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So unfortunate, but I understand. Yes, it does happen. It may sound strange, but being overweight has actually made me a better person. I feel that everything happens for a reason, and you learn and grow from experiences. I went from being very thin and fit to 120 lbs overweight. When I was thin, I had more "guy" friends. Could have been because I was involved in sports, who knows. After my weight gain, I have more "girl" friends. I don't really miss my guy friends, maybe because I am married with a family. I seriously hope I don't loose my girl friends with my weight loss, but if I do, I guess they weren't friends after all. One thing I have noticed is that I am a nicer, more understanding and less judgmental. I don't think I would be this way had I always remained thin. It's not that I was a nasty person before I gained the weight, just not as "aware" as I am now. I am looking forward to sports, being able to enjoy doing things with my family that I haven't been able to do for 10 years. I am grateful for all this has taught me. I don't know how certain people will treat me, but I know how to now treat others and I have a different outlook. Sounds kinda crazy, geez- I sure hope I pass my psych exam next week.....lol

I have the same problem. I am 6 wks out today and I still weigh every morning when I wake up. My doctor said weigh once a week on the say day, but I just can't. I like you, am scared of gaining an ounce. Before the band the "stuck" periods or the slight gains (.4 oz) would drive me nuts and I'd say screw it, I am eating what I want, then I would gain back everything I had lost. Well, with the band I have been really good about staying on course. If I see and up one day or a few days of the same thing I try something different. Also, now that I am exercising each day it seems that I am hitting plateaus more often, but my husband said pay attention to my clothes, which is true, my pants, shirts, even underware fit better. I know it is working. So my advice would be do what makes you feel comfortable and know that just because you have an up day or a stretch of the same weight, that it is normal and stay on course. Warning when your TOM gets close Water weight gain is a b*****.

This fear is what has kept me from getting surgery when I first considered it at age 22. I'm (almost) 32 now and have only ballooned even bigger in the last 10 years!! I look back now and WISH I was the same weight I was at age 22 - and I thought I was at my max BACK THEN. Also, I have worked in health insurance for the last 10 years as well - In claims, pre-authorizations, AND in underwriting, so I've seen the good, bad, ugly and UGLIEST of things people have gone through with these surgeries. I feel like I've seen it all!! But on the flip side, I could also be one of those unfortunate people that strokes out or has a heart attack in their 30s simply because they're too fat. Would I rather give up cake for the rest of my life or be paralyzed? Uh, I'll pass on that cake... What really made me open my eyes and say this is the better choice is that I was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure. Despite lifelong obesity, I've remained relatively healthy. The only major medical problem I've had is gall stones and I had my gall bladder removed right away with zero complications. Other than that, good blood work, good bp (until recently), good everything else except being big. I just know that without this tool, I'm going to fail at losing weight as I have been doing for my whole life. Weight gain and/or complications are just bridges I'll have to cross when/if I get to them. In the meantime, the best thing we can do for our health is to THINK POSITIVELY! Whatever weight loss plan you ultimately choose, surgery or not, it's gonna require patience and commitment - and plenty of setbacks. That is what makes our journey our own. Good luck! You can do this!

I went natural 3 years ago, I just wash, twist and keep going. I feel so much better, no having to worry about my hair sweating out during my workout sessions. I have been banded since May 7, 2012 and have since lost 36 pounds without a fill. I am thinking that this is slow weight loss, but my doctors tells me that I am doing pretty good to not have had a fill yet. There are weeks that I get frustrated due to water weight gain and muscle gain. Just trying to stay encouraged.

good morning! The ups and downs of being banded. Well, I am working on getting my weight down again. It is a constant struggle. I am not sure, but I think I would trade my love of food for a decent weight. It just seems wrong for me personally to have spent so much of my life dealing with food and weight. sigh! I find that liquids for a day or so help get my pouch back to size. I have mentally considered a different surgery as well. It is very frustrating! I am not really as negative as this post seems. I still am down from where I was. Even with my recent weight gain of a few pounds, I am still in the same clothes. For me to "catch" myself this early in the weight gain is very good. Maybe I am learning?

As of today i have lost 30lbs since my preop diet and the surgery. That means i added my 3rd bead. But the most exciting thing today is i noticed i have lost 5 points off my BMI... now thats exciting a long way to go but Yay. I am a bit worried as of today i am on high dose steriods due to a bad case of bronchitis and that is a worry cause it causes blood sugar spikes and weight gain. So got to watch it..

I use the depo shot. I love it. Go in every 3 months, for 15 mins and you are done. I haven't noticed any weight gain and I don't get periods anymore. I would recommend it but check with your Dr.

I have been on depression meds since 1984. It has been so long now, that I just consider them additional Vitamins. I have had to change types over the years, and in fact blame a bit of my weight gain on the depression puills. Anyway, my advice would be to keep the two issues as separate as you can. Treat your depression as it is needed. Treat your VSG sysmptoms as well. But try not to combine them. Not being able to eat is depressing. No doubt about it. i am going through a real tough time right now with solid foods (7 weeks post-op). We still go out to eat. Here is why. Before I would have spent 10-15 bucks on dinner and 10+ more on beer. And that was to eat unhealthy and drink beer. Now we go out and I spend 10-15 on dinner (and 4 bucks on ice tea - they should be arrested for a felony.... sorry got off on my soap box there.). So before I spent 10-15 and now I spend 10-15. The difference is that I eat 1/10 of it. It bothered me at first. then you know what. I said poo on it. i am going to order what I want and eat what I can. I bought it, it is mine, if I want to sticvk it in my ear I can. So if I do not eat all of it - so what. A watse? sure. If I can not take it home it is a waste. But you know what? It is your business. eat what you can. I have also come to the realization that I am eating so little, that I can be a bit more adventurous with my foods. 10,000,000 million calories a serving? Not for 3 teaspoons it is not!!! I am finding that in my period of really struggling (I took Monday off because I felt so bad and down and was not eating enough), that a treat is in order. I had some baby back ribs last ***ht. Took me 30 minutes to eat a few of them.... but so what. I think everyone in the resturant could hear me lick my fingers.... ha ha ha I am enjoying these... I would take 2 bites or so and then simply wait 5 minutes before eating any more. It worked okay for me. If I eat too fast bad things hapen, so go slow and enjoy whatever amount you can. Do not let the reduced portion size make you crazy, allow the yummy-ness of the food to speak for it self. And finally, some part of your depression has to be related to your weight and that has to be getting better. So, with all the struggles, there has to be some good feelings about the weight loss and the improved appearance. And that has to help with the depression. I can fully understand your position, (I am in it right there with ya), it will get better. And you will look and feel better. Right now just figure out the best way to enjoy what you can during this short period of adjustment. I wish you the very best of luck, and you have friends here - all understanding of your situation, keep us informed and reach out when you get down.

I have my first post-op appointment today. I was banded June 22. I'm down a total 8lbs which is disappointing but i was warned not to expect weight loss after surgery and possibly even a weight gain until I start getting fills. I'm excited for my fill today. i'm ready to get this show on the road!!

I was skinny until college. The sad thing is because I went from a size 2 in 7th grade to a size 10 in High School I was deemed as "getting fat." I fulfilled the foreshadowing that was laid out for me. I was so self conscious and was always told how pretty I am but I knew that there was an underlying tone to it. I remember never feeling like I was pretty all through college. My self esteem was shot by then. I got up to 252 lbs and met the man I love. He loved me just as I was. He encouraged me as I went on a journey to lose 52lbs. However things didn't work out because I found out he was with someone else while we were together. When I confronted him with it I of course immediately asked was she skinner than me. He told me what he thought was going to be a good thing...that his friend asked him all time if he really loved me because I was fat and he always told him yes. That was the beginning of my weight gain back to 257lbs. I'm now down to 240 and scheduled for surgery on 8/22. I've since been able to forgive my ex and he is my best friend because I was able to tell him why that hurt and tell his friend that I knew what he said about me. Now that Im getting ready for the lapband he keeps telling me that I'll change because most people desert people around them after WLS. I was able to confidently say YES I will be leaving some people behind in my new life...The Colonel, Ronald McDonald and anyone else who only sells fattening foods. I knew one thing I had to begin to do before I had this surgery was to forgive anyone who hurt me but most of all forgive myself. I let what other people thought of me bring me to this point but I am not taking them with me from here.

Hello August Sleevers! My name is Julie & I'll be sleeved on the 9th! Anyone care to join me?? ) Just started my 10-day liquid Protein pre-op diet yesterday, so the countdown has officially begun! I can't believe it's coming up so quickly! Yesterday was pretty easy, little hunger today. Will get through it, though! Thought I'd introduce myself! ...I'm a married mother of 2 awesome teenage boys (17 & 14) from Credit River, Minnesota. I'm an interior designer by trade, but have been a full-time glass bead artist & jewelry designer for the last 5 years. I love what I do! (who wouldn't? I get to play with fire!!) If you want to check out my work, feel free to visit my website by clicking the "glass artist" link below my name in my signature. I've always been creative & am so happy being able to do what I do. I'm also very blessed to have a husband who supports his family & gives me the freedom to do what I love! I've dealt w/ weight issues my entire adult life, actually since high school. Not one to jump on the fad diet bandwagon, I've mainly done programs like Weight Watchers, having small short lived successes, but have never been able to really maintain any kind of loss for long. A few years ago my doctor brought up WLS & I didn't even consider it.... one one hand it seemed too extreme & on the other, it seemed like the easy way out (yes, I know better!) Over time, however, w/ much research & even more weight gain, I realized that I was in a never ending cycle that I seriously needed to do something about. I stopped looking @ WLS as an easy fix.... realizing that I was still going to be required to do all of the work & instead, I started looking at WLS as an amazing tool that I've never had access to before. Yeah, I know how to lose weight & yeah, I should be able to do this on my own, but for some reason, I haven't been able to. WLS is a permanent fix. Yeah, I know weight can still be gained if you aren't doing what's necessary, but the fact is that a large part of my stomach is going to be removed & I'm going to have minimum capacity there. I'm taking a huge risk to do this & I'm not about to be stupid about it. I know how important getting the right nutrition is going to be & I also know I'll need to move my butt. This is the heavy hand that I obviously need to get this job done! I'm not taking this lightly. I'm thrilled to have a local friend going through the vertical sleeve procedure w/ me... her surgery date is set for early September, so it'll be great for us to be there to support eachother.... but I'm really happy to have found you guys & this awesome message board / support system. I've already been inspired by so many success stories & I'm really looking forward to becoming part of the community... really enjoy connecting w/ & motivating/inspiring others! I've decided to blog my experience... something to help me document this new journey of mine. Oh yeah... I started this journey w/ my first appointment in January this year @ 285lbs, my heaviest ever. I'm sitting @ 272lbs, pre-post-op diet. Will be interesting to see where I am this time next week before surgery & can't wait to see where things go from here!! xoxox....

I know the feeling! It was just suggested to me today at my 3 month post op about the apple and pb. Up until this point I have avoided buying it myself because I'm afraid of being out of control with it. I also live alone. But I went and bought it. I figured i'd give it a try. I'm worried about it might be a weight gaining food for me. I also bought pickles today too! lol!

Hi former_vbg! I don't know much about your situation other than what you've got in your signature. But I do see that you've been VERY successful with your sleeve! Congratulations on a job well done, and being an inspiration to those of us still on that road. I wanted to point out a couple of cautionary things. You mention in your post that you've "developed a taste for crunchy / salty things in the past several months". That's okay in moderation, but as you've identified, it's not easy for you to control. One of the problems many of us obese (formerly obese in your case!) patients share is food addiction and the inability to manage our cravings. You've clearly done VERY well in managing things to get to your goal. Now is not the time to let that self-control slip away from you! You can indulge your love of salty foods "once in a while", but as you mention, it sounds like going cold-turkey with the pickles will help prevent you from going down a slippery slope. The sodium not only contributes to water retention and weight gain, it also stresses your kidneys, creates an electrolyte imbalance in your entire body, and increases the work your heart must do (greater resistance in your blood vessels means having to pump harder to distribute blood - a classic cause of high blood pressure!). I'm not saying a day or two of pickle-fixation is going to create any long-term problems......and we all have cravings we occasionally need to fill. Heck, we're only human! Just keep an eye on yourself and your behaviors and nip them in the bud if they look like they could become a problem. FYI, I also love pickles, but I usually have 1-2 a week with my lunch and that's it. Luckily my current fixation is with sashimi and since it's all Protein, I'm okay (LOL). I go VERY easy on the soy sauce and wasabi. Congrats again on doing fantastic with your sleeve and getting to goal!

I have had fluid taken out twice when too full. Recently I had to have it all removed. My lapband dr. prefers for it to be empty for an endoscopy. My GI dr was happy about that lol. I was not. Prior to that I was having major issues, 5.5 ccs of fluid was removed. After a couple of days I was able to eat anything, so now I know my band was too tight. I've had 2 cc's put back in and I can still eat anything. Which of course means weight gain, as I've used this as an excuse to eat what I've been "missing". I go back the end of Aug for another fill. I will be more aware of how much is being put back in and know 5.5 is too much. Prior to being empited, I lost 15 lbs in less than 3 weeks. So of course that came back plus 5 more. In a way this was good because it made me realize how much of a tool the band was, and I admit I abused that 5.5 cc's to lose weight in a unhealthy way. Now I have to lose that 20lbs all over again. But will do it the healthy way and utilize my band as the tool it's meant to be vs abuse it and risk health issues. My reason for having to have the Endoscopy in the first place was my ENT was very concerned about the rawness of my esophogus, this of course was due to all the vomiting I was doing when I was too full and couldn't keep anything down. He said what do you think comes up with that food, ACID... you are going to ruin your esophogus and have ulcers. So please think twice about keeping your band too tight for the weight loss. This is not directed at any one person, as I read several posts regarding this. I'm just sharing my experience. And as a nurse, I feel I should. Good Luck everyone, stay healthy and happy weight loss.

Yes, it definitely changed for me also. I used to keep my ac at 60 during the summer. Now that's too cold. I've lost 100+ lbs. Funny, one of the side effects of hypothyroidism is being cold all the time. That was exactly opposite for me. Had every other side effect (weight gain, sleepiness), but was always hot. It'll probably change for you too! Marci

I was in BH for over 3 months with no weight loss and no weight gain. It's disappointing when we go into this thinking we'll immediately start losing a lot of weight only to find we didn't read the fine print. Looking back, for me, it's been a blessing to take longer for the band to begin to work. I've learned much about myself, my eating habits and how to communicate with my band. tmf

There are two types of weight gains/losses. Most of the weight you lose in the beginning will be Water loss. It depends on how much you have to lose. The more you weigh, the more fluids you retain. Fat loss is what you really want. So don't pay much attention to short term gains as they can be just Fluid retention. I can go up or down 7 lbs in one week(all fluides) if I go nuts and eat chips, ice cream etc. If you are eating healthy foods and keeping your caloried count down you probably are not gaining fat. tmf

Hi, I have also had three years plus with my Lap Band. Love it and I would do it all again. I have had a slight weight gain after a surgery and I will need to get off those crazy carbs too. I think the trainer is smart. I think I need to switch my foods around and make some exercise changes if I am going to shake these last few extra unwanted pounds off. I know how much better I feel without this extra weight. I want that feeling again. Thanks for sharing and lets keep intouch. I have no one I can talk to about this. I'm off to work then the YMCA. going to jump start my LB program again. No more lazy me. Best wishes and thanks. imaluckydog

JennyBee...lol... youre funny. no .. i havent done that but im deeply appreciative just the same. im really impressed by the minimal weight gain you had on your cruise. can you give me some tips? im cruising with our young grand daughter...aged 15. she doesnt know im banded and i dont want to tell her either... so what did you do to keep the weight gain to a minimum? did you have a slight unfill before you went?

I believe that many times our weight gain is not necessarily fat gained. My daughter and grankdkids came for a visit for 6 days. Grandkids are teenagers and we had chips, ice cream, breads and all kinds of bad stuff around that house and I ate my share. But, we did ride bikes most every day so I did get in my exercise. Long story short, I gained 7 lbs in 6 days. BUT, after they left I went back to my usual lapband friendly diet and lost 9 lbs in one week. Now it's impossible to lose 9 lbs of fat in one week but it's easy to gain or lose 7 lbs of Fluid in one week. So, the net loss was 2 lbs over the near two weeks they visited. So, don't dispair. Most of what you've gained is probably Water weight and not fat. tmf

Remembr that you are healing. I had surgery on the 9th and I still get tired at times and have to know when to slow down and even tell myself to stop. As far as the gas it will be there for a while. Walk walk and walk is the best medicine. The pain in the left shoulder lasted about 1 week in a half and that was the worst part of it all. The intake will gradually come just do not get dehydrated. The week after surgery I lost 5 pounds now I fluctuate between 1-2 pounds weight gain over the last two weeks. I think it is time to step up my exercise. At first when walking on the treadmill I would get exhausted. Now I think I can walk a little more. The good thing is I can see a big difference in my clothes. So just hang in there it will get better.

actually yes, I got diagnosed with a liver disease and during treatment for that, in order to keep my liver and kidneys from failing, I was put on HUGE amounts of steroids - which then caused steroid secreting tumors in my body, which created a huge weight gain. I gained weight from breathing. After the sleeve and having the tumors removed, life has been GRAND.

I'm allowed 2 Snacks, am snack/pm snack. For those who can snack or who does snack, what are some of your favorites? Which have you eaten that hasn't caused weight gain or any issues with your band? Thanks Lala

612belly man oh man, did i see right? you gained 4 lbs. only kidding about your small weight gain,don't kick yourself in the tush too much don't beat yourself up about it either i am now hanging head down very low i had two weeks prior to WLS, that i went food crazy My dr. didn't require a pre- op diet op before WLS. i wish he had, that might have prevented me from eating too much. so its the dr.s fault, right? i don't think so, he didn't force food down my throat i didn't need any help with that I gained weight pre-surgery. mmm don't seem to remember how much i gained oh yeah, for my ears only its true, other people go through this longer food funeral too, so you're not the only one good luck, you'll be fine kathy

I knew things were bad; my hip hurt, my knees hurt, my feet hurt, and we were in Amsterdam with nothing but tall, gorgeous, thin women.....I was 223. Then one morning I woke up and my husband of 20 years was having a melt down of sorts (this was very rare; we never fought).....when I asked him what was wrong; he launched into a long speech about how much my weight gain had bothered him over the years but he kept thinking I would figure it out; but I kept getting fatter. We spent the rest of the day getting the monster out of the closet; talking, crying, yelling, lots of stuff came out. I knew I couldn't do it on my own and within a month I had the surgery. It was the best of times and the worst of times......but now, 9 months out and a few lbs from my goal weight, I can say it was the best decision of my life and I've had the best year of my life.