Healthy_life2

Let’s talk weight gain if you are researching. This thread is not to discourage you. Many people lose weight, have no complications and keep weight off long term. It’s a good idea to understand weight regain and reasons for revisions. Information is power. The work does not end after goal. This may help you get in a mindset that this is lifelong work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7zBjwtL51M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKBfkTqcwVo

@Panda333 Positive WLS stories https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/423992-what-you-had-no-surgery-complications/?tab=comments#comment-4758950

@Panda333 I’m a sleeve five years out maintaining in the 130’s. I am type one diabetic. My surgeon suggested the sleeve because there are times, I need to eat sugar to raise my blood sugars. WIth the sleeve, my intestines are not altered, I don’t have dumping syndrome with sugar. I am now well controlled and hardly use insulin. I want people that are researching weight loss surgery to know, many of us have had no complications and have maintained years out. Weight gain or need for a revision does not happen to all of us. Do your research, trust your surgeon’s advice do what’s best for you. Any type of bariatric surgery may need a revision due to complications, surgery not performed correctly, eating to the point of stretching your surgery (big debate on this issue) Grazing/eating around your surgery, eating disorders, or simply not following your surgeons plan. Only my opinion: For some, the sleeve is the wrong choice for them. Things I wish people knew about the sleeve. Your sleeve restriction will become less over time. you can hold more food. (it’s not back to full size) Long term success will be diet and behavior change. Just because you have more space does not mean you have to eat over your calories and macros to gain weight. If your surgeon has diagnosed that you stretched your surgery. Get counseling before a revision to make sure you don’t stretch a second surgery. Your intestines are not altered with the sleeve. Most of us can tolerate sugar without dumping. If sugar is an issue for you, investigate surgeries that give you dumping syndrome. You will feel real and head hunger at times (true with any surgery type) Hunger is more manageable after surgery. age 45 day of surgery 2014 - age 50 2019

My husband’s idea of weight loss meal prepping.

Stunning photo.Love it.

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Do you have a local support group? It may help. Emotions and pre surgery anxiety can make this seem overwhelming. We are also here. Ask anything. Take this one food stage at a time. Look at your information and find your first stage right after surgery. It should be liquids. Look for the start and end date - follow the foods on the list. Only think about the food stage you’re in. Next phases should be puree, soft foods. and real food stages, - Look for the start and end dates. Follow the foods on your list/plan.

this seems to be a common experience. Use the search bar at the top of the page and you will see how many people have pre surgery anxiety. Here are a few on this topic. https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/423607-getting-cold-feet/?tab=comments#comment-4754212 https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/423992-what-you-had-no-surgery-complications/

I felt the same way. I had failed at so many diet attempts. I felt my weight loss was too good to be true. You are doing fantastic. Hold on to the “wow” moments. You have many good things coming your way.

Ask your dietician if its on your plan and how much you can eat. Popcorn is a weakness for me. *laughing* I didn’t try it until a year out and after goal. (slider food for me) It breaks down in your stomach easily and you would think you never had surgery by the amount you can eat. For me its nutrition bang for your buck. I’m not above bringing my heathy snack in my purse to a movie. (make sure any examples are on your plan and fit your calories/macros for the day) $6.25 theater small popcorn 6 cups calories 370 fat 20 carbs 40 protein 0 - No nutritional value to hit your protein goal for the day. $2.99 Walmart quest nacho cheese protein chips – 140 calories 18 protein 5 carbs 1 sugar. or $2.99 Walmart. Quest protein ranch tortilla chips 190 calories 9 protein 4 carbs 1 sugar. (at home I have topped the chips with ground turkey with taco seasoning, green and red peppers, onion, salsa and an ounce of cheese. (nachos with a great protein count) Sweet snack: Walmart quest cholate chip cookie dough protein bar 200 calories 21 carb 21 protein and 1 sugar.

Congrats! I'm so excited for you. Please post some photos after your run. Can I ask when you had surgery? How has your training been? What distance have you ran prior? Have you had any issues fueling pre race or during running? The running community is a fantastic, positive supporting group of people. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Enjoy the day. If you’re not comfortable around the crowd. Wear ear buds in one ear and listen to your play list. Keep one ear bud off to listen for runners around you while on the route. Sometimes its like herding cattle until people get though the start line. Check online for the following: Packet pick up is fun. Usually the day before or day of the race. Go the day before. You will get an idea of the people you will be running with. It’s nice to have your shirt and race number pre-race. Look up you race route. Take note of water, food and porta potty stations along your route. Take your own food that you can tolerate. Many stations have Gatorade with sugar. Avoid it. The last thing you want is an upset stomach on the run. Race day: Parking can be an issue. Check to see if they provide a shuttle to get you to the start and take you back to your car and the end of your run. If your race start and finish lines are different locations.: Check to see if the run provides a bag drop off. It may be cold in the morning. You can place warm clothing/coat in a bag. Put your race number name etc. on it. There will be an information booth at the start line. Ask where to load your bag. They will bring it to the finish line at end of the race for pick up. Head to the start line: Woohoo! Get pumped up. Many races have recovery food and after party at the end. If you feel comfortable hang out and take in your accomplishment.

looking great! I'm a sleeve. Being able to tolerate and eat anything is a double-edged sword for me. It’s great that I don’t have dumping syndrome but, my surgery restriction is less years out. I can gain in a heartbeat and its slow to come off. We all work this differently. I wish you the best in the months and years to come. Jennifer

Surprised that hitting goal was not as exciting as onderland. Weight loss phase was exciting. No more sex and sizzle of seeing the scale move and compliments after goal. It left me questioning what now? I loved being goal oriented.

Hi Amber, Yes, this is common experience for many of us. I knew I was overweight. The term morbidly obese was hard to hear. Honestly, I hid from cameras and didn’t spend much time looking in a full body mirror. I was not seeing my self correctly pre surgery. It took time for my mind to catch up with the rapid weight loss. I finally saw myself correctly after goal and my weight settled. A vet gave me a good suggestion. Place a photo of yourself at your goal/low weight on your bathroom mirror. Look at it as you get ready in the morning. I used a counselor to get past this issue. She said some people eventually see themselves correctly, some may take years and some never do. I see myself as smaller. I have confidence and feel comfortable in my own skin. (I should say loose skin) I’m maintaining five years out. It’s ridiculous that a five-pound weight gain can make me feel like I am at my high weight all over again. The fear of weight gain is still something I’m working on. I am better with this as time progresses. I’ve had to learn to trust myself more.

You can increase your calories by eating several meals. Talk with your dietitian for a new food plan. Ask about carbohydrates and healthy fats.

I’m glad you made an appointment next week. I hope you get your health issues resolve soon.

After surgery, I’m cold most of the time. I now look forward to shedding all my layers of clothing and showing skin in the summer. Air conditioning and grocery store refrigerated/frozen food isles are an issue. Once I get cold it takes me quite a while to warm back up.

Today’s menu (make sure any foods listed are on your plan) Breakfast Egg whites Jimmy dean turkey sausage links Post work out snack Danon light n fit yogurt – Fresh raspberries Lunch salad - 50/50 spring mix, Mangos, bacon crumbles, sunflower seeds. Skinny girl raspberry vinaigrette dressing Sweet and spicy starkest tuna pouch Dinner Chicken breast – Mango habanero seasoning Broccoli with bacon crumbles Night snack Sugar free popsicles - Myfitnesspal food log calculation - 880 calories 109 protein 53 carbohydrates 25 fats 25 sugars

Hunger may be reduced with bypass or sleeve. Not disappear. Link below on bariatric 101. https://www.obesitycoverage.com/the-complete-patients-guide-to-bariatric-surgery/ M hunger didn’t disappear. I have real and head hunger. It’s not the same as pre surgery. It’s much more manageable. I feel the sensation of full on smaller meals. Another link for bypass vs the sleeve. https://www.obesitycoverage.com/gastric-bypass-vs-gastric-sleeve-surgery/

You are not alone in having a weight gain. I want to kick anyone who says bariatrics is the easy way out. This is work. Getting back on track is overcoming the mental battles. If you are having stress/emotional eating problems, you may want to read some books on this topic or work with a counselor. None of us get to avoid life stresses. Its finding ways to cope without using food. Getting back on track may be hard but, being over weight is hard. Suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Go back to bariatric real food stage basics. Log your food, Stay within your weight loss calories and macros, hydrate and exercise. If you need help with your plan/calories/macros call your dietician for advice. There is a search button on the top left of this forum. Type in weight gain. https://www.bariatricpal.com/search/?q=Weight gain

You’re not alone in how you feel right now. Many of us have compared weight loss, experience stalls and felt we were not where we should be. Time to stop doing this and focus on working on yourself. Are you way behind? No, we all lose weight at different rates. If you are following your plan and your loss is slow its fine. If there is room for improvement, then make changes. What did my first six months look like? It does not matter. What does matter is following your plan and getting the most out of your first year. You have six more months to go. You have evaluated what your first six months and decided to tighten things up. That all any of us can do is strive to improve. Did you continue to lose weight after six months? Yes, for most of us weight loss slows down as you progress. You are trouble shooting this new phase. I also want you to know, I can still lose weight five years out from surgery. When I have a ten-pound gain, I go back to bariatric basics and bring my weight back down. Keep us updated, If you have not read embrace the stall yet – Here it is. https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/351046-embrace-the-stall/

It looks beautiful and peaceful to me. Love it!

Congrats on 11 pounds down. Consistent not perfect. It gets better with time and as you see the scale moving. You got this! A great place for motivation is in the may 2019 weight loss challenge https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/424941-❤-may-2019-challenge❤/

Ask if your local bariatric surgeon has an information seminar. Your surgeon may recommend a procedure. Here is a link that may help in your research phase. https://www.obesitycoverage.com/the-complete-patients-guide-to-bariatric-surgery/ Age 45 and 254 pounds, My wake-up call was being admitted to ICU. My internal organs shutting down from diabetic ketoacidosis. My heart stopped, and they brought me back. I wish it didn’t take that moment to understand my weight was slowly killing me. I looked at how many times I’ve lost weight then had regain with extra. I needed a long-term solution to get my health back. I was sleeved in 2014. Five years out, no complications, no regret, and maintaining in the 130’s.