I had Gastric Bypass over a year ago and I need support and advice

I was only 19 when I had the surgery. I was 5'4" and about 300lbs I had high cholesterol and blood pressure and was told many times if I didnt do something I could be dead by the time I was 23.  Thing is, I dont want to make excuses but I lost my little brother when I was 15 and went into a deep depression and gained weight like crazy, something had to be done.  I do regret it now but I cannot take it back.  I looked great last summer but I am gaining weight back and I need support.  I just bought a gym pass and need to stop being lazy and get up and do it and I need to stop eating junk food everyday.  Its just so hard when all my friends dont have to worry about their weight the way I do and seems like they can eat whatever and I end up doing the same thing.  I am having a hard time finding recipes for someone who has had gastric bypass cause I tend to get sick from a lot of foods.  I could use any advice I could possibly get.  My 21st bday is a little over a month away and I want to be able to be in pictures and not feel disgusting.  Please help!

What I'm hearing here is that you're an emotional eater.  You need to figure out why you're doing this to yourself.  I'd suggest that you find some professional help.  A good therapist can help you come up with strategies to avoid eating and help with your depression.  You should be able to find someone in your area that can see you on an income based fee schedule so that you can afford to see them.

hi there.

first of all i'm so sorry that you lost your brother - it must be incredibly difficult for you

i'm afraid i don't have any advice on the special recipes! but it does sound like you may need to look deeper to find you reasons for overeating.

hopefully you had some counselling when  your brother died, but some more may help you out if you see that event as the root of your overeating

hope you find this helpful. stay strong and positive and start eating healthy and going to the gym today, not tomorrow.

there but for the grace of . . .

i concur with everyone else-- it sounds like you have an emotional eating disorder. i've been there myself.

you've got to figure out what emotion is triggering your binge-eating and learn to conquer it. it's not an easy thing to do. i'm still struggling with it. one thing that helped me to figure out that i was binge-eater was to keep a log of what i ate, when, when i felt the urge to binge, and what was going on around the time i felt the urge to binge. i realized i had a problem with anger and frustration. anger and frustration used to send me right to the cookie jar.

on a side note, i was nearly there with gastric bypass myself. i was 5'4", 225 and researching it on the internet. i thank god that i read the diary of this woman who was going for the surgery and died from it. that scared me straight into the hard work of losing it all naturally.

a year later, i read about this woman who was my own starting height and weight who did have the surgery but didn't change any of her other habits. she'd lost 50 pounds in a year without doing anything. by exercising and restricting my calories, i'd lost 80. just think how much she would have lost if she'd been exercising, too!

First I would like to say congrats on stepping up and asking for help.

I had Gastric bypass 5 years ago and it completely changed my life. Some for the good, some for the bad.

I am about 5ft 3 and before WLS I weighed 325. After WLS I got down to 188. I got married almost two years ago and put on about 18lbs within 6months. I was extremely happy but got way too comfortable. Then after 6 months of trying I got pregnant with my first child. When I got pregnant my starting weight was 214 then I put on 38 lbs with pregnancy. After my baby I was 252. I dropped 18lbs right away and now I am at 228 and going down, slowly, but going down.

Any ways, I have had the worst time of the years finding support and information on how to eat. I knew WLS was a tool and not a cure but I fell into the trap of eating way more than I should be. Sure most of my weight gain was with my pregnancy but now I am dealing with the aftermath.

I have always known I am an emotional eater and I will always battle weight.

For me, I realized even though I eat way less than I was before surgery I am still eating throughout the day and for a while I was making horrible descisions.

I am not sure how many calories you are eating in a day but this site is a great way to find out. Try logging everything, figure out how much you eat in a day and then go from there.

I wish I had recipies for you. I really just try and watch everything I eat/cook.

My point in writting this novel is so you know you are not alone. I am sure there are many others on this site that have had WLS and we just don't know it.

What weight are you at now? please feel free to message me directly. Maybe we can start our own little group on here :)

In 10 to 20 years from now when all of your friends have slowly gained weight and not changed their diet and/or exercise routine, you will be well ahead of the game. It really does matter.

My mother in law had wls a few years ago....she still to this day eats bell peppers (red are her favorite) and cottage cheese every day...it's one of her staples that she really enjoy's....I think it might be helpful to you to meet with a nutritionist to go over what are good things for you to eat to make sure you get all your nutrition in and stay low on calories....I also think it might be helpful for you to go see a counselor and maybe talk about things to figure out why you are haveing the troubles you are haveing....and if you don't want to see a counselor try to find a friend that you can talk to that understands and who will be there to support you.....My mom is an emotional eater and when she is struggleing she will call me and we will have a nice chat sometimes about what is bugging her and sometimes just to take her mind off of food..... Whatever you decide to do Good luck and just remember you have come so far and you CAN do it!!!!

My wife had the Lap-Band surgery a year ago.  I'm concerned about how little she can eat. I know she is not getting the vitamins and nutrients she needs.  She only eats about 500 to 1000 calories every day. As far as recipe books go. I bought one somewhere online that was specifically for weight loss surgery. I looked everywhere at home and couldn't find it.

 My wife has a hard time with anything soft.  Breads really choke her. Her doctor specifically told to eat lots of lean protein. And not to snack. Her stomach can only hold about a cup of food.  It is easy for her to eat every couple hours. So, the surgery in itself is not the answer. Just like everyone else trying to loose weight. WLS patients have to eat less calories than you burn.

As with any Lap Band or Gastric bypass.....Bread, pasta, rice, cereal are in general something to avoid.  It fills you without any nutrition.  She should opt more of the vegetables, fruit (not juice), meats, fish, chicken, light yogurt, skim milk, salads, etc.  Soft food is suppose to be easy on the gastric bypass or lap banding patient.  Red meat is the hardest meat to digest after surgery even after two years since the surgery. I have had a gastric bypass two years ago and have managed to keep the weight down.  Dr has warned me anyone CAN gain weight. To prevent it, you must follow the doctor's food rules to keep it there. Excericse and vitamin in take are very important in maintaining your weight.  These gastrologist that do these surgeries always expect you to understand that this surgery has alot of effort on the patient itself, and IT IS A LIFETIME COMMITMENT.

research on the website put in words like "weight gain after gastric bypass" and alot of information will pop up.  I learned alot from it and it has worked well for me.  These websites are my support group. I hope this helps many.