i'm at a loss...i was banded in June 2010, found a happy green spot for a while, but i have only lost about 7 pounds since october 2010. some days i feel like i could eat an entire vegas buffet, and other days i can barely finish a container of yogurt. with that, i still work out 5 to 6 times a week for about an hour, track my calories, protens, and carbs like a mad woman, but haven seen much change. i have heard about people finding success overcoming major plateaus by having all their fluid removed and starting over. does anyone have some more insight on this? i am planning a visit to my dr in Sept, but he is out of state, so i cant get to him sooner, which is why i am asking for some advise from my fellow bandsters. any advice on overcoming plateaus in general would be greatly appreciated. i am happy with the 55 pounds i have lost, and i keep those pounds in mind when i get frustrated, but i dont understand why my hard work isnt working.

Thanks a bunch!

Have you thought of doing the 5 day pouch test? I know that works for some.

How much fill is in your band? Are you sure you don't need a bit of a fill?

Do you have any restriction? I would guess yes, since you have not gained back from the 55 pound loss.

Let us know what you do.

Bonnie

I know how you feel - I think one day that maybe I need a fill as I am so hungry...but then the next day I can't hardly eat anything! This went on for about 6 months....and yesterday I decided to call and make an appt with my surgeon to have my band checked as within the last month I constantly can barely eat any solid Protein - really, like 2 chicken nuggets and I am feeling like I ate too much....this was NOT normal for me and I have had my band awhile...no recent fills...haven't been sick....I thought for a bit it might be the horrid high humidity we have had lately and blamed it on that...but noticed that even when it cools down I am still feeling awful tight. So then I read on here about bands slipping and erosions and decided to get it checked out to make sure everything is OK....I can't get in until next tuesday, though. I just know that I have been sticking to the slider foods - mostly chili - but lately I can't eat much in quanity of those either....so something is up.

Hang in there - this is just a bump in our journey- we will prevail!

Kim

Personally I've been on a long LONG plateau of over 3 years without significant weight change.

I've had a couple tiny fills and equally tiny UNfills as for my antique model 4cc Band changes as little as .1cc can have tremendous effect.

I too have days of 'monstrasourus eating' potential.....yet find oddly that the reality is I'm not actually eating all that much per computer tracking program. And some days I simply don't care for much....which is fine.

Had a major concern checked out by my Internist, his gastroenterologist, and consult with both my dietician and other practitioners.

The consensus is 1) nothing is "wrong"/diagnosable/otherwise treatable; 2) I may be at my "maximum medical improvement" per weight loss.

OK, so I'm still "40#" from my original goal.

Life is good. Still, my Band is at times Fickle.

cheers on your journey

Lol, since I am of the opinion that you can never be too rich or too thin, I guess I've been at a plateau(rather than maintaining) for 3 years!

Seriously though, I was unfilled prior to my bowel resection last November and the ability to eat things like fruit and salads in larger quantities actually resulted in significant weight loss while unfilled. Gradually over time I satisfied my taste for those foods which I'd only been able to eat in small amounts for a few years, and the desire for less nutritions things that I could also eat - bread - crept in. Weight loss stopped, luckily this process took about six months at which time I was able to fill again.

So the end result of being unfilled for six months was for me a 10lb weight loss. So maybe there IS something to the theory IF you're currently living on high calorie sliders and when you're unfilled you replace those with low calorie fillers. But having your normal appetite and capacity back again is pretty unnerving, although I'd been been banded for five years when I was unfilled so I'd really gotten used to being a small eater.