How can people re-gain weight when they can't eat a lot of food?

Very easy indeed. Just eat fattening foods! Simple as that.  You don't need to eat large quantities if you are eating cakes, candies, cream, alcohol.

for the first few months and years, motivation is high. But it gets harder and harder not to fall back into eating the wrong foods.

DS'er's HAVE to eat fat...it's carbs that make US fat.

I know. I said fattening not fatty!  OK so I included cream but cakes, candies and alcohol are fattening in anybody's book! I don't follow a low fat diet myself, never have done. 

Hi. I had Gastic Bypass 10 yrs ago and i've gained about 30 pounds back from my lowest weight (start weight 252lbs/lowest 148lbs/Current 164lbs . It's exactly as previous members have mentioned. Your stomach starts out very small and it's hard to think of overeating when a spoonful of mashed potato makes you full. That will change with time as it's supposed to, you can't live on that amount of food long term. My best advise is learn how to eat healthy now, so when that time comes, you have a foundation to build from. I loved fast food then and that hasn't changed, surgery makes it harder to overeat but the temptation is still there.  I have lost 14 pounds so far by simply not eating much at night (guilty of eating then sleeping). So gaining weight is possible but so is losing. Just keep track with weekly weigh-ins. Congrats on your surgery!! :)

Hi,

I am VSG failure. I had my surgery in 2010. Let me assure you, your stomach can stretch. I feel zero restriction and I am gaining my weight back. I feel like a did before my surgery. 

I could eat a lot of ice cream or chips or any number of high calorie, high sugar foods and I would gain.  Surgery limits capacity but it does not instill a desire to eat only lean protein and nonstarchy vegetables. We still have to manage ourselves.

Ice cream. Lots and lots of ice cream. 

Wow - this is the first time I'm "HOT"!! Well at least that's what it says next to my original post...

Thank you all for your posts. As I said, I've been reading posts from people who said they've gained their weight back and some of them say that they've stuck to the "diet" and yet still gained. For a couple of years I was just about completely carb free. Not only bread, pasta, rice, potato, sweets etc but in addition I didn't eat soy, beans, fruit, basically most carbs except for veggies (I love salads and veggies). I would eat chicken and cheese. I didn't lose weight according to the scale, but I did drop sizes and my body type changed but for what I was eating and the way that I worked out I should have been a size zero. So when I read that there are people who do eat right but still gain weight I got really nervous. I just don't want that to be me.

One also has to factor in denial.  I thought I didn't eat "very much" and I was SMO.  Of course I agree with everything said about the physiological changes that can occur, yet if one is not compulsive about logging every single bite and sip (and I certainly don't) I can see how mind games could mess one up pre or post op.

I would guess that 95% of those who claim to be "doing everything right" are in denial. Yes, there is a case here or there where something else is going on in their bodies, but for the overwhelming majority of people who gain it is because of the food the put in their mouth (too many calories or too many crappy carbs).

Take responsibility for what you eat.