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The recent statistics from the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) has reported that about one-third (33.8%) of U.S. adults are obese. That number rises every day, and keeping up with it is more difficult than keeping up with your stocks. I work with the finest bariatric surgeons in the U.S. They are dedicated to helping their patients lose weight in an effort to thwart diseases, and minimize current disease progression. I also run several 12-step food addiction groups in the city of Houston and online in many cities. I talk to morbidly obese patients everyday. I teach them, counsel them, eat with them, and spend endless hours reading their journals. These patients have a story to tell, but we aren’t listening and we continue asking the wrong questions. To be sure, obesity is genetic and many times the social milieu of obese patients I work with is chaotic with issues of abuse, abandonment, shame, ridicule, and anger. The genetic role helps explain the body type; the way food may be processed, stored, and proportioned. It cannot explain what keeps the person from changing the behavior that contributes to obesity. In my work, during step 4 of the 12-step addiction group, the group members begin making amends. They look at how their behavior got them where they are. They quit thinking about how they were abused, and begin to consider how they hurt/abused others. The step is painful, gut wrenching and overwhelming for all of these patients. It is also the step I ask them, “How do you benefit from being obese?” At first they look at me as if I am crazy. After all, they are weight loss surgery patients, and have gone to extremes to lose weight. They laugh, shake their head, and say, “Mary Jo, what are you smoking?” Then the room gets quiet. One of the bravest patients will say, “My obesity gives me an excuse. I am not held to the same standards as others; they don’t expect it, because I am morbidly obese.” Another will chime in, “My obesity keeps men away; I was sexually abused by my dad for 4 years of my life.” A statistic that no one likes to talk about was one mentioned in Bariatric Times in 2007. As many as 20 to 40% of obese women have been sexually molested, harassed and/or perpetrated (they know it’s higher than that but can’t ascertain the exact amount). Yet another will talk about how her/his marriage is so distant that food has become their lover/best friend. They are lonely, and they eat to comfort that incredible sense of loss. Another part of my job focuses on the group that failed the weight loss surgery. If you have never been morbidly obese, or gone through a weight loss surgery only to have the weight come back, you cannot understand the depth of failing these patients feel. They are cursed by their unresolved reasons for going back to food. They don’t understand it, and often those who love them most don’t either. A Gastric Bypass, Gastric Sleeve, Lap Band, or Duodenal Shift is never going to successfully keep weight off if the patient has no idea why they are eating, and experience a fear of stopping. Many of the cravings patients feel are emotional; totally unrelated to real hunger. How can a weight loss surgery of any kind manage emotional hunger? It cannot. When we evaluate patients who struggle with obesity we talk frequently about denial. I am beginning to think they are no more in denial than we, the health care professionals. We can talk food all we want, but most of my patients know what healthy food is; they could write a cookbook with the calorie count included! They know food like most of us know our lover. What they need help with are the tough questions. One of those questions is, “What are the benefits you are experiencing from your obesity?” We have to ask this, and we should ask it prior to weight loss surgery so we can begin the process of helping them understand this part. People drop old behaviors when they are no longer benefiting from them. You don’t need to be a weight loss surgery patient to begin the yoyo dieting process. If weight protects you from receiving attention, and you have been sexually abused in your childhood, then when you begin losing weight you are going to turn to food to manage the anxiety you feel when a man gives you eye contact. When patients begin to understand what they are protecting or avoiding with their weight, they can effectively work a weight loss program and keep the weight off. It is also important to look at obese children’s homes especially if there is a substantial weight gain. Many times, something is going on at home that is causing this child to medicate their anxiety with food. Society continues to be judgmental and negative with obese people. One thing is clear: shaming or ignoring obesity is not helping curb or decrease the numbers.

The recent statistics from the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) has reported that about one-third (33.8%) of U.S. adults are obese. That number rises every day, and keeping up with it is more difficult than keeping up with your stocks. I work with the finest bariatric surgeons in the U.S. They are dedicated to helping their patients lose weight in an effort to thwart diseases, and minimize current disease progression. I also run several 12-step food addiction groups in the city of Houston and online in many cities. I talk to morbidly obese patients everyday. I teach them, counsel them, eat with them, and spend endless hours reading their journals. These patients have a story to tell, but we aren’t listening and we continue asking the wrong questions. To be sure, obesity is genetic and many times the social milieu of obese patients I work with is chaotic with issues of abuse, abandonment, shame, ridicule, and anger. The genetic role helps explain the body type; the way food may be processed, stored, and proportioned. It cannot explain what keeps the person from changing the behavior that contributes to obesity. In my work, during step 4 of the 12-step addiction group, the group members begin making amends. They look at how their behavior got them where they are. They quit thinking about how they were abused, and begin to consider how they hurt/abused others. The step is painful, gut wrenching and overwhelming for all of these patients. It is also the step I ask them, “How do you benefit from being obese?” At first they look at me as if I am crazy. After all, they are weight loss surgery patients, and have gone to extremes to lose weight. They laugh, shake their head, and say, “Mary Jo, what are you smoking?” Then the room gets quiet. One of the bravest patients will say, “My obesity gives me an excuse. I am not held to the same standards as others; they don’t expect it, because I am morbidly obese.” Another will chime in, “My obesity keeps men away; I was sexually abused by my dad for 4 years of my life.” A statistic that no one likes to talk about was one mentioned in Bariatric Times in 2007. As many as 20 to 40% of obese women have been sexually molested, harassed and/or perpetrated (they know it’s higher than that but can’t ascertain the exact amount). Yet another will talk about how her/his marriage is so distant that food has become their lover/best friend. They are lonely, and they eat to comfort that incredible sense of loss. Another part of my job focuses on the group that failed the weight loss surgery. If you have never been morbidly obese, or gone through a weight loss surgery only to have the weight come back, you cannot understand the depth of failing these patients feel. They are cursed by their unresolved reasons for going back to food. They don’t understand it, and often those who love them most don’t either. A Gastric Bypass, Gastric Sleeve, Lap Band, or Duodenal Shift is never going to successfully keep weight off if the patient has no idea why they are eating, and experience a fear of stopping. Many of the cravings patients feel are emotional; totally unrelated to real hunger. How can a weight loss surgery of any kind manage emotional hunger? It cannot. When we evaluate patients who struggle with obesity we talk frequently about denial. I am beginning to think they are no more in denial than we, the health care professionals. We can talk food all we want, but most of my patients know what healthy food is; they could write a cookbook with the calorie count included! They know food like most of us know our lover. What they need help with are the tough questions. One of those questions is, “What are the benefits you are experiencing from your obesity?” We have to ask this, and we should ask it prior to weight loss surgery so we can begin the process of helping them understand this part. People drop old behaviors when they are no longer benefiting from them. You don’t need to be a weight loss surgery patient to begin the yoyo dieting process. If weight protects you from receiving attention, and you have been sexually abused in your childhood, then when you begin losing weight you are going to turn to food to manage the anxiety you feel when a man gives you eye contact. When patients begin to understand what they are protecting or avoiding with their weight, they can effectively work a weight loss program and keep the weight off. It is also important to look at obese children’s homes especially if there is a substantial weight gain. Many times, something is going on at home that is causing this child to medicate their anxiety with food. Society continues to be judgmental and negative with obese people. One thing is clear: shaming or ignoring obesity is not helping curb or decrease the numbers.

I recently saw a new station talking about a new clinical study out showing the effects of WLS on diabetes Type II. I found this article taken from Seattle PI.com Weight Loss Surgery for Diabetes Patients – A Problematic Choice Share4 With obesity rates in the United States and around the world continuously rising, surgery for weight loss is becoming an ever more acceptable option. Now, two clinical studies suggest that diabetics can benefit from operations as well. Type 2 (or adult-onset) diabetes is mostly linked to weight problems and has reached similarly epidemic proportions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of diabetes cases has nearly tripled over the last three decades and affects today more than 20 million Americans. Both study reports – one from Italy, the other from the United States – concluded that surgical procedures, a.k.a. bariatric surgery, by which the size of the stomach is considerably reduced, enabled patients not only to lose weight but also manage their blood sugar levels more effectively than traditional measures like dieting and medication. Bariatric Surgery Can Carry Great Risks, Including Malnutrition The findings, which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, may change how many diabetes cases will be treated in the future. Proponents of bariatric surgery say the studies confirmed that stomach size reduction should no longer be seen as a last resort but should be considered earlier in the treatment of obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Others warned that more studies are needed and that the risks in connection with the procedures available today remain high. According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), about 200,000 surgical procedures for weight loss are performed annually in the U.S. The National Institute of Health (NIH) says that surgery should only be recommended for people with a body mass index (B.M.I.) of over 40, or over 35 for those with diabetes and other serious illnesses related to weight problems. For the studies, the researchers limited themselves to three types of weight loss surgery: Roux-en-Y, biliopancreatic diversion and sleeve gastrectomy. Roux-en-Y is the most commonly applied method of gastric bypass surgery, by which a small part of the stomach is sealed off and then directly connected to the small intestine. Biliopancreatic diversion removes large parts of the stomach and bypasses the majority of the small intestine as well, which limits both food intake and absorption of nutrients. Sleeve gastrectomy reshapes the stomach into a smaller tube but does not alter the way food enters or leaves it. Needless to say, these are all very drastic steps to prevent weight gain and a host of diseases that often go with it, including diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol and so forth. As a dietitian, my greatest concern is how the anatomical changes affect the metabolism of patients. Because bariatric surgery limits food intake so dramatically and also diminishes the absorption of nutrients, there is a great risk of malnutrition. Especially a sufficient supply of protein, which is extremely important during rapid weight loss for overall health and to allow for proper healing from the surgery, can become hard to obtain. Part of the reason for this is that the initial digestion of proteins takes place in the stomach, which after surgery is not only reduced in size but also in capacity. Even more problematic is the hindered absorption of essential nutrients in the small intestine because some or much of it is bypassed. This affects the absorption of carbohydrates, proteins and fats but also vitamins and minerals. Potential complications, not only from the surgical procedure itself but also from the nutritional deficiencies, are multiple. Bariatric surgery should never be considered as a quick fix, on par with cosmetic surgery. It is a profound alteration of the digestive system that is risky and requires permanent changes in diet and lifestyle choices. Intensive post-operational counseling and strict observation of nutritional guidelines are an absolute must. Timi Gustafson R.D. is a clinical dietitian and author of the book “The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun”®, which is available on her blog, “Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D.” (http://www.timigustafson.com), and at amazon.com. You can follow Timi on Twitter and on Facebook.

Update. Now over 3 weeks post band removal. Feeling good. Energy level returning to normal. Delighted no weight gain - haven't become a ravenous beast. Determined to maintain current weight.

Anyone out there that would like to do the 5Day Pouch Test Diet and get back on the wagon together? My email addy is congarich@gmail.com. Let me know!

I am another person that started wearing brighter clothing once the weight started coming off. I always did like dark clothing, but with such extreme weight gain over the years, I pretty much HID behind it all as a way to hopefully not be noticed as much. It is funny though in that through the years, I didn't really consider that aspect of it until the weight loss started. I HATED pink in my old life, I had a cousin joke that she would be having me wearing pink in no time and I told her NO NO WAY. Guess who now wears pink in addition to every other color out there now? lol... Times sure do change. I care about my makeup now as well, didn't really care to even bother with it much in the past. Now I make sure I at least throw on some base makeup and powder if I am going out of the house, more makeup if I am headed out to eat or to visit someone or to Doctors, etc. And I always make sure to keep up with keeping my hair dyed now too, I hate when my greys start coming in and never really worried about it much before. I also have been picking up some newer, prettier jewelry, plus I inherited a whole armoire completely full of pretty pieces from an Aunt that sadly passed last year and I have been wearing her things as well. Not that I am particularly vain now, at least I hope I haven't become overly vain. But I do care about looking like a vibrant woman again, and that feels wonderful. Add to this the fact that I feel more assertive than I have in YEARS, I gained a backbone.

I am the opposite. I am gaining weight pretty quickly and I am pregnant with twins. I lost 100 pounds with my band(July,2009). I had my last fill April, 2011. I have gained about 15 lbs since last fall (I weighed 165 in October and now I am 180). I also got married last fall and I believe that I have gained due to the fact that I needed an adjustment prior to getting pregnant...sometimes I worry about slippage/erosion causing weight gain...I still feel restriction though...I just eat more often. I am scared that I am going to gain too much weight. I know I am pregnant but it is hard to see that scale moving up. Anyone else out there tell me what it is like to gain weight while banded...I never gained weight before...I would see the scale stop moving down and get an adjustment. At 165 lbs, I wore a size 10, and I am wearing a medium maternity pants, so maybe it is just the babies...I don't know..advice, please.

Hi crop queen, thank you for your kind response. It has been 10 days and am feeling better. Your responses to me and others have been nurturing and much appreciated. The weight loss is coming along, down the initial Water weight gain and down another 12. Have felt sick a few times when I have drank to quickly, than have to remind myself to sip. This is definetly a life style change. Buy just wanted to say thank you. Sent from my DROIDX using VST Hi crop queen, thank you for your kind response. It has been 10 days and am feeling better. Your responses to me and others have been nurturing and much appreciated. The weight loss is coming along, down the initial water weight gain and down another 12. Have felt sick a few times when I have drank to quickly, than have to remind myself to sip. This is definetly a life style change. Buy just wanted to say thank you. Sent from my DROIDX using VST

I think with any surgery you can gain wait back. The only thing with the best numbers in regards to weight gain is the DS. I haven't heard anyone gaining all their weight back, but I mean if you stretch out your sleeve or your pouch, and you eat crap it will happen. If a person hasn't learned to eat right within the eighteen to twenty four months, then it can start to come back on. My friend gained about forty pounds back, and she had the RNY. Thing is she gained that back after about nine years of her surgery, still gaining alot at any date post op sucks. Thing is she doesn't eat that great all the time.

I also fear going back to the places I was as I lose this weight. As I hit new milestones I think "this is what I was doing at this weight in my life". The emotional and physical abuse I suffered was the main reason for my weight gain and going through it again will be hard. I have spent the last 24 years of my total 30 on earth building up this wall of fat to protect me. I am ready now to get it off and hopefully deal with the reasons behind it. Thank you for sharing this. It really hit home with me. And also gives me hope that I can go through it and make to the other side.

I wouldn't worry about the weight gain; obviously your body is trying to heal right now. I'm sorry you're going through this, it sounds awful. Just from what you're describing (and of course I'm no expert or doctor) you aren't drinking enough and it seems like you may need to stay with the clear liquids (water, broth) for longer than usual. Keep in touch with your doctors as they will be the best to help you!

I still weigh daily. I too think weighing daily helps identify patterns. I would not weigh daily if it discouraged me by seeing a weight gain. To each his/her own.

I heard that diet soda can also cause weight gain, but I didn't know why, Thank you for the information now I will have no problem letting diet soda go for good!

I weigh myself daily. Always when I first wake up, after I've used the bathroom, and always in my birthday suit. I don't beat myself up over small fluctuations in my weight each day. I've actually found it very interesting because I've learned what my patterns are for my monthly cycle with regards to water weight gain and loss and how my hormones affect this. I've been able to track when in any given month I'm going to stall and what week I typically lose. It's helped me to understand my stalls because now I know the pattern. I'm sure I won't be a daily weigh-er the rest of my life but I will probably weigh weekly and then monthly as I figure out my maintenance phase as my 1 year mark gets closer. I DO NOT recommend weighing daily for those that are going to let the number effect them emotionally. If the number is going to negatively impact your day, then don't do it.

I'm 2 weeks out and I lost in the beginning but I am gaining now. I hid my scale because I was obsessing but this morning I got it back out and I have gained 2lbs. I don't have a fill until April 17th but I have been following the dr's orders very closely. I've never been able to lose weight and I'm freaking out this is not going to work HELP

Last May, a WL Dr put paperwork in to my ins co to get a pre-authorization to begin a12-month weight loss counseling program. I weighed 206. During the summer I had a terrible family event and put on 20 lbs. On May 2 my yr will be finished and the Dr will put thru the final paperwork and it's going to show that I gained. I'm worried I will be turned down so now I'm desparate to try an lose 15 lbs in 5 weeks. A little depressed because I don't know if I can do it...... His surgical muse has even penciled me in for June 26. I'm do close but feel so far.

It often seems to me that people make things up as they go along.Very often,depending on who they are talking to,the story changes to suite the audience.About events in their lives,about the way they feel about thing and the way they have experienced it.Human beings are great at self deception and deceiving....not always on purpose either.Often to make things seem better.Often to make ourselves look better and often because we just dont remember things the way they happened.I have friends that had this surgery and the way they remember the early days now is not the way I remember it at all,and I did go through this at some small level with them...what they ate,how they felt,how they reacted to things. The purpose of my blog is to expose the way having a surgery like this makes me feel.What it does to me physically and my reactions to it.How it affects my every day life and what my expectations are. Now,I live in a country where no one is prepaired to admit they had this surgery.Support group is in early developmental stage and my great therapist left abruptly in the middle of last year sans a 65 pounds regain from me and the surgery as a result. I do not work outside of my house and I have a full time live in housekeeper.I have 2 kids,one at uni and one going to middle school next year.I have a lot of free time on my hands at the moment as a whole lot of my close friends left the country last year and the friends I have left are the people that we mostly eat with and have coffee mornings or tea with.That in itself is slightly challenging for me at the moment.Eating out,going to Friday "brunch" (lunch like on sunday) going to lunch with friends and eating cakes at coffee shops for some reason,mostly peoples birthdays or going away teas, are big passtimes for us here.o,when we are not to heavy or ashamed of the weight gains we also exercise together when we can agree on which class to do.Life as an expat is different.life in the middle east is different.It is a good life with lots of disposable cash and no family support structure and a lot of heartache over good friends leaving.It is a trancient society where no one ever really gets to know anyone too well...they will leave again so you just dont invest too much of yourself in people anymore...10 years experiencing all this teaches one how to protect your heart.All this might seem very trivial to some but I do not need to defend my life or justify the way we live anymore.This was the first thing I now had to overcome.This is my life and it is great. We are blessed beyond believe with a wonderful church and wonderful people in church.Our kids are healthy and doing great.We have enough money to travel a lot and life in general...just great. This surgery is a big thing in my life.I believe I am as positive as I can be about it.As for my feelings about the long term outcome.I know I will have to make this work.At the moment it is still a little overwhelming to me that it is school holiday and insteat of going to stay at a beach resort we will stay home...the eating thing is just to complicated for me at the moment.Summer holidays are coming up in little less than 3 months.This is the time of year we go back to our home countries for 2 months or travel to europe to holiday,how will I cope with that?The lack of routine always gets to me during summer and the family back home do not know about this surgery. I am,and will go through all 120 different emotions every day and I will acknowledge each and every one of them.Pay attention to the good ones and let go of the bad ones.That is the way I will earn to deal with the new me.The me that cannot eat away pain.The me that constantly think about food.The me that realize that my hunger has always been in my head,and it feels no different now. This is how I will overcome using food for fun and learn to be normal.I can feel all this and not react to it.Not act on it.Not give in to it.I will be honest about everything I eat and feel. I will win this battle to become normal.

This weight gain is what we call a bounce. It's basically water weight and will be gone in a flash. Don't stress over it, just be grateful for where you are today and keep following the sleeve rules.

All the comments above are accurate. You may need to seek counseling as to the reason you "replaced food with alcohol" for me, food was my friend, my constant companion, my stress relief, and utmost, my anger/anxiety relief. I have had to redirect my emotional eating to something else. In the middle of my journey, i too turned to alcohol. Weight gain scared me and so i did some soul searching and decided i needed a healtier coping skill. Recently it has been the gym and i find that i get irritable when i cant make it there. This is not only a journey of weight loss, but a complete rediscovery of who I/we want to be. It is scary to face the world and reality without a comfort so learning alterative healthy coping skills is a must. You don't want to trade one addiction to another. It's a slippery slope. This site will be a great source of understanding and support, however, you have to search within you and find what you want to change. Good luck with your journey!

After my father's death when I was 13, I lived with my mother and two brothers in South Florida. All along, I wanted to go back to Peru, but now my mother was hesitant because we were in a good school in Florida and coming into important years as teenagers. My mom hoped to return after we finished school. I remember distinctly how much I weighed at each age and stage of my teen years. 4th grade 9 years 115 pounds - went on diet 5th grade 10 years 105 pounds - lost weight 6th grade 11 years 133 pounds - gained 30 pounds in three months after moving to USA 7th grade 12 years 140 pounds 8th grade 13 years 144 pounds - dad dies 9th grade 14 years 150 pounds 10th grade 15 years 160 pounds 11th grade 16 years 170 pounds - went to a diet support group for almost 1 year and started aerobics 12 grade 17 years 155 pounds My brothers were very involved in sports and my older brother who eventually became super morbidly obese was then very lean. My younger brother was a bit overweight until about 8th grade when he began playing sports. My younger brother also always struggled with weight as an adult but never became morbidly obese. They both were encouraged to play sports. While I was athletic, I was relegated to taking care of the house and cooking for the family. This may not seem at all fair, but I think I probably preferred this to sports because I was self-conscious of my body and my weight and had no confidence in my athletic ability. It was later that I realized I was a really strong person and really a fast runner with great hand-eye coordination. Back then I had no clue, so I played piano and did family chores from age 11 on. Every day, I thought about my weight. There was one moment I remember when I thought that if I could see in the future and knew I would be an overweight adult, I would rather not live. I was very desperate over it because I stood out like a sore thumb in South Florida where I was very white with large hips. None of my school friends were like me. They all were tan and thin (I went to a private school and one of the "poor" kids). While I had a great time in many ways in those years, I was tormented by my weight issues. My peers never teased me, but my older brother, my uncles, aunts and a male teacher all told me to lose weight. One aunt offered me money for every pound lost. My mom herself was overweight so she struggled as well. She never weighed more that 180, but was also tormented by it. She and I started attending a wonderful weightloss support group and we started taking an aerobics class together. This is when things started clicking. I lost very slowly compared to the others, but over the next year (during my senior year of highschool), I lost about 15 pounds. I became very health conscious and started my habit of exercising regularly which is key to my success even today. Now looking back, I know that I likely had problems with thyroid function (hashimoto's hypothyroidism). I had a time where I was very sleepy, had trouble functioning and I gained weight and my skin was very dry, etc. The physician tested everything but thyroid function. Now looking back I wonder if my weight would have been less with less struggles if I had been properly diagnosed at that time. I also had PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) which was manifesting then too, but no one really understood that disorder and how it was related to insulin resistance and weight gain. As I reflect, I can see how God has helped me through. In my struggle I started praying, meditating, journaling and reading scripture daily. It was a phenomenal time of spiritual growth and has a lot to do with my personal faith and love in action today. Without the weight struggles I may not have reached out to know God. My weight struggles have also humbled me and helped me to look past the surface in other people. It has shaped me in so many ways, so I can't regret, but move forward and embrace the new me and be thankful for what I have learned along the way!

I have had many periods of plateau's as well as some weight gain on my journey. I was banded over two years ago. But the best thing to remember is that although it is slow.. it is coming off. And it may take you longer than some others that you see on this site.. but it will happen for you! I have lost over 80 pounds... and Im still not there yet.. but hey.. thats better then where I was! My struggle now is making sure I do eat.. so make sure that you are eating because not eating you would think you would loose.. but you dont.. and Iv'e been stuck here for a while... so make sure you eat first thing in the morning to start your metabolism and keep it going all day with healthy snacks and good meals. You will get there... but it is a journey that takes time~!

Thank you!!!! The way my doctor has me set up is, one week clear liquids, second and third week full liquids, meaning all kinds of broths, protein shakes and drinkable yogurts. Then from there I go straight to solids.. So was not sure about the weight gain, and how it will affect my tummy...I guess time will tell!!!

Just curious, I will have been on liquids for three weeks and will be making the change to solids soon, I was wondering how you handled it, did you have bad tummy cramps? What about weight gain? I think that is my biggest concern, is weight gain..Any tips... Thank you!!

What size band do u have cadence ? It wasnt until i got around 7.25 that i really felt some restriction, i got stuck still but woiuld get hungry in between meals and probably eat a little more than i thought i could. My surgeon at Nuffield Hospital says just be careful after a fill, they always do the water test fills then afterwards make u sit and eat a yoghurt before going home, but he doesnt really push for liquids only .. I eat 3 meals a day .. dinner in the evenings around 6 pm i try not to have any snacks at all of an evening just tea or coffee and use them as fillers during the day in between meals. I normally have some form of protein and 2 green veg, or a salad. I always start my dinner with a weight watchers tomato soup to stop me from eating too fast or too much as this makes me feel half full even before i start eating. The trick is to keep everything that you are supposed to do in your head and just tweak it to what works for you.. I know exactly what food i can and cant eat, what makes me heavier in the mornings when i weigh myself and u just have to keep plugging away at it. I do try and do as much exercise as i can as i would be a slow loser without it. I also eat food that supposidly helps speed up the metabolism like broccoli, green tea, asparagus, chilli etc i googled it .. I wouldnt lose much weight at all if i went over 1000 calories a day so i dont, i burn around 800 a day and include strength training which to me is a must to develop muscles enough to burn even more calories.. it works for me anyways, sounds like u still need your fills tweaking . My last fill was 0.3 and that works good for a while, i am back next monday for another small fill .. Good luck and dont give up .. i am sure if you wernet banded you would have put on weight maybe so the loss might not be much but in the grand scheme of things u have halted your weight gains

Hi Everyone, Things are still going well for me. I am so grateful for that, believe me. When I have read of others problems on here I cannot believe my luck. Long may it continue. Now the water weight has gone I did a proper weekly weigh in and am one pound down on before surgery. (However, you could call that 8lbs as that would include the iv fluid weight gain that has gone too) but still one more pound to take off my ticker. Hooray. Went out and about again today, saw someone I hadn't seen in three weeks and they actually said and I quote "Wow, you have lost weight in your face" Thank you thank you thank you. This is the first time someone other than me and my hubby has noticed! I do have one small problem, no, that is overstating it. It isn't a problem, just a little query I am hoping someone can help me with. On one of my incisions sites I have what looks like a piece of clear plastic wire/gut/fishing line???? sticking out. It appears to be attached inside me. Do I a) cut it off close to the skin and forget it? or need to get my doctor to take a look at it? The incision itself is healing nicely and there is no pain around it, and is not puffy or red or anything. So Ladies help me out here, what do I do next? Don't you just love the fact that we can call on each other whenever we need a helping hand. I am as I have stated before, a bit of a luddite when it comes to technology, but here I am asking help from people I have never met who may be half way around the world. Not only that, I am pretty certain that I will get a response too. So thank you in advance if you do respond, and thank goodness for technology too. Best wishes all Phoenix