Weight Gain AFTER surgery? Scary!!!!!

Hey guys,

First time writing in this part of the forum. I had VSG 8/26/14 and lost a little over 90 lbs. Most of my weight was lost in the first 6 months, then a little more in the following 4 months. So all in all most of my weight was lost in 10 months. Since then I have not lost a lb, actually I've gained about 10 lbs. My low was at 247 lbs and I thought I would go to my goal of 220lbs lbs quite easily but weight loss slowed and then stopped. I went up to 262 lbs but then got 5 lbs off to my current of  257 lbs now which I have maintained for a few months and now I just cannot get any more weight off?

My two year anniversary is in August and I was surprise that weight gain could happen so fast after surgery! Yes, I could eat better but I don't pig out and I do exercise at least 3-4 times a week. I try to eat low carb, high protein, take my vitamins, exercise and drink my water. Who would of thought that a 260 lb guy could gain weigh with only about 1200-1600 calories a day? I'm thankful for the surgery and certainly it retards fast weight gain but now our calorie curve is so much lower!

Guess, I need to get back to the basics but therein lies the problem? How do we get back? At first with the weight loss we were so motivated in seeing the lbs drop daily and really we were not hungry, so eating just 600-800 calories a day was easy, now it is as if my mindset is the same as it was before surgery and that is what scares me. Now in hearing of many who have gained 30, 40 lbs after a few years I am afraid that I may also so I would like to address my mindset now before I gained any more. The surgery changes our stomach but it does not change our attitude toward food. This is where I think most of us fail-we need to change our complete lifestyle AND RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD. Is any one going to OA or any other group that may help? Any suggestions? Thanks?

Willie,

I hear you!  My one year anniversary was March 30.  I haven't lost a pound in about 3 months.  My calorie intake has increased to 1200-1700 daily. I tend to stay near the 1600-1700 end.  I want to get to 160...my body likes 166-170 :-)

I am staying away from the sweet stuff but I do like plain popcorn and trail mix (with no candy).  Trail mix is a trigger food for me so I try to eat it at work only.

First, I am going for a DEXA scan to see what my ideal body weight should be.  This will let me know if I am within range or I need to lose some more weight.  Then, starting June 1, I am lowering my calorie intake by 100 daily calories for a week--the following week, I will lower by an additional 100 until I get to 1000 daily calories.

I am off to the gym 5 days a week starting today to get on the treadmill--I got my playlist ready!

I also had to increase my PPI to 4 times daily which reduced my "hunger" signals significantly.  I realized it was stomach acid not hunger.

My meals are protein forward--I eat 100g of protein daily--no exceptions!  I do get at least 10 cups of fluid daily--mainly coffee and tea since I can't drink water (my surgeon knows). My diet is very repetitive but I can't handle too much variety right now.

Let me know what you try.  You can do this.  I realize we have to do more work to find what does "work" for us.

Well, thank you for responding. I guess no one else has gone through this here? I see a lot have viewed but no responses or suggestions. Usually I'm in the general forum and the responses are very quick. So I'll just re-post there.

Maybe my body is stuck at this weight? This was the weight I came out of high school at 40 years ago although in the Army I did get to and maintain a weight lower than 200 lbs.

I'll try going back to basics and see if I can get out of this old mindset. Going to up the cardio, do more but lighter resistant training, eat more protein, water and so forth. See what happens in a month.

Again, thanks.

If you don't mind, I will check in with you to see how it's going and share how this calorie reduction is working for me.  

Keep pushing forward, day by day, step by step.

Sounds good. Would appreciate that! 

Hey there.  I'm pre-surgery, so I can't give guidance from experience, but I have the same concerns from the beginning.  Here are a few thoughts.  Use most of your work-out time doing resistance training to increase your resting metabolic rate. Do small amounts of reps at with high amounts of weight (start slow). Try coconu****er.  Remember to not drink during or immediately after meals, and to eat your protein first. Artificial ingredients take longer for your liver to process, so it spends less time burning calories - eat "clean" food.

I once heard someone say, "You can never stop anything, you can only start something else."  Find something that gives you what you seek from food and indulge in that.  I am a cook, so I have to find recipes that fit my nutritional needs and can be portioned easily for travel.  I also love watching football, so I use a stepper and resistance cords while watching.

I have experience in going to counseling for other reasons.  It is always very helpful. 

Thanks. Never given much thought to the artificial foods. Funny, although I am about 7 lbs heaver than my lowest weight, when a picture of me was posted on Facebook at a picnic everyone thought I had lost a lot of weight even though they seen me back then about a year ago and although they notice I was somewhat smaller they really made no remark after a 90 lb loss? NOW, after almost another year they notice and a this after a few lbs gained back? Go figure? Anyway, it encouraged me so hopefully I'm back on track and will concentrate on health, conditioning, proper foods and well being. Gonna really work on the resistant training to try to sculpt,, although my skin just jiggles there.? Oh well, another problem for another time. Thanks all!

Willie,

Hope this post finds you well.  I'm here to check in with you and let you know that I had a DEXA scan and the RMR (resting metabolic rate) test on Monday, June 6. After a few days of sleeping on the results, I do believe that my goal weight is obtainable.

What I found out:  my metabolism is slower than a SNAIL. At rest, my body only needs 1469 calories.  My surgeon did tell me early on that my metabolism was shot and weight loss during year 2 comes to a crawl.  It will take me another year to lose the remaining 11 pounds.  My body fat percentage is 31% which is smack in the middle of average.  I've got super strong bones.

I followed up with a conversation with the NUT and the surgeon.  I am reducing my calories from 1700 to 1500.  I will maintain 1500 until the end of June.  If all is well, I will drop to 1300 for the month of July and see how that goes.

I am saying all of this to suggest that you may want to look into getting a DEXA scan. I got one here for $45. Check your body fat percentages--it is possible that your current weight is what your body likes.  NOT suggesting that you shouldn't lose more weight.  The DEXA just confirmed for me that I can lose another 11 pounds and still be great.

Take care,

bruindiva92

Thanks Bruindiva92,

I'm not familiar with either the DEXA scan or the RMR? How would I go about getting that done? To fight an enemy you have to know the enemy so I think doing all that I can could prove to be very helpful! My fat percentage is still at 35%, according to the BMI calculator I need to lose another 30 lbs to get it under 30% which I would like. I came out of High School about the same weight I am now and that may be why it is hard to lose it, but in the Army and for about 6 years afterwards I was at a good muscular weight before I blew up again! I need to become more proactive again with the same motivation I had at the beginning of this journey. I haven't even thought about calorie intake to be honest but maybe that is a good idea along with less carbs? So getting the scans would be a good start. Thank!!

-Willie-

Check with the local universities or type in DEXA scan to see what's available in your area. The DEXA is an X-ray in which you lie down and the machine scans your body. Takes 10 minutes top.  You actually get a image of your body--showing both lean muscle and fat.  The DEXA will give you a precise calculation of your body fat.

The RMR (resting metabolic rate) requires you to breathe thru a tube for 20 minutes--it measures your oxygen intake and tells you how many calories your body needs when resting.   

I am still using my fitness pal to log my food--are you keeping a daily log?  

I realize that I need to create a new plan for year 2.  I am going to the gym more and re-working my food plan.

Keep me updated on your progress.

All the best,

bruindiva92