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I know what you mean about the adding calories..."Yikes I'm eating too much." I'm on day 22 and have been averaging around 400 calories and am working to get it between 600-800 as my doc recommends for weight loss stage. As I work to increase them I fight the battle of ...if I eat less I will lose faster but I don't believe in the extreme that, that is true. I am hoping that once I am able to increase my calories (good healthly ones) that my weight loss will be consistant and improve. I believe that too few and we put ourselves into a starvation mode and actually decrease our metabolism doing ourselves more damage than good. We also don't give ourselves enough nutrition to think straight!! and for me that means...self defeating thoughts! When was the last time you lost 25lbs and knew that you could be saying goodbye to them forever? That you had cut the string to the yo-yo! I keep seeing this poster on my fit friends facebook pages...The Journey is the Destination it gives me hope that no matter how far I have to go the trip there is worth it, no time is lost! Good luck to you and congratulations on your loss so far!! Jennifer

I agree with the other posts - 2 lbs a week average is really good. That would be 104 lbs in a year. it does give your body a chance to adapt. Maybe try upping your calories to 900 and be sure to drink some plain Water. Miltivitamin takers seem to lose well, too.

Trying to stay positive and focused but feeling discouraged I started the living healthy process in October (298 lbs) and had my Sleeve surgery on 3/21/12 (248 lbs). From October to March I lost 50 lbs (pre surgery) on 1300 calories a day – high Protein, low carb eating and enjoying bariaatricchoice.com foods. After my surgery, I lost 13 lbs in the first two weeks. However, I have only lost 12 lbs in the last 6 weeks. (I realize this is a 2 lb a week average, but it feels slow.) I am only eating 700 calories a day and this is primarily from Protein shakes and lean meats (80 grams protein), all my liquids and Vitamins. I walk about 2-3 miles a day and just purchased the Fitbit (it is charging for the first time as I type). I don’t have regrets, but I am feeling discouraged as I thought I would lose significantly faster than I did when I was on 1300 calories a day. I know I should be feeling great about my progress and feel a bit guilty that I am even posting these rambling thoughts, but I am at my ½ way point and wonder, “What if this is it? What if I don’t lose another pound? “ I am healthy – I have always been healthy – I used to say I was the healthiest morbidly obese person around. I do feel better and I have subtle yet significant NSVs. I just want to figure out how to turbo charge my weightloss. Thanks for being there for me!

Well I can relate, my periods are messed up and have been pretty much on for 2 days off for 2 days for the last 3 weeks!!! It makes it hard. Just remember, your body can handle a few extra calories at this time. Get some gortons fish filets, non breaded and splurge with some tartar sauce. Nally brand has only 1carb per serving. And for chocolate attacks do semisweet choclate chips. It's amazing how just a few of those will satisfy your need. DO NOT GO OUT TO EAT!!! Thie serving sizes they give you will be very hard to resist and you will end up PB'ing in the bathroom at the restaurant.

Restriction =/= weight loss. Yes, it does help, but just because you've reached restriction doesn't automatically mean the scale is going down. If you aren't tracking what you eat, start. See how many calories you're getting a day. You may not be eating enough, or you may be eating too much. Are you exercising? Exercise is really a must, and just walking really won't cut it. Try to up your exercise; do something a little bit more intense. It all comes down to calories in calories out. I learned the hard way with that but when you burn more calories than you eat, you lose weight.

Yeah, I track every single calorie and the Popsicle still fell within my range. I only ate half but i felt a little loopy, almost high, for a bit. I think maybe it was sugar overload lol. I think as long as I don't make sugar a habit it should be fine but I emailed my NUT as well to be sure.

Oh PoMo , i am without a doubt the very last person who should be answering your post. All the advice you seek is in your post. dont eat every 2-3 hours cut out the sugars increase protein increase water add exercise after the surgery it is all a mental game and you have to commit to winning the mental game or the physcial one is lost. Start by cutting out the sugars then the refined carbs- if its located in the middle of a store it is not a good idea. replace with protien and start walking and dont stop. walk all the time as much as you can whenever you can. drink water pls. If you have to add 0 calorie flavors to help. Last - Dont Surrender come back everyday and lets us know how you did and how far you walked and google wls support for you city and find a grp of local people going thru this so you can feel connected. Just dont give up

I think your fine. If you have a slip, you suddently can't keep anything down, not even fluids. Oh, and I just have to say this, even fatfree icecream as lots of empty calories and lots of sugar. It's ok while your on mushies, but I would stay away from it once your on solid food. Congrats on your surgery!

Remember it takes 3500 calories to gain a pound. I highly doubt at 8 weeks, you can eat this much to gain weight. It could be water weight or other variables. Track your food and follow your plan. It will get easier. This is a lifestyle change. And WLS is only a tool.

bella, My surgeon said to ignore the calories completely. I do 70 grams of Protein per day and 64 oz of Water. I get my protein and water first and don't worry about the rest, mostly. If I'm working out, I try to eat some carbs just before, but nothing major. I usually have a piece of bread or a Protein Bar, just a little to add fuel to the fire. I use My Fitness Pal for tracking my food, protein and water, and it's always giving me that "starvation" message. I showed it to my surgeon at my follow-up and he said just ignore it. I'm sure that will change once I'm closer to goal, but I doubt I'm going to starve anytime soon since I currently weight 288! LOL Good luck!

That was definitely not permitted for me on full liquids. Get in touch with your surgical practice and see what their rules are. If you aren't given any guidance on that, I guess I would say take it slow and make sure that you account for all the extra calories and carbs you will be adding to your diet.

700 calories and intense exercise = never losing anymore. Try increasing your calories. What do you eat EXACTLY? Do you keep a food log? How many grams of Protein do you have a day? Carbs? Why can you only eat 2 ounces at a time at 1.5 years? Do you have a stricture? You had surgery 2 weeks before me and I can eat 4 ounces of dense protein and have been able to for at least 6 months. If you can really only eat 2 ounces at time then eat every 2 hours and make sure you get your calories and protein in. If that means adding a Protein shake to get your calories and protein up then do it. Are you taking Iron pills? Are you taking a Multivitamin? Are you taking B-12? I got really anemic a couple months ago after slacking off on iron pills and I could hardly function. I was dizzy all the time. I take these iron pills https://www.nowfoods.com/supplements/iron-18-mg-veg-capsules They do no cause constipation and they don't make me sick like most iron pills.

It was normal for me to drink 1 cup of soup 4 days out. You may have a lot less stomach swelling than some others 4 days out. Everyone is different. I remember talking with my doctor about quantities and he mentioned that other than watching the calories and making sure you are staying in the guidelines or the correct diet phase for liquids/mushies/etc quantity is not as important as making sure you are not feeling uncomfortable or not following the rules for the stage.

NO WAY, U SHOULD BE ABLE TO EAT MORE THEN THAT. AT LEAST 4 OZ. IM HAVING THE OPPOSITE PROBLEM, I FEEL NO RESTRICTION WHAT SO EVER. LIKE I WASNT EVEN OPERATED ON. I HAVE LOST ONLY 4 LBS SINCE I WAS BANDED ON 11/06 AND HAVE BEEN BEYOND DEPRESSED. I THOUGHT I WOULD LOSE THE FIRST 10 LBS IN A WEEK BECUZ OF THE LIQUID DIET AND BARELY ANYYYYYYYYYY CALORIES. OH WELL:confused: BUT YES, FOR SURE U WILL BE EATING MORE AND SOON.

Well, my first thought is that you are losing about a pound a week and that is a healthy amount to lose. Otherwise, are you holding yourself accountable for everything you are eating and drinking? Food logs and journals are helpful for keeping tabs on problems. Also, sometimes I dont lose weight if I am getting too few calories.

I had to do the 6 month diet. I do better by counting calories and found that Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, Food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plate worked for me.

In the midst of counting calories and Protein grams and wondering what that weird pain in your port area is, I think it's important to take at least a moment each day to Celebrate who we are. We're all on a journey of self-discovery, of honoring ourselves with the blessed gift of wellness. This self-awareness takes guts (pun intended!). Each day we choose to love who we are. Some days are easier than others. But we're all mere mortals, giving it our best. I'd like to make a toast (nothing carbonated!) to each of you, for sharing your experiences on this website, for being you. I've learned so much through each of you, thank you so much. Here's to a New Year full of life, light and love. Tristin

I think the key is here in this statement. You already know that cutting calories results in weight loss, and the good news is this is not going to CHANGE once you are banded. The band helps you cut calories, ergo, you WILL lose weight. I think that's the way it works for most banded people.

Are you snacking a lot during the day? Even what you might consider low calorie foods? Just something that you didn't mention, and I wondered if that might be an issue. Since you are not keeping track of the food that you do eat, I'm wondering if grazing throughout the day might be part of the problem??

Nice - Calories really don't change my weight loss to much per week, although i do not weigh myself much at most once a week. Some people set a goal of say 900 calories per day and get it down to they are exact every day, Me Im to dang lazy to be recording calories all the time, I run low on calories about 600 a day and will adjust the excercise to make me feel better. However i have found that not much changes on a weekly basis in terms of weight loss, I hit between 3.5 and 4.5 just about every week.

I don't have good news for you! You may have only lost 7 lbs since the beginning of the year, but you may have lost 15 lbs of fat and added 8 lbs of muscle? Losing fat is not a linear line on a chart. It seesaws with the food we eat and the exercise we do. Fitness is good but it can rob you of lbs lost. But again, it's a good thing. 10 lbs a month is usually much more than most any bander loses. Usually it's in the 4-8 lb range so you're pretty close to where you should be. It's so much easier the first 3 months post surgery to lose more weight but as we progress it gets harder. The math doesn't lie. 3500 calories equal one lb. You must burn 3500 more than you consume to lose 1 lb of fat.

Thanks guys!...I dont feel like i am eating more than a cup at each meal...I mean sometimes i do but generally i dont...sometimes i can go 5-6 hours without eating and then other times i need a snack(like almonds) in between. It just generally depends...yes my surgeon said she is shocked I've lsot this much weight without a fill thus far. I might ask for just a 1cc fill or something along those lines and see how that feels. all ive done to shed the weight fast is eat low calorie, sugan, carb items and keep the protien amount high. I excercise 4-5 times a week for an hour-1.5.

You mention your high weight was 360 - when was that? It looks like you've lost a lot of weight! I think that regardless of how much we have to lose, after a while, it just slows down. Our bodies get more efficient, it takes fewer calories to sustain us, so the defecit of calories is less than it was at a higher weight. But, to answer your question, I don't think you are a slow loser, I think you are doing great!

The 20-25 pounds you are referencing is not lost fat. Maybe a couple pounds ... yes, but let's look at this objectively. It is widely accepted that 1 pound represents 3,500 calories. Consume 3,500 more calories than you burn, you gain a pound. Burn 3,500 calories more than you consume, you lose a pound. So: 3,500 x 20 (lbs) = 70,000 That means, over whatever period of time your chose (1, 2 weeks) you need to run a deficeit of 70,000 calories ... Hmmm ... So, hopefully you can see there is no possible way to do that, even with the sleeve. So, what could it be? Water. Water is heavy and easily moved in (pre-sleeve) and not so much after sleeving. So, just listen to your Dr, do what you are supposed to do and get rid of the scale. It is completely meaningless at this point in your story. You are losing fat, but not much. You are also going to be losing muscle, so be sure to get your Protein in to help combat that. Good luck and keep us posted on how you are doing.

Sorry I didn't respond. I haven't been on much. Here is something that I have sent to a couple people about what I followed. First...you do need a combo of exercise and food, but I didn't start REALLY exercising until I had lost 50 pounds. My secret...I followed every rule! 1. I NEVER, EVER drink while eating. 2. Proteins first, veggies next ...and then I was pretty much done! I put 1 cup of food on my plate and I ate that. I never learned to stop when I was full. So I still have to treat myself as a 5 year old child. I give myself what I can eat and that is all I do. Yes it takes a lot of self discipline, but the empowerment you get from telling yourself NO will change your life forever. It has made me a better wife, sister, daughter, teacher and friend. I would overwhelm myself in the past and spread myself to thin. Now I can confidently say no, and things are much better. 3. I never deprived myself of any food so as to eliminate any cravings. The only thing I eliminated was rice because I just can't eat it any more. It gets stuck. And milk and ice cream...gone as well...I became lactose intolerant. I would have spaghetti...mostly with just sauce and ground chicken (my secret ingredient in everything), but I would have 6 penne noodles, just so that I didn't feel like I was being left out. 4. I had chocolate everyday...in the form of a pure Protein bar(that is the name of the bar...but I would stay away from the fruit ones...I thought they were disgusting.) It is low carb, high protein and cut the cravings for sweets, because I had one everyday. I get them at wal-mart. Make sure to look for the 190 calorie ones...not the 300 calorie ones! 5. I ate at 4 distinct times everyday. For my schedule (I am a teacher) it was 6:30, 10:30 (my prep period), 2:30 and 6:30. The 2:30 was the Protein Bar. 6. Shhhhh...don't tell...I did NOT focus on Water. I am a scientist...you dont need 64 ounces of water everyday. Drinking makes me hungry, so I only drink a half hour before I eat. I have to drink more now because I am training for a half-marathon. 7. Exercise...Once I added it, I did walking, strength training, elipticalling and now running. In fact yesterday I just ran 10 straight miles. But that has taken me since January to do that. Take it slow...injuries will sideline you for a long time. Don't over do it because you will get angry at the amount of time you have to spend and stop. Start slowly and start to kind of like it. I still will never LOVE it, even though I train 6 days a week. 8. Set attainable goals. Little things that you can Celebrate. 9. Find what works for you. Not everything I did here will work for you. Find what does and you will have solved the mystery for yourself. 10. Make a menu for yourself for the week, and eat only what is on their. On Friday, if you have followed the menu exactly give yourself one food that you would not normally have, but that still fits in your calorie count. Make sure it is not something that will cause you to binge. I have 1 bag of popcorn.