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So I'm 5 days away from my 8 month anniversary of VSG surgery and finally admitting that my old habits and obsession with snacking have not miraculously disappeared because of WLS. On May 28th, I had lost 60 pounds and was so positive that I'd reach goal by my 8 month anniversary. But rather than stay focused, eat healthy and follow the plan, I got over confident and reverted back to snacking on all the high carb, high sugar, high salt comfort foods that had originally caused my weight gain. I stopped going to my monthly support group meetings, stopped my daily involvement in on-line bariatric and weight loss support groups and as a result, I've gained 8 pounds rather than losing the last 6 pounds that would have gotten me to goal. I know what I have to do to get back on track. Any suggestions on how to break my addition to carbs? I'm focused on Protein today with the hope that once I break the carb cycle, I can get back to making better food choices for my late night Snacks. Yes, the honeymoon is over!!

oh, and get this - I've been on pureed foods (low fat) and only water/lemon or tea for at least a week now, and on clears only today, and I have gained a pound!! ugh. This is why I am doing this - the meds I have to take for other health issues unrelated to my weight cause weight gain. I will just keep getting bigger unless I take this action! Maybe I ate too MUCH soup? I don't know. Didn't add milk or cream to any of it. I know a pound isn't a big deal but I keep reading that people have lost 10-20lbs prior to surgery. I hope to at least be at good old 200 by Monday. Discouraged!

I'm 38 years old. My BMI is 35.8. 2 years ago I got a tummy tuck and lipo suction and looked great. The weight went down from 201 lbs to 175 in a year. On the second year after surgery, I gained the weight back. I ate everytime I was stressed. Chocolate calmed down my anxiety, but I also tried medication and the medication caused even more weight gain. I've tried Jenny Craig and spent hundreds in 1 hour-weekly sessions with couselors. I'm miserable and considering lap band. I wonder, is anyone out there dealing with anxiety? are you able to lose the weight despite the psych issues?:scared2:

lol -you know those were my thoughts too...i was like until im approved im going to just kick back and go with the flow. of course extra weight gained is extra to lose but still i did it. there's also a class i have to go to before i can have my surgery, the class is on the 20th, lol. i did not want to do a band lifestyle change class until i knew i was getting the band.

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum. I had the sleeve done aug 04, 2011 and today I find out I'm Prego. I've lost 101 lbs. now I'm worried that I'll gain!!!! Has anyone gain with pregnancy if so how much. I'm paranoid about weight gain. I still have a good 30 lbs to lose though. Yikes. #happy

Hi all, I was banded in 2010 lost over 70lbs great! Had a baby gained back 57 and I'm trying to loose it again... However my husband and i just found out I'm pregnant again... We're excited but I'm scared that I'm going to balloon out out control with my weight... Anyone pregnant with the band and how did u control your weight gain

I had a reduction a few years ago. Don't regret it for a second and even with the weight gain- the girls still stand at attention. I hope to lose some and am confident they won't totally go away. Yey girls!

I know it's normal for your period to be irregular after surgery but seriously?? I'm just about 8 weeks post op and am on my period for the FOURTH time since surgery! Every two weeks I turn around and there she is again! I was on a normal cycle before surgery, am not on any type of birth control and haven't been for quite some time. The most frustrating part is the weight gain randomness... I finally broke a 3 week stall, past the 50 lbs down mark and then BAM I'm up 2-3 lbs again. FRUSTRATED!

Hi everyone, I've been reading for a while but never posted. I am currently 3 appointments away from completing all my pre-surgery requirements. My Dr. says I need to drop 14lbs before surgery. I was wondering if any of you have had their thyroid removed? I had mine taken out about 7 years ago and my weight gain just escalated from there. My concern was the 14lbs but so far I'm doing great. I don't have a surgery date yet and have started seriously cutting back. No sodas, very minimal carbs, Protein drinks during the day and a very light high Protein meal for dinner. I've lost 8lbs in 6 days. I worry about how I'll do after surgery and if anyone has heard how those with no thyroid do after surgery. Its typically extremely hard for me to lose even a few pounds. Thanks for any feedback and good luck to everyone.

Hormones, where you are in your cycle, can wreak havoc on weight gain or loss. Also I would take a look at the sodium content of what you are eating. I can tell you right now you mention pepperoni and that's very high in sodium. If you are using a food journal like MyFitnessPal you can look at your daily sodium intake. Just my humble opinion. Keep plugging away. Sent from my SM-G900T using the BariatricPal App

Hi Julie, yes I believe the Overstitch is fairly new, although not to sure how new it is. It was new to me and my surgeon is quite experienced and up to date with new developments and I think he'd done about 5 previously and only in recent weeks. They go in endoscopically and put some permanent sutures in the stoma, then if needed also in the pouch to reduce the size of that as well. I don't think they could do it to a patient with a band in because you don't have a pouch or stoma. And it wouldn't be a stand alone procedure as it's designed to be a remedy for gastric bypass patients experiencing weight gain due to enlarged stomas / pouches. Although I believe they can do something similar to a gastric sleeve endoscopically which I think is gastric plication. (If I am not 100% correct anyone please feel free to correct me) :-) Now as for the cost, my surgeon didn't charge me for this Overstich or the Gastric bypass. I've been quite lucky. I paid the full price for the band 13 years ago, which I had done in the South off France. Then 10 years later after I had moved to Australia from England, I had the band removed and the sleeve done in the same operation. My private health care insurance covered most of it, I think I had to pay $3000 extra towards it. Then as my sleeve failed, the same surgeon did the bypass for 'free' just charging my healthcare fund with no co-payment, and the same for my Overestich. No co-payment. He accepted just the payment from my health care fund here in Australia. All I had to pay for was a payment towards the anaesthetist fees which in total were $800 and Medicare paid $300 so all I paid all up was $500 which I was very pleased about. :-) Now to answer your last question about pain, I experienced next to no pain at all. I had a slight scrape on my lips from the scope, like I've had bigger pimples really. And a very mild sore throat when I woke up. The kind of sore throat you had after slight cough for a few days. Gone all together within 24 hours. Hardly worth mentioning. I was prescribed antiemetics and some strong pain relief, however, didn't fill the script as my nausea and pain were zero, seriously nothing at all painwise post op. I should add though that I was the same after gastric sleeve and bypass. No pain, no wind, no pain relief needed, I was up doing laps of the ward same day as both operations and declined all pain relief. I've either been very lucky or have a high pain threshold or a mixture of the two! Never even had reflux or anything. Oh and time in theatre was 1hr 20mins, think that it normally takes around 45 minutes, but I had sutures to both the stoma and pouch, and there was an Overstitch rep or something in the theatre watching the procedure and asking questions / having things explained I think, so that may have added time, not that it bothered me, I wouldn't have known if the operation took 10 minutes or 10 hours, i just closed my eyes and then woke up, felt like milliseconds haha, I went home after about 2 hours with a recommendation to follow a liquid diet for 1 week then soft / puréed for the second week, then a normal diet after that with lots of chewing and not to push the amount of food eaten. Now I am at the stage of puréed food and cottage cheese, I am eating around 100mls and feel as full as an egg. Have lost over 10kg and am only 4kg away from my target and about 1kg away from being in the healthy weight / BMI range, but I did start the Saxenda injections one week before the Overstitch and they are definitely helping, I felt the appetite suppressing effects of the Saxenda even just on the initial starting dose of 0.6ml, am now up to 2.4ml and will be on the maximum dose of 3ml starting this Friday. Apparently a fair few people stop taking the Saxenda because of the most common side effects which are abdominal pain, headaches and nausea, which I haven't experienced any of at all, must be my high pain threshold again! :-) The thing with the Overstitch is that I guess it can stretch again over time if it's not looked after. I'd imagine it wouldn't be able to stretch as much as without the stitches as they'd continue to provide some resistance, although I'm not sure if there have been any long term studies on this yet, again happy to be corrected if anyone knows anymore about this. Not sure what could be done after stretching the Overstitch, maybe another Overstitch or change to a Duodenal Switch. In wouldn't be too keen on the DS as I'm already severely anaemic, even though I'm not feeling any ill effects. My doctor said my iron levels and ferritin are in the low single digits and I shouldn't be feeling at the very least tired and exhausted but I'm not for some reason. Anyway, I'm hoping I won't need any more revisions. I have enough already!! So here goes, fingers crossed for me. Anymore questions, just ask, more than happy to share my journey / experiences. John :-)

Hey there Audra! Read your message just now. The nurse at my surgeon's office told me to call my insurance company every 2-3 days to check on the progress. I was nice and waited a week first...lol. Anyway, my info was reviewed on Feb. 8th and the nurse that reviewed my info at my ins. co. (BCBS of TN) sent a reply back to my surgeon's office on the 16th. I definitely understand how you feel. I'm jumpin' through all their hoops too. I am morbidly obese and have all kinds of co-morbidities and I have had a psych eval many times over within the past 10 yr. of my life. However, the ins. co. told me that they needed documentation that I had been evaluated within the past 2yr and they need documentation that I had tried structured weight loss within the past 2 yr. as well. The ins. co. has been sent all kinds of medical documentation about my depression and weight gain (and weight loss) from the past 7-8 of my life but they want more so....I'm gonna give um' more...lol. Just don't give up!

Steroids/prednisone can do great things, but they also cause weight gain and bulk. Stay on your program, and once the steroids are done, you'll likely lose weight and see less bulk.

I am due to have my sleeve on 8/18. I am getting nervous. I was just on the veterans forum and I saw many people posting about weight gains, and struggling to maintain their weight using intermittent fasting. I used intermittent fasting, also a 500 calorie diet to lose 75 pounds several years ago....and it came back despite my struggling with excercise, sticking to a low carb, then moderate carb paleo diet. So, when I see people years post op talking about using weight loss techniques that I have tried and over time failed to stop regaining weight with....well it makes me wonder whether the surgery has lasting value. Will the sleeve help me lose weight? No doubt. Heck, I can lose weight on my own ( we all can) But what I am wondering if it will make it easier for me to maintain! I was hoping that after losing the weight, the sleeve would allow me to eat my normal healthy paleo way of eating ( Protein and vegetables and healthy fats) without always having to go hungry in order to keep from gaining weight. I am quite an easy gainer. Does the sleeve allow you to eat less food ( healthy food) and still feel full when you are greater than 1 year out? What benefits have you continued to notice after a year or more post op?

A single pound of fat is roughly 3500kcal. So unless you ate 10,500kcal OVER your baseline intake, there is absolutely no way that is true weight gain. It could be water weight, hormonal changes, bowel movement issues, etc. There are dozens of factors that impact weight and might be reflected on the scale. Additionally, the more you lose and closer you get to a healthy weight, the more likely you are to see those fluctuations as the week to week loss slows down. Keep sticking to your plan and doing exactly what you're doing and you absolutely will see the scale move again. And congrats, 90lbs is amazing!

I was banded on 11/15/10 and have lost 45 lbs with 35 left to go. We will be taking a 7 day cruise May 7 and I admit I am alittle nervous about the food. I have a signifigant about of restriction which always keeps me alert yet as my Dad used to say sometimes " my eyes are bigger than my stomach." I am hoping to replace that with the joy of being on a nice trip with my 92 year old Dad and my sister. We just lost Mother 2 months ago and decided we needed some good times together. The Lap Band was the one good thing I had going for me when Mother was dying. It made me feel I atleast had control over some aspect of my life and the weight loss rather than weight gain kept me positive in a very trying time.

I really am working on not eating sugars because sugar is what has contributed to my past weight gain and diabetes. Sugar is addictive and you can eat a lot of foods really easy that are sugary. those foods are sliders. I choose to avoid sugars as much as possible and eat a wholesome diet focusing around proteins and veggies. I eat or drink anything with caffeine in them now either. i don't miss it either. My plan is to eat healthy and balanced, like the Paleo diet. I even choose to eat foods that are organic without pesticides and antibiotics put in them. Healthy only for me.... I really love this. A side note, I am not perfect and will occassionally eat something that is not organic when eating at friends houses and restaurants. I love my new life style.....

Hi All :help: I have had great loss of more then 65 pounds but once again find myself additcted to the ice cream and weight gain. Does anyone have any idea's of how to get off the ice cream or has found any "subsitute" for ice cream? I just can not get enough of anything that is "ICE COLD". I even drink 2% milk only with ice in it. What ever happened to back in the days when they made ICE MILK? Any thoughts or suggestions please? David dkgingras@comcast.net

I agree with you, There is not a lot of information and support for people maintaining or have weight gain. Most vets disappear from the forums because it's mostly new people. It's hard to see people struggle with a major weight gain. I know this is not easy from my own experience. You may not want to hear some of this. But, I'm saying it because I care. The work does not end after goal. Don't let this gain become 100+ pounds back. Are you willing to change, work and do things that are not convenient or comfortable? Suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. (1) As you progress out from sleeve surgery your restriction is less. You will be able to eat more food. (2) Stretching is rare. Very few revisions are done. You can make an appointment with your surgeon to see if you stretched your sleeve. Ask your dietician/surgeons office for help getting your diet back on track. (3) Many people confuse stretching for the the ability to eat more and grazing food throughout the day (combinations of health and unhealthy foods) Any of us can eat around our surgery. Eating more calories is causing the weight gain. (4) Pouch reset is a fancy way of saying getting back on track. Pouch reset is the old diet progression (liquid ,soft foods then real food stage) If you find this too restrictive try a different approach that is realistically sustainable for you long term. Contact your dietician or research diet options. (5) . Portion control/surgery restriction will only take you so far. To set your body back into weight loss mode is to know how many calories you are eating. You can use a food app. It makes it easier. Click the link below. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myfitnesspal.android&hl=en

Ima try to say something here that will make you smile or make you happy or make you feel inspired. You don't necessarily have to become complicated about your eating. There is one truth for sure in all this. Weight gain means more calories than your activity level warrants. It's almost certain that you have a shitty metabolism and the only way to improve this is more activity and less or better food choices. This is a disgusting oversimplification of whats really going on in your body, both chemically, mentally and physically, but still, a simple truth that you hate, but know. Accept, no matter how frustrating, that you don't get to eat a 2000 calorie diet and maintain your goal weight. Rules to Follow: 1. Always eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. 2. Don't eat more than 1 level cup of food for a meal (1.5 cups if your a male) tiny plates and 1 cup bowls are great here. Its all I use anymore. 3. Eat for expected activity ahead. (example, more calories in your meal if you are going to demand more of yourself physically. Dinner should not be a calorie dense meal if you are going to veg out on the couch and wind down for the night.) I'm gonna leave it at three to make it look simple! So for now, don't worry about counting the calories, just worry about the portion size. If you find that you start losing weight quickly than consider adding in a mid morning snack and late afternoon snack that are no more than 100 calories to help stave off hunger. But first, see if you can start losing again and adjust from there. If you aren't losing weight, then you have to get more complicated with looking at and logging your calories. Hopefully you won't have to do that though! Please, love the food you eat. Become an absolute snob with your choices! I can tell you to eat 3 oz of lean protein, 2 oz of starch and 3 oz of veggies with each meal, but I feel like that kinda kills creativity. You get a cup so make it worth. This ratio is a guideline to bring balance to your meals, but don't let it stop you from making a variety of culinary art and excitement. Don't be scared to make casseroles, stir fry, soups, crazy salads with weird flavor combinations. And, you know it...but sugar is evil. I know you're absolutely dejected right now. It's sooooooo hard to admit to others and to yourself that something has gone wrong. You butchered your body to reach a goal that you didn't keep and now you feel like a turd. I want you to think of something else though. What if you didn't have the surgery? Where might you be right now? Maybe you would have done to yourself what I did. Maybe you might have been 475 lbs and super sick and then thinking about surgery. I have a flap of skin that hangs way down off my tummy area that covers my privates! Sorry for graphic imagery, but, it roles up like a cute burrito as well. Ima have to have that removed on my own dime or convince myself that its fun to think of Mexican food when I'm laying in bed at night! A lot of people get lost thinking about where they didn't get too in the positive direction after WLS, but in their self misery, they forget to consider where they didn't go in the negative direction too. This counts for something huge in my book!!!...and I do know huge very, very well. 😂 Pick yourself up, dust off your bum, and love yourself. You absolutely cannot reach a goal if you are hating yourself. Reach out for help from somebody, a nutritionist, a personal trainer, a friend, maybe a psychologist even. Keep visiting these forums and posting things as you go. Its very therapeutic. PS-My apologies if I have ruined Mexican food for anyone. Sometimes my humor gets a little morbid, but I do mean it all in good fun.

Hi Mary! I was banded on Oct 8th! during my preop diet I lost 12 lbs but I am not weighing until one month, Nov 8th. Because my stomach area is still swollen and bruise inside, from the surgery, so for some people, we don't lose right away, but some do. Remember...you do NOT have a fill yet, so you won't have any restictions until you first fill on Nov 17? Mine is on Dec 6, which will be the end of the 8th week, as I can't do it a week before Thanksgiving or have it done on Thanksgiving weekend, for that is when I do my Xmas shopping (smile). Personally I only drink Protein Water (Special K2O - strawberry kiwi) and I do a Protein shake. Proteins helps curbs your hunger and thirst. Also, I don't drink tea during the day, just at night. I have a popsicle at night as my 'treat'. Anyway, the point is...give the band a chance and choose quality foods with lots of proteins. At this stage, don't worry about the calorie intake or even the card right now. We are new and our body is trying to adjust to the new change. Hope this helps you Mary! Jude =) Hi I am very interested in more information on your experience. I was banded on Oct. 7th. With the 5 day preop diet until now I have lost 17lbs. But the facts are not that simple. I lost most of it from the start of the preop until about 3 days post op. I feel no restriction whatsoever. I am still slightly sore at the port but otherwise the surgery was very easy. I did every thing I was told and now feel fine just slight soreness at the port site. But I am starving. I tried testing it last night to see and sure enough I can eat anything. No side affects at all. My first fill is Nov. 17th. What I do feel is thirsty all the time and I am drinking probably 100oz a day all non-caffeine teas or water. What drove me to try real food was horrible upset stomach from all the artificial sweeteners. I have 110 lbs more to lose. So you experience with the fills is very interesting to me. Right now I have serious buyers remorse and hunger. One problem that exasperates my situation and led to this massive weight gain over the past 8 years is a very serious foot condition that prohibits any distance walking. I have just bought a recumbent bike and this weekend I am going to see how I handle that with the little bit of residual surgical pain I have. Any additional information or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Well you two it took me a bit to google and translate kilos into pounds lol, but I think I got the gist of the weight gains and losses. Like Chilo said there are many band to sleeve revisions on this site and they will be able to give you the low down on that idea. I was just curious though, I heard the port and metal on the bands were titanium like the staples used for the sleeve. If this is so you may need to go with a physician that uses threaded sutures and glue vs the staples if this is possible or maybe go with the gastric plication which is not excising the stomach only folding it within itself and suturing it up, to avoid the titanium. Hmmm

I would love to find a mentor too:) Had my surgery last March down 57# wish more I have tough time food choices & meal planning trying new foods.Mother of 8 would prefer quick easy meal for brkfst & lunch I don't know....started curves to get moving more. I have daily back and hip pain on meds that cause weight gain. Having trouble getting protein in don't like fish some meats tough going down.Could use some help please )))

hi am 23 and when i hit nearly 23 stone i really thought i needed to do something about it so i went to see my gp about things and i was put forward for a laparoscopic gastric band. Then in october 2009 i went to a meeting about what differnt ways there was ballon, gastric band or the bypass i went home and thought about it my next appoint wasnt til feb 2010. By then i new i wanted a laparoscopic gastric band. Altho this was a scary thought i was weighted and told what things maybe causing my weight gain. So from feb i started looking at differnt diets to suit me in the end i combined 2 differnt ones the british heart foundation diet and the free foods list altho it took me at least 3 month to find the right diet for me it was worth it in the end. i lost nearly 3 stone by the time i went back to my next appointment and the pannel team was very happy with my porogress. i had also hit a record weight loss in the clinc of 16kilos i no that is short of 3 stone but i had put a few pounds on before i lost weight after my first appointment i am so proud of myself (i also recived a letter this morning sayin i was a record breaking weight loss for the clinic which will take pride of place in my home to sppur me on the lose me weight). after my appointment in oct i was in hospital the next week for my laparoscopic gastric band to make sure i didnt put the weight back on. i am 3 weeks out of surgy and feel like am ready for this challange . the first few days were hard and i wont lie i had regrets about getting it done but after the first week everything had time to sink in and i know it is the best thing i could have done. since having the band fitted i have lost 6 pound i no that isint a massive weight loss but its still 3 bags of sugar and when you look at it that way a loss is a loss its better than putting more weight on. i am very excited for my first fill which should be in about 3 weeks time i havent yet had a date. every 2 pound i loss i can say good bye to a bag of sugar and the less sugar i eat they more of those bags i can throw!! its easy to get disheartened and feel down and at the time food looks like the best way out i have done it for many years. normally the first thing u grap is the quickest and easy food so why dont you have a look of a free food least (foods that hasnt many cals and is very low in fat) and always have them to hand or prepared in the fridge as this may help. if anyone has any advice for my feel free to email me thanks victoria xxx :cursing:

I went back on Nuva ring 2 weeks post op with no issues with weight gain. I am still loosing. Pregnancy soon after is not recommend and Nuva ring has one of the lower hormone levels compared to the pill.