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I've gained about 5 pounds since my 1st Nut visit. I had my 2nd visit yesterday and I was so afraid they would be talking about how I gained, and If I really want this I need to stick to the plan etc...But it was totally different actually. They didn't even mention the weight gain and concentrated more on new behaviors I should start. I have my 3rd visit in 3 weeks and I plan to lose those 7 pounds not for them but because I really need to stick to the plan. However until I get my approval Im making sure I stay at a BMI of at least 40. I don't want to take any chances with the insurance.

I'm scheduled for April 7. I'm nervous wreck. I keep going back and forth about it. If I should have it done or I can lose the weight another way. I had the lap band 2 yrs. then it slipped. so here i am again. weight gained back plus 10 more, since Nov. of 2013. Im afraid I won't take care of myself as I schould and end up worse. I can focus on everyone else but me. I pray I make it thru and dont back out. thanks for listening oceanswaves

Ok so this is a WAY fun topic. Secretly hoping to get down to 135 pounds. I could care less what my ex thinks about how I look. With the exception of my weight gain, my life has FAR surpased his pathetic existance, I am happily married, have a nice car, home, and a good job. Here goes my secret fantasy....my husband has a friend, well she has become a friend of mine as well, but lets just say she is fabulous! Gorgeous, rich family, so whitty and charming, ....and Australian to boot . Even her name is cool. I imagine meetign up with her and not feeling so out of place!!!! I want to fit in with her! LOL

Conceivably weight gain could make your band tighter as weight loss certainly loosens it. But it wouldnt be an overnight thing like you mentioned. Somethiing has more likely irritated your stomach and caused swelling.

First, congratulations on your weight loss. It’s a fabulous achievement - please remember that. The hard truth is not everyone gets to their goal weight. Your goal weight is a number you chose for various reasons significant to you but your body has it’s own goal weight - its set point. This is the weight your body is happiest at. It is a weight that’s easiest to maintain & your body will keep pulling you back to. Your set point is what makes it hard to lose weight & easy to put back on any you did lose back. The surgery lowered your set point from what it was but you can’t control what the lower level will be. Be careful as you can increase your set point again by eating to excess & making poor food choices. Yes, increasing your physical activity & building muscle will increase your hunger. The trick is to balance the hunger with the calories your body needs. Check your basal metabolic rate to give you an idea if what calories your body may need to maintain. Seeking support from a therapist may help especially with your cravings & late night hunger. Many find therapy very beneficial to support their weight loss & manage their maintenance. Therapy will help you identify what’s behind your cravings & hunger & reflect on your relationship with food. Your surgeon or team should be able to refer you to a suitable therapist (one who specialises in disordered eating & is knowledgeable of bariatric surgery). All the best. PS - I found it helpful to get the ‘bad’ food out of my house. If it’s not there I can’t eat it. I know it’s not always possible especially if you have a family but even if you got rid of the your favourites would help. Try to pick a healthier option. Want sweet try some fruit. Want salty or crunchy try roasted fava beans or chick peas. Of course even ‘good’ food eaten to excess will lead to weight gain.

I was just sleeved on November 19th. I weighed myself on the 20th and had GAINED 12 pounds!!! As of today I've lost 6 of that. My original thoughts were to not weigh at all until my 2 week appointment, but someone commented that I looked thinner already so I was curious. HA Anyone else weigh themselves right after surgery, to find a gain?? I'm sure it's just Water weight, but STILL!!! That's not what I was wanting to see... Also, my incisions are starting to itch... healing?? The largest of the incisions made a "dent" in my stomach. It is so weird and gross looking. Did this happen to anyone else??

I had gbp ten years ago. I lost 150 lbs and now am regaining like crazy. I saw my doctor and my pouch was fine. Has anyone done band over bypass.

I suffer from clinical depression before and after surgery. Mine is not related to the weight it is do to the missing chemicals in my brain. But it is easier to manage with my meds and not adding being overweight on top of too. I did 3 years 2/week conseling and learned some great coping skills. See a MD and a shrink too I agree the Bible is to best place to read if you have depression and there are many, many books out there for depression. Just don't let people“tell all you gotta do is change your way of thinking”. They don't know what they are talking about. On the two weeks when you want to eat do something else instead, do something for yourself instead of giving yourself food. Ask about wellbutrim it really helps with depression with out weight gain. So/most antidepressants cause you to crave carbs or some weight gain. Drs seem to think you can be happy and fat or skinnier and depressed. Cheri

I understand that weight gain and loss (beyond the usual 10-15 pound swings most people experience) is based on insulin resistance rather than total calorie consumption. However, even with diets that are not based entirely on cutting calories--like Keto and Atkins--still place limits on total consumption and advocate weight food so you can track your macros. Ultimately, the idea is that the fat and protein that makes up 90% of your consumption on these diets will be more satiating, so you end up eating less because you have less cravings and hunger. Regardless of how the goal is achieved, one of the goals is a reduction or moderation in total caloric intake for someone that has weight they need to lose. Keto, in particular, focuses on insulin control, but by adding in intermittent fasting (which most strict keto people incorporate at some point), you're definitely cutting calories by limiting the window for eating. You're not strictly counting calories like you would on a diet like weight watchers (probably one of the worst diets out there IMO), but the calories are cut anyway (it's just a less painful process in my experience). Anyway, I am happy with following a keto style diet (constipation notwithstanding). It's something I can do long term, but I can't follow a therapeutic style keto with a 4:1 fat to protein ration or anything close that as a new sleever (6 weeks post-op). Based on my workout regimen, I need to get around 125-150g or protein in a day (even with the protein/muscle sparing qualities of Keto) and there's a limit to how much else I can eat (even with calorie dense fats like avocado). I also don't want to deviate too far from my doctor's prescribed diet at this point, so I doing a 1:1 fat to protein diet (sticking to clean, high quality fats and proteins) and I cut carbs to less than 20g net carbs. I pretty happy with this and it sets enough ground rules that I can easily decide what I can eat and how much of it---even when I am out a restaurant.

Hello, I have been banded for two years and have a oneyear old. It was four months post-op before finding out we were expecting. MyDr. told me they encourage women who are trying to have children, to do so at ahealthier weight and/or a year after surgery. My little one, was a surprise:)...the only thing I suggest is getting an un-fill for the band so you areable to eat (once that baby starts getting bigger, she bumps your tummy and youhave 0 room to eat anything.) Also, there will be a good amount of port discomfortas your abdomen stretches towards the last few months of pregnancy, since theport is attached to the abdominal wall. She is probobly curious about weight gain during pregnancy, I maintained the entire time, fluxuating 5 lbs at most. If you or your Wife have any more questions, feel free to message me! Good luck and take care! Stephanie

hi tiger from australia...sorry to hear about the problems with the lapband....what was the main problem ...was it weight gain?

I told my work friends and my boss but not other people I see everyday who I don't talk to about personal life. I never talked about my weight gain so why would I talk about my weight loss. It's nice that it's noticeable but I don't want to talk about it really.

hello! Im confused about where to post for February, is it here or on the monthly forum? I am hopefully getting my surgery date soon, the surgeons office says it will be in about 3 weeks. I am getting excited. I am not telling anyone, just my husband obviously. I do not want any judgement put on me ( which has been my whole problem since I was a child, and has most likely contributed to my weight gain.) I am currently 190lb, and 4ft 11. I may not be as heavy as some of you here, but 190 at my height is very bad! My surgeon would like me to lose 80-90lbs. I have hypertension & sleep apnea. I am a stay at home mom to my amazing 19 month old son, he is our miracle baby, we endured 6 years of infertility, un explained. It was never mentioned that my weight had anything to do with it but I suspected it. After several rounds of ivf, he came along! My main reason for the surgery is so I can be around for him, and hopefully have another baby. Well, that's me, I hope to get to know all of you better, and will post my surgery date soon, I hope!

One of the scariest or infuriating things I encounter is when I've made a new low on the scale and then gain back 3 or 5 pounds in the next few days. And then it takes a week to get back where I was. I know it's just my body getting adjusted to my new lifestyle, but it is infuriating to see it happen. After reading so many success stories about losing 20 plus pounds per month in the 1st 6 months, I WANT IT TOO! Not 10, not 15, I want my 20+ pound loss, just like clockwork - gimme, gimme, gimme! But that isn't the way my body wants to do it. So I'll just have to get used to the way it works. In fact, the gains are my fault. I allow myself a "cheat" meal on Saturday nights and one more on Sundays when I visit my parents (twice a month). It's not that I eat more food, it's just less healthy. For example: Friday morning weight in: 296.8 Saturday night was Golden Corral buffet night. Over the hour I was there, I had about 4oz of meatloaf, 1 fried chicken strip, 1 big cauliflower floret w/cheese, about 2 tablespoons of Shepard's pie and about 1/2 of some kind of pecan gooey thing. I didn't stuff myself, just ate until I was full, waited while my friend hit the buffet again, and I ate a little here and there as my stomach emptied. The following Sunday happened to be one of the 2 days a month I visit my parents. At lunch we had Churches fried chicken. I had 1 fried breast, 1 single serving of mashed potatoes, and 1 biscuit. This is not the normal fare, usually mom cooks meat and vegetables. I wasn't able to eat the whole thing in one sitting. I broke it into 2 meals, one at 11am, the 2nd at 2pm. The rest of my meals for the weekend were my normal fare: turkey hamburger w/cheese and spaghetti sauce or turkey hamburger w/gravy and chopped cauliflower. In a 4oz bowl. Monday morning weigh in: 302.4 - almost a 6 pound gain! I can only assume that all the salt and sodium caused quite a bit of water retention. I don't believe I really over did it too much on the calories. Now it's Thursday - 4 days later - and I'm back down to 298.4 - 4 pounds. Not surprising really, it's happened more than once. That doesn't mean I have to like it! I think it might be a good thing to switch up foods this way, my body won't get accustomed to a certain calorie count/protein/carb/fat intake. I just won't go overboard on the bad stuff and eat it more than 6 meals a month. Now if only I can get over my fear of seeing the scale move up instead of down! And I'll watch and see how my body reacts long term. If turns out that it's causing stalls or long term weight gain, I'll have to go back to the basic diet and cut out the bad stuff. NSV! Now, where's my light saber? I have to punch a new hole in my belt.

I think this thread was asking how us Vets continue to be sucessful. I am happy I am not pre sleeve or even in my first 6 months of being sleeved, so I know I will not get in trouble weighing myself or drive my self nuts. Smile!!!! I like to see what is happening to my body before there are any changes in the mirror or a change in the way my clothes fit. For me if I waited that long, that would be a 10lbs or more weight gain. The scale is on the top of my list, because being a woman, my weight fluctuates through out the month. It helps me to know what is going on with my body. I also have a husband and kids that do not eat the same way that I do. Sometimes, Mr Sweetpee brings home some really wonderful delectable food for the entire family. I even cook our favorite meals on special occasions which can cause weight gain. And for me, and being a woman, weight is so much harder to get off. So when I notice I have gained 2lbs, or 5lbs, I know I better do something about it quickly, (work harder at the gym) and this is where weighing myself everyday comes in. I do not eat the right portion sizes and the right foods 100 percent of the times. I have to be balanced or I would drive my family crazy. Let me explain: 90 percent of the time, all I eat are vegetables, fruits, nuts, and Beans. I eat organic! I am extremely particular about what I eat. I could go on and on about my obsession with organic and Non GMO, and so on. I drive 1 hour just to get soy free organic eggs every week. However, then there are other times I like to have a hamburger and french fries and enjoy a fast food meal while on a road trip with my family. But in the back of my mind, I am thinking that the hormone injected beef and the chemical pesticide lettuce and tomatoes, and the heart stoping oil soaked salty fries are going to kill me. Then I say - "Oh Well, it's been a whole year since I ate a burger!" I eat it and enjoy it!!!., And yes I do enjoy it!!!! I enjoy it a lot , because those are very rare occasions that I will allow my self to do it. Also the holiday food. (Thanksgiving and Christmas) Those are once a year times where I have a party in my mouth, but I am a vet, and I know how to enjoy those occasions, then get right back on track. I weight my self and say, OMG, 3lbs, did I really eat that much! I am a vet, so I know how to enjoy those things and get back on track. What helps me quickly force myself to do what I am suppose to do? My scale: I love my scale! Also after plastic surgery, I could not exercise the way I wanted to. Most of the time I could not exercise at all. I had to take it very slow, and very easy. It has been so hard getting back into physical shape post surgery. Since I could not exercise regularly, I had to stay on the scale, eat right, and monitor myself even closer so as not to gain weight. This has also been a cold winter and I admit, there has been some lazy none exercise days, when I curl up under the covers and watch TV. The scale has helped me through those times after surgery to maintain my weight. My scale motivates me in a positive way. I no longer see 270lbs on my scale. Today my scale told me I weigh 136lbs. I am still smiling about that!!! It is my tool that I use to gauge myself. My scale: I love my scale! Happy Happy Happy Vet! Sweetpee

I can't wait to fight fire again! I used to be a fire fighter, but because of the weight gain I moved to the administrative side of the department. I can't wait to be back in the heat of it all!

serisla: Every doctor seems to approach the restriction process a little differently. Some are very conservative and take it slowly. Some choose to give you as much restriction at one time as you can handle. The best answer is what works for you. Your doctor is supposed to be working for you. You need to be able to use him and your band to your best dieting/maximum-health advantage. Communication is the key. I would write down my questions and concerns and make sure that they get answered so that you understand why he is choosing to only give you a certain number of fills per year. If he is intimidating, perhaps you could spend some time with his nurse or assistant and relate your concerns and any related problems (like weight gain) to her. She can run interference for you if necessary. If he is filling you to the max every time, that would explain why he only offers a couple of opportunities for fills a year. But he may just be conserving his own time, in which case it may not be the best answer for you. You're paying for his services so you should be able to give him feedback on whether his approach is working for you - or not. :crying:

I too wonder what my maintenance calories are because never in my life have I reached that stage. I am quite short so any sort of weight gain is always apparent , so dont really wanna gain 10 pounds extra down the line when Ive reached my weight goal....

I'm condused ..you are losing weight well with your band right and because you have saline in it right? Well, seems to me the band is doing it's job..once you have thesalineremoved you may find you are not losing weight. I had my band unfilled for 2 months and believe me when I tel lyou, it's a whole different world with no saline..thank god it is only unfilled for 2 months or I could of been in some serious trouble with weight gain. If you do not want your band any longer, do not get it removed, get it unfilled, then see how you do, that is the great thing aboutthe band, if you start to gain you can always get it filled again...a question though...why are you sick of your band if it is working for you? How much fill do you have? Have you considered getting a partial unfill?

So cool of you, Andrew, to be sitting in top of all that data about your eating and being able to see what changes you'd made and correlate those to weight changes (up and down). After 17 months post-op, I have come to respect that everybody's body needs / wants what it needs / wants. What works for me doesn't necessarily work for you or others. And vice versa. Having said that, I do know that in my case different foods with identical calories have different effects on my body -- re weight gain, weight loss, physical and mental energy, satiety, and muscle-building capability. All I can do is understand as best I can how different foods affect me. And then I have to have the discipline to (most of the time) eat those foods that help me meet my goals. I follow these rules 80-90% of the time. And then sometimes I decide to do something different. But those are exceptions. Once on another forum I said I thought it should be required for all WLS patients, after they reach goal and maintain for a while, to then regain 10 pounds on purpose -- so they could learn how to recover from regain and not fear it. So congratulations. This is your opportunity to learn all that.

While I concur on cereal and applaud all the healthy suggestions (carrots, apples, etc), I think we're talking about crafting a new lifestyle as opposed to "dieting". Like most of us, I crave an occasional salty/crunchy snack. As I have told my NUT, I think most of my weight gain came from eating nuts which are full of calories. The first thing you have to do is make it a treat -- not a daily habit. My sense is a treat should be eaten no more than 1-2 times a week. Second, understand that sugar is POISON. Not only does it cause weight gain, but it also kills you! If I eat sugary food, I limit it to once a month. For the last 6 months, I have been enjoying something that I never would have eaten in my pre-VSG low carb days - JOLLY TIME POPCORN. They make a single serve 100 calorie bag that they say makes 5 cups of popcorn (it looks like less than that). Even in my pre-sleeve days, I couldn't eat more than one bag. I know popcorn is frowned upon, but in my case, it works!

So glad things are going well for you Debbie and Joe. I'm a bit miserable these days I'm sorry to say. I'm happy with my fellow but work is very stressful. All I know is that I've crept up 15 lbs. over the last few months even with two fills and just now, I put on a pair of jeans that after a wash and tumble in the dryer, are uncomfortably tight. I'm so disappointed in myself. I said I'd never let this happen and now I'm close to having to slip into a bigger size because of the weight gain. I need to get another fill, and go back to basics...even go back to tracking my food intake again. I know what to eat and what not to, I just am not following the plan that helped me to lose the weight. I'm posting here rather than on the main site....I need my support and no comments from people who don't know my story and struggle. The one thing I'm not going to do is disappear. I think alot of people do when they fall off the wagon and folks need to know how hard...really hard maintenance is even with surgery.

Yes year 3 weight gain very common. The sleeve effect wears off somewhere between year 2 and 3. Agree with suggestion to track your intake to see what you are really eating in terms of calories now.

This is strictly guesswork--I'm not a doctor, and I don't even play one on TV--but it might be a hormonal imbalance brought on by the surgery. Our bodies (well, you ladies' bodies since I'm not sleeved just yet) go through a rather big shock, and I've seen lots of folks on the forum saying it's normal to experience a weight loss stall somewhere in the first 3-5 weeks, because the body senses starvation tactics and switches into survival mode. Maybe the hormonal balance goes off kilter right around the same time? People who eat very little, such as those who suffer anorexia, sometimes have a very irregular or nonexistent menstrual cycle. Maybe there's a link? Maybe the hormones get pushed to the back burner because the brain and pituitary gland are saying, "hold yer horses, we're not getting enough calories, so no procreatin'!" On the other side of the coin, since my heaviest weight was reached over the last year and a half, I've not heard from that particular Auntie, and my general-practice doc said it *could* be related to weight gain. He ordered blood tests, and they showed that one of my hormones was in the normal range, and the other had switched to menopausal levels. Going on oral b.c. kickstarted things. Stopping the pill send Auntie F. packing again. I'd love to hear what an endocrinologist or other M.D. would say about this.

I had a "secret lap band" in 2008 and it was REALLY hard not telling people. only my parents and husband knew of the surgery. The fact that everybody knows me for my hefty eating habits made me self conscious during holidays and dinners with friends and family. This made me try to be discrete and I would eat more than I should have with did not help me in the long run. My band slipped during my last pregnancy (less than 1 year post-op) and I've had reflux issues and weight gain. Now I weigh more than I did at 9 months pregnant and I'm preparing for a revision surgery to get the sleeve after the band comes out. I don't want to hide this surgery, I don't want to come up with excuses for not eating, not being hungry and actually even eating more than I should. Who cares what people say, EVEN IF IT YOUR MOTHER, we are adults and this is a medical decision for our health.