MistyD65

How many calories a day are you getting? It's quite possible that you are not getting enough. You've gotta have fuel for the machine! You may need to look at your food choices and pick things with more calories (but still healthy, of course), if you aren't able to eat more volume of food. At my present weight, and with a goal of losing 2 pounds a week, thedailyplate.com recommends that I take in 1600 a day!! I haven't managed to get up that high, but when I increased my intake to between 1300-1400 a day I finally got off my plateau.

Start:231.7 Memorial Day Goal:224 Memorial Day Reality: 229.2 Adjusted July 4th Goal: 220 Adjusted Bandiversary (8/4) Goal: 214 Well, I'm not going to meet my first goal (darn you TOM!!!), and I should probably adjust my final goal, but I'll wait on that. As of the 15th I had lost 3.5 lbs toward my goal for Memorial Day, but this week I put back on 1 lb - Water weight plus a bit of hormonal eating :w00t:. But that's still 2.5 lost since the start of the challenge. Onward and upward....or rather, downward! :wink2:

Wow, you have done great so far! Congratulations! You don't need to eat less - you need to eat more! If you are walking 2 miles a day and doing crunches, your body needs much more than 900-1000 calories a day. The reason for the slow down in your weight loss is that your metabolism has adjusted to the amount of calories you are giving it. I have seen this in myself. I had been at a plateau for a while, gaining and losing the same few pounds. I started tracking my food at The Daily Plate, and the first thing that shocked me was the number of calories it said I needed to eat to lose 2 pounds a week - 1650 a day! I tracked for the first week, pretty much eating what I had been, and discovered that I was seldom getting even 1200 a day. So, for the next weeks my goal was to up my intake. I couldn't quite bring myself to go up to 1650, but I kept it between 1350 and 1450. I lost just under 2 pounds the first week and just over 2 pounds the second week! Give it a try! Don't go overboard, but try adding 200-300 "good" calories each day. Your body will thank you!

I had a gain this week, but I kind of expected it since it's TOM. Still aggravating, though. :thumbup: Last week: 228.2 This week: 229.2 Gain of 1 pound.

There is a lot of truth in that article. If it were presented in a more balanced way, and not as an advertisement for Kimkins, it would be a good thing for everyone who is thinking about the band, or any WLS, to read. People need to know the hard as well as the easy, but if all they do is go to a seminar, they are seldom going to get the whole picture. That's why this forum is such a great resource - it really gives a "warts and all" perspective, and allows you to see all sides then make the best choice for yourself. Potential WLS patients NEED to know these things. I think it would prevent a lot of the disappointment and discouragement we see, especially from people who went into surgery with unrealistic expectations. Having said that, I LOVE my band! I do struggle with the head hunger - it's a much harder thing to deal with than the physical hunger, at least for me. But I AM dealing with it, and getting better everyday. It is a series of concious choices. So, I took my red pencil to the article, to make it less one-sided.

You don't need another fill, and you probably need an unfill. You should be able to eat solids. If you get a slight unfill so that you are able to eat real food during the day, you won't be so ravenous at night.

At 3 weeks I was still on liquids. Perhaps it IS a matter of there still being some swelling for you, and your stomach isn't ready for anything more than liquids. At this point, I'd venture to say that if you can get and keep liquids down, to keep on doing that. That way, the area around your band can finish its healing without having to work so hard digesting mushies or solids. Above all, keep in contact with your doctor.

Edel, sounds like you are struggling. You are not alone. If you'll share with us, you are sure to get some good advice and support!

I had a homemade burger tonight! A 4 oz beef patty(made with onion soup mix and Worcestershire sauce) on a regular old hamburger bun, with light mayo, ketchup, a 2% milk cheese slice, and dill pickles. Granted, it took me the whole 30 minutes to eat it, and if I don't take small bites and chew well I start to get stuck. When I feel that start to happen I stop eating completely until the feeling goes away. Then I can finish the burger (after reheating it, lol). I don't have this meal often - once every couple of weeks - but it satisfies the burger craving!

Some people will always have trouble with bread, but you should be able to eat meats, as long as you are taking small bites and chewing well. You should not have to be on liquids only. So it does sound like you need to get some fill removed.

Actually, it seems like you are on track. Those first weeks are for healing, not loss. True, some people do drop a lot of weight right after surgery, but it is not a given. Some people even gain during the time they are adding soft, then solid foods back to their diets. A loss of 1-2 pounds a week is considered good. You are 12 weeks post-op, by my calculations, and have lost 19 pounds, so you are well within the range. Plus, you have only had one fill. It often takes several fills before a person finds that "sweet spot" with just the right amount of restriction. If you want to tell us more about what you are eating, what exercise you are doing, etc., I'm sure you'll get lots of advise. In the meantime, congratulate yourself on your accomplishments!:laugh:

Yes, NUT is nutritionist. Sliming usually accompanies PBing. It is the production of thick, sometimes foamy, saliva in your body's attempt to help move the stuck food. It's usually best to try to spit this out rather than swallow it, especially if you are having an extended stuck episode, because it ends up having the same effect as drinking - rather than helping the food go down, it just stacks up on top of the food and makes you more uncomfortable. (I speak from experience :laugh: )

I've got 2 NSVs! First, at my surgeon's support group last Tuesday, I spontaneously crossed my legs! We sit in nice office chairs around a conference table, and I just shifted my weight to the side a bit and, before I knew it, I had crossed my legs. Of course, I had to crow about it to my group, and they cheered for me! It's great to be able to share things like that with people who understand what an accomplishment it is. 2nd, today I went shopping for a dress to wear to my father's retirement ceremony. I picked out some 18s at Dress Barn, not sure if they would be big enough. I tried them on, and they were actually a bit big in places. There were some size 16 dresses left in the dressing room from an earlier shopper, and my sister convinced me to try them on. Long story short, I bought a dress in size 16!! I was in a 26 before I had surgery last August! I was so excited and happy. I think my sister was almost as excited as I was!:scared2:

uh huh

*shakes her head sadly*

Way to go everyone! Last week: 229.4 This week: 228.2 Loss: 1.2 lbs In the 3 weeks since I've started eating MORE, I've lost 5.2 pounds! Woohoo!

My biggest issue with this article is the way it was presented. Dr. Vuong does make some valid points about avoiding filling up with iceburg lettuce and high-fat toppings, then he points out how to make better salad choices. But the title of the article and the first paragraph - especially the all-caps "SALAD IS NOT A BAND-FRIENDLY CHOICE" - were poor choices. They brought to mind the media's hysteria-producing reports about swine flu. It is possible to educate people without making statements that appear to be absolutes. I think most of the controversy over this article could have been avoided with a better-thought-out title and introduction.

Happy Weigh-in Day everyone! Last week: 231.7 This week: 229.4 Loss: 2.3 lbs Goodbye to the 230s!

Julie, I have been on a plateau for a couple of months myself. Then I started tracking my food on The Daily Plate. The first thing I discovered was that I was not eating enough. When I plugged in my weight and my goal of losing 2 pounds a week, the site figured my daily calories at 1600! The first week I logged my meals I found I was only taking in 1200 or less a day. So, for the next two weeks I made sure I ate more - about 1350-1450 calories a day. And it worked! I lost 1.7 pounds the first week and 2.3 the second. So, you might give that a try. It worked for me! The Daily Plate on LIVESTRONG.COM - Calorie Counter, Weight Loss, Food Calorie Counter, Nutrition Facts | LIVESTRONG.COM

I've been drinking Iced Green Tea from Starbucks (with my doctor's approval) since the 2nd week after my surgery, and I've always used a straw. I've never had any ill effects from it.

I'm in! It'll be a challenge, but I'd love to be at 80 pounds lost by Memorial Day (that should be about 5 pounds between now and then). Then it's about 6 weeks between Memorial Day and July 4th, so I'm going to go for another 10 pounds by then, for a total of 90. And it may be nearly impossible, but I'm going to try to hit 100 by my anniversary date of August 4 - 10 more pounds in 4 weeks! That averages out to about 2 pounds a week, which is doable. I've really started seeing the scale move again since I've started eating about 250 more calories a day. I LOVE the Daily Plate!!

I don't see a thread yet for this week, so I'll get us started. After upping my calorie count to between 1350-1450 as suggested by The Daily Plate, I'm happy to report a loss this week! Last week: 233.4 This week: 231.7 Loss of 1.7 lbs TDP actually suggested 1625 calories a day, but I'm going to do another week at the level of this week and see what my results are. OH!! I am now no longer morbidly obese - just plain old obese!! My BMI has dropped below 40 for the first time in many many years. Woo hoo!!:thumbup:

Welcome to the AllStars Lezlie! Wow, you have really done an awesome job so far - 80 pounds! You'll find that most of us have encountered those slow-downs by now. Some are still struggling while others have managed to break through the plateau. We help and support each other here through the good times and the hard times, so jump on in!

You definitely have to eat to lose! I've been going up and down the same few pounds for about a month. I decided to start tracking my food on The Daily Plate on 4/20. According to my height, weight and goal of losing 2 pounds a week, my daily calorie goal is 1625. :ohmy: And that's before the credit I get for my workout each day. During that first week of tracking my calories stayed below 1200 and come Friday I had not lost anything - my weight stayed the same as the past Friday. This past week, however, I've been getting between 1350 and 1450 each day, and today I posted a 1.7 pound loss. PLUS it's that time of the month. Needless to say, I'm happy. :thumbup: I'm going to stick to the same plan for next week and see how the loss goes, and depending on the results, I may add another 100-200 calories a day the following week to reach the calorie goal set by TDP. I'm hoping by getting more calories I will break through this plateau and once more be on the losing track!