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It is unfortunate that weight gain is a side effect with so many medications but you need the meds. Your choice on getting banded is not based on 1 year of weight gain, it is over time of playing with your weigh that has brought you to this choice. Keep moving forward in what is best for you and your health.

I asked my surgeon about getting unfilled at goal, and he said "no way". He gave an example of one of his patients who insisted on being totally unfilled, and who was back two months later and 30 kgs heavier. That completely freaked me out. Of course, he was talking about a total unfill, and I doubt the patient he was referring to was doing any exercise. In fact, it seems like s/he must have just gone back to the exact same eating habits that made him/her fat in the first place. What concerns me though is that I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life being tight and eating minute quantities, but does it mean that as soon as you start eating a bit more, you're bound for weight gain? It sounds as though you're committed to a new lifestyle that includes a lot of exercise. For that, you also need to be consuming an adequate amount of calories, and if that means getting unfilled to a certain point, then I'm sure that's what you need to do. It would seem that it would be a question of finding the right level of restriction (like when you were trying to lose) that enables you to eat enough to maintain, despite the amount of exercising you do, but not enough to gain. BTW, your weight loss is completely inspirational. Congratulations!

To "work the band" optimally, you should have hard protein for your "main meal" of the day. This includes beef, pork, fish, chicken, soy, etc.). You need to cut the protein into SMALL pieces, THOROUGHLY chew each piece, and eat 4-6 ounces. I was told to eat all the protein first, then the veggies and then the starch. Often, I can get in the protein, about half the veggies and just a few tastes of the starch. When people are too restricted, they go to "softer" foods and avoid hard proteins because they can get these foods PAST the band. Often, this can result in weight GAIN not to mention damage to the esophagus, etc. if left too tight for too long. I will sometimes have spaghetti with a meatball and that's fine. We're supposed to eat like "normal" people. I typically have 4 oz of lite ricotta cheeses, coffee and vitamins for breakfast, cereal or a salad with some turkey or tuna for lunch and a balanced dinner (fish, steamed green beans, rice for example). I buy 100 calorie pack snacks and 60 calories puddings and 80 calorie fudge pops for treats. I hope that helps.

Cheryl, Grats on getting the surgery! I know it is hard when we are used to eating till we are stuffed, but I try and focus on how little I can get by on rather than how much I can eat. Eat until your hunger pains are gone and that is enough. If you are experiencing a lot of hunger ask yourself how much protein you are having. You are only 3 weeks out from surgery you should still be on mushies and they will never "fill" you up, especially with your band unfilled. You are healing, this isn't the time to worry about weight loss. Your weight gain could be fluid retention or just your body adjusting to mushies after liquids. Many people gain when they switch to musihes, it is very normal.

I found this article on AOL about food and genomic interaction. There's not a lot of new information here, but it's never a waste of time to possibly gain a new perspective - maybe turn on a lightbulb over our heads! Awaken Your Fat-Burning DNA Dr. Mark Hyman discusses the interaction between genes & weight-loss. Listen to Dr. Hyman's Podcast Dr. Mark Hyman, author of 'UltraMetabolism,' talks with AOL's Book Maven Bethanne Patrick about the role genes play in your diet and weight-loss plan. Here are excerpts from the interview: Bethanne Patrick: Oh, it's great to talk with you and this is so exciting. Your book is about nutrigenomics, can you explain to us what that is and then we'll talk a little bit more about your background. Dr. Mark Hyman: This is a whole new wave of medicine that's emerging based on science and nobody's hearing about it. It's really how food talks to our genes and turns on messages of health or disease, weight loss or weight gain, and it's called nutrigenomics. Get More Health Advice Mark Hyman discusses how to achieve greater health and vitality and lead an age-defying, disease-free life. Listen to Dr. Hyman's Podcast Interview Podcast Interview: Read Your Body's Manual How Does Inflamation Affect Your Weight? chocolate and Other Fats to Help You Slim Down Download a Free Sneak Preview of 'UltraMetabolism' Buy ‘UltraMetabolism' Get More Health Advice From Dr. Hyman Find More Self-Help & Wellness Interviews More Tips and Advice From AOL Coaches Bethanne Patrick: Wow that's something I don't think any of us ever really thought about. Is that why I love bacon so much? Dr. Mark Hyman: Probably not. I don't know if it's sending the right messages. Bethanne Patrick: So explain to us, when you say 'food talking to your genes,' what kinds of messages are you describing? Dr. Mark Hyman: Most of us think of our DNA as sort of locked in our body, waiting to be passed onto our children, but in fact your DNA at every moment is interacting with your environment, interacting with every bite of food you take, interacting with your thoughts, your feelings, and various things, so when you take a bite of food, literally, the information -- beyond the calories in the food -- goes right into your cells, into your DNA, and switches on genes, or turns off genes based on what information is in that food. Bethanne Patrick: So, DNA is interactive. Dr. Mark Hyman: It's like the software for your body. If you are not giving it the right messages to start the gene activation that leads to your metabolism, it's going to lead to weight gain and disease. The whole book Ultra Metabolism is based on the notion of this revolution in medicine -- that if we live in a way that's in harmony with our genes, we can fit into our jeans. Bethanne Patrick: You use the analogy that putting the wrong food into your body is like putting diesel fuel into a regular car. Dr. Mark Hyman: Exactly. I mean, would you think of feeding your dog French fries, a Big Mac and a Coke? No. We know that there's something wrong with [feeding] that to a dog. Yet we feed that to our children. These foods are not what [we have] adapted to from an evolutionary point of view. So if we live in a way that's more akin to how our bodies were designed then everything takes care of itself. Bethanne Patrick: Tell me about how you found out about nutrigenomics and ultra metabolism. Do you have a lot of experience in this field? Where does it come from? Dr. Mark Hyman: Well, I always call myself the accidental weight loss doctor because I never started out seeking to help people lose weight. People came to me with health issues, and I saw people who tried everything. My job was to be a medical detective to figure out the underlying causes of their problems. When I took care of the underlying health problems based on this new science nutrigenomics, the pounds took care of themselves. People just lost weight, without even trying. For example, yesterday I saw a woman who came to see me in November because she was tired and fatigued, had digestive issues and had many, many, many other issues and she was overweight. Three months later she came back and she lost 37 pounds. Bethanne Patrick: Wow. Dr. Mark Hyman: I didn't even recognize her and I didn't tell her to lose weight. I never tell people to go on a diet or lose weight, I said 'here's how you eat in a way that works with your body, rather than against it' and when you do that the natural intelligence and wisdom of the body takes care of the rest. Bethanne Patrick: [What are] these seven myths about obesity? What is the starvation myth? Dr. Mark Hyman: The starvation myth is the idea that if we eat less and exercise more we will lose weight, and unfortunately, when we do that, when we starve ourselves or restrict our calories, we trigger a primitive survival response that drives us to compensate by overeating. We all have the experience, for example, of starving yourself all day, skipping Breakfast, light lunch or maybe not at all, and then you get home and what happens? You clean out the refrigerator. Bethanne Patrick: Exactly! Dr. Mark Hyman: And then you feel sick. Of course, we've done that over and over again. Now the first time you might do it you might think, 'Oh well, I shouldn't do this again because it's going to make me feel sick.' But how many times have all of us done that? Why? That's how our bodies are programmed. So if you eat less than your basic needs, if you starve yourself, you'll always backfire, you'll gain the weight back, and you'll probably gain back even a little bit more. People gain an average of five pounds for every diet they go on. Bethanne Patrick: The second one is the calorie myth. What's that about? Dr. Mark Hyman: If you look at how calories actually work in your body, different foods have different properties beyond [their] calories. For example, if I [drink] a Coca-Cola which is pure sugar, it goes straight to my bloodstream. It turns on messages that make me gain weight. If I eat a diet that's full of Fiber and whole foods that has the equivalent amount of calories it has a different effect. Doctor David Ludwig, one of the top scientists and researchers in obesity in the world at Harvard, did a study with three different groups of kids and gave them three different breakfasts: oatmeal, field cut oats and omelets, exactly the same calories. What's fascinating is that the kids that ate the oatmeal were hungrier, they ate 80 percent more food that day and their biochemistry was different; their cholesterol was higher. Bethanne Patrick: Really? The oatmeal eating group? Dr. Mark Hyman: Oatmeal enters the bloodstream quickly. The omelet group had sort of a slow-burn effect. In other words, the calories were released slowly into the bloodstream and they didn't trigger these hormonal responses and these genetic responses that trigger us to eat more and be hungrier. Get More Health Advice Mark Hyman discusses how to achieve greater health and vitality and lead an age-defying, disease-free life. Listen to Dr. Hyman's Podcast Interview Podcast Interview: Read Your Body's Manual How Does Inflamation Affect Your Weight? Chocolate and Other Fats to Help You Slim Down Download a Free Sneak Preview of 'UltraMetabolism' Buy ‘UltraMetabolism' Get More Health Advice From Dr. Hyman Find More Self-Help & Wellness Interviews More Tips and Advice From AOL Coaches Bethanne Patrick: The third one is the fat myth. Dr. Mark Hyman: The fat myth is the idea that if we restrict fat we will lose weight. The Women's Health Initiative shows us that low-fat diets don't really help. And I think that the real important point here is that it's the type of fat that you eat that makes the difference. I think one of the things we don't realize is that if we eat a diet full of trans-fat or the steak fats that are in processed food, it really goes to a part of our genes, turns on messages that make us gain weight, that slows metabolism, that makes us have more inflammation, that makes it more likely that we get diabetes. If we eat the right fat [like] Omega-3 from fish oil, flax seeds, walnuts and seaweed, they will turn on the genes that make us lose weight. Bethanne Patrick: The carb myth is sort of is the same thing. Dr. Mark Hyman: I say to people that carbohydrates are the single most important thing you need for long term health and weight loss. That goes in the face of what a lot of people are saying right now. The reason I say that is carbohydrates are the source of all the Vitamins and minerals and what we call phytonutrient or plant chemicals that help us stay healthy. Things like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, Beans, nuts and seeds -- these are all carbohydrates. Bethanne Patrick: But they're good carbohydrates. Dr. Mark Hyman: Absolutely. It's the ones that are processed and refined and full of sugar that are bad for us. Bethanne Patrick: The sumo-wrestler myth is about skipping meals. Love that name. Dr. Mark Hyman: Yeah, well sumo wrestlers are made, not born. The way they're made is actually the way most Americans live. Like a sumo wrestler, they wake up, they may skip breakfast, they do a little activity and then they eat a huge meal and go to bed. When you skip breakfast and eat dinner before you go to bed, you're going to gain weight because your metabolism slows at night. When you fall asleep with a full stomach you're guaranteed to gain weight. Bethanne Patrick: The French paradox myth is myth number six. Why is that? Dr. Mark Hyman: Well, we think that the French are healthy and don't have heart disease because they drink wine and eat butter, and that's not true. Actually, they're getting more sick and more overweight because we're not only spreading Democracy, we're spreading obesity across the globe, including in Europe. What they used to do was eat real unprocessed and whole foods. Bethanne Patrick: So that's the key -- the unprocessed. Dr. Mark Hyman: They ate fresh food. They went to the market place every day and walked, because that was how their villages were set up. They also enjoyed their food. They didn't have the two minute lunch, they had the two hour lunch, and when we have pleasure and enjoyment with food our digestion and metabolism is geared to burn more calories than when we're stressed. When we eat at our desk, we're actually going to shut down our metabolism. Bethanne Patrick: The final myth is the 'Protector Myth.' What is the protector myth? Dr. Mark Hyman: The protector myth is the notion that government regulations and policies around the food industry out there is helping us to stay healthy and protect us from harm. I think that's unfortunately a very sad notion. The food industry makes up 12% of our gross national product and employs 17 percent of the labor force. And it spends 33 billion dollars a year marketing junk food to consumers. Only 2% of the 33 billion dollars is spent on marketing fruits, vegetables and healthy food. We're in a crisis because the only thing you can buy when you go on the road is food that's highly processed, devoid of all nutrients, that's full of calories and that actually turns on genes that make you gain weight and get sick. The entire food industry – the restaurant industry, the diet industry, hospitals, drug industry -- everybody profits from people being sick and overweight. The whole system's backwards. We need to stand up for policy changes that can help, such as getting junk food and vending machines out of schools and stop advertising of junk food to children and so forth. Bethanne Patrick: If people are interested in this, where can they go to get more information? You've got a great website. Dr. Mark Hyman: Yeah, www.ultrametabolism.com/aol, they can actually download a free sneak preview of the book. I've convinced my publisher to offer this online which allows people to get a sneak preview. If they're interested then, they can go ahead and get the book. My DVD is available for the UltraMetabolism PBS show, which they can watch on their local stations or get a copy as well.

It cost me $10,600 to pay for my surgery in Mexico. Plus airfare. If gaining 10 pounds - or even 20 pounds - would have made my insurance pay for the surgery, I would have done it. I expect my response will get a lot of negative feedback, but in reality, if you're willing to pay more than $10,000 to lose the weight, a relatively small weight gain to save that much seems like a no-brainer to me. Now, if you have to gain 30, 40, or 50 pounds to make the cut, that's a different story. At least it is in my Fairytale. Good luck with your decision - let us know what you decide.

ok ok.... seems like we have a good group of "newbies" July banders I have high hopes of this working out for me (and you all) but I still worry about my history of losing weight, gaining it back, losing weight.... and so on.... I'm guessing I may have lost and gained several people by now. My mind is starting to play tricks on me.... like... "hey matt, isn't this the time you eat potato chips?" "hey matt, remember mcdonalds...mmmmmmm big macs" obviously I'll need to retrain myself on eating habits.... but dang.....*sobs* I sooo sooooooo likey sour cream and onion potato chips! then there is the burden of the "pressure" that I feel family is adding to me. I mean, they are watching to see how I do. My dad offered to pay for my brothers banding if I am successfull. (which I'm not complaining, however I saved it all by myself for 3 years) Then, being so far from my doc, what happens if I mess up and have a slippage of the band? hmmmm mo money mo money fills, fills, fills, that's the rub isn't it..... you think you are done paying ... then the fills.... sure... I have free fills from my doc.... but I have to spend 400 for the flight to get there..... grumble grumble grumble I WANT MAGIC DANGNABIT..... a automatic pill to lose all the weight I want without working to dang hard to do it basically this was a complain session and worry session... I'm happy I chose to be banded... and I made a life choice.... it's the unknown future that concerns me what happens if I still have the band and turn 70 and start forgetting about it..... ooops... pb pb pb... *lol* I think to much!! what are your worries? however crazy *s*

I would start trying to conceive. You have a lifetime to lose weight. You are banded and it will always be there. While you try to conceive you can continue to lose weight then when you conceived (hopefully not more then 2) just try to stay at the 25 - 30 lb weight gain. It will be easiler to lose after giving birth. You have done good for 1 year and I know you will continue to do well pregnancy or not

Hi All, I did pretty well eating this weekend. I made pretty good choices, chewed well and ate slowly and......I still gained 2 pounds. Oh well! I have been debating whether or not to schedule another fill and, my weight gain this weekend decided it for me. My doctor is out of the country right now so I am scheduled for Aug. 11. I still have restriction but, I am noticing that I can eat more and definately don't stay full as long. I'm still paranoid about getting too much of a fill and becoming too tight. I like the fact that I can eat just about any food right now just not nearly as much of it as I used to. I'm thinking about changing my September challenge goal to 250 by my b-day which is 9/15. By the way, 3Loves, your kids are adorable. I saw the pictures you posted on Amy's thread. Oh, I almost forgot, welcome the gang Barbara!

I have tried 2 others but I am a light sleeper and don't like things on my face or head, I'm gonna try again tonight. This is one of the main reasons I am getting the surgery. My Dad had sleep apnea, so does my brother and sister so surgery may not help, but funny thing, I received a letter from the dentist saying they now make mouth pieces to relieve sleep apnea, the cost is $240, if weightloss doesn't help I will look into it. Don't know which came first, sleep apnea or huge weight gain, it all happened around the same time. Take Care and pray for me on the 7th of Aug. ...........Anniemay

hey dody thanks.. okay so its a diurectic,,,but how does this contribute to weight gain>> I find I am waking up now at night three times peeing...last two nights.. I didnt start drinking diet pepsi ( just one) til tonight. So not sure why. thanks

Okay folks day four.....of cottage cheese and yogurt:guess , How the heck have you guys done this????? I fall to my knees and say You are better than me and I adore you!!!! Okay sooooo I have bought every yogurt and cotage cheese in town literally and was wondering . I know that I can drink diet pepsi pre surgery, BUT I have heard something about diet drinks contributing to weight gain...Has anyone else???? How does it work? :Banane56: Thanks and since YODA is in Buffalo spending all of her money I will say may the force be with us...til she gets back.

Wow, so much has changed since I originally started the thread "no help for the wicked." It was 3 months before I was banded, and I was really struggling with my asthma. I mean, really struggling. Death looked like a real possibility. I really thought that by now I would have lost if not all my excess weight, I would have lost a big whack of it. I was sure that I would be a size 16 by now, not still 22/24. But that is not in the cards for me. I still struggle with this. But I suppose I should have clued into the "sudden weight gain" since no one else seems to experience that particular "joy." I've since learned that it's one of the hallmarks of Cushing's, and I've had to come to terms with learning that my journy is not the typical journy. Someone on a recent thread was commenting on how pissed they were because someone told them that by having WLS they were not doing it "right" that they were not doing it the old fashioned way. That somehow having the band was cheating and so any loss woul be less valuable. I personally think that WLS is the easy way, because it makes it makes it possible for so many people to actually lose weight and keep it off for possibly the first time in their entire lives. I have absolutely no problem with this being the easy way, becaus I have no need for people to suffer. I see little value in adding suffering and grief to life. It's hard enough without looking for extra hardness to add.

Wow, so much has changed since I originally started the thread "no help for the wicked." It was 3 months before I was banded, and I was really struggling with my asthma. I mean, really struggling. Death looked like a real possibility. I really thought that by now I would have lost if not all my excess weight, I would have lost a big whack of it. I was sure that I would be a size 16 by now, not still 22/24. But that is not in the cards for me. I still struggle with this. But I suppose I should have clued into the "sudden weight gain" since no one else seems to experience that particular "joy." I've since learned that it's one of the hallmarks of Cushing's, and I've had to come to terms with learning that my journy is not the typical journy. Someone on a recent thread was commenting on how pissed they were because someone told them that by having WLS they were not doing it "right" that they were not doing it the old fashioned way. That somehow having the band was cheating and so any loss woul be less valuable. I personally think that WLS is the easy way, because it makes it makes it possible for so many people to actually lose weight and keep it off for possibly the first time in their entire lives. I have absolutely no problem with this being the easy way, becaus I have no need for people to suffer. I see little value in adding suffering and grief to life. It's hard enough without looking for extra hardness to add.

Time to bump this. Wow, so much has changed since I originally started this thread. It was 3 months before I was banded, and I was really struggling with my asthma. I mean, really struggling. Death looked like a real possibility. I really thought that by now I would have lost if not all my excess weight, I would have lost a big whack of it. I was sure that I would be a size 16 by now, not still 22/24. But that is not in the cards for me. I still struggle with this. But I suppose I should have clued into the "sudden weight gain" since no one else seems to experience that particular "joy." I've since learned that it's one of the hallmarks of Cushing's, and I've had to come to terms with learning that my journy is not the typical journy. Someone on a recent thread was commenting on how pissed they were because someone told them that by having WLS they were not doing it "right" that they were not doing it the old fashioned way. That somehow having the band was cheating and so any loss woul be less valuable. I personally think that WLS is the easy way, because it makes it makes it possible for so many people to actually lose weight and keep it off for possibly the first time in their entire lives. I have absolutely no problem with this being the easy way, becaus I have no need for people to suffer. I see little value in adding suffering and grief to life. It's hard enough without looking for extra hardness to add.

Jude, okay okay do I have to be the person now with common sense?? lol after all we cancers look after people. Doesn't mean you haven't lost inches or fat when the scale doesn;t move or sometimes moves up RIGHT??? Also next week you will see that loss and then some. I have all the confidence in the world. so so far now day three....... and i am okay all of a sudden with cottage cheese. i forgot who told me it was close to the perfect protein so I decided I should. I saw my doc today who has no idea why just two weeks would shrink my liver, says he never heard that before and this guy is no slouch. asl yoda why does an ovarian thing cause weight gain?? Iam a frigging nurse and have no clue. OH, WHAT IS WITH THE WEEKLY CANADIAN WEIGH IN? iS THAT HERE? oops sorry caps>

Is there a reason you guys picked Dr. Farhan? I wasn't really sure of what surgery I wanted. I really don't want the RNY because of the dumping and weight gain. Can you feel any restriction yet?

I just love all this re-defined confidence!!! TELLY: It's glad to see that your human!! I am sure that 3lb weight gain is lavishing toned muscle!! It sucks that if we venture out a little, we pay the price. Isn't slow metabilism great!! lol

LOL I will blame any weight gain on my bowel content.. Will make me feel better anyway hehehe... I had some mashed potato and pumpkin for my first meal I was so excited.. I recon I could have had alot more but I restricted myself which was hard to do but I done it

Notebook magazine here in Australia published an article in this months edition about Anissy Levy, an aussie who got LapBanded. she and the LapBand were well represented and very inspiring. She sounds like an intelligent lady - and the article in no way made little of obese people's problems. Check it out online: http://www.notebookmagazine.com/you/article/417/Stopping-the-weight-gain

Diva, I was so touched by your post. I too have felt this way -- a lot of regret about what I've missed out on in life. Here are some ways to counter that feeling of being fat and stupid that helped me. I hope they might comfort you, too.:confused: 1. We've been brainwashed to believe that all we have to do to lose weight is to control our eating behavior. But, 95% of people who lose weight gain it all back. Why? Because obesity actually results from 3 things: genetics (which predispose us to gain weight), environment (all the junk food around us, etc.), and behavior (eating and exercise). When we gain weight, our hormone balance really gets out of whack. Many of us are always hungry. Why? Because fat people have an excess of the hormone that tells us we're hungry and a deficiency of the hormone that tells us we're full. And, the more a person loses weight, the more the body hangs on to every calorie that comes in. This information helped me understand that there were valid reasons why I'm obese. I can control only some of the factors that contribute to my obesity. That helped me feel less guilty about "doing it to myself". 2. I've always being hard on myself. A wise friend taught me this saying: "If I could have done better, I would have done better. Now that I know better, I'll do better." When I start beating myself up, I say this to myself and it really helps. It reminds me to treat myself with compassion. So much of our healing from obesity is more than just physical. We need to heal our spirits and souls, too.

yup, perfectly normal. If you've just moved from liquids to soft, then you suddenly have mass in your colon. which was pretty empty from the weeks of liquid. Lots of people see the scale move up at this stage. notice I did not say weight gain. Very important. Any weight lost before the first fill is BONUS and not band weight loss. Many people don't lose any real weight until after their first and sometimes second fill. Cheers and Courage!

Helllllllllllleeeeewwww Everyone! Just dropped in to snoop a bit.... Doc, I know you're so proud of your son, your link was quite touching. Patty, have a great trip. Betty, sorry to hear DH lost his job and finds one really soon, before he gets use to the easy life. Darcey girl, as for the weight gain, it's alright, you're human and you're allowed, now just get your a$$ on track and start losing again, I will follow, cause if I keep it up, though I haven't gained, I surely haven't lost. Love you girl. Eileenie, you're support group all in one person. Cindy, wooohooo, you go girl, isn't it amazing how quickly that year goes, OMG, I'm past year and a half now and still stuck at the fluctuating 50-52, as Eileenie would say, WTF! It seems that my destined weight is 165ish, what everrrrrrrr, as long as I can get some 12's on, I'm having a great day. Hugs everyone, I've missed ya and I'll catch up with you other lovelies later.

This is band specific, and addresses a few diets... A short, quick weight gain is probably weight gain but not fat gain. If you think about it, most of us are following low carb diets by virtue of difficulty eating high carb foods. When you break ketosis (long story short) the first thing your body does is suck in all the water it can. I followed the induction phase of Atkins for about a year, and was in ketosis like no one's business. When I would break my diet, it wouldn't be unusal for me to gain 6, 8 (once even 15) pounds overnight. Guess what - I could still wear the same size that I had not been able to wear 15 fat pounds before. Weight loss/gain is a fairly complicated series of body processes. Your body does a lot to keep from losing anything, and can kick in some amazingly strong "survival" modes (Why do you think the most adamant of dieters usually caves in around day 4-ish? has a lot more to do with what your body's doing that your will power). Our bodies want back what was taken from them. :confused:

Hi Julie, I gain 4.5 lbs on vacation last week...Yes, I think it's because we taken so few calories after being banded. The good news is weight gained quickly will generally come back off quickly if you do it ASAP after the gain.