Sometimes we get away from the basics that got us to goal and helps keeps us there. Ditto to what everyone said and here is a list of the basics that helped me, hopefully it will help you too. YOU GOT THIS!

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery? How many meetings, classes and such did we attend? We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success. And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods. Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains and fruits.

Journaling

Get back to journaling. This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life. Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating. It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband. It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food. Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker. Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself. Make them realistic and small. Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein. If you didn't make a Weight Loss Surgery bucket list when you first had surgery do it now. GREAT reminder of all the things you can enjoy in life after losing weight.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat?, calories, and sugar. Important, vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan).

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea? I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass. I found once I started carrying one of the metal bottles of water to keep it cold I drank water all day.

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what, I kept moving. If I could not go to the gym I would walk. Grab a cart and walk all the isles at your local box store. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back. So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV. Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group. Come here on OH daily for support and participate in one of the food threads. It helps you be accountable and also great ideas for food prep.

Keep me posted on how you are doing.

Hi Amy,

Yes I have had alot of stretch, actually double. I have heard of the flip and having to have emergency surgery, etc with the lapband. She can go back in and make the pouch and opening into my stomach smaller but with my history taking that one extra bite would cause re-stretch. The idea is to have the lap band so we can control the stretch issue. But I also don't want issues. I have completed all my clearances now I just need to decide what to do and what other options I have.

Thank you

Kathy

Hi everyone,

I originally had gastric bypass in 2006 and am planning on a revision. I had decided on the lap band to help with stretch but I have heard some negative things about lapband. So is the sleeve an option? Any words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Kathy

I would double or triple check with your insurance company that they will approve additional bariatric surgeries as many will not approve more than 1, let alone 3, per lifetime.

If a surgeon is skilled enough, they should have no problem performing the full standard of care DS (2 anastomoses) in one surgery.

Note that a revision from RNY to DS is a very complex/difficult procedure and very few surgeons are capable of doing it. You need to be very selective on who you pick as your surgeon in order to minimize complications as revision surgeries are higher risk.

Where are you located? There are 2 great surgeons in California that are experienced with this revision operation; Dr. Ara Keshishian in Pasadena (LA suburb) and Dr. John Rabkin in San Francisco. I recommend you contact one or both of them for a phone/video consultation.

Edit: Grammar and paragraph spacing

Due to having developed hypoglycemia my surgeon wants to revise my bypass to a duodenal switch but in two separate surgeries. Will insurance approve this? Original surgery was in 2014.