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The concern I would have (though I am not a dietician) is that slim fast bars and protein shakes are more "food-like substances" than actual food. Processed foods, even "diet" ones, can cause metabolism issues, and this feels almost punishing. Maybe you could try to find more satisfying, healthier options? You might try scrambling 2 eggs blended with some cottage cheese and a big handful of frozen chopped spinach for breakfast with a small serving of fruit, and a big salad of mixed veg topped with rotisserie chicken, black beans, and fresh salsa for lunch. Make sure the meat or chicken is being served with plenty of non-starchy veg, too. And don't ignore a good night's sleep and plenty of hydration. If you take prescription meds, check if any of them have weight gain as a side effect. I do agree that surgery is most likely going to be needed as soon as you can get it sorted because losing and maintaining that amount of weight is almost impossible without the metabolic changes that come with surgery.

Julie, you are absolutely right. No one should compare themselves to others. What we do to lose the weight is what we do. If someone wishes to piggy back off of it and does it in the most healthy and health conscious way, then go for it. If you are referring to me as far as the 3x per day exercise..then your facts are right. I was told by a few trainers that cramming all of the workouts in at one single time is ok and good but if you spread it out ..morning, noon and night then you are making your body burn continuously all day long. Yes I am losing weight and losing it very fast. But I am losing it on my own terms. I refuse to have a fill for the simple fact that I am really trying to train my brain to manually stop overeating. I have overeaten several times and I didn't stop. I am working on that. Prior to all of the weight gain I was an athlete. I swam 5 - 10 miles per day, ran 1 - 2 hours per day and ate very well. I swam for my college, so what I am doing now is basically what I did then. So again, please don't compare yourselves to me. I am the exception to the rule (per Tricia's words). I do not use a thread to boast my stenuous exercise.. I have a thread that allows you to see what I do and what several other very active members do. Tricia_k for instance. She does hundreds, literally hundreds of leg lifts per day. She runs, does weight training at home and has lost alot of weight and she's very toned. I personally cannot do 500 leg lifts, but I can bike 35 miles. I can't compare myself to her. Her leg endurance with weights compared to mine is unparalled. DOC - swims miles upon miles per day. Niche - puts in nice hours at the gym several days per week, alternating upper body and lower body Jachut - Cardio queen ..she can put in 4 - 6 miles daily and there are several others I have not mentioned that do great things... but you get my point. I do find it offensive that you indirectly accuse me or whomever else of boasting a 3x's per day or a 3 hour a day exercise regimine. The tone is sarcastic and offensive to me. There is nothing wrong with working out 3 hours per day. Practical to everyone?? No, but then again, don't compare yourself to anyone else on here. And yes, I will stand by the fact that if I can do it, so can you attitude. It's all attitude and not fact stating. It's just gung-ho attitude that keeps me going.

BM's are normal, thanks for asking :lol0:. I do eat pretty much anything and everything I want just less of it. Life is too short to not have what you want. Moderation is the key. I can eat ice cream, but just a scoop because it is all relative and one scoop feels like 2 cups (which is probably what I used to eat). I also eat alot of edamame. I snack on it at night. Very good for you and even if you don't like it much at first you grow to love it for some reason. I probably eat 1500 calories a day on average without weight gain. I don't exercise unfortunately but I am going to start one day soon!

Snuffy your advice is spot on! I have fought depression for years, ha - like since birth! Exercise really helps. I do take meds also but if I exercise they work much better and I am in a better mood. I had a real downhill snowball effect earlier in the year. I was doing relatively well at the exercise thing (crap at dieting, but that was pre-band). Not sure what I did but my back and hips (I'm hyperflexible, they pop out of place sometimes and swell) flaired up something severe and I had to start physical therapy. So I was told the only exercise I could do was what they were having me do there. A nice combiniation of pain all the time, weight gain, and not getting good cardio and I was a complete mess. I didn't start coming out of the funk again until I got over the hump of my pre-op diet and then recovered from the surgery. Back on the road to wellville now. Still having pain but of course exercise helps that too as long as I don't start thinking I am training for the Olympics again! My PCP says once I get to a weight where they'll take me seriously I can go to a sports medicine specialist. We can give each other good and correct info but you catch a lot more flies with honey as they say.

Well. I know you are not talking about me there, because as a rule, I don't give advice on band related matters. People who see the advice as harsh, tend to do so because of something lacking in their lives. Be it exercise, eating right, or following the band rules. It hits too close to home. It hurts them because they know that it could be true, that they are NOT doing whatever it is that is being talked about, and that is the cause of their weight gain / failure to lose / whatever. People then go one of two ways. They do something about it, or they do nothing but whine about why it is so tough. Why they can't. Why they are special. So yeah. Maybe the second sorts are better ignored by those who give fantastic advice. But how would one know what group they "asker" ends up in if they do hit the ignore button?

It's out. I had a stack sitting on the porch when hubby got home last night and he took care of it. Probably took it to work. My official weight this morning was 212. Ugh. A 3 pound weight gain this week. A bit of a wake up call. It's all my eating because my exercise hasn't changed at all.

Shiny/skinny...Don't be too hard on yourself about the weight gain - our bodies fluctuate alot. It averages out over time...at least, this is the rationale I have decided to believe it! Hope your husband hears soon about the position...ideally he hears because he is successful. Keep us posted.

..oh and as for losing the weight, gaining it back, then not being able to lose it again...i would say that most of us are in the same boat...that is why we have surgery. we cannot beat ourselves up over it, or we will never free ourselves from the fat or the fat mentality.

Hi I can empathize with your frustration level. I was banded Jan 08 and I was doing fine until October when we went to Australia. I haven't had a fill since Sept and though I had decided to just eat whatever while we were away now I am feeling the effects. we were only home for two weeks then we have been away again visiting family and friends for Christmas and eating whatever. Unfortunately, the foods that slide cause the weight gain. I need a fill and motivation to get back on the wagon. We are going home tomorrow and I hope to stop for a fill if I can get an appt. Let me know how you do. We'll compare notes. Good luck to you.

The first few days are rough. Diarrhea is likely due to the fact that you are taking in only liquids. Liquids in = liquids out pretty much. With COPD, you have an extra hurdle to cope with now, but once you start with consistent weight loss, your body won't be making COPD worse, which is great. Weight gain....the day after surgery, I was up 10 pounds. It all went away as soon as I started moving around some whenever I could. And I think a lot of people here will tell you a similar tale on the weight. When do you move to mushy food? Are you on "full liquids" yet? By that, I mean stuff like cream soup, yogurt, pudding, etc.

I was just thinking this morning that if some of the posters were so stupid to post the comment they did then they were just too much of an idiot to undertake major surgery. Basics such as how many calories it takes to actually gain/lose a pound of fat and the realization that if you're eating <1000 calories a day your 1 or 2 lb weight gain isn't fat. And, another of my favorite comment made prior to surgery "I know I can lose the weight with WLS because I don't make poor food choices today. It's just quantity." Yeah, right.

I remember every single insult and person who felt it was their duty to " help " me with my weight problem. What they did not know is what drove me there besides putting food into my mouth. People who think that they can save the world by pointing out others obvious flaws according to them is a real turn off. Now by example a person can make a difference. It is much bigger then you need to have WLS. It is an adjustment that needs to be made from the money making food industry to diet companies to the government that do not promote good eating habits and food choices. It is many who do not have the funds to eat well a lot of folks don't have a clue how to in the first place.... Round and round we go..... Mostly it is a lesson to be learned and it is learned hard. When I think of all those people who looked at me sideways or laughed at me. Stopped their car in front of my house to stare at the fat girl gardening and so on. I wish I had kicked them right where it hurts..Like it hurt me. While they went away feeling like they had accomplished a good deed by making me cry. They were completely wrong. Giving advice freely without being asked is a whole lot of bad to deal with. Now if you are asked...Lay it out for them....Otherwise you don't have a clue what makes that person tick and what stage they are at in life. In fact I would say it would be a lot like how that Katie Hopkins of the UK comes across! This is the hardest addiction to fix. So I personally do not question anyone or judge anyone who struggles with weight as I have been there and done that and will fight the rest of my life this battle of weight gain and loss.......

I think what you are experiencing is normal. It took me about 6 months for my mentality to change about desiring food, even if I wasn't truly hungry. Desiring to chew, taste, swallow and feel full the old way. The lap band changes your relationship with food in my experience. That change does take some time and you will "challenge" the band and not be able to keep it down. Eventually, you will tire of this and learn to live with your band, physically and psychologically. I had my band put in March 2009. I lost 115lbs the first year and have since maintained that loss (I'm 145lbs, 5'7".) Currently, I can eat just about anything if I eat a bite or two and then wait 15 minutes to eat another bite. That's ok for the taste and act of eating, but I feel it's hard for me to get my nutrition that way. I bought a vitmix blender...IT'S GREAT!! For me, my strategy is to make sure I get my fluids, protien and vitamins in first, then I dabble with eating bites at a time. I feel so much better and more energetic since I've began using my vitmix blender. It will liquify ANYTHING. I really missed my veggies with the lapband. I can't tolerate the skins of veggies. In this blender I can put in any mixture of veggies, skin, stalk and all and always a bit of kale, to make a liquid veggie drink. I add a good quality chicken bullion for taste and my powdered protien and I have a vitamin, fiber, fluid, protien packed tasty drink. I've done yogurt and blueberries as a smoothie and can tolerate that too. I thank GOD for this machine. These drinks don't replace all other foods, but they are the base to my nutrition. Everything else is extra and for the act of eating, chewing, and enjoying a few bites of regular food. For me, this works and it quite satisfying and certainly health boosting. Of course, I still enjoy a dilly bar whenever I want one and haven't had any weight gain what so ever. I remember the dietitian saying you shouldn't have to puree foods to be able to eat, that you were too tight if you had to do that. But they tell you to stew, or slow cook things until they are mush....whats the difference? The difference is cooking out all the nutrients is not good. The vitamix blender liquifies raw veggies, retaining all vitamins and fiber. I don't have stock in this company, I am truly just very excited to have come across this. It's very expensive 350-400 bucks, so I thought about it for 6 months before I broke down and got one. Best investment I've made since I got the lap band. I love the lap band!! Us bandsters just have to figure out how to have optimal health with the restriction that has allowed us to achieve our healthier weights.

Here is how I feel about the depression, Vitamin, and minerals deal post-op. Due to the PCOS & weight gain my body felt like a living hell, I had no periods then all of a sudden 3 months later I would bleed to the point I felt anemic, I had to stay home several times not even medical pads could hold, then there was the SUPER elevated testosterone levels and you want to talk about anxiety...the sex drive of a horse...breakouts...unsatiable appetite-THAT was depressing. If you were to ask a general family practice physician what obese patients have in common i can assure you they will point to labs, one thing being low B12 and D, they don't know why but EVEN before any procedure there is already that issue lurking the waters. On to the subject of depression, if you have a history of depression I don't think the surgery will mask it or take it away, if you are new to depression post-op you have to look at the root cause, I think blaming the surgery is a cop-out, if I thought of all the negative things being overweight brought into my life that would be depression enough to make me want to go into a cave but it's a mind set that's how you see happy fat people and nobody can understand it. Sure my hormones are changing, I know that through many things on my day to day life and as I look back at life pre-op I cannot understand HOW I wasn't medicated because what I see through the rear view mirror was someone completely out of control. Most people in this country who are not obese have vitamim deficiencies mostly due to the crap that is being called "food" out there sponsored by all the hormones and chemicals they've managed to give lab rats and turned out to be a success and they decided to feed us the same way, the obese have more than one issue at hand, you don't see a lot of obese people going to tanning beds or even direct sunlight for too long that's my observation it could be a lot of reasons, but obviously the obese also don't get all the Vitamins and minerals they need because they don't spend all day eating the way they should, I know I wasn't is I had been I would not have needed the operation. If my stored estrogen is being released I am glad because I don't need all these fat cells hanging around, if you take a look at what the fat cells are actually doing then you will see they release a toxin which is why overweight people have an increased chance in developing cancer and other things. Though I never took meds for anxiety I know I had it and post-op I feel calmer, maybe too calm but I like it because when it's time to open the fridge and choose, I am clear headed. By no means am I saying here my life is perfect or that there is nothing that irritates me, what I am saying is that it's not due to the surgery. I'l' have my labs drawn in April and will let you guys know if anything is off meanwhile I am going to take a good book out to the backyard for a little sun time. Can't cry over spilled milk or cut out stomach gotta keep eye on what I can control and make the best of my new life everyday. The video below though about the MGB talks about the estrogen drop which applies to us too: 1 2

Katy - The weight gain is very normal. It is due to the IV's you had, the swelling, the surgical process itself, etc. Do yourself a favor and stay away from the scale while you heal if you can. Your body has been through a lot and the next month or so is a healing process. It is harder to burp after surgery, especially RIGHT after. You likely have swelling so all of your burp isn't making it through. (I'm not a doctor, that's my guess and experience from what I have felt as well). The pain could be from gas used during surgery, or it could be from the phrenic nerve (not at all unusual) if your burp has irritated your pouch. I get the pain radiating to the left shoulder when I've eaten a bite too many. That's just one way your stomach may communicate with you now. Hope this helps. Good luck and don't stress over the scale right now.

I have been eating like there is no tomorrow. I know that I shouldn't be...but...I can't for the life of me stop. I am so glad that I am having surgery on the 6th. I am hazard to my health..lol. I start my pre-op low carb diet on Tuesday. So...hopefully....at the very least I will get my liver where it needs to be for surgery and I will deal with the weight gain post op. I know that I am dealing with the 'last meal' syndrome. I just didn't realize that I was going to have so many of them! This too shall pass. I don't want to beat myself up about it. It is what it is.

I gained all my weight quickly, thanks to a rare and horrible side effect of depo provera, the 3-month-lasting birth control shot. Sure, my lifestyle contributed, but I went from being a totally healthy size 8/10 to being a size 26 in a year and a half. I've struggled to lose that weight ever since, but I just didn't have it in me. I went thru a period of radical acceptance (and embracing) of reality, and myself, and learning to love myself, so the weight hasn't made me feel *bad* about myself for a long time. I figured that if I didn't force it, when I was ready, I'd work up the dedication to do it, but the guilting wasn't going to work. I never did, though, and now it's 11 years after the weight gain. (I was 16; now I just turned 27.) This year has been a big one for accepting my needs & limitations, and one of the big ones has been "I'll never be able to lose 120lbs on my own... and that's okay, because I'm not superwoman." The turning point was when I developed chronic fatigue syndrome/fibromyalgia after I came down with mono in July 2009, and my life has been one hellish rollercoaster ever since. Most days I am too sick or tired to exercise, and if I do, I suffer for DAYS afterwards. Since April, when I discovered that it is CFS/FMS that I have, I've been able to start treatments that really help. But I still am much lower energy than a normal person and my muscles are easily "damaged." I can pinpoint exactly when I decided to have surgery: I have chronic sinusitis, and because of the CFS, my body just won't fight back, so my sinus cavities are almost swollen shut. As you might imagine, that's no way to go thru life! So I saw a great surgeon for it, and he looked at me and said, "I can operate on your sinuses, but unless you lose a lot of weight, you're going to be back here in 2 years." He told me about one of his nurses who had the lapband done -- like me, she had recurring pneumonia and sinus infections and so on, and losing the weight cured her. So i started researching. That led me to the sleeve. That was October of 2010, and as of today I'm 1 week out from having the gastric sleeve done. I hope he was right!

I wish I knew . . . . . . some Protein shakes can taste horrible. I should have gotten a sample before I bought a very expensive barrel sized canister of Protein shake that has been gathering dust in my kitchen closet for six months now. . . . ready to drink Isopure clear shakes were tolerable to drink and helpful for protein intake directly after surgery since they fit in as a clear protein. . . . I did not realize logging all calories and protein on fitday.com would be so helpful during the early days. . . . I thought the journey really started when I was banded, but the help did not really come until after my second fill. I did not have realistic expectations of the unfilled portion in the early days where you are soooo hungry but can not eat anything much. I also did not realize that so many people had weightloss stalls (or some even gain)at this point. . . . I did not realize that weight loss comes in fits and starts. It was only easy and steady directly after surgery during the liquid phases. In general for me it looked more like this 202, 202, 201, 198, 202, 199, 202, 200, 199, 199, 198, 200, 198. I now have a rule that I don't change a ticker value unless I maintain a maximum weight for at least three days. . . . I didn't realize that plateaus can be easily broken if you know what to do, so I suffered a little more in the beginning than necessary. . . . I didn't realize that my TOM means an automatic weight gain(3-5 pounds in the beginning and 1-3 pounds now) that comes and goes in about a week. . . . I did not know that losing weight rapidly floods your body with hormones so that your TOM can be drastically worse than normal (not to mention that you can be verrrryyyy moody as well). However, six months out and I think I have stabilized somewhat. Perhaps the general tone sounds like complaints, but it is not. All of the good far, far, far outweighs the bad. If I listed all the good, I could go on for pages and pages. I love my band and I can not tell you how much better I look and feel at this stage of the game. Congratulations on selecting a most interesting journey and change in lifestyle.

I was dissapointed about gaining weight when I returned from the hospital. I stayed overnight because of my co-morbidities. I gained 4 pounds and hadn't eaten anything but small amounts of jello and the protien shakes. I was also scared this wasn't going to work for me. A week after my surgery I did my post op visit, and I was 20 lbs from the pre op visit. I think my weight gain came from the IVs they gave me while in the hospital. I'm now waiting for my first fill. The Drs office said anything I loose between now and the first fill is bonus. I've come down a few pounds since then, but not what I would like. I'm just trying to be patient.

Congratulations to you all for taking the New Year "by the horns". You all have taken the 1st steps to controlling your weight gains. We are here for you, welcome back and best wishes to you all. Food is an addiction, we can't go "cold turkey" and be completely off, that is probably the hardest part of this addiction. We need to control our addiction with the help of great lapband tool. Karen

Ok, so I hopped out of bed at 5 a.m. this morning, got to the park by 5:30. Power walked 3 miles (not so power for a few laps -- talking to a fellow walker), got home, did my morning ritual and dressed for work. I was happy and singing and playing music all the while. Well, I put my gray slacks on with a purple top and a gray sweater, gray shoes ... nice combination ... silver jewelry ... everything was going fine. Then I looked in the mirror! There standing before me was the dreaded "fat lady"! She said "you look like you're gaining weight ... aren't these pants fitting a little snug?" I told her to shut up and finish getting ready for work ... but then I got to thinking ... do these pants look as good today as they did when I wore them 2 weeks ago? hmmmmm All of a sudden I am obsessing about whether I have gained weight or not; but I dare not get on the scale ... no, getting on the scale could derail my whole day if I saw weight gain. Geeeez I wish there was a "band" for the brain! The truth is, just like 2 weeks ago, I could actually wear a size smaller in these slacks. But have decided that as long as they are not falling down I will not buy anything new for a while. I tend to turn into a shopping maniac, and since I am trying to get my youngest off to school in Missouri in a couple of months ... all the shopping has to be for him.

Slider foods are no good to any of us. period. If you think they are Your in your weight gaining cycle. Your not working the band except in the wrong direction. Just my 2 cents. Your only fooling yourself.

That's great. I was banded on 6/17 and I've lost 20lb-had my 1st fill 2 woks ago and feel a little restriction but I so conscious about what goes in my mouth, I'm not really clearing 800 calories and I can get on the scale from morning to night and have 4 lb weight gain...how does that happen??? I'm going for a 2nd fill on 8/2. I workout like a mad woman. I don't know what else to do, I was losing weight more consistently before the band.

Through my surgeons program you have to lose 5% of your body weight before he will submit to insurance. On sunday I was so nervous because on my scale I only showed I was 1 pound more than his goal. On Monday my appt was at 9am, I ate nothing, drank nothing before appt and came in 2 lbs under Talk about relief!!! Now just in the waiting game. My surgeon will not submit because if you cant lose 5% them he said it shows you are not making any changes and this surgery is a complete lifestyle change. Throughout all this I also quit smoking, which on the past wouldve added 20 lbs, so excited the small changes Ive made helped with the weight gain associated with quitting smoking.

I'm reading a lot about us controlling our portions and calories and carbohydrates. And there is merit to those posts. However, about 3 weeks ago I met with my NUT. She told me I should not fear sugar. This was a bit of a shock because for the past 14 months I have been avoiding sugar like the plague. She said that my hormones have now changed, I might be surprised and the experts are now moving away from numbers. Away from counting carbs, calories and keeping track of weight. She said not to be focused on numbers. She also advocates mindful eating which is similar if not basically the same thing as I understand it. i also just read the new article in Time magazine last week that says the one thing they do know is that we all require individualized plans. The exact same diet will work for one person but not for another. There are so many variables to our weight that science doesn't even know why we gain and loose weight differently. Our gut microbes, hormones, genes, bile acids, how our body processes what we eat (different for different people) and eating habits are all factors. No one thing is responsible, they all work together. Scientists can't even tell us why weight loss surgery works. Anyway, I ate everything I wanted. ice cream, nachos, dessert every night, some bread, shared 2 coffee coolatta things, and more. I gained 5 lbs in 7 days and it came off plus .4 more lbs in 3 days of just eating my normal diet. I haven't counted anything really since surgery. Just focused on protein and veggies mostly. I seriously don't know how that worked so quickly. I expected to work for weeks or months to take it off. Guessing this is my set point now. Very difficult to loose more, but apparently not too hard to loose when I gain a few. I just know we don't know how weight loss works. And I think people are too hard on themselves when there are so many factors involved in weight loss and weight gain. I don't want to dissuade anyone from posting something that helped them regardless of whether it is within the guidelines of what someone else believes to be true or not. We have so much to learn.