I am Back and I need your help!!!

I have started gaining after all these years! I had the DS and i thought weight gain could not happen??? I was wrong! I started on steroids and was on them for 9 months and i gained 100lbs in a year!!!

Well, steroids aside- what are you eating?

lean protein and protein powders. i am walking for 1 hour a day and just getting back to where i need to be. i have cut out all sugar and starches.

You can gain weight with any surgery! It's still up to us to control what we put in our mouths.

It would be pretty much impossible to gain weight on fats and protein with a DS. You had to have been eating a lot of carbs. Cut out those, and you should see the scale move in the right direction.

Good luck!

No surgery is foolproof, but the DS is the most forgiving and usually easiest to loose regain. Every surgery can be eaten around. And carbs, starches, sugars are bad for all of them. The steroids probably didnt help.

But depending on your surgeon you may or may not have had the Hess method DS (measured and cut common channel based on length of intestine and larger sleeve, many stopped doing that method since its more difficult and time consuming, but is shown the best results). Using the "flat rate" method as I call it doesnt always work as well for some, as natural intestine lengths vary per person. And has led to regain without massive deviation from preferred eating.

So 100+ grams protein a day, fats dont worry about. But keep simple sugars and carbs low.

Im almost 12 yrs post op DS (hess method). The beautiful thing about the DS is your malabsorption never goes away. Just EAT your protiens, drinks do not fill you up and eat good veggies when you feel the need for a snack.

You have already taken the hardest step by saying enough is enough and now I want to get back on track. Here are some steps I hope will help you. They helped me...

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.

steroids make you gain weight. I was on steroids for a week because of a sinus infection, and I gained almost 8 lbs. But the weight came off in the 2 weeks after I went off the medications. BUT you do not gain 100 lbs eating lean meats and protein powder with the DS It would almost be impossible (not saying it is totally impossible...maybe improbable is a better way to say it).

Are you drinking your calories?

Steroids can cause a little water retention weight gain, and some people notice an increase in appetite, but a 100 pound weight gain means your are taking in far more calories than you need.

Start tracking every bite of food and also water and exercise. If you have slacked off on your vitamins restart them. Have you considered counseling for your food issues?

WLS doesn't fix your brain. Good luck.