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Chittick24 thanks for the information, it's really helpful to read about your experience. I am very concerned about weight gain, so I'm glad to hear you didn't have any issues. Did you experience the nausea prior to your pregnancy?

I can totally relate to you. I'm 5'4" and weigh 243lbs. Everyone tells me that I'm not big enough to get such an extreme surgery done because my weight is proportioned evenly. They look at me and you can't weigh that much. One dummy even told me "remember what happened to Kanye's momma"...Seriously!? (completely different...I think she died while getting liposuction?) I have decided that after 3 c-sections, pregnancy weight gain on average of 45lbs., going from a size 12 to a 22 it was time for me to do something for me that will ensure I am here to spent time with my husband, children and future grandchildren. I applaud anyone who takes their life seriously and actively seeks to be healthier. You go Girl!!! I'm standing with you!

First of all great news on beating cancer! Were you are are you currently on steroids or any meds that can contribute to weight gain? I had surgery 6 years post cancer, so it’s different than your experience. I went from 150 lbs at breast cancer diagnosis to 225 Lbs, 5 years later. I gained at a quick pace and while the (hardcore) treatment saved my life it zapped me for quite sometime. I’m only mentioning this so you can ask your Doctor, it’s frustrating and it helps to know what you’re up against. Here is what I would do. Talk to my Doctor Take vitamins Research any current meds and talk with your Doctor about any concerns. subscribe to a fitness routine or app at home Journal everything you eat in My fitness pal. Limit your calories wear a Fitbit or a comparable device Drink water until it’s coming out of your ears stock up on lean meats, fruits, yogurt and veggies. Acorn squash is my go to when I want something starchy. Keep yourself accountable. Congratulations again, You’ve proven your tough, you’ve done this before and you can do it again. It will probably take longer since you have less to lose but you’ll get there. Im rooting for you!

WHAT IS MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR? The term “adaptation” brings Charles Darwin to my mind. His theory of evolution is considered heresy where I live, but whatever your personal belief about the origin of the human species, you’ve probably observed many times that humans and other living things have an amazing ability to adapt their behavior, and even their forms, to better survive and thrive in its environment, and that as the environment changes, so do the creatures living in it. Here in Tennessee, the weather is getting hot enough to send us into our closets to bring out the shorts and sandals and bathing suits we need to comfortably survive the summer. At the same time, our dogs and cats are shedding the extra fur they’d acquired to keep them warm during the winter. The humans are adapting their dressing behavior and the cats are adapting their forms to adjust to hot weather. This is adaptation in its positive sense, but adaptation also has a dark side. Defining “maladaptation” requires us to assume that certain behaviors are normal, while others are abnormal. That does not necessarily mean that normal is healthy and abnormal is unhealthy. Someone (or something) is considered “normal” if they conform to a widely accepted standard or practice, and abnormal if they deviate from the norm. A behavior can be identified as maladaptive or abnormal only in the context of an environment. It is not intrinsically wrong or evil, and its degree of deviance or abnormality depends on things like cultural and social rules and norms (cannibalism may be a normal behavior in one society, but not in another), systems of psychological and medical thought (a mentally ill person may be “abnormal”, but able to function despite that); as well as political beliefs and ideals (in a democracy, the practice of communist principles is considered “wrong”). I’m going to try to bypass all those interesting but knotty aspects and give you definitions and examples that don’t require a PhD in sociology or psychology to decipher them. Some maladaptive behavior is disruptive to society because it interferes with group functioning. A child “acting out” at school in reaction to the stresses he experiences at home is an example of this. His frustration with his home life turns into anger that fuels temper tantrums in the classroom. His behavior is maladaptive because it doesn’t eliminate the stresses at home and creates a whole new spectrum of stresses and problems at school as his teachers and fellow students react to his aggression. He can’t learn lessons in school that he needs to learn because his “bad” behavior gets in the way. Other maladaptive behavior is expressed in an inward fashion. A shy, anxious art student is horrified when her painting teacher publically critiques her painting and tells her and the rest of the students that her artwork is exactly what they should not be doing. The art student loses confidence in her talent and changes her major to another subject. Her behavior is maladaptive because it makes it much harder for her to achieve her original goal of becoming an art teacher. My own definition of maladaptive behavior is this. It’s a nonproductive behavior that prevents you from adapting to situations, or changes in yourself or your environment, in a healthy way. It can begin as an attempt to deal with or avoid an unpleasant experience but it does not solve the original problem and eventually becomes dysfunctional. You adjust to a situation in a way that makes sense at the time but that eventually misdirects your energy and focus, and interferes with your personal and interpersonal functioning, your health, and your ability to achieve your goals. At the start, the behavior feels like a helpful, even positive response to abnormal, difficult, or negative circumstances. As a bandster, I used both old and new maladaptive eating behaviors. My decades-old behaviors, like eating to deal with stress, did not disappear on the morning of my band surgery, and 5 years later, I’m still working on changing that. I also developed new behaviors in response to the experience of having an adjustable gastric band. The long-term result of these maladaptive behaviors is unintended and undesirable. The maladaptive eating tactic may seem to solve a current problem while it's actually creating future problems: slowed or stopped weight loss, weight gain, band slippage, band erosion, and so on. SOFT CALORIE SYNDROME & OTHER DANGERS A classic example of bandster maladaptive eating behavior is known as Soft Calorie Syndrome. I discovered the perils of this syndrome for myself when I traveled to New York City to attend a trade show when I was about 8 months post-op. I had gotten a fill the day before I left, and by the time I got to New York I had realized that my band was too tight for me to tolerate. I couldn’t eat any solid food, so I spent the next 3 days eating soft, high-calorie, low-satiety foods like soup, milkshakes, and ice cream. I was just trying to survive long enough to go home and get an unfill. My eating behavior achieved a temporary goal (comfortable survival) while sabotaging my long term goal of losing weight. In fact, I gained weight during that trip and ended up feeling disappointed in myself. A frustrating aspect of maladaptive behavior is that it’s often easier to see in others than it is in yourself, but even someone who’s fully aware that her or his behavior is counterproductive may feel helpless to change it. If I had a dollar for every time a bandster has confessed to eating to relieve stress or boredom, I’d be a wealthy woman now. Emotional eating tends to be so longstanding and deep-rooted that it takes on a life of its town, like a devil lurking inside us who seductively whispers, “Chocolate! Chocolate will make you feel soooo much better!” when you’re too vulnerable, tired, or upset to make a different or healthier choice. When I was being treated for PTSD years ago, a counselor asked me to make a list of behaviors and activities that I could choose to do instead of engaging in self-destructive ones. At first the exercise seemed contrived and silly, but eventually I realized its usefulness. I was not able to think clearly and make good choices when in severe emotional distress. All I could think of was razor blades. My index card of alternate behaviors reminded me that I could telephone a friend, go for a walk, take a bath, listen to music, pet a dog, and the like instead of playing with sharp objects. Now, I very much hope that you’re not dealing with severe emotional distress (which I would wish only on my worst enemy), but I do believe you can benefit by making your own list of alternatives to emotional eating. Carry a copy of that list with you everywhere you go and keep a copy in an easily-accessible spot at home (I tacked mine to my bulletin board). TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES In the 1960’s and 70’s, contestants on the “Truth or Consequences” game show would try to answer ridiculously obscure trivia questions and be forced to perform silly stunts in punishment for getting the answers wrong. The host ended each episode by saying, “Bob Barker saying goodbye, and hoping all your consequences are happy ones!" The relief or pleasure or other immediate consequences of a maladaptive behavior may seem like happy ones, but they generally short-lived, so the behavior must be repeated over and over for the benefit to be felt. As with an addiction, it takes more and more of the behavior or substance to cause relief or pleasure. An anxious person, whose mother lost a leg to gangrene (death of flesh) from bacterial infection in an untreated injury, naturally fears germs. She washes her hands thoroughly and often, especially after touching anything that might harbor germs. At the start, her own home is clean and safe, but because her hand washing doesn’t remove her basic fear, eventually she must practice it all day, every day, over and over, even in her own home, until her skin is scrubbed raw. She sees the abrasions her scrubbing has caused as more vulnerable to germs and increases the hand washing. Soon the hand washing excludes all other activities and she dares not leave her home. The salutary practice of hand washing has become a maladaptive and destructive behavior. Unlike the hand washing or other compulsive, fear-based, abnormal and ritualistic behavior, maladaptive eating is rarely perceived as strange. Eating is socially acceptable as long as the meat on your plate belongs to a different species. It’s also something that’s easy to do in secret, while you’re alone in your car or your bathroom or wherever you go to escape other people. But when you do it over and over again, your repetition of the behavior cements it into a wall around you, keeping you locked inside instead venturing forth to find relief elsewhere. And should you confess to this maladaptive eating behavior, people who don’t use food in this way simply cannot fathom why you would do it. They say impatiently, “Put the fork down! Step away from the table! Just say no to chocolate!” Ah, if only it were that simple, that easy… SMALL-TIME CRIMINALS Some maladaptive behavior arises from ignorance, misconceptions or misunderstanding. Take the case of Martin. He received minimal pre-op education, so when he found himself PB’ing (regurgitating) on a daily basis after his 3rd fill, he assumed that this was simply a fact of life for bandsters. His problem is ignorance. The same thing happened to Annie, who assumed she was doing something wrong but was too shy, ashamed and embarrassed to ask her surgeon about it. Her problem is misconception. And when PB’ing intruded into Carol’s daily life, she believed it was like vomiting, caused by “a stomach bug”, so it never even occurred to her that her eating behavior might be causing it. Her problem is misunderstanding. All too often, a maladaptive behavior seems like such a small “crime” – it was just one ice cream cone – that the bandster minimizes its importance without realizing that the cumulative effect of a series of small crimes can be just as destructive as a single big one. It’s kind of like ignoring the posted speed limit when you’re driving your car. You shudder at the news of a fatal car accident when an acquaintance driving at 70 mph in a 35 mph zone loses control of his vehicle and crashes into a telephone pole. In that instance, ignoring the speed limit is clearly a bad choice. But when you’re late for work (again), run a few yellow or even red lights (again), and drive at 70 mph in a 35 mph zone (again) in your eagerness to get to work on time, and nothing bad happens, speeding doesn’t seem like such a terrible crime…until the day you can’t stop in time to avoid the car turning into your path and end up as a bleeding mess choking on dust from your car’s air bag while an ambulance carries off the person you killed because of your maladaptive behavior. IS THIS BEHAVIOR GETTING YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO? A bandster once confessed, “I eat pretty good all week and then I allow myself a junk food day...a bad mistake on the weekend since that usually means a junk food weekend...once I start, it’s so hard to stop and of course weight gain is the result and I end up beating myself up. I'm never going to be where I want to be if I continue this behavior.” I want to repeat that all-important last sentence: “I'm never going to be where I want to be if I continue this behavior.” That, my friends, is the take-home message of this article. Take it to heart, take it home, and take it out and study it often. Ask for help in identifying and dealing with your maladaptive eating behaviors. Take them seriously, but don’t build them into mountains right in the middle of your path to success. Sometimes the solution or treatment for a big maladaptive behavior can be a small piece of common sense. One of my favorites is: Don’t keep trigger foods in the house. If chocolate is your bête-noir (the black beast that’s the bane of your existence), you’re not going to be able to gorge yourself with it the next time you’re feeling weak if there is no chocolate in your house. Yes, I know you can hop in your car, ignore the posted speed limits, and pull up in front of the Chocoholic Market in a matter of minutes. That’s why we have to be vigilant, honest and aware. And remember this, from page 299 of Bandwagon: It takes anywhere from 18 to 254 days of daily repetition to make a new behavior automatic….so, practice, practice, practice!

Hey Puddin! I've been thinking about this post since I first read it. And on the surfice, it seems sound. But the thing is, it doesn't matter how much I eat or don't eat. The calorie in/out would hold true if I gained massive amounts of weight on 1200-1500, when I couldn't lose on 1200, 1000, 800 or less than 700 calories. (I did gain 10 pounds in a week at 1000 calories, but that was one week.) It is entiely possible that my weight gain/loss has been only Water, which is fine on one level because it lessens my edema problems. But not fine for why I had WLS. If my metabolism was truely that slow, I wouldn't metabolize medications as fast as I do, and I would gain constantly. But as for low calories, I just don't see how other people can function on sub 700 long term. I will give you that it is entirely prorbable that I entered into a deep Low during the month I was too restricted. But I think the lowered calorie intake made the Low worse.

Hi, has anyone had a problem with weight gain and staying on when getting on birth control? I took the birth control out in july. I had a baby, and after the baby continued my weightloss down to 216, then got on BC that has caused me to gain weight at 248, after I took it out up until now I have fluctuated between 245-250, but cannot get back on my weight loss journey. I wanted to get down to 180 and then go for my tummy tuck. Anyone have any suggestions? It has been 6 months and I just cannot get it off ???? Sent from my SM-N920T using the BariatricPal App

I had gastric bypass 8 years ago when my first daughter was two and i dont regret it in any way. My heath has improved and my life. I have the energy to keep up with my kids. I now live my life insted of never wanting to go out . Also i use to have depression but for some reason looseing the weight has resolved that issue. Prior to surgery i weighed 270 ils and now i am 148 ils. 3 years ago ihad my second child and was so scared of the weight gain and if the baby would get enough nutrients to grow but she is fine and the weight came off. I am not gona lie the first year was the hardest with the life style changes but if you have the surgery to become healthyer you will see it is all worth it.

You may want to try to do a sleeve cleanse. Do some research on it and try that before going back under the knife. Age plays a BIG factor in weight gain, try and stay away from those empty calories and high carb foods. Good luck. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Fantastic news about your husband. Much respect for losing that amount of weight! Switching up your diet can always lead to some complications, but heartburn and gas are definitely better than weight gain. Gas-x and nexium should help those issues.

Yes....I do know exactly what you are talking about. Including the complete fear of weight gain. There are days where I am hungry all day long and other days where I can barely eat anything. As i hit the 2 year post op mark, it has become even more difficult. I just have to be aware and stay on top of it. I knew that when i hit goal, I could not stop watching what I eat. If I did, i would be in trouble. I have lost and gained the same 5 lbs 2 or 3 times now since March. I hate to tell you but I think we are forever going to be focused on our food plans if we want to stay smaller.

Congratulations on your weight loss. The first stages Liquid soft puree can be a bit rough for hunger. . Make sure you are hitting your protein goal 60-100 grams It will help with hunger. Log your food . It gets better once you get to the "real food" stage. Hunger is a tricky thing to figure out. Sometimes it may be head hunger, Eating out of boredom or stress/emotional eating. With surgery you will still feel real hunger at times. You will learn strategies on how to satisfy your new stomach. Eating three meals and two snack throughout the day. Keeping healthy options for sweet and salty cravings on hand. Fear of weight gain can be a good thing. It will help keep you on track. Take it one day at a time. Work your eating plan.

Hi all. I'm 2 and a half months out. I just started really working out. I started trying to do C25K. I'm still pretty big and also out of shape so it's taken me a while to working up to complete even day one. I've done it 3 times this week as well as a 'boot camp' style workout with my best friend one night. I've also been walking in between and doing some floor exercises at home every morning (crunches, jumping jacks etc) Anyway I noticed my weight hasn't moved this week since starting all this. Intact it's gone up. I was 305 last week and now I'm 307. Is this normal? I've been going pretty hard at this, I'm pretty sore and swollen so maybe it's Water weight? Any input much appreciated!

I think the fact that you are trying to address any weight gain is the most important part. You will be fine with your positive attitude. Much respect for tackling cancer and the weight at the same time.

Oh Frank, I'm sorry for the weight gain. Its so hard to get back on track from the holidays isn't it. I'm having the same problem. This is what I'm going to do: First get rid of all the junk in my house. Second make a plan. Plan what your going to eat for the week on Sundays. Planning does help you stay on track and not wonder what your going to have for the next meal. Third, Water, track your water and make sure you get enuf. Forth and final.... Exercise (this is hard for me b/c I hate it) Even though I don't like to admit it, exercise is the key. Weather it be a walk or a run, what ever floats your boat.... just do it. Ask your wife to really get involved. It helps when an extra set of eyes are watching and can help us see things we don't. Good luck Frank, you've done amazing work so far and your wife gets a big BRAVO from me as well. HUGS !!!

It is not as simple as calories in vs calories expended. Our bodies react very differently to different calorie sources especially if you have a metabolic issue (PCOS, metabolic syndrome, syndrome X, insulin resistance, thyroid issues, Cushings Syndrome, etc.) There are plenty of documented cases of women with PCOS being vegetarian, on a diet, exercising and still gaining weight. I do believe most people who are obese have diagnosed or undiagnosed metabolic issues. I have PCOS and know for a fact that if I eat normal portions I gain weight no matter what. I have been eating on a salad plate for years and still was weighing 265 lbs when all of this started. In order to loose weight, I have to eat portions that fit on a dessert plate about what my 3 year old would eat. I cannot eat that portion without being ravenous. I got the lap-band to help curb hunger. I do get tired of doctors and others saying that there is no way a person cannot be loosing weight or even gaining on a limited diet. It happens all the time. If you are not loosing weight on a limited diet, perhaps you should see an endocrinologist and get a workup done to see if there are metabolic issues or other medical issues. Of course, see your PCP or pharmacist to find out if any medications you may be on is causing weight gain or slow metabolism.

hey there, I'm in delaware county and a 13 year veteran of the band about to revise to the sleeve due to complications and multiple slips and weight gain. My doctor is at NYU so I'm really interested in connecting with people locally here and there so I'm not going at this alone again. How is everyone doing?

For me, this is not a decision about staying obese v. not. It's a decision about the best way to deal with it. The fact is many people have many complications, from moderate to severe, short-term and long-term, with Lapband surgery. And many, many people who have bariatric surgery regain the weight because they did not deal with the underlying issues of why they gain weight. In all of my pre-op classes, the surgery team talked about "doing the work." Well, you have to "do the work" whether you you have surgery or not. Part of "doing the work" means understanding what your triggers are and what foods contribute to weight gain. Through my classes, I have finally figured this out, and I am confident that I can address weight loss without needing surgery. For me, the risk of experiencing the plethora of short and long-term complications of having the Lapband is simply not worth it. I'd rather lose my weight in a less invasive way.

Hi All, I'm Lynette and I'm being banded on June 27 in florence, KY by Dr. Sonnanstine. Still a ways off, but I'm enjoying the time on this site and all the information it has. It's great talking with people who have already had the surgery, and knowing what is out there on the other side. I hope to meet other June 07 bansters to share experiences with. Does anyone feel like you've been sentenced to death, and will be resurected the day of surgery???? I know, kind of weird, but I've been overweight for so long. I don't have a life to get back to, but I have a new life to begin. I don't know what it is to be thin, or not overweight. I really have no before weight gain pictures to stare at for motivation. But I'm in the right place now, and I'm headed in the right direction. I wish surgery was tomorrow, but good things come to those who wait, and I feel like I've waited all my life for this tool to work with. Can't wait to put it to use. Good luck to all those who visit that are being banded in May. We're so jealous and green with envy, but we'll be there too, soon, in the land of Lapband with you.:clap2: Lynette:)

Got the band out on 5/23/13 and just received a call for KC Bariatic, they received the clearance from the cardiologist, waiting on the one from the pulmonologist which is on the way. See my PCP for weigh in on 17th and that will be it. See the dietatian on Thursday and then have to do something else, which I think I might have already done. Will know more of what it is, nurse is leaving a packet for me. So it looks like surgery in August for the bypass. Thank goodness, didn't want to fight any weight gain and think a couple of monthss will be manageable.

Goal weight is definitely a personal choice. With my bypass they told me on average people lose 70% of their excess weight. Well, that bothered me because if i was going through all of this, i really wanted to get to a normal weight for my height. I chose to use the BMI scale given it is what all the doctors used when assessing whether or not our weight is at a healthy level. When i looked at that chart, it basically told me that i should be somewhere around 165 for my 5'10" height. At the time i was 310lbs and could not even fathom getting to 165 which was my weight after having my first son. prior to that i was actually underweight but i was a teenager. So, I chose 165 as my ultimate goal but i had mini goals along the way. The first was getting below 300, then 250 and then 210 because that meant i had lost 100lbs. then my next big goal was getting to onederland! It was at that point that i finally started to believe i would get to a 165 goal. My surgeon never expected me to get to that weight and absolutely did not set a weight goal. In fact when i got to the 200 mark, he considered my surgery a success. And he warned me that if I wanted to get to my ultimate goal i would have to work very hard at controlling my diet and getting some exercise. I did and I swear I thought that last 30lbs was going to be the death of me. I had limited ability to exercise for the 2nd half of my weight loss because of multiple surgeries so I had to do it with food. I am now at a stage where I have been maintaining since March 2016. I fluctuate between 162 and 158. Part of me would really like to get to 150 so that if I do get the 10% to 15% expected weight gain back that i have some room. I like the way that I look right now and really don't want to lose more but I am a bit worried about regain and I am watching it like a hawk. Something happens when you hit maintenance.....you find yourself being more hungry, more head hunger and you are a bit daring. At least I have been. I still don't eat much but it is really all about choices and it is easier for some reason to make bad ones if you are not careful. Best of luck to you with goal setting and getting to your goal!

I think you are doing great! The important thing is that you keep following the dietitians advice concerning Protein and portion intake. Do you feel satisfied after eating, with no late night urges for carb munchies? I GAINED weight after surgery... I didn't start losing until after my third fill. And, I also joined a "no judgement" gym for cardio. A lot of folks lose weight quickly, then hit slow periods with little or no weight loss. Too much fill can lead to weight gain and some unhealthy side effects if there is too much restriction. My APRN (who does the fills) told me he is happy to see a 1/4 pound a week weight loss. I've lost a total of 33 pounds since my December 2012 surgery. I wish I was doing as great as you are!

Has anyone gained weight after a miscarriage? I lost my baby on April 3, and since then, I have gained about 12 pounds. I have been watching my food and going to the gym, but the weight is not budging! It is very frustrating. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome!

Hi, I got my band on the NHS in Glasgow. I waited just over year for it. You have to start by going to see your GP and having them refer you to a surgeon. Then when you see the surgeon they'll let you know how long the waiting list is. I think you need to have had some complications from the weight gain too, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. I haven't seen your other thread so just ask and I'll help if I can. Take care, Yvonne x

I was surprised by my surgeon singling out frappes as a big cause for lap band "failures". Since these weren't my personal vice, she explained that frappes/smoothies/frozen drinks are a big culprit. I even saw frappes mentioned by name as a problematic food that causes weight gain in LB patients. Dr said patients might reach for these drinks instead of taking time to chew a food. I know these drinks are a problem with gastric bypass patients too - its how they regain or end up with wicked diarrhea. I drank coffee daily as a substitute for Breakfast. I haven't had any since I had to refrain prior to surgery (big 2 day withdrawal headache - treated with Tylenol), No plans to return. My doc limits coffee to one caffeinated per day. I'm allowed as much decaf as I like but since I'm making changes, I've included this one!

Hi Travelen, It sounds like you have a good handle on the situation so far! I was thinking just yesterday that pre-band I used to "self-medicate" with food and the side-effect of that food/medication was weight gain. Then I started thinking, well, isn't that the same thing as other meds causing sides effects, such as weight gain. My self-medication (food) was making me fat. Now, with that taken away, yes, it is something I have to recken with every day. I wish I had a magic answer for you, but I am struggling right now with working from home, getting overly stressed out with my job, and having food readily available to me. Being alone and not in an office invironment ( with other people watching) takes a lot of discipline on my part. Every situation is different, but yes, I agree with the others that there are replacements for food and you have to embrace this new healthy lifestyle and remember this is something you are doing for YOU! Good luck. You sound like you are on the right road!