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logic that "this too shall pass" doesn't always prevail when you're so emotionally and physically married to a situation. We all have times and situations that we freak out about. I know that after i have my adrenal tumors removed, I'll see great progress. I know before that, I probably won't. I have come to terms with that - but for someone who doesn't have an issue like that, and they're doing EVERYTHING right - there's no logic to not losing weight. We are emotional beings. We all do choose how we react to situations, but some are more tenuous and stressful than others for some people. Yes, I get a little flustered when I see that someone is losing their mind over the scale not moving for a day, but when it becomes weeks or months, it gets concerning....is there another medical problem? That's what I'm faced with - I have another medical problem that has led me to GET the sleeve - so it will always be in the back of my mind that there could be another factor. And let's face it - you're a guy. You're blessed with a larger muscle mass and testosterone base - you'll lose weight faster. Women have estrogen and other hormone issues that inhibit weight loss. Not losing weight and gaining weight are symptoms of other medical issues that women get that men cannot possibly fathom. PCOS, Ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, uterine fibroids, and while men can get breast cancer, its exponentially less of a risk for men than women - all of which a symptom is weight gain or unexplained lack of weight loss when it should occur. We also have to worry about menopause, we're more at risk for thyroid and pituitary issues. We wonder about these things every day - there's no cure for most of this stuff - but there sure as hell has been hundreds of millions of dollars put into research to fix erectile disfunction. Yeah - we might get a little testy, but guess what? we have every reason to. I'm not diminishing your success and the medical issues that you have, but you need to recognize that not everyone can just pop out part of their stomach and be all set. It doesn't necessarily work that way for women.

I have only one friend who seems to be very against the idea of surgery. She's lost a lot of weight, gained a little back, and is paying for Weight Watchers again to try and lose more. Every time I mention the surgery, she goes off against it, saying that she's seen it fail so many times and blah blah blah... completely ignoring the fact that a) I am not doing RNY, and b ) I am ME, not any of those people she knows who regained all of their weight. It's insulting, and I'm not sure our relationship will survive my having the surgery. My procedure is on Monday, the 23rd.... so time will tell very soon.

Congratulations!! You are doing the hardest part right now. I know six months sounds like a really long time, but it will go much quicker than you anticipate. Also, take this time to really study your habits and your motivations. The prep work you do makes a huge difference in how you feel during and after the surgery. I actually liked (afterwards... not during lol) that I had to do a pre-surgery thing because when I went in for my surgery there were no surprises and following the diet afterwards was easier because I knew what to expect and because I had already worked on some of the emotions behind the weight gain. Congrats again Courntey! I was you a year ago and now I have had my surgery and I am nearly 90 lbs down It was the best thing I ever did for myself!

my name is jerry,and this is my journey.all this started because of a bad motorcycle accident that happened in aug 20 2009.i was in a coma for 3 weeks,then spent the next 7 months in the hospital/nursing home.i had my femur broken in 10 places,crushed knee,shattered left arm,broken left ankle.due to my injuries i was placed on a 4000 calorie high protien diet,to help heal my injuries.without being able to exercise i gained 140 lbs.i was a fairly large guy to begin with,but the extra weight gain really took its toll.slowly i began to walk,with a walker,then after 18 months i started to use a cane.now i can walk without a cane.but with pain.i have been working out 4 times a week with weights,and 30min a day on a rucumbent bicycle.i have lost 85 lbs.i satarted the sleeve process 10 months ago,and finally got my surgery date feb 22.today i started the pre op diet,consisting of mainly liquids,and soft food.what did everyone else do for their pre op diet,what did you eat? any good ideas would be greatly appreciated. thank you

I suffer from clinical depression before and after surgery. Mine is not related to the weight it is do to the missing chemicals in my brain. But it is easier to manage with my meds and not adding being overweight on top of too. I did 3 years 2/week conseling and learned some great coping skills. See a MD and a shrink too I agree the Bible is to best place to read if you have depression and there are many, many books out there for depression. Just don't let people“tell all you gotta do is change your way of thinking”. They don't know what they are talking about. On the two weeks when you want to eat do something else instead, do something for yourself instead of giving yourself food. Ask about wellbutrim it really helps with depression with out weight gain. So/most antidepressants cause you to crave carbs or some weight gain. Drs seem to think you can be happy and fat or skinnier and depressed. Cheri

Hang in there!! I am so glad you got to come home! Don't let the weight gain scare you too much - I have been promised by my Doctor it will come back off! Healing prayers coming your way!

I can't speak to whether you've stretched your sleeve, as I'm only a couple of weeks out myself. But as someone who had a complete thyroidectomy earlier in the year, and has had several periods of time where I was hyperthyroid while they try to get my synthroid straightened out, I can promise you that not everyone who is hyperthyroid loses weight. In fact, each time I was hyperthyroid, I gained a lot of weight (7-10 lbs) within a few days. Totally unfair, considering that losing weight is the ONLY benefit of being hyperthyroid, right? I know of others who've had weight gain as a result of being hyperthyroid as well, and it certainly makes you crazy hungry (mentally, not so much physiclally. I'd bet once you get that under control, all will return to normal.

Since I have had a lot of trouble finding information about pregnancy with the lap band, I thought I'd share my experience on here . . . My lap band surgery was on 11/12/10, I found out I was pregnant at the end of June 2011. So, it was only about 7 months after my surgery. At the time I became pregnant, I had lost about 25 pounds and my lap band had 7.5 cc's in it. Right now, I am 33 weeks pregnant and my total weight gain has been around 8 pounds. This is my 3rd pregnancy and I'm 35 years old . . . my other children were born when I was 27 and 29. Also, I gained around 37 pounds with each pregnancy. With my first pregnancy, I lost all but 5 pounds of my pregnancy weight. But, with my 2nd, I only lost about 10 pounds and unfortunately continued to gain weight . . . hence, the need for my lap band. I have not had any of the fill taken out but I have had a lot of trouble eating. When I was around 23 weeks pregnant, I did call my lap band doctor to inquire about having some of the flll removed. But, I was told that he would remove all the fill if I came in . . . so I decided to just eat the foods that I knew would not bother me (i.e. make me throw up). Also, I drink a lot of the Muscle Milk light . . . especially if I've had difficulty with a previous meal that day. I eat a lot of Soup, sandwiches wrapped in lettuce (Jimmy John's Un-Wich - yum!!), and salads. Before I became pregnant, bread still was not a big problem for me . . . but I cannot eat it at all now. I did not want to have all the fill removed because my insurance will no longer cover anything related to my lap band. So, I would have to pay to have it removed and then after the delivery / nursing, he would not put all 7.5 cc's in at one time. Then, I'd have to pay for several visits to get back to the 7.5 cc level. But, my OB has been watching me VERY carefully, including bloodwork to check all my nutrition levels. So, I definitely have been eating, etc . . . Both of my current children were born at 37 weeks and I've been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, so I think that this baby will also be born around 37 weeks. Anyway, I'd love to hear other people's stories . . . especially how much weight you gained while pregnant and how quickly it came off after delivery. I think I've lost weight during this pregnancy since I'm at 33 weeks with 8 pounds gained . . . my ultrasound last week came up with a current baby weight of 4 lb 3 oz. My only fear right now is something happening to my lap band during delivery . . . I really cannot find any information out there regarding what might happen during delivery to your lap band.

I would go back on he protein shakes for at least a couple of meals a day. I had me band removed but did not have the water taken out before surgery.....thus I did not have the weight gain and I had to be on 2 weeks of the pre-op diet just as with the lapband. You will lose that 6 pounds and more so do not worry too much. I would be careful as not to gain too much before surgery as it is just more that you will have to lose once you get the sleeve.

I don't tell people I'm not close to (i.e. coworkers who aren't also personal friends) because it's really none of their business and I've gotten enough judgment from other people about my weight and eating-- I'm not interested in more. Now that I'm a year and 4 months out, I feel like it's too late even if I wanted to tell-- some people might feel "betrayed" even if they legitimately have no right to feel that way. I don't really regret being cautious, but I do feel like I'm in a corner where it would cause problems now for me to "come out" to acquaintances who have been very complimentary about my losses. I suppose if someone came right out and asked I would definitely tell the truth, but so far that hasn't happened. People who haven't struggled with true obesity (and even some who have) are still very ignorant about what it takes to successfully lose and KEEP OFF excess weight. The research is very clear that dieting in the traditional way does not create long-term weight loss, and in fact, stimulates long-term weight gain, but "common sense" says it's so easy to lose weight- just don't eat as much and exercise! I think it is going to be a difficult thing to change opinions about bariatric surgery, but it will happen someday. In the meantime, you have to do what is right for you. This is YOUR LIFE.

Hey guys, sorry I havent been on to respond to the comments.. I've had this nasty cold from the weather going from hot to cold and back.. I've been trying to heal myself b4 the surgery in 7 days... WOW the time has past quickly since I made the date.. I cant believe it is around the corner.. I dont feel like I have lost any pre op weight and feeling sad about it.. I think my body realizes that I am stressed and needs that extra comfort to hold on to any fat I wanna lose..lol.. but i can rest assure that after the surgery I will lose.. it is just a matter of when and how much.. Ok getting back to why I am here...lol.. I just wanna say again how much your comments and support have lifted my spirits and confirmed what I knew a long time ago.. that this behavior isnt right and I deserve better.. but b4 I look for better I need to work on myself and that means changing who I am as a person.. inside and out.. once I get there I can then decide what is best for me.. I wanna give a little background on who I am.. My whole life has been about mental abuse.. my father was the sherriff of our small town and a law enforcement guy b4 then.. my mother was a very kind and forgiving woman but most importantly a very strong christain..she did anything and everything to find ways of help other ppl.. she worked as a special needs teacher and had a heart of gold.. I learned through my childhood that life is rough and we need to work on what God gives us.. I saw my mother abused many times in my life and always felt that wasnt right that she needed to get out.. but she never did.. her motto was that when we marry that was it.. in our family she believed that divorce isnt an option and that you work on things when it wasnt right... She past away when I was 18yrs old with a long battle of breast cancer.. it started when I was 10 and didnt get any better.. even in her time of sickness she always thought of others, was always willing to help or give tons of support.. she never gave up and I find that was a great quality that I learned from her.. they always say that when a daughter takes a husband that they will find a guy like their dad.. well in my case it was very true.. I just didnt realize it until yrs after my marriage and tons of conuseling that I was back in my childhood and didnt know what to do.. all I do know is the voice of my mother reaching out and saying that divorce wasnt an option that I needed to work on it.. I have worked many yrs on my marriage but it gets to the point when the one working on it gets tired and gives up... hence all the weight gain from many yrs of food abusing myself... that was the only place I could find comfort and feel satisfied... I hear all the ladies that say they would never take this kind of abuse and that they would leave but no one will ever know how to react until they are faced with it.. this is all I know.. the counselors have told me that I cant recongize what true love is because I have never seen it myself.. all I know is abuse and it is hard to accept anything else.. I am a very strong christain woman and know that if I keep praying that one day god will set me free from these strongholds.. it may not be now but I know one day I will... whether it is here on earth or up in heaven... all I do know is that I am trying to be a great wife and mother and do what is right in the eyes of the lord... at the end of my journey i can say I did my best... I do wanna say that I Do hear everyone and DO appreciate all the feedback you have shared.. it means a lot to me and trust me I have been thinking a lot about this since I have posted it.. it does open my eyes to the things that arent right and that needs to be changed.. I feel like all of you have empowered me to step up to have a voice again and tell him when things arent right.. so thank you all and sorry this letter was all over the place.. writing letters wasnt a strong point in my schooling.. so please forgive me on that.. oh and the lady that said it was good to have some education.. I wanna say that I do have a degree in radiology and worked many years in my profession b4 having kids.. so I do have something to fall back on.. it is another thing my mother taught me b4 dying.. to always have something to fall back on.. she also taught me to save for a rainy day.. you never know when you might need it to run away.. lol.. but right now my rainy day money is going for my surgery since he is making me pay for it.. it is self pay in Mexico but I look at it as a very good investment that I could give myself... plus if I ever leave him he couldnt say he gave me the body i will earn.. I would never give him that satisfation... Dont worry guys.. I am a tough and strong woman with a basket of lots of emotions.. it is just a matter of when I have had enough that I will finally figure out what to do... thanks again guys and please dont think i am knocking anything that anyone has said because it has all helped in my spirits... I ask one more thing of all of you.. could you please pray for me on the 21st.. I need all the prayers that day so i can get through this and return home to my kids and husband.. yes I said husband.. he isnt going with me and made me find a friend to take.. that choice wasnt his fault but his mothers that chose not to help watch my kids,, I know the whole family is screwed up and trust me I am mad about it... but what doesnt kill us makes us stronger.. have a wonderful weekend...

Today I resolve NOT to cheat on my self inflicted preop diet! I almost wish that my surgeon required a preop diet because then I would feel accountable to him, but he doesn't so I have only myself to hold me accountable. That's never worked for very long in the past..... I'm hoping I can make it through the next 3 1/2 weeks without any weight gain!

Coops, I have been eating around 1200... and slightly lower carbs...around 70.... Yesterday I ate around 1500 and still lost .4...go figure. My weight is going down. I thought I was going to stay on the same plateau forever... but I have hope to reach goal now! I am 3 pounds from "Normal" and 7 from goal (will probably adjust down another 8-10 as a cushion... that will take me another 10 years to lose!) You can do it! Slow and steady wins the race! I have changed how I eat.. more greens (Kale) raw and cooked, more veggies, flax oil, flax/almond butter, blueberries and more organic produce, grass fed eggs... more Omega 3... I don't eat meat or fish so I am working on getting other sources...fresh local walnuts... less sugar....I read in prevention mag something about omega3(spring fats) vs omega6(hibernation fats) in the diet and weight gain... so I figured it wouldnt hurt, and it hasn't! http://www.prevention.com/food/smart-shopping/vanishing-youth-nutrient?page=2

Muscle is something that takes a longer time to build, so I doubt you've gained two pounds of muscle in a week. I know the body does funny things when you start exercising because of the shock, and I hear a temporary weight gain is normal. Give your body a few weeks to get used to exercise.

Well I guess there will be no chocolate for me this Valentine's Day and I am completely fine with that. :smile1: I will be going in for my VSG that day. My fiance just had his done on January 3rd and he is doing very well with his adjustments. I will admit I am a little afraid with some of the recovery issues I see with him but I think overall this is the best decision for me. I have been on a roller coaster ride with my weight-- gaining and losing 100, 50, 80, 35 pounds back and forth. This definitely cannot be good for my body, not to mention the heredity of heart disease, hbp, diabetes etc. etc. I guess I just have to keep convincing myself that I am doing the right thing. I am fairly new to this website and find so many inspiring stories on these forums, I really do thank you all and enjoy the good reads. Wish me luck and I will be back on to share my journey with all of you wonderful people.

I weigh myself every morning. I have been in a rut for the last month with very little weight loss. My clothes feel so much better though so I think it is a win. I used to feel that I had no control of my weight and now with weighing myself I feel I have a sense of control. I dont get too frustrated if my weight is up but I reflect on the day before. Did I eat too much? Did I drink enough water? Did I move my butt? Usually the answer is the reason for a weight gain. I resolve to do better and move on.

I am not a statistics person...but if I interpreted it correctly... 15% had their bands removed by 7 years, by 10 years, 22.8%. At the same 7 year mark, excess weight loss for bandsters with bands in place is 46.3%, which is lower than RNY at 58.6% at 7 years. They go on to say that including people who lose less than 25% of excess weight, the failure rate of banding is 51.1% over the long-term. They say that in 10 years bandsters have adverse events in 52.8% (none potentially life threatening), and 41% in RNY, with 8.6% being potentially life threatening and 1 death. What isn't mentioned is what could be/would be considered an RNY failure. Which I realize maybe is not something that can be measured as for a band. Perhaps "failure" of RNY is included in the excess weight loss figure, as bypasses are seldom reversed and cannot be removed. So, I supposed failure would be lack of weight loss or weight gain. So, why they would separate that out for bands and not bypass seems to skew the info to me...but it was not my study! :-)

Recent research (sorry no citation) suggests that ghrelin producing cells located all over our digestive tract may beef up production to re-establish our ghrelin level. The good news is that if we have had post-VSG memory loss mediated by ghrelin levels, we should get those faculties back. The bad news is increased ghrelin = increased hunger and potentially weight gain. Rats. As far as memory loss due to dimished ghrelin production is concerned, I think we should bear in mind that high blood sugar levels can lead to memory loss too. I was pre-diabetic before so my brain cells were already in the cross hairs, so to speak.

I think genetics play a huge role here- like with stretch marks. I have HORRIBLE stretch marks from pregnancy and weight gain on my belly, so I'm going to guess that because of those I'm most likely going to have a lot of tummy wrinkling once I'm done. I also think it's dependent on how your fat is distributed. I imagine someone who is 300lbs who carries weight mostly in their abdomen is going to have a much worse tummy than those who are 300lbs but the weight is evenly distributed across their body.

You're absolutely right, Loretta. After the initial loss right after surgery, doctors say 1-2 lbs a week, which also prevents weight gain after you lose it too fast.

okay, gotcha, I misunderstood - I thought you were doing the revision in one surgery. So, here is my story - I had my band removed on a Thursday in September, I returned to work the following Monday. I was feeling poorly, I think reaction to the anesthesia (and maybe even a little depression over the whole band failure?). I was okay, sorta, but then got sick with a virus. I wound up working Mon-Wed that week and taking Thurs and Friday off. i think if I hadn't gotten that virus, I would have been okay with just the "long weekend" to recover. The port incision was sore for awhile though. The other thing that happened was that starting about a week after the band came out, my hunger went through the roof. I hadn't had Fluid in my band for years, but once it was removed, I felt like my stomach was a bottomless pit. I finally got control over the weight gain by doing a low carb thing with my family doc, just to kinda hold me over until I was sleeved. For me, the Sleeve was a much harder recovery. Part of the reason for that is you have very restricted fluid and calories - so in addition to all the surgery recovery you just aren't getting the fuel you are used to getting! Some people bounce right back and go to work in a week or so after the sleeve surgery. Many people needed more time, I am one of them even though I didn't have any complications. I am almost 4 weeks out, have been back at work for a week and am just exhausted. Some days are better, some are worse, but I am certainly not back to my normal self. Having said all that, I still think it is worth it. I am already enjoying being a bit lighter on my feet!

Wow! You look great. I had a similar problem, serious arthritis led to weight gain and I was also muscular, but shorter. I have wondered the same thing...thanks for posting this because I am curious as to the elasticity factor too.

Challenage Accepted. Need to lose holiday weight, gained a whole 10 pounds from holloween to new years.

I no longer eat bread, have a hard time with meat, (about to give that up) and as far as rice, I need to mix it up real good with something, but cannot eat it straight. There are other things I have given up. But I eat more fish than ever before, and chicken. More vegetables. I suppose I could get a slight unfill to enjoy more foods, but to the contrary I can't wait till my next appointment in Feb so I can get a slight fill because weight gain has slowed way down, plateaued.

I had a tummy tuck. After my second child. Since then I had another child and the weight gain etc. My tummy always remained flat after. Flat and hard. The only problem is with TT and Lipo is the remove the fat, acess skin from that area. IF you were to gain weight you gain it back in other areas instead like back, legs, arms etc. Probably not a problem for us anymore with the sleeve. But yes. still rockin the TT! Also its a toughie for recovery. Harder than my C sections. But you get through it. And IMO its worth it.