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I have to disagree with Xavier. It is not just about how much you eat but what you eat as well. It is not possible for the band to stop you eating the incorrect foods no matter how tight it is. chocolate, Cookies , icecream etc will always go down really easily and as they are high calorie they cause weight gain and they are also not satisfying.This is how the band is a tool - it helps to reduce hunger so that it is easier to make the correct choices but it does not make those choices for you. I think most of us would be really happy if they invented some kind of surgery where we could eat what we wanted in the quantities that we wanted and still lose weight. Unfortunately ( but probably luckily too) I don't think that this will ever happen. In order to stay healthy there are certain types of food that we should be eating a lot more of and others (the ones we would prefer to eat) that we should be eating a lot less of. As the others have said you have not failed until you have given up. Go back to your Dr and check that all is in order and that you have sufficient restriction and then recommit to making good choices. Remember it is about what you do 90% of the time that counts, no-one expects you to eat perfectly 100% of the time. Good luck

Wow that is an amazing and inspirational story. I agree that old habits are hard to change and at 76 your habits have been around for a lot longer than some of ours. I struggled enough to slow down with my eating and I was only 46 when I got my band.

I'm glad you corrected the pound a day thing. I was about to reply and tell you to get real and stop moaning at such amazing weight loss. At this point 1lb a week is well within the expected range. The band is designed to help you lose 1 - 2lb per week. The further in you are and the less you have to lose the more the loss will start to slow down. The 1lb per day loss reminds me of an episode of Dr Who. It was quite funny - at the same time every night 1lb of fat would literally leave this persons body and walk away!

Whilst you should take small bites and many do seem to follow the pencil eraser thing I find that if the bite is too small it is more likely to cause me problems. If something is too small then it is hard to get your teeth into and it can slip down without being chewed and get stuck. If I take a normal size bite it is much easier to chew properly and less likely to slide past and get stuck.

That is great. Didn't take long at all.

Maybe next time you are tempted to buy food because there is a buy one get one free offer don't think about how much money you are saving, think instead of how much money it is going to cost you to lose the weight. It may not seem like such a great bargain.

It stands for productive burp. the problem is the term doesn't really explain what happens.When I was first told about a PB I thought it sounded simple, easy and not something to worry about. Unfortunately the truth is not quite so rosy. The good news is you don't go around burping up food. The bad news is that a PB can cause quite a lot of discomfort. The important thing is to remember to take small bites, chew well, eat slowly and not overeat to try to prevent PBs happening.

You may have postural hypotension - a drop in BP when you get up from sitting or lying down. You may need your BP meds adjusted. I have been on high BP meds for ages. About 9 months after surgery I ended up in hospital as I collapsed in a hotel with extremely low BP. I was taken off my meds altogether. Over a couple of months my BP increased to the point where i am back on meds to control it ( not all high BP is due to weight, or diet or often any obvious cause).

It doesn't really matter if your scales are 100% accurate or not. So long as you use the same scales every time you should still see if you have lost or gained. Also remember to weigh at the same time every day with the same clothes on or in the nude. I normally weigh myself in the morning as soon as I get up. I know that there will be a difference if I then get weighed at the Dr's as that is later in the day (when you are naturally heavier) and with clothes on. If you really want to buy new scales fine but I would save the money and carry on using the ones you already have.

Feeling tired after a meal is fairly common.This article goes a little way to explaining it.

If you poke and prod around the site of your largest incision you should be able to feel your port, it is hard and probably approx an inch or so in size.

These days I have 2 glasses of wine and that's it. Anything more and I am well on my way to becoming drunk.

That was how I slept for the first few nights as well. I am sure once you are healed you will be able to sleep in any position you want. sleeping on your stomach should become even easier as your stomach gets smaller!

Have you gained because you were eating larger amounts of recommended foods without being satisfied or have you gained because you ate the kind of foods that you probably shouldn't have been eating but ate anyway because it was Christmas and they were there? You are getting stuck when you eat healthy foods so it sounds to me as though you have adequate restriction. You need to relearn to take small bites and eat slowly as it sounds as though you may not be doing that. Don't get a fill if you don't need one in the belief that it will solve your problems, you could end up too tight and that starts a vicious circle of unhealthy choices and no weight loss and all sorts of other problems. Remember the band does not control your food choices , you do. I have also gained a kilo over Christmas but I know it is my fault. I have been eating chocolate and Cookies and icecream etc.I would love to think that going for a fill would be the solution but I know that it's not, that I just have to start eating properly again. I would go back to following the recommended food plan for a while and see if that helped before rushing in for a fill. If when eating the correct types of food and portions you are still getting hungry and not losing then go for a fill.

Are you allowed soup? Soup was what made the difference for me.It tasted like food which all those sweet protein shakes didn't. Once I was allowed it then the nausea stopped. I ate homemade veggie soups with added lentils, beans etc in for protein( as per my nutritionists instructions). All prepared and frozen prior to surgery

Congrats on getting your band. The worst part is over, now the journey begins.

Sounds familiar - where have I heard that before?

It is difficult to explain how things change. For some people they give these foods up entirely, others eat them in smaller portions. For me some of the changes are subtle. I still eat just about everything with the exception of dry meat as that always causes me problems, but I have never been big on deep fried , unhealthy food. My problem was more one of constant grazing and eating too much chocolate. Technically a band does not stop you from grazing and it won't stop you eating chocolate but I eat far less of it these days. It works because it helps to control your hunger. If you are not hungry then it is a lot easier to cut out the snacking. We do have to remember though that not all eating is done because of hunger, a lot of non hungry eating goes on too - eating out of habit, boredom, because it looks good etc.So although the band helps to control your hunger you still need to take charge and ensure you have ways of controlling your non hungry eating. I still eat bread but far less of it. I can eat a burger so long as it is not too dry but I eat it without the bun. I can still eat fries but only a few as after that I know I will have a problem. Unfortunately the shop bought really greasy ones are a lot easier to eat than the oven baked healthier kind. What is strange is that somehow your tastes change and you don't really miss the foods that you no longer eat. I loved big juicy burgers but I don't miss them. Ditto chips etc. It is impossible to predict in advance what you will/won't be able to eat. It seems to be a very individual journey. Good luck and hope you soon enjoy being banded, slimmer and healthier.

Maybe you had lost so much weight that the system didn't recognise you!

You must have been found again because you are in the list of reputation point leaders.

Not quite sure what God's role in this was? Hi Shirley, welcome or should I say welcome back! LOL

I was thinking the same, sounds as though your body was fighting off an infection. Hopefully it is not something that you picked up in surgery. I would go back to your surgeon and get checked out, you may need a course of antibiotics.

You are probably not paying attention to how you eat which is why you are having issues. You need to take small bites, chew slowly etc and it can take some getting used to in a social situation.

Not wanting to tell your friends is not a good reason to advance your diet sooner. The guidelines from your Dr are there for a reason, you don't want to mess something up just because you are worried about what other people think.If you can't stick to what you are supposed to be doing when you are around your friends then maybe you need to avoid being around them for a while.

I doubt very much that the alcohol has had any effect on your band. But drinking with a highly reduced food intake does cause the alcohol to effect you sooner than it would have done previously. Alcohol does irritate the stomach anyway so you may just be suffering the normal effects of over indulgence(have no idea how much you drank). I would just treat yourself gently for the next day or 2 and I am sure that you will be fine.