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Mine only get people food on very rare occasions. I was thinking today how it is funny that I am so very careful about what they eat so they don't gain weight, but I have had no problem shoveling bad food choices in to my mouth regardless of the weight gain! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

We were both banded about the same time (I was the 28th of May) and I understand how you feel. I think what you are going through is a major adjustment to a different life, but it can be an awesome life! This is part of bandster hell, the period between surgery where you are healing before your first fill, where it is impossible to follow all the rules. Dont let it get you down, this will get better and once you have your first fill you should start seeing more results. As for weight gain we are all going up and down as we heal, some days water weight some days a bit too many calories, but it is a learning experience and once you get it figured out you will be stronger. Hang in there you are doing great.

I weight every day now and use the Happy Scale app which gives me a running average of weight loss so it smoothes out the ups and downs. I have a history of going for months conveniently "forgetting" to weigh and fooling myself into believing that I've only gained a little then when I get the nerve up, well you know the story. I even tried the Shapa scale which did not show a number, just a color based on the direction of your weight. Gained 30 pounds while I had that thing. I totally get the reasons to not weigh often, however with the app averaging the weight for me I'm actually doing a good job learning to accept those ups and downs that used to sabotage me mentally. Living with my reality instead of putting my head in the sand like I used to do. So for me, daily weighing is working.

What a nightmare. Every additional factor complicates the recovery, and you have had quite the run of unexpected issues. It was good to read the update, that you've lost weight. That's got to be a bit of encouragement. I wanted to say that everyone is different in how we respond to the "insult" of surgery, and in your case, the complications from surgery itself are not to be taken lightly. But in the overall scheme of things, you're going in the right direction, and that's all that matters. Research in reputable, peer reviewed journals (not just anecdotal/experiential postings on the internet) suggest that it takes 4 - 6 weeks for the swelling and trauma from surgery to completely disappear. In that time, depending on the former eating habits of the individual, the body may compensate for the sudden lack of food by becoming super efficient - squeezing the life out of every single calorie and hanging on to the fat stores. This equals weight gain and/or no net weight loss in the early days. This is not everyone's experience, but it isn't uncommon. The average healthy sustainable weight loss is 8-10 pounds/month. Again, individually this varies, but this is considered the optimum. If you lose more, great. If you lose less, the average over time generally works out to... you guessed it, 8 - 10 pounds per month. And lastly, those individuals who do not keep a scale at home do better overall both physically and emotionally than those who weigh daily/weekly. One study found that individuals who had a regular monthly weigh in with an objective source had better levels of emotional and psychological health than those who kept scales at home. And, those who kept scales at home had a harder time breaking emotional eating habits because their moods rose/fell depending on what the scale said. They experienced more mood instability, which is a common trigger for emotional eating. As a former "weigh everyday" person, I can tell you personally that getting rid of the scale at home was the hardest and the best thing I ever did. Now, I don't think about my weight like that at all. I go to the doctor for my monthly check up, weigh in, and see whether my guess (of total pounds lost) is close. I usually aim for 5 - 8 pounds, and so far, every weigh in has been at least that if not more. Keep at it Sarabee323 - as long as you're headed in the right direction, the time it takes to get there is irrelevant. It will certainly take less time to lose the weight than how long you have lived with it. This is a good thing. Be encouraged - it gets better. CE

Congrats! It was great to see how you stuck with it, even with the plateaus and weight gain setbacks! Great job, awesome!!!!

Thank you both for your replies. So sad to see so many veterans, myself included have left these forums. Everything is dated from so long ago. The weird thing is throughout my 2 year weight gain I regularly e exercised which proves to me that diet is much more important than exercise. The points of not keeping bad foods in the house is a good one for me. I researched macro nutritional goals (which I had forgotten) and set up my fitness pal again. Went to the grocery store and only bought ice cream flavor and snacks I don't like for the rest of my family. Carried my water around all day and sipped all day. Thank you for the advice. Love to hear more if any other veterans want to participate.

Oh, boy, does regain happen. The "long-term" research on WLS reveals that three to five years after WLS half of the people who had WLS are "successful" -- and that's defined as having regained no more than half of the weight they lost. That means half of the people who have WLS in three to five years post-op have regained MORE than half of the weight they lost. Obviously, some of those have regained all (or even more) of the weight they lost. So that's why we hear over and over and over again from our surgeons, at support groups and on online forums aphorisms like these: * WLS is only a tool - you have to build other tools to be successful long-term. * They operate on your stomach, not on your head. * Losing weight in the first 6-12 months is easy for almost everyone. After that, if you haven't built new eating / exercise habits and lifestyles you will very likely be struggling again with food and weight issues. Of course, some people are very successful -- and some of them are long-term members of this forum. They have dealt with their eating and weight-gaining issues. They are disciplined. They've built new lifestyles that support normal weight and good health. Many of them are people some newbies make fun of for being "so rigid."

I agree it possible some gain could happen to me down the line.. but the essential thing is I’m leaving that up to my body. I won’t diet again because I’ve decided to allow my body to regulate my weight and not try and interfere. Dieting was making me terminally unhappy no matter how thin I became. I have accepted I may gain weight but I know I will love myself regardless and still be healthy because the weight gain won’t be from binging, dieting, or food obsession. It won’t be from eating things I don’t want or don’t make me feel good. It won’t be from eating things only because I feel like I shouldn’t eat them. If I gain weight I will embrace my new body and love myself. your post was fine. Thanks for the thoughts.

I was 46 when I had my surgery in February. I needed to lose 100 pounds, so right as the cut-off point of your question. I have lost 72 pounds of that in 7 months. I would do it if I was a few years older, I would do it if I had only 65 pounds to lose. I had looked into WLS 6 years ago. I did not qualify since I did not weigh enough and didn't have the right co-morbities for insurance. 5 years later I was now heavy enough to not need the co-morbities but now had those too. I wished I could have had the WLS 6 years ago. I was taking diabetic meds off label for PCOS and was pre-diabetic. No more. I was taking meds for high blood pressure- one week after surgery and no more high blood pressure meds. I was taking Nexium for GERD for years prior to the sleeve. I stopped taking Nexium after my 3 month visit. I am down to Celebrex and I no longer take it daily, just as needed. Only you can make the decision but I would not cancel it 2 weeks out. If you are going to cancel wait until the last moment. Look back over your personal history of weight loss, weight gain, weight loss and decide whether you can take it off and keep it off. Many of us have proven we can take it off but we can't keep it off. Are there things you want to do and can't do because of your weight? Write up a list of pros and cons. Is transitioning to by-pass the worst thing? I don't know. But there are plenty of people on this board that their WLS of choice was by-pass and they are happy with the results. Does anybody want to go through the extra revision? No, of course not. GERD is a real concern. I had it before the surgery. My surgeon fixed my hiatal hernia during my sleever surgery. No more GERD. Losing the weight helped with that too.

green, I am OBSESSED with the scale. I weigh when I wake up, when I use the bathroom and before I go to bed. If there was a scale at work, I'd be visiting it hourly. While on vacation during Christmas, I was practically having withdrawal symptoms because I didn't have access to a scale. I'm afraid if I don't keep a close eye on my weight, it will creep back on me. The last time I put the scale away a year prior to surgery, I put on 30 lbs. I know it wasn't because of the scale, but I feel if I had kept better tabs on the weight gain, I wouldn't have been in so much denial. This is all probably an addict's way of justifying an addiction.

I was sleeved 7/28 After watching several friends evolve into thin healthy people who work out everyday, they still go out to dinner with friends, family they just eat less on their plate. Tonight My family is ordering Chinese for dinner, I'm having miso Soup broth instead, but, I remember clearly that firm salty texture of lomein noodles, I use to sit on the couch with the noodles resting in my chest with my chopsticks expertly in place. I felt I was eating healthy because I ordered chicken and vegetables with that as well. I ate till I was stuffed. Then several hours later I ate again because we all know what happens the Chinese food. Food was heaven but, the weight gain was hell. Hell on my diabetes, Hell my cholesterol, Hell on my ankles, knees, back and heart. Food was making me feel BAD. I'm craving food even as I sit here writing about how bad it has hurt me. It's a habit I need to break and like most things will happen in time. My recommendation is to follow your heart. Tammy

Hi all, Well this morning I got on the scale and for the first time that half a kilo I have been dancing around on the scales for the past few weeks was gone. I actually punched the air with joy when I saw 84.9 kilos! :clap2: WOOOOOO!!! thats a total of 30 kilos lost for me. I am so happy!:biggrin1: I agree with Susannah. If this woman wasn't willing to be honest about how she managed the loss, then she should have just kept her pride and acomplishment about it to her self. She was entirely deceitful, and we all know that obese people will try anything - there must be hundreds of people eating aroudn the inside of thier plates and STARVING, wondering how the heck she did it. Silly woman! I admit I have band shame. I am disgusted that I let myself get as obese as I was. I knew that there was no way I could lose all the weight myself again, only to put it and more back on the next time (such has been the cycle of my life). I think its a personal choice as to whether we divulge the knowledge of our bands, and I for one don't want to have to defend the decision I made for a second. For me, and I am working on this one, the judgement of others plays a major role in my own feeling of personal worth and self esteem. I guess that comes from years of being the bigger girl/person in every circle I travelled in (even when I was "thin" I was still the biggest girl!). HOpefully one day I can be like Susannah and tell those people casting judgement to mind their own business. I guess thats just another step in the process of sorting out my food/weight gain/personal issues which the band is helping me with

Go the sugar free route because you might end up eating alot, and at 10.3 cals each for a mento, 14 in a roll it's so easy to eat a roll a day which is 144cals (that's 6kg a year in weight gain just from trying to have fresh breath!). Figure out if you are an emotional or hungry eater first. Don't chew chewing gum for your breath if you actually suffer from real hunger - it just makes the hunger worse as your body prepares for food from the chewing action.... if you don't suffer from real hunger but are just an emotional eater chewing gum is really good though because it gives you the satisfaction of chewing + the fresh breath. If you can handle going into the chocolate box without being tempted to buy chocolate go to the diabetic section - they have sugar free mints in little tins that contain guarana - so your getting the fresh breath + an energy hit for no sugar.... great! They have plain mint and berry mint, they are both good and you could swallow either through the band without a problem they are tiny (like a smint). They are about $4 I think (haven't bought any for ages but lived on them for over a year) but there is about 100 in a tin so well over a weeks worth so not expensive compared to other mints, just seems like they are at first glance. Once you stop losing weight your breath returns to normal. When your losing weight you get really furry teeth for no apparant reason (to do with the burning fat) so invest the $30 in a really good fast electric tooth brush so you can clean a few times a day even at work but not for too long at a time, just to get the fur feeling off and freshen (because it's not good for you to brush too much - removes enamel; so don't do the full on 5min thing 5 times a day, 30 seconds will do just fine). Sadly Myer stoped stocking the best toothbrush I think has ever been on the market by sunbeam (can't even buy refill heads here anymore - get mine in thailand), hope I can find somebody else that stocks it to recommend it - I love mine and bought them for all my family and friends... they leave you not just clean like other electrics but full on feeling dentist clean - amazing! I've tried so many electric toothbrushes and none come close to this one. I use the polish tooth paste from macleans for that perfectly clean confident feeling.... I have to find these actualy names/model numbers tomorrow and update for those interested. I am a really savy buyer (tight-ass) so always wait for a sale to stock up on tooth paste, mints and refills - stretch my $$$ further to spend more money on cute clothes (or for those newly banded, to save alway for plastics down the track remember every $ counts).

I'm not going to post my weight (gain or loss) for awhile. I really need to concentrate more on other areas and the scale is driving me mad. So, I'm going to put the scale in the closet and, if it's ok, I'll post my weight again in a couple of weeks.

@@iloveorganicmilk What sort of foods do you binge on? You mentioned watermelon (a whole one), yes it is fruit and healthy, but is full of sugar, so I can understand the cravings to have more. You also mentioned you can eat 2 large steaks. If you have a large steak, do you then have a diabolical craving for another, straight away? What other foods create cravings for you, like once you start, you have to have more and can't stop? For me, ice-cream is like that, even 7 months post sleeve. I really have to watch it, and over-indulge 1-2 per month, then I am good and just have fruit for dessert. Have you had your hormones tested, and your thyroid, as abnormalities there can create cravings and weight-gain. I don't know how old you are, but my guess is 20s to 30s. If after 40+, then hormones definitely should be tested, although thyroid disease can occur at any age. So, please let us know what type of foods create cravings for you. Thank you.

You are all so smart! I actually did find the joke funny - but then started feeling uneasy about it. I'm pretty sure that after you all have brought me back to reality, that I was feeling overly sensitive. I had just faced my doctor with the idea of Gastric surgery, thereby admitting fully to myself that I'm pretty overweight and have no control over my weight gain. I was shaking when I told her so I think my feelings were a bit raw. thanks to all of you!

So I'm jogging along the creek this morning and I run into my ex. She used to be a ring girl back when I was fighting MMA and had always been (my wife isn't looking) HOT!!!! She was there when I tore my knee to shreds and we broke it off before I went from 205-337. Her father and I stayed great friends and fishing buddy's despite the breakup between his daughter and I so I'm sure she was aware of the weight gain. Fast forward to today.. She stopped me and I kept jogging in place so she didn't know my interest had peaked. Maaaaan she looked good!!! But... You guys would be proud. Gave her a shug (hand shake + hug) that we guys give each other) and kept pushing!! Man it feels good that she caught the vapors! (in my Biz Markee voice).

I have been on depo for three years and I love it. When you first start it weight gain can happen but its only 10-15 lb but thats about it as side effects go.

The story you are about to read may be hard to believe. It is the kind of story that would occasionally make it into my email inbox, and I would scan it briefly before clicking delete and muttering about how this kind of junk gets past my spam filter. If it hadn't happened to me, I wouldn't believe it. But it did happen to me, and I pray that you read this and consider what it says. A few weeks ago, I was watching my favorite Christian television station. The show was a talk show-type discussion about hormones. I almost changed the channel, but something (Someone) made me stop and listen. The woman on the show was named Dr. Barbara Hoffman, and she was talking about her line of bio-identical progesterone creams. They discussed how progesterone balanced estrogen, and how it was very important to choose bio-identical over synthetic. Synthetic progesterone can do all kinds of awful things in the body, because the body just doesn't always know what to deal with it. This includes birth control pills and shots. I began to think back over the past few years, about how my health began a downward spiral after I had my son. Then it occurred to me that it was after I had him that I started on the depo-provera shot. I started to research progesterone, and came across all kinds of literature that talked about how progesterone deficiency can cause all kinds of problems, including some that were hauntingly familiar: fatigue, weight gain, mental fuzziness, painful periods, cravings for carbs and sweets, and body pain, to name a few. And on other pages, I read that depo-provera will cause the body to stop producing its own progesterone, since it is a synthetic form of the hormone and causes the body to think it has enough. After about a week of research, I decided to go ahead and order the cream that I had seen on tv (Better Heath Naturally ProHelp Moisture Treatment Cream). I figured that I would try it out, and if it made me feel bad I would stop, but hopefully it would help me with some of my fibromyalgia symptoms. When the cream arrived, I went ahead and put it on as per the directions on the container. That day, I didn't feel any different. The next day, I used the cream again, once in the morning, once in the evening, as the directions suggest. I thought I could notice a little bit of a difference, but brushed it off as being psychological. The third day, I woke up, went downstairs, and started making breakfast for my son before I realized that my body didn't hurt. At all. I went through the day without saying anything, because I again thought this must be a psychological thing, or I was just having a good day, or something like that. But my boyfriend noticed that I was much happier and seemed to be in less pain than normal. And after a few days, I had to say something. I had almost no pain. I was able to play with my son for the first time without hurting. I had tons of energy, and I just felt good. It just felt so good to feel good again. Then I noticed that I was starting to go longer between meals without being so hungry. While before I was counting the minutes until the next meal, now I could go for hours past "meal time" and not even notice. But what really got me was when I passed up chocolate. My son brought home some Easter candy, and was trying to feed it to me, but it just didn't sound appetizing. When it hit me that I had just passed up chocolate, I had to run and tell everybody I knew about this stuff. I have gone about a week now with no cravings at all. When I eat, I actually feel full before I am done, and it has helped me cut down on some of the high-processed carbs that are so bad for me. I sleep better at night, even though I have stopped taking my sleeping medication. Plus, I am cutting down on the meds that were previously keeping the pain in check, and am still feeling great. I feel happier, and my son loves being able to play with me without being afraid of hurting me. The scale has been going down steadily, but I have noticed that my body seems to be changing a lot more than it was. However, I'm confident that it will start going quicker soon, since I am more active and eating less. I know that no single thing is a "magic bullet" for everyone, but I just had to tell you all about how this cream has helped me. I am including a link below to the site where I bought it, and also the site of the manufacturer where you can read a little more about it. If you are considering trying this, please do some research first. Some women do fantastic on this stuff, but some don't. But if you are one of the ones that are helped by it, then it is so worth it. http://shop.daystar.com/ http://www.bhnformulas.com/

My weight is fluxuating between 216 and 222 - feels like I'm circling the drain so to speak. Plugging along with Weight Watchers and working out but having a hard time getting my weight to stablize. Considered going in for a fill, but it seems like I'm stuck at least once a day and vomitting at least once a week. Wish I could say it's consistantly due to the same food violations(pizza, bagels, bread - you know, the "No-No's") but it happened the other morning with my scrambled eggs(couldn't even get them down - my dog loved it though) and I had a fun two hour bout in the bathroom the other night over one stalk of steamed asparagus and less than an ounce of grilled chicken. I can actually eat a slice of thin crust pizza with no problem. Don't really eat bread anymore and forget bagels - but when three mini pretzels cause a problem it gets frustrating. Sometimes I'm afraid to go out to eat for fear that I going to have an incident. Frankly, there are many days when I make my breakfast or lunch and it takes 45 minutes to get it down! Oh well - I keep reminding myself that my weight gain was my own damn fault and now I'm paying the price. Speaking of prices paid - with the weight loss has come the giant jelly roll which fortunately with the right spanx-type garment I can mostly conceal, but I gotta wonder how much this thing weighs? Oh so much fun to have to buy pants etc to accomedate the "roll' then have to have the waist taken in! Came home from the gym the other day and notice this sweaty(wet?) semi-circle on the lower abdomen of my yoga pants. Probably TMI, but I'm now getting a permenant red rash and tissue breakdown under the "roll". I'm using baby butt cream and powder in an attempt to keep it dry, but if it's this bad now, what'll it be when(if) I get to my goal weight ...another 75 pounds from now?! Maybe I should just pack the area with paper towel, throw on my gridle and live with it! Amusingly enough, my insurance will cover the surgery since I had WLS - but if I just lost the weight on my own it wouldn't!?! The plastic surgeons I met with re; my breast reconstruction also consulted on my "tummy tuck" - they suggest that I need to be at or near my goal weight before even considering the latter procedure. Course with a roll this big, maybe they could just pull it up and create some faux boobs!

So far, I am actually the opposit. For years when I was in my teens a hundred pounds soaking wet, I felt like I was fat all the time. Our minds have a way of playing tricks on us. Then in my 30's I started to just ignore the weight gain to the point my joints started to really bother me and I hated to go out with friends because I knew I had gained weight, but still never really did much to control and change it. I guess I just got to a point where I didn't care like I used to, now after 40# down I get really excited that I can look good in a pair of jeans again even if in a few weeks or so, I have to shop again for a different size and I still have a ways to go. Thrift stores, Ebay and yard sales have been my friend lately to save money. Plus it helps that I have an awesome husband and friends that cheer me on. Looking back at photos prior to surgery, I can't believe I let myself go like that. I think that is the hardest thing for me to see. Good luck on your journey, it will eventually sink in I'm sure.

I think I may be the only one on here that has the balls to admit I am currently taking Phentermine after WLS. I was sleeved on August 31, 2012 and have lost 60lbs. I got very discouraged in my weight loss venture. I am human and give in to temptation just like most of us do. My weakness is Mr Pibb. I know it's a horrible thing and I'd lose way more if I'd stop drinking 2 sodas a day. Which is a huge improvement from about 2 -2 liters a day before surgery. I don't need anyone preaching to me what I already know. I have a hard time drinking Water and yes I've put everything known to man in it to make it more desirable, but no luck. I can go 12 plus hours with out drinking a drop of anything. My Dr says I have water weight gain and has put me on the Phentermine to make me thirsty and to help with the water weight. Phentermine isn't a quick fix and I still have lots of weight to lose, but it has helped me get over the depression I have felt for quite sometime about the weight not coming off. I lost 10lbs on it and I am way thirsty. He only prescribed it a month and I'm glad he did. I have found that if I actually get out and walk around for a little while I start to notice more energy. I also have learned to pre-weigh and pre-pack my lunches and dinners for the week. This is a huge life changing journey and man what a roller coaster ride it has been. I'm sure most of you are appalled about the phentermine after surgery, but some of us need that little extra boost to help us get through hard times. Especially when there is no support and a strong ear would be nice to have for thoughts and wonders. So before you are quick to judge me, remember we are all human and no-one on this earth is perfect.

I am one year out, and was stalled for the last 3 months, no weight gain and maybe some inches lost, but scale not moving. Even when I increased my exercise. Been no carb for 3 days and low carb after that for another 3 days and weight is coming off again. My whole body just feels better on low carbs. I like many others did the Adkins diet several times before WLS and lost weight but always regained it. The trick I think is to do low carb while losing and then you can very slowly add more carbs. If you do it slow enough and not just quit the weight is not just regained. Cheri

I've had my 1st fill last month and am currently 35% of my fill capacity (1.4 cc's in a 4cc band] and I'm getting about another .6 cc's next week to bring me to 50% fill capacity. More cardiovascular as I love playing basketball with the kids [4 on 1 with 14-17 year olds ...haha...it makes exercising fun]. I also ride the bike and use the elliptical machine. Just recently, I started lifting weights again. Used to lift a lot in college but stopped lifting because I was getting to big [not big as in fat...but big in terms of muscular]. My 85lb weight gain has all been in the last 8 years of my life due to life events and stress and getting older. So I'm pretty comfortable working out [and believe it or not] I was a body builder type back in college. Love working out actually Thoughts/Opinions?

When my reflux was VERY BAD my coughing was also as my throat was irritated by the acid. Nexium doesn't sound like it's working. As far as the ER they are usually staffed by NEWer doctors - just out of school so they actually tend to have more current info than most other doctors. I was sent in for an upper GI to a hospital that does NO bariactic surgery and they were looking at my band and found what my problem.was...Granted I'd have been more happy at the hospital that did the surgery but I was equally happy now knowing I can trust this place if need be. Please don't let the fear of weight gain stop you from seeking help. Hopefully this is only a small speed bump on your journey. Better to live well than die skinny! Don't let it get that serious! Yes, I do mean to scare you - but only because I care! Good luck.... Linda (PS - I would go back to a liquid diet for now because all the throwing up causes swelling which then makes the band tighter - worrying about band erosion and band slippage to a lesser degree...actually more concerned about band twisting as that can cause the problems you're having. I just had fluid taken out as this week after a band-fill a month ago progressively was causing more pain. throwing up and swelling...now I feel human again and it took 1.5 cc's out..and I lost 3 bs. after it was taken out!)