Out of the blue I looked up Star Jones to see how she was doing, since her successful gastric bypass. First news headline I see " Disaster after weight loss surgery" picture of Star from every angle wearing a white one piece bathing suit. I guess she had gained back 80 lbs and many articles ridiculed her for her weight gain. Now, I am not a fan nor hater... I just wanted to see how WLS can be maintained. I am 80% committed to having the gastric sleeve and my worst nightmare is gaining the weight back few years down the road and for people to make snarky comments. I feel bad for Star since she was so successful with her procedure and I am not completely sure why the restriction is eliminated with WLS after couple of years. Anybody else share the same fear?

She's not the only one. Carnie Wilson also had weight regain. It's just not easy to maintain and we will have to be diligent. It's easy to let old habits sneak back in, and to have the weight slowly creep up on you. I just had surgery and am in the weight loss phase, but I know once I get to goal that maintenance will be just as hard as this.

It is completely up to us to maintain. You don't lose the restriction, you learn to eat around it.

Your pouch begins to empty 30 minutes after eating, I guarantee you that I could graze to keep my pouch full all day long and gain every pound back.

The most I should ever be able to eat is about 1 cup of food. (Think of that 1cup as already chewed up food). Of course I can eat a lot more salad than 1 cup in its original form yet dense Protein I cannot even come close to a cup.

This is why it is so Important to ensure the food on your plate is protein heavy, with good carbs like fruit and veggies.

If I were to fill it with Pasta bread and rice, I would become hungry faster and therefore would eat more frequently.

Having this surgery takes a lot of hard work on your part. It is a tool that can help you achieve your goals if you follow the rules. If you don't and you graze you will gain your weight back. If you don't and eat garbage you will become malnourished.

It is a huge commitment and requires 110 percent focus every single day.

I have not entered the maintenance phase but I am close and I know that my focus will need to continue. My life has completely changed for the better and I never want to go back there.

I hope that you guys continue to research until you are positive this is something you want to do. For me, it was a no brainier, I am the healthiest I have been in 28 years. My only regret is that I didn't do it 15 years ago when I was in my forties.

how WLS can be maintained

@@hopefullythininme

basic answer is to continue how you ate/drank

all "those" rules" we followed during our weight loss

if/when you do the above you shouldn't gain weight

it hopefully will make you realize that you ALWAYS

must follow all the rules for the rest of your life

ie Water, Protein, portions, portions etc

the way you gain weight

is to eat around the sleeve

like you are tricking/fooling the sleeve

you are only fooling yourself

you eat till you are getting full

then a couple of hours later you will graze (eat more)

continually all day

keep doing that you WILL gain the weight back

and of course just eating Cookies, donuts etc all the time

all those yummy foods that got "us" in trouble to start with

it is hard/sad to know/see any person that had WLS

gain most or all of the weight back

we see/hear people gaining weight

and say OMG

i don't want that to happen to me

have to continue to follow all the rules

for the rest of my/your life (which we all need to do)

some people/many have maintained for years

followed the rules religiously

then start screwing up

then those bad nasty habits returned

so does the weight

in a weird way

seeing/hearing of someone who gained

can be an incentive to keeping the weight off

remind yourself that you were unhealthy pre-op

maybe not thrilled about how you looked

with all that extra weight

some felt like being a hermit

didn't want to go outside in the "public"

You don't want to ever "Feel/look" how you did pre-op

other "incentive" (positive one)

is seeing others that are staying successful

follow in their footsteps

good luck bud

kathy

Thank you for the such great advice! Your thoughtful answer is just what I needed to hear! I am sure many share the same fear and we need to continue to keep our eye on the ball and encourage each other from reverting back to our old ways. Thanks again! I hope I can get my journey started soon.

The article I found on her weight gain claimed she had the gastric band, not the gastric bypass. While we all know that the weight can be put back on after any weight loss surgery, if she has the band it is very possible that she had it unfilled/removed/etc.

And listen to @@proudgrammy! She's a perfect example of being successful at maintaining her weight after a few years. She knows what she's talking about!

listen to @@proudgrammy! She's a perfect example of being successful at maintaining her weight after a few years. She knows what she's talking about

@@Babbs

you are only saying that cuz it's true (maybe)

thanx bud

btw - you made me blush

kathy

I think failure is always foremost in our minds if we have been a yo yo dieter....lost the weight to only have it come back & more because we could not keep following the diet....with the sleeve, we basically can have what we want but we are satisfied with much smaller portions. At least that's what I have learned from all my reading & research. I am set for Oct 14 surgery & I too am terrified that it may come back...it's just low self esteem/confidence. I believe most of us have lost the belief in ourselves which is a big hurdle we will have to overcome by forgiving ourselves & moving forward. If we do fall, the sleeve is still with us & we need to just do it one day at a time. It's not the same as a fad diet, Lefebre or Bernstein diet, or anything like that. This is more a life change but with a tool that will always be there to help you, & if you don't try to cheat it it will keep giving you what you need. It will be tuff but trust in your sleeve to work WITH you, always. At least that's what I will keep telling myself.......& keep coming to this forum, as well as other good ones out there, to get motivated & to help & be helped. This is so far one of the best things out there which will give us a better fighting chance than anything before. We have to believe that & that should make us fight harder. And this time, we won't give up & put that scale away. Over the last year or so I gave up thinking as long as I don't weigh myself or look in the mirror, etc, I don't have to face that I am gaining weight....well my body sure let me know I was gaining weight in many many ways. So....we will have to be vigilant & drag our butts onto that scale weekly & get rid of any extra weight, if we have put it on, immediately.....that's what normal healthy people do....they nip it in the bud & that's what I plan on doing this time...it's time I took off those blinders & lived my life...finally...& you can do it too....& if either of us have any problems with this, we will get back on this forum & talk it out...we deserve a good quality of life...on your mark.....blinders off....go!!!!

When I was sitting in the waiting room of the surgeon's office pre op, a woman who was scheduled for her sleeve surgery was telling another patient that as she understood it she would eventually be able to eat whatever she wanted and wondering how long she would have to wait before having soda again. Yes, you can eventually return to old eating habits and expect to return to the same old weight. Since surgery I've completely changed how and what I eat and realize this is the new reality for me if I want to be at a healthy weight. For me it is worth the struggle and effort.

Star Jones hasn't gained 80 pounds.

Read some more tabloids.

Or not.

Yeah, I was gonna say in the most recent picture I have seen of her it did not look like she gained 80lbs.

Star Jones hasn't gained 80 pounds.

Read some more tabloids.

Or not.

Hi Ann, I was referring to this picture http://radaronline.com/photos/gastric-bypass-disaster-ex-the-talk-host-star-jones-has-packed-on-80-lbs-see-her-lose-the-battle-of-the-bulge-in-16-shocking-swimsuit-photos/photo/853139/ Do you have other scoop?? ;-P

Damn, if she looks dangerously overweight, I might need to plan my funeral.

I just looked at that picture and thought I would be OK looking like that...

I really wish the media would use common sense before saying stuff like this. We all remember what Starr Jones looked like before. She still looks great! She may have regained a little but 80 pounds. I think not. Our bodies adjust to what's comfortable and that may not be a size 5. Honestly, for most of us we're happy just being out of the plus sizes and not shopping at specialty stores. Weight gain is preventable but you definitely have to figure out a plan that works for you and for some that may mean a little weight gain to learn what not to do.