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I'm also an April 2015 sleever and have stalled. Good to know I'm not alone in this struggle.

Im in the same boat!! Now After having my daughter im having a harder time loosing weight then i did the first time after surgery. Recently had a fill and lost 2 pounds first week of fill. Calorie intake is about 700-800 for the day with most of that being protein i get about 64g of it a day. I admit i could do more for exercise but after falling off the wagon im slowly getting back on. Wish you luck ladies!!

Hi All, Someone posted this website on our Bariatric forum, so I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Viki and I had the lapband in January 2006. I've only lost 50 lbs since then, but it's 50 lbs I'm happy with. Now I've got to lose some more, but an at a plateau and can't get out. I exercise 3-5 days a week in the summer and 6 days a week in the winter. I'm going this Friday to have my band refilled and will probably get it tighter. How tight is everyone's bands????? how many cc's does everyone have???? Maybe mine isn't tight enough yet.

I'm not actually at the very beginning, but now that I have a surgery date and I've completed all the pre-op classes, it feels real. I'm 53, currently weigh 334 (on my home scale--and that's what I'm going by!) My highest weight was 359 about a year and a half ago. Also a year and a half ago I swore I would never get WLS. It seemed contrary to all my convictions about being body positive, the ability to change eating habits, rejecting societal pressures for people (women, especially but no exclusively) to physical harm their bodies in order to diminish their presence, a lifetime of trying to be good enough just as I was...all that and more. So I went to the Bariatric Nutrition center with the intent of finding support for addressing food addiction through a mindful eating practice. No one pressured me about surgery, which was great, and I started a series of uninspiring appointments with a variety of nutritionists. I did lose 20 lbs and then I gained 15 lbs and the self-loathing and frustration amped up. At the same time, I was diagnosed with a degenerative condition in both of my heels. I had all sorts of treatments and therapies, but the reality was that it can’t be fixed, only managed. It really interferes with my daily life and makes it difficult for me to do everything from walk the dog to travel. The doc said that the most effective way of managing it was to lose a lot of weight. I still didn’t want surgery. I thought I would just double down on the dieting. I have no other co-morbidities: heart is fine, blood pressure is fine, no diabetes, only borderline cholesterol. I had waited my whole life for some diagnosis that would be the magic switch in my brain to get me to stop overeating. One day I was talking to someone at work who happens to be a doctor and when he asked me how my heels were doing, I told him what the other doc had said. Very simply, he said: “you should get wls.” At any other moment, with any other person, I would have been offended, or defensive, or upset, but for some reason, I knew he was right. I then found out the next obstacle: my insurance would not cover it and I am not willing to incur the kind of debt necessary to cover the cost on my own. In truth, I was relieved. I now had an excuse to not do it! And then, another person encouraged me to write a letter to the hospital, and used her influence to get it into the correct hands. Within weeks, I got the word that my appeal was accepted. I felt like someone had called my bluff!!! So I started doing the pre-op classes in January. I was still very reluctant, and not at all a good sport. Everything I heard made the whole process sound miserable, but I figured I could change my mind up to the moment I was on the operating table. Over the months I talked to some friends who had the surgery and talked to close family and friends. It was their gentle support that helped me come to some sense of peace. I am very, very blessed to have that. My plan was to finish all the pre-op stuff in the spring, have the surgery early in the summer while I’m on a break from work, and be ready to start the school year by the time I was starting to eat solid foods again. That’s pretty much how it is working out, though my surgery will be in early August because I decided to have RNY instead of sleeve. I made this decision because I do have some acid reflux and didn’t want to have that be an issue, and also I figured I’d get the most bang for my buck. I need the most effective tool I can get in order to lose and maintain the weight. Now I am getting into the home stretch. I’m trying not to eat everything in sight, as if I’ll never eat again, and I’m trying to stay focused on the positive outcomes and not the challenges to getting there. Surgery still freaks me out. The post surgery eating and digestion issues definitely freak me out. But I’m going to keep going, in spite of everything, and keep reminding myself that I am worth the effort.

Hi. I was sleeved 7/17 but my doctor allowed soft foods after 2 weeks. I eat just about anything chewed very well. Eggs, chicken, fish, tuna with light mayo, low fat cheeses, I also mix unflavored unjury in my crystal light fruit punch or mio flavors and like that better than the creamy sweet chocolate shakes. It's too much sometimes. I stay away from a lot of carbs and eat protein, veggies/fruits and then carbs if there is any room (usually not). I also find using myfitnesspal app is so helpful for me to keep track on the summary.

I'm only a week out. Felt incredible day 1-3 and after that just wasn't feeling right, each day got worse. Day 6 was miserable!!! More liquid didn't help. More sleep didn't help. More Protein didn't help. THANK YOU to the sleever that posted something that I stored in my memory for some reason... I can't recall who you are or what post but you saved my life. I took an Iron pill last night and woke up feeling amazing again. I took the other half tonight and felt even more improvement! Better mood, more energy, and looking at life with hopeful eyes again! Sweet dreams everyone!! Woohooooo.....

Yes. It took me at least 6 weeks to even have some resemblence of energy. Your body has had major surgery and my surgeon said it can take up to 6 months to feel back to normal. I just rested as much as possible. I took naps when I needed to.

So I'm nearly a month post op, rny. My surgery was uncomplicated, as well as my recovery so far. HW was 335, SW 315 CW 304. I'd be lying if I said that I'm thrilled with my rate of weight loss since surgery, but it's consistent losses, something I haven't been able to achieve without surgery. My mind wants so badly to see 299... So I figure it's toying with me. I have lost inches, I'm in a smaller bra size already though. Adapting to eating had been surprisingly easy. It's just a fact off life of what I can/can't have. My hubby made the comment that he lost his eating buddy yesterday. I think him eating junk alone makes him uncomfortably aware of just how much junk he's eating (good!). I seem to tolerate sugars ok so far, things I've read others have dumped on (ketchup) hasn't phased me. The only thing that I regret was stealing a piece of sausage off of the kids pizza... Felt like a flaming metal ball going down...ugh! I've been having a lot of pain from one incision site, my doc said I was doing too much too soon. So I took it easy again and hope to add in exercise this week as I move on to soft foods. I'm not getting all my Water in and I won't drive myself crazy over it, I'm close though. I do need one Protein shake a day to meet my protein goal. After a walk yesterday I understand why they encourage protein after exercise, I felt dizzy and out of sorts. I'm also battling a bad cold.... Coughing makes the side pain worse though (uhh again!) I phone conference my NUT on Wednesday. There is no way I could take in the amount of food on her sample diet, I think I'm good with two meals and one snack a day.

I have 9lbs until onederland and I want to reach it before moving home the last week of october. Any ideas how to help it along, like any specific work out or food that can keep the loss going? I just had my gallbladder out so im not cleared yet to go back to the gym but I plan on going at least 4 days a week

today I went to the swap meet.i saw a gorgeous yet petite jumper outfit so I walked in cautiouslyand asked the foreign saleslady how much for it. she quickly [goofy smirk] replies : it not for you no fit you haha nonono! . thats all I needed......that was it. I willing answered her with : " no.....its not for me." smiled with courage and happiness not sadness and kindly in my head finally spoke these words to myself: "so long...goodbye...i must leave you behind now" referring to all of my 230 pounds n five foot three old me. with 6 days left til surgery I have parted ways with that 18 years of extra weight extras and extras of 18 years of tears heartache and sadness 18 years of being buried under this rubble of my skin... today I said bye and so long........

Just sharing my experience with pregnancy and lap band. I had lapband through True Results about 2 years ago. I tipped the scales around 300lbs. At surgery time I was around 281. My lowest weight I reached was 206. At that weight I ended up being dehydrated and as far as food went, it wasnt an option. I had 8ccs and no food wnet down. But I was losing weight so I was happy. I had some fluid removed to about 6ccs then I became pregnant. My weight shot up to 271lbs at the time I had my daughter was Jan. 1, 2016. I am currently at 223 lbs. I developed severe acid reflux in my pregancy. I thought it was normal. I found out my band has almost slipped. I had to have all the fluid removed. I am on a liquid diet for 2 weeks and soft food for a week, then I will go back for a fill at that time if everything is healed. My band went back into place after the fluid was removed. This is my current status with my lap band. I was told this is common in pregnancy with lap band.

I got the same thing.. Was told that it is because is the surgery and cutting muscle... Put a heating pad on it.. 20 mins at a time.. It lasted a couple of weeks .. I am much Better.. Sleeved on 10/6.. No more pain!

Hi everyone! I am going through the insurance company hoops prior to scheduling my surgery. Humana requires 6 months of doctor-supervised weight loss (not doing real well with that- only down 4 lbs. with the 6th visit in mid January), a psych consult (done), visit with surgeon and dietitian which are coming up January 9th. I am getting excited, but am nervous about the 2 week pre-surgery liquid diet, the 2 week post surgery liquid diet, the 2 weeks of pureed foods, then the 2 weeks of tiny amounts all before the first adjustment at 6 weeks post-surgery. My surgeon said that it is possible not to lose any weight until the first adjustment is done. Is that the case with most of you? In any case, I am happy to have found this group and hope that the whole experience will be successful. I can't wait to fit into some non-plus sized clothes! Marianna

I went to the church to the walking track tonight and my daughter wanted to go, so I said whatever. When we got there she said she had to use the restroom and I went ahead and started walking. I was on Lap 4(16 laps is a mile) and she walked with me but kept telling me to slow down I was walking to fast. She finally gave up on lap 12 and started playing on her iPhone while I finished my three mile walk. That made me feel very good!!! I am 40, current weight 214.4, I have lost 46 lbs to date. I can not Believe that my 13 yo could not hang with me, kinda makes me laugh!!

WOW, thank you for this post! I was sleeved January 12th. I have been bummed all day cause I weighed myself today, as I do each week and I lost....08 of a pound, not even a whole pound. What made it worse is this past week I was the most physically active then I had ever been since surgery so I was anticipating hitting a big number in my weight loss...not even a pound..ridiculous... I read others posting these big numbers - losing 20-30 pounds a month and even more! I felt I was the only sleever that was seeing slow loss. I normally am pretty consistant with a 2-3 pound loss each week - which is not even half as much of a loss as other posts I read. So I truly do appreciate reading posts like yours to keep it all real.

Hi Femme, It is sometimes very difficult to get your head around the band. I found after numerous trips to the bathroom :wink2: that the only way to eat is to take small bites and then chew and chew and chew and then chew some more. I find that once I take the first three fork/spoonfulls the rest is easy. Before I had the band I used to virtually inhale my food so it was a difficult road to begin with. As for the drinking whilst eating, sorry but thats a big no no. The thing is you will dilute your food and push it through the band quicker than it should go down and as a result you will be hungry more quickly and will not be satisfied for as long as you should be. Do try to eat normal foods just much slower than ever before and don't drink fluids for half an hour before your meals and for 2 hrs after. The optimum time to lose the weight is within the first two years of being banded. Good luck with your journey and keep posting we are here for you.:wink2:

My doc has never once mentioned being at high risk for band erosion or slipping. I've only ever heard about these things by coming to this website...where now I am scared out of my wits. I PB a LOT. I'm not too tight...doc has checked. I've lost 50+ pounds and am 1-year out...a little over 1 month past my 1 year Bandiversary at this point. Some days, my band is perfect and I can eat and feel perfect restriction, get proper signals from my body, and all is well. Other days, it's hell. I can't eat a thing without feeling pain or getting stuck. Even weird things have gotten stuck, like oatmeal or shredded cheese or even green pepper after being chewed to mere pulp (they are juicy and watery and never have problems with them normally). Bread is pretty much gone from my diet completely - and so is any white flour substance, especially tortilla shells or chips. No problem, I can deal with that. So should I fork out the cash to request an Xray from my doc? I PB probably an average of 3 times per week, though I've had really bad days where I've PB'd 3 times in one day. Other days, this band is pure perfection. So I know I'm not too tight. Doc has never suggested checking. Not sure why. I'm very concerned...yet he doesn't seem to be. I'm a good patient. My bites are teeny-tiny. They really can't get much smaller unless I stop eating completely. I avoid sticky foods cuz I've learned my lesson and I'd rather not make myself miserable. I don't enjoy the pain of getting stuck, or the disgusting act of PB's...so trust me when I say I'm following all the right rules. Are there any signs that I can check myself for that might indicate band erosion or slippage? Should I be concerned or should I just carry on as I have been and not worry about anything until something really does happen that I know for sure? :biggrin:

Well, he determines that I'm not too tight due to my report of my "good days". He declares that if I were "too tight", there would be no good days...or...he says most all meals would be a struggle. The PB's are not from being full. They are immediate and right at the beginning of my meals. Any that have happened in the middle of my meals have been my fault. I have modified my patterns and fixed those. I no longer PB in the middle of eating, nor do I PB from being too full. That happened once and I learned a big lesson. My bites used to be the size of a dime. Doc said he figured THAT was the reason for my PB's. He said "change that. Nothing bigger than a kernel of corn." So, I changed it. Now my bites are the size of a kernel of corn when I eat food that has to be chewed. So it's not my bites. Sometimes I'll think it's a certain food, but then other times that food will go down just find. My band is *the* most tempermental band I've ever known. My banded friends don't even understand what is up with my band. Yes, I've talked about all this with my doc. He doesn't do anything about it. He has never made it seem like my PB's are a big deal at all. I'm more concerned than he is. I'll just wait it out, see what happens, and I'll make an appointment to go in if it continues in a month or so. Otherwise, I really don't want an unfill because there are days when there is virtually no restriction. Wouldn't an unfill make those days more frequent, thereby hindering my weight loss efforts and successes thus far? This is my biggest fear. I like how my band feels most days. This week, I've only PB'd once!!! Woo hoo! That's a record for me. So maybe it was just a good week, or maybe I did something better that I totally was unaware of. I just don't know.

I was in and out the same day. Some insurance requires overnight stay, or if there is any questions that they want to continue observations. How cool is that. I will be in Atlanta next week and maybe visit Moody AL. How far are you from Moody or Atlanta?

If you get a chance, visit Baptist medical Center in Okie City to see if they can't help, at least talk to them. I really don't have any business giving advice, only having been banded three days, but I had such a wonderful experience at an ACS Center of Excellence (of which Baptist Medical is one) that I have become sort of an evangelist for them. Just try them if you can, you won't regret it. Whatever you decide, best of luck to you.

I got banded Oct.1!! First week all I really had for breakfast lunch and dinner was liquid vicodin! I was in alot of pain and felt extremely full of air and gas on my left side where the port is. I have a swollen bump where my port is..that's where all my pain is no where else. Doctor said it should heal with time he said it's like a bruise with blood on the inside. Other than that im feeling alot better. Today is 15 days later and a huge difference from last week. Still on liquids been making chicken soup like crazy and just drinking protein drinks and water. My husband took 2 weeks off work to help me, I'm a stay home mom with 4 beautiful kids so my days are hecka busy 24/7.

I haven't been through it yet, but I think being especially tired is normal during the first couple of weeks. I think it'll resolve soon. And I hope your pain resolves soon as well.

I felt like I didn't have the energy to get off the couch and go to the bathroom for the first 2 weeks or so. I also had pneumonia so that made it worse. Around the 18 day mark I started feeling so much better and have a lot of energy now (even got on the treadmill last night while watching TV just because I felt fidgety -- I had already exercised that morning). It WILL get better -- just rest as you need to. I don't know if you work, but I do and the company I work for has a nursing mother's room with a couch. I talked to my boss about it and started booking myself a 30 minute slot around lunch time and would go up there and crash with my phone alarm set for 30 minutes. It made a HUGE difference! I joke with people that I've turned into quite the napper since surgery! But much less now than even 2 weeks ago.

Hello VSG Family, I had my surgery on 09/21/11 in Juarez, MX. My surgeon was Dr. Jose Rodriguez and staff! Fantastic people!!! I would do it again if I got the same set of people. I am 3 weeks out, and down 22lbs. *Note: My photos have not been edited. They will load up to a large size on your screen. ("Close button is on the bottom right hand side.")They were taken on my cell phone while I was in the hospital, so please excuse any darkness and discrepencies. I get alot of questions like; What was it like? (Great Experience for me) Have you ever been there before? (Nope! Had to get a Passport and everything.) Where you scared? (Of course, but I needed this surgery -- so fear was not an option!) Keep in touch all.. *Note: There were 2 bathrooms in my room. *Note: There were 2 tv's in my room also.

You shouldn't get defensive if someone questions a food you eat. All of us have different food plans from our surgeons, I think that the previous poster was just questioning a cupcake (whether sugar free or not) because I'm guessing most of us wouldn't be allowed something like that on our food plans at 3 weeks out. I'm still on full liquids for 4 weeks so I would definitely not be allowed something like that.