Discouraged

I had lap band surgery in August of 2010 and over the course of about 3 years I lost 100 pounds.  I felt great, and my feet and knees quit hurting.  I was 250 pounds when I had surgery, and am 5'1".  Over the last couple of years I have gained 40 pounds, and I can't figure out why.  Most of the time I don't get hungry, and haven't since shortly after my surgery.  I eat because I know I have to.  I don't eat hardly anything, but I'm still gaining weight.  Admittedly, I don't always eat the right things, which is probably why I'm gaining weight.  I seriously don't eat much though.  I've been thinking about going to get another fill, but I already don't have an appetite and have a hard time eating, so that's really not an option.  I don't understand what is happening.  My knee and feet hurt again too, which isn't helping matters any.  I know I get enough protein because I give plasma 2 times a week and they check it every time.  What is going on?  What can I do?

Unfortunately the only thing you can do is to make sure you eat the right things all the time. And keep proper diet long term. 

And measure and journal everything you eat. A bite here and there adds up. No drinking with meals. Plan your meals and snacks. 

Having good restriction is great, but if you are too tight - that may prevent you from eating dense proteins, and slider foods are often the worst for weight loss. 

Even with RNY and a small pouch - I have to careful not only how much I eat - but rather what I eat.  If I eat the wrong things - like carbs, slider foods etc - I start gaining weight. 

When I regained some weight - going back on track was not easy...but after I got determined and followed proper post op WLS diet - I was able to stop the gain, lose the regain and go back to goal. 

 

Unfortunately, our metabolisms are so damaged from years of obesity and restrictive diets that we can live on very few calories and not lose weight. I truly believe that malabsorption eventually becomes the only way some of us can lose and maintain our loss. I tracked my intake for 8 years and I rarely eat more than 1000 calories and if I eat fruit or any other complex carb, I gain weight. My metabolism is so damaged. I have finally realized, I have to live the high protein and ultra low carb lifestyle for the rest of my life, or I will be obese.

Agree with others that you have to watch what you eat.  Unfortunately many doctors sold the fantasy that the band is an easy fix, you can eat "normally", just less and the weight will just come off.  Well that works for a while but if you haven't made changes to your diet it will come back on.  It is because your body will fight you to get back to its set point...so lower calories, it lowers metabolism.  Dr Matthew weiner has some good videos on this on YouTube.  ANd suggests foods that help reset the body's thermostat.  What you eat is very much as important as how much, maybe more.

You can lose those 40 of this I know.  My suggestion is to up your good food intake, decrease the bad and up your exercise.