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I'm not sure which to choose? I am waiting on a referral to go see a WL doctor. I'm nervous! I keep gaining weight! I think in the last year I've gaine 100lbs. My blood tests show no abnormal levels to explain weight gain! It's so hard to lose the weight! My knees and back hurt all the time! My self esteem is down in the dumps! I have no energy! I feel trapped in this body of unhealthiness! I feel ashamed I've become this way! I weigh 282 and am 5'6.....45 BMI! ???? So frustrating!

Many people experience a fear of failure when it comes to weight loss. This is cemented into their minds by the failures they experienced by years of "yo-yo" dieting. RNY gastric bypass surgery is a whole different experience. After surgery I completely lost my hunger. I found that it was not hard to lose weight when hunger was not constantly and incessantly gnawing at my bones. Back to your problem, weight gain during the pre-op stage. Here are some recommendations: Begin attending Bariatric Surgery Support Group meetings. They are generally free. Walk 30 minutes every day. Give up all carbonated beverages. I lost 20 pounds on giving up my 6 diet Coke a day habit pre-op alone. Read the calorie labels of everything you consume, especially at fast food restaurants and try and pick low calorie foods. I use to love milk shakes at "Steak and Shake" but after reading the number of calories in a milkshake, I gave that up for life. On the other hand a crunchy taco at Taco Bell isn't bad nor a bowl of chili at Wendy's.

Hello Everyone ! I was sleeved a year ago after going through gastric band first 6 years ago. I am finding it hard to eat. I have major heartburn so still taking Omeprazol each morning, i am kind of under weight now and still cant get food down easily. At time even liquids are hard to keep down as something is blocking the passage. Anyone has experienced this before ? and will it ever get better ? I hear people talking about weight gain and some people can eat all kinds of things few months after surgery, which makes me wonder why i am suffering this much a year after my surgery? What is your experience and what do you think???

Hi! I am about 2 and 1/2 weeks out. I recently went through a break up of my own. I decided when it was over that I was going to start taking care of ME and focusing on me (hence the screen name). I did not do the surgery to meet someone else's narrow expectations, but rather for my health. Around the same time of the breakup I went to visit my 87 year old dad in the hospital which was further motivating for me not to wind up in the same place. I decided then and there I was going to take care of myself and my own health now that I didn't have to care for the other person's health issues. I started going to weekly therapy and after about 4 weeks of that I decided that weight loss surgery was the way to go, and THE BEST THING I COULD DO to take care of myself. While you may feel now that the marriage ended because of the weight gain, do not be surprised if what you find is that you gained the weight because of a marriage that did not meet your needs. My mom even made a snarky but true comment to me that if I was "really" happy that I would be losing not gaining weight (when I was in the relationship). One of the things I am working on this year is getting my needs met without being in a relationship and then at some point seeing if there is someone who fits into the life I choose, rather than twisting myself into a pretzel to fit into someone else's life. And in all honesty, I'm sick of being such a martyr. It was exhausting. Now that I'm off the sugar and caffeine rollercoaster, I have a lot more energy too. At the beginning of my journey I felt resentful that I had to go through this surgery "alone" when I had "been there" for him through many health issues of his own. My sister came to stay with me during the week of surgery, and my neighbors have been great looking after my pets when I was in the hospital, and helping me carry in "groceries" ie liquids that I could not lift post-op. Everyone I work with who knows has also been extremely supportive. Honestly, I have never felt so loved and cared for in my life, and want to know why? Because I am loving and caring for MYSELF. At the moment I could not be happier that I was liberated from that relationship (don't get me wrong, I licked my wounds for a while first). In addition to therapy, I also come here to bariatric pal to hear others stories, I spent a lot of time on you tube following sleevers Clusie and Kstar, and I attend support groups and OA. What else I have learned? I am not alone. You also are not alone. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Take care of yourself the way you wanted your husband to take care of you, and you will be amazed at the results INSIDE and OUT. I recently have been reminiscing about those Whitney Houston lyrics from all those years ago about the greatest love of all: I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows If I fail, if I succeed At least I'll live as I believe No matter what they take from me They can't take away my dignity Because the greatest love of all Is happening to me I found the greatest love of all Inside of me The greatest love of all Is easy to achieve Learning to love yourself It is the greatest love of all I wish you peace, joy, happiness and love throughout your journey!

Until recently, I had been in an 18 year relationship, married for 10 of them. Sadly, part of the reason the marriage ended was my huge weight gain. I've read a lot of posts about amazing and supportive partners/spouses and I wonder what it is like to go through this alone. I do have close friends but it's just not the same and most of them live other places. Where did you get your support? Does it feel lonely? I have to admit one of the big reasons I'm doing this surgery is so I can find a partner again. (Where I live in NYC no one would touch me with a 10 foot pole (or anyone for that matter, unless they are a size 6 (?) or below!)) Anyway just looking for inspiration from some others!

I agree with Folly. There are many reasons people don't report in. Moving, weight gain, AND weight loss. When you've lost your weight and kept it off, why bother returning to the doc with no complaints. That's another more positive reason than just weight gain. Also co pays, forgetting, and procrastination are more reasons. Keep your glass half full is my attitude!

@@impact food addictions and old behaviors can start back up for any of us. You have lost weight before. You can do it again. Start back to where you began. Remove the food that trips you up out of your home, activity/exercise,Get back on your healthy eating plan and log food. Support and you might want to think about counseling. In the vets forum on BariatriPal there is information for people that are further out from surgery. Tips to get back on track after weight gain. Thanks for your honesty in your post. Just reminds all of us that the work never ends.

Im very similar. I had the band for 10 years, maintained my weightloss through vomiting every day all day. Unfilled for 2 years, gained 35 pounds. Have had the sleeve since July 9. Only down 13 pounds, 10 of which was the first 2 weeks. I go to the gym alot, mostly cardio, starting with some boot camp now. My nut says 80-100grms Protein and 50-80 carb. I never go over 50 unless I did alot at the gym. She says dont worry about calories. I do use my fitness pal and stay around 1000. I think my first couple months I was actually grazing and eating more carbs. I have no problems eating anything, even raw vegetables. There is no way in hell I could eat 1/4 cup and be satisfied. with exercising you have to consume more food otherwise your body goes into starvation mode. Now after my last appt I use mfp religiously and have lost 2 pounds. Im a very slow loser and dont have that much to lose to get to my original band weight. I have 25 pounds to lose and I dont care if it takes me 6 months. If I lose a pound a week its better than a 35 pound weight gain. Your diet I think looks like you arent eating enough carbs and calories for 4 days in the gym. I know its hard to believe it.

All the sleeve is before weight loss is a tool with which to do it. Once you enter maintenance, all the sleeve is after weight loss is a better opportunity to stay there. Nobody fails, including the sleeve itself. It's just not a guarantee of anything, it's just better odds of a lot of things. If you experience weight gain a year or two out, then just get back in the game. The sleeve should still be helping you do that at that point. For everybody who talks about how stats are unreliable because of re-gainers not reporting or following up, I'd point out those studies also don't point to weight "re-loss." The most important thing to me out there is that it appears that our set points definitely change, which is more important than the loss or gain of any particular pound.

I agree! Physicians as a whole tend to be dismissive of the mental aspects of our health. Not just bariatric surgeons, although one would think that doctors performing wls would be more in tune with the mental aspect of weight gain and loss. I'm disappointed with the lack of follow-up care with my surgeon. It's not bad, the center has monthly support groups, required visits with a nutritionist, and a patient coordinator who is available to answer questions. However, I find that the support group is more like a pep rally and doesn't give me much support. And my 3 month f/u was scheduled for 4 months, and I'm told by other patients that I won't even see the doctor. I'm ready to cancel it and wait for my 6 month f/u. Why pay the copay just to get weighed on their scale and tell them I have no questions? I've looked for support outside the wls community as well. I talk to a therapist and I've gone to oa meetings. It helps a lot.

I've finally reached a point where this is on auto-pilot and I'm not really all that worried about weight loss/gain anymore. I had a few stalls but fortunately no weight gains that were significant (I have a 2-3 lb gain and loss every month as I ride the hormonal broomstick). I got on a scale this morning and was shocked to discover I've dropped more weight. I sort of thought I was maintaining. :-) Life is different. Life is good.

I have my last nut apt Wed and then my stuff will be submitted to insurance. My bmi was 40.1 so they told me not to loose any weight. I weighed myself this morning and I am 3 lbs heavier. Should I reschedule my apt until I drop those pounds? I dont want to be denyed. The surgery cord did not say not to gain, just not to loose but I have read here that some people have been denyed for a gain.

I had gastric bypass on march 2013 I gained weight back how can I lose it again?

Ive gained 4 pounds in a day am so scared that my stomch has stretch

Weight gain

My surgeon warned me about the 3 week stall and said he found that many times it was due to you having too few calories. Being newly sleeved we tend to not get enough nutrition the first month due to several factors such as pain, nausea, fear of weight gain, etc and we tend to only get about 500-600 calories in our daily intake. He says that the bare minimum the human body needs for survival is 600+ calories, and when you stay below that mark, your body will go into starvation mode and will reduce its ability to lose weight as a protection measure. His advice to all his patients is to up your caloric intake to the 800 range if you can handle it.

Last year I went to my pcp for a physical. When I read the report I was described as morbidly obese. I weighed in at 303 lbs with a BMI of 43. I have tried many diets and lost, regained, lost, regained. I decided it was time to change my life and started researching WLS. This journey started in June 2014. I went to one Weight Loss center and felt pressured into having the surgery. At my initial consultation I met with the bariatric coordinator and she was already asking me what surgery I wanted. This raised some red flags and I moved on. My PCP recommended a dr at Rex Bariatrics in NC. I then continued my research and started reading posts on the various forums. I scheduled a consultation with Rex and was very impressed with their program and level of support. I decided to proceed with my journey and started the process. I was required to attend three pre op groups, have a psychological review, get an endoscopy, meet with the nutritionist, etc. With my insurance company there was a six month physician monitored weight loss requirement. While completing the requirements, the insurance company dropped the diet the six month diet requirement. After completing all the prerequisites I then waited for the approval letter from the insurance company which arrived after about two weeks. There was not turning back at this point as I was certain that this will change my life forever. I decided to have the VSG and had a surgery date of October 15th 2014. One day before my birthday. On the day of surgery I weighed 284. The surgery went well. It is imperative to walk as soon as you get back to the room. Unfortunately I tried walking and kept on passing out. That evening I experienced severe shoulder pain. I was told that this was from the gas used to inflate my stomach being absorbed into my body. I was able to work through the pain and the next day I was released from the hospital. I would say that the first three days were challenging. I had extreme pain where they removed my stomach. I was definitely tired. On the fifth day I was feeling much better and off the pain meds. I was out shooting pool by the weekend. For the first month or two I was loosing about a pound a day. One big challenge for me was getting my required amount of Water in. With the lack of water I experienced severe constipation. This was the worst complication from the surgery. I battled with this for many months. I was taking colace and also Amitiza for IBS. When I added Fiber into my diet everything got much better. DRINK YOUR WATER. My goal weight was 195. I was able to hit my goal in about six months. I then went into Maintenance at that point. From eating 500 to 600 calories during my weight lose phase I then went up to about 1000 to 1200 calories and 120 grams of Protein and 60 grams of carbs. I continued to loose weight and leveled off at 187. I thought this would be my optimum weight and stayed between 184 and 187 for about two months. Currently I am eating about 1600 to 1700 calories a day. 120 grams of protein and 120 grams of carbs. I am petrified of weight gain and having a hard time transitioning to real food. I am still having yoghurt, Protein Bar (Quest Apple Pie) and cottage cheese. For lunch I have a protein bar and some fruit. I make dinner my big meal and usually have egg salad, salmon or tuna salad or eggs. I have cooked some baked salmon and some casseroles. As I write this I am weighing 183 and trying to not go any lower. My optimum weight is around 187. Well that is my journey and I hope it will provide some insight on tips and details to help with your journey. Please reply if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them. Again this was the best decision I have made in my life and I no longer have diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep apnea.

My counselor just got back from vacation. She called in my scrip... she actually thinks wellbuterin is an outstanding choice except there is a risk of suffering through anxiety while ramping up to thereuputic dose. She is prescribing something else to help with that in the short term. Reason she likes wellbuterin is that it doesn't have the weight gain, sexual killing side effects and is just generally well tolerated by people. I have an appointment with her monday, but I appreciated that she was supportive of me getting started on this ASAP. I have alot to talk to her about. The last week i have been driving my tractor, doing some earth moving, preparing planting beds for spring... and it is a time of contemplation. We shall see if she sees much into my recent epiphanies. I am going on a date tonight to listen to music. I am so unexcited about it... I better get my shit together soon... less than 2 hours and Prince Charming will be arriving to pick me up. I am sure I will have fun once i get there, but i somehow feel very tired today. My son told me that I have been grumpy for 2 days, although I don't think he means grumpy as we have had no altercations/arguments. I think he means that I am not smiling, not full of my usual pep and zest.... that is for sure.

Wow it's been so long since I've been back. Yesterday I celebrated my 5 YEAR Sleeve anniversary!!!! I started this post and I'm back to say I'm 27 lbs. over my normal BMI goal. And a total 33 lbs. over my lowest weight. I will tell you it's easy to do. My sleevie has been a HUGE blessing. I would totally have gained all my weight back by now. Like my surgeon told me, we can help you with this tool, however we can't fix your mindset. That would require some type of brain surgery which they haven't discovered for weight loss as of yet (well not that I'm aware of). I will tell you it's an AMAZING TOOL, but NOT A FIX!!! or MIRACLE. My problem is I'm a huge snacker at work. I tell myself I don't finish my meals or eat that much at all...and it's true. However when I sit and think about every item I put in mouth during the day IT ALL ADDS UP. For some reason, for me at least, my sleevie wonder loves and tolerates Snacks VERY WELL lol. I'm a huge lover of the weight watcher program especially TRACKING. I know what I need to do, and I will DO IT! I also stopped weighing myself thinking I would feel it in my clothes...I did and ignored it. I listened to others who said stop weighing. I don't blame them at all. I did this allllll by myself. I will admit I was a little crazy weighing all day lol. You have to find what works for you and stick to it. So here's what I know I must do: -Weigh daily or once a week (I will start tomorrow SUPER SATURDAY WEIGH in here I come ) -and TRACK MY food FOO -stop blaming my age/hormones for the weight gain LOL almost 48, no excuses try and continue to get my 10,000 steps in a day (love my fitbit charger)- Hope these tips help. I know they are going to help me get back to where I need to be . I'm pretty content, but would like to lose 17 lbs and maintain there. I can do it. I've done it before. 90 lbs. to be exact. I'm so thankful to my sleeve sisters who did random acts of kindness yesterday to Celebrate my anniversary. I also received a beautiful plant at home. I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful sleeve family through this journey. We can't do this alone. Happiness and Love to All! I wish you all Best wishes during your journey

Reality: I've had hypothyroidism for the past eight years and have been on psych meds. I never mentioned steroids, which I know contributes to weight gain. My last blood panel still showed my thyroid was still low and it does make weight loss a struggle, but not impossible. I had surgery almost 11 months ago and I remember how frustrating it was the first few months post op. Like you, I had to reduce my calories to around 600 for the first 6 months. I never mentioned that hypothyroidism and meds mean nothing. In fact, I mentioned that they do contribute to weight gain. If the two are combined with crappy eating (overeating, junk food), then it is quite easy to get 100 pounds overweight. The point I was trying to make was that there are SOME people that are somewhat reluctant to recognize faults or problems in themselves. In other words, denial. You have to be honest about the kinds and amount of food you ate before surgery. You have to come to terms with your denial. If you stay in denial, it may keep you from having the responsibility for yourself. If you fool yourself into believing that you don't eat much everyday, then it is easy to deny responsibility for your obesity. This will keep you from changing behaviors that are necessary in order to successful after weight loss surgery. Then there are those that rationalize their obesity (excuses, excuses, excuses) or create defense mechanisms. Unpleasant emotions are created when we realize what we have done to get morbidly obese and many create excuses (blaming morbid obesity solely so on genetics, society, a medication) to keep these emotions at bay. We all know that it is hard to lose weight and keep it off. Learning all those new behaviors and giving up your favorite food is difficult. A healthier body will result from your having a healthier mindset.

I am 52 days post op and generally have not been weighing myself daily, but started weighing myself every couple of days. I am up two pounds. I have been exercising in the pool daily for up to an hour, have been meeting my Protein requirements and fluids. This is so frustrating!

thanks I have an appt tomorrow morning. I just hope it doesn't come with a huge weight gain. The meds always made me gain and I have been doing so well in my 90 day program and don't want to lose any of that loss.

@@VSGAnn2014 Question...I talked with my surgeons office on the topic of weight gain after reaching goal. I was told they normally see a fifteen pound gain as your body adjusts. I have not seen anything out there that backs up that information. Anyone get this info from there surgeon's office????

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing! I do question #3. I've seen several veterans say that gaining weight a few years out is much easier and losing the weight gained is much harder. I don't believe all of these people are engaging in bad habits. How is that explained then? PS: I'm printing your post and sticking it on my fridge for when I hit maintenence!

I had a RNY gastric bypass surgery on 16 May 2013. As I worked my way through the recovery process, I decided to publish a short article called "How I Survived Bariatric Surgery". It is available at http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf This is my before and after photograph at around the 6 month mark. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Operation.jpg Since I am now 27 months post-op, I felt it was time to publish an update to the original document. It is called "How I Survived Bariatric Surgery, Part II". It is available at http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf I have been in the "Maintenance" phase for 20 months now. I know many people are wrestling with the fear of weight gain after they bottom out. This "Part II" article documents the approach that I used.