Have you encountered any significant weight gain?

[Barbara R]

I am curious to ask this: How many of us MGBers encounter a problem of weight gain as the years pass? Email me privately if this is a sensitive subject...

[Julie in GA]

I am not shy about my weight re-gain... because I totally feel it is my "fault"... I did it no one else.

The day of surgery I weighed 286-1/2. My lowest recorded weight following surgery was 158. My heaviest weight bounced back to about 205. YIKES! However .. I am an emotional eater, a closest eater .. all of those bad things. Due to some personal issues I lapsed back into terrible eating habits, doing all the things that are very counter productive to weight loss .. or even good health for that matter. I finally stopped myself and now hover somewhere around 180 to 185... still heavier than I would like to be but better off than I was.

I believe that on any given day I can eat like a "normal person" for my size, normal portions, etc. Other days I am not as hungry and fill up faster. My hunger level is definitely more "normal" than it was in the months following surgery. My body definitely knows it if I over do it on sugar, etc., paying me back so to speak. If I want to lose weight I have to "diet" .. not as hard as it once was though I must say.

Would I still do it again .. absolutely!

BTW.. My surgery was 10/04/00 so I am approximately 6-1/2 years postop.

[Barbara R]

Julie,

Thanks for your honest answer! I have often wondered about MGBers and weight gain and cannot seem to get anyone to talk about it. I really want to hear some stories. I do not see the gains as a failure of character or of the surgery, by the way. We become more and more normal as the first year progresses and then we are just like anyone else when it comes to gaining weight. Is that fair to say? What do others have to say about this? Just curious..

Julie, how long did it take for you to start gaining weight from your lowest weight? Thanks again for sharing.. This is very informative.

Barbara

[Julie in GA]

My surgery was in 10/00 ... my lowest weight that I remember was about the time of my father's wedding in 04/02-05/02.... that is when my "emotional eating" kicked back in etc. I lost my mother in 12/99 and I was not ready for my father to move on ... even though being alone is not really something he is capable of. (We won't get into all of that ...) My weight crept up a little at a time, maybe 10 pounds or so, for maybe a year. I had the first reconstructive surgery in 03/03 (a lower body lift) and the second in 04/03 (a thigh procedure). I think that sort of fostered my "stupid eating" too. I felt better about myself because my body looked better and I had this "I'm cured" mentality I think, that I was "bullet proof" and could do whatever I wanted. I was still dealing with some emotional issues too. By the time I had my third reconstructive surgery (breasts and arms) I was probably up around 185 or so. After healing from this I literally felt "normal" for the first time .. normal clothes, no flapping arms, no boobs to my waist .. and I think that really fostered the "I'm cured" mentality. Over the next two years I crept up to 205 of so. I went to my doctor and my GYN for checkups and said .. that's it! I got back to about 180 or so and I bounce around within 5 pounds or so of that now. I need to get it into gear and lose some more .. am perpetually planning to .. but it is hard to get motivated when your clothes are 12 and 14 when they used to be 26 and 28 .. some 30's! I feel "normal" until I see a full length picture or something and then know that I should do something .. for my health as much as anything else.

That's my story ... cold hard truth and all.

Most that I know who have gained weight have not gained as much as I did .. maybe 10 to 20 pounds at the most. Some at least were bordering on "too thin" at the time and the 10 to 20 pounds actually looks good on them. I don't think I have heard anyone who has gained more than I have.

[Barbara R]

Julie,

Thank you SO much for sharing your story! I think so many of us can benefit from your honesty. I totally understand "emotional" eating. Even now, I battle it on a smaller scale. The one thing that has really helped me of late is realizing that even at 44, my body is capable of doing more than I allow it to. (Exercise...)

I have searched for exercise that is compatible with my lifestyle. I realize if I exercise more, I am going to fend off any weight gain in the future. I still don't LIKE to exercise, but I try to get in three workouts a week. This coming from the woman who could not walk to her own mailbox 17 months ago.

Thank you again for your story. It has really helped me today. I realize we all have to stay "conscious" about our weight and not forget where we have come from..Good Luck with your journey. Looking forward to "chatting" with you again.

Barbara

[athina grell]

Hi Julie,
As I read your story I am wondering, is there anything anyone could have said/done to give you that 'wake up call'? I so understand the emotional eating. So, as you get further out, let's say 1-2 years, what happens when you over eat? Do you still feel sick, or not? Thank you for being so forthcoming with your story, I really appreciate all this information.
Athina

[Julie in GA]

It depends on what I "overeat" on ... if it is "regular food", i.e. not sugar I just feel overly full like anyone else. If it is sugar, high fat, etc. I will definitely pay for it. Being a long term "sneak eater", etc. I am a "pro" at it .. and unfortunately I figured out ways to still do it, just have to do it a little at a time instead of a box at a time. (I am truly an addict you see...)

Could someone have said something to wake me up before I regained 40 pounds ... I honestly don't know but I doubt it. I lived most of my life with very well meaning parents, relatives, etc. trying to bribe me, shame me, encourage me .. anything they could think of to stop the weight gain. Ultimately .. you have to do it for yourself, find the strength within yourself, etc... it is a very personal battle.

[PAULA B.BLUM]

Barbara,

I had surgery feb of 2000. My lowest weight that I remember was 164, about 18 months out. Then slowly but surely I gained back to roughly 230. That was in august of 2007. My hubby found out that he was diabetic, and I am proud to say that he has lost 137 lbs and I have lost 80 lbs, thanks to a diabetic diet. I am pretty sure that I will be able to keep it off, because of his illness and our lifestyle change. It was a real wakeup call for me. I too thought I had a magic bullet, and that I could eat anything I wanted

[Paula Warner]

Yes, I go up and down. If I am good with my eating and exercise, I maintain or lose.

Many wls patients suffer from eating disorders, food addictions and don't really address those issues. So the battle is confronted when things get out of wack or the surgery "appears" to not be working any more. I am hoping to study about these issues so I can help others.


Paula

[YESENIA VEGA]

Hello. I need help!!! I had rny wls back in 2001. my initial weight was 377. I went down to 232. However, little by little I began putting my weight back on. I got married, then got pregnant and lost my child at 6 months. After losing my child, that is when i really got depressed and packed on the weight. That was a yr ago. I now weight 340 and am so ashamed and embarrassed. I know that people are talking about me because i had gastric bypass surgery and and back to where I started. I want and need to lose weight again, but I am not sure how to do it now. I wanted to know if my pouch can still work for me. I still get "dumping" when i eat too much sugar. Does that mean the surgery still works? Can anyone guide me as to how I can get back on track to losing weight using my surgery as a tool again. Is there a way that I can re-train my pouch or is it a lost cause...I do not have any insurance, so I cannot get the revision done. Thank you in advance for your help. God Bless
Yesi

[Lila in Oregon]

Yesi,

Since you are referring to your “pouch”, it seems you may have had a Roux-n-y Bypass rather than the Mini Gastric Bypass. Those who have had a MGB don’t have a pouch. Their stomach is shaped more like a gastric sleeve, about the shape and size of a magic marker. You can google “5 Day Pouch Test” for a website and support forum that many post WLS people participate in, that has a 5 day meal plan that will shrink down a stretched WLS stomach to help you utilize your surgical tool again.

You are wise to recognize the emotional aspect of using food. A tool I find useful, that is free and easy to learn, for dealing with emotional things is EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique. You can also google it. There are tons of YouTube videos and websites. Gary Craig is the founder of EFT and you can download a free manual for learning the technique from his website. You tap on specific acupuncture meridians of the body to release blocked emotional energy, which is what all negative emotions are. It is especially effective for post traumatic stress and phobias as well as many addictions.

Hope this information is helpful and good luck.