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Kim McNeely, Congratulations on your pregnancy and your weight loss. I am not sure how you feel about gaining weight but I was a bit...well very scared about regaining the weight. It was emotional because I knew I needed to eat but at the same time I often forgot. Of course not on purpose but hte band was doing its job. After a few months I relaxed and tried to remind myself to eat often. I guess I must have been eating enought because my daughter was developing fine and I gained an acceptable amount of weight. To my surprise I lost all of the weight. As of today I have lost all of the weight gained during the pregnancy. Oh, by the way my married name is Neely so initially I thought we had the same name. Also, I was born and raised in Houston. I am considering returning to the area as it is so very expensive to live in the DC Metropolitan area. Did you see my before and after picture? I posted a picture of me at the beginning of my weight loss and then another at about 5 months pregnat. I thought it was hilarious. The tag line said, "This could be you" LOL. You know after we lose all of that weight out husbands become..."frisky" LOL. AGain, congrats!!!

you will be able to enjoy food again, just not in the quantity you were consuming before the surgery (I had the same worries). I am 5 months out from the sleeve procedure and I had my first slice of pepperoni pizza today (my birthday celebration at work) I was able to eat the entire slice (the most food I have eaten in 5 months) and though I was worried about weight gain, I wanted the pizza and allowed myself to enjoy the party. You will have days when you doubt the decision, and worry you will never enjoy a meal again. The time after the surgery is short considering the rest of your life at a normal weight. Hang in there. List the pros and cons to the surgery. If you still have doubts, postpone the surgery till you feel it is right, but don't let this be the sabotage that keeps you from meeting your goal to get down to a healthy weight.

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!!!

I'm now 11 weeks post op and I drink plain or black cherry seltzer water from time to time and haven't had any issues at all. My surgeon told me that as long as it has no calories or sugar and it's not brown soda (as the caramel coloring is the worst part) it's fine in moderation. The only thing I'm having an issue digesting is salad. Everyone is different though! and it's important to listen to your Doctor! The Doctors give you best advice based on your individual health issues. Like the saying goes "Everything ain't for Everybody" Be safe, Ask First! Also, I haven't experienced any stalls or weight gain. My scale just keeps going down! started at 345 lbs and today I'm 270lbs! 75 lbs in 5 months! I love my sleeve!

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. I was diagnosed with breast cancer Dec 2009. My cancer was Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, Stage 2, Grade 3, ER- PR- Her2- (triple negative). I had a double mastectomy Jan 2010 and then chemo. They gave me the choice of having a lumpectomy with chemo and radiation but I am too much of a worry wart. I would have driven myself crazy about it coming back so I chose the mastecomy. They build beautiful new ones now anyway! I finished chemo in May 2010, lost all my hair - head to toe (I didn't know everything goes!) and got the permanant implants in Aug 2010. My hair is now about 3 inches long. I see the oncologist every three months for bloodwork. People would say to me, you are so strong, keep your positive attitude, attitude is half the battle. Those are meant to be encouraging statements but to the person with cancer it can be hard to choke down. What if the cancer comes back? Was it because I didn't have right attitude? Am I weak? No, the only thing you can do is get through each day as they come. Cry and get mad if you want to but try to not let yourself get down for too long. Get some anit-depressants and don't feel weird or bad about it. Also, I do believe it is important to have something to look forward to. I planned a cruise for this April. I can't wait! And I will have hair! On a side note, if you do need to have chemo, they will most likely empty your band (they did mine). That way if you do experience any nausea it won't cause your band to slip. As a result, I gained 50 lbs back. Also, not all chemo causes weight loss, mine causes weight gain. Ugh! But its funny, I didn't get too caught up with that becuase the band is adjustable!! I sound like a commercial. I am just now getting my band adjusted so I can get back on track. I wish you all the best! Take care of your happiness. Let me know if you have any questions, I'll do my best to help. : )

I have not been in your position with the pain but I have been depressed in the past and I can feel your struggle in your words. I would for sure get a new therapist if they are not listening to you and realizing that you need help and not telling you to just deal with things. As far as the weight gain, the lack of exercise usually isn't the biggest cause. Some people can lose without any exercise at all. I totally understand your frustration to have your options so limited but you can only control so much. You are doing the best you can. I would look at your calories and you'll probably have to lower them to get the weight to come back off again. Alcohol is usually pretty high in calories, so it might be the main culprit. So for motivations sake, quitting the alcohol might make the weight gain stop and then when you feel better in control of your life you can make more diet changes and then lose the weight too. Sometimes just having something that you can control when everything else feels so out of control helps ground you and give you the mental stability to deal with things. So controlling your diet and calories could be a good start. I wish you the very best though and take care!

I'm a sleeve to bypass revision and I've lost 40 pounds since my bypass surgery on 10/29/20 (17 weeks post-op). Since my surgery was for GERD and not officially bariatric, I didn't have as much to lose to get to my goal weight. But I want to lose a few pounds more just to give myself some "wiggle" room once I'm past the honeymoon period. I know that weight gain is possible, and very likely probable, after the 1st year. I wasn't really prepared for maintenance after my sleeve surgery in 2014 and gained almost 50 lbs. in the 6 years following surgery. I want to be better prepared to maintain a normal weight since I've been given a second chance to truly change my relationship with food!

Having thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. I'm not really planning on changing any food, but just having a bite or two of each, or until my sleeve says I'm done. Holiday weight gain doesn't happen over 2 meals...it happens over the 2 meals, left overs, parties, not exercising as much over vacation time, etc. Enjoy your one thanksgiving meal of the year, screw sugar free cranberry sauce :-P. Moderation is key, may as well learn it now.

Hi Everyone, I realize that the menstruation issue was posted last month but I thought I would add to it anyway for anyone else out there who looks this thread up. My lap-band surgery date is scheduled for April 30th 08 - a little over 2 weeks away! I am currently showing signs of a period coming on, some spotting right now, but I too was told that should I have a period it will not stop the surgery. I have never been regular since I developed hypothyroidism 5 1/2 years ago. But the beginning of last year I started having extremely heavy periods, to the point where I could not get up from the couch. OBGYN placed me on various types of birth control where it would slow it down and I would bleed for weeks, or it would stop for a week or two and start heavy again, but none of the birth controls controlled the cycles. Labs were done and no signs of PCOS. It went like that for 5 months and then it was decided to have NovaSure done (Uterine Ablation) in July 07. That surgery made a HUGE difference for me as I really do not have periods. Stats show that women who had NovaSure done experience little to no periods. So in my case, I am having some spotting but this could be my only period. Last Summer I learned that insulin resistance/high sugar level, and/or obesity contributes to HEAVY and irregular periods, which was probably what caused all my problems last year. Only I didn't learn about this until I switch to a new endocrinologist after the surgery. She did a ton of lab work on me and explained the whole insulin resistance and how it affected my cycles before the NovaSure. See, my previous endo of 4 years never bothered to check my glucose levels and I had continued to gain weight while under his care. So in August of last year I decided to change endos because he wasn't doing anything to find out why I was gaining weight. Anyway, the new endo explained insulin resistance to me and it was learned that that was causing my weight gain and menstrual problems. So if anyone out there is experiencing heavy menstrual issues like this, speak to your OBGYN about the NovaSure. Its does improve the quality of life.

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!

You have not screwed up. Life’s stresses happen. The great thing is you got on this before a significant weight gain. Many of us have had the 15 to 20-pound gain years out. You are not alone. Glad you reached out for support. I am a sleeve. My restriction is noticeably less but my stomach is not back to full size. All I can offer is what has worked for me. Some things to try for hunger and filling the extra space you may be experiencing. Get back to basics. Log your food stay within your weight loss calories/macros, hydrate and exercise/activity. (Food log aps myfitnesspal or baritastic) Get temptation foods out of the house go shopping for items on your plan. Just because we can eat more does not mean we have to eat over your calories and gain weight. For me, simply staying in my calories and macros and the scale moves. With your protein and other items on your plan. Allow yourself to eat as much veggies until full Extra carbs and real sugar can make you crave them more and cause hunger. Detox off them. Keep healthy options on hand to satisfy sweet and salty cravings. Night snacking. Keep a veggie tray and some berries in the fridge allow yourself to snack on these items. If you try to bargain with yourself for other options its head hunger. Some will offer advice on pouch reset (going back to liquids and progressing back to real food stage) Decide for yourself if this is too restrictive. it may cause you more hunger. For some it helps to feel restriction a bit more – It does not shrink your pouch. We have a weight loss challenge for support and motivation. Link below. https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/426358-❤july-2019-challenge❤/?page=9&tab=comments#comment-4795344

Surely though with the small amount of pizza and Chinese you say you have had would not result in weight gain ? Just my view .

@@Stevehud - No one is advocating not listening to your surgical team. If you read my post clearly I stated that I worked with my nutritionist in coming up with a way to eat whole foods. It takes a lot of work. I had to do my part and research alternatives, but it can be done. You also assume that weight gain was because of over eating. I can't speak for others, but I know in my case multiple medical issues played a large part. Pre-mature menopause due to cancer and a tumor on my pituitary are just a few of my issues as well as my severe food allergies. What I am saying is it is entirely possible to eat whole foods on a bariatric diet. If you that is not the path for you, then so be it.

Well of course she did... After all... I am the good twin!!!! Kewl on the eDiets charts... I used mine from the last number of years there as well!!!! Hey... are you still a member there??? There is a support group under the WLS heading there that a gal named Sanda started and it was ALL about GBP/RNY. I barged my way in there and said that I thought it would be important for people to know that there is a safer option for those that can't "stomach" the idea of GBS. I whined when she went to other posts and did a promo for the support group without mentioning the Lap Band and she nicely added to the info. (o: I would love to have another pre-bander there... the dynamic pre-band duo!!!!!! Lets let all of those folks know that they have a safer option! I promise to be the evil twin if ya come and join me! Good luck with re-submitting the "proof" ... I didn't have all of my booklets from WW but I was able to get my old info from Jenny Craig and of course the LOOOOOOOG print out from eDiets showing my huge weight loss and then my HUGE weight gain. I am keeping my fingers crossed for you and hope we can still manage a bandarama with dates that are close! Okay... can only hold out another hour before I call... pretty soon I'll just be able to tell them my name and they'll be like... OHHHHH you again. (o: Darcy

If you wern't trying but 'doing it alot' you'll have a girl, I'm guessing you want a boy cause you already have 2 beautiful girls! Shirina your husband is a doll (I've met him) he has such a low back, kind, caring personality, enjoy being with child. Last we talked, you have a snug fill, don't worry about weight gain at this point as long as you don't eat for 5 like I did. All I ever wanted to do while being preggy was eat and sleep, and that's hard with 2 kids under 5. Congratulations and Merry Christmas! Corinne congrats too My guess is July 11 (my birthday)!

Me too was just unfilled today due pouch being too big cause of overeating. So what works best for those 2 weeks liquids soft food low carbs, whats best for healing and low to no weight gain?? Chery; Banded May2006-215 January30th-160 totally unfilled pouch too big

First of all..Having surery at 450lbs was a major risk in itself. It is indead sad and painfull that she passed away, but I am sure it was more that having the gastric bypass itself that caused her death. Having worked on a gastric bypass wing as a RN I can tell you. I have seen sadness and miracles with this surgery. The largest woman we ever operated on was 800lbs and I was truely terrified for her because I ddin't know if i was going to see her after surgery or not. Needless to say, she survived and to this day is doing well. The surgery saved her life, but it could have turned for the worse..A close firend of mine had gastric bypass, lost 200 lbs, and needless to say gained it back and has now also passed on from complications FROM WEIGHT GAIN.... so you,,,it can go either way.... I am glad you had your surgery. You are onestep closer to being healthier. As for telling your family, it is up to you to make the decision. I believe in the end, they will be happy for you because you have chosen to take control of your health... Peace and may you have a happy and healthy 2011... Onenuttynurse

Most people try dieting and do not succeed in losing weight. That is why they opt for surgery. The result of yo-yo dieting is in general additional weight gain. People lose weight while dieting and when they get of the diet, they gain it back and then some. Each time they do this they add additional pounds. It rarely works long term.

Kathy, you look cute anyways. Glad you are doing so well. I am doing much better. Had a 5 lbs weight gain and that really motivated me to not feel sorry for myself. Going back to the gym has been a HUGE motivator for me. I am looking forward to my fill on July 17th. I also start with a personal trainer on Wed. next week. So far I'm down around 12 lbs but I see the scale moving South again with the exercise jump start.

Sure you could do it on your own but have you ever heard the statistic that 90% of people that loose that weight gain it back over 5 years, alot of people will disagree with me but in fact it's actually the truth, I even saw a guy on oprah one time who came back 5 years later and had gained it back plus more, just think to your self, do you want to loose that 110lbs and be happy with yourself? Or loose it and gain it back plus an extra 50lbs or so? If not then just think of it that way, the band is obviously no easy way out especially when alot of people have to deal with the side affects of eating too quickly, not chewing enough and vomitting, so really it's not the easy way out at all.

I can find studies to dispute anything from another study. For example... Weighing Yourself: Helpful Habit or Unhealthy Obsession? In a study that monitored the weighing practices of 1,900 young adults, Carly Pacanowski, PhD, RD, and her colleagues found that those who weighed themselves more often experienced higher levels of depression and weight concern (thinking a lot about being thinner and fear of gaining weight) and lower self-esteem and body satisfaction. Interestingly, more frequent weighing did not lead to better weight control. Weighing isn’t necessarily problematic for everyone. “There is evidence that self-weighing may be an effective strategy for some adults to prevent weight gain,” says Pacanowski. “However, that doesn’t mean that everyone should adopt this behavior.” Weighing yourself can lead to self-judgment and guilt, which can fuel a cycle of emotional eating. For some it can promote eating disorders and other unhealthy eating behaviors. With 89% of women unhappy with their weight and 39% worried about the number on the scale, millions are stuck in a counterproductive and potentially harmful cycle.

I am most proud of being an athlete again after 35 years of steady weight gains. I peaked at 324 pounds and am now 176 pounds. I'm running, lifting weights, playing tennis and golf and running up stairs effortlessly. 8 months ago I was huffing and puffing after a short walk.

Insane, right? My husband and I went to a consultation appointment last Saturday (1/31) and I was told that while I’m overweight, I’m not overweight ENOUGH to have my insurance cover the procedure – I can not afford to do this procedure out of pocket. Never, in a million years, would I have thought I’d hear that I need to GAIN weight (no my doctor didn’t utter the words “you need to gain weight” but he said “read between the lines”). The doctors asked that I come back in a few weeks (this upcoming Saturday) and weigh in again. They noted that since I had just completed my menstrual cycle it’s very possible that I would register a lower weight on 1/31 and that the bloating I normally experience might influence a higher weight. They also said if I weigh in again and I don’t meet the goal, I can drink Water to get myself there. Has anyone else experienced this? Being told you need to actually gain a few pounds? I stand at 5’7.75” with a weight of 252 and a BMI of 39.5. I’ve been on diets for about 20 years (I’m 28) and I’m finally allowing myself access to this tool after years of contemplating it. I’ve been on every diet known to man: Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, Master Cleanse, Cabbage Soup, eat nothing after 7pm, eat only once for 2 hours, don’t eat anything white, drink two full glasses of water before meals, drink nothing before meals, carb cycle, Protein binge – you name it, I’ve done it. I’ve joined countless gyms, signed up for spin classes, yoga, pilates, yoga-lates, I’ve run a few 5ks, I used to get up at 6am (blerg!) to work out, I’d work out after work, I’d walk around the parking lot during lunch. I suffer from Hashimoto’s Thyroiditus AND PCOS – both make weight gain incredibly easy and weight loss nearly impossible. I am doing this as a last resort, I don’t like the idea that I’ve gotten so overweight that I need to have 3/4 of my stomach ripped out through my belly button in order to lose weight BUT I understand that I have done everything I can do and I deserve this. I deserve to walk into a store and not worry that they won’t have my size, I deserve to join CrossFit (as I’ve wanted to for years) and actually be able to complete the work out, I deserve to go into various yoga poses and not be literally suffocated by my weight. I deserve this and I’m ready. With that being said I’m struggling with the weight gain (“oh shut up!” I know, I’m sorry) and the mental anguish that goes with it. I genuinely enjoy eating healthy, I’ve played with Whole30 and the Paleo diet for over a year now and I love it. I feel amazing when I eat clean, I love all the different veggies that I’ve been exposed to (beets! rutabaga!) and it’s something I enjoy. Having a 3-4 pound weight gain to qualify for surgery looming over my head is more difficult than I thought it would be. I feel like shit…I eat shit and I feel like shit. I snack more and I eat more high calorie foods but I’m finding it very difficult to allow myself the sugar and dairy that I so carefully took out of my diet. I’m genuinely terrified that I’m going to step on the scale on Saturday (2/14) and not weigh enough. I can’t continue to eat like this. My clothing is starting to not fit correctly. I just need to make this weight and then I can go back to my healthy eating. Please offer some encouragement…something. Tell me I’m not alone. I’m freaking out.

Laura , honey, I get to say honey because I guarantee I'm old enough be your grandmother or great grandmother. If you have gained it is almost certain you'll be put on the liquid diet , 1 to shrink your liver and 2 to pare a little weight off, just,pray surgeon doesn't move your surgery date back to give you 2 weeks or more on the regimen. Could Happen! Bariatric Surgeons don't have very good sense of humor when it comes to weight gain , especially this close to his circus party.😧

Glo, did you go from liquids to solids? This could be why you are seeing a weight gain..most of us here oncewewent from liquids to either mushy or solids saw a weight gain, it is only normal. Do not worry, this is just the first few weeksm focus more on healing, once you get your fills, things will change. I know it is frustrating but you are normal.