I gained 1.5 pounds on MUSHIES!

[SuzanneG 1]

I'm so upset. I lost 20 pounds on my 2 weeks pre-op and 1 week post-op liquid diet. Then on Friday, 11th, I started mushies and I gained 1.5 pounds. I tried to tell myself it was Fluid (I did notice my rings were tighter), then I tried to tell myself it was because I wasn't going potty like I should, but I fixed that with Milk of Mag and still NOTHING. Tomorrow is 1 week on mushies.

I am eating three 4oz meals a day. That's it! No cheating, no sugar, low carb, high protien.

What gives? Did this happen to any of you?

[Topdownbug 0]

Suzanne - same thing happened to me. Dr said there is still a lot of swelling and Fluid from the surgery for several weeks. I was also thinking I should be losing 5 pounds a week (at least) with no more food than I was eating, but it took a while. My surgery was 3 months ago now and I have lost a little over 30 pounds total. The holidays were rough and my band had loosened up too much so I could eat more than I should. I had my second fill two weeks ago and I'm back on track. My scales show about 8 pounds lost since Jan 4th. My weight loss really comes in spurts and I can actually 'feel' it. Its like one morning, every 6 weeks I wake up and feel smaller. Sure enough the scales verify that feeling. Its hard to be patient and some people who know I've had the surgery think my weight loss should be similar to gastric bypass. I have to keep telling them 1-2 pounds per week.. so they don't ask me every other day 'so how much have you lost now??'

Hang in there.. you'll be fine!

Judy

[shortgal 5]

It is totally normal. Your body is just adjusting back to food again. your doing great. Your weight loss is fabulous.

You've lost the equivalent of one big turkey in two weeks!

Keep following the band rules and you'll start losing again.

[SuzanneG 1]

Thanks guys. I felt like this was all dajavu' from my past diets. Try and try and still fail. I get discouraged easily. It's one thing if I'm cheating and not losing, but to really try, following the diet, walking every day and not see results is hard to deal with.

I'm so glad to hear that I'm not the only one. I have my post-op appointment on Tuesday. I'm wondering what he's going to think.

[Wheetsin 714]

What gives? Did this happen to any of you?

Daily fluctuations of weight up to 8 lbs or more are NORMAL and COMMON and no reason for alarm.

To gain 1.5 lbs overnight, you'd have to eat the equivalent of like 4.5 sticks of butter in addition to your BMR calories.

Take a deep breath, then throw your scale away.

[faithmd 14]

Wait, didn't I just read this same thread someplace else?

Here's what I wrote over there:

The first six weeks or so after the band is placed are for HEALING. NOT weight loss. If you lose, great. But most people do not lose, most gain. This is a very common topic around here. There have been threads and polls galore and the answer most folks give is that they gain some of their weight back. It WILL go away. Just hang in there, you are about to enter Bandster Hell, and that is worse, but eventually it gets better.

It's just a few weeks out of your life. If you are like me you've been fat for years, a few more weeks/months aren't going to hurt me in order to be healthier down the line.

Hang in there folks, it's not your fault!

[juliegeraci 7]

What you are experiencing is completely normal given the fact that you are off liquids. I would just make sure you aren't consuming more than 800-1k calories, no more than 1200 a day. When you get good restriction after your fills the 4 oz will be cut in half. Everything will change when you get good restriction. Good luck.

[SuzanneG 1]

My doc said the 4oz diet is what I will stay at. I understand the bandster hell stuff and I also understand daily flucuations, like most of you, I've dieted most of my adult life and lived by these scales.

I read where someone else said they can tell when they wake up how they are going to weigh, me too, and I'm usually right within 1/2 pound.

I have read tons of threads about this, but the reason it upsets is because it isnt' a result of bandster hell or poor restriction, I am keeping with the diet. VERY low calories.

What ever happened to calories in vs. calories out? I'm barely eating here!

[SuzanneG 1]

FaithMD, I posted this in January board and here, thinking that I wanted to hear from folks who are currently where I am and also those who went through it in the past.

Was that a no-no? Sorry guys.

[leeanghadn 0]

You're my new buddy!!! I feel like I'm experiencing EXACTLY what you described, but WOW, your weightloss IMPRESSED the heck out of me. Your beginning wait was 2 pounds less than mine, your goal wait is mine exactly and your surgery was only 3 days before mine. I finally found someone, I'm so excited!! Please feel free to email me privately or PM me. I didn't start my pre-op diet, though, until 9 days before surgery vs 2 weeks so I only lost 7 on that and now I'm at a total of 12 pounds lost. And I've gained 1 lb back myself, which has thrown me into a slightly depressed mood. So, I've looked through my info, called the dr, and finally was told about this site which in the last couple of hours (since I joined) I found your post. So, don't be sorry you "reposted", I really needed to read it and see that I'm not alone. It sounds like we're just at a temporary standstill, I sure hope so! But, thanks again for your post!!

[faithmd 14]

Suzanne, while it is true that in general calories in vs calories out usually results in weight loss, please remember that when you were on Clear liquids or full liquids you were eating very few calories.

Those few calories were and are being held onto by your body while you are healing. Now that you are on mushies you are likely eating more carbs as well. Some folks' bodies react differently to different types of calories. I know that if I eat 2000 calories of mostly carbs, I'm not going to lose a thing, but if I am eating 2000 calories and it's heavy on the Protein, I'll still lose.

The body in it's healing phase requires calories for rebuilding tissues, blood, etc. So it hangs onto every calorie it gets. Hang in there, this is normal (frustrating, but normal).

As I said before, you *will* get there.

[kimpossible 0]

Suzanne! I am so glad you posted. I was banded on 1-3-08 and I have been discouraged as I have not lost ANY weight at all this week. I have been following ALL of the band rules including walking at least 2 miles a day and eating 3 meals of 2 oz! with no Snacks.

I am so glad someone else is having this problem. I have been counting calories and I am averaging about 350 a day and it just doesn't seem fair that I am not losing. I guess I am just efficient at storing everything eaten. Hopefully we will both see our efforts pay off soon

Thanks for sharing!

[Fanny Adams 7]

You know, the more I read in here, the more I think that this is not just "normal" but is actually the most common weight loss pattern out there! I can't tell you how many posts I've read in the last couple of months (including my own!!), from someone experiencing exactly the same issue - lose weight really well on the pre-op and then for a couple days after the op, then suddenly regain a couple of pounds and get stuck at that for ages. Having just come through the other side of that discouraging time, let me offer you some hope! It does start to shift down again - you just have to hang in there and not give up and start eating high calorie fat foods again.

For me, I did a 10 day pre-op diet and lost 15lb in 15 days. On about the 5th day post-op, it stopped and by 20 days (10 days post-op) I had re-gained 3lb. My weight fluttered at around 12lb lost for the next week and finally started going down again when I was back on solids. I think it was 30 days post-op before I got back to 15lb lost but I've lost at least another 5lb since then (now 38 days post-op).

The beauty of this band, for me, is that I CAN'T give up when these things happen. In any other diet, I've always lost well for a fortnight, hit a plateau for the 3rd week and by the end of the that week given up entirely and gone straight out and stuffed my face to soothe my feeling of frustration. I even came close this time - had a couple of things that I wasn't supposed to after a week of not losing - but I couldn't actually stuff my face because I would get full after a bowl full of solid food! YAY!

[Wheetsin 714]

I have read tons of threads about this, but the reason it upsets is because it isnt' a result of bandster hell or poor restriction, I am keeping with the diet. VERY low calories.

What ever happened to calories in vs. calories out? I'm barely eating here!

perhaps the single-most predictable (and universal) weightloss pattern is a stall-out between weeks 2 - 3, sometimes as late as week 5. I've seen it time and time again (not just my personal experiences, but as a witness to medical study data, as an observer in weightloss therapy sessions, case studies, etc.) ESPECIALLY if you've had a loss of more than 1 - 2 lbs during the preceding weeks, but absolutely not required. Looking at your dates, you're smack dab in this timeline. It doesn't matter what "diet" someone is on, this happens enough to be almost guaranteeable.

The short and non-scientific explanation is that there's a point where your body realizes it's losing fat and freaks out, kicks out a bunch of chemicals, lots of things are rearranged and redistributed, released, reserved, and a temporary reduction or cessation of weightloss results, or weight gain. NOT fat gain. Weight gain. Too many people are oblivious to the difference between WEIGHT and FAT.

In non-banded folks, this body process often leads to a physiological urge to binge -- and is probably the #1 or #2 killer of sincere diet efforts. People do well week 1, and "suck" week 2 and say "F--- it, I'm not giving up all those goodies for <no weightloss> <weight gain>... I'm eating cupcakes!"

Stick it out. It rarely lasts longer than 2 weeks. You may be able to help it on with increased exercise and hydration, but this is one of very few times where we can legitimately blame it on our bodies.

[Fanny Adams 7]

I think you have it absolutely right, Weetsin. Before I got banded, I had read many posts about people not feeling restriction before their first fill and had attributed the plateaus and stalling they were experiencing to them overeating because of that. When I went through it, I couldn't understand why because I was sticking really closely to the "rules" and was on only 300-400 cal a day! Naturally, at about the end of Week 3 dietwise (about 10 days post-op), I did my usual "**** it! I'm having chicken wings!!" I felt horribly guilty over that and went back on plan the next day but still didn't lose anything for the next 10 days or so.

It wasn't until I started in on thicker mushies and solids that my scales started moving down again.

I really wish I had understood this phase before I went through it, but in spite of me reading here almost every day for the 2 months prior to my op, I somehow didn't see that information or just didn't take it in. There should be a huge warning sign that says "Most of you WILL stall or regain in Week 3-4, no matter what you do!! Just work through it and it will come good again."