My worst fear came true. :(

I had surgery in 2007 and have been through several cycles of regain and losing.  I learned it comes down to calories and nothing else.

I weigh daily on a Garmin Index Scale.  It feeds my weight, BMI, water percentage, muscle weight, fat percentage, and bone mass weight back to my computer and creates graphs that can be viewed over time.

I had a gain this summer and was able to tell the percent from water and muscle gain.  Not just guessing, but looking at my data.

To lose weight I reduce 500 calories a day and lose one pound each week.  To lose fifteen pounds, give yourself 15 weeks.  Get a calendar and mark the day that you will be there.  I maintain at 1400 calories a day and lose on 900 calories a day.

To stay full and satisfied I get most of my calories from dense protein and don't eat bread, flour, sugar, rice, potatoes, pasta or fruit.

It may seem hard now, but you can get there.  Each week you will be closer and one morning you will be at your goal.

My surgeon told me that the sleeve relaxes but can't really stretch out much. Maybe like 1 to 2 oz max. They cut off all the stretchy part. So yes, your sleeve is probably a little bigger but I wouldn't get a revision over it being 2 oz bigger. Too many calories cause weight gain so you need to measure your food. If you are still hungry after the protein then eat veggies that have very little calories. Do this now before the gain gets our of control and you really feel hopeless.   

Hi 

As everyone has shared with you, just because you can does not mean you should. NO, it's not easy I know. I gained recently due to a loss in my family and I never once thought of a revision.  As everyone said get back to the basics, measure your portions, eat what is on your plate and then get busy, stay busy. Do things you love, get out of the house, it will pass.  I had RNY but my getting back to the basics can be applied to us all. I hope it helps and stay in touch, we are all here to help and support!

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.

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.  So I was either pushing to be diabetic or get cancer.  I found once I started carrying a bottle of water around 24/7 (yes had one at my bedside) I lost the cravings for the sugar and I KNOW those artificial sweeteners are not good for me. Look I am old and if you add up all the artificial sweeteners I have consumed I am sure I am at the rat in the lab getting cancer threshold.

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. 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.

Keep me posted on how you are doing.

A sincere, heartfelt THANK YOU to all *****plied with common sense and practical advise! I am feeling so much better already, and will keep you all posted on my progress. 

my husband needed a hiatal hernia repair about 8 months after surgery. We had our same VSG surgeon fix it. While in there he noticed stomach had stretched some and tightened it. He told my husband he had better watch it. 

I am today at my 7 year aniversary and while I am about 10 lbs over goal weight, its still normal bmi. I am certainly able to eat more than I used to but still notice restriction.  Its possible to get back on track and part of the surgery is to instill better eating habits.  Thats my most important lesson and I have to remind myself everyday. I sat and chatted at a table with mostly skinny friends with a huge cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate chip cookies. Didn't touch the stuff. Just have to not go there.  

Diane S

Funny, on the DS page (we have sleeve stomachs too), we tell people to expect the sleeve to stretch.  The key is using that extra room for more protein an not contraband.  I had a 100cc size sleeve to start with, and I think my stomach is about 10-12oz now.  That's about the size of a soda can, but nowhere near the average stomach size, which is that of a football.  I can work with that.  Bounceback weight is also pretty normal.  Even with the DS, we expect to bounce back 15-20% of our excess weight.  11 years later, I'm at 14%, myself...again, not concerned.