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@@Proud2BMe It is wrong that you assume I am sitting around eating crap. The only carbs I have eaten in the last week have been a Tablespoon of banana apple puree and 1 melon ball of honeydew, besides the carbohydrates that are in veggie broth, spinach, tofu, and other veggies (which are very minimal). I have been religiously logging my food and measuring for every meal. Fruit based carbs are the only high carb food in my home (and raw seed crackers that I can't eat at this point). That is the reason I am worried about the weight gain. When I came on this forum expected for people to be helpful and uplifting, but reading your comments is disheartening and very negative. Side note: After consulting with my doctor he said the culprit is constipation and water retention.

You are trying to argue against opinions when the article itself is an opinion. You are not the be-all of Bariatric advice. As we are all (former) fat people we should all know the ability we have to deceive ourselves as to what we are consuming and the quantity thereof. I'm not laying into this poster at all nor am I throwing blame on her. I am just stating that if the problem is weight gain then too many carbs may be to blame. It may not be. So what? You are not an expert anymore than I am. Opinions are opinions and nobody here should be claiming there's is fact while someone's else is mere opinion. They are ALL opinions. So back up and take some time to think before going on the attack.

@@Proud2BMe It is wrong that you assume I am sitting around eating crap. The only carbs I have eaten in the last week have been a Tablespoon of banana apple puree and 1 melon ball of honeydew, besides the carbohydrates that are in veggie broth, spinach, tofu, and other veggies (which are very minimal). I have been religiously logging my food and measuring for every meal. Fruit based carbs are the only high carb food in my home (and raw seed crackers that I can't eat at this point). That is the reason I am worried about the weight gain. When I came on this forum expected for people to be helpful and uplifting, but reading your comments is disheartening and very negative. Side note: After consulting with my doctor he said the culprit is constipation and Water retention. **************************************** I never said you ate crap and I do not appreciate your implying such. I have not once been negative to you. It's only naturally to bring up the subject of ingesting too many carbs on posts where people are complaining of weight gain. FYI: Fruit based carbs are no different from other carbs. Just so you know. The sugar in some fruits can be on the same level as candy and fruit juices are worse, about the same as drinking a regular soda. I'm not saying you can't eat fruit or anything like that, just keep that in mind.

Howdy folks - I'm a 41 year old software engineer (tells you about how physically active my job is :), and since I was diagnosed with MDD about 3-4 years ago and started on a 100 mg Zoloft (sertraline) regimen, my weight went from around 180 lbs to a current 204 lbs (I'm 5'8"-ish), without any change in eating habits or exercise patterns. God bless psychiatry whom I was a major skeptic of until I realized depression for some people isn't caused only by situational circumstances but also genetics and heritage contribute to much of it as well... My entire family has been dealing with their own anxiety and depression in other ways, via alcohol, lustful activities, gambling, shopping, overeating - since I don't come originally from the USA, the taboo on psychiatrists is even greater back home where I'm from..... and taking an antidepressant for most people who suffer is almost non-existent. Zoloft has helped reduce, or rather, help me cope with 90% or more of the symptoms I experienced - basically reluctance to do anything and just curl up and cry due to the severity of the depression as well as the several times a day panic attacks each of which felt like impending doom and death knocking on the door... Good luck focusing on mental work with those experiences in your head/body - I don't wish them on anyone. What I never saw coming as a result of my SSRI regimen is the progressive weight gain that has been taking place... obviously partially this is due to age, but the majority of it is really due to the side effects of taking an SSRI like Zoloft. I've found it nearly impossible in terms of time consumed and habit change to manage my weight with exercise and nutrition alone and I've scheduled a surgery with Dr Ortiz for this April after reading here extensively, watching Dr Ariel Ortiz and Dr Juan Lopez Corvala perform this procedure on numerous patients. It was a tossup for me between Dr Ortiz and Dr Corvala, I guess I really liked Dr Ortiz's website and information provided better, so I picked him, but I feel that these 2 doctors are probably among the best at what they do in the Tijuana area.... With a BMI of 30 and no end of the weight gain in sight as age progresses... I feel like I've made the right choice for myself, my wife and my children. Wish me luck and pray for my speedy recovery. Many of my colleagues suffer from extreme obesity, so I'm hoping I start a trend here :). M.

1 cup Kale cut up raw with 1-2 tbspoons of Panera asian seasme dressing, sugared ginger sliced VERY thin, and 10 or so pumpkin seeds or dried cran berries. Bell pepper red, yellow or orange are filling and low calorie as are apples and you name cucumbers. Strawberries are low calorie as is cantaloupe. There is also Magic Pop large round wheat and rice tortilla looking crunchy wafer that satisfies the need to crunch. This is just my experience from an empty band to prevent weight gain- - my sleeve is thursday- these are space fillers that are low calorie though. Good luck !!

Weapon. Sound like a true plateau. And yes, they can last for months. To go off of Lisa's comment. Tricking the body is precisely what you want to do. You've been so clean for so long that the body has acclimated, metabolism has shifted etc. This is a an old bodybuilder trick. They eat clean for 6 days than eat like crap the 7th. As soon as the body starts detecting starvation, bam, it has a huge rise in cals and it calls off the plateau (or hoarding of fat reserves). Since you are well into your plateau. Forget one meal, or one day. Try a week. Truly, kick the diet for a week. Let your body 'think' it's flush w/ cals. After a week, go back on diet. Typically any weight gained flies off but you will see the scale start to go down. At that point my recommendation is to have a cheat meal or cheat day weekly to keep plateaus in check. Hope this helps. (and yes cal cycling is effective), however, your 900-1100 cal range is what Im at and Im a woman. Most banded men are a few hundred higher like 1100-1300 and that may be playing a factor. However, you won't hear from me not to weigh or track daily..that's a must in my book <wink>

Well for me is simple. During my sophomore year of high school I became depressed due to bad family situations and rape. The depression turned in to a food obsession. Ice cream never felt so sweet! Once I entered college it was all down hill from there, the drinking and eating was horrible for me. I also binged on food, kept a secret. I would eat two whole boxes of thin crust pizza and 20 buffalo wings :hurray: ouch! I also stopped exercising and that of course added to the weight gain!

@@MichiganChic Thanks, Do you have anything else you can share in terms of what the bad habits were that caused the weight gain? Also, what did you do to get rid of those pounds and why do you think it took so long? Thanks!

Know what you mean, two year ago I watched as my weight steadily climbed. Each doctors visit was 25 pounds more than the previous... I was 136 and ended up over 200 again. {entire family over weight and 136 came only after a year of Atkins} The band halted my weight gain and after the fills kicked in, has slowly reversed it. Hang in there and pray about it. You will make the right decision for you.

Ok feedback from my visit to the doctor, thank you for your support. I am now able to eat again, my surgeon was good this time and i didn't have any problems with her, but that was because my body was in starvation mode, she took out all Fluid and there was 4mls in there, i thought it was only meant to be 2.2mls so idon't know where the rest came from, she replaced 1.5mls and now i feel as though i have no restrictions, it is so good to be able to eat again and not spend my time feeling so awful, i go back in about 3 - 4 weeks to get a top up and in that time giving my body a chance to recover, i still have NO energy and i am trying to replenish the fluids. So bottom line i was overfilled and there was no way things were going through. my fear at the moment is the weight gain, but i just have to work through that and get back on top of things. So thank you from a happier me Cheers Jane

Vickietoo you can start over in your mind minus the surgery. I believe that with all my heart. This is the fourth time today I shared this article I read. I took a good long read at it this morning and it hit the spot. I was just filled on Friday. I live in Florida and fly to Colorado for my surgery, and now my fills and followups. I have to admit I was just in an odd place mentally and physically. I was SO GLAD I took the step to fly out to Denver. Sometimes doing the followup be it in our own hometowns or out of state or wherever, it looms at us larger if we are having difficulties. Take the step. Make an appointment with your doctor and follow through. I felt so great after leaving my doctor's office...joyous, victorous, and a reward and pride in myself that I care for myself to know that I need more than what I myself can give. So enjoy this read. Know you have many like you and much support here on Lapbandtalk. Think You Need a Fill? THINK AGAIN By Nikki Johnson Do you remember that feeling you had when you first had your band placed? For a while, everything was great. You didn't experience hunger, you felt satisfied with a small portion of good food, you had more energy, and you were thrilled with your initial weight loss progress. If you are like most people, your experience changed over time, Some of those feelings of hunger returned, and you stopped losing weight. You knew you needed something, so you went to your surgeon's office and asked for a "fill" right? If so, you might be surprised to learn that it is your thinking about your band, and not the band itself, that needs adjusting. The LAP-BAND Bad Word Paul O'Brien, MD, FRACS, is a skillful, compassionate surgeon and a foremost expert on the LAP-BAND System. he was involved in its design in the early 1990's and placed the first band in Australia in 1994. Since then, he has treated thousands of patients and is recognized worldwide for his expertise. When his patients utter that worst of four-letter words, "fill," in his office, they are asked to throw a dollar in the Red Cross donation bucket--a reminder that, according to Dr. O'Brien, thinking about a "fill" is just wrong thinking. How can a concept that we hear about so constantly be so very wrong? Dr. O'Brien's answer is simple: "Any adjustment to the band is something that only takes place in the context of clinical consultation--part of a relationship of trust, honesty and communication between patient and surgeon--that is much more key to the success of the patient than the precise number of milliliters of Fluid in the band. This concept of partnership is the central theme of Dr. O'Brien's new book, The Lap-Band Solution--A Partnership of Weight Loss. Patty's Note: Available on Amazon.com ISBN#9780522854121 Like many people, you might assume that weight gain or a sustained plateau means an incorrectly adjusted band; in fact, you may be right. But you may be surprised to learn that weight gain sometimes results from a band that is too tight. This is part of the reason why the "fill" concept is so misleading. If your surgeon determines that you are not losing weight as you should, then discovering why that is happening is crucial. Sometimes adding fluid to the band will only make matters worse. Life in the "GREEN ZONE" Most people who have the LAP-BAND operation will have an amazing feeling of disinterest in food for the first week after surgery, before any adjustments are even made to the fluid in the band. According to Dr. O'Brien, that lack of interest in food is referred to as satiety. A related but different feeling is satiation, or the feeling you get as you are eating, precisely at the point that you don't need any more food to eat but you do not have an uncomfortable feeling of fullness. These two feelings--satiety and satiation--are what the properly adjusted band helps you achieve, allowing you to maintain your new healthier eating habits. Your careful observation and truthful sharing of your feelings and eating behaviors, combined with the expert care and training of your surgeon and his or her staff, can make the very individual determination of whether your band is properly adjusted much more accurate. In order to help create the most effective partnership between themselves and their patients, Dr. O'Brien and his colleagues at the Australian Centre for Obesity Research and Education have developed a concept they refer to as the "Green Zone". When patients are in the green zone, they experience satiety, satiation after properly-sized small meals, and satisfactory weight loss or maintenance. However, there are also yellow and red zones, both of which indicate that the band is not optimally adjusted. If your band is too loose, you will not have the benefits the band's hunger-controlling mechanism. If your band is too tight, you will have trouble eating properly and may actually gain weight because the foods you can eat more comfortable, that tend to be liquid and calorie-rich, like ice cream and chocolate, do not provide the proper nutrition. Learning to recognize when you have the feelings and eating behaviors that signal a problem can help you give your surgeon the information he or she needs to help you keep the band optimally adjusted. Thinking Adjustment Once you have eliminated the concpet of "fills" from you Lap-Band vocabulary, you will be able to let go of much of the conventional thinking connected to it. Perhaps you have heard talk about the "ideal" amount of fluid in the Lap-Band. While it may be helpful to have some idea of how much fluid is in your band, Dr. O'Brien says there is no magic number. No perfect amount of fluid will provide the best results for everyone. He says, rather, that "whatever volume of fluid is needed to achieve the [feeling of non-hunger] is the correct volume." When you notice that you are feeling hungry or are not losing weight, your body is telling you it is time to revisit your partner in weight loss -- your surgeon. your success absolutely depends on this relationship. So rather than thinking "adjustments," adjust your thinking, and, in partnership with your surgeon, find a lifetime of health! For more information about all of the themes discussed in this article, please see Dr. O'Brien's book, The Lap-Band Solution--A Partnership for Weight Loss, which is available fro Amazon.com. We also invite you to visit LAP-BAND® System Forum - Home for more information and supportive resources.

I had my lap band in 2003, I started at 215 & within the first year I lost 157lbs, & reached my goal weight, I had great success. At the end of my 9th year, i was vomiting quite often, couldn't get much food down, I had an esophagram & my lap band had slipped, so I had emergency surgery with my original surgeon & unfortunatly the damage was realy bad & it had to come out. So now I'm on month 3 without it & up 15 pounds. I have been eating healthy & exercising. I am very frustrated & so afraid of gaining any more weight back. Any diets known for those who had to have thier band removed????!!!! HELP

The research group that I'm with believes that eating very low calories for too long...will set you up for a bad metabolic reset and more rebound weight gain at five years post op. You don't want a starvation metabolism. You want a hot burning furnace that supports lots of activity, healthy muscles and exercise. We are encouraged to eat 1200 calories per day as soon as possible after surgery. I've eaten 1200 calories daily since my third week post op. I feel terrific. Am almost to goal. It's important to listen to the professionals. Their advice is based on a broader perspective than just our own. And they've seen the consequences of lots of well intentioned nutritionally disastrous efforts. Be safe, be well, and best wishes!

Hi I am Shirley from Kansas. I am thinking about having the Lapband surgery. I weigh 235 lbs., 68 years old. Does this help with the desire to want food. I also did the FenPhen and had great results. Since I have retired, it has been hard to keep the weight off. I am very depressed about my weight gain.

Ok so I've met with my nutritionist once so far. I had gained 4 lbs when she weighed me from the time I met with the surgeon at 284 and she weighed me at 288. My question is will I automatically be denied from that initial weight gain? If I'm able to lose that weight by my next visit, which is on October 16, and continue to either lose or maintain that weight will I not be denied. I'm just getting really worried over that initial gain. I also think it's a bit ironic that the very thing we're getting surgery for could wind up denying us the surgery that would help alleviate that problem. Ugh, oh well, please if anyone has some info about Aetna and all this please respond! Thanks!!

I too have PCOS, but stopped getting my period. If you haven't already, you should "google" PCOS and read all about it. There is a wide spectrum of symptoms that go along with it. I have all the aweful ones- darkening of the skin, skin tags, weight gain etc... I take the same meds as you've been prescribed. Expect to feel a bit on the nauseated side. I felt like I was car sick for about 3 weeks- YUK! I think I've had it for a long time, but was just diagnosed last summer and that was when I made my final decision for WLS. I am extremely frightened of getting diabetes and heart disease. I wish you the best of luck with your journey. Keep us posted!

@DB25rny sorry it's been a crazy week! I'm not sure what my calories were, I swear I'd have to do a spreadsheet lol! It's like all of the sudden I'm just standing still. I mean I'm losing but slowly, way slower than I like. If you eat too little your body will slow your weight loss. I think 800 was a magic number for me, I think I started adding nuts in but that depends on your nutritionist. I'm eating probably 1000 calories now and I'm stalled now, kinda, but I'm also exercising a lot and burn about 650 in the morning which is SO good for our depression as we all know but it's such a vicious cycle. I have bipolar depression so I too have been on meds for so long, but wasn't properly diagnosed until 8 years ago. Lithium sucks, it's a go to wonder drug. But it is a weight gain trap. So is depekote. I just saw another that is less weight gaining in my psych book, if I find it I'll let you know

So i’m a week post-op and today i weighed myself and gained four pounds. I’ve been sticking to my liquids and required protein but have noticed bloating so could this be the cause? I’ve also been working out with some very VERY light moderate weight lifting. Was wondering if this is normal, either way i took the batteries out of my scale because i don’t want to get obsessed with my numbers or discouraged. On another note i’ve noticed my emotions have been all over the place since surgery. Sometimes I’ll get angry and today i’ve just been crying for no reason. Is this common after surgery? Or could it be the fact that I was very emotionally dependent on food so now I’m forced to let it out one way or another. Would a counselor or therapist be good to cope with Post surgery emotions?

Unless you eat like 40 sticks of butter for dinner, or are a medical anamoly, overnight weight gain is going to be Fluid fluctuations. Mushy foods tend to be high-carb foods. Liquids tend to be low-carb. On liquids you probably were in ketosis, eating the potatoes threw you out, and the result was a bit of fluid retention. You're only like 2 weeks out from surgery. Don't worry about losing weight at this point, just focus on meeting nutrion needs and resting so that you can finish healing. I don't know if your surgeon was clear about this, but weight lost between surgery and restriction is a bonus, not an expectation. Most people will lose a chunk after surgery because generally you don't want to eat or drink much, or are afraid to, but you can't expect that weight to stay 100% gone when you're doing things to alter the way your body treats its fluids, and when you're gradually getting back to a more "normal" diet. For hunger, do as many Proteins (not liquids if you can help it) as you can, as long as they fit into your food stage. Proteins make you feel full longer than carbs, fats, etc.

Additionally, anesthesia itself can cause many patients to retain water longer than usual. I am still pre-op, but have had surgeries previously and always know to avoid the scale for about 2 weeks until all the weight gain attributed to the hospital fluids/medications/anesthesia have worn off.

Finding the culprit (aka it's not always the muscles' fault): Track your food every day. While gaining muscle will cause some weight gain, it's not the only reason. Track your food, down to the bite. Then go back and look at it. See if you can find a spike in calories (without realizing it), or fat or carbs or whatever affects you most. Sometimes it's hard to be honest, especially to yourself. I am not saying that the gym is bad or that gaining muscle is bad - it's fabulous! But try the diet watch; be militant for a few days and track it, compare it, pay attention to it. The band is a tool, and it only works when you wield that tool properly. Keep up the good work in the exercise department! Do that and the diet record. You'll figure it out and then you can adjust it as appropriate. Good luck.

I am happy to see this thread has been reactivated. My name is Llyra and I have thirteen years of clean time. My banding was done on March 3 of this year and I have lost 26 pounds with approximately 60 more to go. Until I got the second fill, I was afraid I was in line to be one of the lap band failures- the weight simply was not coming off. The second fill helped immensely as has a gradual adjustment to a new way of eating. I teach belly dance, garden and maintain two horses so exercise is not as big a problem for me as for some, though I do tend to spend too much time on the couch if I am feeling low. After six years of not attending meetings, I returned to the rooms in October. The catalyst was the death of a friend in a motorcycle accident. I saw so many old faces at his funeral and realized I missed them. Didn't expect to be recognized after so many years and a 75 pound weight gain, but I was welcomed back with open arms.

The water may be an issue for me. Over the last 2 days I have probably had only half what I am supposed to drink...32 ounces. Maybe that is it. You are so right about the "might as well eat this" attitude. I am so guilty of that. But not this time. I have really stuck with this 5dpt plan. That is why I was so freaked out. I did do everything I was supposed to do and gained weight the first day and then didn't lose anything the second day. I will really work at getting in 64 ouces of water. I didn't think it would make that big of a difference. I have lost over 100 pounds and most of the time I only drank 32 ounces of water a day. But there really isn't anything else I can try. Today should be easier as I get to eat Protein. Those first two days were hard! And it does feel like my pouch is tighter already. But I just can't get past the weight gain. Well, I will keep on keepin' on. I plan to swim today too. So thanks for all the ecouraging words.

I am extremely disappointed and disheartened by my failure so far. At first everything was great and I went from 220 to 198.4 in 3 weeks. After week 3 however I stalled which I understand is just part of the process. But during week 4 I am steady gaining weight and went from 198.4 to 203.2 on a diet of 700 calories. It should be practically impossible to be gaining weight on that few calories but somehow I'm doing it. I'm so mad that I was in onderland for so little time but now I'm back in the 200s slowly getting back where I started. I truly regret this surgery because all the sickness and discomfort it causes me is for nothing.

The scale becomes an addiction for many people. They discount the positive things that are happening with their weight loss if the scalar doesn't reflect the number they want. They build up expectations and are disappointed when it's "only" xx lbs lost. The scale is a snapshot, not scientific. Someone might weigh, eat a cupcake, then weigh again and show a loss of .5 lbs. The natural conclusion? Eat cupcakes to lose weight! Our weight is dynamic and changing all the time. Getting upset over a 1-2lb gain is going to release cortisol which is a stress hormone that promotes weight gain. Getting worried over nothing can literally give you something to worry about. I weigh once a week when I am home. More because I am curious. I'm expecting a stall any week now (haven't had one yet) and I'm not hung up on the numbers. I feel good, my clothes are getting looser, I see it in my face and hands, my rings are loose - so I know I'm going the right way.