Confused About Ladys Weight Gain

I watched this documentary on Netflix a few weeks ago. I don't remember the name of it, but this lady on there weighed about 500 lbs. She mentioned that she had the gastric bypass surgery in the past, but she just loved eating.....

Uh, how the heck did she get back up to 500 lbs then? I don't even see how that is possible with a tiny stomach. I mean, your stomach does stretch after some time, but it doesn't stretch back to how it was. 

I can see getting heavy again, but not all the way up to 500. How do you suppose she did that?

 

And Carnie Wilson I think had the rou-en-y...How did she get heavy again without having much use of her stomach because I know the doctor disconnects things and does re-arranging of some sort.

What do you think?

 

The pouch will mature to a certain size (around year 1) however repeated overeating can cause it to stretch more. What tends to happen is those who contine to overeat stretch out the stoma which allows food to pass through quicker and cause someone to be hungry again soon. 

The hunger and increased intake will cause weight gain. 

Okay, that makes sense. I guess since I just had the surgery and can barely eat, the whole thing blew my mind when she said she had had the surgery before.

You can eat around any of the surgeries.  Ice cream, cookies, high carb stuff like that slides right through.  I have had days where i have topped 3,000 calories.  I got myself back on track obviously, but if I was doing that every day for sure I could regain every ounce.  That is why it is so important to work on changing eating habits, the mental part, and sticking with exercise.  RNY- the caloric malabsorption stops after 2 years... so if the eating habits didn't change enough pounds will creep back on. 

I hope and pray I can maintain my brain going on the healthy track because I would never want this surgery to be for nothing. My heart actually goes out to people like that because there is something behind their addiction apparently.

Most of us are addicts to food. This is why we became overweight in the first place. There is usually an underlying reason behind why we use food to cope with life. It is very important that ALL of us seek help through support groups, counselors, Overeaters anonymous etc... to analyze and understand why we became over weight. People who don't seek help tend to be unsuccessful at WLS and thus gain the weight back (and sometimes more). I'm only a few weeks out, but I can see how easy it would be to eat my way back to my pre op weight (and more). Although I may not be able to physically fit much food in, grazing all day or eating slider foods would be an easy way to consume an unlimited amount of calories. Food is an addiction like drugs and alcohol. You can have all the surgeries you want, but until the person figures out why they became that way and employs cognitive/behavioral therapy to alter their behaviors, they will never achieve successful weight loss. I see myself in so many of these people on TV and that is why I choose to use every available resource to get me to goal and beyond. That includes seeing a therapist on a regular basis. Hope that makes sense!

You're six weeks out. Regain DOES happen. There is no "magic" weight loss surgery where you do not have to do any work. Remember these stories when you are further out and are able to eat more so that you do not become one of the statistics.

I am only two weeks post op and I already find myself getting spooked by stories of regain.  90% of the time, I am feeling hopeful and optimistic but then those posts scare me into the negative thoughts place.  I think about sabotaging my eventual success and going back to feeling like I screwed up again.  I stand by my decision to have the surgery but I do feel it was drastic and my last hope.  The thought of reversing this step scares me immensely as I know that would be my absolute worst failure.  I also have this irrational fear that my sleeve/stomach wasn't made small enough...what if my procedure doesn't work.  I start to second guess everything.

For me, that thinking will get me into far more trouble then my actual addiction to food.  The information about regain down the road is important to know and I hope if I am ever in that place I can use the support here to help get on track but for now, I need to focus on getting information and motivation from the success stories.

most of the time I visualize myself, looking and feeling the way I have wanted to for so long.  And then I read a post that switches my thinking.  It's like a train wreck you don't want to see but can't look away.

So my goal is to use this website as a tool for what I need from it.  I'm not naive to challenges down the road but for now...I am 2 weeks post op...losing more weight in this short time then I have been able to the last few years combined,   Tolerating my prescribed diet and benefitting from a fairly easy recovery.  That's my happy place right now so I am going day by day.

 

staceyp1105, you took the words right out of my mouth. But you said it better then I could have done.  I think I am on the right track and then I get scared I am going to back slide and gain it all back. 

Happyteacher nailed it.  But don't forget milkshakes, coffee drinks and sugary colas.  The list goes on and on.