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How many of you are "food addicts"? I am definitely one of those. I have lost 62 pounds now gained back 2 of them. :thumbup: I am happy for my loss (probably life saving) but I am following old habits of eating when stressed or sad etc. For me it seems to be a battle of mind over stomach and this month the mind is winning. HOW DO YOU CHANGE YOUR MINDSET and make it permanent? :bored: HOW DO YOU GET OVER A FOOD ADDICTION? The band can't do it for me - I still have to control or alter or replace my cravings for emotional eating. I welcome any response. Can anybody relate? Has anybody found a good tool to use? I need help!:eek: Betsy - betsyw20@comcast.net

I vote scale. Don't need to weigh frequently, but weight loss can creep back quickly. At the advice of my surgeon: If you weigh weekly, you'll never miss a 5 lb. weight gain and can adjust in the moment and not have to dig out of a hole.

make sure you weigh your food and try to limit it to no more than a cup to prevent weight gain and other issues.

HI EVERYONE, IM NEW TO THIS AND JUST HAD SOME QUESTIONS THAT I REALLY WANT INFO ONE.. MY SURGERY IS JAN 26 AND IM HAVING THE SLEEVE DONE. I WEIGHT 238 AND DECIDED THIS IS BEST FOR ME I DINT HAVE KIDS AND WANT THEM REALLY BAD I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME AND FOUND OUT IT'S FROM WEIGHT GAIN... HAS ANYONE HAD POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME AND GOT PREGNANT AFTER SURGERY?

Today my mom said that me needing surgery for my weight is all in my head. I share a house with mom and dad and my brother and whenever they can they take jabs at my weight gain. I've told them that it upsets me but they kinda do it anyway. I'm trying my best to watch what I'm eating and when I say I don't want to eat something they're cooking they talk about me like I'm not even there, saying sarcastically, oh she's not eating this she's on her diet, it really makes me think badly of myself for letting myself get this way with the weight gain and all. I've never had a real problem with my weight until I went to rehab for drug addiction. I really think I just substituted drugs for food. I'm fine with it because if I can overcome my drug addiction, I have 7 years sober, I have faith I can overcome food addiction. I just don't know how to handle all their snide comments about my weight. It's very hurtful especially coming from my own family. Anyone have any ideas on how to handle this. I am 4'11" and my starting weight was 238, I am now about 208-210, I am fluctuating all the time but they are really depressing me, at least I'm trying to better myself, when I came back home after my divorce at 238 lbs I also had to have a breast reduction surgery that helped me be able to exercise, I was a 42J now I'm a 42D, a huge improvement that enabled me to at least get up and go to the gym. I've been extremely active since last winter after my breast surgery, working outside on the yard, garden, mowing the lawn, now I can do all these things but no significant weight loss. Main problem though I am wondering how to handle the sarcastic remarks and not feel so alone and just want to cry. Any ideas??

I took the Effexor immediate release without any problems after my RNY. My only problem was that it made me gain weight like mad! I ended up changing to a different med. it wasn't worth the trade off for the weight gain.

I totally understand that feeling, as well. I would crop mine as well, if possible. but usually if it's a group pic that I would be in, i tried to get to the back so that my body (or at least most of it) was hidden behind others. My friend found a pic of me when I was at my highest weight of 289 and gave it to me (a year or two ago) because she knew I had come a ways from that. I am still down to 250 at this point, although I had gotten down to 215, so I have definitely been on that rollercoaster of just that part of weight gain for 2 or more years now. I refuse to ever get back to that weight. Pictures can be a wake up calll, for sure.

I know I packed on a lot after being on Depo, but was off it for 2 years and did not lose much. I am back on it and BOTH the surgeon and Gyno said it has very little to do with weight gain/retention. My loss has been good with band, but I wonder if it would be better without it. I want to switch BC methods, but neither doc wants me on the pill because I am 42. The Gyno and I have discussed some permanent things, but I don't know about going that route either. I have no kids, and probably won't have any, but am just unsure about taking a permanent step. Good job to stop the Depo now and let it cycle out. It takes a long time to regulate after wards. Best of luck,

I haven't even had my first apt yet, but, focus on what you have lost........65 lbs good for you! Maybe this is just one of those periods where you have tapered off, but if you stick with it, you will start losing again. The alternative is just weight gain and complications, so hang in there. I would give anything to lose 65 lbs, think of how good you look and the health benefits you've gained so far. Keep reading other posts, maybe there will be something suggested that will work for you.

Hey everyone. Its been a while since Ive been on here. Been hiding my head in the sand for a long, long time. Well, Im pulling myself out of the sand now. Been watching the scales go up slowly. They hit 180 last week. Was 150 last year. That was it. My aha moment. Haven't felt like I even had a sleeve lately. While I still eat small meals, I can snack endlessly. And yes, I know thats not good to do so. Just becuz I can doesn't mean I should. I know all that.. As I said, Im pulling myself back up. Been back on track for 4 days now. Focusing on Protein (but Im not afraid of small amts of carbs either), drinking Water, not drinking with meals, and moving more. I need to lose 40 lbs. Sounds like a daunting task right now, but Ive done it before, I can do it again. ANy pointers out there from people who have been where I am? High protein, low calorie Snacks? I appreciate any support I can get. Ive had my sleeve for 2 1/2 yrs and Ive never made it to goal. This time I will!

AND I DIDN'T GAIN A POUND!!! WOOHOOOOOOOOO! Never before in my life have I ever gone on a cruise or vacation and didn't come back with weight gain. I did get stuck once and PB'd, but I certainly watched it the remainder of the time. I'm perfectly restricted. Thanks Dr. C and staff!

From someone who hasn't had surgery yet, please don't be a statistic! We all have spent the better part of our lives being statistics. Weight gain after diet statistics. % of fat American statistics. Do NOT be a gain after WLS statistic. Get your head back in the game, ladies! I'll be there with you one day and you might need to remind me, too!

I gained 25lbs during my six month pre op. I really just couldn't control myself. The worst part was going to the nutritionist and seeing her disappointed face..lol...I was approved, and no one mentioned the weight gain at all. I am currently two weeks post op, and as of today between the liquid diet pre op and the two weeks after surgery, I have lost the 25lbs I gained. Good luck! I have anthem BCBS of Virginia by the way.

i am going for a revision after gaining back one hundred pounds after gastric bypass.i will be having a lapband. one more appt with doctor and then waiting for approval frooom medicare/medicaid. am very nervous about losing weight presurgery diet. will i be able to do it? must get off 3meds that cuse weight gain before surgery will start weanig off in two days. am concerned about hypogycemia and hair loss and costs of diet. i hope my shopping costs go down as i will be eating less. i have leiminated sugaar adn white foods. must get off caffeine too. are htere any revisionists in here? thanku abbagirl

Sheesh this has been a Rollercoaster for me, 6 months of weigh in, psych evaluation, etc etc, last weigh and I weighed the amount I was supposed come to find out they made a mistake i had to weighless so i stripped and went to the rest room and I was good to go with my weight rhen the waiting game for my surgery to get authorize, finally it happened then my surgery was scheduled a month later. In that month U gained 5 pounds and also lost that plus a additional 2 pounds,,the finale. ....... I get a phone call Wednesday saying I needed to come in the office, on Friday, that my surgery was being canceled but couldn't say why over the phone, I said I wanted to speak to the office manager, and she said if i come right now I could be seen, I left work early and race to the dr office, she says my iron was .5 too low, And my surgery was being canceled, I cried so hard, and told her I was on my monthly maybe that's why she said I could be retested on Friday (today ) I couldn't have no weight gain and my iron had to be up by .5 , I drank nothing but Protein shakes Wednesday and yesterday, double up on my iron pill while i drank a cup of orange juice as well. Plus ate a can of beets each day (yuck ) I couldn't sleep all last night , then today I nervously went in got weighed , my weight was good, lost a additional 2 pounds and then my iron got checked, and just goy the phone call my iron was 10.7 , I began to cry tears of joy, so on monday sept 14th 2015 , I will be sleeved, please keep me and your progress and I hope my story is inspiration for someone to NEVER GIVE UP !!!!

Hey Girlie- We're surgery sisters having been sleeved on the same day. So, I am literally right where you are. And, I can say that I honestly go through the same thing as you. I can blame mine on a mulitude of issues. Here's a quick run-down: 1. I killed my best friend when I was sleeved. Sounds nuts I know, but I turned to food for all of my emotional comfort. Sometimes, I feel sad that it had to come to this to get healthy. And, it's taking my awhile to make new "friends". 2. I'm surrounded my social eaters. Everywhere I turn my friends, family and co-workers mark life by what we're serving and who's bringing what dish. When you can't eat a lot and focus on Protein and no carbs this can get depressing. 3. I'm realizing that I blamed a lot of issues in my life on my weight and that simple isn't true. I can't blame my weight for things like my marriage hitting the skids anymore so I have to figure out how to fix it now. It's depressing to realize that I was lazy and blamed my weight and it's depressing sometimes to wade through the crap necessary to fix it all. 4. My mind is ahead of my body. I'm ready for the journey to be over and to begin living life in a normal BMI body. Even though I'm losing weight at warp speed it still doesn't seem fast enough some days. On those less rational days when I see that I haven't come as far as I want, it bums me out. I think the best thing we can do is take a deep breath and face our personal challenges head on so we can begin to sort them out and ensure a future without food and weight gain as a crutch. For me, that means journaling, talking with the BFF, an occasional therapist visit and venting on here. It's nice to know this group is here help. Best of luck to you! Amanda

Thank you Lulugirl. I am having the same issue, was self pay in Mexico because of a low bmi, and now on the same boat. I was told I need to gain about 15 lbs. I cannot afford to do self pay at this time or I would go do it. Maybe my friend the accountant can loan me the money, lol....It is very frustrating, he is correct, I need to eat right and excercise, so why can't I do it??? Seems like the harder I try, the more I set myself up for failure. I think I'm depressed because of the weight gain. I refuse to give up, someday I will Killl the fat monster. I wish you luck and advice you to do something about the weight gain now, it is 30 lbs, do not wait until it is 60 like me. Stay in touch

This is normal. I had my surgery 3 weeks ago on Dec 29th. I know that it feels like it will never go away, but it eventually will. Gas X does help a little. What I found that helped me was, when I would burp, I would bend over. For me this just helped expel more gas so there wouldn't be so much sitting on my stomach. Also, don't worry about the weight gain. I have been playing with 5 lbs since surgery. Just make healthy food choices and don't eat when you are not hungry. The mental hunger is the hardest thing to overcome. Good luck.

Thats not to bad, my doc is 200 just to walk thru the door ... I am soo sick of the pain, getting sick and the heartburn I can hardly deal anymore. I have Poly cystic ovarian disease to and I was reading some posts that explain or have the same symptoms I do ( weight gain, major hair loss, acne and abnormal hair growth). Does anyone know if there is special meds other than birth control or diet for this?

In your GP's annual physical you can ask to have your estrogen/progesterone tested. When women stop ovulating they lose progesterone, when we age our estrogen hikes to try to pump out more eggs anyway and with fat it really hikes high and everything gets bogged down. Google Estrogen dominance, it's terrible. There are different signs of it and sometimes there are no signs. Susanne Somers used bio identical hormone replacement therapy. If you keep the fat off your estrogen won't hike as high but one of the side effects of estrogen dominance is weight gain I take progesterone cream. Progesterone relaxes your muscles, helps you sleep, helps immune function, balances estrogen etc. I recommend a blood test every few years along with your physical just to keep an eye on it. http://www.ehow.com/how_4423839_increase-progesterone-naturally.html I never thought i'd have to deal with this at 37.

This weight gain is what we call a bounce. It's basically water weight and will be gone in a flash. Don't stress over it, just be grateful for where you are today and keep following the sleeve rules.

I know this is an overly talked about topic but I'm 9 weeks out, this last week I lost 1.4 lbs and in the last 2 days, I gained 2 lbs. Like, really? I'm not doing anything different or crazy. I will say that along with the weight gain, I'm all of a sudden real hungry too. Help Sent from my SM-G930T using the BariatricPal App

Oh gosh, dont remind me. Fat has crept up on me mostly at major life events (births of babies specifically) not as a constant thing. At 40, my next major life event is probably menopause, lol (though hopefully a way away yet!). I have given lots of time to hoping I can maintain this loss past menopause. Because when I look at women who I think look fabulous in their 50's and 60's that I would like to emulate as I get older the one thing they have in common is a youthful figure. Its not about keeping flowing blond locks that you can flick around or having 20 facelifts to look like some macarbe impersonation of a 30 year old, its that around the middle weight gain that to me identifies women as old or middle aged. Those that stay slim always look more youthful to me, even if they've aged completely normally skin wise. I fear looking "old" more than anything I think, I dont need to be stunning or beautiful, I just want to maintain that fit, healthy and vital look becuase that's what I think is really attractive, not beauty itself which fades for everyone. And that is entirely within MY control. I will be that 70 year old woman still running. That makes me feel good about myself regardless of what I actually look like.

Hi Photo, I am one of those bandsters that made reference to the honeymoon stage. None of my remarks were meant to be discouraging to new bandsters. The point was some of the things Paul said are true, but they are not the Ten Commandments. All fast food is not bad for you. But if HIS addiction focused on eating too much fast food, then HE needs to stay away from it and not prostelytize about the merits of staying away from fast food joints and suggest all of it is crap because it is not. My problem is NOT fast food but the fact that I have a satiety disorder so I guess that would mean I should never go grocery shopping again. Not all bandsters exercise daily. Some have knee problems or need hip replacements or edema or other physical ailments that prevent them from moving around. Great advice to new bandsters would be to exercise, but what about the ones who cant? One of the most successful bandsters I know who is a nurse has not exercised at all through her whole journey and has been at goal almost one year and weighs 150 down from 290. She now has the gift of mobility and has the choice of whether she wants to exercise, but telling her that she needs to exercise to be successful longterm is a moot point. She has been maintaining her present weight for more than a year now and who am I to lecture her about what works or doesnt work? And what works for one, does not necessarily work for others. When the honeymoon is over (which is true for all WLS procedures) things do change and when you lose your restriction, dont have any restriction or lose your band all the demons come knocking at the door and even the folks who have been totally compliant, followed good bandster protocol and exercise daily find that they need far less calories to move around a person half the size. Weight gain for WLS patients whether it be band, RNY or any other procedure happens. If you find it demotivating for me to point out that perception changes, then that is your perrogative. I am thrilled that Paul has been so successful with his regimen. I too lost 120 lbs my first year of banding and busted my ass to achieve this success. In my second year, I lost an additional 34 pounds and then plateaued for 6 months. I quit smoking, gained about 12 pounds, had plastic surgery and all my fill removed and many of the food demons come back with the missing saline. My whole point is for those who have not reached a sweet spot or have never had one, the tool is a lot less effective and it could be very discouraging for those newbies who are not losing for those reasons to think that they are not trying hard enough. And just think how hard it would be for someone who really tries and is not seeing the results that Paul is seeing? Also for you to say that you can only think of one reason why someone would point out that there is a honeymoon period this instead of offering words of encouragement and WOOHOO!!! s and GREAT JOB! and its not a pleasant conclusion (paraphrased) is really off the mark. I do find it a little confusing that someone would think that I am trying to be hurtful by pointing out that things really change radically through this journey. Somebody once told me that there is a big difference between truth and perception. I have more or less maintained my weight give or take 5-8 lbs. Now that the honeymoon is over, it is a huge struggle to maintain this weight. 3-4 hours of exercise and a 1300 calorie a day eating plan of mostly meat and veggies and some limited carbs just aint cutting it to keep the weight off. Theres only so far you can go with restriction ( I dont barf very often 2 or 3 times a year) and the tool does become less effective several years out for lots of reasons like dwindling satiety, the fact you get used to restriction and find ways to eat around the band even though I said I would NEVER do this. I dont drink when I eat, but a pre meal cup of warm tea helps to get that little bit of extra meat down. A little more Sauce for my meat acts as extra lube and before you know it, I ate an extra two ounces of steak. OOPS! Sometimes your portions get bigger just a 1/4 oz more of this and a little of that and you dont notice until you are now eating a cup of food once again. And its easy to get complacent once the weight is off. So although many of the things Paul are saying are true, they are more easily said when you are losing 20 lbs a month. I recall when I was first doing research on the band that I went to obesityhelp lapband forum and posted and got one reply 3 days later to my posting. I remember "SouthernBandgal" Michelle was the only person to reply to my questions. THere was very little information available about the lapband three years ago, so all the protocol Paul so kindly outlined in his posting wasnt available at all and most of us back then stuck with our docs protocol and winged the rest. As said here by an earlier poster, obesity is a managed addiction. I love my band but there are limitations regarding this tool and there really is a HONEYMOON period where one should maximize losses and try their best to be as compliant as possible. I understand what Paul was doing and he has a big heart, but his guidelines work for him, not for all of us. I went to a nutritionist, a psychologist (pre and post banding), hired a personal trainer, worked out daily and posted religiously my first two years of banding. Things do change at year 3, 4, 5, so if this bothers you that I point this out, then so be it. THeres nothing I can do to make you feel differently. Babs in TX 334/180 ish Size 14 -16 Dont weigh myself anymore but my clothes still fit!!

I got pregnant 2 weeks after i got my band! I lost about 5 pounds! I was bummed but really happy, it was hard because it was my first (and only baby) that my husband and I wanted so bad, but I just got banded. My surgeons nurse wanted to take out my meager fill, but since i really had no restriction, i refused, and I never had a problem with it. My suggestion is get a really great obstetrition with experience with "high risk", she thought nothing bad of my band, and even suggested it would help me control the inevitable weight gain of pregnancy, she also said i was lucky to have the band, as though it was adjustable. She was a gorgeous little 100 pound thing, but she never judged me, and did a great great job. I only gained 10 pounds in the first 8 months, and 30 the last (i got gestational hypertension, it was all water weight). Nadia came by c-section (little breech brat) an was absolutely perfect. Doctor even took extra care not to disturb my port. My altime high was 324 a day after she was born (swelled up even worse because of c-section) but by my 6 week check up, I was down to 280 with relatively little effort (recovering and all, you know) and now 2 months out, and a good fill, I have lost another 15 pounds. The band was GREAT with my pregnancy, but having an understanding support team with my care was what made it that way. I hope you all the luck, and I strongly suggest you get a good baby doctor, as to be honest, my doc never thought of the band as an inconvienience, but rather, a helpful tool. Good luck.