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that wouldn't be a true weight gain. Could be constipation, water retention, or hormones. It'll probably be gone in a day or two.

I had surgery (bypass) on Mar 5. I have steadily lost .8lb each day. I have written down every calorie and every gram of protein. My question is On Thurs I ate 400 calories and 75g of protein walked for 25min. On Fri I copied everything to a tee from the day before except 1 sugar free popcisle at night and my exercise was doubled but I gained 3.8lbs. Anyone explain the abrupt weight gain? Sat I went down 1.5lb (same) food intake but less exercise only 45min. I know alot of ppl stall at 3wks but this wasnt a stall it was a gain....

The dramatic changes in our daily lives caused by the COVID-19 virus is likely the greatest crisis of our lifetime. Hopefully, you and your family are safe at home and can avoid harm. It would be easy to focus on all of the negativity and be glued to the news 24/7 but that would be a mistake. As someone working to lose weight or maintain your weight loss, this crisis presents a number of challenges but also several opportunities. First the challenges: Many of us are either working from home or are not working, but still at home. Being home presents a bunch of food and eating challenges. You may be more sedentary than usual, without your commute to work, and possibly unable to be out and about or go to the gym. Being home means that the refrigerator and the kitchen are only a few feet away. Your schedule is probably different. Without a regular schedule, unplanned eating and more frequent trips to the kitchen may occur. For those unaccustomed to working from home, it may be harder to focus on your work, and possibly wandering around the house and once again, back in the kitchen. The emotional toll this situation is taking on all of us is significant. If you have a tendency to eat in response to anxiety or loneliness, this can be a very difficult time. The challenges are clear. What about the opportunities? Before this crisis, many people were so busy with their jobs that they did not have time to make better food choices. Too much fast food. Too much take out. Too many dinners at 10 pm. Now there may be more time to buy and prepare healthy food and eat at a healthier time. Many restaurants are closed so you need to go to the supermarket where more fresh foods and healthier choices are available. Learn to cook! If you have more time, you can break out some of those cookbooks you’ve been meaning to read or find simple recipes online to try. While you’re in the supermarket, this could be a good time to experiment with new foods. Some of your favorites may be out of stock. This is a good time to explore different and potentially healthier alternatives to your old, less healthy favorites. While you are home, you may have more time to exercise. If you are restricted from going to the gym, you can still go out for a walk or a bike ride. Even if you walk with one or two friends, it is possible to practice safe social distancing while exercising. Learning to change your emotional relationship with food. It’s certainly tempting to make trips into the kitchen to manage your anxiety and other emotions, but this is a great time to learn and practice alternatives to emotional eating. Here are some ideas to try to implement in the coming weeks: Try to create and maintain a schedule including setting aside times for meals and snacks. If you already have an eating routine that was working, try to maintain it. If you don’t yet have a routine, examine your upcoming schedule and create one. If you are not used to working from home, it is important to structure your day to avoid working in an erratic “when I’m in the mood” manner. The latter is not very productive and will also lead you to wander around the house more often...and we know what room you’re likely to wind up visiting. If you are able to get out to the supermarket, buy healthy and smart! Make a commitment to using this time for positive change. If you continue to buy chips and cookies, this is going to cause weight gain. However, if you make healthier food choices in the supermarket, you can use this period at home to your advantage. If you’ve been looking for an opportunity to help your family start eating healthier, this is a perfect opportunity! Many restaurants are closed, so if you stock the house with healthy choices, you’re more likely to stick to your plan. It’s probably not advisable to go to the supermarket every day as we try to keep our social distance, so try to make a list and do a weekly shopping. Think about meal prepping. What could you buy for a few breakfasts, lunches, and dinners? Make the healthiest choices you can. Experiment in the supermarket. Some of your old favorites might be unavailable. Even if they are there, check out other alternatives. Have you ever wondered if riced cauliflower was a good alternative to white rice? Now’s the time to give it a try. What about that all-natural, lower sodium and low-sugar spaghetti sauce? Maybe bring home a jar or two. We are all wired to buy what we’ve always bought. They’re probably the same items you grew up with in your parents’ home, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Use this opportunity to experiment with healthier and maybe even tastier choices. Get outside and walk or bike a few times per week if possible. Many gyms are closing down so if you have a home gym you have an advantage. However, even without a home gym there’s always the great outdoors. Walking and biking are excellent forms of exercise. It’s more important to try to build a habit of getting out there a few times per week than it is to walk a specific number of steps or burn a specific number of calories. In fact, it is possible that you make this a habit that endures long after this crisis ends. Learn to manage your emotions in ways that don’t involve going to the kitchen. It is completely understandable that you are feeling more anxious these days, but neither the current situation nor your anxiety is going to be helped by eating. Instead, use this time to learn mindfulness skills to manage your anxiety. These skills actually help reduce anxiety and don’t contribute to weight gain. Research demonstrates that learning mindfulness skills helps reduce compulsive eating. There are a number of great apps available like headspace or calm where you can get started. Similarly, if you did a quick search for “mindfulness techniques,” the internet has 100’s of free modules available. Just experiment until you find a few that work for you. Limit the amount of time you watch television and spend watching the news on your computer and phone. You know the news isn’t great, and more importantly, it can be emotionally harmful. The purpose of the news is to provide information, but many people watch news programs as a form of entertainment. However, today’s news is not at all entertaining, it’s quite upsetting. Worst of all, some news programs focus on how things can get worse. While you may need an update or two per day, you don’t need to watch any more than that. It’s very likely to upset you and may trigger emotional eating. Even if you don’t have a tendency to eat in response to anxiety and emotional upset, who wants to experience emotional upset more than necessary?! Instead, use this time to be closer to loved ones within your home or via facetime, teleconferencing or the good old telephone. If you are among loved ones or can use facetime or video conferencing to be with them “virtually,” break out those board games, color in a coloring book, create art projects or do other things that put a more positive spin on what is certainly a challenging time. To be sure, there is nothing good about this crisis and how it is affecting our daily lives. However, it is possible to take advantage of the opportunity that being at home provides. If you make some changes in your behavior, you can use this time to stay on track with your weight loss or weight maintenance goals, and maybe even develop some new healthy habits that provide benefits that last long after this crisis is over. May you all be safe and well during this difficult time. Warren L. Huberman, PhD. Is a Clinical Psychologist licensed in New York and New Jersey. • Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine. • Affiliate Psychologist at the Langone/NYU Medical Center • Consulting Psychologist to the NYU/Langone Health Weight Management Program • Affiliate Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Northwell-Lenox Hill Hospital. • Maintains a private practice in Clinical Psychology in Manhattan and Rockland County, NY. Author of the book 'Through Thick and Thin: The Emotional Journey of Weight Loss Surgery.' Dr. Huberman can be reached at 212- 983-6225 or at wh@warrenhuberman.com.

Yes. SARS-COV-2 puts "gaining weight" into a new perspective. A rather unimportant one compared to many other things. I can see though that people are focussing on the possible weight gain problem as in the end it provokes less anxiety than the virus. However, no one is automatically doomed to gain weight while staying at home. Not you, not me - NO ONE. And I was supposed to know that because...? You said in your first post you're "prone to anxiety" - that's what many people are these days, including myself. I can see that you're obviously mad at me. I'm sorry you are. But lashing out at me will most likely not help.

Really?? I'm in California and I'm on lockdown. I am stuck in my house the majority of the day. I have a diagnosed anxiety disorder. But somehow you think weight gain is a trivial issue? You dont see a connection between gaining weight and depression? You dont see how going backwards after I've worked SO HARD could cause depression? OK. This is not a vanity issue. I want to be HEALTHY! If you cant understand that then I'm sorry.

As stated above, square inch for square inch Muscle weighs more than fat. So as you reduce fat stores and increase muscle mass, you can see weight gains. That's why I've pushed so hard for people to stop tracking weight as a specific number and start looking at the trend. I've tracked weight and body fat my whole process, not really caring about the numbers exactly, but what I was doing and which direction those numbers moved. The more I work out for muscle, my body fat drops and my weight gains. When I focus on cardio, my weight drops, sometimes body fat does as well, but not as fast as when working out for muscle gain. This is because larger muscle mass requires more energy in rest than smaller muscles do, so, bigger muscle mass, larger fuel requirements, faster fat breakdown. Plus,our bodies get used to what's going on and start to level off. Check into Intermittent Fasting if you haven't yet, really get me through some serious stalls.

Stressing about the "what if" scenarios concerning CORVID-19 in itself may cause weight gain, certain people such as myself stress-eat so situations that increase stress levels should be avoided at all costs For me, keeping myself busy helps reduce my stress. However some busy items also induce eating. For example, if I am watching TV for an extended amount of time I tend to desire food, something to munch on while I binge watch a Netflix show so I avoid any long periods of time in front of the TV screen. Since this CORVID-19 stuff is forcing us to stay home and avoid contact with others, I am gong to use the extra "at home" time to complete some on-line technical courses that are reverent to my profession. I also received a lifetime subscription to Rosetta Stone as a gift this past Christmas so maybe I will also start to lean a 2nd language just for fun. Figure if your keeping your brain active perhaps it will be too occupied to think about food or other items we have no control over that induce unneeded stress. Edited just now by VIN_IN_AL

@IAmGrace; I don't really get "full" either in the way that I used to; but after I eat a surprisingly small amount I start to get the hiccups or get a feeling in my chest that I am starting to recognize as "full". I am now eating between 600 and 700 a day; I was over 700 today. I find I have to be very rigid; I have breakfast, lunch, dinner and 1 or 2 "snacks" depending on where I am for protein that day. Otherwise I could eat (but certainly don't need to) 1/2 hour after I last ate. My nutritionist warned about "grazing". Certainly at 700 or 800 calories a day you will still lose weight, but once we can ingest more the grazing will lead to weight gain. I'm getting a bit more adventurous with food; I had a small amount of corned beef and cabbage, and today I had the ground beef part of some Shepard's Pie. But I do find 2 or 2.5 ounces are plenty. I am using very small plates, and I stop eating when the food is gone, and I realize I am not hungry! I hope your cold is just a cold; I hope mine is, too. I am a bit worried because I feel like my immune system is not very robust right now; I had the actual flu right before my surgery (in fact it delayed my surgery for one week), then back to back colds, and with such low calories I feel like I don't have much to fight off any virus. And I am 61, so in that respect I am "high risk", too. My work is doing 5 days out of every 10; so there are very few people in my office. I hope you are in a comfortable situation to ride this out! Wishing you health and happiness!

Indeed. And some groups are more at risk. It's not only chronically ill people, but also medical staff and e. g. the cashiers in grocery stores etc. etc. etc. - there simply are people who can't just stay home and hide. When anxiety strikes, "distraction" indeed doesn't tend to work. Plus, with all the hysteria one doesn't need a diagnosed anxiety disorder to freak out. Be exposed long enough and you're good to go. And honestly: "weight gain" is the least of my concerns now. I was like WTH?? when I read that post and just like... wow.

@msteinman weight gain is completely normal. I posted about same thing 3 days after surgery as I had gained weight too. The IV fluids and being bloated and full of gas makes you gain weight. It will take a few days for all that to get out of your system. Several people are going to tell you to stay off the scale. I kept looking every day and finally lost my first couple of pounds around day 5 or 6. I’m 11 days post op and down 10 lbs now: it’s okay. Just breathe, keep sipping you water and protein. Walk and walk some more. It all works out. You’re right on track!

I had the surgery only three days ago but I’m very disappointed to see that I have gained weight since. I’m nervous that this will never go away and it will continue. Advice please?

Hey everybody, I have to get something off my chest, my story towards WLS is this, 5 years ago i was not at all obese, i weighed 65-70 kgs, I actually started college at around 2011 and then moved to Australia to continue my education, but ever since I moved to Australia, I was starving myself, as I did not have enough money to buy myself food etc, then at 2014 I finished my college and moved to Canada for about 4-5 years, there it got even worse, since my field was really hard to get a job (audio engineering), I was starving myself there as well, ever since 2012 i was moving to different countries, in total 4 countries Dubai, India, Canada and Australia, but was eating well here and there, parents were sending some money, at the brink of 2016, I became homeless in Canada, for almost 8months, at that period I was eating like 1 meal a day, surprisingly I was still about 65kgs by the end of that phase, but then I committed a crime while I was in the streets and they sent me a psychiatric hospital, that's when things took a turn for the worst, after about 3 months of staying in the hospital, they started me on psychiatric meds (aripiperzole abilify) but in about 20 days I saw my weight rise from 65 to 75, then about 10 days later it rose to 85, then slowly 95, then about 6 months later I was at 110, I thought I maxed out but I gained another 7kgs in the next 6 months, also the food was rich in the hospital but very tiny portions, then they switched me to clopixol, did not help, infact caused infertility and sexual problems, I have one question for all of you, does bariatric surgery work for person like me? Does weight gain from psychiatric meds happen in like 15 days? If so that is big problem. Since I have a bad history with nutrition and my metabolism is in really bad shape, but I got out a year and 6 months ago, and i started eating a lot once I got out due to all the deprivation, I was never even planning on doing bariatric surgery, did not even know what it was, so guys please share your experience with starvation, metabolism, weight gain, psychiatric meds. Oh I did mention this to the doctor and he said that's nothing to worry about. But what do you guys think? I really want answers guys, this has been in my chest for a long time now. Thank you all for listening. Oh and I have finished my surgery , it's been 19 days, I have lost about 12kgs. Things are going well, but I don't want it stall all of a sudden and then one fine day it never moves again. That would be a nightmare, I just want some clarity on this topic. Thanks again.

@Jeep-girl im day 8 post-op. I gained my first few days home. I didn’t lose my first couple of pounds until Day 6. You’re on track. I was freaking out too. I was googling sleeve failed? Or Pouch too big? If you search weight gain after surgery in the forums you will see many of us gained initially after surgery. I focused on other things—walking, measuring inches, journaling and coming out of the fog of the pain meds. And a good friend gave me this advice: remain calm and be confident that it worked. Put that positive energy out there, honey. You got this and it worked and you are fabulous and becoming more fabulous every day. 🙂

Hey Mooki, thanks for the reply. The reason I am having the op is to take back control of my eating, and to stop food having this huge hold on my life. That is the main outcome I want so to hear that is what is happening is great news. As for the merrygoround of thinking its amazing and its not going to work I can really relate to this. The mind is a powerful tool and I do think for me the mental struggle will be as hard as the physical challenge. I have found that trying to visualise the positives helps with the panic moments, so trying to visualise myself out of theatre and walking around, being slimmer in the summer clothes, enjoying holidays without the dread of weight gain etc etc. I hope each day is getting easier for you.

Wow guys. These posts really resonate with me: I gained 110 pounds when I was pregnant with my daughter (2nd child) and the abuse I took from their father still haunts me. That’s the baby that changed my whole metabolism and all I got from him was quiet disappoint and criticism In the weight gain and subsequent PPD. By the time she was 3, I found out that their father was having an active affair with one of my coworkers and that basically everything I had been struggling with had been used against me and that the 2 of them were plotting to try to get custody of the kids. They were actually using my new-found Morbid Obesity as a weapon against me to “prove” that I didn’t have the self-control necessary to raise 2 kids under the age of 6 as a single mom. I fought sooooo hard that year and in years after, trying to fix what was “broken” in me only to fail over and over and over again. Thankfully I had enough of a career and enough self-esteem to survive that onslaught and make it through. Those were several tough years where I was reminded painfully over and over that I wasn’t good enough-or desireable enough, smart enough, or like able enough to be considered a “good” parent and I was reminded on a monthly basis that it was going to be a a WAR of 2 vs 1. I somehow persevered and got those kids raised. I spent over 13 years single and afraid to even think about having a life of my own. I survived breast cancer as a single working mom. At that point, my biggest fear was dying before I could finish raising those kids— aged 16 and 12 when I was diagnosed. The kids dad stopped paying child support after our first year divorced and I was afraid to even take him to court bc I didn’t feel worthy enough to raise my kids as a MO single mom in her mid-30s. When I think of the years lost due to my feelings of inferiority, it almost makes me sick. I wasted almost 13 years of my life feeling like a sub-par human and thankfully my current husband saw me— the true me— underneath all of that baggage. He loved me— plus sized and all— in spite of me not loving myself. It took that brave and kind man’s love to realize that I could be so much more than the reality that I was currently living. With his love and respect and complete acceptance, I was able to start this journey that has led to where I am now. Ironically, my ex is a mere shadow of the man he once was— he won’t call or reach out to his kids and I’ve heard that he and that woman live a very small and petty existence where neither of them are fulfilled or even remotely happy. If I were a better person, I would feel pity for them, but I must honestly admit that I do derive some satisfaction from their misery. At the end of the day though, my best revenge is to live my best life as happily as possible, and I plan on doing that every. Single. Day.

Lots of people have had really good success with ESG, particularly in USA and other countries where it has been carried out for a while (as its a fairly new procedure). In Australia there seems to be a higher failure rate due to many reasons: some doctor technique is lacking, overeating, etc...some others lost restriction for no apparent reason. I think in time Australia success rate will improve as the doctors gain more experience in the technique and ongoing the technique is being improved. I am member of a few ESG fb groups where the posting is a little bit more frequent than this subforum. Message me if you would like the links. There is one good site with a lot of people from USA...it a fairly positive site. I had my ESG in Australia over a year ago. No real pain other than stomach cramps for the first few days and I did recover well. At first restriction felt good, and I had good weight loss (lost about half of what I wanted), over time the restriction lessened and I have none now. I have gained some weight back though I haven't reached my pre-procedure weight. An endoscopy showed I have about one suture intact. There is no one reason why my ESG failed and it is possible I contributed with a couple of bouts of overeating. I will be converting to a sleeve fairly soon. The surgeon has done a few conversions and he feels I should be able to convert to a sleeve, if not, he will do a mini bypass. The anchors can prevent conversion to a sleeve. I have been working hard (which help) on what causes me to overeat, it is an ongoing battle but I have made some great progress and feel quite confident going forward. I do regret my decision but only for the fact I wish I had waited until the Australian doctors had more experience with the procedure and ongoing the procedure is being refined to ensure better outcomes. My tips to get the best of your procedure would be to follow all post op guidelines particularly around volumes of food, exercise once you are able to, don't be tempted to test your restriction just because you can eat more than the guideline volumes...once you get past soft food stage, try and get as much protein from food as opposed to shakes (satisfaction and restriction will kick in quicker than with fluids), avoid slider foods and if your doctor/clinic as a post op management program make sure you commit to it and make all your appointments. Don't abandon the program with embarrassment if you have stalls or weight gains along the way...this will the time when you most need to reach out to the experts. One important thing is to work on what causes you to overeat, this won't change with the ESG, those battles will still be there, if you work on them now you will have better outcomes for your ESG. My outcome is but one of many of successes and failures, on the main ESG group on fb there have been some great successes particularly in USA.

Really? Why on earth would you want this newfound stamina to calm down? My wife and I are counting on any increase in hormones and sexual desires it to last a VERY long time post-op. We used to enjoy a very active physical relationship prior to my weight gain and we so desire to get that spark back so I.... we are both looking forward to what should be consider as a very desirable benefit of WLS.

I can do relate to you. The weird weight gains and slow losses are frustrating. I’ve been using happy scale to track weight loss, so I can see a slow loss is happening. It’s just frustrating because I was losing faster on a higher calorie diet before the surgery than I am now. My nut has told me not to worry and that things will start happening soon. It’s hard to be patient, though. Especially when reading that the first 2-3 months after are when you experience the greatest weight loss. And at almost a month out, I haven’t lost a great deal at all.

Another March 3rd here, Cammy C. You've probably gained weight from the IV meds, the gas that was used during your surgery, this is how my surgeon explained the temporary weight gain that would happen. I'm thankful that you are able to hydrate and at normal levels. My experience has been very similar to Mooki's, I was miserable the first 2 days. We've got this together, keep posting and working through the newness of our tools.

Another March 3rd here, Cammy C. You've probably gained weight from the IV meds, the gas that was used during your surgery, this is how my surgeon explained the temporary weight gain that would happen. I'm thankful that you are able to hydrate and at normal levels. My experience has been very similar to Mooki's, I was miserable the first 2 days. We've got this together, keep posting and working through the newness of our tools.

OMG ..... If it's the Depo Shot..... STOPPPPPPP!!!!!! Years ago they removed the IUD and started me on the Depo... I gained 50lbs in one month.... it was horrible. Look into the Nuvo Ring. It was the best Birth control EVER.... I tried it all, the Pill (nausea all the time), diaphragm (terrible bladder and yeast infections), Condoms with and without foam (latex-sensitive), IUD (terrible bleeding), the shot (major weight gain, but i didn't bleed), then the Ring. It was the only one that worked for me. Then in my 30ies i had a partial hysterectomy.... OMG it was like the heavens parted and the angels were singing.... At 50 i started menopause and it sucks Ass..... I started gaining weight and couldn't control it, no matter what i did. So i decided enough was enough and paid OOP for a revision to the sleeve. Note: All of the birth control was before i was banded in 2009 SW: 232 LW 143: Removal 2017 at 143. Sleeved 8/28/19 at 173.5, today 131.4

Is squash sugar free? And is your tea unsweetened? Ok well, sounds like you've got all the answers you need. Here's a link to opiodes and how it can affect weight. Wish I could copy/paste my arthritis doc for you. That's where my information comes from and from my n=1 experience with them from my degenerative spine and hip disease. I'm blessed cuz after 155+ lbs of weight loss, I just tuff through my daily pain and no longer have to medicate. Additionally I'm on a cancer drug for life that puts me into deep menopause with COMPLETE hormonal disruption. It causes weight gain in the biggest percentage of people. And yet, somehow I have been able to lose weight in the face of taking. I learned last week I will likely have to stay on it for life. So I'm just gonna try to keep tricking my body and mixing things up. Have you tried Intermittent Fasting? BTW, you haven't mentioned WHAT you eat. WHAT you eat is as important as HOW many times you eat, HOW MUCH you eat. I can do a LOT of caloric damage with a 5inch plate. Just sayin. Maybe you could post a typical day or two of meals? Here's the article: https://blackbearrehab.com/blog/how-opiates-affect-your-eating-habits-and-appetite/

All of this will cause/contribute to weight gain/prevent losses. In addition to the hormones. If you are drinking any calories (alcohol), that will also put the weight on like nobody's beeswax. I could be guaranteed to gain 5 lbs overnight any time I took my old pain meds that I no longer take.

I do have asthma and I am on a brown inhaler but I haven’t been on steroids as such for about 6 months I only go on steroid tablets if I get a chest infection. I will have a look into my other meds and see if they cause weight gain.

Are you on any type of steroids? Perhaps research your meds carefully and see if any cause weight gain ❤