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Chrissy, I'm sorry your husband is being a jerk but I'm worried I might be in the same situation... I just ended a 23 year relationship mostly do to my weight gain at least that's what he blamed his cheating on... But now I have the most awesome guy in my life who fell in live with me being fat... After dating a while I told him I was having wls ( I'm still Pre op) and he said he'd support me... I mostly believe him but there's this nagging voice that askes, will he really feel the same after I loose the weight... Some guys like bigger women, don't know why but they do and I'm hoping he loves me for what's inside not outside. Probably my insecurities talking but I still am worried... Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

Hormones are the worst. My weight issues began with puberty. I bounced between 60 & 75kgs most of my adult life. When I began peri menopause, I gained weight & hit 75 more quickly then ever before When I began menopause I put on another 16kg even more quickly - felt like overnight - & suddenly I weighed 91kg. Couldn’t shift a gram of it. It’s why I turned to surgery. Interestingly, the 49kg I settled at for a good year after surgery was about what I weighed when I was 12 & puberty hit. Then, in late November last year, my GP upped my HRT dose & yep, weight gain: 2kgs in that first month. I modified my diet as soon as I realised & while I I haven’t gained any more, I haven’t been able to lose those kgs either. I wonder if starting with your hormones & maybe trying to sort those out maybe a better place to start.

Sounds like a tough week ladies! Chin up! Most of us know how to maintain, its just that most of us have called it a stall in the past! I don't mean to make light of it. This whole weight loss, weight gain, maintain thing is still pretty much a mystery at times! Glad I'm alive, glad I have some tools, and loving life is the tool that REALLY pays off.

I started my program over 300 lbs. Highest weight ever: 335 Start weight: 312 Weight on the day of the surgery: 294 Sleeved on 5/5/14 Current weight: 226 I'm dealing with the monthly 3 to 5 lb weight gain from my period right now. Bloating can suck it. But I hope to be below 200 by the end of the year.

Hi Deb, Welcome and congratulations on finding the lapband -I hope you are able to go through with it. Many of us, like you, have lost and gained the weight you describe. The band will 'force' you to see all those behaviors that may have contributed to your weight (overeating, eating too fast, not chewing, etc.) I did notice you said something about hormones and some other reasons for your weight gain and just wanted to suggest you really explore that fully before getting banded - I've had many struggles getting weight off and do follow the 'bandster rules' (not perfectly but pretty darn close) and am just exploring what I know will be a long and probably expensive road to figure out what is going on metabolically/hormonally. However, even if I don't lose another pound the band has helped me in other ways with my eating, etc. Please know i am NOT discouraging you from the band - just suggesting you check out all reasons for not losing weight prior to doing this. Good luck.

Because you posted to this board, I assume you want opinions and/or advice. So here are mine. The WW diet plan is not the correct diet for a lap-band patient. I know this having been a WW member several times throughout my life (lost weight, gained it back). I'm curious, what is it about WW that you are thinking will work for you? Writing everything down? Counting points? Weekly support meetings, Weekly weigh ins? food guidelines? It takes will power to be on WW, so I don't think your issue is sheer will power. If you can identify your needs, I, and I suspect a few others on this forum, can offer more suggestions. I would suggest that you save the weekly WW fees for fills.

I've already fallen into the shred load of chocolate.....I'm an emotional eater and with 4 young adults living here in the same house is really hard....so frustrating and when I found an open bag of chocolate chips, I just keep eating them by the handful.. So finally emptied them in the sink and washed them down.....they're gone.. whew, that was so hard. Now back to basics. I'm at my high balance of 147 lbs and it's killing me..... Coops, I would be totally frustrated and thinking about cutting my leg off too so that I could get to goal. I seems unrealistic that your weight gain has stopped before getting to the Dr's goal. they do make they're goal higher. However on a side note, you look fabulous and so SEXY! Your even feeling more energy and healthier to boot....That to me is success.......You are absolutely gorgeous! I love your pic! I pretty much am eating primal too....I can't do processed foods anymore...It grosses me out with all the toxins that's in the food. My husband went shopping yesterday and bought some apples and pears and I freaked because he won't buy organic. All those pesticides that in the food can also contribute to inflammation and excess stored fat. Our body can't break them down and so we are poisoning ourselves. And grass fed organic meat tastes so much better than other meat.On the primal diet, my husband's diabetes is so much more under control, blood sugar levels are in the normal ranges. He has lost a couple of lbs too. Now back too me.... I am frustrated with my bounce. A doctor told me that I have allergies because my eyelids were really swollen and puffy. I didn't believe her at the time, but now I'm looking back and thinking that I might have developed an allergy for peanuts. I do eat a lot of peanuts on a daily basis.... So today will cut the peanuts out and see where my bounce weight goes. Also will be back to logging every bite I eat on myfitnesspal.com. I had gotten lazy and frustrated with all the fluctuations also. Now it's back to measuring and instead of eating, I plan to get on my threadmill to distract my head hunger..... Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading....

I too have a long road ahead of me. At my current weight of 330lbs, I am hoping to be back to 160lbs. It has been 17 yrs since I've seen that number on my scale. I have always struggled with weight gain, after having my son 14 yrs ago I have tried diet after diet. I run daily 3-5 miles, working with a body coach, count every calorie I take in....and to my surprise, gain weight. I have been tossing WLS back and forth for a few months now and I have finally made an appt with my surgeon, meeting him on May 27 with my 1st WL seminar that same night. I don't have many requirements with my insurance company before I can submit for approval. So I'm hoping for a smooth road and hopefully, fingers crossed, I can have my surgery scheduled sometime in August! I am ready to conquer the road ahead, and take back control of my body. It's a great feeling to know I will be able to run in marathons with my son in the near future!! Bobby Jo

Want to get back on track and lose the weight. Any help, advice etc is appreciated. I find that I don't even remember how I was eating when I lost weight. I would like to know how others manage their diet. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Looking at your stats, we aren't too dissimilar. You had a higher start weight than I, but our height and goal weight are damn close. I eventually got down to 198 before I started heavy lifting. Well, as heavy as this broken down body will allow. My original goal weight was 220, the weight when i met my wife. I blew past it no problem! The hard part came (and it always does) is the rebound weight and also the muscle mass weight gain. You might be conflicted when the scale goes back up. It is very important to have a good relationship with your surgeon or qualified dietitian that you feel you can trust. I don't say nutritionist because they are nothing more than smoothie recipe repositories in my experience. I have held steady at a 225 lb weight for 3 years. I have seen it fluctuate as much as 5 lbs depending on how bad I was over a weekend. Bad in my case turns out to be eating ham. Not lunchmeat ham, traditional easter/christmas bone in hams. I swell up so bad the skin splits around my fingernails! I only bring this up because while I weigh in every day at the gym (Monday thru Friday), but I only worry about my monthly average. I keep a log of my lifts, my eating, BM's, and weigh. I can usually deduce if I am gaining weight from over eating, water retention, or constipation. Didn't mean to be so long winded. I haven't really talked that much on here in a long while. Keep doing whatever you are doing now if it makes you happy and fuels your passion for exercise. Enjoy the honeymoon phase and do as much as possible to cement the routine in your mind. You look great, best of luck to you! *edit* Forgot to mention - this past Christmas break, I weighed in at 232 and almost shat myself right there. Upped my water intake to flush out the ham's sodium and I was back to 227 by weeks end. So don't freak out if the scale moves the other way once in a while. Just take the steps you know you need to.

I wish you all the best..... continue your research. Look into the sleeve too. I love my band, i just didn't love having to go to the dr. and get fills. and i don't like the idea about erosion and slips... etc. That scares me. My current insurance does not cover WLS, so if anything goes wrong... i'm on my own. I personally would not do the Gastric Bypass.... too scary for me. And it has a higher re weight gain than any of the surgeries.... Look into them all and talk to your doctor and really think about the changes you will have to make for a life time. It's not like weight watchers were you can just stop counting point and not weight in.... or Jenny and stop buying her food.... This is forever.... I haven't had a hamburger on bun in three years.... or a deep dish slice of pizza.. But it's all worth it. Saturday will be my three year anniversary... and i LOVE the new me. Get healthy for you and your future family..... All the rest is just "icing on the cake" so to speak.... One more thing.... you also have to take into consideration how this will not only effect you, but your entire family..... My husband didn't want me to get the band at all and still make remarks about it. He was very secure with me at 223#. He knew that at that weight i had no self confidence and most men would not take a second look at me... Now he has a hard time with the size 6 Christina and has even said that losing weight was the worse thing that happened to us... He hates when other men look at me and feels like one day i will get a better "offer" and leave him.... On the other hand.. he loves the new me in Private... loves the more energy me, the more sexual me, the more confident me...but only in private. My daughter in law (whom i love very much) had a hard time with my weight loss. She was jealous of it, and still is... but it's getting better. My Sister in law, that had the band done in Mexico two years before me, gained weight with the band... (three weeks ago had GB) will not come around me if my brother was with her. He would com pair she and i and say..... why can't you lose weight... my sister did. Which was wrong on his part, but it's what happened. Be prepared to lose friends.... your fat friends won't want to be around you because you will be thinner and will be jealous of you and your thinner friends will start sabotaging you, because they will fear you... no longer will you be "the fat friend".... They will say things like... how much weight are you planning on losing... your getting too thin. Your face is sunk in... You want to come eat ice-cream... a little bit won't hurt..... So you will start getting the attention of being the thin girl in the fat group and the pretty thin girl in the thin group....

There were many reasons for me choosing WLS in the first place, and the biggest drive force was for me to be able to conceive, have a healthy pregnancy, and deliver a healthy baby without the complications of obesity during pregnancy. I've been waiting 3 long weeks to share this news with all of you, and am happy to report I AM PREGNANT ! ! ! After 14 long, exhausting, and emotionally draining months, I'm finally pregnant. I am considered high risk for several reasons, and VSG does throw me into that category along with other medical issues I have which are NOT related to VSG at all. I have an idiopathic clotting disorder and the cause, reason is still unknown. We do know that I am missing certain Protein factors in my platelets, but other than that, they can not pinpoint the cause or even give it a name hence the "idiopathic". We know the treatment is similar to that of Von Willebrand's disease, but all of my work ups have been negative for VW factor. It's kind of crazy, and I have a feeling I will be having more lab work due to the disorder and pregnancy. I have that "mother's intuition" that we are pulling for Team Blue, and if all goes well, I will have a repeat c-section and tubal ligation since I will be 35 yrs old a month after the baby is delivered. My husband is elated, overjoyed, and of course stressed. He's become the food police all over again, and worries that I am not eating enough. BUT, per the recommendations, I am getting enough calories/protein/carbs currently. They expect me to gain 25-30lbs during the pregnancy, and I kind of snickered at that thought process, but I am not saying it won't happen. I've never read any WLS patient gaining that much post-WLS except band patients. So, we'll see how the weight gain goes. Thus far, I am experiencing sore boobs, crazy food cravings for anything spicy, and fatigue. I have experienced zero morning sickness and for that I am very grateful. I've been cleared to continue my Celebrate multi, b12, and Calcium. The formulation of these Vitamins actually exceed the values of any prenatal on the market, and my labs looked stellar except for my platelets were low normal (which is normal for me). Today was my first ultrasound appointment. I knew the day we conceived "Little Sprout", and had the due date spot on. Everything was perfect, strong, steady heartbeat at 150bpm, everything looked good internally. I'm being referred to a civilian high-risk ob/gyn team and my pregnancy will be co-managed between them and the base provider. All this means is that I'll have double appointments that most pregnant women have to go through. Sorry for the quality. The base equipment is a bit dated, but we were able to hear the heartbeat, and of course I cried. My husband was able to attend, and he just stood there staring at the screen kind of in awe. It was truly the most joyous event I've experienced. Thank you for all of your continued support and encouragement. I would ask that you keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. This is going to be a long process, and Sprout is due November 5th. This place is kind of like my 2nd home so I'm sure I'll be posting more updates as the months progress. . Oh and I don't have much of a belly bump at all yet. I'm bloating, but my clothes are fitting the same, and I have not gained any weight to date. I'm not any hungrier than I was before pregnancy, just insane cravings for random foods I would not have eaten. It'll be interesting to see how I look this pregnancy. I was around 200lbs when I was pregnant with my son 13 yrs ago, and gained 37lbs so I was just huge and round. This time I'm interested to see how my body changes, and hopefully I'll get the cute baby bump that I see on everyone else.

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been around in forever. I've been struggling and put on about 17lbs. I am committed to getting back on track though. Weight gain and not being on to get your support go hand in hand. Cant' wait to see how everyone has been doing!

Hannah- do not worry about that weight gain. It's all water weight and just one of the joys (NOT) of being a female. I know it's quite frustrating and disappointing to see a gain. But think of how exciting it will be to see a bigger loss in few days. I'm not trying to down play your feelings/concerns but mearly trying to find the silver lining.

@@PinkPolkadot619 So sorry about your weight gain. I had quite a few of those this month. Absolutely floored with the realization. It's the worst feeling and I so understand. Today I was up .6 and I have no clue why because I was very good and moved around all day yesterday. This past month has been very slow for me and there were days I was down right depressed at my lack of weight loss progress. But we'll get there. Patience is always challenging. Sending a big hug

sorry beni it does suck sometimes!! like i posted my meal plan yesterday and threw up my 0.4 oz prk chop i think i ate too fast ugggh there goes Protein down the toilet!! Meal Plan Monday b- Premier Protein premade shake s- 1% milk with sugar free chai l-guacamole with fage 2blsp chia seed corn tortilla chips 8 s-light fit cocunut greek yogurt 1 oz- 2x protein cream cheese 1 tblsp, smoked ham paper thin 3 slices, dill pickle spear rolled in one d-?? i m filled to the brim went to gyn to look into birth control options im almost 49y this month and already done having kids 4 total so may go for in ofc fallopian tube blockage and another procedure that burns the uterus so no more periods better than hormonal options with possible weight gain no thanks!!!!

I just feel like they won't give me the surgery cause of the weight gain

i went through stages. 1st month: looking or thinking about food and eating made me sick. i was like REPULSED. month 2-3: didnt want to eat (but no longer REPULSED) though i forced myself to eat because i was getting weak. i had a very strong restriction so wasn't able to eat much anyway. month 4-7: there would be days that i wanted to eat and days that i didn't. i stopped forcing myself to eat on no-hungry days at this point and just ate when i wanted to because i started to develop this thing where i felt like eating was WORK and i didn't like that. my restriction was still doing its job though, so i still couldn't eat much anyway. month 7-12: struggled to up my calories to ease into maintenance and i think my not-wanting-to-eat phases during this time period had more to do with a mental block than anything else. i had a bit of a time when i had a challenge "allowing" myself to eat higher calorie foods and carbs, ha. fear of weight gain and all that. though in hindsight i needn't have worried, as my restriction kept me in check. 1 year and onwards: i still get the odd don't-want-to-eat or oops-i-forgot-to-eat days here and there. not as often and regluar as before, but they show up every once in a while. i don't sweat it, as i know there will be hungry days too. my restriction is still very much in play, even at 5 years out, and i have learned over the years what foods and what amounts i can consume before i hit my full mark. i was/am a regular food tracker so its second nature. i tend to only eat things that i really want because, why fill my valuable limited real estate with something meh? luckily the list of things i want does not comprise of just junk. while i do enjoy a bite of dessert and a bowl of chips, i love me a salad just as much. though personally, my fave kind of meal is when there are an abundance of different things to take a bite or two of (like hors d'ourves at a cocktail party, or a tasting menu, or dim sum/tapas/izakaya, or when i go to a restaurant with a large group and get to have a bit of everyone's meal!) anyway, i think i may have gone on a tangent there, lol. but yeah, you are not the only one that gets the food aversions, and while you will get differing advice on this topic, i would say go what works for you. if you are getting worsening physical symptoms from not eating, or if your labs are not coming back satisfactorily, of course, please speak to a medical professional. otherwise, if you are losing weight, AND suffer little to no angst, then in my non-medical opinion, you're golden.

I just have to "weigh" in. This is based on no real knowledge, training or education. (That's my legal disclaimer:)). What I have a problem with is people complaining about "only" losing X amount of weight. We had WLS, not quadruple limb amputations, or a magical procedure. While 100 pounds in 4 months would be awesome, and I have read of a few who have done it, I just don't think it's realistic for most people. If we could just pour off the weight at lightning speed, none of us would be here. Our species would be extinct. A few bad winters in the past and our ancestors would have all promptly starved to death. Our bodies are amazingly and awesomely designed to keep us alive, through feast and famine. For most of us, this is the first famine we are experiencing and our bodies are responding beautifully, and as designed. Some people lose weight at a steady rate. Some drop a good amount rapidly, then "plateau", like stairs. Neither is better or worse. I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and GIVE YOUR SELF A BREAK! Our poor bodies have been through a major trauma, but they are still showing up for us, doing their job, day in and day out. Not to mention, we have abused them and treated them like crap for years to get here. They aren't complaining about any of it, or the fact that we cut out a perfectly healthy and non offending organ, while leaving the guilty party intact (nobody wants a lobotomy, I guess). If you lose "only" 15 pounds a month on average, that will still be 180 in a year. We are all successes. Use reason when the scale shows a weight gain. Even if all 7 or 8 hundred calories came from pop rocks and cotton candy, you could not possibly gain 5 pounds of fat. Its not possible. That gain is simply water retention or your crazy ass digital scale. We get this hyper focus on the scale. Don't do it. It diminishes what you have accomplished. We have all suffered so much being overweight and being judged. Don't do this to yourself when you are finally, finally doing awesome. Use your head and self talk to build yourself up, not to introduce fear of failure and recrimination. Even the "slow losers" seem to be about 30 pounds down by now. We've got this! We didn't gain 100 pounds in 4 months (I don't think), and we aren't going to lose it that quick either (I'm more certain). But, If we keep focused, keep making mostly good choices, and keep moving, we ALL, have to lose weight and have success. Figure out your average weight loss, think about the last time you lost that much in that amount of time, pat yourself on the back and repeat, "I am strong, tough and have taken back control of my life. I will do this, I AM doing this, I will succeed and I will not berate myself or waste precious time with negative self talk!" And all God's people said, "Amen!" Sorry so long. This is a Rah! Rah! Post. It's not intended to rant:) Elaine

I just posted this in another thread but it mostly applies. PLAN. FOR. IT. Most of us are food addicts. We have no self control when it comes to food. We will under estimate what we ate and then be surprised when the weight gain happens. I strongly advocate keeping a food diary. It's not to obsess over calories and how low we can keep then and stay healthy. It's to keep ourselves accountable. I use myfitnesspal. I have it set to also include carbs, sodium, fat and sugar. There is a maximun level of carbs, fat and sugar that works for me, so I monitor that. I used to have a problem with my feet and legs swelling so I monitor my sodium levels. I fill out my diary in the morning and add or subtract in the evenings according to what I actually ate. They also have an app for on the go changes. I do not allow anything in my house that I cannot eat without bingeing. I don't care is it's Suzie's favorite thing. It's not allowed because I am an addict and have no self control. If you have family members who miss their favorite food, tell them to buy a single serving portion and eat it. Sabotaging foods are not allowed in the cabinets.If you were an alcoholic would they insist on keeping that 6 pack in the house? EXERCISE - I don't care if it's taking a 30 minute walk each day or Leslie walk away the pounds DVDs. Commit to something on a regular basis.

Hi can someone help? I am hungry nearly all the time. My stomach feels empty or uncomfortable in the middle above my belly button and between my ribs. It usually goes away temporarily when I eat then starts up again with half hour or more. I take 2 Prevacids a day. One in the morning with Water and one before dinner with water. This was the way I felt before surgery, all through my life-always hungry, always in the mood to eat. My doctor even did my hyatal hernia so that this would be lessened. Drinking liquids does not fill me up or take the discomfort away. I also typically wait an hour after eating to drink. It is getting harder each day to keep below 1200 calories, sometimes I am getting up over 1600 which could mean weight gain. I feel like I am starving all the time. Today I had 2 sausages, 1 egg and a tiny amount of hash browns for Breakfast and made it 2 hours before hunger again. A few days ago there was a post about another acid product to try that I have never heard of. I've spent hours looking for it on this site and cannot find it. Was it something with an "oid" or "Magnesium"? It sounded like a supplement or mineral. I have an appointment with my gastro doctor but would like to try the other product too. Tums only provide a few minutes of relief. I tried 40 mg of Protein like beef. Yesterday I tried a big bowl of salad with a little low fat cheese. Another time, bread, another time, fruit. The best results seem to be protein and carbs like low fat pizza.. That seems to hold me the longest. It is getting harder and harder to have self control and keep my calories low when I feel like I am starving all the time! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Is that when they put the scope down your throat and into your stomach? I'm pregnant so I know they won't be able to do anything like that until after I have the baby but I had an upper GI when all of these stomach pains started and I just needed to see if that would show erosion but after reading apparently erosion doesn't cause pain? Just weight gain? Who knows

Becky, you sound like you have it all together. I like your stat listing. How tall are you? I take Paxil which also causes weight gain so I know how you feel. My son is 22 and he is having the sleeve with me this month also. Congrats and good luck.

Are you counting your calories? Even though I am banded with a 4cc band "yep that's old" I still keep a diary and try not to eat over 1200 calories. I give myself a window just in case we should go to a restaurant, and you really don't know the calories. So I try to stay between 900 - 1200 calories. If I go over ten at that restaurant, I won't kick myself for it. Go to calorie counter.com and look for calorie king. They are the most accurate I think. Just type in what you had to eat "weigh your stuff, and measure like 1/4 cup" It will tell you your calories, and keep track of your Protein also so you don't go over, because then that can cause weight gain also. Good Luck. Shirley Banded 10/31/2006 Henry Ford Hospital

Nancy - Barrett's esophagus is a precancerous condition of the esophagus. It results from food and acid splashing into the esophagus. The esophagus is not made to have these things there and cells start to change. The pictures of his endoscopy would show a pink esophagus with large patches of red (Barrett's) and they would biopsy every year. They will tell you that only a small % of Barrett's turns into cancer. Doesn't matter if you're one of them. Because it's a death sentence. It is more common in men and more deadly for some reason. And more common in smokers and drinkers. My husband was neither. My husband died at 56, his dad died at 58 of cancer of the stomach/intestinal area (he was a heavy smoker) and his grandfather died in his 40's of some type of stomach problem (we don't know for sure if it was cancer - it was so long ago). So 3 generations of men died early of cancer - something not lost on my son. Both he and my daughter participated in a study at the Cleveland Clinic. They had to send blood and I gave permission for a sample of my husband's tumor to be sent to them. They were looking for genes for esophageal cancer. This is why I am so concerned about my reflux. I know it's nothing to mess around with. I got breast cancer 7 years ago. I have never been a smoker but blamed my weight gain as an adult for it. Yes, smoking and coffee are bad for reflux as well as chocolate, mint and alcohol. Hope your husband gets checked and good luck.