Dawnzy

Another starry eyed bandster meets reality.
Many bandsters ignore the warnings and advice of the doctors, nutritionists and support goups, in favor of the utopian ramblings of the very very few who meet extreme success immediately after surgery?
I somewhat recall a year ago as I was going through the seminars, doctor visits, support groups and reading this forum that the weight will come off slowly. But I don't recall anyone mentioning "Bandster Hell"? I've commented on BH numerous times and probably will in the future.
I lost 12 lbs the first 30 days. Then nothing for the next 3.5 months. It took me 6 fills and 6 months to finally get to the green zone. I started losing weight again in my 5th month. Slowly, very slowly losing weight. 40-50 lbs of weight loss by November is unrealistic for most of us. If you weigh 350 lbs, it's possible to lose that much but only because you're carrying around about 40 lbs of excess fluids trapped in your fat cells. So you can lose weight but not necessarily fat.
Your band is not tight enough most likely and won't be for a few fills. It happens to almost all of us. You will have hunger problems until you get some restriction. B-52 is a forum member and he always says: "Until there's restriction, it's just another diet"! This is so true.
So, almost all of us have been where you are and many of us were disappointed the band didn't start to work miracles immediately. I know I was. Brace yourself for a long journey but a journey worth taking. Hang in there, it will get better, slowly.
tmf

I think it has to be said that if you do not start out following the rules what are you going to be doing 6 months down the road? When you are suppose to be healing you should follow the rules to the best of your ability. Everybody seems to be giving you support for not following the rules that were made for your well being. I would have wanted people to tell me stop it and get back on track when I was starting out and could not have enough self control to stay on track. People are not being being mean by telling you . . . you are slipping up, take advantage of the time when you lose the most weight about the first 6 to 10 months.

That being said I think the fact that you are honest with yourself and others about your situation is a great step in the right direction. People who can be honest with themselves about what they ate and why they ate it are going to be sucessfull. So my advice to you is to stop eating what you are not suppose to follow the rules and stop testing the band, let it work with you. But . . .pat yourself on the back for being honest with yourself that is the hard part!!

Cheri

Cheri