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Posted by Lindata "I never ever thought I would one day be technically 100 pounds overweight. Looking at myself, I would think where would 100 pounds come off of me? Now that I've lost some of that weight it's like blinders have been taken off - I can't believe I COULDN'T see the weight. I really believed I looked way thinner than I did. How is it that we can lie to ourselves and believe what we say?" I do the same thing, Linda. I'll look in the mirror and try to figure out where the rest of the weight will come off of. Even before I lost any weight, I couldn't imagine myself so big unless I looked in the mirror. Whenever I had to write my weight down for anything, I would mistakenly put a "1" where the "2" had to be. At least I'm back into the 100's but I still have so much to go. You're very fortunate to have married a man who loves you no matter what. I wasn't so lucky. I have seen a big change in my husband's attitude with me according to my weight. He married a slim young woman who allowed the stresses of life to affect her eating habits. I can't even blame my weight gain on having children. I only gained 28 pounds with each child which came right off. A rocky marriage, a partial hysterectomy, a car accident, and the loss of my parents are to blame for my lack of control. food became my drug of choice. Like Judy, I think it is the most difficult addiction to overcome. We need to eat so keeping the "drug" out of the house is impossible. The demons are always there tempting me. At least the band helps keep them at bay.

If You Want to Lose Weight, Keep an Eye on Your Social Network One of the first things you learn about weight loss surgery is that you need a support system. The more friends and family you have around, the more likely you are to lose weight. At least, that’s what you’re told. It’s mostly true but it’s not completely right. The truth is that your friends and family don’t always help you lose weight. If you have anyone sabotaging your efforts, you already know that. But your friends and family may be dragging you down without trying to. You may not even realize it’s happening. Once you do, though, you can resist the bad influence. Effect of Friends and Family on Weight Take a look at your friends and family. Are they overweight? If they are, they may be getting in the way of your own weight loss. Part of it may be genetic. If one sibling gains weight, the other is 40 percent more likely to also gain weight, according to research described in the December 2011 edition of the Harvard Men’s Health Watch. You might point to genes to explain why you can predict people’s weight gain based on their siblings’ weight gain. That may be partly true, but consider this. Spouses are 37 percent more likely to become obese if their spouse does. Okay, live together, eat together, gain or lose weight together. That makes sense, right? But do you know whose weight is most closely related to yours? It’s not the weight of your siblings or spouse. It’s your friends’ weights! If you have a close friend who becomes obese, your risk of becoming obese increases by a scary 57 percent! And, if your friends want to lose weight, you’re more likely to want to lose weight. How Your Friends Affect Your Weight You don’t live with your friends, and you don’t share their genes. So why should their weight affect yours? Part of it is just from trying to be a good friend. Your friend’s job is to cheer you up and accept you for who you are. That’s great in most cases because we all need someone on our side. Unfortunately, it works against you when you tell your friend that you just ate a half a pizza because you had a bad day at work, your friend may just tell you that you deserved that pizza. Worse, she might invite you out so that the two of you can split another pizza. Also, your perception of what is normal and acceptable might shift towards what your friends do and think. If they are overweight or obese, you may not see yourself as unhealthily overweight even if you are. If they share a few boxes of doughnuts every Sunday, you might not see any problem with those extra hundreds of calories. But continuing to do what they do can get in the way of hitting your weight loss goals. Make New Friends… When you’re getting started on your weight loss journey, think about making a few new friends who are going to support your new commitment to health. Other weight loss surgery patients: they’re going through exactly the same things that you are. Exercise buddies: find them at the gym, in the park, or through craiglist.com or meetup.com. Don’t be shy about asking if you can join them for a workout or two. If they say no, ask someone else. You might end up making a few new friends that you can hang out at other times during the day. …And Keep the Old You don’t have to ditch your old friends and stay away from your siblings and parents if they’re overweight. Ideally, you can be open with them. Explain how hard you are working to get healthy, and let them know how they can help. If you’re lucky, they’ll be willing to change some of their behaviors to support your goals and get healthier themselves. Meet to go shopping or take a walk in the park instead of to eat at a restaurant. Order an egg white omelet instead of pancakes with butter, syrup, and sausage when you go out for breakfast. Meet your friends to do crafts or pack lunches for a homeless shelter instead of baking and eating cookies. If your old friends and your family are unwilling to change, you don’t need to avoid them. Even being aware of how friends and family can affect you can protect you from following their leadwhile you’re hanging out with them. Be on the lookout for unhealthy behaviors, and make your own healthy decisions. Skip the table’s appetizers and enjoy your glass of ice water. Order what you know is right, like chicken breast or fish and vegetables, while everyone else is ordering pasta or steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Savor coffee while everyone else is digging into dessert. Lean on them for sympathy when you’re struggling, but don’t use them as eating buddies anymore. Eventually, they may see how happy and successful you are, and they may be ready to ask you for help losing weight. Your friends and family are there to support you, but sometimes their love for you isn’t good for your weight loss journey. Ask them to help you out by setting a good example, and keep yourself from following their lead if you know they’re eating badly.

OK, time flies, and my 6 months post op are coming up in few days. I wrote a detailed 3 months post op journey, with all the great health changes and weight loss. I am still enjoying the great health changes, and my weight is still going down, albeit bit slower now. No more acid reflux for me, yay! Weaning myself off Nexium slowly, and so far so good. I want to show few photos, I have 2 lots of Befores, as I was slim prior to my massive, rapid weight gain in 2014-2016. So, here are a couple of me in 2009, and 2013 Then the 2014-2016 photos. I hate them, especially the one on the right. The weight gain aged me so much, and I felt deformed, my eyes became slits, big arms etc. I actually don't have a photo of myself at my heaviest (222 Ib), I refused to have photos taken by then, and couldn't look in the mirror. I put on 90.2 Ib in 2 years! And finally post WLS, at 3 months (left) and now (right). I will take some body shots soon and post these. For now, just face shots, but I feel like I had a natural face lift Starting to look normal again. Still have 22-30 Ib to go, but already the changes are great! Very happy with my sleeve!

Lithium is known to cause weight gain but I've never tried it. When I was put on Depakote, I regained over a hundred pounds that I had lost. I switched to Lamictal and found it to be less sedating and was able to actually excercise loose some of the weight. I am not currently taking a mood stabilizer however. Throughout, I have also been on zoloft and at times zoloft and wellbutrin. I do not suspect either of the anitdepressants or the Lamictal of impairing my metabolism/energy like the depakote seemed to. Have you tried Lamictal?

I can relate to your situation First let me say all of my weight gain was from my Paxil I was on for 1.5 yrs and gained 70 lbs. Me too! The anti depressants will slow down your metabolic rate is what I was told by my PCP to almost zero, the meds are used for depression but after time for me I was more depressed from my weight gain then from what I was being treatedfor so I quit. Secondly, my son who is 19 is Bi-Polar he was also on the lithium whicvh made him a zombie, no motivation and all he did was sleep, then he went to depakote and his blood pressurewas so high the doctor was in fear he would have a stroke, so he quit taking that, then the prozac which did not do much so he is now smoking marijuana, he has one of those cards from his doctor where he can gfet it legally, it has been the only thing that has worked for him. No bi-polar episodes but every now and then he has panic attacks so takes an occassional xanax. Every person that I know personally who has taken any kind of anti-depressant has had weight gain, you may find that just getting off of the anti depressante will be enough and wil lstill be able to take your bi-polar meds my son never had weight gain taking his bi-polar meds if anything he lost weight. Have you ever tried lexapro, that is an anti depressant that my husband takes and has had no weight gain it works well for him, my doctor told me it has the least chance of weight gain..but everyone is different.

hi stephh! i just had my baby 9-28-15. i started at 257 and was reached my goal of 150 when i was 14months out, then two weeks later i found out i was pregnant. i too was only taking in about 700-800 pre pregnancy. around 13 weeks pregnant i started getting insanely hungry, literally every two hours. for me it really didn't ease up until i was about 32weeks. my dr wanted me to take in about 1800 calories a day i ended up putting on 42lbs in total. i lost 15lbs after my c section taking me from 192 to 177. i have been stuck there for the past two minths unfortunately, the scale just doesn't want to move for me. keep taking in as much Protein as you can. keep high protein Snacks with you if you're getting hungry often! congratulations on your pregnancy, you can pm me if any questions Thank you so much for responding!!!!!! I feel like I'm in the exact same scenario you were. I feel so much better knowing that someone else is hungry too. I was afraid of it being head hunger. Congratulations on your new baby! How was your pregnancy besides being hungry? Had you been pregnant before? Was it different? Sorry, I have SO many questions!!! Your weight gain doesn't seem bad to me. It seems like a manageable weight and will probably come off. I already have argued with my Dr about gaining weight... He said I could aim for 10-20 pounds because I'm at the top end of my healthy weight range. So far, I've stayed steady, but I'm not very far along. i sent you some photos in pm

OMG your weight loss is awesome. Based on your profile picture you would never imgaine that you needed it. Anyway, I'll admit that I have alot going on in my life. Although things have gotten better with my husband, they arent the best. I work 10 hour shifts and when I get home I am a single mother (hubby works nights) of 3 trying to get things done in 1 1/2 hours (before bedtime for kids). By the time they are out, I'm burned out. However, I do walk/run on the treadmill (2-3 miles a day). I also have a few medical conditions that I think may be contributing to my pause in weight loss (Thyroid & Hormone problems). Grrrrr, honestly I just wish that I had someone that I can talk to about this whole experience that can provide input. My family is a hispanic family that loves to eat (with no weight gain) and always call you out in front of others about your weight, pant size etc. Tried to post profile picture but something seems to go wrong each time. SMH.... lol

I am 2 years post-op from RNY and my weight is flat-lined. As a matter of fact I weighed myself this morning and I am at my lowest weight thus far. So what am I doing. First, I am not hypersensitive about my weight loss. I weigh myself each morning but I use the scale only as a tool, not something to beat myself over the head with. It only tells me if I am making the wrong decisions on my experimentation with food. Second, I am getting most of my Protein from meals. I consume high protein meals and do not take protein supplements any longer. Third, I strictly stay away from processed sugars. I use low calorie sweeteners (such as Stevia), no calorie artificial sweeteners (such as Splenda), natural sugars (found in fruits and milk) and sugar alcohols. I had diabetes prior to surgery and have been in remission since the surgery and periodically monitor my blood sugar levels. And the testing shows this approach works. Fourth, I consume fats. Fats have the power to take away hunger. So generally, I am rarely hungry. Generally, I have a cup of coffee in the morning with a giant scoop of home made whip cream. I make it myself and use Splenda in place of sugar. I use whole milk and real butter. I might have 3 Adkins treats during the day which also have fats and no processed sugar. They take the edge away from hunger. I asked my nutritionist "Why do people have surgery only to gain some or all of their weight back over the years?" Her response was "grazing" which is probably synonymous with snacking. I will be the first to admit that I snack, but I think it is important to understand what is appropriate to snack on. I snack on protein and fats and exclude processed sugar. Fifth, I do not drink carbonated beverages anymore. I believe it is the carbonation that causes weight gain. It is like generating miniature explosions in my stomach that over time expand it out and allow it to grow and as a result, I gain weight. Six, I am aware of the conditions that cause me to loose additional weight and will sometimes take advantage of these conditions to capture and achieve additional long term weight loss. These fall into two categories. I have found that when I get the stomach flu, I will lose weight. I have also found that when I travel and am forced to eat out, I generally lose weight.

Surely this must be the 9th circle of bandster hell!! I was banded a little over 3 months ago (13 weeks) and had my first SMALL fill 6 weeks ago. I have pretty much NO restriction and have 2 more weeks to go until my second fill. This day cannot come fast enough! I feel that overall, I am doing well. I've been working out 3-5 times a week, going to Weight Watchers religiously, and making good food choices, most of the time. But, inevitably, I have those days when I just want to eat everything. This week, I have had 3 of them, including today. Good times! I have had a ridiculous amount of food and am thinking about the next thing I am going to put in my mouth as we speak. Tomorrow, I will be disgusted with myself and go back to the gym and get on track, but it will probably take 2-3 days of working out just to offset today's munchfest. These are the days that have facilitated my colossal weight gain and these are the days I really need a working band!! I don't want to be able to eat this much and I don't want to feel hungry. I feel guilty because I know I am supposed to be eating small portions, and somedays, I'm just not. Deliberatley disobeying doctor's orders and maybe even putting my health at risk!! I assume that because everything goes down and I feel normal, I am okay. Could I be setting myself up for future problems by overeating?? I just want some restriction and I want this day to be over so I can start damage control tomorrow. Who still overeats after going through all the trouble of weight loss surgery?? Apparently, I do. :redface:

Topomax is used to treat BP its a mood stabalizer and a size effect is weight loss. Altho it comes with about a million other side effects they only last about 2 weeks until you are on the drugs regularly. Paxil Is used to treat the drepression part of BP and can be used with the Topomax if you do well on this antidepressant maybe ask your doc about putting these 2 together. I gained about a billion pounds being on and off the anti-depressant drugs myself and when I went on the BP combos I asked for one specifically designed to make me not gain anymore weight or I wouldnt be taking them lol. I also take Lorazepan but I just started that because I still have panic attacks which I have always had bad. But with increased stress in my life over some work situations and other stuff they are back with avengance and I am not sure if they have any weight gain or loss with those or not I should look that up after i post this actually hehe. Anyway hope that helps. -Gummie

I'm sooo with you! I have a weight gain of 4-5 lbs when "aunt flo" comes to visit. It's so frustrating because they just look at you like-ya right...

It differs person to person. Some say a couple of days some say a week. I didn’t drink much for the first 3 or so days because of pain on swallowing from swelling so the IV fluids likely compensated for me not drinking. I wasn’t peeing any more than I usually did. I weighed myself day 4 post surgery & I was 1.5kgs less. I didn’t notice much abdominal swelling either & had no gas pain at all. This was totally different after my gall removal surgery - gas pain for days, bloated & took 4 days of peeing like a racehorse to lose the 2kgs I’d gained. But as I said we’re all different. We retain fluids differently. Our body reacts to trauma differently. Our surgeons operate differently (mine uses little gas in bariatric surgeries but uses more for gall). We heal differently. As long as you realise any weight gain is likely from the surgery you’ll be fine. It certainly won’t be from eating copious amounts of food 😉. Hope all goes well with your surgery.

So, I am fully aware that those of us "pre-band" always dread shopping- but sometimes, SOMETIMES I actually enjoy it... Of course, that isn't the case since I gained the last 30-40 pounds... but I can still sometimes enjoy it. Last night was our work's christmas party, well kind of. First off, there are only 7 of us (including the doctor we work for) in the office- so not really a party lol. One of the other nurses I work with decided to have us over to her place for the "party" the same night her husband was having his party for work- he works for gulfstream. So I figured it might be a nice way to get out of the house since I rarely do, and maybe meet some interesting people... well, with my recent weight gain- barely anything fits! UGH! So, I decided to go shopping... Figured I could just get a new sweater or something... So, I went to Ross (hoping for something cute, and cheap- no luck) then to Catherine's (again, no luck), then to the Avenue (was able to get a sweater and a knitted "shell" type thing- but still wasnt "happy"), went to Torrid (which, aside from their prices, I normally love...) Long and short of it all- I am disgusted that I had to buy the biggest size I've ever been in, and yet STILL didnt feel at least "pretty"-- I know hoping to feel sexy or anything wasnt in the rhelm of reality- but to still not even feel pretty? What a shame.. I'm so sick of it. Trying to change things now before I have the surgery (if I ever have it!!! Still battling the nasty gross habbit of smoking... which I have to be nicotien free for at least 2 months before the surgery- so that means no patches or gum or anything if it has nicotien!) Trying to eat better and all that- but yet, at the same time- I find myself eatting things that I know I shouldnt and then using the excuse "well, I wont be able to eat this after my surgery"-- REALLY?! C'mon now Ryan.... You (I) know that this surgery isnt going to all of a sudden change my eating habbits for me- SURE, there will be things that my band won't allow me to eat or whatever... but at the same time- there will still be things that it will still allow me to eat that I know I shouldnt... I know I CAN do this- and WILL do this... just trying to fight myself and my own inner psychie that thinks that I need these things (like donuts for breakfast, or smoking!) Dear Lord- please help give me the stregnth that I need today to help me make a better tomorrow! Amen.

@ Game of Sleeves....I am also struggling with a 8 lb weight gain....I reached my goal weight of 135 after one year of being sleeved but now bounce between 139-142 even though I am very active. Am trying the 5:2 diet and hopefully that will work. I also have a FitBit which I am obsessed with and am usually always over 10K a day in my steps. Plus I live in Amsterdam so we walk or bike everywhere. Still, can't seem to get it off. Portions are very good but I do snack on things I shouldn't. I can eat anything but rice. @Lynda.....wow. You and I are so similar! I used to live in San Jose (like you), I started at 223, goal 135 (like you), and was also sleeved in 2011. And although you don't say your age, I am also retired and our birthdays are one day apart! Interesting. So stay tuned.....this week I am recommitting myself. I cannot and will not gain this weight back. My life has been too wonderful since I lost 83lbs.

My surgeon feels that my band slipped during my pregnancy. I'm having it fixed 6/15. I do have a lot of symptoms but most discouraging is no weight loss since November, 2009. But at least no weight gain either. I'm still 100% sold on the Lap Band, but it's a journey and you need to be ready for anything.

i wanted to ask you how do you define "restriction" i know i had the wrong idea of what it was. i thought i would be able to eat like 3 teaspoons of protein and feel like i was gonna throw up if i ate another bite...well to my surprize that's not was restriction is. lol i found out the hard way that true restriction isnt necessarily about how much you eat, but about how long you are satiated between meals. sometimes before i got restriction i would be hungery like 2 hours later. now i can go anwhere from 4-6 hours before i am truley hungry and not just "head hungry". (boy is that a hard lesson to learn as well.) I feel your frustration on the weight gain to,. i was about to jump off a bridge whenever i gained one pound! but i've figured out that my weight is gonna fluctuate a few pounds and now i just focus on how my clothes fit. Hope something i said helps. Keep up the good work. Jennifer

I posted this on my blog, but I thought it might be important to share here because I am sure I am not the only one who is experiencing this: I know I've been raking on DH a bit here, and usually he's a decent guy, but I don't know exactly what's happening here lately. It's either time for a sit-down or to really get this before a counselor to make it a bit more neutral because, frankly, I don't believe he'll see what he's doing. Since the "coming to Jesus" talk we had (okay, I had with him) a couple weeks ago, on more than one occasion he has made some bizarre comment when I've complimented him after making dinner. I'll say, "Oh, the chicken was good," and he'll reply, "Nah, it's okay. It's just food." The first time I asked what he was talking about and he said he needed to look at food as just sustenance and nothing else. Um, that's NOT what I said. What I said was that he lives to eat and makes everything about the food. So that's been going on a few times since that day. Tonight I said that he needs to stop it, to which he replied that he was only being supportive. I said no, what I feel like he's being is mocking, like he really doesn't get this whole thing I'm going through. I said that it's not bad to enjoy what we eat, it's just that he was so consumed with the act of eating that it was wharped. I said that I wished he was as into me as he is into food, and he thought I was being silly. Uh-huh... *eye roll* Another thing that just started on Friday is that I'm getting a blow-by-blow synopsis of the weight HE has lost by virtually doing nothing. I'm exercising four days a week and eating good meals, every meal, and he's lost over 20 freakin pounds by just not eating all the junk after dinner -- in front of me. And again, he attributes it to "supporting me" -- almost like, "Look how I'm suffering for you because I'm losing weight too." Okay, he's lost almost as much as I have, and now I feel like he's crowing about it (his weight has NEVER been discussed before). The problem with DH is, even if I try to discuss it with him, he is totally lacking in personality or person skills (read: he's very immature). He is not always good with other people, and he seems to lack the ability to understand anything or anyone beyond the end of his nose. Compassion is virtually nil. As Jennifer Aniston would say, there's a sensitivity chip missing sometimes. So when you explain something to him that he's doing, he only knows how to deny. Comprehension doesn't seem to be his strong suit -- especially when it comes from me, unfortunately. I always knew he was going to be the hardest part of this journey, but I guess I never realized just how hard. In the past when I was just dieting, he eventually got his way and we'd start back to eating out again, leading to my weight gain. I'm not blaming him, per se, but still -- if I was doing this only own, I'd have done lost it by now, I feel. But now it's as if he's pulling out all the stops. I dunno, maybe I'm just being sensitive or reading more into it than I should, but I'm not even three months into my journey and we've already had waaaay too many conversations over this. I think that's why I spend so much time on LBT and here -- because these are the places I get support, these are the people that understand what I'm going through. I find it sad that I can get that from people I've never met, yet a man I've known 17 years is either so self-absorbed or so clueless that he doesn't get it.

Hi Timmers, You sound just like I did a little bit ago. I actually just got my third fill, which has so far been the hardest for me. One biggest advice is please don't wait, go every six weeks to see your surgeon. I waited two months and it was a big mistake. I was pretty much able to eat most foods and was hungry again like you explained. When you do this you are risking stretching out your pouch and also gaining weight. I gained 8 pounds by waiting! My surgeon was so sweet to me luckily and explained the importance of coming in. (The reason I didn't was because I was ashamed of my weight gain and the longer you wait the harder it is to go). But I wasn't doing anything wrong except not get my fill. As for the sticking, it all has to do with your bites and how well you chew. Little bites, slow eating, and lots of chewing is key, especially when you get this next fill, which can be tuff. If you are nervous ask your surgeon to only bump you up a .5 CC but if you really want to see results get the full 1 CC. But I would be lying if I told you you won't get things stuck, it is part of the band. Remember though that if it gets to be too much they always can adjust the band to a comfortable tightness. The first few adjustments are all about finding your sweet spot. But since my last fill I have lost 12 pounds, if only I got it sooner! haha so good luck and let me know how it goes! Julia

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!

Your shoulder pain will eventually pass. I was miserable for about 3 days after my surgery. I too wanted to over do it. But rest, get plenty to drink, and don't worry about weight gain. You just had major surgery and this is the healing process. Check with your doc for pain meds if the pain is too much. A heating pad helps with the shoulder pain. Also do a search of old threads on here, there is lots of useful info. Best of luck!

Thank you. I do realize that some weight gain is normal but my eating habits prove that I'm not where I need to be. Thanks for the encouragement. I do need to get back the basics again. At the gym now!!!

I think you are doing really well... you have lost over 10 pounds a month... and lets even it out to 4 months.. for pre-op diet and few days into June... that's 9.25 pounds a month! umm.. that is REALLY good. I know there are some folks that have lost in the 50's and 60's, but we can't compare ourselves to them.. it's very hard.. trust me.. I did it.. but we all have different metabolisms and are on different journeys. It sounds like you are just on a plateau right now which is a good thing because it means your body has accepted the new weight and is happy with it! I wouldn't call .5 pounds weight gain.. lol. that could be some bloating.. to a pair of pants.. And I totally know how you are feeling!! From my last fill two weeks ago I lost nothing..... didn't lose or gain...

I've had Nexplanon for a few months now. They let me keep it for my surgery. I didn't notice any weight gain or loss after starting it. I had some spotting issues immediately after surgery, but nothing in that department from the day it went in. I love it and will probably never use anything else again.

Awesome! I couldn’t find anyone near my surgery date until now 😁. hows everything going for you? Weight loss? Weight gain?

20 pounds in one week is a lot for the body to adjust to. Did you lose weight prior to surgery also? Your body takes time to figure this out. I was a slow loser. I tracked 100% of what I ate and was 100% honest with myself. I knew when I saw small fluctuations in my weight it wasn’t “weight gain” I was eating 500-700 calories a day . I stayed sane by reframing it. I’d tell myself, I weigh more today, I know I didn’t “gain weight”. It worked for me and it is true. Nobody gains weight eating that small amount. Salt, hydration, sleep, bathroom habits, stress and a lot of things factor into what the scale says any given day. I always joked that today must be a bad gravity day. It’s the overall trajectory that counts. I also didn’t write the slight fluctuations down because I’d get frustrated. I would wait until a morning when I felt like I lost weight and hop on then.