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You can also click my picture and go to my website and find my first fill on video. Its day 27. So, you just had your first fill. Not so bad, right? For the remainder of the day on your “fill days,” you should stick to just liquids: clear and full liquids. The band around your stomach is a little tighter so it may take a day or two for your body to adjust, so taking in only liquids for the day can prevent the possibility of anything getting “stuck” at the band site. Everybody’s fill volume is going to be different. And the amount of fills you get will vary from person to person. So, don’t compare yourself to others, thinking “why does she have only 5cc’s and I’m at 7cc, etc etc?” It can take a while until we reach the sweet spot of filling your band with just the right amount, to where you can still eat but feel comfortable and satisfied after a small amount of food, and continue to lose weight. Which brings us to the rules of how you should be eating. It’s not just “what” you eat, but also the way you consume your foods and liquids. For the most of us, we’ve been raised in the Clean Plate Club of America, with membership only granted to fast eaters. That behavior has got to change. Remember: SLOW, SMALL, and CHEW THOROUGHLY. When consuming foods and drinking liquids, take your time and slow down. Where’s the fire? When we eat too fast, we often end up eating too much. And when we finally feel full, we’re grossly stuffed. Sound familiar? Being so full, we have to excuse ourselves, unbutton our pants just so we can breathe. If you eat too much, over time, you may stretch your pouch. And stretching your pouch leads to a larger stomach that can hold more food. More food = more calories = weight GAIN. It takes about 20 minutes for our brains to register satiety. Once you train yourself to slow down, put the fork down between bites, and savor the food, you may find yourself being comfortably satisfied with less food than usual. Try it. After a couple bites of food, ask yourself: Do you feel full and satisfied with the amount you just ate? If so, this is a good stopping point and it’s time to step away from the table. For solid foods and liquids, make sure they are in small amounts. No more pelican mouth. If you eat too large of a bite, chances are that you probably won’t chew it well enough. This increases your chance of food getting lodged at the band site. The next thing you should do would be to locate the nearest sink/toilet/trashcan/whatever receptacle because what just went down will most likely want to come back up. Think of a funnel. Only small pieces can pass. Too large of anything: food, liquid, pills can clog up your pipe. With each bite of food, chew thoroughly. Now that you’re reminding yourself to slow down and take small bites, don’t forget to chew your food up quite well. Your stomach shouldn’t have to do much digesting. The food should be broken down well enough prior to entering the stomach. By chewing your food thoroughly, you decrease the likelihood of food getting stuck and increase the ability to tolerate more foods like beef, chicken, bread, etc. And also, chewing your food thoroughly will help you slow down the pace. All of this will come naturally, it just takes some practice. Keep reminding yourself and you’ll realize why it is so important to modify our eating behaviors. Lin Lin Shao, RD LD Bariatric Dietitian

Cindy, First I want to say DONT GIVE UP! Loosing 55lbs without a good fill is excellent! Everyone here have given you great ideas! PLEASE get some blood work to check your thyroid function, hormone levels and your blood sugar and have them check for insulin resistance. If they find an inbalance it could be easily fixed with medication and you'll be on your way to loosing again! DId you know that one of the side effects of birth control pills is weight gain? This could be hindering your efforts. I know the pills are important for you to have but maybe you need a different kind of pill. I also think you need a good fill. Making better choices is much easier when you can only fit a little food in your pouch! I was making bad choices too before I was restricted. Sometimes we have a little tinkering to do with our band before it works well! Hang in there. Please let us know how you're doing. Marsha, RN

I can only share with you my experience. My husband hates me tiny. He hates it with everything in his being. Literally, he loves that I am gaining weight in the pregnancy. He jumped up and down when the scale showed a 15lb weight gain. He has always preferred "thick" girls, all of his exes were bigger girls, I was just the biggest he'd ever dated. He admits that my personality/character traits/behaviors have not changed with my weight, but he doesn't like me below 150lbs. Well, he just learned to deal with it because I got down to 125lbs and a size 2. He likes me best around a size 7/9. He has a preference, and I no longer fit into that preference. However, I told him that I had a preference of taller, dark-haired, hairy chested, older men, and then I met, fell in love and married his scrawny 6ft tall, 6 years my junior, 165lbs framed, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, bare chested offerings, and he needed to realize that he fell in love with me, not my size just as I had fallen in love with him, not his physical attributes. It's been a tough 2 years with me dropping weight, and sizes changing. The big, round, soft women he "knew" doesn't exist anymore, but he still loves me, still thinks I'm beautiful, and loves everything about me. Lots of communication has been the key to use navigating through the changes.

When I started the mushies/soft foods, I actually started gaining back the weight I had lost. At my 2 wk appt, I told the Dr about this weight gain and he gave me a fill then. Just keep at what you are doing!

I think you summed it up right there. For me, I don't have a lot of the poor health conditions that come along with being over weight. My blood pressure is 95 over 59, I have a resting heart rate of 58 and a cholesterol of 139. I am healthy as can be. That is of course, until you look at the size of my ass-- it could replace Texas if need be! LOL. My little glitch is my thyroid, and it has reached levels of organ failure and cardiac arrest. The rapid weight gain associated with this prevents me from working out (causing blisters, joint pain, etc) and I am actually one of those weirdos thta LOVES working out. Throw on a recent pregnancy and it has been a recipe for failure. My doctor said that at my highest weight (227.5 at 5'5" and 28 yrs old) I would have a 75% chance of staying the same way or gaining more if I did not have the surgery. I have hypothroidism, and it is virtually a non-functioning thyroid. My endocrinologist has been workign hard at getting my numbers back in line and if all goes well, I should be back to normal in 3 weeks. Woo hoo! That being said, I was sick and tired of having my weight explode every single time my thyroid decided to change. I had the surgery on Thrusday 4/9 in an effort to couterbalance the thyroid issue. Part of it is also my own fault, I eat way too fast. The band helps with that. Most of all, I am a new mom and I have spent way too much time battling my weight. I have my whole life ahead of me and do not plan on wasting a single second. Being at this size and weight is a waste of my time and my life. By having the band, I am able to eat way less than the average person while getting a boost in the weight loss department. Thereby, beign able to work out sooner once I get to a slightly less painful weight for my frame. In this sense, the band is a tool, nothing more. I think you summed it up quite well yourself though--- You've "been miserable for far too long".... Life is short. I for one know I could not do this without the band. Best of luck to you!

All of this will cause/contribute to weight gain/prevent losses. In addition to the hormones. If you are drinking any calories (alcohol), that will also put the weight on like nobody's beeswax. I could be guaranteed to gain 5 lbs overnight any time I took my old pain meds that I no longer take.

What you eat matters to weight loss. It's not just calories in/calories out. Sugar and even high glycemic fruits and white starchy food, spikes blood sugar which can cause weight gain and metabolic syndrome, and then the blood sugar drop leads to hunger. Some foods cause cellular inflammation that leads to weight gain. These vary with individuals but can be wheat and corn. Anyway, as long as you get your nutritious foods, maintain your weight if you're happy where you are- I wouldn't compare to others. Everyone has something different that doesn't agree with their band.

My PCP wasn't as negative about the band, but she seemed against it. When I approached her about it, she said she wanted me to try more diets before she would recommend I even think about getting banded. I felt like standing up, yelling at her, and saying you have had me try diets for 10 years now, and all I have accomplished is a weight gain of 100+ pounds! So to make a long story short, since I am self-pay, I went to my surgeon, am being banded on Monday, and will return to her office in December for my physical a new person. Then she can say what she wants about the band and I really won't care. Although most of us value the opion of our PCP's, sometimes we have to do for ourselves what WE feel is best. They only see us maybe a few times a year, not every second of OUR lives. Just look at what YOU have done for YOURSELF! Congrats on the loss, keep up the good work!!!!

It's all about moderation. If you love Chinese, eat it once in a while. That won't hurt you. I went to a Japanese/Chinese buffet with my son and DIL last night. I'm OK in buffets now because I can manage the amount I eat. And I'm fine in a place where I can get fish. I don't eat the Chinese food when I'm eating there....I stay with the sushi and sashimi. Less rice that way. I had one plate of food....not three. And the one plate was not piled to the ceiling. Even so, I'm up about a pound today. No problem. I expected it. The soy sauce, even cut with Water as I do, has so much sodium that I know I'll gain weight. But it's water weight and will be gone in a day or two. You can eat out anywhere as long as you are smart about it and manage your expectations. Don't eat fried foods...eat veggies and Proteins. Easy on the Soup...again it's loaded with sodium. If you weigh yourself often, don't be surprised to see a temporary weight gain. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Hi guys! SO HAPPY to hear that all of you are doing so well! Keep the posts coming - including the good, bad, and the ugly - let's be in this together! My surgery is one month away. I'm anxious and excited to get it done, but the extra time is giving me more time to get prepared. I've been having some serious freak outs lately. The most recent and probably biggest freak out came after hearing about two people who gained most, if not all, of their weight back after surgery. This scared the you know what out of me. You know why these stories are so scary for us.. Because we've already failed every single other time we've tried to lose weight. Gaining back at least some of the weight is a realistic fear. So I've been thinking about it a lot. Here's what I've realized. I will, for certain, lose weight and keep it off for at least a few years because I'm committed to working hard and making this surgery work for me. If I gain some of it back over the years, let's say 50% of it over 5-8 years, I will still be much lighter than I currently am. Also, without the surgery, I would probably be gaining over the next few years rather than losing, so by having the surgery, I believe that even if the worst happens and I end up gaining, I will still be less than I would have been - hopefully by a significant amount. I just had to work through all of this. Of course my commitment is to a life change, but I'm dealing with a 40 year old addiction and that still scares me. After the freak out subsided, I once again realized how grateful I am for this opportunity. This is going to help me change my life in such a positive and significant way. I know I will do the hard work because that's what I do - now, though, I will have a super tool to help support me with my efforts.

I plan to have the odd glass of red wine, I've no intention of stopping that. It's all about eating and drinking in moderation like a normal slim person. I don't snack ever, eat sliders foods or drink soda. My culprit that caused weight gain was big big meals and buffets. That's totally out now and never going back, but a glass of wine will be fine.

They are strict and I know he's conservative but sheesh! Some warning would have been nice. I was called for scheduling on 1/4. They could have told me any weight gain would result in my surgery being cancelled at that time and it would have given me enough time to drop some weight before my refresher course. When you know better, you do better...usually. But this is so important to me, I definitely would have been weighing myself often to make sure no weight crept up on me. If they can't get me scheduled in March after having this weight off in a few weeks, I'll have to find another surgeon. I start a new job in April so I'm on time constraints.

I wish someone told me you could still gain weight with the band. I was always under the assumption that you wouldn't be able to eat enough to gain anything back. I gained 30 pounds!!! I have since lost 32 but, that was really through Nutrisystem. Band alone doesn't work for me. I need someone to tell me what to eat. Less food, less metabolism and weight gain for me.

Kimmason, I am 3 different drugs for depression at the moment, it used to be 4, and yep, they really help with weight gain!!!!

woo three different meds for depression..holy crow. what are they? I have worked in psych, and thats alot. Do you have adual diagnosis maybe? I knwo things liek Zyprexa ( Olanzapine) but etc have huge correlations with weight gain and even diabetes. Chances are you are not taking that med. But I am concerned and I do not want the weight gain and therefore am on wellbutrin.

I agree. Start as if you had surgery yesterday with the liquid diet and follow the 5 day pouch reset. That will help get a lot of the sugar toxins out of your system and it will jump start you. Then, focus on the rules: 1. No drinking anything 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after you eat. 2. Limit your beverage calories. Try to stay on Water or sugar free non carbonated beverages. Stay away from alcohol. If you can, even limit caffeine as it really does cause you to feel hunger. 3. Mindful eating, remove distractions so you can pay attention to your pouch. Your tool is still there, you just need to retrain it. 4. Eat your meals slowly chewing well in between eat bite. Put the fork down in between but do not go over 30 minutes for your meal as your pouch begins emptying at that point. 5. Drink a minimum of 64oz of water or SF non carbonated liquids. 6. Ensure you get a minimum of 1 gram of Protein for every inch you are tall. Even a little more is better. Make sure that you get that protein mostly from dense Proteins like fish, seafood, beef, chicken and pork. These foods will keep your pouch fuller longer and provide you with much needed protein grams. 7. If you have not done this recently, you should have a full Bariatric blood panel drawn to ensure you are not lacking any nutritional elements that could cause you problems. 8. Are you still taking lifelong Vitamins like B12, Calcium Citrate or any other vitamins your Bariatric Doctor put you on? If not, you will want that nutritional panel to inform those decisions. 9. No grazing.....this is where most people start to have weight gain. Eat your 3 meals a day and try to avoid snacking. If you are one of those people like me who has reactive hypoglycemia, then have 5 smaller meals. 10. Avoid sugar, potatoes, Pasta, rice and bread. Same thing with any prepackaged processed foods. Get rid of the junk and stick to good quality proteins and veggies and fruits. Once you hit goal again, then you can introduce some whole grains back into your diet slowly until you get to a good maintenance schedule. 11. Try to get some exercise even if it is just walking daily. These are the things that I will do if I ever start to regain my weight. It really is getting back to the basics.

Allow me to introduce myself. I am 38, happily married, a Christian, and I work in Accounting and Finance for a faith-based, non-profit organization that provides permanent homes and vocational rehabilitation for developmentally disabled adults. My work is extremely rewarding, but my job is sedentary. Sitting at a desk crunching numbers for over 10 years had definitely contributed to my weight gain. About 2 years ago, my health began to deteriorate (high blood pressure, sleep apnea, heart valve issue due to the sleep apnea, foot and joint pain), and I made a decision to LIVE! I knew that if I didn't make a life change, I would not live to be an old woman. After close to 2 years of careful prayer, consideration, and loads of research and seminars, I decided to have the sleeve (I would have done it sooner, but insurance was an issue until recently). Today is my 3 month anniversary since the sleeve, and I have lost 62 pounds! I have turned into a healthy eating, exercising machine. I look in the mirror at this work out gear wearing woman and think, "Ok, who are you, how did you get inside my mirror, and what have you done with Kristy's body"? I have had no post surgery issues----no nausea, no vomiting, no food intolerances. The only food issue I have had is a dislike for eggs, no matter how I prepare them, I just don't like them anymore. My experience has been great and I have done exceptionally well. I have been blessed, and I contribute all this to my faith, the support of my husband/my rock, and the wonderful care I have received from my doctor and his staff. Being totally prepared has been a tremendous help, as well. The weight loss has slowed down just a bit now, but I am feeling so great that if I don't lose another pound, it has all been worth it. ALL of my previous health issues are gone and I feel like a new woman. I have no regrets, and I am looking forward to a healthy, better, and well adjusted long life. Being thin has never been my goal----being healthy is the most important thing to me. Even when I reach my goal weight, I will still be a plus sized person, and I am totally ok with that. I will be a healthy, plus sized person. Thanks for listening, and I wish everyone much success and many blessings! Have a great day.

Yep! I have them too! Not from kids (don't have any), just weight gain. I can remember going to a slumber party right as I was hitting puberty & my big boobs appeared. I had these horrible red stretch marks all over my boobs & when we were changing into our night clothes everyone freaked out cause they thought someone had clawed me. Of course they were all flat-chested skinny minnies! It's funny now, but it made me so self concious then! I think the weirdest place i have stretch marks are in my ACs (the bend of my arms). Try explaining that when you have blood drawn!

I wonder that sometimes when I am on track and doing well like I am now. I think "what if I made these life changes before" I don't think they would have stuck. Eventually I would get sick of whatever diet or change I made and revert back to my old habits. With the band, it is there to protest. It won't let me over eat. There are plenty of times where i had to stop eating physically because of the band, where otherwise I would have kept going because something tasted good, willpower be damned. The band is a constant reminder of my goal. And when I do fall off the bandwagon now, my weight gain is slower. I came around waaaay before I would have had I not been banded. So I definitely know the band is more helpful than just dieting alone.

My best friend of 20 Years has remained my friend through most of my weight gain. She is a nurse and although she doesn't lecture me, we have talked about my health as it relates to my weight. When I told her of my decision she was very supportive. She is thinner than me and said that she can't wait until I'm able to do more stuff with her like we used to. When she said this, wow it hit me how much "life" I've been missing. I know she'll be my friend after the surgery and will probably be my biggest supporter as I go through this life-changing transition. I can't say that about anyone else in my life - I'm so blessed to have her!!!

http://healthland.ti...etic/?hpt=hp_t3 New Genes IDd in Obesity: How Much of Weight is Genetic? By Alexandra Sifferlin @acsifferlin July 19, 2013 Two studies zero in on DNA-based drivers of weight. Is obesity written in our genes? In two separate papers, published in the journal Science and in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI), researchers describe new genetic factors that could explain weight gain in some people. In the Science study, researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital studying mice found a rare genetic mutation that prevented the animals from burning off fat calories. They also found the same gene was mutated in a group of obese people. And a team based at University College London reported in JCI that a specific form of a gene previously linked to obesity, FTO, can increase craving for high-fat foods. The discoveries add to the growing body of knowledge about the biology behind weight, and the results confirm that while it’s represented by a single number, weight is the complex combination of a multitude of different metabolic processes, from brain systems that regulate appetite to enzymes that control how efficiently calories are turned from food into energy that the body needs. Making matters even more confusing, these factors are also likely influenced by environmental contributors such as diet and lifestyle. In the mouse study, the research team determined that mutations in the Mrap2 gene led the animals to eat less initially but still gain about twice as much weight as they normally would. While their appetites returned, these mice continued to gain weight despite being fed the same number of calories as a group of control animals. That led the scientists to figure out that the mice with the mutated gene were simply sequestering fat rather than breaking it down for energy. The mice, like people, possessed two copies of the gene, and mice with even one defective copy experienced significant weight gain, although not as much as those who had two mutated versions of Mrap2. The scientists found a similar pattern among a group of 500 obese people; they detected four mutations in the human version of Mrap2, and each of the obese individuals possessed only one bad version of the gene. In the British study, the researchers divided a group of 359 healthy men of normal weight by their FTO gene status. The majority of the men had low-risk versions of the gene, while 45 of the participants had mutations that have been linked to greater appetite and caloric consumption. To figure out how the altered genes were affecting appetite, the team measured levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin both before and after meals that the participants ate; the men with the mutated form of FTO did not show the same drop in ghrelin levels, signifying that they were full, as the men with the low-risk form of FTO. Genome wide association studies, which compare genetic makeups of obese individuals to those of normal weight, are making it easier to flesh out important genetic factors contributing to weight, and researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say that to date, these studies have identified over 30 candidate genes on 12 chromosomes associated with body mass index. “Thus far mutations in about eight genes are known to cause obesity in humans. But these mutations account for under five percent of the obesity in our society, and certainly are not, by themselves, responsible for the current obesity epidemic, since the mutation rate in these genes could not have changed dramatically during the past twenty years,” says Dr. Joseph Majzoub, the chief of the division of endocrinology at Boston Children’s Hospital and an author on the Science paper. “However, mutations in these genes have led to the discovery of pathways that are important in energy balance in humans, giving us hope that drugs can be developed that affect these pathways to prevent excessive weight gain, either by curbing appetite or increased burning of calories.” Here is a round-up of some recent genes, and their products, that have been linked to obesity : Leptin: Often referred to as the “obesity hormone,” leptin is made by fat cells and acts as a thermostat for the body’s energy needs. Each individual has his own leptin threshold; if leptin levels fall below that amount, the brain understands that the body is starving, and needs more calories. If leptin levels are maintained or surge above that amount, the brain knows that it doesn’t need to take in more food. Unfortunately, while mouse studies showed that overweight mice had lower levels of leptin, the same wasn’t true of obese people, who generally show higher levels of leptin in their blood. Somehow, researchers how believe, these people are not getting the signal to stop eating, which is referred to as leptin-resistance. Ghrelin: This gene makes an appetite hormone that can make foods look more desirable–especially high-calorie ones — by influencing the brain’s reward system. Some studies have found that people who are sleep-deprived have increased ghrelin levels, which may explain why lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain. Neuropeptide Y: One of the brain’s many chemicals, neuropeptide Y may trigger eating by manipulating appetite, possibly resulting from changes in mood and stress levels. It may also contribute to an increased deposition of fat from food calories.

Notes on saggy skin: 1. Both my children love my arms, they say they are so soft and squishy, and my youngest likes how they flap when she pats them! 2. Don't ever do a plank in a loose shirt that you can look down, you will be terrified! I plan on getting plastics the moment I have the funds. I would get plastics tomorrow if I could. I have been heavy since Kindergarten, my skin didn't have a chance. I have also had 2 children and one of them was a c-section, so I even have some weird areas because of that. I am working on not being my own worst critic. I am horrible and Skinniness, you talked about the lense. That is where I am struggling at the moment. I tend to pick out everything that is wrong without considering the good. This is what I am trying to tell myself. I have put this poor body through a lot of things, not just weight gain/loss, but accidents, and stress. And this body has also given me 2 beautiful children. Despite what I have done to it, I am still healthy (even healthier now!) and I wouldn't be me if I didn't have this body. I am really working on giving myself just a little more compassion, I think not only does my body deserve it, but my mind and my heart as well.

it's not time to panic yet! That is probably mostly period water weight gain. Most women eat more on their periods or right before their periods. I agree that it is probably water weight. If the scale continues to go up steadily for the next few weeks then I think you need to re-evaluate what you're doing as far as calories. Are you still doing protein first? I hope you figure it out

I agree with a lot of what's been said on this topic but this is a WLS support forum and everyone is entitled to rant and/or ask questions. A lot of the more recent surgery patients just want to make comparisons I think so that may be the reason for some of the questions that we may find silly or uninformed. Either way, we're here to support one another so I try to stay on a positive note because in the real world people are not so supportive. They dog you for your weight gain and then find WLS repulsive. You can't make some people happy so folks come here in hopes of finding understanding "friends and supporters" that will help them along this path of uncertainty. Weight loss is not easy, even with the surgery , and the diet gets old so I can understand the rants and questions about eating and drinking things they shouldn't. Just remember....... Just because we can doesn't mean we should. Follow the doctor's orders.

To all who have commented.... i thank you for your input... but, i'm finding that many of those who have had the surgery seem to be a bit harsh and may have lost their understanding - or are just too different from me to relate to. TwinsMama - I have researched this EXTENSIVELY for three entire years. I would be a moron not to have done that. In fact, my knowledge base on both the physical and mental aspects of the procedure and lifestyle required are so extensive that two doctors I've spoke to thought I had a medical background. i've been on chat boards, blogs, seen nutritionists, doctors, and know I'm not "alone" - i was just hoping to find people who felt the same way i do, and have/had the same concerns. It is the "process" i find to be bu*****. it is the moneymaking i find to be bul****. THAT is what i have a problem with - along with the new statistics that show over 50% of people gain the weight back throughout a period of 5 years - and that those numbers are likely much higher considering the people that don't report back to their doctors and aren't included in the statistics. My own doctor's staff member has had staggering weight gain - along with multiple other people I know. Nobody is immune to the possibility that this weight will come back. Yes, I considered making changes prior to this. I tried making changes - and my inability to do so is what makes me a true candidate for the surgery. i have an eating disorder. i need help. it takes a desperate person to go get more than half of their stomach cut out and give up so much for the remainder of their lives. The fact that i'm fully aware nothing can prepare me is what makes me exceptionally nervous - exceptionally cautious - and exceptionally uncertain. If I could have gone through the prep easily I wouldn't be having this surgery at all. I'd be continuing the prep as a way to lose weight rather than having someone make me physically unable to overeat. No one can be 100% certain as to what their actions will be until they are in a situation. Accepting that as a human being leaves me room to be comfortable with my uncertainty. I'd be an a** to go into this saying "Oh Boy - this is going to be great! I'm going to be skinny and life will be grand." In short, everyone is entitled to their thoughts. I woke up this morning feeling very positive about the situation and after reading a few comments on this site i'm a little floored. Now I understand why a few people pm'ed me instead of posting publicly. There are a handful out there with the same concerns I have - they just didn't make them public. Good luck to all of you. May your journey be smooth and your goal come to you.