Finally, this morning I stepped on the scales and I have lost a total of 50 pounds!! I was banded on 10-23-2009 and I have tried with all my heart and soul to do this the right way. I am going to start setting mini goals for myself now that I am at my sweet spot. I am wanting to go down 10 pounds a month. Does anyone else set goals and if so, do you think mine is too much. I would lilke to be down another 50 pounds by summer. What do you fellow bandsters think!!

From what I've been told 10 lbs a month is perfect. Just don't beat yourself up if it slows down for a bit sometimes. Congrats on the first 50 lbs ! That is great weight loss and a big milestone !

selswick - Was any of that 50lbs in a pre-op diet? Or is it all starting from 10/23? 50lbs in that short of time is AMAZING!!

Congrats!!

Set whatever goal you want and if you don't hit that goal just look at all of the weight you did lose trying to hit it and pretend you never set it. :thumbup:

Wow! I was banded 2 days before you and have lost 30 since the surgery (thought I was doing well LOL). Did you lose any of that pre-op? How many fills have you had? Congratulations on this milestone--you're doing great!

10 lbs a month sounds realistic to me....go for it! Good luck!

WOW !!!! that is great , I hope I can be down 50 lbs when I hit 2 1/2 months. I just need to stay OFF the scale , I get on it every morning. ( I know I know STOP!!!!) But the thing is I don't really get upset if it don't move. But I do get excited if it does!!! I was banded 11-12-09. Good luck keep up the good work!!!!

I am 2 lbs away for being fifty lost but I was banded 3 months before you. You did great I started at 250 and now 202. waiting for those 2 lbs to leave. again congratulations!

congratulations!! At almost a year I am at 54 pounds, you are doing great!

That is so good! I was banded on nov 23 and have only lost 21 pounds. So tell us your secrets what have you been doing to loose the weight? How many calories, what kind of things have you been eating, how much 1/2 cup or more, do you exercise? All help us bandsters can use.:tt1::thumbup:

I'm with skinnygirl! Please let us in on your "secrets"!

Congrats on the 50 lb! That is awesome!

Congratulations. You should be so proud!

WAY TO GO!!! 50 is such a huge milestone!!

As for the mini goals, it really depends on how much you have to lose. You lose more at first, slower later. If I average it out, I lost just under a pound a week, though I definitely had weeks where I lost 2 or so pounds at the beginning. Just set a goal and don't be afraid to readjust when you see what your rate of loss is!

Congratulations on your awesome achievement!!!

Catherine

We're on the same boat!!

I got banded a few weeks before you (Oct 1, 2009) and have (as of last Sunday) lost 51 pounds. I only weigh myself on Sundays, so I don't know what it is now.

Congratulations to you! It's an amazing feeling, eh? Best part is that my gaol with the band is to lose 100 pounds, so I'm already half way there!

I have a few secrets to share for those who are interested. We should see how many we have in common...

1) only weigh yourself ONCE a week - put the scale away (literally, pick it up off the floor, put it into a drawer or closet, and don't take it out again until the following week)

2) eat on small plates. I haven't used a big plate once except when going out to eat. I feel more satisfied eating a plate full of food than a bigger plate only half full - even if it's the same amount of food on each.

3) exercise! I made myself two promises. (a) that I would go to the gym and do a work-out at least 3 times a week. and ( that anytime somebody asked me to go do something active, I would have to say Yes. Some days I just go for a 30 minute walk, some days I go to the pool, some days I go to the gym, and once a week - I do nothing :-)

4) Drink only Water & milk (2 glasses). I know this is hard, especially for those pop drinkers, but there are SOOO many calories in drinks that don't make you feel full at all.

5) Eat slowly. Put the fork down between each (AND EVERY) bite. Then chew until it's much, then pause if you have the willpower to do so, and then pick up your fork for the next bite. This is one of my most powerful secrets. I will eat half of what I would eat if I didn't put my fork down and eat slowly. Minimum is 20 minutes for a meal, maximum is 30 minutes.

Oh, and one more important thing that I changed. I was one of those people who would eat the "bad" part of the meal first, and then save the "best for last". Well, that's so idiotic when you have the band! Eat the best part first, savour it, enjoy it. and then eat the rest of the stuff - until you feel full. I found that I would eat the other stuff, and then feel full but I didn't want to not eat the best stuff, so I ate it anyways. Now, I eat the good stuff, and sometimes I get nice and full and don't even want the other stuff so I throw it out, give it to someone else or to my dog, or save it for a later meal.

For those of you who like stats:

First of all, I'm pretty young (24) and a guy, so I do burn a bit differently than the "average" bandster. However I lived a very sedentary life before the band, so I had to work at this pretty hard.

daily calories: about 1,200

daily exercise: 30 minutes walking minimum (I now jog for about 3 minutes too)

typical day:

2 cups coffee with skim milk (total 1 cup milk)

breakfast: 1 packet instant oatmeal (reduced sugar)

lunch: 1 cup milk, then, 6 low fat chicken meat balls

snack: fruit (eg. small banana)

dinner: 1 chicken breast & broccoli, or tuna salad on crackers

snack: 1-2 BBQ flavoured rice cakes (Quaker)

And that's it! I average 2 pounds per week weight loss, but this was my weekly weigh-in chart:

-5 -2 -5 -1 -2 -1 -1 -2 -1 -2 -2 -3 -1 +1 -6 -3 +1 -4 -1 -2 -2

Good luck everyone!!!

Cheers

Edited January 22, 201016 yr by timmmers

The above post gives lots of great advice. My hardest thing is eating slowly, thanks for stressing how important that is.

I love "timmers" advice about eating the best part of the meal first. I also eat the least favorite part first and leave the best for last. Lately I have realized the same thing he did that you are full before you get to the best part so I've been trying to eat the best first. Often I only eat the best part - the heck with the rest! Great advice. Oh, and congratulations on the 50 lbs from the first post (and timmers too!) it's a great feeling isn't it!

Yayyy! I lost over 50 lbs!! I'm so excited. This all happened from December 1st, 2009 through yesterday.

I don't have any restriction but I'm trying really hard to watch what I eat.

I haven't exercised at all yet bc I pulled a muscle behind my port, but I hope to start soon!