Lolo~t

I understand your frustration but lossing 10lbs is still good!! Focus on the good!! I'm 1yr post op and not where I wanted to be!! I was 198 on the day of surgery so I started off with less to lose but had a reasonable goal of 145 after 1 yr!! I have struggle the last 5 months with little weight loss!! Due to life changes moving and stressors it's been hard to do right!! I have also STILL not reached the "green zone" and I currently at 7cc in a 11cc band. Just got to 7cc today!! The doctor is my new one since the move but he said not to lose hope!! Just keep with it!! I'm also taking meds that increase my appetite which makes my journey even harder!! I have to remind myself daily that I can do this!! That I'm strong!! And after 1 yr I have to remind myself where I was!! I was a sz 16-18 pants at the beginning and now I'm a sz 8 so although the scale isn't where I want the inches are going!! That's another good thing to do!! Measure yourself!! That way you can see the changes there sometimes there is no weight change but the are inches going!! Don't lose hope!! I remind myself still and we must continue reminding ourself a daily forever!! It's a life journey and you just started!! I recently got a tattoo..I'm a tattoo girl...lol but it was my way to help me remember to believe in myself!! And it's on my wrist so when I exercise and eat I see it!! It's my way of remember I can do it!! We all have our things that's mine...find something to help you keep the faith in yourself!! It helps!!! Good luck!! We all support each other!

I know you feel frustrated right now, it's completely normal. Just remember this is just temporary!!! Until you can find that "sweet" spot which for some comes quicker than for others. Until then just focus on making the healthiest choices possible, be sure you're getting 60-80g of Protein per day, 80 oz of Water, some sort of movement and eventually the scale has no choice but to start moving. Until then focus on your Non-scale victories (NSV's) no matter how small you think they may be they all matter. Right now you're probably losing some inches so try to gauge your loss by more than just the # on the scale. How are your clothes fitting, have you noticed an increase in energy etc. Don't give up, you just started and trust me the rewards that are waiting for you up ahead and far greater than you can imagine right now!!!!
Can you give us an example of what you're eating and how much on a daily basis so maybe we can help further?

I had my lap band surgery 6 weeks ago and lost 18 pounds so far - YAY! However, I am still struggling with eating more slowly and, yes, I've had episodes of PB (ewwww) but I've been gulping my food all my life and I'm struggling with this very important part of my new life post-lapband.
I welcome all suggestions and stories on how others have learned how to slow down their eating so I can be successful long-term with my own.
Thanks all!
Mary

12 days post op
And starving !

I am getting to this point as well. I go for my first fill next week. It was like the hunger returned overnight with a vengeance. I have found the support from Dr Cobourn's office to be amazing. We just need to keep our heads in the game and focus on the prize. Hang in there and know your not alone in your journey.

I thought I would post this picture to show you all that sometimes the scales are a big liar!
I took the first photo on January 25th of this year and the second photo was taken today(almost a month later). I have lost no weight according my scales but I can definitely see a difference in my thighs/hips!

I had my surgery Nov 2013. I weighed 353 pounds. I had no idea how big I really was. I was in denial. I finally made the choice to be a better me. I have lost over a 100lbs. It's has taken me blood sweat and tears. I would do it over again. I still have 47 more pounds till my goal weight.

Hello. A week after my surgery I got sick, real bad nausea, had to go back to Dr, to get Fluid removed. Since then I'm sooo much better, I don't regret it anymore. Last week on Sunday I weighed myself and I'm 15lbs down ???? . I go this Friday for my 1 month follow up

Just left goodwill with 4 pairs of work pants for 15. My husband asked if they all fit. I said one does, the others will next week..lol!

I hit 180 this morning and am pretty over the moon about that. Perspective is such an interesting thing, because even though it's a long time ago I clearly recall the horror of that number on the scale when I was first putting on serious weight. As I tried to get those pounds off I went over time from 180 into the nineties and then over the two hundred mark. I remember the shame of that 203 weigh-in and all the feelings it brought up for me. I coiled myself tighter inside then, shrunk my "self" while my physical body was expanding. I went all the way up to 252 feeling like such a failure all the while. Now I feel at peace with my body and 180 feels fabulous.
Fourteen months ago I was very excited and hopeful as I embarked on this project. Project Me. I was determined to be a success but I don't think I could really fathom what a joy this return to self would feel like. For those of you starting out, know that it takes time. I am not setting any weight loss records but I am healthy and happy and now on my way into the seventies. Then my goal will be to put the seventies behind me. I know that will take a little while, but in the grand scheme of things 70+ pounds down in fourteen months is, for me, a miracle. Especially since I know I would have just gained another five or ten in that time, as that had been my pattern for quite some time.
Here's to new patterns and all of our successes. And to smaller jean sizes along the way......

Just packed up all my oversized towels to bring down to Florida to use on the chaise lounges down at the pool. I replaced them all with 'regular' bath towels because the oversized ones are way too big for me. I can wrap it around me almost twice and I can't tuck it in because it's too heavy now.. Never thought I'd have to replace my towels of all things...

Hello again
I thought I'd add Fiona (Blonde) & my (dark hair) photo here too.
together we've lost 390 pounds
I've lost 167 & she's lost 203 !
This is a fantastic thread !! luvving yer work peeps !
Aud x

Thanks for starting the thread. It IS inspiriring to see everyone. Here's my current before/after.
Mary

Here are my before/inprogress pics....I do need to update the recent pics.. but until then down -135.5 pounds Praise The Lord!

Not the best before or after.. I am down 75 lbs. Like you Michelle I had an unfill since Sept. I just went back 2 weeks ago but they started me out slow so I have NO restriction. Going for another fill on 2/9/05. I was banded on 8/12/03. Gained 8 lbs since being unfilled .

Recent pics

This is just the kind of thread I need today. When I start to get discouraged, I try to get out my before photos and not only look at the difference physically, but feel how different I am inside as well.
Thanks, Lisa for doing this!
I've lost another 10 since this photo but I don't have a new one scanned in yet. I'll work on getting a new one scanned in this weekend.
Megan

I started to type this in response to another post...Then stopped. I did not want that OP to feel I was criticizing her/him.
I read post here everyday from people seeking "Self Control" and "You can do it", etc, etc.
So I started this post, and this is in reference to ME, and MY experiences only! And also to the Lap band...don't know what other WLS's are like. Can only speak about myself and my Lap band.
You're looking for self control....?????
For myself, I have absolutely no self control...I could eat all day, non stop...an empty pit...
That is what made me "Morbidly Obese" and was affecting my health...killing me to be specific.
So, as a last resort, I had WLS, specifically Lap Band...
Through restriction (as people like to refer it to), that is where I found my self control...it's the band, not me...
I tried loosing weight over the past 30+ years, and failed miserably at every attempt. I had NO self control. If I did, I would not be Obese!!!
And I was not Obese, then I would not have needed WLS and I would not be sitting here typing this right now.
Last summer, I was feeling pretty good about myself, having been 100% successful for 3 years, and went in and asked to have 1/2 cc taken out.
Dr. and staff said I was doing excellent, why mess with something if it's not broken?
But they did it, because I asked them to...call it an experiment.
BIG MISTAKE! The self control I thought I had, disappeared !!!...I started to eat more, a lot more with less control...
It took that little to tip the cart...that perfect balance...the old ways began to swiftly come back....
I went back and had that 1/2 cc put back in ASAP! The people there had a good chuckle at my expense saying "I told you so"
So yes, call it an experiment, and now I am certain...IT IS The Band! and Not Me!
Without the band, I loose self control with food and eating....the band is where my control comes from.
There was a post, where the OP said they had good restriction, the band was working, yet they had no self control and could not stop eating........I'm sorry. But in my experience anyway, it can't go both ways...if you have no self control, then the band is not working...or you never had surgery....
Least that is the way it is for me.
Ever since then, when I read various posts about this and that problem, issue, I want to scream..."Why are you talking that way...., you did have WLS didn't you?"
Yet I read posts and the discussion could easily have been cut and pasted from any weight loss site, and not that where people had surgery....
It's early, maybe I'm being nit-pickey....but like I said n the beginning as a disclaimer, , this is how I feel about My surgery....this is why I had surgery....and that's my focus when I come to this site.....
WLS, specifically Lap band, has done for me what I could never have done on my own....

I had my first fill 4 weeks after surgery...4cc's
was told to come back in another 4 weeks, and that I would be coming in every 4 weeks for at least 6 months.
Anyway, after my first fill, I started to GAIN WEIGHT!!! I too was a little hesitant about going in for my second post op visit...
My Dr. laughed at me....said all new patients are the same, we just don't "get It"
He explained everything the best he could to me, how the band worked, it is adjustable and can take time, explained why I had to come in every 4 weeks, explained the "Yellow-Green-Red" zone poster he had hanging on the wall.....
So he gave me my second fill, 2cc's for a total of 6, which was 8 weeks after surgery. After my second fill I stopped gaining weight....really did not loose either, just held steady until I came in for my 3rd fill....now 12 weeks after surgery...he gave me only 1cc, which now came to 7cc's total.....
That last fill, of 1cc, put me over the top fir sure....like many people here reported, I could not keep anything down, even trouble with liquids...this went on for weeks. called him to get that last 1cc taken out, but he talked me into waiting it out a little longer....I'm glad he did. It was not the band that was the problem, it was me...I had to to change to meet the expectations of the band....but that's another story.
I read posts her everyday from people, many who have just has surgery withing the last 90 days, sometimes as little as a week or two, complaining or rejoicing about the weight they either loosing or not loosing....
IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!!! We're talking about something that will change you for the rest of your life (if you let it)...it takes time to get it all balanced out...took me 4-6 months before the band really kicked in and I started to loose consistently....took around a year before I started to feel comfortable and normal living well within the Green Zone...been there ever since, longer I'm there the EASIER it gets!
EASIEST THING I COULD HAVE EVER DONE!!!! But getting there was the hard part!
It's now 4 years and I don't think about it all that much...what and how to eat is now second nature, normal.
So to all those just starting out, stop and think about it.....give it a chance...give it time....and start now to learn the lessons that you will need to survive later down the road as the band starts to do it's thing. Lessons like a new way of eating. Which foods to give up. What kind of foods to concentrate on...and most importantly IMO, is how to "LISTEN" to your band, learn how it will speak to you and what it is trying to say....if you get stuck, etc, it's saying something!!!
And remember, in spite of the negative posts, this thing DOES WORK!
I have no fear of the Holidays, no needed strategies or challenges (other than enjoy myself) because I have learned to live with the band and let it dictate everything. Not me.

Get a fill. Its a tool to help you not a punishment. Losing weight and maintaining it is hard work. Be kind to yourself. Give yourself a break get the fill and go back to basics. X hope that helps.

Today is 11 weeks post-op for me.
I weighed myself this morning to find a 0 loss. I'm not too concerned about it but I am just a little frustrated because it makes for only a 1kg loss in 3 weeks.
I am getting my 3rd fill today which should be .5ml which will make 4ml in my band.
I do really think that I am very close to the green zone and am hoping that will happen with this fill. I know that should move things along a little.
I know I will get there, it's just hard to not get frustrated at times.

Can I just just start by saying that I've worked out that I'll never work out how the human body works.

Somehow this week, I've managed to lose 1.9kg bringing my total to 16.4kg lost. How this has happened I'm not quite sure, I haven't really done anything different and I haven't exercised at all this week.

Maybe it's .5ml fill I had in my last week coming in to play? Maybe it's my body catching up with the slow couple of weeks previous? Maybe it's a multitude of things? Who knows?????

One thing I do know for sure though is that I am beyond thrilled with it. It's just the encouragement I need to continue pushing forward...

I hope everyone else is having a great week too...


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