Putting the weight back on...

I originally had my lapband surgery in October of 2009. Things were going great and I was consistently losing weight. In 2010, I had a pretty major health issue and my band was totally emptied for 18 months. After that, my surgeon slowly began to fill and the weight started coming off again. I lost approx 76 lbs and at my lowest was at 199lbs. That was a year ago...now the weight is coming back. I have gained approx 32 lbs in the last 8 to 10 months. My band is so bipolar! The amount of restriction that I have varies from day to day. I have tried to see the dietitian at the Bariatric Clinic. He gave me one appointment and told me that that was all he could offer as I had been "discharged". I am so sad and upset. I am disappointed in myself for letting this weight creep back on. Of course, this is a vicious cycle because I am also starting to use food to comfort myself again. I just feel like one big mess.

Just like with any wls, you need to stick to protein. Always protein first. Track what you eat on the myfitness pal website or app. Reduce your calories to lose the weight. Your restriction varies because of what you are eating. If it's soft it slides right through. Stay away from carbs. Carbs trigger hunger and cause you to snack and graze. 

Hi Kristen,

The problem is that our bodies change daily. We might have inflammation that causes the band to feel tighter sometimes. There's no such thing as the "green zone" since our bodies do not stay the same from day to day. You can't rely on the level of restriction to keep the weight off. You'll still have to stick to a pretty strict diet in order to lose weight. There's no malabsorption with the band, so it's all about what you decide to eat. Is there an in-person support group that you could attend? Sometimes having a group of likeminded people helps a LOT. Do you notice if you have any swelling anywhere on your body? Sticking to a diet of foods that help with inflammation might be something to consider, too. You might find that your band works better for you if you can keep inflammation to a minimum. I don't know if you're on Pinterest, but there is a lot of info there about anti-inflammation diets. Since the dietitian kinda left you high and dry, I think you'll have to serve as your own dietitian. But there's so much information... you'll find something that works for you. Stay positive. 

If you're emotionally eating, you might need to see a counselor who can help you with your feelings. Boy, do I understand the emotional eating component. My husband was diagnosed with cancer last week and it's all I want to do... eat my feelings. At first I had no appetite... but then as I was trying to process everything, it seemed that all I wanted to do is shove food in my face! I get what you are saying about feeling like one big mess. It's difficult to stop emotionally eating... I know what you're saying. It's important to have someone to talk with. 

Good luck to you. I know you can do this. It just requires a lot of patience and a ton of work. (I hate that part!) 

Nic I'm so sorry to hear about hubby's cancer! Mine went thru prostate cancer last year and it is for sure a challenge. He's doing well now but for awhile I just had to pend a lot of time with my color book and keep my hands busy!

Thank you, Friend. I'm glad your hubby is well now! 

He's going through radiation and chemo currently and will most likely need surgery in the near future. Trying to stay positive. It's kind of a good thing I had to read all that stuff about anatomy when I had lap band issues. It's been somewhat helpful in dealing with what he's going through. There are a lot of similar issues, strangely enough. 

Hope you're feeling better. xoxo

I don't have any experience with regain but I did have a rocky start.  I didn't lose any significant weight my first year.  I thought I made a big mistake having WLS.  Things changed when I started seeing a new Doctor (regular doctor..not surgeon).  And he helped me with my food choices.  Like he gave me a list of lean protein to eat and good carbs and healthy fats.  He gave me other tips like drinking green tea and no drinking any calories.  He started me on a workout routine that included lots of strength training.  I really buckled down and ate right and worked out every day.  I lost 19 lbs that first month!!!  After that the weight melted off.  I ended up losing 190lbs.  I think for me once the weight started to come off it was easy to make the right food choices and not cheat.  Losing weight and seeing myself fitting into smaller clothes, was all the motivation I needed. 

Now I just eat healthy but I will cheat...not all of the time.  I have this rule, absolutely no junk food during the week.  I will allow myself some "goodies" on the weekend but again I don't go crazy.  I stay active and workout about 3 times a week.  That's all I do to keep the weight off. 

I have tried every once in awhile to lose the 20-30lbs I never lost.  But I never have lost it.  I think if I really really set my mind to it like I did in the beginning I probably could. 

Thanks for all of your kind words. I have calmed down a bit, lol. I appreciate the reminders that this weight loss thing takes lots of work and persistence.  I have made an appt with my family doctor, so hopefully she can provide me with some guidance as well. 

Again...thank you for your responses!

Kristen

That's great! I think your family doc will be able to help you just as much. You can do it... just keep truckin'. 

It's great to see your doc and the internet is just full of high protein eating plans so the biggest secret to long term weight loss is carb control. They make you crave more carbs so if you can survive an induction period with a high protein plan similar to Atkins (Atkins uses net carbs but I only count total carb since the body uses them, they are slower but still there) it will help you get started. The lower you can keep your carbs the better you will lose, some can go as high as 100 carbs a day, myself I have to stay closer to 25 a day. For me carb control has been the secret and it's food I enjoy. Once I was able to break that carb addiction it was all so much easier. Even when I've gotten off track I've been able to catch it early enough to stop the gain trend before it got too far off track. I know all I have to do is start the induction diet again to get back in the game. This way you don't need some silly dietician to help you, you can do it all on your own!

I got my band 6/06-07 the first 4 yrs I only lost about 20-40 lbs, I gave up for a couple of yrs cause it was to much money having to pay $50 to fill then it was to full so $50 to take out saline then  another $50 cause he took out to much, when I had to have back surgery my band was emptied completely instead of having to pay so much for fills or to take out I put my money into buying exercise machines, every couple of months I'd buy a treadmill,bike,ablounger and more, I started walking 15-30 min a day 5 days a week, then started adding more and more time till I was jogging 4 hrs straight doing 4-6 hrs of working out 5-6 days a week ,went from 245 to 152 in 9 months, I lasted a good couple of yrs at that weight, I separated from my husband of 13 yrs and been living alone for 2 yrs now, I went from 152 to 180 in 3-4 months my primary dr told me I was borderline diabetic ,I wasn't even close to being diabetic when I was close to 300 lbs...so I'm now getting back on track going on 6 weeks , I'm walking 4-6 miles a day 5-6 days out the week back to dieting and drinking lots of water,replacing to meals with my protein meal replacement shakes and I've lost 10 lbs so far and that's cause I haven't had a fill or seen the dr in about 6 years, I still can't seem to keep a lot of foods down, I gain cause I eat junk food and snack a lot since I still can't eat normal foods, I can't eat chicken, tomatoes, oranges ,there's so much healthy foods I can't keep down yet I can eat junk food just fine so I made an app. With the dr for next week, I wanted to ask if I can have the band removed and have a different WLS done, I wanna be able to eat regular foods without tasting it twice, I'm tired of the food coming up for close to 8-9 yrs, my goal was 150 ,my lowest was 152 , never made it to 150 but I'm now challenging myself to get to 145