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<P>I've always had a pretty good knowledge of what to eat health wise. I could do well for weeks and months at a time with my well rounded healthy meals, but because of my body and some health issues one bad meal would cause MAJOR weight gain for me. I have never believed in getting your band so tight you can't swallow your own spit lol. If I can't fit in 1200 healthy calories each day I would get some fluid taken out. I do know a lot of people who only eat 700-800 calories a day and it really is not enough to realistically be healthy. You're body needs nutrients to survive and THRIVE. I use my band to keep me from being hungry between meals so it's easier to stick with the plan. It also keeps me from being as bad as I want on days where my will power is not so strong and when I do have a treat day with something not so healthy I don't pay the price I used to. It's funny now a "bad day" is eating 1500-1800 calories lol. Not that it's a lot but probably once a week I treat myself with higher fatty foods. I know before a bad day would be SO MUCH more than that.<BR>It's great that you've found something that works for you. Good job and keep at it!</P>

PCOS=Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. It is a lovely disorder that is named after a symptom instead of what is actually is, which is basically a hormone imbalance. Essentially, when PCOS-ers eat our bodies make MUCH more insulin than a normal persons would, causing 1. more hunger 2. more fat storage. All this insulin and fat causes an excess of testosterone which opposed to popular theory does NOT drive up the libido but causes things like facial hair, acne, more weight around the middle, skin tags (basically moles) and..hence the name...a failure to ovulate fully which can cause small cysts on the ovaries. I don't have TOM for months at a time then will spot for like 3 weeks unless on some kind of birth control. I currently have an IUD which has triggered a weight gain of about 50 lbs in the last 2 years, not that I was thin before!!!. It is treated with birth control pills for period regulaiton and some diabetes medications, usually metformin, but the only "cure" is weightloss, which because of the insulin stuff is VERY hard...I can restrict eating and workout like a crazy person and lose half of what others around me are. sorry may be TMI but I love to educate women about it because there are so many out there with it, this is an incredibly common syndrome, who don't know anything about it until they start trying to conceive. I was lucky enough to have a surprise baby back in 2004, but many struggle with infertility their entire lives.

Emily, You are right that weight gain can occur post op. Surgery is a big step and very personal decision. My feeling is that if you're not 100% sure, it's best to not to do it. The first step in the Kaiser program is a class that details what life will be like pre-op and post-op. And it describes other ways to lose weight, including other Kaiser options, such as a medically supervised liquid diet that is slowly phased back to a normal diet. They really stress surgery is not the best choice for everyone. Best wishes on your journey. Lynda

Hi, my name is Julia, I am 30 years old and from the Buffalo, NY area. I have been contemplating WLS for a year or more but finally took the first steps a few months ago. I, at first, had settled on the lapband, but after going to my seminar and hearing about the gastric sleeve, my husband and I decided together that that was the better choice for me. I have been struggling with my weight for over 10 years, dieting on and off for most of that time, losing the weight and gaining it back, but my weight gain escalated when I got pregnant with my daughter. I was already overweight, but then added an additional 40 lbs on top of my 175. I had complications with gestational diabetes that required insulin injections. I was told that if I want to have another child, I will have to lose a significant amount of weight to help my chances of not having it again. I would like one more child and I just don't feel that going through that again is an option! I have not been able to successfully lose the weight for any extended period of time since then. I am now at 206 lbs and 5'0 with a BMI of 41. I just had my first appointment and have started the South Beach diet (have lost 6 lbs since my initial weigh in thanks to the stomach flu). I have my psych eval next week and have to have my EGD and sleep study. Once those are done I will be able to have my appointment with the surgeon. I am very excited to finally have taken the first steps in my journey to being healthy and look forward to getting to know everyone! Thanks!

Pete, You are right, some of your weight gain may be from stoping the lasix. (furosemide) Are you noticing swelling especially in your lower extremities. If you are making good food choices and still gaining weight like that you need to let the doctor know. You don't want to put on a lot of fluid. It wouldn't be good for you. Keep up the great work. You will get there!

Jenn, I feel your pain, but what Miss Mary said is 100%. Since you're obsessed with the scale (like I am :-) you should get a tanita scale that measures your fat, water, and bone density; this way you can see where the weight gain is (and weight loss for that matter). It will give you a peace of mind, because our bodies will hold on to water, especially when there is a drastic change. Even exercise can make you retain sometimes. Drink plenty of water to flush out the water and you'll be fine (physically and mentally But I do feel ya on the appetite, I have been sooooooo hungry and NOT for a damn protein drink either, I want to CHEW!

Well I went into the office and got my second fill today. Not nearly as traumatic as the first one, not as painful and not so much bleeding everywhere. I saw the NP and she only gave me a touch of a fill, .6cc. That seems small to me since my first fill was a full 2.6cc. She told me to wait 2 weeks and then touch base with how it was going. Since I'm self pay all visits are free for me for the first year, so I don't mind going in again if need be. The second fill puts me at a total of 6.2cc in the AP band. My Dr office has me fill out a diet summary and the NP was pretty stern with me saying that I was eating too much soft foods and that I need to eat a more substantative fare. I guess this will commence after my two days of liquids and two days of solids... I was pretty unhappy since I've only lost 5lbs in the last 3 weeks. The NP said that too much soft/mushy food = weight gain. I'm syncing up my i pod right now as I've started to jog around the neighborhood pretty successfully. My neighbors think I'm a riot. Until later!

I agree with tracking ... To a point. For me I tracked every day at the beginning. And if it keeps working for you great. My goal with tracking is to keep myself honest and be confident in my choices. So if you track and you see that you are where you wanna be and where your NUT wants you ... I would give it some time to get results. The body's reaction to surgery and weight loss is so crazy. And you can drive yourself crazy analyzing every factor. If you really do experience consistent weight gain then maybe it's time to do detective work. But stalls and fluctuations definitely seem part of the process! Good luck! FYI I had a five week stall which finally broke on its own. I was assured by my NUT that I was on target so I just kept plugging away and finally got results.

Good for you! I remember feeling the same exact way when I was at my heaviest as well. I was literally letting life pass me by. I remember avoiding people that I had went to school with (I mean ducking into aisles at stores) just so that I wouldn't have to be embarrassed by my weight gain. Now, even though I know that I still weigh more than what I did back in school, I can look those people right in the eyes with confidence in who and what I am, and not be ashamed of ME! Kuddos to you, because that was a very huge step in moving on with your life. It's awesome when we come to the realization that we really are worth something, and we really do matter!!! Good for you!

I had my band 4 years and my journey ended having it removed and revised to sleeve 4 months ago. My issue was also a stretched esophagus. With my esophagus working as a 2nd stomach, I could eat more and I gradually started gaining weight was my first symptom. When my esophagus issue was discovered my band was emptied and I put on even more weight very quickly. With the weight gain I qualified on the BMI requirement for revision. In addition, I was still on medications for high blood pressure, which also helped me qualify. Getting the band removed was a very tough and sad decision for me and revision was even tougher. Four months out and my feelings have completely changed about my revision. 30 pounds down, no more stuck episodes, no more slime, no more puking, night coughs etc. and the very best is that "feeling full" is really "feeling full"! No more measuring meals, I can now do my own push aways very easily. I understand how you are feeling and the unknowns. Hang in there. If band removal is in your future, don’t let revision surgery scare you. Of course, I’m going to say that sleeve is the way to go, but, then I would be saying different had I had the by-pass done. One thing I do know is that I still need my weight loss tool! Having my band emptied a few months, I started gaining weight and started to fall back into my old habits of overeating. Much luck to you and please do keep me informed of what happens. jake

im having a revision done at the beginning of august and want to make sure this time, i ge fit right. my weight gain was mainoy do to me but partially due to the firdt surgeron mistakes. i want to make sure this sticks and im on the right path mentally. mentally i was not in the right place last time. any thoughts or advice to keep me going?? Sent from my LM-V405 using BariatricPal mobile app

I saw the nutritionist today. She said that I’m doing everything the way that I should. She recommended that I only drink one protein shake a day and make sure I add some carbs to my meals. She reassured me that this phase is the prep phase for my soon to be new way of living. She said that some people don’t lose weight before they go on the pre-op liquid diet. However, when I start that diet I will lose some pounds. All in all I feel better. She has not seen any weight gain due to protein brands, but think that my lack of a loss was due to too much protein. Now I am focused on eating 2 good nutritious meals, my 1 protein shake and listening to my body. I was trying to walk 5 days a week, but it’s hard when you work overnight. So I’ll do 2 days of walking at home. When I’m at the hospital walk up the stairs, take the long way to the units… anything to get mg heart beating and steps in. last thing… I thank you all for being there. This forum has been great.

Did anyone gain on there last month of the pre-op diet? I have 5lbs to lose by my scale before Wednesday! I hate my scales I never know what I really weigh. Anyway if you gained did you not get approved at 1st or what happened? Just trying to prepare myself for the worst case scenario. Thank you ☆Jeni☆

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.

Ohhh thank you all for the input!! Glad to know its normal to have sine weight gain!! Thank you all for the support!

I am looking for someone who had gained quite a bit of weight after having had the bypass surgery and successfully re-lost all the weight and what program or diet they used to do this

Hi everyone! I am very happy to be joining this forum and looking to all the information and seeing everyone's transformations. I'm currently 30 yo woman and have struggled with weight all my life. I was born 10lbs and suffered really bad asthma as a child that definitely contributed to my weight gain. At the age of 18, Im 5'3.5" and weighed 301. I worked out for 2-3 years and changed my diet and managed to get down to 190. I still wasn't satisfied. Today, I'm currently back at 237. I finally decided it's time to consider weight loss surgery (WLS). At the age of 18, my doctor did not recommend WLS because I was too young. I realized that a healthy diet and exercise are going to be a part of my forever. However, it would be a dream come true if I can have VSG to finally be able to feel comfortable in my body. I have UHC and I live in Florida. Bariatric surgery is covered and I am required to do the following: 40 BMI or greater A psych evaluation 6 months of a supervised diet by a physician notification from my dr. I am having lab work done this week and I am looking forward to getting started. Can anyone share what the psych evaluation is like and what the 6 months of the supervised diet is like? Thanks in advance. Gigi. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Dorrie...do you feel comfortable with the weight you are at now? At times I wonder if i will be able to get to goal? I have over 40 pounds to go and it is slow going, but I am still very committed. One thing about being in menopause is not experiencing the water weight gain around that time of the month..

I also have RA and took steroids for 6 years and gain 100 lbs. I'm finally off of them & take orencia injections once a week. It doesn't cause weight gain. I was sleeved April 29. Ask your rheumatologist about starting a biologic like orencia. It has really been a life saver!!

UGH. I am so sorry. Definitely contact your surgeon back in Lebanon, and make sure you get copies of your files AND XRAYS. I don't think anyone is going to want to un-fill you without knowing exactly where your port is, and no-one is going to give you X-rays when you are pregnant (as they shouldn't). how do you feel, and how is your current weight gain? As long as that is on track and you can eat healthy foods, I don't think it is 100% the case all the time that you get unfilled for a pregnancy. If you aren't throwing up, and can use healthy slider foods to gain the right amount of weight, you might be OK! Anyway, if you can get a copy of your file/xrays that might really help regarding getting someone to help you, and if your surgeon knows anyone in the US, maybe that person could help?

I'm so excited...I woke up this morning and after a couple of weeks of plateuing and teetering with weight gain I'm losing again, pretty big time too. I am now the weight I was during my sophomore/junior high school years. Yay me!

back to topic guys "what was your final straw" i had so many trips/falls due to my heavy weight - knee replacements femur broke twice, etc i slowly realized that all my excess weight caused these problems falling since i had problems because of my "excess" weight i was always so sad about my weight weight gain, weight loss, weight gain etc, etc realized i had so many health problems i needed help, immediately hello sleeve good by diabetes meds/high blood pressure meds, no more CPAP my big NSV one was having my epilepsy meds dosage cut in half i was taking dosage for someone that weighed 235 lbs now that my weight was going down, down etc - i was taking too taking to many meds/pills so meds were less for a smaller person life is great now that's my story and i'm sticking to it kathy

I was very afraid....and I did gain. When I started the mushies phase I gained 3 lbs starting week 2 po. It happens, but it will come off. My surgeon told me to expect some weight gain bc the metabolism is adjusting from liquid to mushies to solids. I was so mad at first, but realized that it quickly came back off.

For my one month update I wanted to share from my overall experiences both good and bad. Lets start with the good: Surgery was on 4/28 and today is 5/28 and I have lost 30.4 pounds. 30 pounds in a month is awesome and I am so thrilled I made this decision. I do feel my restriction and get full very quickly. 4-6 ounces is about my capacity depending on the type of food. Slider foods like Greek yogurt I could eat more of but I just eat a 6 oz container and stop there. So far I have been lucky to not have hunger *knock on wood*. I have felt thirsty though--but this could be psychological because I used to always have a diet coke nearby to drink from--now its water or crystal light but I still have the need to have liquid around allot. Needless to say, I always get my fluids in and usually more. This may be TMI but my urine is usually clear (which is supposedly a good thing) Now lets talk about my diet. Some people say this is not a diet and not to treat it that way- but technically your diet is what you eat so everyone is on a "diet" all the time (neener neener, HA!). I stick to the general doctors orders here for the most part on most days. I count protein, but I have not really bothered with calories that much. I get very full on protein so I try to have some type of fruit or veggie when I can fit in an ounce or more. I think I could still add some more here but I will explain why later. 3 out of every 4 days I am pretty much by the book vsg diet low carb, high protein (70-80). Where I have drastically differed is on my 4th day. I up my calories and do count calories on this 4th day because I want to try and hit from 1800 calories or more. This would not really be possible for me to do without pure junk food IF I tried doing this with just food just based on how often and how much I can eat. So I supplement with a "weight gain" drink called Suplimed. It was developed as a well balanced formula to help those who have lost weight through illness to regain weight. One 8 oz shake in water is 500+ calories and more if its in milk.(sometimes I do half at a time) So I typically do 2 whole shakes plus food to get me to the 1800+ on my forth day. As I can eat more real food in time I will lower the shakes or half them. Why? because I am trying to avoid any weight loss stalls and not allow my system to adjust to low calorie metabolism--and I use the shakes because I don't want to use junk food to up calories. I am not recommending this to anyone, because that would differ from what your doctor would have you do--I am happily the human guinea pig for this and I just want to see how this works for me over the next couple of months. So far no stalls *knock on wood*. This zig-zag calorie method has been in the body-building world a long time--so I did not think it up on my own. I just could never do it pre-op with all my hunger. I started my first high calorie day on my second day of full liquids and have stuck to the 3 regular days 1 high cal day since then. Honestly, I don't look forward to the high calorie days because it is a chore to get the shakes and food in when you have no hunger--but I stick with them like a prescription medication for now--if they stop being effective over time I will drop them. Supplements I take: BA multi vitamin. The orange was nasty but I can tolerate the berry flavor. Twin labs sublingual B12, Vitamin D weekly 50,000IU (set by doc based on pre-op low levels), prescription to prevent gal stones(help me keep the gal bladder), and I take a tablespoon of Barleans Omega Swirl to get necessary fats in. Protein supplements as needed too. Ok the Bad: It has not all been roses--or maybe it has been roses, but there are a few thorns . Let me preface this by saying I am very happy with the sleeve and would not trade it. Post op--I had a wonderful experience until about one week out where it felt like I pulled something on my large incision. It was painful and I had to rest it a couple of days--luckily I did not tear it or have a hernia (internals protrude through incision) but it was a wake up call to me. I should admit this now I guess-- I hit the Stairmaster Stepmill (real stairs that rotate) the day before this happened --STUPID ME! I just felt so darn good and the stairmaster has been my punisher of choice for years--nothing happened that day but the next day simply bending over without bending my knees and popping back up quickly caused the oh crap moment. I talked about the bending over part before, but I had to come clean on the Stairmaster part so someone might learn from my idiocy. This from a guy who skied 1.5 days with a broken collar bone back at age 18--I did not know it was broken but my pain tolerance is a little off and dammit I had paid for those lift tickets! Anyway, I thought I would be super sleever at one week out. That stairmaster is going to get its ass kicked at 6 weeks out I will tell you though! With a couple of rest days I luckily had not messed anything up--whew what a wake up call. The next item I have had to learn after moving into regular food is to slow down. Its easy to remember this with dense heavy foods, but for foods like scrambled eggs--I used to inhale those. Bad habits of not chewing foods like this have led to me throwing up--I would stew for like half and hour trying to walk it off until finally my stomach says "nope!" and up it came. So yes you have to chew even the smaller soft foods. Last but not least I have dealt with some constipation. This is why I think that I need more fruit or fiber in my diet. I have used Miralax (or the Walgreen's equivalent) to clear this issue up some, but I want to get the food right so I don't have to. So there you have it the good and the bad so far at one month out. I am loving my sleeve and the results have been awesome. Feel free to post any questions if you are pre-op or new to this. Thanks!

This sounds rough. Losing a loved one is very hard. May I ask what kind of food choices you were making during weight gain periods? Also do you still see your surgeon or are your follow up visits only yearly?