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I'm a former bander too. It caused all kinds of problems and then the weight gain. I had my sleeve done about a year ago and love it. I knew how to eat and what to do it was like riding a bike. I'm really happy now! Good luck on your journey!

In the search bar, look for the boot camp diet. It is really hard and you have to set your mind to not putting anything in your mouth in between meals, and not to snack during the evening. It's fine to have one evening snack of something, but getting up all evening long and getting something was exactly what led to my weight gain. You can also google intermitant fasting and that works really well. That's how a bunch of us here took off our regain. The links are in the veterans forum.

Hi everybody I was wondering if any of you had a weight gain shortly after surgery? My sleeve surgery was Monday of this week. Now its Thursday and Im up 10 pounds from the weight on Monday. Isnt that a kick in the pants?

I can relate to this like nobody's business!!! Right now, as I sit at my desk, there is a table less than 8 feet from me. On that table are Doritos, Cheetos, Potato chips, pretzels, Chex Mix, Munchos, Pub Mix, peanuts, mixed nuts, Fudge Strip Cookies, Russell Stover candies and various other candies. And the table is not as stocked as it usually is!!! Every other Wednesday is "square donut day". And occasionally vendors will drop in with goodies. To top all that off, our new company president wants to have company cook outs every other week during the summer which started last week. Since it was a pot luck event I brought in greek quinoa salad. It was delish, but needless to say my healthy offerings don't go over that well around here. ( so I have a ton of it to take home) I ate a cheeseburger w/ no bun, some cheese cubes and the quinoa. But later on I was over come with temptation and had some cake. Ugh! It is hard to spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week being confronted at every turn by your worst demon. If self control was not a problem for me I would not have been obese or needed the surgery, right? I can control what I bring into my house, but I have no control at work. ( where I spend the greater part of my week days) It is beyond frustrating because so many people have complained about weight gain and poor health here, yet the snack table lives on!!! Do they really not get it?

I wasn't weighed at all in the hospital -- not pre-surgery and not post-surgery and not before being released from the hospital. I know what I weighed before the surgery and I'm up -- which would be a major problem without this forum to turn to. Thank goodness I now know that what I'm experiencing is normal. There have been so many times in my life when I would try to diet and end up gaining instead of losing -- and seeing the numbers go up when I got home was deja vu all over again. I'll keep on keeping on, of course, but I think that people should be told weight gain is a side effect of having an IV. I'm finding that in order to get information from my medical team, I need to know the questions to ask -- and without a forum like this -- who would know what to ask? This forum is invaluable! Anyway, thanks for the information and know that you've done a really good deed today.

At one of the three seminars I attended at the beginning of this process, a nutritionist gave out information on a study that was done on successful weight-loss patients. I thought it was interesting to hear that one of the indicators for being successful is getting enough sleep at night, but she didn’t really explain why. This paragraph is about my sleep, you can skip this and go to the next one to hear about you. I’ve always had a lot of trouble sleeping; takes me a minimum of ½ hour to fall asleep, I have to use a sound machine because I’m such a light sleeper and I wake up during the night several times. Add to that, that I’ve had frequent migraines that usually wake me up in the wee hours of the morning, and I wasn’t getting enough sleep. After having a crippling migraine for three days one week I finally sought help and am now on a medication that has been a miracle for me…and one of the side effects is that you have deeper sleep. I’ve had a few episodes where I’ve woken in the night with the beginnings of a migraine, but then I’ve fallen back to sleep. That NEVER would have happened before. It doesn’t help me to fall asleep, and I wake up groggy, but I’m getting more hours of sleep, which is good. OK, here’s why it’s good. The Today Show featured a story today where Glamour Magazine looked at all the studies that showed a correlation between lack of sleep and weight gain. People who don’t get enough sleep on average eat 200 calories more per day. Glamour got women to change their sleep to at least 7.5 hours per night…and whataya know…they lost weight (they had more energy during the day to do more). When you don’t get enough sleep the body is under stress and craves carbs and fats as an energy source. When you get enough sleep (called sleep hygiene) the leptin (hormone that regulates how hungry you are) in the brain is kept in balance. Leptin goes down with sleep deprivation, which increases your appetite. If you Google ‘sleep deprivation and obesity’ you’ll find an avalanche of recent studies on this issue. The obesity epidemic has gone up at the same rate that average amount of sleep has gone down. So get your zzzz’s!!! Here’s the Today Show segment: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/29098028#29098028

Hi Christie, what you are experiencing is a bit common. I've seen many come through here mentioning weight gains right out of surgery. It is from your IV fluids mixed with the trauma of your surgery. Right now let your main concern be getting all your fluids in, getting plenty of rest and being sure to get up and walking every so often. If possible, try to stay off the scales for about a week. I'm sure by then the weight will have gone and then some. No need to stress yourself more when logically the weight is not particularly fat related. Hugs!!!

Since all weight loss comes from calorie deficit (burning more than eating), the key to all successful weight loss is to create a calorie deficit. There are many great tools to help track this and most of them are free. My favorites are the iPhone app, "LoseIt"; www.FitDay.com and www.Livestrong.com go to Calorie Tracker and myPlate and create an account. These programs track your deficit and help point out areas of improvement. In general, you should get about a third of your calories from each of the main food groups: Proteins, fats, carbs. If you see higher percentages of fats or carbs, replace those calories with Protein calories and it will really help you eat smarter instead of just less. Over the past 20 years we are eating many more calories and burning far fewer calories. The secret to weight loss is to work toward a calorie deficit whatever it takes. Most people losing weight successfully are eating about 1200 calories per day (women) and 1400 calories per day for men. Below this, your body tends to start freaking out and hanging on to everything you eat. It is also important to drink at least 64 ounces of Water per day. Our bodies store environmental toxins in the fat and when you lose weight, all this stuff is coming out and your kidneys will really appreciate it if you drink plenty of water. This helps battle constipation as well. Also, take a multi-Vitamin every day. The Calcium and B-Vitamins really help with weight loss not to mention the other minerals. Nutritional psychology is a hot new topic. Bad nutrition causes depression and low energy which makes us want to eat more to feel better and we snowball into bad weight gain. Better nutrition is required for successful weight loss and we feel better. Also, we eat way too much sugar and this raises our insulin levels which takes all that blood sugar and turns it into fat which drops the blood sugar which makes us hungry and we eat more sugar and this snowballs into weight gain. We eat way too much processed food and we have to get back to healthy foods. Brilliant food chemistry has not helped us. Cheap food sweetener (HFCS - high fructose corn syrup) is in everything now (sugary drinks, Pasta sauce, ketchup) and our bodies don't know what to do with this stuff so we store it as fat. We consume massive quantities of this stuff and it doesn't help us lose weight. High tech fats such as trans fats and hydrogenated oils allow foods to have a much longer shelf-life because bacteria can't break it down but the problem is that we can't break it down either and we just store it as fat. A great rule of thumb is that if it doesn't spoil we shouldn't eat it. The classic example is an oatmeal pie that our kids drop in the mini-van and we find it a year later and it still looks good. We shouldn't be eating brilliant food chemistry. The more we preare our own meals and take our lunch instead of getting most of our meals at restaurants, the easier it is to lose weight successfully. Proteins - we should get about 45gms of protein a day (women) and about 60 grams per day for men. A 20gm protein portion (meat, chicken, fish, etc) is about the size of the palm of your hand or a deck of cards. Protein keeps us full longer because it doesn't mess with insulin and we need protein while we're losing weight so that we lose fat and not muscle. Fats - are the highest caloric density food. Each gram of fat has twice the number of calories as proteins and carbs. Believe it or not there are actually "good" fats (unsaturated). You want to avoid saturated (bad) fats. Saturated fats raise our cholesterol and clog our arteries. Unsaturated fats actually lower our cholesterol. To lose weight, you should limit fat grams to 20 gms per day and keep saturated fats below 10gms per day. Trans fats and hydrogenated oils should be zero. All this is easier these days with nutrition labels. Examples of good (unsaturated) fats include avocados, peanuts, soybeans, olives and oils such as olive, canola, peanut, corn, safflower, sunflower. French fries from peanut or safflower oil are actually healthier than those fried in saturated oils - ask your restaurant which they use. Fats actually release a gut hormone called CCK (cholecystokinin) which causes the gallbladder to contract and it is a powerful natural appetite suppressant. If you give CCK to rat they won't eat. Therefore, if you snack on a handful of almonds or dip vegetable sticks in olive oil, you manage your hunger and it is healthier. Bison (buffalo) has a great beef flavor and it has much less saturated fat than cow beef. Bison burgers and steaks are a much healthier way to enjoy beef than the cows that predominate our diet. Carbs - when eaten shoot up the insulin levels which turn blood sugar into fat and this drops our blood sugar level which makes us hungry. If you want to lose weight you have to manage carbs (sugar, bread, potato, rice - "white foods"). I see a lot of patients who go all day without eating and then eat a huge pasta dinner before going to bed. This is a perfect way not to lose weight. Carbs are best eaten earlier in the day when you have a chance to burn off all that energy. Eating three meals per day will keep us out of intense hunger and we eat fewer calories overall. I don't like Atkins type diets simply because they are hard to sustain. Better to manage carbs - keep them below 33% of total calories and eat them earlier in the day. Ice cream is enemy number one for weight loss. A great substitute is to make your own fruit smoothies at home. It is a sweet dessert but it is fruit instead of sugar and fat. Many stores have smoothie blends so you just toss it in the blender with diet apple juice or plain yogurt and it's easy. Be careful and avoid sugar added smoothie blends. Just get plain frozen fruit or make your own from fresh fruit. Great way to spoil yourself and eat healthier. I will post topics on Fitness and Brain Stuff (I don't like terms like behavior modification) which are the other two main disciplines of successful weight loss. I put this info and much more on YouTube if you search Watkins Weight Loss Class. Weight loss surgery simply makes all this stuff much easier but knowledge plus change is where you will find success. I hope this helps. Brad Watkins MD

I had a mid-band fitted in Paris Oct. 03. I reckon I have done really well over the years. My start weight was about 14st 9lb (maybe doesn't seem that large but with lots of health complications and only being 5.4") was a problem for me. Over a 2-year period and with a total of 5 'fills' the last being in March 07. My lowest weight was about 9st.7lb but at that weight I was told by friends and family that I was "far too skinny and it aged me" I am now 11st 13lb and feel huge. Despite taking advice and continually trying hard I'm panicking about weight gain :-( On the positive side of things I still feel much healthier than I did and look better. I have no regrets about having the surgery at all; I just wish that the restriction continued forever. My band is not fully inflated I have 7.75mls and the Bands capacity is 9. I'm wandering if there's anyone out there filled to capacity and if so how they are doing, also if anyone who has had the band as long as me is experiencing the same?

to get back on track after being naughty? I read this statement a little while ago and well....after this weekend I can well and truely relate. I went to a bandsters lunch at an all you can eat. I had great restriction when I walked in I swear. I walked out after eating everything I had felt like the past couple of months. At dinner time I thought I may as well have junk since I had already blown it that day and start good eating the next day. Woke up Sunday and did the same and again today. *sigh* I just cant seem to get back on track and the 2kg weight gain since Saturday doesnt seem to be helping me. Any ideas? *Help*

Hi, I know this is a forum for post-ops (and congrats to you all!!). As someone who've gone through this, I was wondering if any of you have any advice. I'm doing the food tracking. I've been doing great with writing everything down. Weight loss has been dripping off slowly because I think I'm battling my statin meds that I read adds to weight gain. I was doing 1400 for a couple of weeks but a friend who's all fit and was able to diet her weight off told me that I was starving myself and that was why I wasn't losing weight. I upped my calorie intake but still didn't lose weight. I'm exercising aerobically (first time in my life!) every day- gone from 10 min to 15 min (paltry I know but since I never did it- I'm okay with the limited amount for now). The reason for my post is I went to Burger King the other day- had a really bad day. Most of my days are really really bad but I haven't been reaching for food like I used to. I'm feel VERY worried that I ate at Burger King since I'm meeting with the nutritionist who will be evaluating me. Should I be worried about being kicked out of the program? Should I just omit it from my food journal? Do they expect that fast food NEVER be eaten again? Thanks all!

I know that I struggle with eating when not hungry from triggers and I thought I'd post this for others who are struggling with the same thing. This sleeve is a wonderful tool to help with portion control, but it's also our thoughts that can drag up back to weight gain. Here it is: By Michelle May, M.D. Our environment is loaded with triggers for eating when we're not really hungry and for continuing to eat past the point of satiety. Learning to recognize these triggers and respond in an effective manner is the key to thriving in our food-abundant environment. What is a trigger? Think about the word trigger for a moment… In behavioral terms, a trigger is anything that serves as a stimulus that initiates a reaction or series of reactions. This concept is analogous to a mechanical trigger, defined as a mechanism that activates a sequence. Thinking about a trigger in mechanical terms is helpful because it takes the emotion out of it for a moment. More importantly, it reminds us that a trigger has no effect on its own and must be activated in some way. Similarly, your triggers for overeating are powerless over you—until you choose to act on them. Dismantle the machine When faced with one of your triggers, instead of automatically eating, use the following mindful eating concepts to FEAST instead (excerpt from Chapter 3 of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat): Focus – Whenever you want to eat or continue to eat, that is your trigger to pause and ask, Am I hungry? or Am I still hungry? In essence, you are creating a new trigger for yourself - wanting to eat now triggers you to pause and check in. This pause creates a gap between the stimulus and response, allowing you to respond instead of react. Explore – If you're not hungry, get curious. I wonder why I want to eat right now even though I'm not hungry. What was the trigger? Accept – Don't judge yourself; you wouldn't judge a machine for having a switch. Instead, say: Hmmmm, isn't that interesting? Strategize – Choose how you’ll respond: I could eat anyway if I want to. For now, I am not going to activate this particular sequence of events. Let's see...what else could I do until I'm hungry? Take Action – Each time you choose not to pull the trigger, you weaken its connection. It's as if the wires rust and eventually break. Further, each time you choose a different action, you create new connections. With practice, you’ll hardwire these new pathways—like insulating the wiring. Michelle May, M.D. is the founder of the Am I Hungry?® Mindful Eating Workshops and Facilitator Training Program (hyperlink to http://amihungry.com/) that helps individuals learn to break free from mindless and emotional eating. She is the author of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle. (Download chapter one free.) what do you guys think about this?

i was told i was not supposed to gain weight while getting ready for surgery. however in the last 5 weeks i was on prednisone twice for unrelated things. which totally makes you hungry and can lead to weight gain. i am required to track all of my food or the nut. to review. i cannot be cleared for surgery until i can show that i know how to plan healthy balanced meals. i can see that some days i do well, and others i eat like total crap with way too many calories. when i went for my appt last week i had gained 2.4#. but the nut. didnt say anything. *shrug*

I've been lurking here for over a month, this site has been really helpful to me in terms of what to expect and all the little details that aren't mentioned on webMD and the like. So my first order of business is to thank everyone! Second order of business: I got a PCP referral and was called later the same day to set up my first two appointments, I couldn't believe how fast it was and how nice the gentleman on the phone was. Well today I went to my nutritionist appt and it was jarring to say the least. The first thing I was told is that I'm not eligible for the surgery because my BMI hasn't been consistently high enough, and that I need to change what I eat. This is before I even had a chance to even tell her what I eat. I had written up an outline of my past weight loss efforts and she didn't even want to see it. She was very dismissive and offered to give me a diet plan, which I accepted. I was there, and need to lose weight, so why not. What she gave me was practically the exact same thing that I was given about 2 years ago by my old ob-gyn (the one who diagnosed me with PCOS and switched me to a different pill and I will <3 him forever for improving my life) and that wasn't too successful. She didn't even acknowledge me when I told her this, just handed me some paperwork. I have only been with kaiser about 3 years and my BMIs from previous physicals were under 40, which is why I do not qualify. According to her (and she's on the approval board) kaiser of VA requires you to be over 40 for a 3 solid 3 years OR you need 3 co-morbidities that cannot be controlled with medication. My most recent weight-gain has led to high blood pressure but they haven't started medication yet, I have to get it monitored for a bit first. She pointed out my lower BMIs, I explained that I have struggled with my weight since I was 15 (developed PCOS and blew up) and while I can lose some of it I've never been able to lose it all or maintain. I have only been successful in losing weight eating 1000 calories or less (and being hungry all the time), and hitting the gym at least 10 hours a week for running, elliptical, and bodypump classes. I have it all written up, the different caloric restrictions, weight watchers, atkins, etc etc. I was told to do it again. I am just blown away by the fact that I exercise being used against me, when in the next breath I'm told that the surgery won't do the work for me. So, I'm not qualified because I've worked really, really hard in the past, but they don't want to operate because you have to work really hard to make the surgery a success. WTF??! I cannot believe that if I had sat on my butt for the past few years instead of trying to improve my health it would have allowed me to have this procedure and thus improved my health in the long-term. I'm beyond frustrated. I was told that my name would be brought to the next approval team and would be denied for sure. Then I can appeal. Those of you who have been successful getting kaiser VA to approve, how did you do it? I really believe that the difficulty shedding weight is related to PCOS, should I emphasize that, or my past efforts, is there something else I should do? Help!

With doing the boot camp exercising, your body is changing; and a weight gain is not uncommon as you are building muscle, not fat. That being said, STOP the alcohol as much as possible; all empty calories!!! Have Water with some fruit in it (or bring one of those flavor dispenser/packets with you)...be the designated driver... that stuff is not doing you ANY favors... Next find out if there is a bariatric center near you and if they have meetings, a lot of centers have to have a monthly meeting for post-bariatric members to keep their certification. It has been proven that if you attend these meetings you are more likely to succeed in your endeavor! Helpful hints are always given at these, including easy recipes! try "The World According to Eggface" for recipes, she's got some great stuff... your weight loss is nothing to sneeze at...it's great! when was the last time you lost that much weight in that amount of time?!?! If you are like the rest of us, the answer is "never"! Don't discount yourself...you can't compare yourself to others! And lastly, remember, Protein FIRST! Good luck, you've got this!

<FONT face=Georgia><STRONG>Hello eveyone, I am currently in my first week of pre-op diet. My insurance requires three months pre-op diet. The last three weeks will be liquid diet. If everything goes to plan I should be banded in April or May. I was weighed in last week at 354lbs. I am 5'5" and just turned 24. I have been considering surgery for many years but decided that I liked Lap Band the best about a year ago. I am not worried about the actual surgery itself but I am terrified about what might happen after I am banded. Background: My mother said I was born wanting food. She said she could not breast feed me for very long because I was always so hungry. I have always been an overeater and it became apparent when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. I had some very traumatic events (just like everyone else) like parent's devorce and accident/coma/brain dammage/and finally death of my father. There was a large amount of weight gain after each of these events. I am absolutely a comfort eater. I have done many diets...and weightwatchers which I really enjoy but I never seem to last for more than a few months. I am capable of loosing weight and I do when I put effort into it but the big issue is that I have not found a coping skill for stress or anxiety to replace food. (I have very severe anxiety/panic attack and some depression) The first thing I would look forward to when I woke up was what I could eat and when I was on diets or weightwatchers I would almost be depressed and feel like I didn't really have anything to look forward to when I woke up. I constantly have cravings for food and when I can't have it I really really want it. It all sounds so very negitive but there are some things that are positive as well. I truly enjoy working out (although I have not been working out for the past couple years). I was a competitive swimmer in highschool and would love to find a swimming team of some sort once I am in better shape and not so embarrassed to be in a swim suit. I think that I was blessed with some good genetics because even though I weigh so much my body has kept an "hourglass" shape (just a thick hourglass) so with less weight I think I can be happy with my body. I know the band is just a tool and wont help with my mental issues with food. I am just very afraid that I will always crave food as badly as I do now and because of that be miserable. Did anyone else feel that way? Ashley

For all you single ladies out there, or ones in relationships that could be better... And even the married ones. This topic applies to all of us women who may have lost touch or never understood how to value ourselves. I've been doing a lot of thinking about self worth, what to look for in a potential partner, and how to make sure I respect myself and demand respect from others. When is was younger, I settled for men who were not good enough to be with. I did have standards for myself and I knew what I wanted in a man, but I never went for that. After a series of boyfriends who didn't respect me I settled for the first man to get serious about me. And that led to years of an unhappy and abusive relationship. Being overweight young, or simply struggling with insecurity, sets us up for bad relationship choices. As I gained weight my standards for myself and what I would put up with only got worse. There is a fear that one is not worthy of love from a high value person. Only the broken men made me feel comfortable because I was so insecure. I'm setting out to change this. I recently got into a relationship with a person far below my worth and dropped my standards for myself almost immediately for him. After surviving my 8 years of hell with my kids dad and losing all this weight, here I was again in the same situation!! This needs to end. I am creating a list of "standards" for myself based on how I want to be treated, what i will and won't do in a dating situation, the values I must have in another person and the reasons I deserve these things. I'm building a framework for my own worth and self confidence to keep myself reminded that in my search for a partner, there is a destination in mind. After losing so much weight I feel like a different person. I won't repeat the patterns of insecurity that ultimately led to my unhappiness and weight gain. I want to set the bar high and this time, no settling for less than Im worth in love and life. I know it's up to me to set the standards by which I'm treated!

Honestly, there are a lot of misconceptions over just how much control and influence we have over weight loss (or weight gain). When 1200 calories is a BIG day, like Tiffykins says, you're still going to lose weight or maintain. Consider that pre-op, most of us probably had NO IDEA how much food we consumed... but thumbnail guesses on my part, looking at portion sizes, what I ate, and how frequently I ate, would be that an AVERAGE day pre-op was around 3000 calories. So think about it again -- you've gone from 3000 calories (if you were like me -- and while I was obese, I wasn't even one of the true giants) a day to less than half of that on a "cheat" day. How could you NOT lose weight? Also, the plateaus and stalls are more due to the body's own homeostatic mechanisms -- trying to maintain blood sugar levels and so on -- than our actions. That's why you can literally do everything right and still stall for a week or two, and then stop exercising, start eating more (and worse) -- and then suddenly the stall breaks. Being human, we want to assume it was "something we did" that changed things, but considering the calorie margins involved (going from "good" to "bad" means MAYBE a 300-400 calorie/day change... maybe), it's far more likely that our body just finally "gave up the ghost" on hanging on to that bit of flab, and changed our homeostasis (blood chemistry/hormone balances) so that we started losing again. In short, the great thing about the sleeve is that as long as you "mostly" do the right things you know you're supposed to do -- avoid too many sweets/starchy white flour products, eat lots of good fruits, vegetables, meat, and whole grains, get in some kind of regular exercise, and drink lots of Water -- you're just about guaranteed to lose a lot of weight, if you're patient. It's not really under your control once you get on this roller coaster, so sit back and enjoy the (weight loss) ride!

I use to use food for my depression I got up to 315 after surgery I dropped down to 195 well that was three years ago I started to use food as a crutch after the passing of my son I went back to my old habits and know back to 225 I still can't eat a lot but just can't drop weight like I did right after surgery any suggestions.. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using BariatricPal mobile app

You may gain weight. However, it probably won't be fat that you gain. Rather, you'll likely gain water weight by reintroducing carbs without engaging in moderate intensity exercise on a routine basis. Starchy carbs (e.g. corn, potatoes, rice, breads, yams, etc.) may cause bloating in susceptible people due to several mechanisms. High-carb food causes the body to store three times as much water compared to protein. This increased water storage is in the form of muscle glycogen stores. To summarize, you may see a bump upward on the scale from water weight gain if you resume eating carbs. However, this can be minimized by working out. For instance, I eat as many carbs as I want, but I keep my activity levels high because I dislike restricting macros from my food intake.

I remember my weight loss at my 2wk follow up & and my 6 week f/u. After that it gets fuzzy. I only really keep track of my current weight. I know as a newbie it's exciting to step on the scale post op. You've been looking forward to this for a long time. Finally you'll get rid of this weight. Many have in their minds this big number . Truth is some do get that big number, but others get a small number or no loss at all. Still some even show a weight gain from being swollen, IV fluids and the like. In the end it doesn't matter. What matters is you relearn how to eat and live a healthier lifestyle.

I had lap band surgery in 2006. I weighed 367 pounds and went down to 156 pounds. I learned that I had a slippage and got the lap band removed. I was so happy to eat I didn't get a replacement...now I'm up to 230 pounds!! I watch what I eat and exercise almost everyday! The weight gain occurred in less than a year. I don't want to keep gaining! Has anyone experienced this? I really don't think it has to do with what I eat. :cool:

:scared2:My Band is not tight enough. When I went in 2 weeks ago to get my unfill, my doctor was not there so I had another doctor do it. I was so sick I did not care who did it, but I told her to only take out 1/2 cc - that was what was put in me by my doctor on my last fill date appointment. But I think she wanted to be safe and just took out more then the 1/2 cc. I'm not restricted enough and I can feel the difference. I can drink liquids right after I eat, and there is nothing telling me that am full. I FEEL LIKE THAT OIL SPILL IN THE GULF - NEVER ENDING - I KEEP GOING AND GOING AND GOING, eating that is. I have gone up a few pounds and that is scaring the heck out of me. The things I am eating are healthy things, fruit, low cal snacks, and fish, the same as I was eating before. But I'm going up in weight, not down. For the life of me I do not know why. The only thing I can think of is that my band is just not tight enough. It may be that I am also retaining water, but I do not see any particular reason for that because I am continuing to limit my salt intake. So I have a appointment on 7/7 with my surgeon. But I am not waiting that long. I am scared that I will gain to much weight back by then. Let me put a stop to this weight gain now, I told myself. So I called them and they gave me an appointment for 6/30. The thing that is getting me is this - I am eating all the same foods, doing all the same things as when I was loosing weight, eating right and exercising. This is starting to make me very depressed. The last time I felt this depressed was before my surgery. So, now I am trying to keep a stiff upper lip about everything that is going on now. I was at my sweet spot before, and I know I will get back there again, hopefully on Wednesday, 6/30. I'm still doing my Recipes of The Day that I share with you all on a daily basis, and continuing to exercise. I'm looking at this as a small bump in the road.

Ok, is this normal?? I gained 7.8 lbs while I was in the hospital. Surgery was Tuesday, I only had water, small container of apple juice and ice chips while I was in the hospital. Came home yesterday and took it easy only drinking water. Weighed myself this morning thinking I would have another large loss and I GAINED over seven pounds!! WTF Tell me this is normal??

I just had this discussion with my surgeon at a one year follow up visit. I've lost 145 pounds and I am about 13 pounds past my pre-established goal. Weight loss has slowed dramatically for me. He indicated that your body makes the decision for you. If you follow the plan for 12-18 months, the body will settle into it's comfort zone. You can push the limits through a strict diet and exercise plan but unless you can maintain that level, there might be some small weight gain; even when sticking to the diet plan. And that is the body adjusting to where it is most comfortable.