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Hi, I was on this topic also. I had my surgery back in 8/2010. I didn't have the results I wanted. I'm still not at goal. Partly my fault. I didn't have much restriction, I could still eat a whole sandwich bread & all. Even though my surgeon did a great job. He was very, very conservative in his fills and dealing with his office staff was unbearable for me so I stopped going . In November 2013 I decided to look for a new surgeon so that I can finally meet my goal. The new surgeon did a swallow test & said that I didn't have much restriction at all. Now the problem is that I'm very tight . I've had more pb'ing than I've ever had. If I eat 1 bite of chicken & forget to do a small bite & chew thoroughly , I'm in the bathroom choking and finding like many bandsters that the junky stuff goes down fine. I was never much of a junk eater though. Since I got that fill . I am down another 20 lbs. I would really like to be & should be at goal now. I suspect that most that were in this thread are at goal & happy. I wish they would come back & tell us where they are & how they got there. Thankfully I haven't had any mechanical problems with my band & I hope I never do. There's so much complaining & putting down of the band on here. I don't come in as much as I did before it changed over to this new site.

I would love to do this. I have support group at my hospital. (NYU ) but they are too far away and at 6:30 pm. That time is inconvenient. I'm not at goal but would love to be a co leader. I've won awards for public speaking.

Good lookin out ! I'm gonna stock up on these when I hit Target. I'm always struggling to find something to eat that's protein packed. And easy.

I'm with your Dr. Before I did anything drastic barring your band hasn't slipped , I would ask for a complete unfill just to give yourself time to do more research. Let my band calm down & then eventually start to fill again , slowly. I'm over 3 years out & have still not met my goal. I started at 267 and now at 222. My lowest was 215 but then had a regain up to 240 because I didn't have much restriction & was just tired of my surgeons tiny, tiny fills and the nasty attitude of his staff so I didn't see him for about a year. I could eat whole sandwiches, Cookies and I was drinking alcohol. All of that was my fault. I transferred my records to a new surgeon that gave me a barium test & saw that I didn't have much restriction . He gave me the fill of life . I'm now very restricted and am back on the losing side but it's very slow. I think because I'm not getting much sleep. The band is not easy. I doubt I'll have another surgery if it eventually fails but I'm a testament to the fact that wls is not the easy way out. Ive worked harder with this than I've done any other diet ever. I wish you the best and hope you get this worked out.

This whole thread was very encouraging to me. I'm also one that was banded about 2 1/2 years ago back in aug.2010. I lost very slowly and got to the 50lb mark and then started back with some old issues like depression and having drinks on the weekend . Not to the point of drunkenness but I have learned that 1 drink bloats me and my weight loss stalls. The last time I went to my surgeon back in March for a fill he said that I must be eating Cookies and ice cream which offended me because I am not a sweet eater at all. I'm one of those rare people that does not even like ice cream. So after that because of what he said & I was still the same weight I missed my next appt and have not been back since. Now, I'm afraid to go back because I'm up about 10 lbs now. In the meantime, I was dealing with a little marital discord and recently learned that my sister has the big C. So I want to go back but if I get a lecture I know it will further discourage me. I hate to use my sisters severe illness as an excuse but I'm thinking if I go back and explain to him that I have been severely depressed because of dealing with these issues he may cut me some slack . I want to be a success with my band more than anything so much so that I have considered going back to WW or even doing HCG.

Im about in the same boat. I was banded 8/2010 and lost 50lbs after that. I have been at a standstill ever since then. I need to lose another 50lbs to reach my goal. I'm at good restriction I think so I really cannot each much. My surgeon is very conservative with fills so I'm about 5.5 in a 10cc band. I don't think I need another fill because if I eat too big a bite or too much I will be stuck. I just had a stuck episode and had to bring that back up (which I loathe) This band was my last resort. I never thought I would have to do another diet other than living my lapband lifestyle but I have to admit here that I have even tried to do homeopathic HCG to quick start my losses again and I resent having to do that. I hope more people post here with some suggestions or maybe the OP @Shannon will come back and share what her Dr. told her. I need all the help I can get.

I haven,t been on the site for a while now but I came in looking for a little advice about how I'm feeling and the post from readytochangein2011 is exactly how I feel. I've been banded since 8/2010. My Surgeon is very conservative with his fills. I'm just now at 5.8cc in my band after over a year and a half. He does make up sit in the waiting room after a fill and drink a glass of Water. I was fine after this last fill with the water in the office but now I notice that I can't eat much at all. I feel I'm in the green sone. I have no reflux or heartburn and I'm not as careful with my bites and chewing thoroughly as I should e.g I had 1 chicken wing yesterday. I don't eat the tip and I don't eat chicken skin but that small piece of wing had me stuck. I had a small bite of a burger today (no bun) and was stuck. I'm wondering is that a problem? I feel fine other than that and I know I have to be more careful with my eating . Just wondering about others experiences.

I think alcohol and not exercising as I should have contributed greatly to my slow losses. I have found that alcohol stalls my weight loss. If I drink on the weekend I can count on not having a loss that week no matter how well I have eaten. Since I recently stopped the drinks on the weekend my loss has picked up a bit. So try to monitor yourself and see how your body responds to the alcohol. I have found that in all the many different threads about this topic different people do different things and some can drink regularly and have no problem whereas others like myself just can't mix alcohol and dieting, sadly. I can go for a cool vodka and Crystal lite right now. I had to put it aside for now though I want to reach my goal at last.

Thank you Monica for your response. I lost my original response. I am just like you I am not losing the way I wanted but thanks to my band I do not gain the way I used to. We went on a cruise in November and I only gained 2 lbs. I promptly lost that when I returned home. You've done great in losing 100lbs. We don't see ourselves as others see us so even if in our eyes we're moving slow. Others can see we are moving along. Someone mentioned to me on Sunday that I was looking thin too. Thank you again and KUTGW. Dee

Hello everyone, I have not been on in months. I stopped posting here because I was not getting any feed back at all and at the time I really needed the support so I went elsewhere. I have not made goal yet but lately I have been on a roll and like Lap2fab I'm hoping to make my 2 yr surgiversary my goal date. Well, hopefully by 8/12 I will be at goal and maintaining . I take comfort in the fact that most Drs say that you will only lose 1/2 your excess weight in the first year. Even though I was hoping to lose it all in year 1 it just didn't happen. My Dr. gives very conservative fills but I must admit that a lot of it has been my lack of discipline too. This past year I have indulged in too many weekend drinks and I have not exercised consistently. This lap band really does require a lot of cooperation and it is not the easy way out. I wish you all the best in the new year. I probably won't be back because I really got no support or feedback on this thread even though I was one of the first here but I really do wish you all well as we continue this journey. I'll check back when I meet goal.

Beautiful, if I could see stuff like that on my walk I'd be out every morning. I live in NY . Nothing but cars and buildings , people rushing to and from and folks out walking their dogs and cleaning their front yards. Great idea for a thread. Dee

I'm the same. I can see it very visibly but no matter how much I lose I know my tummy area will never be seen in public, ever.... so if it doesn't bother me I won't bother it.