How do people gain weight after Sleeve?

[Beachladee3 74]

I often wonder and can't figure out how its possible to regain weight after surgery?

[Matt Z 4,139]

6 minutes ago, Beachladee3 said:

I often wonder and can't figure out how its possible to regain weight after surgery?

It's actually VERY easy to do. The sleeve is ONLY a restrictive surgery, so, anything that passes or "slides" through the sleeve without providing any restriction... is very easy to eat and overeat with, it's called a "Slider food" and it's something sleeved folks need to be careful with. With a purely restrictive procedure, you can easily "eat around" it. Nothing is stopping those with the band or sleeve from drinking milk shakes all day every day.

People gain weight because they stop paying attention, They stop tracking, They stop working with the surgery.

[GreenTealael 25,439]

The same way people always gain, consuming more than needed.

[KimTriesRNY 1,853]

It is not only people that are sleeved that gain back weight. It is possible to gain back weight with any weight loss surgery. The same foods that slide through a sleeve can slide right through a bypass pouch too. It’s a common misconception that all gastric bypass patients experience dumping as well. Those that do dump may experience less dumping as time goes on, or it may disappear as a bypass matures.

Evidence also suggests that gastric bypass patients experience less malabsorption the longer they are out from surgery. Our bodies are very good at trying to keep us obese.

We see people on here that have been sleeved and bypassed with differing amounts of regain. Most people can avoid regain by sticking to the habits that helped them lose weight to begin with, the healthy diet and increased activity- regardless of the type of procedure.

[Beachladee3 74]

Thank you. I appreciate the info.

[glenna18 11]

I'm new to this, but I think it's a combination of 'slider' foods and overall wrong foods.

The restriction is definitely helping me, but I feel at times it'd be super easy for me to make a bad decision about food. But - I went through a lot for this surgery. Even with insurance it was expensive. It's also pretty drastic. They cut most of my stomach out. And it's irreversible. Why would I do anything to jeopordize this? So I plan to follow the plan. Protein, veggies, then carbs. And I'm working on finding better carbs. I recently bought some black bean Pasta (i hope to try it soon - and I really hope it's good). So good decisions are super important.

For me personally, I usually ate OK, but I over-ate a lot. Weight watchers (believe it or not) taught me to overeat. As long as I stayed within my points, I could keep eating. So I'd have a super large serving of pasta and made sure it fit in my points, but I was eating so much food. After I hit goal at weight watchers, I still ate the large servings of pasta (i was used to it) and I'd eat other large servings of other foods.

With the sleeve, provided I continue to eat mostly good foods, I won't fall in the trap of eating super large portions, because physically my stomach won't be able to handle it.

But if I eat small servings of really bad food, I'll gain it all back. So I just won't do that.

[summerset 5,265]

You regain because of the same reasons that caused the regain after every diet or so-called "lifestyle changes".

Treat WLS like a (crash) diet and you will get the same long term results that you got with every other diet or "lifestyle change".

Ask yourself: "What did I do wrong when it came to all these diets and lifestyle changes?" - and then don't make the same mistake this time. My mistake always was that I drove myself into burnout one way or the other.

Edited September 10, 2018 by summerset

[Orchids&Dragons 9,047]

2 hours ago, glenna18 said:

Weight watchers (believe it or not) taught me to overeat. As long as I stayed within my points, I could keep eating. So I'd have a super large serving of Pasta and made sure it fit in my points, but I was eating so much food. After I hit goal at weight watchers, I still ate the large servings of pasta (i was used to it) and I'd eat other large servings of other foods.

I totally agree. I'd start all my meals with a huge salad, then have plenty of "healthy" foods. I was totally within plan, but got used to eating a huge amount of food. Over time, you just get used to thinking that you're eating a "normal" amount of food when that isn't the case at all. I think WW works best for people who don't have huge appetites, but tend to eat high-fat or high-sugar foods.

Edited September 10, 2018 by Orchids&Dragons

[Orchids&Dragons 9,047]

22 hours ago, Matt Z said:

People gain weight because they stop paying attention, They stop tracking, They stop working with the surgery.

Totally off topic, but - love the new avatar! Lookin' good!

[Matt Z 4,139]

19 minutes ago, Orchids&Dragons said:

Totally off topic, but - love the new avatar! Lookin' good!

Thank you very much! You are looking a floral as ever! LOL

[MIZ60 1,291]

I know someone who gained back a lot after bypass. She constantly drank regular coke and ate candy and was really into Pasta and rice dishes. She lost over 120 lbs. and the last time I saw a picture of her I estimate she has gained at least 80 pounds. We worked at the same place for 7 years and she was constantly up and down on her weight but it was due to poor choices and lack of self control.

[Screwballski 540]

My friend was sleeved 8 years ago. When I met her she was tiny (18 BMI). Over the last few years she’s begun gaining. She looks lovely. Better than at 18 BMI, for sure but getting to a point that worries her. I’m sure she’s not overweight but certainly larger than when I met her after her 100lb weight loss. We recently talked about it. For her it comes down to having more room and not making good choices to fill it. Not being vigilant...getting lazy.
WLS isn’t a cure, it’s a bandage..we still have to pay close attention to healing the body and focus a lifetime of effort on the chronic disease...even when we no longer show the outward symptoms.

[Phinley 94]

Calorie dense food eaten often combined with liquid calories.

I could polish off a couple pizzas in a day if I felt the inclination to do so. It would literally take the entire day but I could do it. Add on a Starbucks milkshake that's almost half your daily calorie allowance and boom. Weight gain.

[Orchids&Dragons 9,047]

8 minutes ago, Phinley said:

Calorie dense food eaten often combined with liquid calories.

I could polish off a couple pizzas in a day if I felt the inclination to do so. It would literally take the entire day but I could do it. Add on a Starbucks milkshake that's almost half your daily calorie allowance and boom. Weight gain.

You must have an Iron sleeve! It would literally take me all day to eat one slice! No joke!

[LaLaDee 519]

I’m 12-13 months out and I’ve regained about 2kg (5lbs) in the last 2 weeks. It’s seriously not that hard. I’m terrified! I’ve mostly stuck to healthy food I’ve previously eaten but in larger quantities. I’ve been snacking all day (lots of Peanut Butter and bananas which is only good in moderation), halo top and tons of dark chocolate (OK, not so healthy).

My sleeve is not restrictive on halo top and chocolate. I need to refocus but it’s very difficult at the moment. I’m seriously struggling. I’ve had plateaus before but not gains. I’m devastated. I keep dreaming of hitting that elusive “healthy” BMI but it seems impossible. Is this self sabotage? My steroid medication? My weight doesn’t want to be this low? I have no idea!

But yeah, not to alarm anyone but weight gain is not impossible. It’s not even that difficult!