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Funny you noted all the reasons for your surgery choice. I did the same thing and my list is endless. As I would think of something that has changed in my life due to weight gain, I would write it down. The list got longer and longer. Someday I'll pull it out and see how many things are now back on the "ok to do" list and be very happy with my decision. As it is, I'm only 5 days post op, so gotta wait it out. 9 lbs. down already though, so that made me feel much better! Are you banded yet? lessofme

They are right... you probably have no restriction in your band.. i know i dont... I also know the scale can easily show five pounds weight gain around period time. Once it passes and its over.. the scale will go back down.. I just went through it. Right now i am hungry like i was prior to surgery.. I feel like i am on a diet and strictly on will power. i have no restriction in my band...and honestly i cant wait to get some :mad:

Hey everyone...I have been SO busy at work the last few days. I'm tired! And I haven't been able to check in here too often. Raynie I'm sorry to hear about your weight gain. Is it due to your TOM? I always gain 3-4 pounds right around then...I think it's water retention. Are you drinking enough water? I find I lose more consistently and feel better if I make sure to get at least 80 oz of water in. Not sure about the Muscle Milk, except that it does have lots of calories. Maybe try the MM light... Threebeauties!! You have been gone for along time! Aren't plateaus a bitch?? I didn't lose ANYTHING for 5 straight weeks and it's SO frustrating! Do you think you might need another fill? And I love Lia Sophia stuff! I'm going to a part on Thursday in fact. Yay Jimboss is back!!! You really were missed! Congrats on your new house...I would love to see pics! Where has Sonia been...

It has been a good month of fitness. Each day has seen between 2-3 miles of running, mostly either sprinting for short distances (400 m intervals) or fast for longer durations (6 min average for 1 mile). Running a mile feels really comfortable now at race speed. My lifting has seen a slow progression of PR every week. This Friday marks the end of our 1 month nutritional challenge at the crossfit box. We will also be doing a special chipper WOD that identical to the one from last month to see where we have improved. Most are taking on weight loss as a goal for the end of this challenge. I wasn't intending to and actually saw my weight climb by 5 lbs in last few weeks to hold stead at 182. Every day. I attributed the weight gain to lack of proper recovery / sleep / muscle gain, but not really sure of actual cause. Today, I got on the scale this morning and it said 176. I checked and rechecked 8 times. Same weight. Interesting drop. Batteries are Ok. Not sure if it was because I slept more (actually got 8 hours instead of usual 6) or because of a chipper workout I did yesterday: 6 Sets Of: ​Hang Clean + Power Clean + Jerk then 14 Minute AMRAP: 10 Ring Dips 200m Sprint 10 Pullups 200m Sprint I got 6 rounds and, man, was that tough. My dinners have also been a little more on the "rich side" these last few months, but last night I had straight Turky (4 ounces). Maybe that did it? Who knows...

I surpassed my goal Not sure how but I won't weigh for a while so I won't see the expected weight gain after such an unexpected loss. Today's weight 178, goal was 180 Happy Thanksgiving!

I am trying not to freak out. I am about 8 weeks post op, everything has been going well. I eat about 700-800 calories a day, get 80-100 grams of protein a day. Yesterday the only thing I did different was eat a little popcorn which I know put me up in carbs more than any days so far. But really? 2 lbs?! I am berating myself over the two handfuls of popcorn. I feel awful now

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

Here’s my opinion & it differs from others: I am 1y post op & have surpassed my goals. I believe that a lot of my issues with weight gain came from diet culture. Now, I live in the land of balance. I absolutely have had Mac & cheese (I like the reduced guilt from TJs & have it with Tuna). I think long term health & success comes from eating a healthy balanced diet. I do not ban anything, and never ever plan to diet or ban foods again. I eat a ton of Whole Foods, lean protein, Veggies & fruit. I feel and look healthy & fabulous. What I avoid the most is processed foods. I also tracked for the first year so I knew how many carbs, protein, calories and fat I took in & that helped me learn good habits. It also helped me learn what was not worth the splurge. So, IMHO, eventually you can have some Mac and cheese- once in a while. I realize everyone is different but this is my opinion & experience. I hope this helps.

Hi Everyone, My name is Becky. I'm 35 years old and was just banded on February 21st! I'm married to my wonderful husband Dave and have been for nine years this May. I have two cats, no childen. I live here in the City of Brotherly Love: Philadelphia! It's a most wonderful town and I encourage everyone to come visit! I am the Sales and Marketing Director for a Web design company and my husband is an IT Director with a national firm. I was a normal weight, if not downright skinny, child. When I look at pictures of myself from when I was really little, I can't even believe how thin I was. My weight gain started the very moment puberty started, and despite dieting for 25 years (you name it, I've been on it. Too many diets to list here!), I reached my heaviest ever weight a few months ago. One time in college I was able to lose 51 pounds with Nutri-System, but even then I still had an additional 30 to lose, so in my entire adult life, I have never been at an ideal weight. I'd been looking into the LAP Band since I first read an article about it a few years ago. But at that time, my insurance did not cover it. I had vowed to never get a bypass no matter how big I got, because it just is not for me. The second I found out that my insurance started covering the LAP Band in July of 2005, I enrolled in a seminar to get started. So I feel I have been waiting to be banded for years and years! Currently, I am 8 days post-op and starting to feel a bit better. I had a really rough first week. I have to say that without this board, I honestly don't know if I would have gone through with the surgery! I just am so appreciative and thankful for everyone on here. Nice to meet you all!

Hang in there.... I was banded on 1/30, and I too hit a plateau and yes, even saw some weight gain. Remember what you probably heard or read elsewhere - it's going to be about your 3rd or 4th fill before we get to that sweet spot. I had my 2nd fill, and I'm not starting to have some of those sensations that's I've read about.... pain when things get stuck or I don't chew is one that I've really had. Dang, it sure hurts. I can tell a difference already and I finally have some restriction. Now I just need to exericse.

I was worried about the skin as I am not able to do weight lifting or anything over 15 lbs even after the incisions heal from surgery as I still have a fist size incisional hernia the doctor will not repair until 8 months later that limits me. This is what motivated me to finally do this surgery as I has other surgical doctors that would not repair until I lost 50lbs. The incisional hernia is a previous mesh repair that was cut through for another surgery and became a hernia with weight gain. It's all so frustrating as I know lifting weights is my fastest way to weight loss but I have been limited here for quite some time. I am also needing a shoulder rotator cuff repair and will probably have that surgery in 6 to 8 weeks and this again will limit me. My only choice is walking. I do have a treadmill and a stationary bike. Just not sure when it is ok to use bike? The nurse at the hospital told me not to use the treadmill for awhile but my house is small and I feel like a hamster in a wheel walking circles in my house. I am thinking this morning I will go ahead and use my treadmill and just keep it flat and slow, I don't see any harm in this? Anyone else used there treadmill 9 days post-op?

So weiiiird. I left the hospital on pureed foods (I only stayed the night because I had a later surgery time). I feel bad for you guys on liquids that long after surgery. I'm hungry now and I'm eating stuff with substance!!! I do only need a little bit to satiate me though, so that's good. For those concerned with weight gain while in the hospital, I gained too....this Wednesday will be 2 weeks and as of this morning I've lost 10lbs since surgery. Your body will swing back once all the fluids they pumped into you goes away.

You can't "spot lose" weight because you gain and lose weight all over your body; it would make sense that even one's private parts will change with a large weight loss--they changed with a large weight gain, but we were so busy watching our buns or boobs get bigger that we didn't pay much attention to the less obvious parts. I have noticed that there's a little "pillow" on top of my pelvic bone--it wasn't there when I first met my husband. The mechanics of female pleasure don't seem to be working quite so well for me at this heavier weight. Since reading this thread, I'm actually looking forward to possibly losing that little pillow--I'm not sure I need so much "cushion for the push'n"!:thumbup:

The fact is you can be lucky in pregnancy too. What is your basic body shape?. I'm tall, and with care during my pregnancies, I did not gain lots of weight, um, I think 20lb for my first, about 25lb for my second and 10lb for my third. Being tall and having nicely sizede 7 to 8lb babies, I didnt get big during pregnancy. I got no stretch marks from pregnancy. I have stomach muscles that are rock hard now, I never got any muscle separation and although I have a little bit of looshish skin courtesy of the weight loss, my stomach is flat as a board. I know someone who had a full tummy tuck prior to pregnancy and it still looks fine afterwards - like most women, she doesnt quite have the stomach she did before pregnancy, it stretched out a little, got a few stretchmarks etc but in no way was the work "undone". There is no reason to totally let yourself go in pregnancy, if you're little and you have a big baby, you cant do a lot about that, and you cant help the way you carry. But without the massive weight gain that really isnt necessary for you OR the baby, you dont have to do too much damage. If I were you and unsure whether it would happen, or when, then I would go for the stomach I want NOW. With your band and your new habits, you wont pile it on in pregnancy if you're careful.

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!

OMG... Weight gain So I'm 3 months post op and was told by my Dr to increase my calories from 500 to 700-800 per day... And within 4 days I've gained almost 3 pds I track my food... Drink 5 16oz water bottles daily and aim for 50-80g of protein... Oh and I walk or do Zumba at least 5 days a week. What's up???!!!???!!!

@@Skywalker, some people just have a harder time waking from anesthesia, I don't know what causes it. As for the weight gain, my blood pressure got so low they had to double up on the IV bags to get more Fluid into me, thus the weight gain. The last two days have been hell for me. I slept an awful lot and have had quite a bit of pain in my guts. Just feeling very out of sorts. The good news is, I lost that pesky 9 pounds plus one so I am moving in the right direction! Looking forward to feeling a little better every day. Just keep walking and sipping....that is what I have been told to do. Wishing you all well!

I gained weight during my pre op thanks to the inept nutritionist. I lost 18lbs the first month on my own diet and he insisted what I was doing (low carb) was wrong and not sustainable long term. I followed his plan to a T and just kept gaining and gaining. My surgeon told me I could stay the same weight but not gain, so I ended up going 1-2 days a week with zero food just to be sure I’d keep my weight the same for weight ins for pre op. It was a horrible experience and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I was accused of lying about my food intake, had my phone ripped out of my hand while the nutritionist went through my fitness pal trying to find something to throw in my face on what I was doing wrong. He concluded my weight gain was due to the protein bar I was eating for breakfast because he didn’t know the macros (it was on my tracking app and I showed him the physical bar in my purse). Instead, he said I must eat quest bars that were higher cal and less protein. Talk about an eye roll. My last visit with him ended in him telling me I was lying about having a surgery date and me almost leaving in tears.

This surgey was not something I took lightly. I prayed about it and prepared for 8 months before I got the call for Dec 19, 2022. I made this decision purely for my health as I’m sure most of you did as well. I was starting to have heart problems and my knees would hurt as I walked down the stairs. I was told it would be life changing and when it came to the weight loss it has been, but the complications that have bombarded me has me questioning if it was worth it. I don’t want to scare anyone off, because ninety-nine percent get through their gastric sleeve and adapt after the initial healing, but I have always been the one percent. You see I was the one percent with my pain management as well because I took steroid shots to my back after giving birth to my daughter. This went on for 10 years and then I developed adrenal insufficiency because my body became dependent on the hormone. It could no longer produce its own cortisol so I was then on the precipice of dying if I didn’t start a steroid regimen immediately among my diagnosis. I literally was down to that one percent of cortisol in my body. For five years I suffered unimaginable low energy, adrenal crisis when my body was to stressed, countless hospital visits and of course massive weight gain from cushions disease. I thought nothing would ever be as bad as that time in my life when I finally recovered after those five years and stopped my steroids. But the damage was done and I was severely obese at my heaviest of 270 and on top of that my thyroid suffered in the process so I could never get the weight off. Thats what led me to the only solution my doctor had and the realization that their are things worse than Addisons disease, at least for me. Since my surgery I have not been able to keep any food down. I have had to be admitted to the hospital for days on end where I would go back to the liquid diets. A few weeks ago I had a little tuna and my body rejected it with a fury sending me to the hospital for five days where I had two emergency surgeries. The doctor couldn’t believe what he was seeing on my mri. Somehow so much scar tissue has devolved that it was causing my sleeve to be pulled by my gallbladder and they were attached so we thought that was the reason I couldn’t keep any food down. After I came out of that surgery I felt relief and I wanted to cry because another thing I forgot to mention is that I had been nauseous 24/7 since my sleeve surgery, but for those five hours after waking up from the anesthesia and pain meds I felt normal. The nausea was gone. But the next day it was back with a vengeance and more imaging found that my gallbladder was infected and had to come out immediately. So under I went for the 3rd time in 6 months reentering the same wounds that still hadn’t healed. And again for a while I wanted to cry out that it’s a miracle, it’s all better, but as soon as all the meds wore off I was right back were I started. I also had to have a drain put in because their had been blood pooling around my sleeve since the first surgery. All they could do was prescribe me 3 medications to control the vomiting. I lost 7 pounds during that hospital stay. When I got home after being on a liquid diet for a few more days I slowly eased into the soft foods, but to this day after every meal or healthy snack I make my way to that porcelain hell were I retch until the nausea calms. I then take my nausea medications and Valium to relax my stomach muscles. It usually takes about three hours and then I do it all again because I’m only eating twice a day to avoid being sick morning, noon, and night. The only thing that has changed is the constant nausea, it’s now only after I eat something. I’m literally living off of soft cheese and fruit, but more than a few bites and all hell breaks loose. I can tell how malnourished I am because my hair is falling out in clumps and my skin is dry. I’m drinking as much liquid as I can, but dehydration is always around the corner. My doctor says I’m loosing more weight than he anticipated so I always thought hearing those words would bring me joy, but I’m so depressed and have no energy for my family so I have to ask myself daily was it worth it? Will it get better with more time? Again, I don’t want to scare anyone because their are more good stories on here than bad. I simply want to share my story because there is no other like it and that scares me. My daughter is always asking if I could die, she did this when I was sick with addisons too? I tell her if things get better before I reach my healthy weight of 130 then I’ll be ok because right now even though i’m not getting the calories I need my body still has enough fat storage to feed off of, but at the rate I’m loosing- a pound every other day, I will be severely malnourished if it gets to that point. Most people say the surgery is a blessing, but for me it may still be, but a blessing in disguise. I have spoken with my doctor and he doesn’t have the answers. I have scoured medical journals and comment boards also with no answers. If there is anyone on here that is going through the same thing please reach out and if you prefer to talk in private my email is marsgirl22@gmail.com. I know this was truly a long post, but my journey has been just as long and I hope that my story can help someone else to get the answers that seem to allude me. Oh and just for clarification of how rapidly I am losing I started at 260 pounds two weeks before my surgery and now I am 175 pounds and counting down. Bless you all for taking the time to read my story and I sincerely hope you want hesitate to help me if you can.

Monieanne - I'm transitioning from lapband to sleeve too! I am over all this weight gain. With sleeve I went down to 119lbs but then complications. I"m up to 209lbs now and feeling miserable. I'm can't wait to get my high energy life back! 8/26/15

Thanks for getting back on track all you May bandsters! I think the farther I get out of surgery the harder it becomes. I tend to lose some of that rigidness and can become softer in following the rules. Listening to your stories/successes/struggles help me out tremendously. After all, we are all going on this journey together. I, myself, just had a 1 pound weight gain following vacation. I could look at it as a failure that I didn't lose weight but I can also look at it as it could have been a lot worse. Back in the day, I would have had the mindset that I could eat anything because I was on vacation. I didn't this time, or rather, I couldn't. Did I make the best choices? No, not 100% of the time but I did make much better choices than I would have had I not been banded. Thanks to y'all for your support.... Katie

I have never counted calories since having the surgery, however I do watch my carbs. I understand not wanting to be "on a diet". You can look at this a couple of ways. You had this surgery so you could loose weight and so if you want to take advantage of the honeymoon period, then that is the time to focus on what foods will make the most of that timeframe. The sleeve is a tool, and its up to us to decide how to use that tool. I don't get the impression you want to just eat "anything", but at the same time, you will want to pay attention to the foods you are eating that slow or halt your weight loss or worst case cause weight gain. I'm sure you realize that you can gain weight even with having this surgery by eating foods high in sugar and bad carbs. So, to your comment about not wanting to be on a "diet", perhaps you want to look at this as a lifestyle change. Your sleeve will help keep you in check, but as you get further out you will be able to tolerate more foods and in some cases eat more. By that time, you want to have figured out what you need to be eating to sustain the goals you have set for yourself. It doesn't mean not allowing yourself little treats in moderation, but again, watching to see how that affects you during your weight loss journey and factor that in with where you want to be. We are human, we can't be perfect all the time. I don't deny myself something if I find myself just absolutely craving it, but then I know I am going to need to do some exercise to counter it- depending on what it was. So, maybe not looking at this as a diet, but as a lifestyle change.

I think that with the band it is better than with bypass as far as the long-teerm help from the procedure goes. I've been attending one of my surgeon's required pre-op meetings. He has some of his post-op folk go and sit on a panel for Q & As. I am the longest post-op aside from the facilitator who is 7 years GBP. The facilitator speaks a lot about the honeymoon phase with GBP, where you need to change your eating habits. She says that the body learns to work around the malabsorbption and can absorb everything you eat. She says this is the reason many bypassers regain weight. I just don't find that with the band. As we've absorbed every calorie we've consumed. Nothing has changed. Sure, we cannot keep forcing food down, else we can trigger a dilation. Or we can trigger a slip with extensive vomiting. But if all that is good and we are eating a bit too much, we can get a little fill to help us out. Nancy, don't wait to see your doctor because you are embarrassed by the weight gain. You might have problems with your band. Get it seen to. IMO, there is no point in keeping trying if your band isn't working right. That is the same thing that got us to needing WLS in the first place.

In my experience, exercise is the most powerful tool ever in preventing weight gain. I think it has more value in preventing weight gain than it does in losing weight. I hope you're better really quickly.

Hi all, I'm new to this forum so here's a brief introduction...I'm a female, 5-9", current weight 210, 43 years old. I'm interested in losing about 35 pounds total. I carry most of my weight in my hips and thighs, with some back fat and a slight hang to my stomach fat. My BMI is 31. I had a consult for the Orbera yesterday and I'm seriously considering doing this after the holidays (mainly because of time off concerns). I have read a lot of this forum and the information provided by the doctor. I think this is the jump start that I need to get me going. I can maintain weight loss pretty well, but I haven't been disciplined enough to do what it takes to take the weight off and keep it off. I've lost the same 10 pounds multiple times. Lol! I had been tall and skinny until the children came and they are now 22, 12, and 10 years old, so I can no longer blame them for the weight gain. I have considered vaso-lipo and tummy tuck to get rid of this middle fat. That being gone will make me feel a ton better. But I also want overall weight reduction. For the price of the Orbera, I could get a tummy tuck in my area. So i'm weighing whether or not the Orbera is worth the cost, especially as a weight loss tool. Has anyone else considering cosmetic surgery? If so, what made you opt for the Orbera?