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Gatorade is a salt and sugar concoction, so you may want to ponder it. At 5 weeks adding a meal in response to gaining 2 pounds in the last couple days seems odd. Heck, making any changes in response to what happened in the last 2 days seems questionable. I can't help but think we're missing some information here. I do understand wanting to increase 40g of protein, though. But, as I always say, it's more important to follow the plan then what the plan actually is. A big part of our program is learning to follow rules. At 5 weeks, I was on puree of 3 oz protein, 1 oz veggie, 3 times per day. That comes out to 60 grams protein. Actually, my program is still not all that different. For folks on protein drinks, a quick look at Amazon says 25-30 grams per drink minimum. So 3 of those = 75g. Food protein or drink protein, 3 times per day should not be overly taxing. Is it? So, I guess it comes down to your plan, and how you are doing on it. Good luck, Tek

Lenny Vartanian, PhD., from the Psychology Department of the University of New South Wales in Australia and her colleagues recently analyzed the effect of stress on overeating by placing Cookies in a cluttered/clean kitchen and watching the results. According to a study involving 101 women at Cornell’s food and Brand Lab, researchers showed that when those with heightened stress levels were placed in a noisy, messy kitchen — think scattered newspapers, a stacked sink of dirty dishes, relentless telephone ringing — and they were asked to wait patiently for another person, they ate more. In fact, these women ate twice as many of the cookies left out for them as did their equally-stressed counterparts, who waited in the same kitchen, but one which was organized and quiet. Environmental chaos can induce stress. Stress then leads to a coping mechanism. In this instance, the coping mechanism was to overeat. And overeating? It’s your one-way ticket to weight gain. But what’s also worth considering are the cascade of events that led to the overeating — a cascade not relegated to just this one experiment, but one that’s applicable to the broader population. A better understanding of this could help with the diet-and-food-related issues many of us face. Stress is a condition characterized by symptoms of physical or emotional tension and anxiety. In a normal, stress-free state, we have hormones that circulate our body, catecholamines, called epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones give us the energy to perform daily tasks in a calm, consistent manner. But if we’re triggered by an unpleasant feeling or event, these catecholamine levels rise. And our bodies’ natural response is to find a way to lessen them. One coping mechanism in dealing with stress is to overeat. Eating increases another of the body’s “feel good” hormone, called serotonin, which helps to improve mood. Serotonin tempers the catecholamines, thus reducing feelings of stress. More of this article is available here. http://acsh.org/news/2016/02/12/81099/

Hi BioTeacher! Have you ever been testing for Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome or Metabolic Syndrome? Based on what you have experienced I would say that you might be experiencing a difficulty that I have also experienced. I had a hell of a time in the beginning because the band books I was following said to go low fat and low this and that...it wasn't working and I didn't have any restriction for the first 6 months (6 fills). It wasn't until I got a new fill doctor and my 7th and 8th fill that I really started experiencing success. I knew I had PCOS but I didn't realize that if you have any kind of metabolic syndrome that the low fat approaches will not work. This new doc told me that I had to get in enough protein and fiber to kick start and fuel a metabolism that was completely headed in the wrong direction. He said one gram of protein for each half pound of body weight. So basically you can figure out how many grams of protein you need every day by divinding your weight in two. Mine was 230/2 =115 grams per day. Try it and see if it works for you. It did for me. I highly recommend the following items that will help you kick start your metabolism: 1.) Week 1 and 2 - reduce your carb intake to less than 50 grams per day eat only vegetables, meats, cheeses, and low carb shakes or bars with no sugar- gradually work your way up in protein intake by 20-30 grams per day until you are at the amount you should be taking in based on your weight calculation. Put your fork or spoon down in between bites and chew 12-15 times per bite. Don't bother bringing a drink to the table when you're eating...this prevents you filling up on liquid. Steer clear of all sugar in fruits, no yogurt, no processed foods with any sugar, honey, etc. Only splenda or stevia. Also, watch our for cured meats and items with nitrates. These will interfere with your kick start. Get some Atkins shakes, breakfast bars...these really help a lot! Russell Stover makes great low carb candy that will carry you through this so you don't freak out about not having your sweet fix. Have nuts and seeds on hand to give you fiber and energy. 2.) Go see your doctor about another fill. I had to be at 8.1 in a 10cc band before I had any restriction whatsoever. You might be having the same issue. My doc told me that if you are overweight and overeating for most of your life that you can often have stretched the top portion of your stomach as well so it takes more tightening before you get to the sweet spot. IF your current doc is unwilling, consider fillcentersusa.com - I have had great success with the doctor they recommended. He listens and only does fills...so he knows what he is talking about. They have centers all over the country and more added every month. www.fillcentersusa.com 3.) Week 3 and 4 - continue to limit yourself to less than 50 grams of carbs per day...try to go closer to 20 grams if you can...this will really kick start your metabolism and you will start losing weight if you haven't already. Do not eat anything with sugar in it. IF you mess up, get back on the horse and get on with it. You are still eating less than you were before...also if you want a freakin diet coke then have one...depriving yourself will mentally throw off your whole effort. Just don't make it a habit. 4.) After 4 weeks...see where you are. Are you losing? Do you have restriction? IF not, go visit the doc again for another fill. You can ask for one every month until you get where you need to be. Fill Centers has a policy that if they overfill you - then you can come back within 72 hours for an unfill with no charge. Some even have an underfill policy within 72 hours so you don't have to pay again if you aren't happy. After you start losing, you can experiment with adding a few more carbs to see where you stop losing weight. When it stops then back off the carbs a little and you'll find your spot where you can eat some carbs you like without ambushing your loss. This is how I'm doing it. Very little bread and fruit, lots of meat, cheese, vegetables (not so much on the carrots, corn, etc) but green veggies and salads, lots of nuts and seeds and protein shakes.) Also, there are some very high protein shakes out there called NewWhey. www.newwhey.com or at health stores. They are about 4 oz each (three swallows) and they have 40 grams of protein. I put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes and then drink it...you are more than half way done with protein for the day with these. Also, Atkins shakes and bars are very high in protein. Almonds are always good to have around. Let me know how this works for you. I'm very hopeful that you'll be able to enjoy success with your band!

:glare: Well I just read someone's blog here who had lost 90 lbs.in 6 months. I am not about 11 months post op and am creeping back up! I have gained a couple more pounds. I think I might have lost 33 now. Had lost close to 40. I am trying very hard to not eat much. It is so hard. I do not feel the band too much. Have trouble eating stringy meat, now apples with skin. But I just do not feel too much. I have about 6 and 1/2 ml in a 9 ml band. I don't think they can put much more in there. This last few pounds I have gained back has made me feel really tired and depressed. it is right on my stomach. I can just feel the "ledge" coming back on. Everyday I get on the scale and it is higher and higher. I feel like I am on a roller coaster and I cannot stop the gaining. I keep thinking I will go back on liquids with just a few ounces between meals and then I don't do it. Same old same old as before surgery. I really eat in a very good way--low fat milk, etc. etc.... I only eat barely half of my meal when eating out and no bread. Only bread I eat is sometimes diet breads. No caffeine at all, no carbonated sodas and I am really really wanting a diet coke! Yikes...and I don't see why I cannot have it, I am not losing anyway!! I do have a cookie here and there but not much. I walk briskly every day. I guess my body is just so used to dieting for years and years and years that it can now even GAIN weight on very little food. I have just about given up on the band helping me at all. For some reason, I get to be one of the few that it doesn't work for. This is making me tear up now. I again feel like a loser and failure. I am tired of looking like this fat thing. I am so tired, tired of this. I had hoped to lose constantly. I have lost nothing since Nov. and have now started gaining it back. This is a classic for me. it is what I always do. Lose 40 and gain it back. I need to lose like 65 more. never going to happen. The doctor is no help. I don't need to see a dietician. I just need help!! why , why why can't I be one of the ones this works for? Why did I have to be one of the failures?? Oh well... I will keep exercising and eating as well as I can until I am as fat as before and i will have a band in me too. Great.... done...I hate this. :devil:

Hello World, I'm feeling great. It's been 9 days since my lap band was removed and my surgeon performed a Gastric Bypass and I feel terrific. I'm really shocked at how fast the recovery has been. I am just starting the puree diet, having met with my surgeon. I'd love to hear from folks about what they like to eat post-puree. I am DETERMINED to lose the weight and I want to make sure I do the best I can to achieve that goal. Kind regards.

Hi, I finished the 6 month presurgical program at Lehigh Valley Hospital. I am waiting for a date. I have been obese all of my life and now I am struggling with diabetes, apnea, osteo arthritis. I had lost 25 lbs, but now I see it going back on. I have had a consult with Dr. Richard Boorse. My BMI is low and I freaked when I thought I might lose too much weight for approval by my insurance. Now I'm having the opposite problem, I can't control my eating.

My previous fills were a problem too. My doc couldn't get the needle to line up with the hole in my port. Today, during my third fill, doc feels like instead of my port straight up against my muscle wall like this- | - it is now like this- -which means the top is almost too close to my ribs and hard to fill. My next fill will be under x-ray and flouro to make sure of its positioning and therefore, less discomfort. I have been VERY stuck over the last month without any weight loss, so I am hoping the is the "sweet spot" we all speak of. Thank you all for posting and being here...I appreciate you all.:sad:

K, so after a very bad period of time in which i had to have the fluid removed due to it being too tight, I have reached a point in which I cannot get back to where I was. I had lost roughly 70lbs. And was doing great, felt great, and was starting to look great. I went in for a routine upper g.i and the barium I drank dripped through like an I.v. So they said they wanted to remove half and then see why happens. Well what happened was I now weigh more than I did before the surgery, I am so disgusted with myself it's unreal. I work out, I thought I was eating better, I even tried the joe cross reboot program. Lost 10, gained 15. So I pretty much have up. But after realizing that I need to fix things not just for me but for my family, I am back ! I had a full today, I am at 8 cc on a 10 cc band. I was at 7.5 and felt absolutely no restriction. So I'm hoping this helps. My hardest part is I don't have a lot of money, and I'm not sure what foods to eat for breakfast, lunch, and I work in a prison so it's hard to eat a lot so I'm wondering what exactly do you guys eat and how much for lunch breakfast and dinner. I need help and remember I'm low on funds. I have unlimited eggs due to my chicken lol

I see on here a lot that when someone stalls, or gets off track, there is a push to go "back to basics". I'm wondering what that means to all of you (specifically with lap band since I believe the "basics" of other surgeries are different). For me, recently I was battling with a band that was too tight. Even though I was losing weight, I wasn't eating healthy and I was throwing up 3-5 days a week (some days constantly). I got an appt with my surgeon and she loosened the band but was confident that my problems were behavioral. I was eating slow and taking small bites, but she asked if I waited a full 30 seconds after finishing a well-chewed bite before having my next bite - in truth sometimes I was, but probably not all the time. She asked me to: - eat with a timer at every meal (waiting the full 30 s) - only eat when I was hungry (saying it's okay for me to skip a meal if I'm not hungry) - carefully consider before I eat (a meal or the next bite) whether I'm really truly hungry - exercise - meet with a NUT again I guess these are my basics. I need to refresh on the nutrition info they gave me. I remember it recommending artificially sweetened, high processed foods, which I think made me disregard the whole thing. But there are probably some pearls of wisdom in between the fat-free, sugar-free offerings (hopefully)! Do you all eat with a timer at every meal? Are your basics similar or different to mine? Thanks!

How many calories, carbs and sugars are you taking in each day? I'm struggling to make it to 800 cals. I fear that at this rate I won't lose weight on the liquids and my body will go into starvation mode. It's tough not having a scale because I can't see if I'm losing any weight. I had got to a point where my body was burning fat and my metabolism had boosted from the norm. I don't want my body to go backwards I'm on day 5 of the pre op diet. Go to the doctor the day before surgery. I want to do my body more good than harm. Any feedback would be great. Thanks

At two weeks out I was consuming less than 1000 calories per day. I know that's not precise, but my bariatric aftercare program didn't require me to count calories, fat grams, carbs, or anything other than grams of protein and ounces of water. Here was their theory: as long as you get 80+ grams of protein a day, everything else falls into place. Protein has a very high thermic effect. In other words, our bodies expend a remarkable number of calories to process and digest the protein we consume. If your protein intake is more than adequate, you'll continue to lose weight. On the other hand, you might stall and plateau long and hard if you don't eat sufficient protein. Good luck to you.

Well I am having a hard time right now. I am at 2 months and I havw lost 34 lbs. The past 3 weeks 1 have lost I think 1 lb. And everyone wants to know how much I have lost everyday!!! I feel awful right now. I am not feeling as full as I should be and I am a little concerned. I think that is what is making me not lose as much weight. :wink:

I am scheduled for surgery on Monday. I was told to lose 15lbs before my surgery. I am only down 6. I have been on the liquid and leafy green diet for over a week and have only lost 2 lbs (included in the 6). I am concerned they wont do the surgery. Has this happened to anyone.

17 days post op. I just started soft food. I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem. I'm only down 7 lbs and have been stalled for the last three days with my weight remaining the same. I am hungry off and on during the day, even though I am drinking Water or Protein drinks all day. I will add that I stopped taking estrogen pills 30 days before surgery and have made the decision to stay off them. The hot flashes are brutal. Could this stall me? If so I'll get back on the estrogen. Quote Edit

I'm almost 3 weeks out and at a stall also and even gained 3 pounds before the stall. I have been here for over a week. It started when I started stage one foods. I'm thinking maybe it's because I lost 50 pounds before the surgery and had a lower bmi going into the surgery. I currently weigh 207.

Hi everyone, hope everyone is doing great. I was banded in October 2014, with my pre-op diet and first two months post-op I was able to lose a bit over 30lbs. That's where the number is since December 2014, I have not lost any weight since. My band adjustments have been very small 0.3-0.4cc each time so I'm still not in a green zone as the Dr.s here in Canada do not give big fills. I have 7cc in my 10cc band and I'm hungry all the time, I can pretty much eat anything and everything if I want to. My coworker that had the band at the same time she has been tight from the day one and lost 70lbs so far but I know everyone is different so I'm just hoping to get in to green zone soon. It's hard now being summer and camping season not to drink alcoholic beverages but I hope once I get in to green zone that I will start losing again I do workout 4-5 times/week Just wondering if anyone was in the same boat and how did you overcome frustration and started losing again

Hw 292 Sw 286 Cw 219 Goal 180 5'6 Surgery Aug 17 2017 72lbs lost I consider myself to be a slow loser only losing 72lbs in 8 months... my job requires me to walk 4to7 hrs a day plus 4-5days of cardio per week... my water and protien intake are where my doc recommended plus extra water when I do high intensity cardio... calorie intake approx 1000cals per day sometimes Lil less sometimes Lil more still rely on protien shakes I track my food with my fitbit app... recently I have started weight lifting and my body is literally screaming at me for food every 2/2.5hours ... it's a really weird feeling... I know it's not from lack of water... tried water loading and it's not helping.... i have approximately another 40 lbs to get me to goal.. also a bit worried about my muscles retaining water during repair also any tips to accelerate my weight loss ... all advice or tips are much appreciated ..sorry this was long winded. Sent from my SM-N910T3 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hello everyone, I am two years out from having my RNY surgery. At first I felt like everything was going great and it really isn't to bad. But in the last couple of weeks I have put on 4 pounds and I am freaking out about it. I feel like I have failed this surgery. I just need some help and encouragement to get me back on track and lose this 4 pounds I put on and 15 more that I wanted to lose after surgery. Any one else put on weight 2 plus years out? And if so where you able to take it back off and how did you do it? Thanks for any help you can give me. Therese

My Dr referred me for nutrition classes in March 2013 that started May 1, 2013. The classes lasted 12 weeks. I lost the required weight and had the surgery on September 23, 2013.

I do suffer from constipation but i have it under control. Don't have anything else or taking any medication that will trigger holding of water weight. I have a nutritionist that i follow up with. don't know if i should pay her a visit. I'm scheduled to see my surgeon in 2 weeks if by then this does not get better i will for sure address it with him.

I also had band removal and sleeve. I suffered with acid reflux at first. It has gradually gotten better. I feel like I wasted 6 yrs w band. It was so miserable. I am so nervous about not loosing the weight with this!

adding weigts to your weekly workout routine will help tons. not in just the losing (more lean muscle helps with your metabolism overall) but it will help your toning. saggy skin is a side affect of major weight loss, so toned muscles help the skin not look so saggy. I do cardio 6 days a week and some sort of weight training 4 days a week. I just started the p90x and love it!

So I went on vacation to Europe for a month. I know, you don't feel sorry for me! There was a lot of sausage, bread, and beer to be had! I did not have any problems with getting stuck...at first. Two weeks into my trip, I fell off a horse. OW ow ow ow ow! I did a few things wrong after that: 1) I took Aleve because I knew I was going to hurt like hell later, and 2) Later, my hosts forced me to drink the Polish medicine, which is normally vodka but they thought I needed something stronger so it was cognac, and 3) I proceeded to eat a normal sausage-y dinner. It was not long before I was stuck and sliming. I've never been stuck before, only had an uncomfortable feeling when I eat too fast or too big a bite. The sliming eventually led to vomiting, and there were streaks of blood in it. Oh how scared I was! I was in a foreign country, vomiting blood, and I just knew that if I went to the hospital, they wouldn't know what to do with me. So I only told my husband, who was freaked out but agreed to stay quiet and keep an eye on me. I sipped Water for the rest of the evening, then just ate soft stuff for 24 hours. I felt fine the next day...well, my stomach felt fine. My body was extremely sore! I had to be more careful with food after that, I seemed to feel tight/stuck more easily. I visited my bariatric doctor when I got home, who checked my band with the x-ray and everything looked great. I ate basically whatever I wanted for a month and gained a pound. Not bad! We walked a LOT, and I was not the person everyone else had to wait for, as in past trips. 7 months of exercise allowed me to be the person in front for a change! So other than the horse fiasco, I had a really great experience.