Search the Community

Are you fed up with struggling with overeating, starting another d-i-e-t that you know will probably blow up on you, or wishing your pants were not so tight? Here are five simple things you can implement today to control your cravings, eat less, and thrive more. Are you fed up with struggling with overeating, starting another d-i-e-t that you know will probably blow up on you, or wishing your pants were not so tight? Here are five simple things you can implement today to control your cravings, eat less, and thrive more. 1. Sleep. Don’t keep working harder and harder. Play it smart. Women who average five hours or less of sleep per night weigh more, gain weight more easily, and crave more carbohydrates and fattening foods—and it’s not in their heads! Sleep deprivation leads to chemical changes in your body that cause overeating and weight gain (even if you don’t overeat). Aim for at least seven and a half hours of sleep per night. Not only will you be less hungry, your productivity, focus, and creativity will probably improve. You may even find yourself accomplishing more than when you were burning the midnight oil. Additional bonus: you’re likely to feel a whole lot better. 2. Pay attention to your feelings. Emotional eating—eating as a response to feelings—is a major cause of overeating and packing on the pounds. Stress eating, comfort eating, eating out of frustration and even eating out of boredom or happiness can all sabotage your weight loss plans. Develop strategies to check in with yourself and with how you are feeling so that you can respond to your emotions in ways that don’t involve food. Added bonus: when you address your feelings instead of feeding them, you will be taking charge of your life and responding to what you really need. When you do this, life gets better. 3. Carve out time for you. Stress and overload can be a direct path to weight gain. If you’re feeling time crunched, you’re likely to make the all-too-common mistake of cutting out the activities that are actually the best for you. Me-time helps you relax and unwind. It also gives you an opportunity to pay attention to yourself and what you need to function and flourish. When you meet your needs and care for yourself in quality ways, you are less likely to find yourself using food as a “special treat” or a “band aid” to help you get through the day. Practice giving yourself a five or ten minute time out a few times a day. The bonus: these short breaks help you get perspective on your day. You’re likely to feel more organized and relaxed as a result. 4. Feed yourself quality food at regular intervals. If you are trying to eat less, it can be tempting to cut back too far and allow yourself to get too hungry. Big mistake. While depriving yourself with strict diets may initially seem to create results on the scale, in the long run, eating too little leads to stronger cravings (usually for foods that will spike your blood sugar levels quickly), overeating, and binge eating. Do you find that your healthy eating plan always gets blown in the afternoon or evening? Try eating smaller, more frequent meals during the day and make sure that you are including some protein each time you eat. Bonus: when you feed yourself well, both your energy levels and your mood are likely to improve. 5. Savor. You might be surprised to find how little of what you eat you actually allow yourself to savor and enjoy. Eating on the run and multitasking while you eat mean that your attention is divided between food and your hunger and whatever else you are doing. When you eat without giving it your full attention, you are likely to eat more and not feel as full. Impose a ban on multitasking when you eat. Take your time and practice eating mindfully—paying complete attention to your food—the taste, smell, even the texture. Notice how full or hungry you are and allow yourself to enjoy the act of eating. Bonus: savoring is a pleasant activity and it tends to be relaxing. Practicing enjoying your food in this way and getting in the habit of doing one thing at a time is a great strategy for reducing stress. If you apply the concept of not multitasking to other areas of your life, you’re also likely to see an improvement of the quality of your results.

that medication you started the side affect listed on it is possible weight gain. But lets start there at your food habits... Are you still eating healthy? making sure to limit carbs and sugars? or are you just eating whatever? I am only 9 months out and i dont feel the restriction i did 5 months ago. I can eat much larger portions than before. The goal tho is to limit those portions regardless. The goal is not to eat until you cant anymore. Its to eat until you are satisfied. not full but good. Not sure what else you can do with surgery. you already had the sleeve and then bypass which is what most people go to when they gain too much weight after sleeve or have GERD issues.

As the others have said it is very, very common to experience a 10lb+/- bounce back regain in your second or third year. Some gain may be attributed to your body resettling. Some gain may be to put you at a weight that is what your body set point really is now. Some may be a little complacency. Some may be the return of your hunger. Some may be changes you’ve made so your eating plan better complements your life. Some may be attributed to changes in medication or general health. Have to admit I too, would question a doctor who would prescribe medication to manage a 10lb weight gain. The points raised by @Sleeve me alone! would be a concern especially with a medication which swells in your tummy. Did your doctor request a blood test to assess your hormonal levels or to see if anything was lacking. At your age yes peri menopausal or menopausal side effects could have contributed to your gain. I put on about 15kgs very quickly when I became peri menopausal pushing me to 91kg & couldn’t lose any of it. It’s what made me turn to surgery. It’s an area to explore further. But I’d also go back to your surgeon & see what they have to say.They’ve got the experience & knowledge to give you the best advice. And maybe find a therapist who can support you identify ways to manage your hunger in case there are other issues at play too.

I had my follow up with the surgeon and discovered I as having an allergic reaction to the glue. I am happy to say @AceBlaque you were right. I am now 6lbs down from my presurgery weight. So all the surgery weight gain is gone plus another 6 lbs. Thanks again for your response. 💕

I was admitted to the hospital via the ER on Sunday January 21st in excruciating pain. By that Wednesday evening I was in surgery having my gallbladder removed. Since then I have gained 7lbs. Sunday - Wednesday I was restricted and couldn't, nor did I want to, eat anything. I was being pumped with antibiotics and fluids. Since being home I have watched my fat intake and sodium. Other than that, I am not eating things that I feel would cause weight gain. Being almost 1 year out from having my sleeve surgery this is scary to see my weight jump this much so quickly. This coming Wednesday would mark 2 wks post op and I have a follow up with the surgeon. Has anyone experienced this? I am hoping it is due to the trauma my body experienced and as I heal my weight would normalize again and not keep going up. I was also due to have my menstrual cycle the week of the attack but that has not happened either, again, I believe it is due to the experience and surgery. Anyone went through this and can tell me what to look forward to on the other side of healing, your comments would be greatly appreciated. I have been doing extremely well after sleeve surgery and I don't want my body to go backwards.

I have been struggling with my weight "forever". As a child I was compared with my younger sister who had an overactive thyroid (thus underweight) and I felt "fat" (in reality my thyroid was hypoactive at the time and never investigated). Then after getting married (I weighed 125 and still thought I was fat), having 4 children (gaining about 5 lbs after each child) and chose to end my marriage of 15 years (he had an affair and wanted me to "accept her") I ended up gaining 100 lbs the year after the divorce. After 20 years living on my own I had the surgery to prevent (and reverse) the health issues of obesity and start to care for myself. I had been watching my mother waddle around the house as a "butterball" and knew if I didn't make changes I would be in the same boat but wouldn't have anyone to care for me since I am alone. I have been working with a therapist for PTSD and have realized that I have lived my life since childhood caring for everyone else and putting myself last. I have been in a spiral of self hatred for decades and used food to stuff my feelings, bury the pain, hurt and neglect that I experienced as a child and then as a wife in a unhealthy relationship. I started taking antidepressants in October 2013 because my world seemed to be crashing down around me. I ended up quitting my job in January 2014 because of panic attacks and paranoia from verbal threats from my patients (I can tell you that the rumors about the VA medical care are true and the doctors are not supported by the upper management) Around August 2014 my weight loss stopped (not just stalled) and I gained 10 lbs. For months I tried different tips with diet, exercise, Water intake and changing around my Protein intake but no luck getting to my weight goal. Today I realized that weight gain is typical with antidepressant use (duh, even doctors forget the basics) and I had titrated up to a high dose of medication in August. I am learning to "love" myself (this is very foreign to me) and know I am not ready to stop taking the medication. I am satisfied with my current weight and know when I work through several issues from the past I will be able to get to my goal weight. This is my "ah-ha" moment so I wanted to share.

I haven't had the sleeve yet, but I have gone from 330lbs. to 128 and kept it off for five years and regained it due to surgery, depression, sickness which caused me to quit working out, which caused more and more weight gain back to over 300 again. I now am waiting for the sleeve and have been working hard for over six months waiting for the day I get the sleeve. You gained 20 lbs. not 30, 40 or 50 or more. Just a mere 20. Try adding some Protein shakes in your day, one or two, then high protein dinner, low carb (don't drink for 30 minutes after eating). Go back to the beginning. Park your car a little further at the grocery store, take the stairs at work, instead of sitting and watching TV, stand and walk in place. We all know what it is like to gain 10-20 lbs back after dieting. If we can stop it then, we won't have to look back when it's 50 or 60 or 100 and it seems nearly impossible again. I wish you the best of luck and it's great to hear from someone that has been through it and what life is like down the road.

Hi. My name is Lauren. I'm 25 years old, 5'4'', 252 lbs. (BMI about 42/43?)I have been struggling with my weight since I was about 15 when I was put on prescription medication for depression. As a result of the medication, I gained a signifigant amount of weight in a short amount of time. Fortunately I was able to loose that initial weight gain with diet and exercise. Then I changed medications again, gained weight...lost the weight. Changed medications again etc etc. In summary, I have been yo-yo-ing for about ten years, going from skinny to obese and back about 3 times. Each time I yo-yo I gain back the weight, and then some. Familar story for a lot of us. IN 2008 I weighed about 155 lbs. Then a bunch of things happened: went through a breakup, lost my job, havent been able to find a job (I'm a teacher). Now I'm 251 lbs. and feeling really bad I'm depressed and ready for a change. I have been thinking about bariatric surgery for a couple of months now. At first, I was thinking of gastric bypass, but then I found out about the band. In July I met with Dr, Edward Garber (York, PA, USA) about the possibility of getting the band. I went into the appointment thinking, "They will say no. They will say no." Because so many bad things have been happening in my life I was sure no one would be able to help me. Good News. Dr. Garber said the surgery could help me. He said people around my height/weight have a lot of trouble loosing weight. This made me feel like, "Ok, this is a problem other people have." For so long I just blamed myself and blamed myself, and ate, and blamed myself. Now I don't feel so alone. So far, I have gone to 2 nutrition classes, and had a pulmonary exam. I still have to go through a psych eval. which I am worried about since I'm depressed (but stable) . Then I have to meet with the dietician, and also go to a support meeting. After all that's done, I hope to send my paperwork in and get an insurance approval. My insurance is different than a lot of people's in that I don't have a mandatory supervised pre-op diet. I am thankful for that because I have been dieting and exercising all year to no avail. I hope to get the surgery in Novemberish/Decemberish depending on when the insurance approval comes through. I am hoping and praying to get approved as I know this can be a complicated and disappointing process. I am trying my best to stay calm and mantain my weight. I can't wait to make these changes that will improve my quality of life!

Pretty common sense stuff, but I thought this was a good distillation of a lot of common themes from threads across Bariatric Pal. http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/ways-avoid-weight-gain-after-bariatric-surgery/

First of all, congratulations on being a survivor! My husband was also abused from 5 years into adulthood. My weight gain was from severe depression and insecurities. Plus, I love food. It was my best friend, so I thought. My doctor told me I had to weigh at least one pound less than the date we met the first time or my insurance wouldn't pay. I gained during the first four of six monthly visits. I ended up losing the weight I gained and now I'm on my liquid diet and I'm below the cut-off, so I'm good. Check with your surgeon about the weight gain. Docs and insurances are all different. Best wishes to you. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using BariatricPal mobile app

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!

NON SCALE VICTORY....lol It is a good feeling when you are in the middle of a simple conversation with your husband and he stops you to say....."wow, babe...you are really beautiful". and of course I ask him where that came from and he say to me. "You know I think you are beautiful. But you can already see a difference in your self confidence and I really like it". <INSERT HAPPY DANCE> I am CRAZY IN LOVE with my husband. It's weird...5 years together and he still gives me butterflies. I didn't realize how my weight gain had effected my relationship...because of how I felt about myself.....but it did. Everytime I turn around today I have Corey coming up behind me to steal kissed or hugs and to tell me how sexy or beautiful I am. The way he acts you would have thought I had already lost 100lbs instead of 25 to 30lbs. It is wonderful.... It truly reaffirms the fact that I made the right decision to get the surgery. He tells me everyday that he is so proud of me. I know I am a very lucky woman and I cannot thank God enough for such a special man in my life. He's not perfect (Lord knows he can make me mad at times) but he is perfect for me. He likes to read my blogs and is always impressed with the support I receive from all of you ...... but I hope he knows that his support is amazing in itself. THAT IS MY NON SCALE VICTORY SO FAR.....and I would say it's a pretty darn good one!

While in the hospital you no doubt noticed you were hooked up to IV's the whole time, right? Constantly pumping fluids, plus edema, plus surgical "trauma" to the body all cause a little water weight gain. It will all go away in the first week or two. Not to worry.

I do not drink thru a straw, I take my prilosec without fail and I was doing so so so good up until now! I hope this is just really bad gas? I hope someone else has had something similar and I'm just worrying for no reason. I am using the restroom fine, drinking fine, not dealing with hunger issues, have even felt more energy. I just don't understand what this is and how I can fix it. Maybe I just needed to vent, maybe I'm pmsing really bad as I'm due to start this week and this is my first period since surgery? I'm on the pill, and I'm very regulated. I'm just really uncomfortable and trying not to work myself up. I had the lapband since 2007 until my revision and this past year was horrible for me with weight gain and vomiting and even constant nausea the three months prior to my revision. I have been so happy to be rid of the nausea, now this. What can I do to try to alleviate gas, so I can see if that's what this is? It just doesn't feel like gas would, at least before. I am just so dang bloated up.

As an RN with some health knowledge, I'm afraid I have to agree with much of what G-Sue says. I hear your distress, and I understand, I remember how distressed and crappy I felt at a BMI of 30. I knew I needed to do something, and I tried.... everything. I remember thinking if this weight gain keeps up I'm going to have to have something done...i.e. gastric bypass...it kept up... After many failed diet and exercise rollercoasters, I'm now at a nice and dangerous BMI of 43.6. After much gastric bypass research, I've decided on the lapband instead. Mostly because of the reduced risk, and ability to keep my intestines intact. Sue's right, that's a lot of money to spend, and I'm guessing you'll have a lot of trouble finding a legitimate surgeon to qualify you, and perform this, unless you have some serious co-morbidity's. Keep researching weight loss, you may find that there's something more appropriate for you than bariatric surgery. Perhaps the B.I.B? If you feel you must have bariatric surgery, and can find a doc to do it, keep reading here. The information is priceless. Good Luck, and don't lose hope.

I am currently 8 months preggo, due in about 5 weeks and I did not unfill. I have roughly 6.5cc in a 10 cc band and I'm up 30 lbs so far...sad but true. I didn't gain an ounce for the first 3 months or so, but appetite is a tricky thing and I have been eating nutritiously, just lots of food. All the veggies, fruits, whole grains, and Proteins, but plenty of sweets cravings have meant ice cream, Starbucks, etc in there too. While I'm not thrilled at my gain, I have one goal, and that is to enjoy pregnancy like any other woman, midnight donut cravings and all...our baby was measuring on the small side for several months and has only recently caught up. I think the weight gain was a number of reasons, mainly I ate alot more, but there are other factors. When pregnant, you should limit your artificial sweeteners and such, so I'm back to eating real yogurt, real sugar, etc. "Lite" variations of tons of foods like salad dressing, mayo, ketchup, etc all contain artificial sweeteners, so I switched to the real ones for the time being. As well, I craved beef alot, not chicken, which is healthier and leaner. (Turns out I'm Iron deficient, thus the red meat cravings) There are tons of bandsters who have initial tightness in early pregnancy due to hormonal changes, bloat, gas, etc. If you can "power" past these, alot of us who keep our fill or only get a little bit taken out find that we tend to do fine the rest of pregnancy. Mine has had days where it's tight, but not so tight I'm on liquids or anything, just so tight that I have to take a test bite, wait, eat slowly, smaller portions, etc. Good luck!

With respect, I am about to say something very different from your previous replies: it may be worth waiting. We are all different. Here in the UK, my NHS surgeon fitted my band on 17 December 2007 and I didn't get my first fill for 6 months! I experienced some restriction from just the band and my surgeon, in his wisdom, thought that it would be the best plan to leave things as they were for as long as possible. He warned me that although we bandsters beg and plead for fills and more restriction at every follow up appointment, too much restriction can actually cause weight GAIN. Apparently, if we are too restricted when it comes to calorie consumption we will crave calories (much the same sort of mechanism kicks in as that terribly misnamed "starvation mode") and we are often motivated to overindulge in liquid calories instead. Apparently this is a big risk - too much restriction can be as counterproductive as too little. I have reached a healthy and normal BMI with only one fill in two years - of 2ml. Please don't think that I am disrespecting other bandsters who really DO NEED more ccs in their band, but some of us may need a lot less and may find that more than a minimal fill can actually work against our weight loss efforts.

It took my 9 pound surgery weight gain about 8 days to go down Sent from my Pixel 3 using BariatricPal mobile app

I am just about a year out (on the 12th of August I think). I had posted on a couple of threads that lately I had gained 5 pounds and that I felt like I was able to eat WAYYY too much. I was planning a trip down to TJ to visit my doctor and get a contrast xray of my sleeve in a week or two. About 3 months ago I started experiencing some really bad nerve pains in my left arm, one day I woke up with my arm spasming from shoulder to wrist and it turns out I had a herniated disc in my c-spine. The doctor prescribed vicodin for the pain and ibuprofen for the inflamation. It took about 2 months for the arm to feel well enough that tylenol and the ibuprofen alone handled the pain. So I stopped taking the vicodin and HOLY HELL if my body didn't flip out on me. I realized that while I didn't abuse the vicodin and I didn't get a high from the vicodin that my body was in fact experiencing withdraws from not having it. It was the middle of the night and I was having a horrible panic attack and I woke up with my arms flailing and my mind racing and sweating like a pig. I realized immediately that I was having DT's. I had an appt the next day so I popped a half a vicodin and went to sleep about a half hour later and felt fine. I decided because it was going to be physically difficult and emotionally draining to come off them that I was going to wait until after a couple of family trips we had planned. So I continued to use them (not in excess) for the following 3 weeks. Last week I had a huge panic attack, so bad that I called my mother-in-law who lives next door (we live on a farm) to come over because my hubby was not home. I was freaked out because I thought I was having a reaction to the vicodin. Anyways long story made a bit shorter, I stopped taking them that night. I took some anti anxiety drugs to counteract the anxiety I was having and the withdraws at night and the first 5 nights were HELL. I really have a newfound respect for anyone who has kicked an addiction habit. My mother, mother-in-law and hubby were rocks and kept me feeling safe, secure and loved. It has been 11 days and I don't feel the withdraws anymore. My head is clearer then it has been in 3 months. I have a little bit of depression going on which I read is normal after coming off opiates but I am getting out and staying busy and getting plenty of sunshine. Here is the kicker after the 2nd day I realized my hunger had gone back to sleeve norm and I lost 6 pounds over the course of the first 7 days. After reading up more on side effects of Vicodin weight gain is one of the most prevalant. I guess it sort of dulls your sense you dont recognize you are full and it causes you to crave a lot of foods and retain a lot of Water. All-in-all it just is hell for losing weight. So I don't know if anyone suffers from some sort of chronic pain that they have to take a painkiller like vicodin but keep in mind if you are having a stall or changes in weight if you start taking the meds that it could be because of them that things are not moving along. Thanks for letting me ramble

Hi I'm in the same situation. Weight gain Gerd. So I understand the why to some of my own questions, after I had Test done. Now I am looking into revision to. Not sure. Good luck Lisa

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.

waited a long time for my first period after surgery and then it lasted twice as long as normal and was very heavy flow. Feel like it is coming again soon - slight weight gain due to fluid. Yuck

Hello all , I hit rock bottom , I'm 42 turning 43 June 25h. I'm 5"3 CW 215. BMI 38.1 - I've been pre diabetic and all the other complications. With weight gain . In April , I tore my ACL and just recently had surgery for that. So I've been home bound for almost a month . I can't exercise or bear weight on my leg ... The weight has been creeping up ... I'm a single parent of a 17 year old boy and 4 year old girl . I never go out or want to be seen due to the shame i feel. Recently I was browsing through my iPad pictures and I found a full length picture of me while waiting for my RX at Kaiser . I looked in horror - I had no idea I looked so big . Depression kicked in badly so much I scheduled an appt with my primary doctor and saw her the next day ... I bawled like a baby when she asked me why I was there ... I just broke down. It was. The best thing that could of happened ... She was so compassionate. And offered the weightloss surgery ... She prescribed a stronger dosage of my Wellbutrin and was concerned about my emotional health . While there at the office , she called the psychiatric dept and put in a referral . The next morning I got a call from the p psychiatric dept to schedule a visit - I go this coming Monday - and then I got a call from the other dept that schedules for the weightloss classes - I am scheduled for next Wed ( which is my birthday) for the two hour class ..... My question to you KAISER / OAKLAND patients ; what happens next ? I believe only one class is needed ... I just had knee surgery so I imagine I meet all the criteria ... I could really use a friend since I am keeping this a secret from my family and work except for HR ofcourse . How long is the process ? Help - btw I m new here and to all of this.

I wouldn't eat and drink at the same because this will cause you to consume more food and then weight gain. Why have the surgery and waist time and money if you are not going to make life changes and do right. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using the BariatricPal App

PT is right you are not out of control. If I read your post right you just had surgery? If that's true then you need some time to heal, and you might even find a bit of a weight gain from all the fluids and swelling from surgery. Everybody and every person's experience is different. My husband and I were banded in the same week, we have gone through all the phases together. Today at our Dr. visit I needed a fill and he did not. I lost weight and this month he maintained. Everyone has their own rate of healing and weight loss. The key is to find what works for you, and work it. Don't feel discouraged and try not to beat yourself up, just be honest with yourself and you will soon find those pounds melting away and your health getting better every day. Best of luck to you.