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One of the best parts of getting back on track and living like a compliant bandster is the amazing food I get to eat. Nope, not kidding. I happen to be a pretty darned good cook. The problem is that when I'm not living right with my band, I get lazy. Cooking for one person half the time just doesn't seem "worth it," as if I'm not worth taking care of as much as the other people I cook for. That leads to take out, dining out, fast food, convenience foods, and processed foods. And that leads to weight gain. But when I'm concentrating on improving my life by working with the band, I eat not only healthier foods, but often tastier ones as well. Just in the past week, I made band friendly versions of beef Bourguignon, macaroni and cheese, braised chicken thighs with mushroom sauce, and for dinner tonight, Asian lettuce wraps with chicken and vegetables. It's all fresh, high protein, low fat, unprocessed, organic, and so much better than anything I could get at a supermarket or a cheap restaurant that it makes me shake my head that I ever made those choices. Even with the band, I love to cook, I love to eat, and I love flavorful foods. Now, I'm just finding ways to eat them the right way in the right amounts with the right ingredients. And it just rocks!

Yesterday was a tough blog post for me. Because I had a bad morning yesterday, it started bringing up all those old feelings. I made myself remember all of it. Not just Buffalo Butt, not just the bus, but more... There were so many times that I was interested in a boy that befriended me only to end up dating one of my (thinner) friends. It's very possible it was because they just didn't want to date ME, but all I saw was rejection of a fatty. As an adult, I had two long distance relationships right out of college and that is it. Nada in about a decade. I've only kissed one guy in about 6 years, I think? And that was a drunken hook up at a friend's wedding. Ha! Growing up, I was the same size as some of my friends, but I always considered myself the fat one. I look at pictures and that wasn't really the case. All my friends had dates and boyfriends, but I didn't. My mom said that I always pushed them away or cut them off. The older I get, the more I realize that might be somewhat true. You know that Rodney Dangerfield quote about him not wanting to join any club that would have himself as a member? That's me, I think. In my head, I don't want to date anyone that would want to date me. Wow. That's just kinda sad...like, really...sad. Did I mention that I love boys? I do. I'm boy crazy, in fact!! I just never get past the admiring stage. I know I'm smart. I know I'm witty (in person...not so much in writing, ha!) I know that I am a natural leader, have a good work ethic and I'm nice. Apparently humble as well. But all that is negated much of the time because I'm fat. I was driving with a guy friend one time and he told me that guys will choose the skinny girl over the better looking overweight girl every time. He said that he knew it sucked, but it was true. That has really stuck with me. Now, don't get me wrong, I know that fat people get married, fat people have sex, fat people date. I know all of that. While I can imagine a romantic scenario with a cute guy in fantasy, I have a hard time truly imagining it in reality. About 4 years ago, I think I had a pretty good chance with a cute guy. We would email, talk on the phone and generally made excuses to see each other. It didn't work out and I started to gain weight. I didn't stop for 80 pounds. All the weight gain wasn't about him, for sure. But I have no doubt that it contributed to the start of it. I know I feel better about myself now at 227 than I did at 285. No question about it. So, I do think that as I lose weight, I will continue to feel better about myself. I don't think when I am 185 that I will see myself in the mirror as if I am 285 or 225. Maybe the argument is that I should be happy with myself regardless of the number on the scale. But I don't think that is my reality. We'll see. One thing I do know is that I haven't stuck with anything this long and I have officially lost more at one time than I ever have before. I WILL lose 120 pounds and I WILL feel good about my body. I can't promise that losing the weight will net me a boyfriend. I know better than that. But if I feel good about myself, I know that will reflect and will at least allow for the possibility. I will work on a happier post for tomorrow!!

If you're having trouble with solid protein then your band is too tight. I've read over and over people having trouble with solids, and then falling back to soft foods which don't give lasting satiety and are often high in calories. Then a vicious cycle evolves where there's soft food, quick hunger, soft food, followed by weight gain. That might not be the answer, but after reading your post, that's the first thing I would consider.

I never felt it was even in the realm of possibility before surgery. But like tonight, I am sitting here, already had dinner PLANNED, feeling like I don't even want to bother with it. I am not hungry, it doesn't sound good (nothing does) but my head knows I need the nutrition. So I will go in the next 15 min or so and get my dinner, and push it down. I wonder if I need to be more creative in what I am eating? (who can complain? This seems to be my biggest issue) well, this and how much I HATE tom, and the weight gain. Sucks being a woman sometimes :-)

I had to reply because I was due for my first AF since my surgery on the 6th August and it is 5 days late. I've not had the usual spotting, weight gain or bloating before hand, so I'm thinking that because of the weight loss and surgery our hormones go all out of whack. I'm sure as time goes on it should even it self out.

Thanks for your advice I attended my seminar on Saturday and I am going to my regular dr to korrow to fill in some of the gaps as to my weight gain. Hopefully it is smooth sailing from here

Thank god I'm not alone on this one! My husband and I had both agreed we didn't want our son to be an only child but since the surgery all I can think about is all the pregnancy weight I would gain if I got pregnant again.i feel bad for my husband because he really wants a second child. My husband just keeps saying to get off my birth control ( depo) and if we get pregnant we get pregnant. Part of me freaks out about that because I've only been post op for a few months and second the weight gain... Urg

Hi March Sleevers 2016, I finally had my Sleeve done on March 8th 2016. Had to wait 8 months for it, as my surgeon and his team found out in July 2015 that I had Graves Disease (Hyper thyroid), so I had to stabilise my thyroid first ..... I had rapid weight gain between 2014 and February 2016 of 41 kg ( 90.2 pounds ) ! Awful time in my life. I was so disappointed that I had to have a long delay, but it had to be done. My surgeon was very concerned re possible thyroid storm doing the op, that possibly could be fatal ..... Anyway, it is great to connect with March 2016 Sleevers. I am in my 6th week post op, and had my first stall, still on soft foods at this stage, and keep going slowly forward. Best wishes to everyone

Thank you samuelsmom for reaching out to me. I am glad you connected to what I said. Trust me, it takes a lot for me to open up on the internet. I always did feel I have this mysterious disease that no doctor can figure out and it is causing my weight gain. Like something from syfy, I swear. I know I have bad habits I need to break, and the fact that I sit all day in a cubicle is what has contributed the most to my weight gain. I started doing walks on my 15 min break just to avoid cankles from hell. (No kidding!) I am with you there, I really don't want to do it. Why? Well first I am scared of medical procedures. I work in the health insurance business for 14 yrs and have heard it all. So yes, I am little scared to step in a hospital and into the hands of the power that be. But also I am mad at myself that I had to resort to surgery just because I haven't had the will power to do it on my own. That alone makes me get mad at myself. Like I failed myself. I know time is getting closer, so I am on an emotional roller coaster ride right now. I know the surgery will make me feel much better about myself. My boyfriend keeps telling me that he knows me and I am not going to fail after this surgery. He feels because I have invested so much already and after i cut up my organs, he feels I would do everything my power not to screw it up. I guess he trust me more than I trust myself. I have to learn and find the will power and overall it is work in progress. Thank you for understanding.

Check liver light! Now that was funny! Regarding the posts about the calories in alcohol - yes, those are liquid calories, but in my case, the danger of weight gain from drinking has been the overeating afterwards. All common sense would go out the window. Now, I don't (can't) do that, and I hope I never do! There was a time when I drank sweet frozen and mixed drinks and didn't pay attention to the calories. I was pretty big, larger than I was when I started this VSG process. Well, one day I actually read the label on the frozen mixers and I actually cried at how many calories I had been drinking in mixer alone! No wonder I was so big. I have never touched those mixers since then and have had maybe half a dozen margaritas in the last ten years. Now I only drink wine, or alcohol mixed with a no/low calorie mixer.

Thank you! I've actually since lost a couple pounds since gaining the initial 10! I have been walking the stairs at work every hour to combat leg/ankle swelling! Hopefully it will combat weight gain too (and make my ass look amazing)!

I don't know anyone who has done that, but I am also the only person I know who has a band! Just wanted to say that it's possible. But it's usually preventable. Unless there's a malfunction with the band, you can get it tighted and prevent weight gain. Just like when you are losing weight. That's the #1 reason I went with the band. jayme

I have never personally known anyone who has gained their weight back and I do know a few people with the band. But since the band is relatively new who knows. But, when you think about it logically I really think you would have to try to gain it back. I would think that if weight gain begins then you can just go and get a fill. But maybe they're something that I'm missing. On the other hand, if a person became an ice cream and milkshake addict and refused to give that up they'd gain back no question. Or if they drank Coke and didn't follow any rules. Hmmm, now you've got me thinkin'....

I was in the same position re-op. My toes looked like sausages and my hands like a bricklayer. The scale went up when I really needed it to go down. Your body will readjust to life without the diuretic, but it takes time and you will be puffy for a while. The good news is you will not be dehydrated. I would caution anyone about taking a diuretic unless prescribed by a doctor. Try to power-through a little longer with the retained water (your body clearly needs it) and the resultant weight gain (its only water). I promise you will balance out soon. Cheers!

It may seem like it, but we weren’t all born 50 or 100 lbs. overweight. At some point earlier or later, the weight started coming on and got out of control. For a lot of people who are WLS patients or considering it, the causes of the weight gain are obvious looking back. You might have had parents who equated food with love, or whose idea of fruits and vegetables included banana splits and chili cheese fries. Or maybe you remember turning to food because it was there for you when you felt alone, or you were always hungry, or you simply didn’t know what to eat or how much was reasonable. What caused your own weight gain? Was it one event that you can point to that led to emotional eating or giving up on yourself? Was it a constant hunger? Do you think it was genetic? Share your stories here!

Anyone have aten better health of Virginia and got approval with 2 lbs weight gain? Do you know what net weight mean I go to my last weigh in and I was told I could not be higher than my net weight I don't know what that mean Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

http://www.healthline.com/health-news/bariatric-surgery-patients-see-weight-gain-after-honeymoon-period-080515#6

I feel like you are in a really good place right now because you've gotten past a really first important step - you know an issue that could be causing your weight gain! A glass a wine is not going to untie everything you've done, but if you're like me - some things are not acceptable in moderation and should just stay away from. You still are reaping the benefits of the decision you made, you still look really good! So, do what you can and manage the alcohol consumption. If you're still having issues, that can be dealt with too!

Wow.. 2 weeks from today I will be in the hospital getting lapbanded. Its hard to believe that my struggle with weight loss has come to this, but i am ready to tackle it head on. Lets rewind. I am 33 years old and in live in Tallahassee Florida, home to my beloved seminoles. I am happily married and have a 5 year old son named Dylan. Growing up I swam competitively from the time i was six years old through college. Although i had to watch my weight because i swam so much, it wasnt an "issue". My eating habits growing up were atrocious..two orders of chicken fingers and fries was a regular. Once college ended, swimming stopped and the "real world" set in. Sitting at a desk 9 hours a day, eating junk and not exercising lead to a 100lb weight gain. I have decided on Lap Band and will be banded May 9th at Tallahassee Memorial Hopsital by Dr. Eliot Sieloff. In preparing for surgery, I have read blogs and books and searched the internet...man is there a lot of stuff out there...funny how the things that stick are the scary parts.. How do you get past that? Any encouragement would be much appreciated~!!

Good on you Queen V, glad you got the courage to start posting. Sorry about your dad and your weight gain. It's never too late to start again. You will get the support you need on here. Good luck!

No one here can tell you what's wrong with your band. You really need to see a doctor ASAP, and get an xray and a consult. Aside from the weight gain, and more importantly than the weight gain, your problem could be something very serious (or life-threatening). No one here is able to tell you what the problem might be. Go to the doctor!

I started 2 gain weight when father passed at 7 years old before then I was skinnier than every kid in the family!! After 7 each year I gained weight! When I was 14 I started 2 go on a diet and by the I was in the 10 grade I had got down 2 160lbs Iam not sure how much I lost because I was scared 2 get on the scale even now!!! After that I fell of the wagon and since then that's been pretty much my life!! I am getting sleeved march 15th with Dr Almanza!!! And I am so ready! I am not afraid 2 travel 2 Mexico bcuz I have already been there last year I got a TT and lipo!! When I was there everyone was asking me why I did not get the sleeve and at the time u could not pay me 2 get it I was happy with my TT and lipo! But when I was there one of the doc had the sleeve done and he was going just fine and he was not even FAT!! So I started 2 think! I'm tired of losing and gaining and I want 2 break the cycle so am getting it done and can't wait!!! If anybody else is getting the sx done in Mexico let me know my email is livechristy@live.com!

Hello all, I was a lap band success story at one time, surgery in 2008, losing from 433 to 178, keeping most of that off for years. But life and acid reflux have taken their toll. I’ve had my band unfilled and refilled several times over the past years, but it’s no use. I can’t get to a sweet spot again where the band helps me lose weight and the acid reflux is manageable. The band is coming out on Monday. I’m depressed and worried. For me the band was magic, it made it easy (or at least possible) to lose so much weight. Now with an empty band for several months I’m struggling so much. I’ve regained 100 pounds in the past four years. Although I don’t have much restriction now, I’m worried about further weight gain. And also feeling like a failure, although I know that the band failed me. I did lose 250 pounds! I’m thinking of getting a RNY but I still don’t like the idea of cutting myself up like that. I’m trying to lose weight without further bariatric surgery but I’m not feeling confident. I’m mostly feeling depressed that this thing I loved at one point has turned out to be such a disappointment. Like a relationship gone bad. I’m breaking up with my band but still mourn the loss.

My surgeon relocated from my area but I am working closely with my primary care doctor. She seems to believe the thyroid medicine caused the weight gain my stopping my metabolism. However I stopped the medicine two months ago and still have been gaining.