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So next week I have my final appointment with the dietitian, and I'm excited about it. But I'm also worried that once it's all done and everything is submitted to insurance, they won't approve me. I've gained a pound or two since all of this started, and luckily I've finally lost a pound, and I'm hoping I can keep it off by the appointment next week. But is it true that Aetna doesn't accept someone because of weight gain during this time? I'm freaking out.

OMG!! You look great. What do you weigh now ? Well done you look amazing. Thank you! I got down to 158 before I started lifting weights. Now i am around 168, but most of the weight gain has been muscle. I feel a million times better.

I clearly remember the first time I thought about my weight. I had spent all summer having slumber parties with one of my best friends the summer between 3rd and 4th grade. We would stay up late eating pizza and ice cream and soda and it never once dawned on me that maybe I shouldn't (and I was a kid, I'm glad it didn't). That year, her and I were on a new basketball team together, and unlike the year before where we ordered the same size, I had to get the size larger. A few years later, I remember my mom rewarding me with shopping trips if I could lose weight every week (although I think part of that was her pushing issues of her weight onto me). A few years later, I remember hating my friend for complaining that she had gone from a size 4 to a size 6 when I was a whooping size 12. By high school though, things leveled out for me, I only had a few more pounds on me than other girls (I was still a size 12, sometimes a 10) and I was totally okay with it. Once in college, I even lost weight instead of gaining that rumored "Freshmen 15." But by the time I was 20, things were beginning to go the wrong direction for me. This was the first time I looked into weight loss surgery (although at this time I doubt I would have been a candidate because I was only 30 overweight at this point). I never made an appointment, instead I did Weight Waters and lost 20 of the pounds. So began the True Battle of Weight Loss. You see, at this time, I was getting out of an emotionally, and towards the end physically, abusive relationship and my trust in everyone, including myself, was gone. This lead to me flunking out of college, befriending an equally emotionally unstable Marine with a sex addiction, going to cosmetology school and drinking my way through it, jumping from job to job, and eating my emotions because I was "totally okay with everything in my life." Four years later, I had gained 30 more pounds, dropped all of my toxic relationships, moved back in with my parents and decided that I needed real help because Weight Watchers and Adkins and working out and "just being happy" weren't cutting it anymore. I was done having to try on the next size up because I'd outgrown the size I'd worn for the last year. And I was done ordering clothes online because they have a better selection of "Plus Size" clothes. And I was tired of looking in the mirror and seeing that I had formed yet a new dimple in some unflattering location on my body. I couldn't take the looks I got when I went to an amusement park with my nieces and the ride operator telling me that I'm over the weight limit. I'm tired of not being able to run around the back yard with my nieces in general, I don't care where we are. In April, I saw my GP. I wanted him to run a blood panel to make sure that I had no thyroid issues, or any other health issues, that could be causing my weight gain. Nope! Aside from my weight, I'm a totally healthy 24 year old American girl. So he put in a referral to the same practice where my mom had her surgery. I swear it was only a week later when I got a call to make my appointment. It didn't seem possible. That Friday, I would be meeting my surgeon. When I went in, I took my mom. She's been there, she knows what questions to ask, she tell if the situation feels right, and she's great emotional support. Dr. Henke was great. He asked me routine questions, asked if I had any questions, and went over the different types of procedures. I told him that I need to lose maximum weight, and that I need the Bypass. So that's what's in my plan. I have done all of the insurance requirements (although I'm still waiting on my last dietitian appointment next week). And then it's waiting for their approval. That's what's killing me the most, waiting for them. I wish once I finished my appointment with the dietitian, I could just call the doctor and ask for the first surgery date available. Although, I'm sure that's all of us that go through insurance. My mom tells me not to worry about that, that it's out of my control, that they have no reason to say no, etc. But my brain goes into overdrive anytime I can't control the outcome. And this outcome is quite important for the rest of my life. Well, I guess I'll check in later, let you know how it goes with the dietitian next week.

So I'm new to BariatricPal, but I've been on this Bariatric train since April when I first saw my surgeon about it. Actually, even in April I saw my doctor and asked him if he thought I was a candidate. He said he thought I was since in the last few months my weight gain was severe and there was no medical cause for it according to him. So he put in a referral to the same practice my mom used when she had her surgery 5 year ago. I thought it would take ages to get a call from them, referrals to a specialist always do. Well, a week later, I got a call and they had an opening that Friday (this never happens, last time I saw a specialist, I had to wait a month). So I went in to that appointment with my mom because I'm 24 and I still need her to ask all the questions sometimes. My BMI was 30.4, which is what I needed since I don't have any other risk factors that the insurance requires. We went over the options, talked about everything, we all asked questions. And then at the end, he just says "I think you're a great candidate!" I wish it was solely up to him. But there's the insurance requirements. I did the scope of my upper GI: passed with flying colors; saw the psychologist: wonderful appointment, although some of the tests made me feel crazy; and I've had 3 of the 4 appointments with my dietitian (my 4th is next week). And then everything is up to the insurance company and I am so scared. I think that right now, that is what I am fearing the most. They are going to hold my future in their hands. I don't know what I'd do if they said no because God knows I can't keep living like this. My mom tells me not to worry about it, but the closer I get to the end of this, the worse it gets for me.

Why Weight Loss Surgery By George Peters (shared with permission) It's one month until my first Ironman in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec and I'm sharing my story of ‪#‎whyweightlosssurgery: In 2010, I weighed 425 pounds. I was visiting my primary care physician, and he stated that I would need surgery to have an insulin pump inserted into me to control my diabetes. My realization was that I would probably be dead by age 50, if I didn’t get my diabetes under control. Weight-related Health Issues My diabetes, high blood pressure, respiratory problems and circulatory problems were out of control. I had tried numerous diets to control my weight and health problems, and they always started off with success only to surrender any weight loss, to an eventual failure, and an additional weight gain. I decided that I would have bariatric surgery for weight loss in January 2011. I had gastric sleeve surgery performed by Dr. Ayotunde Adeyeri at Bayshore Community Hospital in Holmdel. Sleeve Gastrectomy Success I lost 125 pounds and started to control my health problems. My weight loss stalled in 2013 and my fear of my health problems returning scared me. I hadn’t reached my goal weight of 240 pounds. I started running in the fall of 2013 when my daughters convinced my wife and me to have our family run in a turkey trot (5K). A New Passion for Fitness, Strength and Endurance I started running and found the workouts to be rewarding. I started cycling again soon after. I hadn’t ridden a bicycle since I was a teenager because I was too big to ride a bike. Soon after my first 10 mile bike ride, I decided to sign up for my first sprint triathlon, in the spring 2014. During the 2014 year, my performance in three of my four triathlons was affected due to gall bladder problems that eventually led to my gall bladder being removed 5 days after the New Jersey State Triathlon. Losing Nearly 200 Pounds Sends George to His First Ironman Competition 2015 has been a year of setting goals and working to achieve them: My goal for this year is to finish an Ironman. I scheduled multiple smaller events to help me prepare for the Ironman. I finished the NYC half marathon in March. My training continued, and I finished the Raleigh Ironman 70.3 in 9 hours 3 minutes. In August, I will complete my first full Ironman triathlon in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. Ironman and Triathlon have given me a bright outlook for the future. I now have a goal of being in Kona by the age of fifty.

The first time I met George Peters, I knew he would be a record holder, I just didn't realize to what extent! He had been sufficiently frightened by several chronic health issues he was living with as a result of his weight. And I knew he was ready to defeat the fear and fight back. While George didn't look like it outwardly, he weighed more than 400 pounds. With the full support of his family, his took his obesity challenge by the horns (and then some). George recently shared his personal weight loss journey on Facebook as a way to show where he had been--and where he is today. He kindly permitted us to share his remarkable story below: Why Weight Loss Surgery By George Peters (shared with permission) It's one month until my first Ironman in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec and I'm sharing my story of ‪#‎whyweightlosssurgery: In 2010, I weighed 425 pounds. I was visiting my primary care physician, and he stated that I would need surgery to have an insulin pump inserted into me to control my diabetes. My realization was that I would probably be dead by age 50, if I didn’t get my diabetes under control. Weight-related Health Issues My diabetes, high blood pressure, respiratory problems and circulatory problems were out of control. I had tried numerous diets to control my weight and health problems, and they always started off with success only to surrender any weight loss, to an eventual failure, and an additional weight gain. I decided that I would have bariatric surgery for weight loss in January 2011. I had gastric sleeve surgery performed by Dr. Ayotunde Adeyeri at Bayshore Community Hospital in Holmdel. Sleeve Gastrectomy Success I lost 125 pounds and started to control my health problems. My weight loss stalled in 2013 and my fear of my health problems returning scared me. I hadn’t reached my goal weight of 240 pounds. I started running in the fall of 2013 when my daughters convinced my wife and me to have our family run in a turkey trot (5K). A New Passion for Fitness, Strength and Endurance I started running and found the workouts to be rewarding. I started cycling again soon after. I hadn’t ridden a bicycle since I was a teenager because I was too big to ride a bike. Soon after my first 10 mile bike ride, I decided to sign up for my first sprint triathlon, in the spring 2014. During the 2014 year, my performance in three of my four triathlons was affected due to gall bladder problems that eventually led to my gall bladder being removed 5 days after the New Jersey State Triathlon. Losing Nearly 200 Pounds Sends George to His First Ironman Competition 2015 has been a year of setting goals and working to achieve them: My goal for this year is to finish an Ironman. I scheduled multiple smaller events to help me prepare for the Ironman. I finished the NYC half marathon in March. My training continued, and I finished the Raleigh Ironman 70.3 in 9 hours 3 minutes. In August, I will complete my first full Ironman triathlon in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. Ironman and Triathlon have given me a bright outlook for the future. I now have a goal of being in Kona by the age of fifty.

I like your honesty and rhyming skills. ????. Welcome! Choice of surgery is a highly personal subject matter. I can tell you that for me I agonized over it a lot, and really did some soul searching. I entered the fray dead set on the sleeve, but as I got deeper into it, researching, and listening to other's accounts I ended up switching to the bypass, which I'll be having on 07/29. I'm older, so my metabolism has slowed. So maybe I would benefit from having malabsorption in addition to restriction. And I have a wicked sweet tooth. I was concerned about the GERD issue that some people who opted for sleeve have suffered from post op, to the point where they're considering revisions to bypass. And while it's nice to think that optimally I would be able to eat anything after sleeve, but in smaller amounts, I know that for me that could well be a slippery slope back to weight gain. In the end neither surgery comes with guarantees and complications are always possible. So you have to weigh the pros and cons in relation to your lifestyle and expectations. Good luck!

To make my long story as short as possible. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol in 2008 the onset was an extreme weight gain that I had no idea how to control. So I started going to mediplan weight loss clinic got me some diet pills too curb my appetite and a B12 shot. I began to lose weight but after awhile the weight began to come back even though I was working out regularly but the pills no longer suppressed my appetite. I kept trying different diets but nothing seemed to work. So in 2010 I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at the age of 25. So again I changed my eating habits continued to workout but the pounds kept adding up until I was almost 300lbs. My diabetes was completely out of control so for the next 5 years I stayed in and out of the hospital battling my diabetes and my weight would drop 20lbs and I'll gain 20lbs back. Until November of 2013 I was crying because I had been once again hospitalized for my diabetes and I was truly afraid I wouldn't live to see the New Year and it was right around the corner. I went to see my PCP for a follow up visit and was talking to the nurse and she suggested weight loss surgery to me she said it would help with getting all of my medical problems under control. I began to do research on WLS, I talked to my mom about the benefits and risk of WLS and my mom told me she'd rather see me trying to do something about my condition instead sitting around waiting to die because she was not prepared to bury another one of her kids. That conversation with my mom encouraged me to go through with WLS. SO I went to two different weight loss seminars that informed me about the Lapband, Gastric Sleeve and the Gastric Bypass. With both seminars I knew right away that the Lapband wasn't the option for me. So I was left to choose between the sleeve and the bypass. I heard so many good things about the sleeve and so many scary things about the bypass until I chose the Gastric Sleeve. Which was really the wrong choice for me. I was sleeved May 2014. So I'm now 14 months out from my original surgery date and has been very unsuccessful with the gastric sleeve. The morning of surgery I weighed 268 and I'm now 215lbs. I've followed my diet exactly as it is in my binder. I've been dealing with a lot of vomiting and my acid reflux is 10times worse than before I was sleeved. My diabetes is still a major problem. After 14 months of struggling with my sleeve my doctors have now just decided to scope me to see why I'm having issues with my stomach. I still exercise 3-5 times a week and I have yet to have a significant weight loss my sleeve hasn't helped as promised. Now I'm looking into a revision to the RNY bypass hoping it will fix my issues and assist with my weight loss. My gastric sleeve was an epic fail..... Am I the only person that hasn't been successful.

More and more research is showing that putting a cap on the variety of foods and tastes you experience will help you control your weight. In Dr. Oz’s book, The Owner’s Manual for Waist Management, he devotes a chapter to the Pick and Stick strategy. Although I had been eating the same thing for breakfast and lunch (dinner is the same every day except on weekends), it was validating to read that I was doing something right. At a wedding last weekend, I was excited by all the food choices at the buffet table. Instead of sticking to a serving of dense meat, vegetable, and fruit, I decided to put a few spoonfuls of different foods on my plate. I ended up with a plate with tiny piles of black eyed peas, turkey, baked fish, ambrosia, pineapple, apple slice, shrimp, and kiwi. While chatting with relatives for the next three hours, I hung on to this plate of food and dabbled in it every few minutes until it was gone. Late that night I reflected on my meal at the wedding and realized that how eating like that everyday could lead to weight gain. The following is an excerpt from the chapter that explains the strategy: Yeah, sure, variety may be the spice of life, but it also can be the death of dieting. When you have a lot of choices for a meal, it’s a lot easier to slip out of good eating habits, and into ham-induced bad ones. When you sit down at a diner and are presented with a menu that’s the size of a phone book, it’s easy to give in. One way to get away from fat bombs is to eliminate choices for at least one meal a day. Pick the one meal you rush through and automate it. For most people, it’s lunch. So find a health lunch you like—salad with grilled chicken and olive oil, turkey on whole-grain bread-and have it for lunch every day. Yes, every day. Think of your dog: Penelope stays the same weight when she has her regular food every day. But as soon as she starts gorging on variety of nightly table scraps, the puny poodle looks more like a massive mastiff. How does Pick and Stick work? It seems that when you have meals rich in flavor variety, it takes more and more calories to keep you full (think of Thanksgiving, when you eat a lot of different things, stuff yourself, and still have room for pumpkin pie). So when we experience meals with lots of diverse flavors-think Mexican or Indian cuisine, we tend to eat more to satisfy our taste buds. Now, we don’t want you to become bored with food, but if you make this a habit at least one meal a day, it’ll decrease your temptations and help you stop thinking about food so often. In fact, we usually prescribe two meals that are the same each day for our patients. It’s one of the ways to automate your brain so your habits follow. Of course, we don’t want you to stop enjoying diversity of flavors, but it will control your appetite. Automate the Process: One of the reasons why we’re a society of shotputters instead of a society of milers is that we have millions of choices about what to eat. And while our variety is a win for the food industry, it is a miserable defeat for our waists. One of the ways that you’ll be able to reboot your body is by stripping away the millions of choices to automate your actions. You’ll eat essentially the same meals for breakfast, lunch, Snacks, and change up options for dinner. By decreasing the variety of food eaten throughout the day, you’ll decrease the chance for the hedonistic rampages that can be so dangerous. Another trick: Use extra-light virgin olive oil, which has less flavor and may help control taste cravings.

Recently, I was reading the back of a Special K® Protein cereal box and saw a statement that lack of sleep can increase the feeling of hunger by 25 percent. Since I’m in a profession that is science based, I did some research on the National Library of Medicine website to verify this. I didn’t find the study that supported detailed that 25 percent increase in hunger when you don’t sleep enough. However, there were several areas where researchers are linking poor sleep and weight gain. If you are tired, you usually don’t feel like exercising. You move less, so you burn fewer calories. Being tired makes you more likely to choose a food like cake instead of salad. There were a couple of studies that did find an increase in ghrelin after poor sleep. Ghrelin is the gut hormone that makes you hungry. Sounds like the perfect storm for weight gain, right? You produce less ghrelin after surgery, which leads to less food intake. Part of weight loss after surgery is that you produce less ghrelin, which leads to less food intake. If eating more healthfully is a challenge for you, it may be that you need to start with better sleeping habits. By the way, that Special K protein cereal is a great add-in to light Greek yogurt. This is a great snack before surgery and about two months after surgery. Happy Zzzz’s!

Recently, I was reading the back of a Special K® Protein cereal box and saw a statement that lack of sleep can increase the feeling of hunger by 25 percent. Since I’m in a profession that is science based, I did some research on the National Library of Medicine website to verify this. Recently, I was reading the back of a Special K® Protein cereal box and saw a statement that lack of sleep can increase the feeling of hunger by 25 percent. Since I’m in a profession that is science based, I did some research on the National Library of Medicine website to verify this. I didn’t find the study that supported detailed that 25 percent increase in hunger when you don’t sleep enough. However, there were several areas where researchers are linking poor sleep and weight gain. If you are tired, you usually don’t feel like exercising. You move less, so you burn fewer calories. Being tired makes you more likely to choose a food like cake instead of salad. There were a couple of studies that did find an increase in ghrelin after poor sleep. Ghrelin is the gut hormone that makes you hungry. Sounds like the perfect storm for weight gain, right? You produce less ghrelin after surgery, which leads to less food intake. Part of weight loss after surgery is that you produce less ghrelin, which leads to less food intake. If eating more healthfully is a challenge for you, it may be that you need to start with better sleeping habits. By the way, that Special K protein cereal is a great add-in to light Greek yogurt. This is a great snack before surgery and about two months after surgery. Happy Zzzz’s!

This is from a slightly different perspective, but I was in a relationship over the course of a few years when I went from being mildly overweight to morbidly obese. Part of my weight gain was for the normal reasons of poor eating habits, lack of exercise, and emotional disregulation, but the speed in which I gained was largely because of medications I was taking for a mood disorder. When I look back over that relationship, a big part of the deterioration was because of the weight gain. When you date someone who's 170 pounds and they shoot up to 250 in such a short period of time, it just changes everything. Part of it was the physical attraction, but I think more of it was how poorly I coped with my body image. I struggled with moving, I hated myself for letting it happen, and I projected that negativity into my relationship. My partner wasn't being shallow as we fell out of love, they were experiencing the pain of what it's like to love someone who doesn't value themselves. We ask ourselves on this site how we are going to address the emotional aspects of what lead us here, and we fight a battle to get to where we want to be. And when you look at all of the obese people throughout the country, we are in the minority of people who are actively fighting and winning this battle. Everyone deserves to be valued and treated with respect, but when it comes to choosing romantic partners, I don't get angry when people aren't interested because of my weight. Like others have said, we choose people who are most attractive to us, and obesity is one of the most visible personal demons out of them all. If every alcoholic had a bottle of wine on top of their heads, Id be hesitant too.

You need to figure out why you are not caring anymore. Why you are trying to subconsciously sabotage yourself? The emotional eating you are doing is not because you are hungry, but seems to me like self defeat/ personal pain attached to the mind set, "Because I'm told not to, I'm going to." "I'm a failure and always will be..." This is too difficult." What you have is head hunger due to emotional suggestion. I have had those feelings for so many years and I used food as my feel better, until guilt arrived shortly after. My issues were insecurities due to being molested, which led to weight gain, depression, anxiety... I urge you to identify your main pain source and once you deal with that, you will not want to cheat!

I guess I will start off by telling you a little about myself. I am a mother of three beautiful children. They are aged 8, 7, & 5. My struggle with weight gain came after having my first child. With my first child I gained about 15 pounds. Not too bad. But when my second child came I got preeclampsia. U swelled up and retained a bunch of water. I gained 100 pounds during that pregnancy. Then 13 months after that pregnancy I got pregnant again. So the weight just kept piling on top of weight. My weight before my first pregnancy was a hundred and fifty pounds I am now topping the scales at 324 pound. Throughout my pregnancies and weight gain I developed a few medical conditions. I have fibromyalgia, GERD, and PCOS. The doctor has tried to put me on several medications. I was told that metformin would help with the PCOS and help me with weight loss. However taking it for a couple weeks I developed major headaches. I felt sick all the time. So I stopped taking it. I tried losing weight on my own going to the gym and eating healthy. I would lose about 20 pounds and then couldn't lose anymore. If I could do it on my own I would but I feel that I can't. No matter how hard I try I'm not going to achieve losing almost 180 pounds. Gosh it's mind-boggling just to think about how much I have to lose. I am only 27 years old. I want to get healthy and I want to lose the weight. I'm tired of feeling like I'm walking around in a fat suit. But the thing is I can't take it off at the end of the day it's always with me. I'm tired of laying around in bed all day watching TV and stuffing my face. I'm tired of not getting out and enjoying my kids. I'm tired of feeling like I'm an embarrassment to my kids when taking them to school functions or being out in public. Now my 8 year old daughter who should weigh about 70 pounds weighs a hundred and ten pounds. I worry about her every day. I don't want her to feel the way I feel and I don't want her to be bullied or made fun of. I know I need to do the weight loss surgery but I'm so scared. What if I don't lose the weight? what if die? What if I get a serious blood clot? What if I get too skinny and unhealthy that I look sick? What if I can't enjoy the holidays and my grandmas awesome cooking because everything makes me sick? Then I'm faced with the question do I do the gastric bypass or do I do the sleeve? I've heard the pros and cons of both. I thought I was set on gastric bypass but after having a support group meeting I started to question whether or not the sleeve would be a good idea. I need help. Which one do I do? Am I going to be safe? Am I going to come out alive? Are my kids going to have a mother? Am I going to be sicker after the surgery than before the surgery? Or is god going to watch over me in every step that I take and everything will end up perfect? Will I be healthy? Will I lose the weight? Will I be able to enjoy my life again? So many questions please help. All advice is welcome.

back to topic guys "what was your final straw" i had so many trips/falls due to my heavy weight - knee replacements femur broke twice, etc i slowly realized that all my excess weight caused these problems falling since i had problems because of my "excess" weight i was always so sad about my weight weight gain, weight loss, weight gain etc, etc realized i had so many health problems i needed help, immediately hello sleeve good by diabetes meds/high blood pressure meds, no more CPAP my big NSV one was having my epilepsy meds dosage cut in half i was taking dosage for someone that weighed 235 lbs now that my weight was going down, down etc - i was taking too taking to many meds/pills so meds were less for a smaller person life is great now that's my story and i'm sticking to it kathy

Have you been to a seminar yet? At our seminar, the surgeon went through each one and which one was best suited for which situation. The lap band or realize bands he said were good for about 60-70lbs but more than that it wasn't going to cut a significant amount of weight and did have issues with long term loss. Like people learned how to eat around it I guess. then he showed us the sleeve and said it's good for 100+lbs weightloss, but a lot of times again, people find ways around it's usefulness and end up with a weight gain and eventually if they have a significant weight to lose will have it switched over to a bypass. It also tends to come with GERD/acid reflux and it can be very painful to deal with that. The bypass he referred to as his "gold standard" in weightloss because it has shown to work long term, the weight loss experienced is quite dramatic and fast and for the most part, a person with bypass can expect to lose 70% for their excess weight in the first year and maintain that loss or improve over the next 5 yrs without slipping backwards. He also cover plication and some new battery operated thing that shocks the vagus nerves causing them to not send the message of being hungry. I forget what it was called, but it was neat. It's not really good for someone in my situation though, I think it was comparable to the lap band in weightloss. I went into the seminar thinking sleeve seemed the way to go because I didn't want anyone fiddling with my intestines and dumping sounds REALLY painful, but by the time we left, I had really committed in my heart to the roux en y because I really don't want to do this again. I want to do 1 surgery and be good for life. I find out for certain what the surgeon thinks is our best plan of attack Fri. I'm pretty sure he's going to suggest the bypass though. At my weight and with my history, I'd be shocked if he didn't.

Way to go, great before and after. I have been giving the fat clothes away on Craigslist, from 3xl to 2 xl. Got to be honest, my reaction to your post is that when the 18 months honeymoon is over, and your body clicks into normal weight gain, you are one who, according to my surgeon and my nutritionists, and my daughter's father in law (bariatric surgeon) is at very high risk of gaining your weight back. The honeymoon of easy weight loss is when we cement our better food habits. Beer, lots of Desserts, no vitamins/calcium (you are young enough you might get away with that but it may effect your bone strength in your 40's) means that you have not changed enough habits to maintain post honeymoon. No criticism intended, I have 100 pounds to go, but every week my core food habits are better, I am Never going to be fat again.

I was diagnosed with NES (Night Eating Syndrome) when I was an adolescent. This syndrome has a genetic component and has been an issue in my family for the past three generations. Mostly only the males in my family are conflicted with the cycle of night eating. The cabinets in my kitchen were always locked because me, my brothers, and my Dad would get up (knowingly and unknowingly) 1-3 times a night to get something to eat. I was determined to break the night eating cycle during my post op phase and did so for the first 6 months. After that, it all started again full force. I wake up three times a night at the same times every night (12:30, 3:00, 4:30). I absolutely cannot get back to sleep unless I eat something. It has always been that way. My food choices are still smart and I have not gained any weight since this problem reappeared. My consumption at night is usually cucumbers with vinegar or pickles. For those of you that think night eating should be easily controlled, think again. Sleep medications and antidepressants have not helped at all. Night Eating Syndrome is characterized by these 5 primary signs: 1. Not hungry in the morning 2. Overeating in the evening 3. Difficulty falling asleep 4. Waking at night and eating (usually 2 or more times) 5. Feeling depressed I'm currently working through a step by step guidebook. I've reduced eating three times a night to two times night. I'm hoping to get it decreased to at least once a night. When I share this problem with others, I usually get a lecture about weight gain. I'm still including the calories from my night eating into my overall daily count. So, its not a huge problem yet because I've lost 140 pounds while struggling with this syndrome. I would love to be able to sleep through the night or get up only once. Part of me thinks that this is just a habit that I have to break like everything else. I would love to hear from others that struggle with night eating syndrome. If anyone has found a way to break the cycle or know some effective strategies, then that would be appreciated.

Congratulations on your weight loss!! The same determination you had when you had the surgery, can help you get back to your goal weight. I have heard that if you start to gain weight trying the Stage 1 diet (liquid/protein shakes)for a week can help to get you back on course. I applaud you taking control of your weight gain now, because if you are like me 20 will become 40 if you don't do something about it. Keep us posted on your progress :-)

Sheryl, I know exactly how you feel. I love hiking and there are so many gorgeous trails in Oregon. Now I can barely walk to my bedroom. I love the gym. I loved lifting weights and feeling strong. I loved having my thighs so toned. Now I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to the gym. I loved to dance too! I loved my ballroom classes. Like I said, now I can barely walk. The scary part is I could end up worse than I am now. They are talking about putting in a plate and screws and cadaver bone and a cage around it all. The risk for infection is a lot higher for people who have had a previous infection. oh great. They said I am looking at a year of recovery. Plus all my post op appointments are now 100 miles away. I've made appointments with a rhuematologist and my Hep C doctor and both are also 100 miles away. I don't even know if I can get to either of these doctors because if my ins. approves my back surgery, I am not sure if I'll be able to ride in a car. I did have a longer period of being thin and fit before I fell apart but I am still not readyt to give it up. I've decided to stop taking gabapentin to see if it will stop my weight gain. I can't keep gaining weight. i will not be able to deal with the depression.

I was sleeved 2/18/14. My starting weight was around 300, Day of surgery 278 and I dropped down to 198. However, I have been taking care of my dad and working a lot lately and have completely falling off but I don't know how. My weight has jumped to near 230 since February. I'm sooooo depressed. I need help bad.

I have been dealing with me gaining 100 pounds from back surgery. The back surgery has not worked it actually worst due to extra weight gain. I can't exercise at all. I am immobilized due to my lower back issues. I am eating health but my weight is just being maintained. The scared heart diet is really my first attempt to lose this weight and it's not working. I just found out based on my BMI My qualifying isn't going to be an issue. I just am trying on my own to find ways to lose weight. I don't want to go into this without giving it my all????????????????

There is a YouTube video I posted in a thread not too long ago with Dr Wiener explaining that although it may stretch a little, it will never be back to its pre surgery size volume. I beleive it would take a considerable amount of constantly overeating to stretch it out. But I also understand any amount of stretching will lead to eating too many calories and weight gain, even just a little stretching. Good article!

I was always a B. Weight gain got me to a 38C. Now that I have lost weight, I'm back into a 34B. The girls snapped back pretty well. I went to a PS consult to see if I would benefit from a lift, but was told that I wasn't so much drooping as that I was experiencing middle age deflation and would benefit more from augmentation to re fill the upper part of my breast. Good luck to you and your breast. Susan

It's been 3.5 weeks since I have had a diet coke, and I am frequently day dreaming about having an ice cold can of DC! I was drinking a super big gulp everyday before my VS. I plan to give them up for good, because it is so bad for your health and because research has shown it leads to weight gain. But truly, giving up diet coke is harder than all the other foods I am giving up. Yesterday I went into a 7-11 for my kids, and I felt like an alcoholic walking into a liquor store. And believe me, I am by no means making light of the struggle addicts go through on a daily basis. This is so hard for me!!