I was banded May 10, 2010 and have lost 35 pounds, just by limiting my food intake and doing light exercising. I find myself going 3 weeks, gaining and losing the same 2-3 pounds and then dropping 5-8 pounds, which is fine, but...I've blown my knee out and am no longer able to do ANY exercising. To be honest, this doesn't hurt my feelings because I HATE to exercise, however, the scale hardly moves at all if I don't do something.

I've had a problem with my caloric intake anyway. I see all of these posts about taking in 800-1200 calories and how much weight they're losing, but I can't do that. If I have 800-1200 calories, I gain. My doctor doesn't give any calorie restrictions either, just to use a salad plate, dividing it into protein, veg and starch and eat in that order.

So I find that I need 1500-1700 calories to lose anything.

I'm just so discouraged because I read about people who were banded the same day or after me and have SOOOO much more than I have and now I can't even do the minimal exercising I was doing before.

I know, I know, I'm not supposed to compare but it is almost impossible not to when you read these posts everyday.

Don't get me wrong, I'm THRILLED for those who have lost, I'm just so jealous, I'm turning green :smile2:!!!

Any advice...is there anyone out there like me?

HELP!!!

With a knee injury, you should still be able to use a recumbent stationary bike, using your "good" leg. You can also do upper body and core weight training, as muscle burns a lot more calories at rest than fat.

Can you see a personal trainer at a gym, at least once? They should be able to guide you on how to work out without further injuring your knee.

Heather, it doesn't matter how many calories other people need to lose. All that matters is that you've identified the range in which you lose.

That said, if you've blown your knee out, you may find that you have to adjust your intake downward until you are able to exercise again.

Do you journal your food intake? I ask, because it's really helpful, to me, to have a journal I can look back on to really examine my intake. I had a lot of faulty ideas about the range in which I lost until I had journaled long-term and got a better overall picture.

It's not the case for everyone, but for me, what I eat is as important as how much. Journaling someplace like fitday.com can help you identify if you're focusing too much on starches, getting enough Protein, getting enough heart-healthy fat, etc.

I have to agree Heather. You can not compare yourself to others. Metabolism varies by individual. I suggest a food tracker that will assist you with calorie and Protein intake. You need to be sure that you are getting enough protein. I use www.fitday.com I love it. I input every single thing I put in my mouth so that I can get a physical view of what I am doing. I do limit my calories to 1200 or under a day. Even if your body goes into starvation mode, eventually it realizes that the additional calories are not coming and it will start to react. Since you can not exercise you really may have to limit those calories. Dont use your knee as an excuse for too long. Once you can get even just some light walking in...do it. It can be very easy (especially if you hate exercise) to be complacent and not do it. Besides, once your knee heals, you will have to rehab it and get the muscles around it stronger again, just dont push it.

I wish you the very best of luck doll!

With a knee injury, you should still be able to use a recumbent stationary bike, using your "good" leg. You can also do upper body and core weight training, as muscle burns a lot more calories at rest than fat.

Can you see a personal trainer at a gym, at least once? They should be able to guide you on how to work out without further injuring your knee.

And don't forget good, old water-aerobics. Many gyms have pools if you don't have one at home or it is too cold.

Thanks for all of the great advice. I needed to have you push me to not use my knee as a crutch, because I know I will.

I do journal my food, however, I know that I don't get enough protein in and don't always drink all of the water that I should.

This is why I post my problems...because I know that I'll get great words of wisdom and be pushed to do better.

Thanks!!!