I was sleeved April 2010 in Mexico. I developed a leak and came home to 2 weeks in the hospital and &100,000.00 bill. Not a great start but I did loose 20 lbs while there....but not an once since. Is it my age? (I am 61) My metabolism? My food choices? My medications? My lack of excercise? Some or all of the above. I tried to tackle each and everyone of them and still no results except I have been seeing a small difference with B-12 with a little HCG shots. It has upped my metabolism slightly, decreased my appitite, and given me a little more energy to move. I always have a protien shake in the morning, a protien bar for lunch and dinner was always debatable. I know I eat more than I should and end up vomiting right after. I think I have done some damage to my neck from the wretching. You would think that would change things but it hasn't. I don't have a lot of money and this has caused me a lot of money and grief. I can't hold the tears back anymore. I was banded for 7 years and the same thing...10 lb loss only so I had it removed. I have seen other bariatric doctors and they can't figure it out. They all say I should have done a different surgery and that I make poor food choices. It is all my fault. I wanted this to work so bad but have nothing more to give. Please someone out there help me and get me back on the right track right from the beginning. Help me get the tools and encouragement I need so desparetely.

Try and get some counseling. Like most of us a lot of the problem is in your head.

There are resources for people with financial challenges, do some Googling and other research to locate options in your area.

Good luck

I am so sorry you are struggling. Unfortunately, restrictive surgeries like the band and sleeve sometimes do not work as effectively with some people's metabolisms and they would do better with a bypass or DS, but since it sounds like you don't have the money to revise, let's try to make the sleeve work for you. First of all, you must log your calories, protein, carbs, and water. Seeing what you are eating and how it affects your weight is crucial. Second, you must make good food choices. You will never lose weight eating and drinking crap. Third, weigh yourself every day. If you are not losing an average of 2 lbs/week, you are eating too much. Fourth, measure your food, and eat no more than .75 cup at a time. You must stop vomiting and that means eating slowly--put down your fork and chew, chew, chew. Stop eating if you feel full, after 20 minutes, or when the food is gone, whatever comes first. Do not drink for an hour afterwards. You need to eat planned snacks so that you don't stuff yourself at dinner. I would faint if all I had to go on was a protein shake until a protein bar at lunch. You also must walk and lift weights to try and build muscle mass to increase your metabolism.

You don't say how tall you are or how much you weigh now, but I promise if you go back to basics you can lose more. You can do this! Start now by empying your cupboards of all the slider food and sugar. We are here for you.

Thank you so very much for your input. It is nice to know there is someone out there that understands this struggle I am having. I think I do the protien shakes in the morning and protien bar at lunch because it was something I got use to doing when I was banded. I could only take very little in the first of the day and then could increase by evening. Old habits. I will follow the steps you reminded me of and start all over again. I am just afraid that if I stretched my stomach out with large portions, will it shrink back again? I will remember to keep my food at .75 cups and drink more water. Back to the start.

I am so sorry you are struggling. Unfortunately, restrictive surgeries like the band and sleeve sometimes do not work as effectively with some people's metabolisms and they would do better with a bypass or DS, but since it sounds like you don't have the money to revise, let's try to make the sleeve work for you. First of all, you must log your calories, protein, carbs, and water. Seeing what you are eating and how it affects your weight is crucial. Second, you must make good food choices. You will never lose weight eating and drinking crap. Third, weigh yourself every day. If you are not losing an average of 2 lbs/week, you are eating too much. Fourth, measure your food, and eat no more than .75 cup at a time. You must stop vomiting and that means eating slowly--put down your fork and chew, chew, chew. Stop eating if you feel full, after 20 minutes, or when the food is gone, whatever comes first. Do not drink for an hour afterwards. You need to eat planned snacks so that you don't stuff yourself at dinner. I would faint if all I had to go on was a protein shake until a protein bar at lunch. You also must walk and lift weights to try and build muscle mass to increase your metabolism.

You don't say how tall you are or how much you weigh now, but I promise if you go back to basics you can lose more. You can do this! Start now by empying your cupboards of all the slider food and sugar. We are here for you.

WOW! Well said! We could all use these reminders from time to time! I think I may enlarge and print this so I can post it on my bathroom mirror.

Thank you so very much for your input. It is nice to know there is someone out there that understands this struggle I am having. I think I do the protien shakes in the morning and protien bar at lunch because it was something I got use to doing when I was banded. I could only take very little in the first of the day and then could increase by evening. Old habits. I will follow the steps you reminded me of and start all over again. I am just afraid that if I stretched my stomach out with large portions, will it shrink back again? I will remember to keep my food at .75 cups and drink more Water. Back to the start.

Get rid of all the bad stuff, the temptations in your house. Stock with 1% cottage cheese, a bag of frozen shrimp, frozen chicken breasts, (it's easy and fast to bake one) tuna packed in water, Lite mayo. Get your Protein with food, rather than relying on powders and Protein Bars. Get some skim milk, a couple glasses a day is 16oz of protein. Oh, and eggs, probably the best source of protein there is. You can do it.

I am so sorry you are struggling. Unfortunately, restrictive surgeries like the band and sleeve sometimes do not work as effectively with some people's metabolisms and they would do better with a bypass or DS, but since it sounds like you don't have the money to revise, let's try to make the sleeve work for you. First of all, you must log your calories, Protein, carbs, and Water. Seeing what you are eating and how it affects your weight is crucial. Second, you must make good food choices. You will never lose weight eating and drinking crap. Third, weigh yourself every day. If you are not losing an average of 2 lbs/week, you are eating too much. Fourth, measure your food, and eat no more than .75 cup at a time. You must stop vomiting and that means eating slowly--put down your fork and chew, chew, chew. Stop eating if you feel full, after 20 minutes, or when the food is gone, whatever comes first. Do not drink for an hour afterwards. You need to eat planned Snacks so that you don't stuff yourself at dinner. I would faint if all I had to go on was a protein shake until a protein bar at lunch. You also must walk and lift weights to try and build muscle mass to increase your metabolism.

You don't say how tall you are or how much you weigh now, but I promise if you go back to basics you can lose more. You can do this! Start now by empying your cupboards of all the slider food and sugar. We are here for you.

Hi,

Can you elaborate a little on a few of your points? You said sometimes the sleeve is not the best surgery for someone with metabolism issues and that a different surgery may be more appropriate... why and which one? I have been very concerned about this issue. I lost 160lbs 10 years ago on low carb ( I was still overweight -- size 14/16) and managed to keep the majority of it off. I've gained about 60-70 pounds over the last 5 years even though I still adhered to a low carb diet ( just maybe not as strict). Ok, so I'm thinking that maybe my body is immune to the low carb at this point so I tried Weight Watchers.... I GAINED WEIGHT ON WW. That is how I ended up here. I felt surgery was my only hope....

Let me add that I had Thyroid Cancer and my thyroid was removed, but I take Synthroid so that should not be the issue. I also have Multiple Sclerosis but cannot think of any reason MS would affect weight loss.

You also said that if you only had 1 protein shake in the morning and 1 protein bar at lunch you would faint... But isn't that close to what we're supposed to be doing. Lets say a protein shake has 200 calories, so far so good right? A protein bar has 200 calories. So we're at 400 calories before dinner. My impression was that staying around 600-800 calories is optimal to keep losing?

Help! Now I'm concerned that I will be failure at this!!