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<p>This is fitting since we're talking about motivation. I accidentally posted this to Before & After, but meant for it to go here.</p> <p> </p> <p>Seriously - if you don't already, and have any means to get it done, take naked pictures. Taking pictures in the same outfit over & over is well and good, but you aren't going to see the differences in your skin and shape.</p> <p> </p> <p>Every month I take pictures in 1) the same outfit from pre-op, 2) the closest I can get to skin tight current outfit, 3) completely naked.</p> <p> </p> <p>For the most part, I have DH take the naked pictures and write them to a VERY secure external & mostly detached hard drive. I can't stand looking at my naked pictures.</p> <p> </p> <p>Nearly 10 years ago, when I was on the upward swing of my extremely fast weight gain, I had hubby take some naked polaroids of me. (Yes kids, there was a day before every household had 15 digital cameras when you either had to take polariod, or risk every mallrat at the photo stand seeing your pictures). Not nearly as fun as it sounds, I promise. This was my way of motivating myself to do something about my increasing weight. Of course, all it really did was make me feel ashamed and disgusted.</p> <p> </p> <p>Tonight while cleaning out some old boxes o' stuff I found those named pictures. And you know what? I'm SOO glad I took them. When I looked at the clothed pictures, I can dismiss it away, always, to some extent. </p> <p> </p> <p>Naked, it is what it is.</p> <p> </p> <p>BTW, this before pic is WAY before. About 8.5 years before I was banded. It's also me about 50 lbs below my highest weight. Cropped for your viewing pleasure, of course. </p> <p> </p> <p></p>

Suddenly, my band tightened. Self diagnosed, I went to a clear liquid diet. It did not help, it became more uncomfortable and I could not get water down. I was also having regurgitation in my sleep. It was very unpleasant. I had an emergency appointment to relieve the pressure in my band. Immediately I felt relief. It took a few weeks for the reflux to subside. However, it did. My appetite never increased, nor did I regain any weight. I see many members suffering from "tightness", yet sacred to have any fluid removed in fear they will regain. I just want to confirm that a decrease in fluid from the band doesn't mean weight gain will occur. I remained in the "green zone". Please do not refrain from getting an "unfill" because of fear. The relief is priceless.

Oh my just weighed myself today. I have gained 4 pounds can’t seem to get them off I do not know what to do. I am exercising and eating right. My surgery is February 7th. I am so worried that if I don’t lose the weight they will cancel my surgery. Any one ever had surgery cancelled? I am to start my period (sorry TMI) soon and I think that is why I am bloated, but will they understand that? Any advice?

I also have sleep apnea and have had it for quite awhile. I'm on my 3rd CPAP machine and I have to tell you ....I've never gotten used to it. I am quite anxious when it comes to having anything around my head and face and though I know there is forced air pressure, I feel like I am being suffocated. I never found a mask that was comfortable, and believe me, I've tried dozens of them!! The nasal pillows are by far the best or at least easiest to tolerate. All of my doctors stress how dangerous the Sleep Apnea is.. not to mention that it causes weight gain and could slow down you weight loss after surgery. I do try to use it but I have to say I am not 100% compliant and I remove it many times in my sleep in the middle of the night. I can only relate my experience, I don't know how to make it easier for you...all I can say is try it. A friend of mine was hesitant about using a cpap until his doctor showed him the video of him sleeping. He flipped and flopped all night like a beached croaker. It made a believer out of him and now he is sold on his CPAP. Maybe it just takes getting used to. Good luck.

High protein foods include meat, poultry and fish, eggs, dairy products, seeds and nuts, beans and lentils, grains like wheat, rice, barley and corn, and soy products. These are generally recommended for athletes and body builders in their Weight gain diet. High protein diet includes foods like eggs, milk, spinach, soybean, quinoa, meat, fish, whole grains, rice, beans, legumes, corn, oats, peas and peanut butter which are good sources of high protein.

i'm lucky to have the hourglass shape, and i love being short, but i can't wait to be truly petite. all the women in my family are tiny (none of the men are heavy either...except my dad..we are the only ones). anyways, my mom is 4'10" and most of her life she weighed 85 lbs (she is a nice healthy 120 now, and she thinks she's fat :faint:..haha..she still wears a size 5...but i do joke with her that she just might be considered obese now.. (haha..she has bad health problems and really doesn't need any extra weight, but her new med's caused a quick weight gain..she always sayed things to me out of concern..so now i'm returning the favor..although she is almost 50 and i would rather her be an older woman with some meat on her bones...). anyways..back to the subject, i have a cousin who is the same as my mom 4'10" wears a size 0, a sister who has had 4 kids and is 5'0" and half my size...lol. only one girl in the whole family who is taller than me..... so, i'll be glad when we can go to christmas gatherings, etc., and i won't feel like the giant (hhahaha...it's hard to believe i'm the giant at 5'2").

@@VSGAnn2014 I actually found this article very encouraging. Just think, this lady had tremendous success. Chances are, considering her pre-op weight and age, she would not be alive today if she had not had surgery. And she kept the vast majority of it off for a long time. And then, after a relatively modest weight gain she took action! I view this like a car or appliance-- sometimes things need a little tightening!

In theory there shouldn't be any "cheat" foods. With a sleeve you are only restricting the amount of what you eat, not what you eat. If you are having problems digesting a certain food, after a bit of time, you should be able to eat them. I would never deny myself something that I really wanted, that's the easiest way to fail. Denying yourself then giving in, leads to guilt, guilt leads to more eating, more eating leads to weight gain. Eating healthy 99% with an occasional treat, is just fine and is a sensible approach. Your sleeve will let you know when you've gone overboard.

Fruit has never really been an issue for me with weight gain, and my program doesn't say to avoid it. I've been throwing a few cherries, an inch of banana, or a couple of slices in with my protein smoothies, just for variety. I'd rather have that than sugar free syrups, but I'm more of a "natural foods" person.

I am not a religious man; I have not been to church in over 20-years, and I enjoy my freedom shopping at wally-world, or going to the early movies while everyone else is at church... But I do pray. Most recently I prayed for intervention. I prayed that a power higher than myself give me strength, because in the past I have had little when I needed it most. And "boy-howdy" do I ever need some help now! In my prayer I made sure to ask for exactly what I needed and nothing more; and right now I needed Him to ease my burden, so that I might get healthy... The power in prayer; My office mate gave me a book, titled Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeust. This is a weight loss journey the author tells of from a religious point of view. Now, it is geared more towards women, but I have found I can relate to most everything she writes about, albeit from a religious stand point... and I am not a religious man. But the book is about her carvings, and how she had to deal with those demons, it is a very good read, I am half way through the book [reading it at work] Other than this forum, I am also an avid member on a hobby forum called The Rocketry Forum (I am an avid model rocket flier). On this forum I started a thread on weight loss, and the trouble I had in the past. From this discussion noise, a member came through and contacted me privately. He asked me to read a book, a book that helped him a lot. He said that if I promised to read it, he would send it to me free of charge. I did promise, and a few days later Amazon delivered me a copy of The Obesity Code written by Dr Jason Fung. Once I realized that not only did a complete stranger offer up his help, he actually "gifted" me a copy straight from Amazon. No doubt I felt obligated to read the book. The book basically debuncts decades of research that has told us that "less calories in and more calories out (exercising)" means weight loss. Dr Fung basically says that obesity is directly related to our bodies insulin, or insulin resistance. Insulin has been know to cause weight gain for years, anyone having to give themselves insulin can attest to that. I am half way through this book as well, but I have one major take away so far... Now I have known for some time, that artificial sweeteners are bad. They are a bad replacement for sugar, that in my opinion, is pure evil dressed in white. Artificial sweeteners have been one of my many hold outs, the last enjoyable sweetness that I can run across my pallet. I have been averaging 6 to 10 packets of sweetener (2 per cup) in my coffee daily. In the Obesity Code, Dr Fung stated that these "fake" sweeteners, while providing no calories, still cause the body to produce extra insulin... interestingly enough, I have been recently diagnosed with elevated insulin levels, and I am now taking Metformin to help lower them (insulin). This past Saturday my weight crept back up from 293.8 to 297.4, about the time that I read the revelation about the affects of artificial sweeteners. Then and there, I stopped cold turkey, no more of the little pink packets for me... It seems that the immediate effect was weight started to shed off of me; I went from 297.4, and this morning I am 291.2 I have been so moved by the generosity of a total stranger; my office mate, my wife, everyone reading and commenting on my posts, and my family, that I have been humbled. Just when you thought you were alone you come to realize just how blessed we all are... I did another kitchen clearing; all cans that contained any kind of sweetener, fake or other wise, went into a bag, and I brought them to work. One of my final holdouts, fake sweets, has given up "the ghost" so to speak. I am not a religious man, yet prayer works in mysterious ways... You never know where He is going to send you help, and "That's all I got say about that"

Hello! It’s been a long time since I’ve been on these boards! I was sleeved in 2011 and am now scheduled for revision to MGB in June. my question is directed to those of you who chose revision due to weight gain, not because of GERD, not that I don’t appreciate the view points of you all who revised due to GERD but because I really want to hear form folks whose primary reason for revision was to address weight regain. i am almost back up to my highest weight pre sleeve and I see such mixed results. What has your experience if you had revision to actually lose weight? Was it worth the expense? Did you get the results you were hoping for?

I've just had the get go to start mushies as of yesterday, no real restriction here. I can eat a cup of food without a problem so I have to consciously measure out my food and limit it to that. But I'm not finding that a problem since I have nowhere near my ordinary hunger levels still. During the liquid phase I first tried the Protein Shake thing as the basis of my intake, it didnt work for me. Never liked those things, never will. I just blended real food very smooth - I made good hearty soups with lots of veges and lentils, I even blended up lasagna with extra tinned tomatoes, I put a little cheese in and blended that too - 3 squares a day of real food just in liquid form. That way I felt great and had no hunger issues. I've been very satisfied with my weight loss and I also believe I havent set myself up for rebound weight gain when I start solids since I've been having the same food, just blended, all along. I also have stayed regular, no constipation, as I've been getting fibre etc too.

Make sure and talk to your doc about which antidepressant he/she puts you on... I have been taking amiltriptyline for years and it seems to work the best on me (over the many many others I've tried over the years) but one of the side effects is weight gain and craving for sweets! That was one of the reasons my insurance approved my surgeory. Try not to be a discouraged, you can overcome anything!

Yes, that's exactly what he thinks. He thinks he's given me all the necessary time to devote to getting myself in shape, so he doesn't understand why it's not my #1 priority in life. Getting in shape and looking good so I don't want to hide in the house all the time is "putting my marriage and him first". He views my whole weight gain as me not loving him enough to want to look good for him, to put us back on the path of an intimate relationship, etc. I understand that, but I've resisted doing anything "for him" because of the tough love approach he has taken as his way of "encouraging me". I would get a job, but I want the weight gone first. We have enough money that I can have the surgery, and I even have my own money with an advisor, I just hate doing this behind his back. And once I do it, I doubt he will respect me not wanting the world to know. He's all about having integrity and being honest. Ugh I can't stop crying about all this

I am 53 and will be sleeved tomorrow morning. I am so so happy to see others my age have such great success. I was banded in 2011 due to early menopause weight gain that I could not seem to lose and an uncontrollable appetite. I would eat and be able to eat again in 10 minutes. I knew what this was leading to since I seen others in my family suffer from illnesses due to obesity. I just did not want to go down that path but could not do it on my own. The band worked for a short time. I lost 50 pounds before it started giving me issues. Ultimately I just was so tired of slimming I wanted to get it revised. So here I am! I pray all of us have great success and health in the future.

Actually that is the one thing about which they never specifically stated a time frame... for myself, though, I'm going to hang easy and wait as long as I can... it's tough because I enjoy a drink in the summer months especially. Mrsinto, your old routine for Fridays sounds a lot like ours... we would pick some very rich gourmet recipe and cook it while drinking lots of wine. Same results as you, too... weight gain and fatigue the next day!! I love my red AND white wines but I will be cautious as I don't want to sabotage my efforts... at the same time, I will probably plan some special events like you have.

Congrats on your decision to look into WLS surgery, this is a huge step and it shows that you are ready. I read in your post that you are newlyweds(congrats) and are considering starting your family building after you loose and are closer to an acceptable goal weight. Some wommen with obesity suffer from fertility problems in relation to their excess weight, and oddly enough this endocrine disorder can bring on ecess weight as well. I would look into getting your thyroid function tested along with asessment of your menstral cycles(are they to long, to much blood, to little, or extra painful). Also you should be tested for PCOS(polycysticovarian syndroe) as that can lead to hormonal imbalance that leads to an incrase in male hormone and weight gain. This syndrome is characterized by male patterened growth of hair along the body(darker then normal hair on the legs, armpit, groin, and face) A red ringed rash along the chest and abdomen that is not dermatitis related. A over zellous craving for sweets and carbs and weight gain that does not respond to diet. Your suggars (AlC) is also effected. You can see an endocrinologist who specializes in reproductive medicine and have them do an infertility diagnosis(check with your health insurance to see if it is covered). Some will do the workup on you just to make a diagnosis. The treatment for this is Insulin sensitisers such as metformin and weightloss and a low carb diet. I wish you all the best in restoring your body to proper health. I have pcos and struggled with my weight since i was ten years old. I was not diagnosed with pcos until 2008 and i was put on a almost vegan diet and addtion of metformin and blood glucose monitoring did help. But what set me off with the weightloss was regular exercise and getting the lapband. I've lost around seventy two pounds in almost a year. I have another 80 or so to go. My symptoms of pcos are less and I don't feel as crappy. Lapband is a good decision if you have the disorder and are looking for pregnancy.

@Lynda486 I was just about to start a thread called 3 week stall and weight gain until I saw this thread.. I am experiencing the same. I have not lost for about a week in fact I've gained 2 lbs. I JUST got the surgery Oct 1. I haven't even logged the two lb weight gain because I want to deny it. It happened around day 21 of the surgey. I've added soft foods in and I think that's why. I'm hitting my protein and fluid goals I just happen to be eating more real food. I never go past 350 calories a day and I get two 30 minutes walks in a day. I don't understand and I weigh several times a day and at the grocery store. I'm reading the responses and they give me some comfort but this is disheartening to have gone through this and now I've gained??? I did better pre-op...OMG..wondering what I did to myself and regretting this surgery. I'm not constipated at all everything is working on that front. Everyone says you lose the most the 1st six months of surgery and now I've stopped.

Final point- NOT eating enough will also put your body into starvation mode which can cause it to store any possible calorie it can for future use- thus leading to weight gain. We have all heard it- skipping meals is also bad for your metabolism!

Can I just say that I know my program espouses low fat/fat free, but I do not count fat at all. AT ALL. You need a bit of fat for satiety. As a Type II diabetic my focus is trying to keep as low carb as possible (although now I'm oddly not sensitive to them anymore - and my A1C is 5.5%, which is totally normal. But I still focus on trying to keep under a certain amount of carbs per meal/snack). So having said that, I know if my Protein is high and carbs are low, fat is going to shake out somewhere in the middle. My personal take is that fat is not the enemy and does not cause weight gain like carbs do. Also, I don't want to start a debate or raise anyone's hackles or anything. But you can totally be really successful eating a moderate amount of fat in your diet.

Well the fact that you two are in counseling shows a willingness from the both of you to make this marriage work.,. Without knowing what your problems are in the marriage. Do you think his insecurity is from just the surgery or does it come from something else? As far as being selfish... Well sometimes being "Selfish" is something we need to do to make us more available and healthy for our husbands and children.. I've never been "selfish" and I think that in part has led to my weight gain. So yes I did something for my "self" but my whole family benefits from it also.

Talk to your doctor about whether there will be absorption issues. I take a lot of medications and was told I should get the sleeve because the absorption issues are really with bypass, not sleeve. However, birth control in general can be really iffy after WLS because you become much more fertile, so they tell you not to rely on pills alone. I don't know if nexplanon would be sufficient. However, common side effects of nexplanon include weight gain and mood swings, both things you want to avoid after WLS. If Yasmin worked for you before surgery, it might be best to stick with it (my surgeon requires me to be off my BCP for a month before and after surgery to reduce risk of blood clots), but also use back up birth control like condoms. The reason that they want you to use condoms or some other barrier method is all the hormonal changes after surgery - fat cells release estrogen. So, obviously, I'm just some random person on the internet and you should talk to your surgeon and whomever prescribes your birth control, but this is what I've learned from my research. Good luck!

I had my Gastric Bypass Surgery and Galbladder removal on Aug 24th 2020, just almost 20 weeks ago. I have lost 68 lbs since Surgery and 88 lbs since my heaviest weight in May of 313, Im about 224.4 now. Everything is going along pretty textbook except for 1 thing. I have horrible Aching Continuous Pain in my legs (especially my left leg, outer thigh close to the side of the knee and a lil in the outer calf sometimes. It's not fatigue and I get plenty of all my vitamins and supplements plus I eat a high protein, nutrient rich diet and add electrolites to my 64+ oz of fluids each day. I am having Telemedicine appts with my Surgeon and my Nutritionist today thankfully and I plan to consult them on this but have any of you experienced this? Tylenol muscel creams and some stretching usually helps but I have had nights where they just didn't cut it and it felt like my bones were on fire! I definitely cannot continue to endure this nightly as I have for the last few weeks. I understand that a large quick weightloss can change your gate and how your body carries the weight causing nerves, tendons and muscles to respond this way but Jesus It's awful and it quickly goes away if I get up and walk around. It starts promptly with lying down in bed and persists regardless of position. I have chronic severe back issues that began about 12 yrs ago, My pain & loss of mobility along with weight gain topping me off at 313 lbs (I'm 5 ft. 3") got so severe that I had 7 back surgeries in a 3 yr period that ALL failed. DDD Degenerative Disc Disease, Spinal Stenosis and a some herniated discs prompted my Back Surgeons to declare me officially inoperable, so they along with my Primary Dr. & Counselors recommend I have Bariatric weight loss syrgery & I'm so glad I did! Its very frustrating for Me now tho to have regained about 80% of my mobility and reduced the regular daily & constant pain in my back by about 60% so far only to have this awful pain in my legs at night every freakin night now. I'm losing sleep nightly causing me to be tired all day, get less done, not exercise, be easily irritated in the day, agitated and frustrated. I NEED this to go away and I cannot take any opioid pain meds outside of the required serious post op situations. I am in long term recovery from a physical addiction to pain meds caused by an over prescribing horrible Pain mngmt Dr. Side note: That Pain mngmt Dr. is No longer allowed to practice medicine. Any shared experiences and info is much appreciated 🙏

The past 6 to 8 months I've not like posting my weight on my anniversary, as you can see, it has stayed in the same range. Today makes 17 months since my banding. I am still struggling to get my fill just right. I thought my 10th fill would be the perfect amount, but I still believe I need a tad more. I still can eat anything, bread, steak etc. some days are tighter than others, but I find that it is only about 1 week out of the month that I have perfect restriction - and that is during my monthly. sometimes when I ovulate I am tighter, but again, that is just a few days out of the month. I will be going for fill #11 next week, right before my cruise. I know some might think I'm crazy, but I'm sick of not losing so I don't care if I am tight on the cruise. I don't want to gain on the cruise, I actually would like to lose a few pounds while on the cruise - this will be a first if that happens. The average weight gain for a cruise is 10 pounds and I've always gained weight while on a cruise. Always, at least 5 lbs, last year, I think I only gained around 3 or 4, I can't remember. Well, it hurts, but I have to be honest with myself - so here is my weight history since banding......month by month. I am still determined to finish this race by my 2 year anniversary! I want to lose and hit my goal, I will lose and hit my goal! I will not give up and I will not quit until I reach my goal! Highest weight - 248 1 mo post op - 206.8 2 mo post op - 198 3 mo post op - 193 4 mo post op - 184.2 5 mo post op - 178 6 mo post op – 174 7 mo post op - 178 - went on vacation and ate big (7 day cruise) 8 mo post op - 174 9 mo post op - 170 10 mo post op- 167 11 mo post op - 170 - haven’t even been trying 12 mo post op - 174 - again, not trying. But finally refocused - exactly where I was at 6 mos post op – so basically no weight loss in the past 6 mos 13 mo post op - 183 - Ouch! started taking steroids and made my weight go up, along with not eating right and no exercise! 14 mo post op - 185 - grrrrr 15 mo post op - 180 - weight is finally going down, but inches are actually coming off faster since I've been exercising a lot. 16 mo post op - 178 17 mo post op - 175

Rain What is different about the bandsters diet and WW - I didn't know there was a bandsters diet. My Doc & Nutritionist said that these were my guildlines- #1 Protein 60 grms daily, low fat, low sugar, 3 meals plus 2 healthy Snacks - Vitamins, calicum. I am allowed to pick and choose what i eat - I am not limited as to what i eat - just that it's healthly and in size with correct portions - 1/4 cup ice cream (sf) instead of the whole pint made with real sugar & cream. In our lives we allow for a margin of error – which we should also do when trying to eat healthy – if you are eating 1000-1200 calories a day – allow for some of those calories to be used for a little bit of something you really want (chocolate - have a healthy choice fudgecicle - it's s/f & 80 calories)- you need wiggle room in your diet to make it work (I save my morning and afternoon snacks for night time which is my worst time) – the all or nothing practices has to be thrown our of your mind. You can learn to reprogram your mind to strip away the guilt that comes with dieting. You have to realize that it’s not that the first slice of cake that will doom your diet – it’s the second or third or whole thing that leads to weight gain. You have to listen to your body & respond smartly to your cravings and emotions but over time you will learn how to eat right and mange your craving and that’s when you’ll train your brain to stop obsessing about eating right and punishing yourself – If you stop overthinking you’ll stop over eating..