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Keep up the good work! My doc lets us start mushies at a week, and I was like you--dropped 15 pounds in the first ten days. For me, the weight loss did crash to a halt when I started mushies, and I even went up a couple pounds. It doesn't make sense from a calorie standpoint, but remember that your intestines are probably all cleaned out after a couple weeks of liquids. :thumbup: For me, I know I've been exercising and my muscles are sore, which always means a little Water weight gain for me. Just keep going and believe that the weight loss will come!

Hello! I've been offline for awhile and wanted to touch base. Today, I went to a consultation with another Dr., didn't realize it would be such an ordeal to find someone willing to take on a patient that already had a band. I lost faith in my former doc and have have a number issues with my band. I'm scheduled to have it removed August 25, 2017, a little over 8 yrs after having it placed. I've suffered with chronic reflux, heartburn, weight gain (20 lbs) and throat pain for the past 2 years and have finally found someone that will listen. The plan... have the band and scar tissue removed in August, 6 months later go back and have bypass surgery. Yep, I'm scared of the unknown and excited at the same time to be pain free.

yeah, seriously dieting to gain weigh is like shooting yourself with a bow and arrow, not likely to happen. If you wantthe no fail weight gain? drink a few full flavored beers especially darks. those will get you there in no time ohand to help those go down, try Fettuccini alfredo. youll get there in no time.

Just want to check in with Sleevers that are more than a year out. How is it going? have you gained weight back? How is your restriction? How is your skin? I am feeling like all the Sleevers that were active on this site have disappeared .. and I am hoping just because there is a lot of repeat info for the newbies... which is totally fine! Personally I am 19 months out, and within 6-7 pounds of my lowest weight.... gained the 6-7 back from Halloween until new years. I am taking care of those pounds now. I can still feel restriction, some days more than others but I definitely can eat a lot more than a year ago! I admit I have not been working out and I am finally back at the gym starting today. Really excited to lose the 6 pounds and 4 more if I am lucky! I love this site it keeps me accountable. How is everyone else?

There is a point where many may: have more capacity to eat more food/stomach relaxes get their hunger back weight loss slows or stops start gaining weight reach goal and navigate maintenance are past the "honeymoon" usually past a year or more may be earlier find themselves in a new "stage" different from the beginning stages after WLS finding the old methods used to take off weight may or may not work are finding a way to stay the same weight after gaining or losing too much the issues are no usually longer about what Protein drink to buy, the three week stall, the funny taste of food, gas pain, eating in public, hair loss, insurance approval..... come to the conclusion that the process NEVER ends, it is a lifetime of learning and doing and sharing and counting and moving... and that is the new normal. Realizing what is meant by "the sleeve is a tool" and it is only part of the process, you can gain all your weight back if you don't start forming a new life and just resting from the work and eating "normally" after getting to goal will result in weight gain for many. These are some of the issues I see arising for "vets" and distinguishes them from "newbies"... which we all were once... You can't know how the sleeve and the rest of the body and mind will be until you experience it for yourself over time. 1-2-3-5 years later, things change. We don't know about 10 years because there just aren't many out there with current style sleeves to talk to. But some at 6 months are getting some of this experience, I think after a year or two you really see the Vet issues even clearer. Some don't come back here, so hopefully they are doing great, are living life and not gaining or losing too much.... the ones of us that are still here are experiencing the stuff listed above... some are having NO problems at all. I love my sleeve and my life, and at this time (2 1/2 years out) I am still not at goal, but very close and believe I will make it to goal pretty soon, and have some plans on how to maintain I think I can follow. Taking the long view has been very helpful for me....If I took the view that if I didn't lose all my weight by 6 months without pulling all my hair out or I was a failure if I didn't lose 30 pounds in the first month, then this experience would have been hell. I have some good support friends here that have been here for years... we chug along together, and check in often, share research, worries and challenges, and we will share the pleasure of accomplishment as well. I plan on staying in contact during maintenance when I get there. Maintenance may well be the most difficult part of this journey. Keeping the weight off is the trick. Someone here said it best... reaching goal at 3 years feels just as good at reaching goal at 6 months. Who cares as long as you get there!

It was the opposite for me, I'm down 18 lbs since surgery, now 191. I did also change how I dress and not wearing anything that's loose on me. I kept all my smaller clothes since my weight gain has been mainly in the last 6 years. I got a new haircut as well to help my round face look slimmer. I've been slow to loose, and I guess these things help me stay motivated and I no longer cringe when I look in the mirror. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Regardless you must eat! He was a stupid f@#$, but don't allow him to make you sick. You will gain if not eating properly because your body is not going to know when it will get food regularly so it will store it leading weight gain. It was HIS decision to cheat, you getting skinny is not an excuse. Stay strong!

In 1 week I have not gained 1 oz nor lost 1 oz, seriously. Not 1. What can I do? I was banded on 12/23 and had 1 fill on 1/14 of 4 cc. I feel really no restirction but eat much smaller portions because I know it's healthier for me. I see the dr the 17th so I know that will be my next fill. I am wondering if I am not taking in enough calories or if it's because work has been beyond busy (we have been buying out smaller dealers) and I havent left my desk in days (sometimes I forget that I have to even use the bathroom until lunch time)! So I am not up and moving like I am used to. I am also am just too exhausted to even get up to get to to the gym and play around with my 3 year old like I have been 2 weeks ago. I feel awful for that. I am just so fried with work. Anyways, here's my run down of my meals. Here's a run down of a "typical" day. Breakfast: 7:30 am - 8 oz skim milk/1 scoop protein powder (18g) Snack: 11:00 am - small handful peanuts (snack) or banana (whatever I grab in the morning) Lunch: 1:15 pm - Weight Watcher Meal (usualy dont finish it becasue I have to get back to work and I am full) & 1/2 Cucumber or 2 oz cheese cube Dinner: 5:30 Cucumber or Salad with Cheese & Turkey w/Low Fat Dressing (I def make large salads, just like if I did not have the band but I love salad and cant stop from eating it and without the restriction it's hard, at least it's not McDonalds, LOL)! Or Can of Chicken mixed with 2 tablespoons of low fat Mircale Whip ("fake" Chicken Salad") and some low fat Wheat Thins or 2 oz cheese cubes......

Ok, having talked to my insurance (NEIB-managed by bcbs and medical cost management) I have found out that though BCBS IL is a pain in the butt to deal with, our union has the final say about the go ahead... so far I have leared that my requirements are as follows: 1. height, weight, bmi (easy enough) (done) 2. TSH levels (again easy) (done) 3. physical and history 4. cardio and pulmonary clearance 5. 5 years of diet information 6. pyscologist 7. comorbidity My concerns are what comorbiities are considered... I have GERD, planters fascia, fatigue, menorrhagia, and had my gallbladder removed. I am going for a sleep study to rule in/out sleep apena. my BMI is 39.66 (5'5" 238lbs) My tsh levels were normal I also have a family history of diabetes. My family doctor is doing my physical and history on 4/8 and he needs to include my weight gain for the past 5 years, medications, and other health factors... Is there anything else you guys know of that will help the approval along?? Thanks!!

Fran: If you are eating right don't worry about the weight gain. You are probably retaining fluids from the major shock your body is going through. I haven't had plastic surgery yet, but after I was banded I gained 9 pounds in 3 days and I was only on liquids. It took about ten days before it started to come off. Chin up and drink alot. Weird how drinking makes our fluids flush, but that's what they tell me. Take care. Sue

No help for us. We are fat, we are gluttons, we are weak and undeserving of help, sympathy, or adequate medical care. Like Orson Wells said, “Gluttony is not a secret vice.” Do I believe that? Some days I do in fact believe it, when I’m down, and lately more because of how ill I have been. Mostly it is a load of hog wash. Fat does not equal ugly. There has long been a weird relationship with food, the body and the Christian church. And of course, we all know the impact that both Protestant and Catholic sects have had on Western Civilization… Some of the Christian based weight-loss schemes are screaming “fat people don’t go to heaven,” and “use our program based on Leviticus and you will loose weight and be closer to God!” Sorry, I’ve read Leviticus, and I am NOT eating bugs…. (I call them schemes because I think we all here have come to the understanding that “diets” are just schemes…) If you had better self-control, more self-esteem, more will-power, were a better person, loved God more…. You would lose weight and be a better person. There is no understanding for the overweight from most doctors. Before my husband had his band installed, the cardiologist said “Have you just tried cutting out sweets?” Now, on the face of it, this is good advice, advice we could all use. However, this showed a complete lack of understanding on the part of the doctor. You see, before my husband had his band installed, he weighted 596 pounds with a BMI in the high 80’s. Cutting out sweets would have certainly helped, it wouldn’t have stopped my husband from eating two or three fast-food meals at one sitting, or any of the other overeating behavior some of us know intimately, and other behaviors we are only starting to understand in ourselves and others. I am currently having difficulty with my asthma: hospitalizations, steroids, greatly reduced lung function, other things as well. What am I told? Well, just lose some weight, we aren’t going to help with this, we are just going to pass judgment on you. Sudden and unexplained weight gain? Well, just don’t eat as much… (never mind that I gained 10 pounds overnight with severe edema…). I have to suspect that part of Delarla’s current adventure with gauze might have been caught earlier if she was thin. I was told by my doctor that I just need to take up running. Yes that’s right, take up running. Can you imagine a woman with a BMI in the high 40’s running? (Please see the thread about giving one’s self black eyes…) Being fat or overweight or big boned, or under tall, or metabolically efficient or famine resistant doesn’t make us failures, bad people or jerks. We might be over sexed (skin is the largest sex organ…), but we are not failures, or bad people or jerks. If we are failures or bad people or jerks, it is independent of our weight or size.

Wow, we all have a lot to say about this topic. I really try not to graze. I eat 4X a day and supplement with Protein shakes. I will let a meal go on past 20 minutes though. I was a grazer before surgery. Grazing, not bingeing got me to over 200lbs. There is research out there suggesting that grazing is a common cause of WLS failure. I don't want that to happen to me. Check out this link http://ezinearticles.com/?Avoid-Weight-Gain-After-WLS:-Learn-the-Difference-Between-Snacking-and-Grazing&id=61380 I think we all need to find our own way after surgery. I'm glad there is no international rulebook out there; I'm sure I'd disagree with some part of it. For me grazing is out but maybe it's ok for you.

So today I had an appointment with the nutritionist. I am currently 308 lbs @5'5 . Most of my weight gain is from having kids. I have three. So of course I'm too busy to exercise and focus in me. But I'm excited to finally do something by having bypass . I have to lose weight and keep track of the foods I eat. This is going to be the hardest challenge ever! If I could lose weight by dieting I wouldn't be getting wls.

I attended my one year post-op class yesterday for people who had weight loss surgery in April and May 2014. It was a big class of about 50 people. I was shocked when only two people (myself and one other person) raised their hand when asked who had reached their goal weight. Everyone else in the class fell into the statistical had lost "65% of their excess weight" category. Many had lost a smaller percentage than that. The biggest concern now one year out was experiencing plateaus and weight gain. Everyone in that class had experienced success and had lost weight. Everyone reported being off medications, C-PAP machines and living a healthier and fuller life. Still, you couldn't ignore the disappointment most shared that they may still be 50-150 plus pounds overweight post surgery. My take away and message I want to share with those newly sleeved - work your sleeve while you can! Those first few months of rapid weight loss are key! It will slow down every month until one day you won't lose anything at all. I think I was able to reach goal easy because I was a low BMi to begin with. Maintenance is going to take work though and there is no slacking off once you get to goal! It takes a lot more work to lose the weight after the first year. Work that sleeve while you can!!!

Hi Marisela, are you asking bc of reflux or worried about eating before bed in relation to weight gain? I can eat whenever, and lay down and it doesn't bother me. As for weight gain, it doesnt really matter when you eat in relation to when you sleep. (of course I only get my information from health magazines and other information)...

Good Morning-Question for you experienced banders--I had surgery on 12/16/09 and as of 12/23/09 lost 19lbs!. I was doing so well they only had me on full liquids for 2 days then to purees (which i am on now). Since then I have gained 2 lbs! :smile: I am not overly concerned about the 2 lbs, but is this normal??? Will the weight gain stop? I am following how much they tell me to eat (even though I know I could eat more I am not!). Like I said 2lbs I am not gonna lose alot of sleep over, but I want it to stop! I am doing what I am supposed to be!

I gained overnight after surgery too. I think it was just water weight gain??

Also keep in mind that clothing makers are all different too. Many of the plus size clothes are made so that weight gain/loss isn't so noticeable in sizes.... You may be in a 3x shirt or pants and lose 30 lbs or more before before you change sizes. Where as if your in a size 7/8 and gain or lose 30 lbs the size is much more noticeable. Make sense?

Hello all :willy_nilly: my name is Kayla, I'm 20 years old, a junior in college, and I'm from Minnesota! I just joined this website figuring it would be good for me to have others to talk to who are going through similar situations and so far I think it's really cool! I've always been a chubby kid growing up and just became used to it. I got made fun of a little bit but not as bad as some people, I figure it was just the 'average' amount if that makes sense. Growing up I never really let my weight bother me but the few times that I heard some of the mean things that people would say it really hurt my feelings and made me hate my body. After experiencing my bullying I became the 'funny girl'. I've always been very outgoing and very social but it's like I started performing for people so that even though I was overweight people would like me because I could make them laugh. For most of my life that worked alright. I always had tons of friends, never had a problem getting boyfriends, I did all the fun high school things, so I never felt that my weight held me back much since it was something that I had for as long as I could remember. About 3 weeks before my sweet sixteen I got the news that my aunt was murdered by her husband. My aunt was like a second mother to me so it was a very traumatic experience. I think that was a big trigger for more weight gain along with being sexually abused my sophomore year in high school and being diagnosed with depression in 9th grade. I was always over weight but I didn't look fat I just didn't fit into size 2 jeans. When all of those things happened I really started packing on the pounds. I saw a therapist for all my problems and I'm very proud to say that I'm doing so much better but food was my comfort and I was just never able to really let that go which is how I got to my highest at 281 pounds. In October of 2008 I went to my first doctor appointment to learn about the weight loss surgery option and began doing all my pre-surgery requirements. After I completed like 5/6 of the requirements I changed my mind on the surgery because I began to lose weight on my own and thought it was somewhat easy. I was able to drop 25 pounds in like a month and a half. Then the weight loss haulted and I gained about 7 of the pounds back. It is very hard being on a diet and making it to the gym 4 times a week while going to college and working as well. When I realized that our insurance would pay for all of my surgery I reconsidered the surgery and have a surgery planned for Monday, January 4th, 2010. I feel so blessed for all of my family and friends who are in my life and supporting me through this time. I also feel very blessed to be given the opprotunity to have surgery in the first place! I've never felt that my life was terrible or not fun or that I've missed out on anything but as I've gotten a little older I'm starting to figure out things that I want to try but could be difficult because of my weight. Last February I was diagnosed with PolyCystic Ovary Syndrom (PCOS) and was told that it will be very hard for me to get pregnant in the future unless I lose weight and I'll most likely still need fertility drugs even after some weight is lost. Even at 20 and not desiring children anytime soon, one of my dreams is to be a mother and I want to figure out things now to make that dream possible. I also think that this surgery will give me more self confidence and overall happiness in my life that I lost about 5 years ago. I hope you all enjoyed reading my 'story' as I have enjoyed reading yours! I also look forward to getting in touch with people since the people I have talked to so far have just been wonderful! Happy holidays everyone & God bless! missKAYLA

Ok so really this is the first in a series of blogs on my journey though this addiction called food. I have been banded since june of 008 and have lost 80 pounds to date. That is untill recently...three weeks ago I went to get a fill and had exray done and my band had slipped. So he took all the fluid out and said if it does not go back to normal then I will have to have surgury again to fix....Well to me I heard that the surgury was a for gone conclusion and screw it go on and eat anything you want because ur going to have surgury anyway...felt no hope so I ate and ate and ate and ate.....17 pounds worth of eating....Felling depressed that It has not worked....but really I was not working....I know it is only a tool but I was not ready to give it up....I came into it thinking that ok really it will be forced behavior modification and i just have to choose wisely...well really I have not been...fell of the wagon....I want the freedom and not the prison of food...the goal is not to throw up....to finally listen to my body....please forgive me body for ignore you and for beating you up....I think this blogging will help.....I do not know the plan to be on I think really the only plan is to listen to my body and not throw up....I am not ready to give up the band...I am almost done paying off the band. I am a cash patient and have 2000 left to pay on the bill...care credit is such a loan shark but am thankful to have them out of my hair...so really I think it will be ok....I have PCOS and think that all the yeast and sugar has sent my pancreas into overdrive....that would explain the rapid weight gain....feeding the sickness....so im going to start metphormin again and see if that helps....will keep you posted.....

Has anyone gained weight during nutrition visits? I think I effed up. I gained 10lbs between my consult with the surgeon and second nutrition visit. I explained to her the very devastating loss of a family member... and also how I wanted to kinda .. "eat my last junk foods". since then, I have lost 6lbs. I plan on being down even more when we meet again in 2 weeks. Basically I'm terrified the insurance will deny me because of the 10lb gain- even though I lost it back and more. Has anyone been through this or heard of this? What happened? thanks!

I agree the cause of weight gain is not the size of your stomach, it is what you are eating and of course grazing could contribute to this.

1. I don't think they are saying you failed to keep the appts. The wording they choose is off but I think what they are saying is you failed physician-supervised exercise and nutrition program that has regular visits every 2-4 weeks. The reason they put the 2-4 weeks bit in parenthesis is because they are explaining what type of doctor supervised program it is. 2. If you are unable to work because of you illness, have you applied for SSDI? If not, you should. 3. Since the requirement is that you must not gain weight and you did. Your PC should have documented why despite your best efforts you did gain weight. Namely that you tried but the meds caused you to gain. So it seems the key item missing is that there was no justification for your weights gains noted. 4. You can go forward with the appeal, but unless you think your PC will add those justifications in there and advocate for you, it might be worth your while find a new PC. Unfortunately you may need to start this process all over again under the new PC unless you can document how you are in constant pain awaiting this surgery. Even then they may want proof that the surgery will solve the problem.

Oh there is some suggestion it can also make losing weight a little more difficult, but that is the same with any hormonal option- your body is tricked into thinking it is already pregnant (so you don't ovulate) and thus the body goes into pregnancy energy storage mode... It doesn't cause weight GAIN though!

Pouch reset is a fad diet and doesn’t work. Liquids and mushy food slide through our pouches so just consuming them won’t do or prove anything. And 5 days is not enough time to make lasting changes, diet or otherwise. Just clean out your cupboards, stop drinking with meals, weigh and track every morsel you eat, and most importantly eat dense protein first followed by non-starchy vegetables. Your weight gain is most likely due to eating sugar, processed food, simple carbs, junk food, desserts - you know why. Stick with meat and veggies only for 5-7 days and that will help curb your cravings and get you back on track.