HELP brothers and sisters!...

Hello Everyone! 

I need HELP! I had revision from lap band to RNY in February 2016. I have not lost any weight. :( Partly I know its because i can finally eat food. 

A little history, Had my band for about 5 years and I ended up having complications including not being able to eat, everything i ate had to come back up, i also had severe acid reflux and after an endoscopy I found out that I also had major inflimation of my esophagus and stomach at top and bottom. This caused the doctor to want to do the revision ASAP.

I am currently 202 pounds. I went through a 2 week period where all I ate was fruit. I was so excited to be able to eat fruit! It had been 3 years since i could eat an apple or an orange and keep it down that i had to eat it. Now I am trying the low carb route and it has made me gain weight. I am at a loss and feel like a looser. (not in a good way...lol) 

Anyone else had this problem???

Plus on the BM side, i have found that I have blood in my stool... anyone else had this??

I am very greatful that i had the revision surgery, i just am looking for insite from people to get me on track. 

Hi!  I'm not sure how much help I can offer, but I can tell you this...  I had my band placed in August 2003.  After that, all hell broke loose in my life...  I had all those same complications, but my insurance had changed and no one would see me.  Finally, in August 2013, I had all I could take (not being able to eat, acid reflux, not being able to sleep, gasping for air, choking to death, etc.) and went to the ER at 4 a.m. and told them someone had to do something.  They said "we need to do a barium swallow test first".  Fine, have at it.  I swallowed the barium and stood in front of their camera for two hours with not a drop going through, so they finally agreed that something had to be done.  My band was removed.  I completely understand your excitement to just be able to eat!  I was that way, and have gained about 120 pounds since my band was removed, therefore, I am going through the process of approval to have RNY.

My thoughts and prayers are with you during this struggle.

Well, first off, you're not a loser (either way)  If you're still having blood in your stool 2 months later, you need to contact your surgeon to get that checked out today!  It's possible some stitching inside has come loose and isn't healing!  Not something to mess with.

Now, onto the food... you already know what you're supposed to do, right?  You've gotten instructions from your surgeon to eat high protein (a minimum of 60 grams a day, your surgeon may want you to eat more) and drink a min. of 64 oz of water each day, and get some exercise each day, too.  Get yourself back to these basics - no cheating, no sneaking, no fruit, no 'I'll have X because I deserve it."  and then you'll start losing - guaranteed or your money back.  

I've been using My Fitness Pal to track every single bite I eat.  I have a postal scale that I use to weigh my food - everything gets weighed or measured and entered into MFP accurately.  If you'd like to friend me there I'm "BethyAnny".  I've learned that I've never really been 100% honest when 'dieting' - not once in my pre-surgery life!  I've committed myself to entering it ALL in MFP, and it's working!  I was on a stall for almost a month, and now I'm losing again.

So, bluntly - quit messing around and get to work!  

I'm not a revision RNY, so I can't totally relate-- but I've I heard loss after revision is slower. A red flag for me was what you said about just eating fruit for two weeks-- fruit is essentially carbs & sugar. Two elements that are not very friendly to weight loss.  Protein forward should be the goal. What was your plans eating advice? Time to set aside the excitement of being able to eat and eat what you are directed to per your plans guidelines. What are your calorie goals/protein/carb goals. Are you tracking your food? Weighing/measuring?

I would discuss the blood in the stool with your doctor-- it could be hemorrhoids, or something more serious. , 

Did your surgeon have you work with a nutritionist? You should have gotten a whole packet of info on phases of food and a list of approved foods to work through before you move on to your for-life diet. At 8 weeks out, I was on my permanent diet, which is high protein, low carb. I also don't shy away from fats in foods. I eat full fat cheeses, I cook with butter and healthy oils such as coconut oil...I eat a small amount of natural peanut butter. ( no sugar added to it. )

Honestly, fruit is NOT a good choice for anyone so newly post-op, especially since that ALL you ate for 2 weeks. We need a protein rich, low carb diet to promote weight loss by putting us into ketosis, which burns fat for energy. Fruit can seriously slow down weight loss because even though it's a natural "healthy" food, it contains sugar. It's fruit sugar, but still sugar. I actually can't eat most fruit. My body reacts to it as though it were cookies, or candy, or cake. No fruit for me.

You need to be focusing on eating solid proteins such as chicken breast or thigh meat, tuna, cheese, tender steaks, or ground beef or turkey and even though it's a slider food, greek yogurt is a great source of protein. It was a go-to for me when I was early out. You need a minimum of 60 grams of protein per day, but I'd go for 85 or 90. Some of us here focus solely on meals consisting only of proteins when we are in the losing phase. Non-starchy veggies are fine if you want after you've had protein and you have room, but that good, dense protein should be the first thing you eat. Also make sure you wait at least 30 minutes after eating to drink anything.

You need to be weighing your protein and measuring out portions of veggies. My own dieticians wanted me to cut up everything and  measure it out in the beginning, so I did. My limits were no more than a half cup of food per meal. Check with your surgeon's office or nutritionist for that info if you need to. ( should have been in that packet I mentioned. _

I've never gained weight on a solely low carb diet. I only had a regain when I started incorporating simple carbs and ate off plan-at about 2 years out. When I went back to restricting my carb intake, I lost weight again.

As far as your BM being streaked with blood: If you're constipated, and straining really hard, it could result in blood streaked stools, but I'd be on the phone to my doctor about it ASAP just to rule out anything serious.

Make sure you're drinking a minimum of 64 oz of water, unsweet tea, or other fluids a day. I prefer to get in 80 or 90 oz per day of fluids per day. Some people need to drink even more than that. If you drink protein shakes, those will count toward your total, as would chicken broth. Stay away from fruit juices; they offer us nothing except empty calories and sugar.

Fruit is pure sugar. I rarely eat it, and when I do, it is a slice of apple or four grapes, not the whole fruit.

Please post exactly what you are eating in a day. We will be better able to help you.

I too have never gained weight on a very low carb diet. 

First the blood in the stool.  Is it bright red or dark red?  Bright red means it could be a  herroid or an anal fissure both should be checked out, but they are not an ASAP concern.  Now if the blood is dark red please get to either your PCP or surgeon like yesterday.  Dark red stools could be internal bleeding, cancer, or other issues that are found further up in your GI track.

As for weight gain, fruit is a big NO NO so early out.  I did not have a bite of fruit until I was 9 months out and it was just that a bite of my husband banana he was eating.  I can count on 1 hand how many times I have had fruit since my revision.  Don't get me wrong I do like fruit, but I also know it is full of sugar and eating it all the time will hinder my weight loss.

You need to be eating protein forward meals, limited carbs, limited sugar, drinking plenty of water, track and measure everything you eat and I mean everything. 

I had a band to bypass revision over a year ago and lost currently 83lbs it was a bit more, but I got lax and allowed 6 of those lbs to come back.  I started being strict and following to a T my plan and lifestyle change and I am down 2lbs in 3 days.

I had the RNY myself. Hit plateaus on a couple of occasions. I just kept getting the proteins in first and varying 

the rest of my diet per my Dr. and it resumed falling off. Exercise was key for me especially walking. I would

walk at a brisk pace for an hour on the tradmill before stating my lifting and it worked. Slow and steady and never

losing sight of the goal!!!   Keep up the great work and good luck. Oh, and congrats on the success your going

to achieve.     Rich

Off topic and a slight hijack, but what is the "ReShape" that you are doing in October of this year Rich?  I haven't ever heard that term. 

Because you have had RNY, you have the temporary miracle of malabsorption.  If you follow a careful plan, you can lose a lot of weight while the malabsorption is going on.

Low carb is not working for you, but low calorie will.  Learn to count every calorie.  Weigh yourself every morning.  At 202 pounds you need to eat a bit over 2000 calories a day to maintain.  You can cut to 1000 calories a day and will lose 2 pounds a week.  In about six months you should be at a weight that makes you happy.

The malabsorption is our honeymoon period after surgery.  Take advantage of it.  Get a food scale and measure everything, then log to My Fitness Pal.   Once you get the calories down, the weight will start falling off.  Don't waste any more of your surgery honeymoon.  Malabsorption is less every day.  Make it work for you.