Hopeful to be full

all the pain you experienced aside, my first fill was disappointing restriction-wise also. I started out with nothing in my band. And my first fill, and all fills since, have been 1 cc. I have had 3 fills and am I 3cc and I'm just starting to feel restriction. I'll tell you what others have told me. "Hang in there. it will happen for you". Also to feel the best possible restriction eat substantial food texture-wise (like fish, chicken, low fat cheese, and vegetables like broccoli and carrots) things that will stay in your pouch and make you feel full. I am trying to do a better job choosing food as well. GOOD LUCK! STAY STRONG!

In addition to what people have said already...I would greatly recommend getting protein water ready-mix powder. There are two types I like. The first is by the company Designer Whey and has a red rasberry flavor. It can be found in most food store chains in the diet/vitamins/protein bar drink sections of the store. The other mix I like is by Kellogs and comes in pink lemonade and strawberry kiwi. Both varieties have about 30-40 cal per pack and about 8g of protein. If you like you can also get something called Isopure (low carb variety is best) at GNC. This will help keep you hydrated and feeing a little fuller than water.

background.I started my journey november 30th 2011 weighing in at 250 lbs. three months later i weigh 234 lbs. I have had two fills (my next one is tomorrow and i'm nervous) bringing me to 2cc in my 14cc band. my doctor fills 1cc at a time. that's it (no negotiation on that one)! I AM EXERCISING AND I AM TRACKING MY FOOD (but i have trouble stopping when i've cross my cal limit) I am feeling a little ashamed, defeated and nervous about going in for my 3rd fill tomorrow. I have not lost a lb. since my last fill a month ago. I am ashamed that I haven't done a better job with my diet. I don't want my doctor to think that I don't care or that I'm just another failure patient that can't get their act together. Like a lot of other bandsters out there I struggle with portion control, carb control, and especially snacking. I am an emotional eater and deal with almost every emotion or mood with food. Yes, there are times when I do well and say no to my urges, but more often than not I give in. As a result, I'm not losing as fast as I would like. Obviously I have some deep food issues or I wouldn't have gotten fat or needed surgery to begin with, right? Today I took the time to go over the materials (diet recommendations) that were giving to me before my surgery to help get me back on track. I am definately not following the portions that were recommended to me all the time (I admit my shortcomings), but I'm just not full after 3oz. of food. So far my band has not helped me 100% of the time with portion control. I can still eat too much (although way less than I was eating before surgery). Sometimes I just fee like the band and I aren't working well together yet. And I felt really frustrated while reading the diet recommendations again. for example NO SNACKING. If I could eliminate snacking altogether myself I wouldn't need the band!!! I thought the band would help with hunger more and give me a full feeling, right? I dunno.THIS IS BAND HELL. I CAN'T SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL YET HELP! Perhaps I'm disillusioned when it comes to what the band can do for me. Or maybe I'm just in bandster hell and the band isn't working at full compacity yet. I dunno. I just had to get all these feeling off my chest. Sometimes I think I will definately fail, that I am a failure and then I give up and eat. or I think I will fail anyways so I sabotage myself with food. (maybe deep down I'm so used to fail I will myself to fail) How do I get rid of these negative thoughts????? Has anyone ever felt this way in their journey???? Thank you for taking the time to give me some insights into how you made your journey a sucess

hello. i am almost 3 months post-op as well. i was banded nov. 30th 2011. i can relate to not "feeling it 100%". i am in banster hell and my body is holding on to my weight with a death grip. i have pretty much stopped losing weight and i'm so bummed. i have had two fills and can't wait to get some restriction. somedays i'm like "why did i do this" but i try to remember that i HAVE lost weight, just not as much as i wanted to and that i don't have much in my band. i am going to try to do better, drink more water, stop snacking, exercise more etc. i will have to start doing better than my best if that's what it takes. good luck on your journey

hey sexymomma. sometimes i'm "getting sad" too. like a lot of other people i thought this journey would be easier than it has been. i was banded the day before you and so far i have lost a little over 20 lbs. this frustrates me. it is going so slllllllllooooww. like you, i don't have a lot in my band. i have had 2 fills and have 2cc in my 14cc band. i feel so behind other that were banded at the same time i was. i know i could do better with food choices, but i still feel i'm eating way less than i was before. ugh i know i need to stay under 1200 cal but this is difficult for me i have so many bad habits i need to change!

Background: I ate "dinner" at 6 o clock (fish and yogurt). went to church. now i'm up to bat again at the plate-the dinner plate hahaha! not good. and now that it's night and i'm feeling blue i eat another even bigger dinner. I grew up as a grazer. I would eat a little here. Go Play. eat a little there. do my homework. eat some more. And it was all okay. I was a tiny kid/young adult that was healthy and hopeful. As I have gotten older this mode of eating has been slowly waging a war against my waistline. A little bit here and there has turned into a big problem. I guess now the major differance now is that my grazing portions have really increased...eat a lot here. eat a lot there. eat....eat....eat... Now for me grazing provides an opportunity to avoid responsibility for my food and my life. Grazing whenever I feel sad or upset helps me to avoid the problems in my life. Grazing also allows me to trump the food journal system. If I can't remember (or choose not to remember) what i ate because it was a bite here and there, then I can't write it down and feel bad about it. Food journalling makes me feel depressed. So I figure if I'm eating in weird patterns and ways I can somehow avoid the pain of accountability. I really don't know what else to say, other than I need help. Are there any other hardcore grazers out there? how did u face up to what you were actually eating. what rules or strategies did you use?

Do not panic. Sometimes i feel the exact same way (why did i do this) those are my bad days. I have surgery in Nov and I'm only down 24lbs. But I also only have 2 cc's in my band, pretty much no restriction, and living on will power. Like you I lost a lot of weight in the pre-op/right after surgery phase-and that makes sense since i was on a crazy diet/just out of surgery and in too much pain to eat. I will tell you what I tell myself everyday, BE PATIENT. EVERYONE LOSES AT DIFFERENT RATES. i don't know why your doctor would compare you to another patient. YOU HAVE NOT HAD ANY FILLS SO DON'T BE UPSET! you can't have much restriction and so you aren't even able to use the tool you paid for YET, BUT YOU WILL! AND THAT'S THE GOOD NEWS! (telling myself as well) don't despair, you are just starting your journey and there will be ups, downs, smiles, and frowns but u can do it!

Dear BansterWorld, I need help. Background: I was banded nov.30th. since then i have lost about 24 lbs (mostly in the week before/after surgery). I have a 14 cc band. I received my first fill jan 12th (1cc) and i just got my second fill tues (also 1cc). Ugh I am struggling soooooooooooo much. I've pretty much stopped losing weight. I only lost 1 lb between my first fill and my second.I have no restriction and I'm having trouble controlling myself. I KNOW I SHOULDNT' BE FREAKING OUT. MY DOCTOR IS HAPPY WITH MY PROGRESS and told me I was doing okay. But I still feel worried. When I decided I wanted the surgery I wasn't aware how conservative my doctor is with fills. He is very adament about following the manufactor's directions to fill the band slowly and avoid complications. He assures me "this has all been researched extensively" and the slow fill process is what's best. OKAY I GET IT. I believe what he says but it doesn't help the impatience I feel. I am an emotional eater. I eat when I'm sad. I eat when I'm happy. I eat when I'm bored. I eat for every emotion and there's always another emotion to eat. I don't know what to do and I feel lost. I would like to hear from other emotional eaters on how they have conquered their problems with eating (especially eating too often). Today was a really bad day. I felt like I had to eat every 3 hrs and I ate some peanut butter M and M's (I hardly ever eat candy) because I felt frustrated about the situation. I JUST WANT SOME INSIGHT ON HOW PEOPLE GOT TO THE POINT WHERE THEY EXPERIENCED MORE SUCCESS THAN FAILURES when it came to emotional eating. Right now I feel like I've had some success, but not enough to outnumber my failures and allow me to lose weight.

good advice. wow i can't believe you survived on 800 calories a day! that's impressive, very impressive! right now i always feel hungry so i can't imagine doing that without going crazy! i guess i just don't have the selfcontrol u do. i guess i will have to revaluate my plan and try harder

i know how you feel. i was banded at the end of november. i have lost about 25 lbs so far. however the majority of this weight was lost the week before and the week after surgery. i have had one fill (which was 1cc)so far. I am frustrated. I have another fill scheduled for tues. so hopefully i will get some restriction. i dunno somedays i'm like "why did i do this" but i have to remind myself that "I AM losing weight" (even if it doesn't feel like it, it's a mindset). And i remind myself that until i got the surgery my weight was going the other way up and up and up. so the weight i have lost is an improvement nonetheless. I wish you much luck on your journey! Just try to remember you're not alone, there are others, like me, that lose slowly. we are out there, you just might not here from us as much because we feel sad or disappointed with our progress and don't want to share. you tend to here more from the people that drop like crazy. anyways best of luck

I AM THERE NOW! i was banded nov. 30th also. i started @ 257 lost 10 preop and 10 in the two weeks after surgery and like 2-3 lbs since then. i haven't been working out like you have, but my scale isn't really moving either. I always feel hungry and don't stay full long....i can't say i've been perfect with the snacking like you, but i'm eating so much less i still thought i wouold lose more than this. then again i only have 1cc in a 14 cc band. i guess i just need some more fills

I had my first fill ( 1 cc) January 12th , two weeks ago, and I have only lost maybe 2 lbs (if that). So what you're saying sounds about right to me. My doc didn't say how much I would lose per week or anything. He just said "you will only lose some" until you get proper restriction (whatever "some" means). I think we probably shouldn't compare ourselves to others about losing weight and fills cause some people start with fluid in their band while others (like me) started with nothing. Some people have larger bands as far as cc's (like I do) and others have smaller bands. Some people start out at 400 lbs other are 200. Obviously if you started out at 300 lbs you will lose a lot faster in the beginning than someone who has less to lose. It's all relative so DON'T DRIVE YOURSELF NUTS WITH COMPARISONS. SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE DOING JUST FINE!

i dunno, i think maybe you are consuming too LITTLE especially on gym days. i tend to think that 800 calories is the very left on the spectrum of necessary calories for a band patient. but you know what works best for you. it looks like you're losing weight so it must be working for you. me on the other hand, i'm loosing really slowly cause i only have 1 cc in my band (no restriction AT ALL) so just enjoy that fact that you're losing and don't stress about an extra yogurt or cheese here or there or you'll drive yourself crazy and end up eating more thatn you intended

thanks this was really great to hear....when did you lose the majority of the 35 lbs? does it really get THAT much better with restriction? were u a snacker??? if so, how did u break the habit

Dear LapBand World, Here's my story I started out at 257lbs and lost 10 pre-op. On November 30th the day of surgery I weighed 247lbs. In the two weeks after surgery I lost 10 more lbs and was down to 237. Since then I have only lost 2 more lbs. I had my first fill January 12th and haven't really noticed a differance in restriction. I have a 14 cc band and my doctor fills only 1 cc at a time.THE REASON I AM WRITING ALL THIS IS BECAUSE I'M NOT LOOSING LIKE I THOUGHT I WOULD. I have only lost 22 lbs so far and most of it was shortly before and shortly after banding. IS THIS BANDSTER HELL????? I try to eat what I'm supposed to by I tend to overeat, obviously or I wouldn't have needed the surgery to begin with. I'm worried because I see others on this forum loosing more weight and I FEEL LIKE A FAILURE. My questions are when did you start to REALLY REALLY loose weight??? AND how does restriction help with weight loss once you get it?????? I am tracking my food and exercising although i could do better with both. any other suggestions???

Dear LapBand World, Here's my story I started out at 257lbs and lost 10 pre-op. On November 30th the day of surgery I weighed 247lbs. In the two weeks after surgery I lost 10 more lbs and was down to 237. Since then I have only lost 2 more lbs. I had my first fill January 12th and haven't really noticed a differance in restriction. I have a 14 cc band and my doctor fills only 1 cc at a time.THE REASON I AM WRITING ALL THIS IS BECAUSE I'M NOT LOOSING LIKE I THOUGHT I WOULD. I have only lost 22 lbs so far and most of it was shortly before and shortly after banding. IS THIS BANDSTER HELL????? I try to eat what I'm supposed to by I tend to overeat, obviously or I wouldn't have needed the surgery to begin with. i know i'm eating more than i should( and i'm working on it) but i still am eating ALOT LESS THAN I USED TO. I'm worried because I see others on this forum loosing more weight and I FEEL LIKE A FAILURE. My questions are when did you start to REALLY REALLY loose weight??? AND how does restriction help with weight loss once you get it?????? I am tracking my food and exercising although i could do better with both. any other suggestions??? Should i be panicking??? or is any of this normal

Before my surgery I was a peeing machine. I drank a lot and peed a lot. But after my surgery things changed. First of all despite all the IV liquid in me and all the liquid I was drinking, I felt I didn't have to go as often. And I was contipated for days too. I think it has to do with all the pain medicine they give you and also your body trying to recover. So don't worry about it...obviously it happens to some people

I can totally identify with the guilt feeling. Today I ate 2ish or 3ish cookies at my sister's house. Which was totally wrong because i'm still in the pureed/soft foods stage. Ofcouse i had NO TROUBLE eating the cookie, those things really do slide right through you! It's tough because the healthy things (like fish) sometimes get stuck and come back up. Ugh I just tell myself that NO ONE IS PERFECT and this are NOT FAILURES, just MISTEPS. You have to overcome that zebra ( black and white) thinking that tells us we are all wrong or all right, on our diet or completely off it. We try our best and have misteps but GET RIGHT BACK ON TRACK! Good luck, loved your post.

great job, way to go! any loss is a good loss, right! celebrate!

I sympathize with food mourning. Although I never really delighted in "fast food" per se, I still had a funeral for my favorite indulgences. I used to be a big fan of starbucks lattes and have since cut back to drinking iced coffee with soy milk. I used to love love love bread, sometimes i'd eat 6 pieces a day...no more. can't risk getting stuck on bread, the closest thing i can have is croutons. It's easier to say goodbye to food when you think about HOW FOOD IS HOLDING YOU BACK. When you concentrate on what being thin will mean to you it's easier to give up that whopper or big mac. not all the time, you will still be tempted, but it kinda takes the edge off some cravings and puts them in their place as food porn that doesn't have to be indulged in because a real "relationship" with food is so much more fufilling than a fling with a burger.

I don't think you will stretch your band TOO EASILY with liquid, but u shouldn't have to worry about whether it's a possibility...start measuring your food, even if u do eat it slowly. just try your best and remember that sucess is more important that food. i know how u feel, i'm in bandster hell as we speak. today i ate too much too. it's hard but WE CAN DO IT

that's easy you should be eating 2 to 3 oz meals. i don't have a pic, but all you need to do is measure your food , that's a little over 1/4 a cup of food. portion test: if it doesn't look like a lot of food, then it's the right size meal! lol

REMEMBER PEOPLE...just because you can DOESN'T mean you should. if i ate everything i could eat, i'd be right back to where i started, so i don't, or TRY MY BEST not to. i'm new at all this too, but until i hit my sweet spot i know i have to use will power and work with my band, not test it with large amounts of food

not to be a nay sayer, but i have to agree with your doc on this one all the way. the band is made to create a pouch that holds 4-5oz. and that's how large your meals should be, anything more will yes, stretch the pouch. that's half a cup of food! a better meal would be 2-2.5 chicken tenderloins which might make up 2-3 oz. and your starch would equal 2 oz or a few bites of potato or cottage cheese (not both). i know i'm being harsh but only because you paid good money to do this right, after all u are paying your doc to hold u accountable.

the reason u felt stuck before is because u were swollen from surgery. now the swelling has gone down u dont have restriction anymore. you need to use willpower not to overeat until u get filled. it's the only way.