Hi everybody,

I am a first time poster!

I was banded on the 24th of January and will have my first fill on the 23rd of March.

I have lost 7.5kg so far but i thought i would have lost more by now.

I am just wondering what others have lost during this period (before first fill), i am not excersing at the moment becuase i have an injured knee. I know that is impacting my weightloss.

I would really appreciate some feedback, i know everyone is an individual but i need to gauge what's going on with others.

I have not lost weight for the past 2-3 weeks. The dietician says that i need not to worry at this point, that my body is still recovering from surgery. for the past 2 weeks i feel like my appetite has returnded to normal. I have been able to eat everything, meat, bread, Pasta, rice, fruit, veggies (all in reasonable quantities) but i ahev been making healthy choices and keeping portions small. Having said that i do not feel like presently one cup of food is sufficient. I was previously having one cup of puree but after moving to solid food one cup isn't enough

I am also the person that has become totally obseesed with food. It's amazing what an emotional/ psychological journey this is! I am not the "over indulging" type but being told i can't have something is totally messing with my head!

I have had one episode of eating too much and was in the worst pain ever, other than that everything is going well.

thank you in advnace for your feedback, i need to know whether i am on the right track....

I didnt have a fill for over a year and lost 70lbs I didnt eat any bad carbs either. You are going to be hungry as the swelling goes down but you have to have portion control. I wouldnt be eating any bread or pasta right now save that for later when you have met some of your goals

I lost 6 pounds before surgery and 6 afterwards. I had surgery on jan. 27th and got my first fill on March 3. I have now only lost a total of 14 pounds. I am sticking to 1000 to 1200 calories a day and I am up to 4 miles per day walking outside in my hilly neighborhood. I am disappointed I have not lost more by now, but everyone tells me to be patient, that after 3 or 4 fills the weight will start coming off. I didn't like being told not to worry about the weightloss right now either.

Hello! I was banded on Feb 21 and just had my 2 week post-op visit today and I am already down 29.8 lbs. I am due to have my first fill in 2 weeks. I lost a lot on the pre-op liquid diet and then post-op due to just not being hungry. I am having hunger pains now so hopefully I can stay on track - good luck!!

Hi everybody,

I am a first time poster!

I was banded on the 24th of January and will have my first fill on the 23rd of March.

I have lost 7.5kg so far but i thought i would have lost more by now.

I am just wondering what others have lost during this period (before first fill), i am not excersing at the moment becuase i have an injured knee. I know that is impacting my weightloss.

I would really appreciate some feedback, i know everyone is an individual but i need to gauge what's going on with others.

I have not lost weight for the past 2-3 weeks. The dietician says that i need not to worry at this point, that my body is still recovering from surgery. for the past 2 weeks i feel like my appetite has returnded to normal. I have been able to eat everything, meat, bread, Pasta, rice, fruit, veggies (all in reasonable quantities) but i ahev been making healthy choices and keeping portions small. Having said that i do not feel like presently one cup of food is sufficient. I was previously having one cup of puree but after moving to solid food one cup isn't enough

I am also the person that has become totally obseesed with food. It's amazing what an emotional/ psychological journey this is! I am not the "over indulging" type but being told i can't have something is totally messing with my head!

I have had one episode of eating too much and was in the worst pain ever, other than that everything is going well.

thank you in advnace for your feedback, i need to know whether i am on the right track....

I was banded on Feb 4th, just had my first fill on March 7th. I have been eating around 1000 calories a day and I too have only lost 13 pounds. Looks like we are in the same boat! But it will come.....

I was banded on February 24th and to date I've managed to lose about 24-25 pounds. It fell off at first because of the liquid diet and then not being hungry after surgery. However, that being said, my appetite has returned and now it feels as though the 1/2 cup-1 cup limit just isn't satisfying. I've got an appointment for my first fill in four days and I'm excited - but scared. My port site is still tender and the thought of having a needle jabbed in there is freaking me out! I am looking forward to seeing my scale go down again though because nothing has changed in the last week.

I also made the mistake of taking a bit of my kids sandwich the other day - I just didn't think about it when I was doing it. I felt the bread go through the band - and it hurt like hell! I was sure I my chest was going to explode for a moment. Thank God it managed to make it's way through...chalk that one up to a learning experience that I'll definitely remember next time.

I am 11 months post-op, having lost a total of 61 pounds after banding w/o a fill. There have been times I've found myself wondering about a fill, but then it passes in a day or so. I think it tied to monthly hormone changes, but having had a hysterectomy it took me a while to put the two issues together ,

I find that running a journal has been a huge help. When I have felt like the weight should be coming off faster, I look back across time and see how far I've come. I also track my measurements, as I hit a hard weight plateau late last year, but my clothes kept getting bigger. Remember, its a journey, not a race. You will get where you want to be if you stay on program. You didn't gain the weight overnight, it won't be gone by morning!

Before you reach good resttriction -- not even just before you get your first fill -- consider any weightloss a "bonus". Most people will lose something the first few weeks, even if just because they're afraid of messing something up and eating more carefully. Most people return to somewhat normal eating habits prior to their first fill because they are hungry and haven't yet relearned how to eat. It's very common to weigh the same (or more) at your first fill appointment than on your day of surgery.

I was in an unusual situation and the band itself, without fill, gave me restriction. I lost 22 lbs in the first week after my surgery, and about 40 by the time of my first fill. But I was also one of the heavier patients my surgeon had banded, and had about 200 lbs total to lose. That makes a huge difference, and I would expect to lose more, the more you have to lose.

Most bandsters I know tend to notice their weightloss pick up around fill #2.

I was banded Feb 7th. I've lost 35 pounds. 15 before surgery and 20 after. I have kept up my protein which helps me feel full and helps with cravings. I have my first fill March 29th. I do have some restriction now. I can't eat any bread, no soft tortilla, it all gets stuck. I can eat tortilla chips and salsa so when I learned some foods go right thru I knew I had to make good choices. I have hears at my support meetings it can take up to the 4th fill to get good restriction. In the mean time, I'm trying to eat healthy to maybe lose more. If I choose foods that go right thru I won't lose. Keep protein up and I'm walking. I really want to succeed. Thanks.

Just remember it's not the number of fills that matters, so don't carry expectations for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th fill. You can get 10 fills at 0.2cc each and in a 10cc band, it probably won't do too much. Or you can get 1 fill @ 5cc and it will do a lot more. (I met a surgeon who uses the 10cc band exclusively, and fills 5cc the first time, and 1cc each subsequent time -- yeouch! But there's something to be said for aggressive surgeons...)

Hang in there everyone responds differently! I have lost steadily until recently. A friend did not loose the weight until 3 or 4th fill. My surgeons office told me that was one thing not to get stuck on is how much everyone else is loosing.

The only thing I can ask is what u are eating even eating 1000 calories a day if your carb intake is still high you wont loose as much. I rarely eat carbs which is hilarious to me I love carbs!!! But for the most part I eat Protein and veggies, occasionally a starch. I know it is time for a fill when I start getting hungry and make it to the starches.

Good luck and keep us posted!

i had my band may of 2010 and its coming up on 1 yr and i have only lost 30-35 lbs (depending which scale i go by)..i have had only 2 fills. i am going to the doctors in april for another fill, i hope ! everyone keeps telling me its a slow process so i know how you feel when you dont lose enough. i am at a stand still with my weight . was hoping i would be down at least 50 lbs by now. probrably should be exercising more. my job i do alot of standing and walking so i can say i exercise that way. so has anyone been down the same road as me ???

This thread is encouraging. I was banded 2/7/11 and lost 11 lbs in the first couple of weeks. I've plateaued but I've also been hungry and can eat pretty much as I did pre-banding. I just didn't have restriction. 4 days ago, I had my long waited for 1st fill 4.4 cc's, but still not enough restriction that's going to show much weight loss. I'm so bummed out about the 8 wk waiting period before fills. It's going to be at least the better part of a 1/2 year or more before I start having any kind of weight loss that will be noticable to others. I really didn't picture having to wait so long for results, but at least after reading this thread, I'm feeling less discouraged.

I had lost like 15 pre banding, then maybe 5 more before my fill. It was about 5 weeks after my surgery. Your body is healing, and then when you start introducing food you don't always lose weight, but it evens out after a few weeks.

This thread is encouraging. I was banded 2/7/11 and lost 11 lbs in the first couple of weeks. I've plateaued but I've also been hungry and can eat pretty much as I did pre-banding. I just didn't have restriction. 4 days ago, I had my long waited for 1st fill 4.4 cc's, but still not enough restriction that's going to show much weight loss. I'm so bummed out about the 8 wk waiting period before fills. It's going to be at least the better part of a 1/2 year or more before I start having any kind of weight loss that will be noticable to others. I really didn't picture having to wait so long for results, but at least after reading this thread, I'm feeling less discouraged.

Don't be discouraged! You should be able to go 4-5 hours without a meal... that is a good measure of your fill level. I have 5.5ccs and I'm never hungry. I think I could probably go all day without physically being hungry LOL it's kind of strange. Just follow the diet, if you are eating as much as you were pre band you probably aren't following a 900-1200 calorie diet. You can't wait for the band, and the right restriction and all that, or you are right you won't lose the weight. Just do the work, and the band will supplement your efforts by controlling your hunger. I lose about 8-10lbs a month, yea it does take a while. But I'm done 3 pants sizes and 2 shirt sizes, in 3 months, people definitely will notice!

Also the fills take about 6-8 weeks before you can feel the full effect, thats why you wait.

I too am new to posting.

I was banded on Feb 18th of this year, and am having my first fill this Thursday. I have lost 12kg since going on the pre-op liquid diet (Opti-fast) to date.

I have been pretty much sticking to pureeing my food, and I eat alot of fish and beetroot (weird, I know). I haven't really had alot of hunger until this week, so I suppose it's timely that I am having my fill in two days time. I am hoping the weight will still come off me... so fingers crossed.

Good luck to you, and let us know how you go.