Somehow it gives me hope.

Such a pain, isn't it? When I started this process, mine shot up past 40 a couple times! I felt dead! Not to mention the 20 pound weight gain over the course of a month. Hopefully, your levels are still good.

What is surgical menopause? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App In the beginning of January I had a hysterectomy (uterus removed), along with both ovaries & fallopian tubes. Once your ovaries are gone, you go into instant menopause. They call it surgical menopause. The symptoms are much worse than regular menopause. I have terrible hot flashes, night sweats, and it can cause weight gain...so I am very glad I had the Sleeve. The good news...No more periods! I am very happy about that.

Thank you! *hug* You know, I'm sitting here listening the GMA. They are talking about someone famous (sorry the name escapes me) that lost a lot of weight recently. "She did it without surgery or gimmicks..." See, now there is the problem. No wonder people are so judgmental! Thats why I rarely tell anyone how I lost it. When the media downplays this method, makes it like we are doing something wrong, the stigma of being weak, and bad for having the surgery will never go away. Shame on the media... My morning thought... When will the scale stop mocking me? Its like a daily showdown. I circle and tell it "ok, scale, its either you or me, one of us is going down!" *insert old western music here* too bad its NOT my weight thats going down!! I need to lose 5 lbs (I had gained 10 after a pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage), I lost 5 of it but the other 5 just won't come off! I hate that scale, yet I can't live without it. I have to know, I have to watch. Those 5 lbs SHOW. I SEE it. My clothes look awful. I can't find anything baggy enough. I know...I obssess on my weight. I am well below my goal weight but its not enough for me. And you know what, thats not going to stop because when it stops being a concern, it will creep back, slowly... and before you know it BAM...182 lbs back on. No, I'll take the obssession rather then the weight gain tyvm. Ok, scale...I'll see YOU....tomorrow... Have a good day everyone

Yep, had DS in 2018 - I think a good quality one too, and gained about the same amount over 2020-early 2021. I know exactly why too. Too many simple carbs (breads/sugars, chocolate and candy), processed convenience junk foods, liquid calories (sugary coffees, lots). Also lack of exercise/activity due to staying home, as well as being placed on a prescription known to cause weight gain contributed to the regain. I simply got over-confident after a few years living with the surgery. Simple refined carbs are our surgery's achilles heel. We do not 'malabsorb' simple carbs, we absorb them 100%. Simple carbs, for me anyway, tend to be slider foods - breads, pizza, sweets/candies/donuts/pastries, and of course liquids like 800 calorie Starbucks don't spend long in the sleeve. Those two issues spell trouble for us, at least they have for me. Good news is once I eliminated the junk foods, simple carbs - and switched to a high-protein, low - carb diet, the weight has been melting off. I was concerned that losing regain would be difficult after the initial massive weight-loss after the surgery, but that has not been the case. I can accurately report that I've lost about 14 pounds in the last ~28 days. I have been calorie restricting in addition to the low-carb/high-protein diet, but the sleeve component of the surgery has made that rather painless, and I'm not starving at all. Just get back to basics and I think you'll do fine.

it's very common to have a 10-20 lb rebound weight gain after hitting your lowest weight. It's more your body "settling in" to its new set point. Happens to most of us in year 2 or 3. However, beyond that, it's up to you. If you continue to monitor your food intake and keep active, you'll be able to maintain your new weight. If you let old habits slip back in and start eating like you did before surgery, you'll end up gaining most of it back.

198.8 today. Doing a 5 mile walk/run on Thanksgiving day really helped stave off the weight gain! Didn't over-eat, but I did indulge a bit.

https://www.viome.com/blog/microbiome-and-weight-gain-everything-we-know-so-far https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190212-could-gut-bacteria-microbes-make-you-fat Some bacteria we get from our diet could indirectly cause weight gain by changing the gut’s behaviour https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/6-years-after-the-biggest-loser-metabolism-is-slower-and-weight-is-back-up/

Hi everyone. I am so Happy I found this website a week ago!!!! I am from Lynn, but now for the past 10 years now, I have lived in Northampton, MA. About 7 miles away from UMASS AMherst. I would love to join this support group. I had mmy surgery on 6/25/13 at Baystate Hospital in Springfield, MA. Bad experience with thia hospital. I haad Dr. Kuhn. I found him to be little ion the mean side. I have BMC and Mashealth. So here were my requirements: 3 group meetings 6 NUT meetings, and she was tough. Her nick name was the nutrition natzi, lol 2 visits with the lab doctor 2 phyic visits 1 sleep clinic 2 meetings with Dr. Kuhn (WL Doctor) I started with a huge seminar on 9/23/12. I got the 3 group mmeetings out of the way quickly. By November I had all 3 done. I had my frist appt. with the lab Docotr the day hurricane Sandy hit. It was October 29, 2012. My appt. was the last one that day (1:00 p.m.) Cause they closed the hospital after that appt. I will never forget it cause when I went in I was 264 (down from 301 earlier in that year). But my weight to start was 264. We were told in the beggining that the weight from the seminar was the weight which we could NOT gain from. So I got ion the scaale and I was 262.4. I started crying. Because the rules at Baystate nd the insurance ere as such: If you gained from your started weight, your surgery would be an additional 6 months post poned. That was your warning. Secound time you gained weight you were suspended for a year and the doctor had the right to "suggest" you go elsewere. So needless to say when I saw the 4 ounce weight gain, I cried. The nurse looked at me and said that the doctor might refuse me. So when I went into her office I was till crying. She came in and asked me why was I crying. I told her I didn't want to get kicked out. She told me scales vary from one office to the next and that I had to worry bout the scale in Dr. Kuns office. She said she would change my weight to the 264.4 but that was IT. No more weight gain, period. I aslo had to quit smoking as well. I did that on October 23, 2012. I did have lot of breakdowns cause they expect you to loose weight AND quit smoking, not easy but |I did it. They told me "the story" abut how a woman was actually getting preped for surgery, she smelled of smoke. So they gave her a drug test. It came back poitive for nicotine. They post poned her surgery for 3 months. They said she a actually in her hiospital gown. I thought this was nuts, but I did as they required and quit. I had to meet with the NUT once a month and she was tough. I finally jumped through ALL the hoops and in March of 2013 I meet Dr. Kuhn. He tried to talk me into the sleeve, bt I wanted the gastic bypass. My insurance has a once in a lifetime policy. So I wanted the one that would give me the best results. Lucky my husband was there cause he almost talked me into it. I got upset and my husband looked at me and asked what did I want. I told him the GB. He looked at the doctor and said, "if that's what she wants and you can do it, that's whaat she should get". I am so glad he was there. SO I got the bypass. I got approveed in April. He was so far behind I got a 66/25/13 date. I was in the hospital for 4 days. It took 2 months before I could even drink 12 oz of water. It is 22 months out and I still have a problem eating. I had always had an eeating disorder and now it has showed it's ugly head , again. I am in theropy, but \i am grateful that |I found this site. I would love to talk to people who have walked in my shoes. I have lost a few friend who I guess wern't true friends caue of this. I would love to find anyone in my area to maybe go for walks with on the bike path. Thanks for taking the time to read this long story. I am not a VIP so my email is kimerick2008@gmail.com. I am looking forward to heaqring from you all. Everyone keep up the great work!!!!!!1 Thanks again, Kim