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I don't have any children but I can relate from the perspective as being the daughter. My mom used to be a lot bigger than she is now; not morbidly obese but bigger. She is now about a size 12/14 (and also in her late 60s). When she was in about her mid 50's (I would have been in early 30s) her and my dad just completely changed their lifestyle and their habits and she ended up losing quite a bit of weight and has successfully kept it off (just leading a healthier life). Though I was always happy for her...deep down I was slightly irritated that my own mother was now a smaller size than me (and due to my constant weight gain she is now a MUCH smaller size than me). But I never let her know that so as not to hurt her feelings....it was just frustrating because no matter what I did I couldn't get the same outcome. We never talked about it though. (but we have never been super close). Once I had some medical issues diagnosed I felt better (in a sense) because I knew that I was fighting some medical issues that made it so much more difficult for me and it helped...having that explanation. She is aware of these issues and has always been supportive. I would suggest you have a heart to heart with your daughter (if you haven't already) and tell her how you feel and that you don't look at this as a competition in any way and that you are doing it just to be healthy. You know, that you aren't getting any joy about getting into "Her" clothes size...that your joy is centered around being healthy. Plus you could gently remind her that if she can make some healthy changes to her lifestyle now (if that is indeed a problem) then she can make positive changes to and not have to be faced with such a hard decision like you were....etc etc.... Of course it all depends on how close your relationship is. Good luck though, I know it can be a difficult thing. I wish my mom and I had been able to talk about it better back then but it was not to be. I still haven't told her about the surgery...but only because she is out of the country on a trip and I didn't want her to worry...I'll tell her when she gets back . I know she'll be happy & supportive of me (as much as she can considering she lives on the other side of the country from where I do). Don't know if any of that helped...but that was my limited experience from the DD view! What

I've been a little hesitant to post here as I've seen some very judgmental replies in other topics, but here it goes anyway.... I found out I was pregnant back in May, 6 months post op, after bc failed. Both my surgeon and OBGYN (who actually had gastric by-pass surgery and had a surprise pregnancy 4 months post op) are happy with my progress and baby girl is very healthy. I'll be 18 weeks tomorrow and while I fluctuate between 161 and 163 for the past few weeks, I haven't really gained any weight. I started this pregnancy at 175 and was so sick during the first trimester that I lost weight. While this my third pregnancy, I can't really compare it to my other two which I started at 265 lbs and 250 lbs respectively. I've brought up my concerns during my appointments and I've been assured that everything is ok and that if my body wasn't ready for pregnancy it wouldn't have sustained it. I guess I'm just looking to see what experiences others have had post-surgery with weight gain. Basically any and all (constructive :)) advice is welcome.

I'm not with ICE. I'm happy that you CBP guys are getting 6c. FLETC's always been a zoo. When I was there along time back, I stayed in the townhouses - which are now offices. Since then, a bad injury, a slow recovery and a lot of weight gain. It's coming off now though. Good luck to you guys.

I would ask your gynecologist what it best. I know there are lots of options, I had an IUD in a long time ago which worked fine. It was removed when I had my tubal. The non-latex condom option could work, but clear that with your husband as he may not like the idea of having to wear a condom. Some people have a depovera shot, however, some experience weight gain from it.

Ok, folks I am new to this forum, I want to share my story to hopefully help some of you stay on track and to hopefully get myself back on track. In May of 1999 I had the VSG surgery, I was at 350 lbs and in less than a year I was down to 255 when I stopped losing weight. I should back up and tell you I was a police officer fro 20 years, when I cam out of the police academy in the early 1990's I was 267 with 12 % body fat, running 5 to 7 miles a day and very healthy. Overtime the drive throughs and my constant schedule chages helped me to gain weight. After I had the vsg I felt great, I was back to exercising, but I still didn't eat the best. I will say I pretty much hate the color green oh and I didn't metion yet that Diet Pepsi is like crack to a crack addict for me. So over the last 15 years I have been putting the weight on once I got back to my orginal start weight I pretty much through in the towel and didn't really care. I marked it up as a failure which has never been my norm. I am up to 473 pounds and I have had enough. I have contacted my local hospital and will be meeting there staff to see what I can do. I am hoping to be able to get a vsg pouch back to working if that is possible. What I want to say to all of you brave people is DO NOT DRINK ANYTHING WITH YOUR MEALS NOT EVEN A LITTLE. AND NEVER QUIT YOUR EXERCIS EVEN FOR ONE DAY. AND NO MATTER WHAT NO SODA. I will keep you all posted as I will look for stength and encouragement as I start this journey again. Steve

Monday, September 14, 2009 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years Talked with my 7th grade girls group about the 10,10,10 principle, which is a way of helping you make decisions. We make decisions just about every moment and we need to ask ourselves what would the results be, good and bad, 10 minutes from now, 10 months from now, and 10 years from now. I thought about how that applied to food and how something that looks good right now and would satisfy our craving right now (or maybe not) ends up cumulatively as weight gain 10 months down the road which 10 years down the road puts us on the path of high blood pressure, high, cholesterol, high blood sugar, and prone to heart disease, strokes, Alzheimers, breast and colon cancer, Dr.s' bills, food bills, wardrobe bills, loss of income from not being able to work as well or at all, shame, etc.,etc., etc. Of course, for my kids, the consequences of bad decisions now, like just going outside and walking around at night in high risk neighborhoods, can be fatal. Told them I didn't want to be visiting their graves, or their jail cells, or them struggling to raise 3 babies from 3 different fathers. None of them thinks any of that could ever happen to them, but they were almost all telling about dangerous situations with kids showing them guns, bangers trying to sweet talk them, predators trying to talk them into their vehicles, and they find it very exciting. The part of their brain that foresees the potential consequences of their actions is not fully developed until the mid-20s, but stupid actions we all took when we were young didn't usually have the severe consequences that my 7th graders are more likely to experience. Some of these consequences for bad choices didn't exist. HIV, getting shot, crack cocaine, meth--its not like there weren't drugs available but they weren't so instantly addictive. Teenage pregnancy existed but it wasn't as widespread, nor was it an accepted way of life. I'm hoping to give these kids a tool, 10-10-10 to get these kids to think beyond immediate gratification. 10 minutes from now, 10 months from now, 10 years from now. Puts things in perspective. For me, for them.

It has been a long time since I have been on here. I don't know why, it was a very helpful site when I was first banded and then as I settled in to my band, I slowed on the site. I have had several surgeries and am restricted in exercising, I was doing really good maintaining, even though I really wanted to lose more. I lost several pounds in a surgery that had complications, I sure wanted to keep that weight loss. However, getting better led to weight gain. Back to my maintained weight. Now, my brother is dying with liver cancer and I am on exercise restrictions and PT, so I am eating everything that I see. I had to have some fluid removed because I was having reflux so bad, so I thought that would help me lose. NOT!! I started gaining, so back to adding to my band. I am not eating properly, so of course, I am not losing, I am gaining!!! I have gained 10 lbs, which doesn't sound like much, but I will bat my eyes and have gained another 10 and so on and so on. I feel like I did when I first started, kind of "what do I eat" what do I not eat" trying to eat right and then getting side tracked during the day. Tomorrow I resolve to start over. I tried to do the restart with slim fast, but I couldn't stay faithful to it, so I am just going to start eating properly for my band. Praying for willpower. Nite

I have 4 of them but they were all pre-sleeve! I have a butterfly (ink and a needle at age 14) on my bottom, tribal art in a diamond shape on my lower back (tramp stamp - got it WAY before it was called that and before it was "cool" to have it there) I have tribal art on the back of my neck/top of my back that has a Gemini symbol in the middle of it for my daughter and then I have a teddybear holding a heart on my breast. I am very surprised that none of them have been distorted from weight gain or loss! I do want more but I haven't decided on what or where yet!

Sorry I didn't put much information about myself to the above question.Hello, I'm 37 years young, mother of 3 beautiful children. My Bmi is 43 right now, it often fluctuates between 40-43 depending on my weight gain or loss. I'm an active mother, wife, worker, and very healthy young woman to say the least. However, I'm sick and tired of the yo-yo dieting. I've taken diet supplements along with injection (and I'm scared to death of needles- but did them anyway) for years I know since 2013, I've been on a strick diet plan for over a year and lost only 7lbs from 250lbs of weight I already had on my 5'4" body frame. At weigh in just the other day and was back up 243lbs. So all that being said....... I'm more then ready, to use this WLS as an added tool to stay healthy and fit. But I just can't get the one person I felt that would understand, to understand!!!!! I love my life but I know that I have to do this for ME and I don't want it to seem as if I'm being selfish and not considering his concern for me..... I've had 3 c-section do to my children and those are the only surgeries I've every had & all went extremely well by the time we had our 3rd child I was up walking around on my own the very next day, the nursing staff didn't like that but I told them "I can't take you guys home with me, so I have to do this on my own, you all just supervise me cause I don't want anyone getting fired because I wouldn't let you hold my hand!" They understand and just simply walked behind me as I walked the halls of the hospital... so when, I'm determined I'm determined!!!!! Mind over matter!!!! Sent from my SM-T817V using the BariatricPal App Our stats are right on and I was about the same age as you when I had my surgery. Here is my story: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/308645-i-was-a-super-healthy-fat-person-until-surgery-changed-my-life-was-it-worth-it/page-15?hl=%2Bwas+%2Bsuper+%2Bhealthy#entry4274115 And if my husband was against it? Not my problem. He'd have to figure that out on his own. I'd listen to his concerns, I'd direct him to appropriate research and I'd let him take it from there. I love him but I don't LIVE for him. He is a huge and important part of my world but he is not my world in it's entirety. Big diff.

I'm down to the wire--and the days are taking LONGER and LONGER to go by. I am at strict liquids for these last two days. I've lost almost seven pounds on this preop diet in the past five days doing strict Adkins. My goal is to be at 205 the day of surgery. I have 1.4 pounds to go--but think that should be attainable doing all liquids. My clothes don't feel so "poured into" feeling--and so I'm glad I didn't splurge and buy some last week when they were all straining to keep up with my last supper weight gains! I'm regretting not exercising as I had vowed to do--haven't so much as walked..but am planning on doing that the day of surgery! Wednesday, June 17th, 2009.... is the first day of the rest of my life. With the force of all my past failures, the suction of the hopes of a new unburdened life, and the grace of God...I will make it thru this transition and finally, for the first time in what seems like a lifetime away, will look in the mirror and see someone "in control" of my self---confident, vibrant, alive. I go to visit my family and friends over Christmas vacation and I am SOO excited about that! I will look at pictures taken of myself from this time and not die an inward death--or try to hide behind someone. I've learned alot this past week of pre-op dieting...I have really felt a slipping of the grip that food has had on me. I really WILL do this this time!

My PCP doesn't even know I had a procedure and never reacted to my weight gain, increasing blood pressure and cholesterol over the years. Agree with all posters. Bariatric practices are masterful at dealing with insurance issues. Bypass the PCP if you are getting any pushback.

My sister had a bypass done some years ago. Lost all the weight and gained it all back and then some. She's the biggest she's ever been these days, BUT she also has a lot of mental issues and addictions that she never really got help for that led her weight gain. For this reason alone, I haven't told most of my family because they'll automatically associate my decision with hers. We are not even close to being alike in any way, shape, or form. I told my husband, he supports me. He wants me to be happier about my health/weight and tells me all the time to do what I feel like I need to do, no matter the costs, etc. I also suspect that he wants me to be the "hot" again. LOL My youngest brother had concerns, "why don't you just eat better?" I quickly told him to educate himself on bariatric surgery before he slams my decision. Two days later he texts me and says he will be here for me for whatever decision I make. And my sister in law to whom I'm very close to says she's a supporter. I have told some friends and they're on board (but I don't need nor care if they approve or not). I think overall, the only person I need approval from is my husband. That's all that matters to me.

Cheryl Ann Borne hit a high weight of 285 pounds, and got the gastric bypass surgery in 2003. She maintained her weight loss, but the extra skin didn’t go away on its own. In 2013 she began a series of plastic surgeries including a tummy tuck, total body contouring, and facial surgery, and is now a size 2. Cheryl is an obesity health activist who writes as My Bariatric Life on Health Central and PM360 Online. She recently launched her new site, My Bariatric Life, and you can follow her on social media, including on Twitter @MyBariatricLife and on Google+. Weight Gain, Gastric Bypass Surgery, and Lasting Weight Loss Cheryl was an active teen, but she went from “fit to fat” as she turned to processed food. At 5’7”, she got up to a weight of 285 pounds and a size 24W. Cheryl got the gastric bypass surgery in 2003. She had diabetes, celiac disease, depression, acid reflux, asthma, and hypertension. She lost over 100 pounds, managed to get off of 9 of her 10 prescription drugs, and does not have chronic back pain anymore. You can see before and after pictures documenting her transformation by watching this video. A Typical Day in Cheryl’s Life As proof that you can follow a diet without red meat and stick to a high-protein weight loss surgery diet, here is a sample day’s diet in Cheryl’s life. The following day has 1,789 calories, 165 grams of protein, and 79 grams of carbohydrates. Breakfast 2-egg omelet with homemade creamed spinach (dairy-free) and turkey bacon Snack Coffee with coconut milk, roasted coconut juice, and egg white protein powder Mineral water Vitamins/supplements Scivation Xtend intraworkout drink with branched chain amino acids Lunch Tuna salad Baby spring mix and grape tomatoes with lemon vinaigrette Terra Real vegetable chips Dinner Smoked turkey leg, no skin 1 cup turnip greens Snack Egg white protein powder in water Getting Rid of the Traces of Obesity After losing over 100 pounds after the gastric bypass surgery in 2003, Cheryl had a lot of extra skin. In 2006, she met a plastic surgeon whom she really liked. In 2013, she decided to get a tummy tuck. The extra skin hadn’t gone away after weight loss surgery, and she wanted to get rid of it. As she describes below, she was delighted with her surgeon and the results of the tummy tuck, and decided to go further. I went from a size 14 jeans being tight to a perfect size 8 in just 4-months. I was so thrilled with the transformation that I decided to do "all of me." In October 2013, Dr. Joseph F. Capella revised the tummy tuck to a lower body lift, and performed a medial thigh lift, extended arm lift, and breast lift. Dr. Capella removed 11 pounds of skin and one liter of fat, and this enabled me to get active in ways that I was unable to with my hanging pannis and inner thighs that rubbed together. I ran my first 3k with my daughter and granddaughter and eventually I was running 5k. What's more, the muscle plication from the tummy tuck placed renewed constriction on my pouch so I am full with less food, as well, I tightened up on my diet by doing Whole30 [a strict 30-day low-carb diet] and going Paleo. In total, I lost 50 inches and 50 pounds after my body contouring plastic surgery. Today I am a size 2, down from a 24W before my gastric bypass surgery. You can go to HealthCentral to read about Cheryl’s decision to get total body contouring after her tummy tuck. She describes the emotional rollercoaster of the experience, the surgery, and her long road to recovery. She is still dealing with complications from her brachioplasty, but stresses the end goal and her luck in finding a fantastic surgeon who cares about her. She didn’t stop there, and instead decided “to reach for the stars” and see a facial plastic surgeon. In one surgery, Dr. Catherine Winslow took about 15 years off my face, restoring the once pretty face that I had when I was thin. I had a total of 10 procedures: deep plane face lift, neck lift, upper eye lid lift, SMAS (superficial muscular aponeurotic system) to tear troughs and lips, lip lift, chin implant, 35% TCA peel, Botox and filler. I go back from time to time to Nurse Triste at Dr. Winslow's practice for filler and Botox. I look at this maintenance routine along the same vein as maintaining my hair cut and color. Destined to Be a Healer Do you believe in fate? When Cheryl visited Guatemala in May of 2011, a Mayan shaman told her her Mayan symbols showed she was a healer. She could, he said, heal herself and others. As Cheryl tells it below, she wasn’t so sure at first. Then she figured it out. I visited a Mayan Shaman when I was in Guatemala back in May 2011. He said my Mayan symbols told that I am a healer. I can heal myself and I can heal others. He said that I needed to heal others, to not keep this gift to myself, or else I would experience sickness or pain and that this was the only way to cure my chronic back pain, which I had suffered with for years. The Shaman said that I need to realize my true self. The Shaman also said the symbols revealed that I am creative — that I knew for sure, but I wondered was he right about me being a healer? So I tried to heal my beloved mother who was stricken with a rare disease. And I tried to heal my beloved boxer dog, Cindi Lu, who was stricken with an aggressive cancer. But I could not save them and felt that I had failed my destiny. Then in 2012 during a personal development training, I discussed this matter with the instructor. And he replied that maybe I was meant to heal people with my words. I did not give much thought to it after that until one night in 2013, I bolted up from my bed and realized that both the shaman and the instructor were right! Healing with Words Cheryl’s work has exploded. She describes the growth of her writing and advocacy career since finding her voice. I began writing as My Bariatric Life for the HealthCentral Obesity vertical in March 2011, nearly eight years after my gastric bypass. I started out writing just a few articles per month as a health guide -- a patient who would share her real world experience in defeating obesity, diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and GERD. My work grew legs. I now write 18 articles and develop two recipes per month for HealthCentral where I have a following of roughly 75,000 unique monthly readers. I also write a quarterly patient advocacy column for PM360 Magazine under my name, Cheryl Ann Borne, and I am a long-standing member of their editorial advisory board. Cheryl also makes her voice heard by posting as My Bariatric Life on social media, including Flickr, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest. She is active on BariatricPal and a site for cosmetic procedure patients called RealSelf. Her goal is to provide fair and trustworthy reviews. And this month I will begin writing a monthly opinion piece as My Bariatric Life for BariatricPal. I also am exploring opportunities with the Obesity Action Coalition, and in the past have partnered with Obesity PPM and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). ! Daring Move to a New Career as a Digital Health Strategy Consultant Cheryl has been in the health industry since before her surgery. She explains her career as a digital health strategy consultant. My career has been as a promotions strategist, writer, and designer in the healthcare space with the last 12-yrs in digital marketing. I’ve worked with pharmaceutical and biotech companies and digital health ad agencies and non-CME medical education agencies. I help them to understand the evolving digital health ecosystem and, based on their unique market circumstances, specifically how to communicate with patients and physicians in meaningful ways via digital channels and to ultimately achieve better health outcomes. Cheryl is determined to help people improve their lives. Transforming healthcare is important to me. It's is all about the patient. I want to make a difference; I want to help people live healthier lives. When her company cut her position in 2013, she took a positive approach and decided to focus her energy on fighting obesity. She developed a business plan as a digital health strategy consultant with an emphasis on growing My Bariatric Life, her obesity health activist brand. Paleo Follower and Recipe Developer Cheryl believes in the benefits of the Paleolithic Diet. It is a high-protein diet that you can follow after weight loss surgery. It emphasizes meat, fish, poultry, fruits, vegetables, eggs, nuts, seeds, and oils. It forbids grains, processed foods, dairy products, and potatoes. She plans to help others follow this way of eating. One aspect of my business plan is to launch the brand Borne Appétit in order to teach healthy eating habits and show busy families/couples/singles that it is easy to prepare real food, real simple, and break the cycle of time starvation and over reliance on convenience/processed foods and obesity. To truly understand what it means to eat healthy and break this cycle was something I had to achieve in my own life, and I want to share with people what I have learned through years of experience and experiment. I find the Paleolitihic Diet works best for me…and I enjoy the art of creating delicious recipes within those constraints. I also eat no red meat, only fish and fowl, so this adds an extra level of complexity, which I find stimulating to develop recipes that are not mundane or repetitious. Valuable Life Lessons You can be sure Cheryl has learned a lot of valuable lessons from her weight loss surgery and plastic surgery experiences. She knows the value of maintaining her results, living life fully, and challenging herself to live a life she loves. She also recognizes she has gained freedom and an ability to grow. Beyond the physical transformation are (very unexpected) emotional and spiritual transformations. I’ve returned to some of my roots: ideals and philosophies around the nature of existence that I had walled off (or perhaps ate to insulate myself against) when the emotional pain became too much for my sensitive nature. Plastic surgery was very freeing for me; it freed my jailed spirit. I’ve never been a wallflower but when it came to my body I was timid because I lacked body confidence. And this trickled over into other areas of my life. There were parts of my life that I hid, or situations in which I could not share my feelings, because I was inhibited by the fear of being rejected or judged. And that’s no longer true. I am now able to be my true self, comfortable in my nakedness both physically and emotionally. I am still learning and growing in these areas, particularly in understanding soul relationships and the expression of real love. We are here to play and experience as much as we possibly can. We are here to grow. Often it is through times of adversity that we grow the most because these times force us to get out of our comfort zones. I have come to understand that there are only two emotions. We are either acting out of love or we are acting out of fear, which is the opposite of love. All other emotions are a derivative of love (compassion, forgiveness, self-sacrifice) or a derivative of fear (selfishness, retaliation, deceit). From now on I choose always to act out of love. Do I let go of control and trust my intuition and follow my heart even when it defies my rational faculties or can’t be proven? If I am to act out of love, then yes. Otherwise I return to acting out of fear. As well, I have learned that I need to protect myself from the negative energies of toxic people — those emotional vampires who can turn my love into fear. An Exciting Year to Come Cheryl is expecting a big 2015 in addition to growing her presence as My Bariatric Life and working on Borne Appétit. At the Pharma Marketing Summit in Palm Beach in May, she will be presenting as My Bariatric Life and sharing her story of defeating obesity and its co-morbidities. Also new for this year, I'll finally launch my websites, a dream I've had for a couple of years. I've already launched MyBariatricLife.org for transformative information on defeating obesity and co-morbid diseases. I'll also launch my healthy recipe site BorneAppetit.com and my eating healthy on-the-road travel site BorneVoyage.com. These sites will help a lot of people. It definitely looks as though the Mayan shaman was right when he said Cheryl is a healer. She has come a long way toward healing herself through weight loss surgery, plastic surgery, and healthy living, and she is dedicated to helping others become healthier. Don’t forget to follow Cheryl on social media and through her channel on HealthCentral, and watch for her new monthly opinion piece to be published on BariatricPal! Please click here to read My Bariatric Life's articles in BariatricPal's Weight Loss Surgery Magazine.

This will be my first blog here, so I'll briefly introduce myself to the world of blog-readers, though it may be small. I'm 29 (until a week from tomorrow) and I had surgery on March 6, 2009. I have an Allergan 4cc band placed in Juarez, Mexico by Dr. Jose Rodriguez. Before I decided to have the surgery, I was at my heaviest ever. Shortly after losing 30 pounds or so on Atkins, I started re-gaining weight very quickly; roughly 70 pounds in just a few months following my parent's breakup. Nothing had ever affected me as profoundly as when my parents split up - not even my own divorce. Anyway, one day at 272 (my highest weight) I realized I had fat hands, which I had never had in all my 25+ years of being overweight They were so plump that they dimpled in at the knuckles. I snapped and realized I had a closet full of clothes that didn't fit anymore, and ankle pain every morning when my feet hit the floor. I dreaded that ankle pain every time the alarm clock woke me up. I truly believe I had (have) a food addiction. I would go to McDonald's with my kids, eat my meal (often with dessert) and wait for my kids to finish so I could glean what was left of their happy meals. A couple of nuggets, an extra order of fries. I would eat it all, and it didn't matter if the fries were cold. I once confided in my good friend that I had a food addiction. She thought I was joking and we laughed about it, but deep inside I knew it was true and that I had to do something. I did a quick search for food addiction on the internet and I found a video advertisement of a young lady who had lapband. I thought she was so beautiful, and her story was so much like my own - heavy all her life. There are some things about having had the surgery that I hate. But for the most part, I love that I made the decision to get the band. For example, I hate that I told so many people because I can't stand when someone says, "You can't eat that, can you?" UGH!! lol. "Watch me!" :biggrin: If you're reading this and thinking about having the surgery, consider who you tell. Some people love to tell everyone, and they have that screw-you attitude. I'm not quite as resilient. I wish I hadn't confided in as many people as I did. Another thing is - be ready for criticism. People will tell you you're taking the easy way out. (Lemme tell ya - this is anything BUT easy. The band will make you confront demons you never knew you had. It will force you to think about everything that you put in your mouth. It will cause - at times - physical pain like you've never experienced. It will sometimes scare the heck outta you). Others will say "shouldn't you have lost more weight by now?" or "is it healthy to lose weight that fast?" "why don't you just get that thing taken out?" "I couldn't live with that thing inside of me" all with a sly attitude about them, of course. I had one friend who said, "well, I'm not big enough to have lapband, I just need to lose about 50 pounds," while she was (is) morbidly obese. I think this was her way of telling me she wasn't near as fat as me. In my part of the country, we have a name for those kinds of people - haters. What I love: I LOVE that I've lost nearly 40 pounds and I'm back to feeling like me. I LOVE that soon I won't feel like myself anymore because I'll be an all-new-to-me thin person! I've never been thin, and at my least-fat, I was 198 pounds. (After some serious weight loss, I celebrated breaking 200 by gaining it all back. Go figure.) I LOVE that I always only order the kid-size meal when we go out, and I can't finish it. Now my kids eat my leftovers. :thumbup: I LOVE that my ankles don't hurt every morning, and my clothes are starting to fit again. I LOVE that all the fat clothes I had bought to accommodate my weight gain are now too big for me. And for the first time in my life, I know I won't be fat forever. There is light at the end of this tunnel. I used to say that I was just destined to be a big girl. I LOVE that I don't believe that anymore.

Gluten-free living is running rampant across America these days. In this article, we explore the top 5 myths about going "g-free" and who should - and doesn't have to - live this dietary lifestyle. It’s no secret that one of the most prominent diets-of-the-moment is the gluten free diet. Millions have jumped on the gluten free bandwagon, including many bariatric patients. Some sing the praises of the diet, claiming the health benefits are intensive. Others claim the diet is a fad and there is absolutely no nutritional benefit to eating this way. Here we will discuss some of the myths and truths of the gluten-free diet, and how it can affect someone with WLS. Myth #1: A Gluten-Free diet is a very healthy way to eat. FALSE: There are just as many UNhealthy gluten-free foods on the market as there are healthy ones. A trip down the gluten free aisle of any supermarket will prove that - cookies, cakes, pretzels, pastas, chips … There are as many gluten free choices in junk food as you can possibly imagine. And here’s the biggest problem with that: many gluten-free products have added sugar and/or fat to compensate to make the texture and/or flavor more palatable. It's also important to note that gluten free does NOT mean organic or GMO free, so if these are concerns for you, be sure to check for organic, non-gmo labels. Myth #2: Only people with celiac disease should follow a gluten-free diet FALSE: While celiac disease is the #1 cause for going gluten free, it’s not the only reason. There are millions of people that share a gluten sensitivity or intolerance that would greatly benefit from removing gluten from their diets. This can be characterized by bloating, digestive issues, rashes, migraines, and other health issues. The only way to be sure if you have a sensitivity or not is to undergo an elimination diet which completely removes gluten for a time period. After a period of time (generally a month or more) gluten is slowly reintroduced into the diet with notes made on any reaction that occurs. Myth #3: EVERYONE can benefit from a gluten free diet. FALSE: If you DON’T have celiac or an intolerance, there really is no health benefit to removing gluten from your diet. It won’t HURT you, to be sure, but it won’t necessarily HELP you either. Myth #4: You can’t go gluten-free without buying expensive products at your health food store. FALSE: It’s actually quite simple to eliminate gluten from your diet without having to buy anything special. Focusing your diet on fresh, whole foods like fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy will automatically put you on the right track. It’s also possible to find several breakfast cereals, snack crackers, and other items in your regular grocery store for not a huge amount of money - just be sure to read labels! Myth #5: Gluten is only found in wheat items, and if you eat corn, oats, or rice, you’re safe. FALSE: Many items made with corn, oats, and rice DO contain wheat or wheat by-products (such as dextrose). This is used to improve texture in many products. Additionally, some oat and corn products do contain gluten! It’s very important that if you’re going completely gluten free that you read labels. Of course you know to look for items such as wheat, but it’s also very important to look for other ingredients you might not think of. Dextrose, barley, rye, dextrin, vegetable protein, etc. For a full list of ingredients to avoid, do a google search - there are a multitude of great sites with this information. The simplest solution is to look for items that are labeled “gluten-free” right off the bat. While a gluten-free diet isn’t for everyone, there are still many people that benefit from it. Studies are showing that some WLS patients, especially sleevers, begin to show signs of gluten intolerance after surgery (along with lactose intolerance). If you think you might be gluten intolerant, try a gluten free diet for a time, then re-introduce wheat products slowly to check for a reaction. If you think you might have celiac disease, check with your doctor - they can run extensive tests to find out if you are. Symptoms of gluten intolerance include weight gain, bloating, depression, skin conditions, digestive issues, and a myriad of other ailments. Celiac disease is characterized by similar conditions, and also includes canker sores, numbness in extremities, and joint pain. . Sources of this article include Web MD, Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis, Go Gluten Free magazine, and various online websites. For a complete list of sources, contact the author at Admin@7BitesShow.com

I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!! UGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I want to scream !!!!!!!! Yes,I completely understand the frustration, I too, have been denied in Dec and I hired an advocate to fight this denial. all of my paperwork was submitted with my first appeal and just last week 7/22/16 they upheld the denial even though I have one of the co morbidities listed and I have followed the 3 month program monitoring for surgery. so my advocate called Aetna on a conference call and the Medical general surgeon (who is not a bariatric surgeon) who made the decision to deny my claim was not helpful AT ALL! she just kept reading from a script explaining the details of my policy which we already knew. so finally, Dr says, bec you did not schedule your surgery within the 6 months of your initial start date and you gained 1.5 lbs your claim was denied. start date was 6/25/16 - 9/16/16 paper work submitted for authorization and immediately denied. COME ON' 1.5 lbs, that could be anything from clothing, time of the month ..... anything !!! I can see if it was a significant weight gain like 10 lbs. they need to have more so we are going for a second appeal and I really need to find out if I am spinning my wheels or do I just need to start over... I wish there is something more we all can do to fight the insurance companies to stop denying surgeries for the simplest thing.

@@bevmccarthy did you gain any weight on your last weigh in ??? FYI Aetna is strict on any weight gain So if you did not gain weight on your last weigh in then you are good to go. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

In the battle to lose weight, stop overeating, or break free from emotional eating, it’s important to pay attention to the things that trigger your eating to go awry. Learn about the 5 most common triggers now! In the battle to lose weight, stop overeating, or break free from emotional eating, it’s important to pay attention to the things that trigger your eating to go awry. Simply focusing on what to eat misses an essential point–Your eating choices may be strongly affected by your emotions and your environment. And your food plan is useless if something is preventing you from following it. Here are five common overeating triggers that you can take control of by taking some smart, proactive action before they sabotage your weight loss efforts. 1. Getting too hungry Do you stick to your plan through breakfast and lunch only to find yourself irritable, craving carbs, and ready to eat everything in sight by the time late afternoon or evening rolls around? The end of the day tends to be stressful for many. The transition between work and home, mealtime decisions, and other peoples’ hunger or tiredness can push a busy woman over the edge. When I start coaching a new private client, it’s not unusual to hear that this is THE most difficult time of day. The key here: take control of what you can. This means doing what you can so that you don’t arrive at the end of the day feeling exhausted and starved. Too many women who are trying to lose weight, eat too little in the middle of the day and, as a result, lose control and overeat before, during, or after dinner (or all three). Make sure you are eating a balanced lunch (with protein) and then calculate the hours you are expecting yourself to last before eating again. Most women do well with a small snack midafternoon. Again, adding in protein can make all the difference. 2. Evening eating Evening (and late night) is a strong overeating trigger time for many busy women. If you are working hard all day long, it’s easy to come to see the quiet of evening as your reward. And if you are too tired and depleted to really enjoy it, food and emotional eating can become a big part of the evening ritual. “I eat in the evening because I want to treat myself.” “It’s my me-time.” “It’s the only time of the day where no one expects anything of me.” Women also overeat in the evening because they are tired (but don’t want to go to bed because this is the only alone time they have). Breaking free of the evening overeating triggers can be challenging, but it’s essential. Start by creating a policy for yourself about eating after dinner. Be realistic but be firm. Now, identify the bedtime you need to honor so that you are getting a minimum of 7.5 hours of sleep a night. This alone can make a huge difference in your overeating. Trust me. Create a new wind-down ritual that includes some nice things for you but that doesn’t include food. Finally, start carving out some me-time (even ten minutes) on the front-end of your day. You might need to get up earlier, but you’ll be focusing on you when you have the energy to do it. 3. Snacking on treats at work Are you overeating or grazing at work on the sugary treats that your coworkers leave all over the office or the break room? Make it easy on yourself by making one decision instead of hundreds. Set a policy with yourself about your eating at work. Make sure it’s a policy you can stick with. Sometimes something as simple as “I’ll only eat homemade food that is truly a treat that I can’t easily have any time” will do the trick. Spend a bit of time strategizing how you will avoid temptation and how you will reward yourself for doing so. And don’t forget to enlist support. If you are putting on pounds at the office, I guarantee that you aren’t the only one being haunted by the food. 4. Stress eating and overeating Emotional eating—using food to cope with feelings—is one of the biggest causes of overeating and weight gain. Smart women take this one seriously! Take the time to check in with yourself before you eat. Try to identify how you are feeling. Become aware of patterns. Are you a stress eater? Comfort eater? Boredom eater? The key to taking control of emotional eating is to create better strategies—ones that really address the emotions you are having. Start creating ways of addressing your feelings that you can use INSTEAD of turning to food. 5. Too much on your plate When you are too busy, stressed, and overloaded, overeating can seem like an easy way to sneak in a reward, some comfort, or a much-needed energy boost. The problem is that any benefits tend to be short-lived and the costs and negative consequences aren’t. If you want to take control of your weight, your eating, and your relationship with food, you MUST take control of your life. Learn to say no, cut back your schedule, carve out time that’s just for you and start practicing the art of asking for help. The best part of addressing overeating triggers is that when you take charge of what drives your overeating and emotional eating, you are almost always fixing a problem that’s bigger than food. When you get to the root cause of your overeating and address it head on, the triggers often lose their power. When you find strategies for dealing with stress, overeating, and overload, you are also creating strategies for living a better life.

So I am almost 3 weeks post op now. My incisions are healing great, and I don't think the scars will be too bad. My visit with my surgeon was pretty quick, and unfortunately I did not get a fill, that will be at my next appointment. Basically went over how I was doing, what kind of foods I can start introducing, and answering all my questions. I really like my surgeon he's an easy going guy, who is very patient. He was pretty impressed with the weight I had lost, but informed me that the weight loss is going to slow, and I may even gain weight as I introduce food into my diet. I was kind of bummed out by that, but so far no weight gain. On the down side no loss either. I have gone down a size though. Now I need to learn how to sew. I would hate to buy more clothes until I go down at least a few sizes, and I have some clothes I just hate to give up. Last couple of days there has been stuff posted on the forum that really kind of has me worried about my decision. I am reading so much about how that years after people get the band they start having problems. I knew going into this that there were possible complications, but the numbers seemed so low, but on here is seems the numbers are very high. The other surgery I was considering was the sleeve. And on here it seems that a number of people have converted to the sleeve, and have had much better results with no complications. Its a bit depressing reading these things, and it has me kind of freaked that 3-4 years from now I am going to end up with some major problems. I wanted a life change, but a good one. Now everytime something feels a little funny or when some pain kicks in I am wondering if its the beginning of something major. I have to keep reminding myself that I am only 3 weeks pre-op and I feel pretty damn good considering. I also have to keep reminding myself why I chose Lapband over the sleeve. There is no getting back that part of your stomach they take away. If I do have problems with the band I can have it removed. But all the talk about has gotten me pretty discouraged about the whole thing. I already am dealing with some serious emotions of loosing food as a comfort, and quitting smoking. So I guess I need to stay away from the threads that shed a pretty negative light on banding, and has posters bashing eachother left and right.:crying: I started comming here for support, because there is no support group where I am at, and the nearest one is 2 hours away. So I will just stick to the threads that are more supportive, even though the ones that become a day time soap opera can get interesting its hard not to want to see what is next. But those threads just aren't productive. I like this site a lot though, and it has been very helpful so far.

you are still on liquids aren't you? that is probably why you feel hunger! I did not worry about how many times I "drank" something at that point. It did not cause weight gain.

I was 216 on surgery date,my weight has always been up and down thing. I'm 5'5" I got down to 150 a few years ago on my own then menopause set in, weight gain yet again. My insurance covered everything so I went for it. I am 16 months post op and weight 163, a 53 lb loss is not my idea of bypass surgery but my dr. said stop focusing on the # but how you feel. I thought I would get down to at least 150 without any issues but this is what it is. I run 5 miles a day, eat what I am suppose to eat, it just won't come off. I also have thyroid issues as well.

I haven't reached goal, but I plan on tracking my food pretty much for the rest of my life. I'd advise you to go back to tracking and measuring so you can get back in control of your portions and fat/carb/protein and calorie counts so you can see where you're going off track. You may only need to do this for a few weeks as a reminder/reset. If the weight keeps creeping up, then you could do a 5 day pouch test to go back to the beginning. It is very easy, and I did do it once already when my carb levels started creeping up (it knocked them back down and got rid of my carb cravings). http://5daypouchtest.com/plan/theplan.html Don't be depressed; you have options. If you let the sad overwhelm you, then you end up doing nothing. Use this weight gain as motivation to get back on track!

Celexa is notorious for causing weight gain. Your surgeon's office should be able to appeal successfully showing that your weight gain coincided with the start of the Celexa. That being said, it might be worth it to look into other medications that are less likely to cause weight gain so you're not struggling after surgery. I'd also avoid Zyprexa for the same reason, but you might try Paxil if you are taking the medication for anxiety/panic attacks. If you need medication for depression, try Wellbutrin or Luvox but I'd stay away from Effexor (very strong and hard to get off of), Zoloft and Lexapro. All of those are known to cause a lot of weight gain. I hope this helps and you get approved soon!

So after 6 months of tests and appts I was called by the nurse at my surgeons office to tell me that my surgery was denied. I am HEARTBROKEN. ???? I have been though so much this year. As I started this journey, one month in, my 37 year old husband had a heart attack. Which then required a triple bypass because of 3 blockages. We made it through 20 days in the hospital, 6 days in the cardiac ICU. We both quit smoking, and I was determined to keep going forward with this. I kept my appts and tests even with him in the hospital. Just so I could have this done and we can BOTH start our new lives together. Because when he was in the hospital I could barely BREATH let alone eat. I lost 15 pounds. Now because I quit smoking and my husband is recovering slowly but is recovering nicely, I began to eat. I'm starving. I'm following exactly what I should and I put on 10 pounds. I started a celexa for depression and blood pressure meds a few months ago. I was denied because of the weight gain through the 3 month nutrionalist appts. I am so sad, I am so depressed. I feel defeated. I plan on appealing. I don't know how to pick myself up from this. Thanks for reading, advice would be greatly appreciated. Katie

After being denied cause of a weight gain over 6 months, Aetna does have the 3 month program. It's all I got left so I have been doing it. Not too hard in my first month I have lost 10 pounds. U won't be done till October. Sigh!!! But better late than never!! I can't imagine they would deny me for losing weight!!! Lol