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My group says that eating less than 1000 calories will set you up to have a starvation metabolism that not only can halt weight loss, but also is correlated with less weight loss, and more weight regain in 10 year studies.....because your metabolism is reset to a sluggish starvation level that works against you when you start eating normally again. You really can't eat 600 calories a day forever without suffering malnutrition eventually. My group's protocol was developed by a major medical research hospital (University of Michigan) and is being picked up by Ceadars-Sinai and Bethesda naval hospital this year due to it's superior performance in longterm studies and excellent reputation in the Bariatric research community. There are still old-school doctors who push super low calorie diets post surgically. The weight loss is fast, and people are very happy with fast results. But they often don't last and can result in an unhealthy metabolism that can't handle normal levels of calories later...and eventually result in weight gain. The newer approach is to advance people to eating normal amounts of calories as soon as possible, so that they have the energy to add exercise and boost their metabolisms into athletic fat burning furnaces that last a lifetime and help them eat sensibly and continue to lose weight. My doctor: You get one chance to reset your metabolism with this surgery, why would you want to reset it to a starvation level that conserves every calorie? My nutritionist says that eating under 1000 calories is correlated with more hair loss, nutrient malabsorption, fatigue and stress. Fatigue and stress trigger cortisol...which again, is contraindicated for weight loss. Everyone has their own approach to who they trust and why.... A lot of my family is in medicine. I tend to trust the research hospitals and the empirical data of solid studies rather than the hype of clinics that are more interested in making a buck. I'm much more convinced by a collaborative consensus of what provably is healthiest long term and works. I've been eating 1000-1200 calories since week 3....very comfortably. I'm walking seven miles a day and feel terrific. The scale is moving down about two to three pounds a week and I'm off all my meds. I am loving this new lifestyle:) And I can live with it long term. And that's really the goal in my mind....the forever habits I can live with.

I did not have a sudden onset of memories, as you had, but have very vivid memories of my childhood. It is tramatizing in both instances and yes these issues are tied to weight gain even when we do not know it. I experienced molestation, rape (twice in one month), physical, emotional and verbal abuse starting at the age of 4 until the age of 15. Ironic that my weight problems began at 15.. something to ponder. You are not alone. You are not to blame and you will be ok. I too have eaten and pushed down all emotions. I am not yet banded and do not know what I will do when there is nothing to stop them from surfacing. Keep us posted on how you are doing. As you are here for support, others will find support in following your journey.

Um....why is he complaining about people not being able to put down the fork? It looks like he fought and lost that battle a few times...we ALL have! Why is he getting surgery??? Uh for the same reasons as most of us. Yes diseases/injuries can contribute to weight gain but I bet eating helped that along as well. Bottom line is, we ALL have issues with weight here, we have tried other means and have decided that this is the best option for us! No one should judge because we are ALL here trying to get or have gotten WLS! Maybe he's gotten rejected before and he's jealous...just saying. I love this site and I hope to never see negative comments like that before.

Funny I read this thread. I woke up this morning and the scale showed I gained back the 6lbs I lost for my pre-opt diet. At first I was WTF?! Then I remember my cycle is less then a week away. A big weight gain before The Curse is normal for me. As soon as my period starts my weight go back down. It goes down quicker if I take water pills though.

Hi all! I am currently deciding to moving forward with gastric revision option. I had the sleeve originally. I was 287 lbs the day of my surgery My lowest weight was 130 and im back up to 185. I had a lifestyle, I chose exercise over food to cope. I was strong and I was so happy. Then it all changed!!!! I was diagnosed as bipolar and throughout the ‘learning’ curves of depression & the medication (which is known for weight gain) i lost my way health and nutrition wise. My depression consumed me and my I was taking meds notorious for weight loss. This along with my first detrimental ‘episode’ led to old bad habit. I see a psychiatrist monthly & psychologist weekly. Ive tried everything to loose weight but nothing worked. So now I want to know about some of your experiences! I am only 28 years old I want to run up the stairs without exhaustion, I’m getting married in the near future, I want kids. I want my lifestyle back I want to be a role model. I want to take my life back , a second chance, and live a happy life. I’ve searched everywhere but I haven’t found any information regarding treatment Resistant Depression & the ECT therapy. •Is it possible to do electroconvulsive therapy & surgery??? Has you done ECT AFTER surgery? / BEFORE surgery? •Has anyone had experience or success as a bipolar candidate? /// What did your surgeon think or say in the matter? •Has anyone had electroconvulsive therapy ( ECT) and Bariatric surgery??

No period. Not expecting it for a few weeks. Just don't understand, weight gain. OHHHHHHH I am frustrated.

It sounds like you're kicking butt following the plan, but your body just doesn't wanna cooperate! Weight loss wise sounds like you're doing well - You're averaging about 3.8 pounds a week lost, which seems like more than if you just put it in a whole number lost (At least imo - I wanna pay attention to the biggest number to keep me going =p). That sounds like a really good pace to me. As far as stalling, I wish I could offer you concrete advice, but nothing seemed to make a difference for mine except sheer determination. My hormones went wack and I ranted a bit on my blog, which helped with the crazies. Now that I'm finally seeing a little movement, I feel much better about having survived the 3 weeks of stall. Anyway, because during this time I read hundreds of posts on stalls I will give you the advice I tried that worked for other people: - Increasing calories by a few hundred for a few days to a week and then coming back down on calories (I found this easier by adding some calorie rich foods rather than adding more volume because I couldn't eat a lot either) - Decreasing carbs - I try and keep mine below 40 because that's what my PCP said would help put me in ketosis - Increasing Water - Many blogs I read talk about how you should divide your weight in half and that's how many ounces you should get. That makes like 150 ounces for me which is not realistically happening so I aimed for an extra 16oz glass per day - Increasing exercise - it sounds like you're already doing this, but maybe doing a different type of exercise or at a different time of day - I know from other diets I've done that my body loves to get in a set routine and stop dropping weight, I gotta keep it guessing to keep losing - Decreasing processed foods - Increasing Protein - I got up to around 100g/day for a few days but nothing seemed to happen and I had a hard time getting that much in so I started just aiming for my target of 70 again - Adding interval training and strength training - I did this by adding 5 1 minute jogging intervals to my walks, not allowed to lift weights yet so did a few isometric things and some wall push-ups - Having a rich high fat/calorie sweet - I didn't end up really trying this. I wanted to, because it sounded tasty, but I was too worried about ending up binging on something, my self control has yet to be really tested and I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible! A lot of people seemed to swear by this though - Going back to basics - liquid diet for a few days and working back up (not fun!) None of these worked for me, but they worked for a lot of other people! I hope that helps any =) Feel free to rant if you're feeling stressed though, keeping stress in and being upset raises your cortisol and can help lead to weight gain/retention. Every time I vented I feel like I got it off my chest and could worry about other stuff for the day. Hang in there, it will break eventually.

I have had fluid taken out twice when too full. Recently I had to have it all removed. My lapband dr. prefers for it to be empty for an endoscopy. My GI dr was happy about that lol. I was not. Prior to that I was having major issues, 5.5 ccs of fluid was removed. After a couple of days I was able to eat anything, so now I know my band was too tight. I've had 2 cc's put back in and I can still eat anything. Which of course means weight gain, as I've used this as an excuse to eat what I've been "missing". I go back the end of Aug for another fill. I will be more aware of how much is being put back in and know 5.5 is too much. Prior to being empited, I lost 15 lbs in less than 3 weeks. So of course that came back plus 5 more. In a way this was good because it made me realize how much of a tool the band was, and I admit I abused that 5.5 cc's to lose weight in a unhealthy way. Now I have to lose that 20lbs all over again. But will do it the healthy way and utilize my band as the tool it's meant to be vs abuse it and risk health issues. My reason for having to have the Endoscopy in the first place was my ENT was very concerned about the rawness of my esophogus, this of course was due to all the vomiting I was doing when I was too full and couldn't keep anything down. He said what do you think comes up with that food, ACID... you are going to ruin your esophogus and have ulcers. So please think twice about keeping your band too tight for the weight loss. This is not directed at any one person, as I read several posts regarding this. I'm just sharing my experience. And as a nurse, I feel I should. Good Luck everyone, stay healthy and happy weight loss.

WLS allows for a metabolic reset of your fat storage/energy system. It allows your body chemistry (super complicated) to defend a lower set-point, but google Dr. Matthew Weiner on The YouTube and watch all of his videos and you will learn about it. Unlike what @VIN_IN_AL says, my program (major university) told me no caloric threshold for calories. My real advice (RNY) was to get 60-80g of lean, dense, low fat protein in daily from as many sources as possible for diversification, to eat 1-2 bites of low glycemic veggies, and don't eat much fat--but if I did, to use tiny bits of healthy fat. And to get in 64oz water + daily vitamins. Beyond that, they were fully aware that during WLM (weight loss mode) I averaged between 650-850 calories per day and my sweet spot seemed to be something like 750cals. The doctor and my RD never said a word about it, nor did either encourage me to artificially inflate my calories because of some mythical theoretical mumbo jumbo just to hit some "magic threshold" to prevent "starvation mode" (a myth). I hit first goal at around 8-9months despite having a crapton of metabolic issues and shortcomings including being on a cancer drug that shuts down my hormones and causes weight gain in most people. (See the rest in my signature). I'm now maintaining at 131lbs this morning at 1100 cals average. That means preferentially some days I eat 700-800 cals per day (3 days per week) and some days I eat as much as 1400-1500 cals per day depending on appetite or what I'm doing. Over the week it averages to about 1100 cals. I'm not in starvation. My vitamin status at two years is fabulous and there ya have it.

A person who is building muscle will have a different diet plan than one that is wanting to 'cut' and show ripped muscles. Body beast by Beachbody is a program that is strictly designed for weight gains. The food program bulks you up then at end of program you go on a 'cut' diet plan to define the muscles you have been building up. It's a science.

Hello everyone. I'm looking forward to hearing what you all have to say about sleeve surgery. From those that are considering it and those that have experienced it. I've spoken to a facilitator over the phone and email and hope to meet her mom who lives near me as she has had the surgery as well and is a facilitator too. She's also close in age to me (I'm 54) and I thought that meeting her face-to-face may help me make a decision. I'm in Canada and the hospital is in Mexico - it has a Canadian connection (I think owned by a Canadian woman) and meets very high standards. Although it's in Mexico I don't feel worried about the level of care, or the abilities of the doctors and staff. I've asked a lot of questions of the facilitator - to the point where I think I've asked more questions, or taken more of her time than she wishes to give. That did turn me off a little - it was only two phone calls and a couple of emails. I guess they have their limit as per how much they get paid? As the hospital is in Mexico I don't get to meet the surgeon to discuss things and that's a worry for me. I'm relying on facilitators with no medical background, just the fact they've been through it and have had some training. My biggest worry: REGRET. This is a permanent procedure. I read something where somebody commented - "why would anybody want to remove a perfectly healthy, functioning body part?!" I get this - it's what makes this whole thing a bit on the bizarre side to me. And what if I just cannot STAND the changes? What if I feel nothing but sorrow and regret and horror at what I've done to myself? There's no going back - this thought haunts me in the time that I've been considering this as an option to weight loss. I don't see myself as somebody that is super obsessed with food. Not once have I ever gotten up in the middle of the night to eat something - not one time. I don't overeat. I choose the wrong foods a lot of the time and I love chocolate. My servings at dinner are likely too big, but I've never just eaten non-stop. Don't eat a bag of Cookies, nothing like that. I noted that I was putting on weight at 9 years old. I distinctly remember the moment I was aware of this. I've battled weight gain for much of my life. The thinnest I've ever been was when I was eating around 1200 calories a day, and working out (literally!) 2-3 hours PER DAY. Yup. I was super fit and looked good. This of course, was before I had 3 children. I'm a Weight Watchers "joiner" as my friend and I refer to ourselves. Never a WW grad, always a joiner. I did Weight Loss Clinic in my early 20's and lost weight. Up and down, up and down. Always weighing more with each subsequent weight gain. I'm sure what I've said here is pretty close to what each of you have experienced. How do I deal with this fear of regret? I can't seem to move past it. I hear what my facilitator says - she doesn't know anybody that has regretted it. She says she has many, many relatives and friends that have done this surgery and they all feel happy about their decision. But I'm also speaking to somebody who WORKS for the hospital and from my point of view, is trying to bring clients in for the money (cost is $13,600 just for me, no companion). A bit cost prohibitive for us, and I haven't mentioned a thing to my husband - he won't have a clue how I feel as he's never had a weight issue in his life - but he'll sure feel reluctant about the money spent! We all have our stories about our rock bottom. In fact, I have many rock bottom stories - each one, at the time, I'm thinking it's the worst thing that's happened to me. The most embarrassing, the most demeaning, the most sad I've felt. I don't see these rock bottom occurrences stopping because I'm not losing any weight. I've dieted my way all the way up to this weight (I'm guessing my weight is around 250 lbs.) and in the last few years I've given up on dieting. I'll just end up losing it once again and then gaining it all back +more, so why try? Why keep doing that? My biggest worries are: 1) Regret - what if I regret my decision? 2) Age - is 54 too old to do this? 3) Post-op diet - along with the pre-op 800 cal. a day diet (wow!), I'm worried about the weeks of liquid diet. I have to work, how will I do it if I'm starving? (my job can be intense and I have to be on the ball all the time). 4) I have chronic migraines and see a Neurologist. Will the weight loss alleviate/lessen migraines, or make them worse? 5) Will I ever actually enjoy food again? Or be able to? We have a favourite restaurant - would hate if I can never again enjoy that sort of outing 6) No caffeine, no alcohol! OMG - that's harsh! I love wine and would miss that. But think it's 6 months off of it? Caffeine. Due to migraines I'm not supposed to have it at all, but I now just have a tea in the morning so guess I could do that. I do love my tea and wine though :-) I so appreciate any comments, good or bad, that you can offer me. I do want to be truly happy in my own skin. I can't picture myself on the plane, in Mexico (never been there), and in the hospital going through with this. It just doesn't seem like a reality. And I really am fearful of the entire thing. My income is very important to my family and I still have a young child (almost 11) to care for. What if I don't recover? What if I can't work and cause my family to suffer due to me wanting to look good (okay, and hopefully ward off diabetes and other weight-related issues). Ugh… I'm a mess! LOL Tracy

I have lost weight, gained it back, lost it again, gained it back etc many times. WHen I was skinny I would find some of the best clothes and I always refused to throw them away. Even when I got to my low weight when I could wear those clothes and they still didn't fit I kept them. Now I am at a lower weight then when the clothes used to fit me and now they are too big. It makes me feel great to look at myself in those clothes and remember all the frustration I used to feel towards them because now I love them so much more because they are now too big. I would keep the those clothes and have them as motivation. Then when you are too small for the clothes you can have a good laugh at all the anger you had towards them

Jennifer, Thanks for the heads up on the weight gaining. I am a scale geek...weigh myself daily. I know it's bad, but I can't help myself. I am getting banded at Highland Park Hospital by Dr. Denham. Where did you get banded?

Weight gain.. My husband gained 4pds I gained 17.. Still don't get it.. We both did it together he ate more than I did.. I can't blame no one but me.I've been going thru stress & have been taking Phentermine for the past 3yrs and once I got off it it all went down from there.

Hello MsPris, thanks for the info on the weight gain. I sure was freakin out about that! Good luck on yours girl!!!

Hi! Hope to be banded soon, but funny you should mention the weight gain. Last evening I attended the required Support Group meeting and one of the surgical nurses, spoke about just that. She said, she'd seen people weigh as much as 20 lbs. more than the day of the surgery. The reason - all the IV fluids they give you. Not to worry she said. Hope that puts your mind at ease. Congrats! Feel Better! ...and good luck!

Oh thank you so much for getting back quick Grace!!!! & what a GREAT experience! I didnt think fill centers used fluoro so wooohooo & double woohoo highland is much closer than salt lake for me! (in fact I work in american fork lol) im much more excited about going now! What did he say about weight gain? I contacted my surgeons office (the nut) & she said its quite normal but obviously its not! I also have a 9.75 band so I hope they are just as good at filling it! (heck now im considering canceling my trip to mexico & just doing the fill here!)

Congrats girl :-) Now you are gonna feel like crap for a few days, but not too long! So just be prepared for that. Dr. Almanza rocks! I had my sleeve with him 03/18/11 and everything has been going good and getting better each day. My story was the same as yours except I couldn't blame my initial weight gain on birth control LOL. I gained a significant amount of weight soon out of high school and once I gained some more with the birth of my first son......it has been a roller coaster ever since. Struggling in the 200's for so long and with my third son who is 3 months old, I got way up into the 300's!!! After that, I'd had enough!! Schedule my surgery when my son was one month old and went when he was two months......I mean I wasn't wasting anymore time or life for that matter. So I know how much of a nightmare it can be. Good luck and keep us posted. :-)

I've been banded for 4 years next month. I have a 10cc band. I lost all my weight in the 1st year and kept it off until recently. I started at 256lbs and made it down to 152 and fit comfortably in a size 6/8 for the past three years at 4.2 cc's. I slowly started having band issues over the past year. Pb's, acid reflux at night, and about a 10 lb weight gain over time. I had my doctor do a slight unfill (.25cc's). This helped my reflux for a short time, but it came back. I tried not eating after 6pm, propping up on pillows to sleep, but no matter how small the meal, my pouch was stretched and it would just sit in there and come back up when I laid down at night. My pouch had stretched over time and I didn't even know it. I didn't stuff food down my throat and sit there in agony until my pouch stretched day after day. It wasn't like that at all! Like other bandsters, sometimes I eat and am comfortable, other times not. My doctor said this is something fairly common when you've been banded for a while and that every now and then I would need a "reset". An unfill for 4-6 weeks, then slowly filling again. I had a complete unfill 2 months ago, then a 2cc fill about 3 weeks ago. I'm going in for another fill next week. In this time I've gained 13lbs. It's been hard for this "foodie" to not have restriction during the holidays. I have the lap band for a very good reason. I'm looking forward to getting back to where I feel restriction again so I can drop this weight I've gained. My doctor recommended doing this once a year to keep things in check. Hopefully this helps your curiosity about pouch stretching.

In order to gain 1 pound you have to consume 3500 extra calories, so to have a "true" weight gain of 5 pounds you would have had to consume an extra 17, 500 calories above your suggested daily intake in the last week. Since that really isn't feasible don't stress out. Your body is going through a lot. It isn't unusual for the scale to fluctuate when you start back to normal foods, your body is trying to figure our what is going on. Just continue to follow the rules and don't have a glass anywhere near you at mealtime. This has been an easy one for me but we all struggle with different things (mine is getting enough water). The scale will move in the right direction, just give your body some time to work through all this. In the meantime eat healthy foods and reasonable amounts (whatever your doctor suggested). I experienced the same thing prior to my first fill. For me, I had to stay away from the scale and weigh only once a week. We have so much fluctuation day to day that the ups and downs drove me crazy and caused too much doubt in myself and what I had gone through - so do what is best for you about the scale. HTH!

I hope you are seeing a therapist....therapy can really help the root of depression and CBT cognitive behavioral therapy van work even better then meds or with meds have the best efficacy. My hope is that you won't have to stay on abilify or maybe try another one that doesn't cause weight gain because sometimes they don't cause that side effect. I was on abilify before and have been to many dark places you mentioned. I was misdiagnosed with depression for many years but recently found out I have bipolar l. Anyways, exercise helps the mood as well as weight loss so I encourage that but therapy number one and don't give up. Keep a weekly gratitude journal... sounds cheesy I know bit it helps to keep you appreciating life and open to positive possibility

Thanks for all the input. I agree about cookies not needing to be in the house. It was probably the first time in several months that they were here. It was just a "red light" for me and I wanted to know how other parents handle their children. Even things like just getting another serving of food at dinner or eating again a couple of hours after dinner is an issue for my daughter. Take my son out of the picture. What does everyone think about training kids to eat responsibly and healthy? I know that being a role model is important. I'm really trying to be that for her. We keep healthy foods in the house, but too many calories from healthy food can cause weight gain, too. I just don't know how far to push it without causing lifelong emotional problems. Many of us here probably know what it's like to be a heavy child. It's not fun and we all want to spare our kids that. Do I constantly tell her no, even if it's healthy food? Do I set up very specific eating times? I'm just so torn about this issue. Angie

Every good story starts like this "Well, you see, what had happened was... If only weight loss and gain,and loss and gain, and ..well you get it, was such an easy story to tell! So for me what happened was life. You see, I'm a southern girl. To say that food is a big part of my life is an understatement. I consider myself an eastern North Carolina BBQ expert! I have driven across the state of North Carolina charting my course around the best BBQ restaurants in the state more than once! My mother could out-cook Paula Deen any day (now that's the truth!) My grandmothers probably created every recipe in the Southern Living cookbook collection! Genetically, I am pre-programed to cook (and eat) all that is delicious!!! When we have a pot luck at work everyone wants to know what I made- It's guaranteed to be good. Did I mention I make custom cakes "on the side"? People love my cooking! It's been a blessing and a curse all my life. I wasn't overweight in high school,but the potential was there! Like most women my weight gain began after having kids. I gained 75 pounds with baby #1, lost most of it fairly easily (I was only 20). Baby #2, I was more careful with that pregnancy, I exercised regularly and only gained 18 lbs! Lost my best friend to breast cancer a year later and ate my weight in "friendship bread" (a delicious cake for those who aren't familiar with friendship bread, make sure you NEVER eat it!!) over the next few months - From September to January I had gained 60 pounds!!! I woke up one morning (literally) and looked at myself in the mirror and didn't know it was me. I was actually startled when I saw myself that day. I decided I had to do something, so I just started walking. Everyday I walked at least a mile or two, slowly I began to jog and then run. I lost 65 pounds over the next year. I ate nothing white- no sugar, no white flour, white pasta, white rice, white bread. If it was white or prepackaged I didn't touch it. I lived like this for about 4 years. If I would slip off my program, I would quickly catch myself and get back on track. I exercised daily , sometimes twice a day. No cake at birthday parties, no splurging during the holiday's, I stayed on a tight leash. At my smallest I was still overweight by 15-20 pounds. I was happy enough with my fitness level, my size and weight but I had to follow my program to a "T". If I slipped I could gain 5 pounds overnight. I got pregnant with baby #3 at 29 years old. I gained too much weight (60 lbs), and it was so much harder to lose than it was when I had my first two babies. I had so much pain in my feet I could hardly walk some days. Found out I had plantar fasciitis in both feet- OUCH! I needed to exercise, but my feet hurt so bad I couldn't, so I didn't. I slowly began slipping back into bad eating habits. For me sugar is the devil, so are carbs- love that white stuff!! Once I start I can't quit, it's like crack! lol!! I didn't want to go back "there" again so I once again tried to get back on track.I took almost a year. I went back to my program, started exercising again. I was feeling great again. I went through a few changes in my career over the next few years, finally going to work for the government in 2008. I was excited about the new job, but had no idea how much different sitting a desk would be. I had never worked a desk job before. Over the last three years my weight has steadily increased. I have gained over 50 lbs. in the last 3 years. I was already overweight when I started there, I've tried to control it but it has gotten so far out of control it's not even funny. In the last three years I have: begun taking two blood pressure pills daily, sleeping pills for my insomnia, prilosec for my reflux, naproxen for my other aches and pains and I can't tie my shoes with out cutting of my oxygen supply! I have to stop in between flights of stairs, I am chapped and chaffed in places I shouldn't be, even my rolls now have rolls. I've taken diet pills, every fad diet there is, spent hundreds (maybe thousands) on pills, supplements, exercise equipment and DVD workouts. Well, I just can't do it anymore. I can't wake up at 4 am, dirve the van for the van pool, work all day for some arrogant SOB, make dinner for my family when I get home at 5pm. Clean up ,check homework, take care of a house and give my husband and my kids the attention they deserve. Food has become my comfort,even though it is the cause of my misery. I'm sick of having no energy, no drive and no interest. I am tired of being tired and I want to be myself again. I have set a terrible example for my sons and I've finally decided that enough is enough! So.....on July 29th (just 12 days from today!) I am having VSG! I know it will be hard , but it will be worth it to have my life back. Some people won't understand, some will think I took the easy way out, some may even be jealous. i just don't have time to care about what anyone may think about my decision. Either they will support me or they wont. Please, wish me luck as I do the rest of you. I need all the support I can get, especially at those family gatherings with my own "Paula" and her fabulous meals! I think her feelings are gonna' be hurt when I can't eat her cookin' any more! She'll just have to get over it now won't she?

I've just had major abdominal surgery for rectal cancer with my lapband in place, that involved removal of a good deal of bowel and rectum and creation of an ileostomy. I've had a bowel obstruction since, and still my lapband is just fine. If its in there and well healed (as it would be after a year and a half) then a competent surgeon can work around it. I was extremely lucky that my colorectal surgeon had started his career with lapbands and by pure chance, workign with my lapband surgeon, but its not an insurmountable problem. I now have to eat a diet that's quite high in white bread, rice and Pasta and as such I am unfilled, there was no need to remove the band at all. Its there in the future when my stoma is reversed if I need to refill it, I will, but so far have had no weight gain. I've had chemo and radiation prior to surgery and am now having chemo again. of course it makes me sick, and of course sometimes I do get so nauseous that I vomit, I've got chronic diarrhoea and due to having my intestines exit before my colon, I am probably not absorbing the nutrients from a lot of what I eat. Both my surgeon and oncologist are on my back about my weight, but even through all this, I am eating well with an unfilled band and have enough energy to run and go to the gym. However, my band wasnt unfilled until right before my surgery, I got through a round of chemo and radiation with the fill in place. It can be done in seconds, at any time, so dont necessarily rush off and unfill if that's not what he wants to do. I feel for your husband, it really is the cruelest blow to reclaim your life and your health, to achieve a lifelong goal of weightloss only to have something like this happen, to make you think you might lose it all. But it really does not have to be that way.

I have always been a little confused by the information regarding coffee from a few posters here, the information in the uk from my surgeon is that coffee is fine. It certainly is regarded as more of a small help to weight loss than a hinderance in the UK. I found a good article including info from the Mayo clinic which i hope will help some of you ............ The idea that drinking coffee can keep you from getting hungry and aid in losing weight is a common one, and it may be true to an extent. As you might expect, there is more to it than that. While there is some evidence to suggest that drinking coffee will ward off hunger, there is also evidence that a weight-loss plan based around excessive coffee drinking could be misguided.Related Searches: Side Effects of Coffee Coffee and Tea Appetite Suppressant Yes, coffee is a natural appetite suppressant to a certain extent, because of its caffeine content. According to the Mayo Clinic, caffeine may reduce your desire to eat for a brief time, but there is not enough evidence to state that long-term consumption will help with weight loss. When hunger strikes, coffee can come to rescue for the moment. Naturalstrongappetitesuppressants.com says that one way to stop hunger, and keep it at bay for three hours, is to eat a handful (no more than 10) of peanuts and chase them with a few sips of coffee. This combination is said to nullify hunger within minutes. However, eating a comparable 30-calorie snack of any kind may stop hunger just as well if you give it a few minutes for the signal to be relayed to your brain. How much longer the caffeine in coffee will stop hunger is the key question, and the results may vary for different people. Coffee and Weight Loss In addition to the beverage's potential ability to control hunger, there are a couple of reasons why coffee may be effective in jumpstarting a weight-loss plan. Caffeine night stimulate thermogenesis, according the Mayo Clinic. Thermogenesis is a way the body produces heat and energy by digesting food and "burning" calories. Coffee also acts as a diuretic, which may cause some people to urinate more frequently and at higher volumes. This process will eliminate Water weight from the body, and could seem to indicate quick weight loss. However, the loss does not indicate a reduction in fat deposits, and metabolic processes can be stressed by functional dehydration. Side Effects Too much coffee or other heavily caffeinated beverages can lead to nervousness, restlessness and insomnia, and while black coffee may be effective for short-term appetite control, specialty coffees with high fat and sugar content are likely cause weight gain. Read more: Does Coffee Suppress Your Appetite? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5404063_coffee-suppress-appetite.html#ixzz1eyqqgonh