I was banded on July 28th 2011. Today is September 14, 2011 and I have lost 42 pounds. My questions, which I hope someone can help me with is....

1) My doctor wants us when we get to the "green zone" to eat a 1/2 cup food 3 times a day without Snacks in between, but I dont see how it is possible to get 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day with that. Right now I am eating 3 meals a day with 2 snacks because I AM STARVING. I have had 2 fills and I guess there is just not enough solution in my band.

2) I am only eating around 500-800 calories a day and I am also exercising 5 days a week, which 3 of those days I do ZUMBA which burns around 600-700 calories, so if the days I am doing Zumba I am working off more calories than I am taking in.

My main issue is, now that I have had 2 fills I seem to be at a plateau, I am not losing as fast as I think I should, but then again I lost a LOT so quickly. I am wondering if my body is just in shock. I just need some advice as to what to eat, I have cut out bread, Pasta, sugar COMPLETELY.

This is what my daily menu looks like:

Breakfast: 8oz Protein shake

snack: carrots and 1tsp ranch ( i know but its only a tsp, is that still bad?)

Lunch: apples and a babybel cheese

snack: 1% glass of milk (8oz)

Dinner: 4oz Tilapia filet and broccoli

Please any advice would be great, I dont know if I need to cut out the milk and cheese or what I am doing wrong, I just want to lose my weight fast (which I know is everyones wish)

I was banded on July 28th 2011. Today is September 14, 2011 and I have lost 42 pounds. My questions, which I hope someone can help me with is....

1) My doctor wants us when we get to the "green zone" to eat a 1/2 cup food 3 times a day without Snacks in between, but I dont see how it is possible to get 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day with that. Right now I am eating 3 meals a day with 2 snacks because I AM STARVING. I have had 2 fills and I guess there is just not enough solution in my band.

2) I am only eating around 500-800 calories a day and I am also exercising 5 days a week, which 3 of those days I do ZUMBA which burns around 600-700 calories, so if the days I am doing Zumba I am working off more calories than I am taking in.

My main issue is, now that I have had 2 fills I seem to be at a plateau, I am not losing as fast as I think I should, but then again I lost a LOT so quickly. I am wondering if my body is just in shock. I just need some advice as to what to eat, I have cut out bread, Pasta, sugar COMPLETELY.

This is what my daily menu looks like:

Breakfast: 8oz Protein shake

snack: carrots and 1tsp ranch ( i know but its only a tsp, is that still bad?)

Lunch: apples and a babybel cheese

snack: 1% glass of milk (8oz)

Dinner: 4oz Tilapia filet and broccoli

Please any advice would be great, I dont know if I need to cut out the milk and cheese or what I am doing wrong, I just want to lose my weight fast (which I know is everyones wish)

I think you should do what is working best for you and obviously you have done something right, that's a tremendous amount of weight to lose that quickly. You will start slowing down on the weight loss though. I wouldn't change anything if it were me. Keep up the good work.

You should UP your calories...I don't think you are eating enough and your body may be in starvation mode....holding onto fat as much as possible. Calorie cycling works really well for tricking the body into thinking it is not starving. So if you up your calories for a few days and then drop back them back down again, and repeat that cycle, that should kickstart the weight loss. Try adding in some healthy fats in there in the form of nuts (which add up calorically pretty quickly) or avocados. Good luck!

Oh my god PLEASE EAT MORE! You're going to ruin your metabolism.

Okay thanks, I thought that I needed to up my calories, but since I am not eating bread, Pasta or sugar I thought "how am I going to do this?" So should I just add nuts and avocado to more items and increase my amount of food? I just feel like eating 3 meals and two Snacks is NOT what you are supposed to do.

What do yall recommend eating to increase my calorie intake without eating bad foods?

I agree, i don't think you are eating enough. 1/2 cup of food 3 times a day? I don't see how you are getting the protien you need even with the snacks! You're doing this to be healthier... starvation isn't the answer.

I agree, i don't think you are eating enough. 1/2 cup of food 3 times a day? I don't see how you are getting the protien you need even with the snacks! You're doing this to be healthier... starvation isn't the answer.

Thats what I said, but my doctor said that when we get to the "Green Zone" that we should only eat 1/2c a food 3 times a day. I mean I lost a LOT at first but now I am not and I dont want to over eat and get too many calories in you know? But I also want to LOSE weight and be healthy and not ruin my body.

You should UP your calories...I don't think you are eating enough and your body may be in starvation mode....holding onto fat as much as possible. Calorie cycling works really well for tricking the body into thinking it is not starving. So if you up your calories for a few days and then drop back them back down again, and repeat that cycle, that should kickstart the weight loss. Try adding in some healthy fats in there in the form of nuts (which add up calorically pretty quickly) or avocados. Good luck!

Okay thanks, I thought that I needed to up my calories, but since I am not eating bread, Pasta or sugar I thought "how am I going to do this?" So should I just add nuts and avocado to more items and increase my amount of food? I just feel like eating 3 meals and two Snacks is NOT what you are supposed to do.

What do yall recommend eating to increase my calorie intake without eating bad foods?

Jessy...I recommend you see a nutritionist...many lap-band doctors have one on-site at their offices. They can make specific recommendations for your diet. Also, consider buying a book on nutrition, I think you could really benefit from educating yourself more on this topic. It will help you to figure out what works for your body instead of simply following your doctor's advice or advice from this board. This is a lifelong journey and there are no "rules"....each person's formula will be different and none of us can know what will work for you. I can take a look at what you are eating and say...."up your protein, eat more fat, eat more vegetables...just eat more period"...but none of us are experts on anything except what works for us. A nutritionist will be able to give you far more specific advice and give you some guidelines around how much protein/fat/carbs you should be consuming to maintain a healthy rate of weight loss and what types of foods will satisfy those requirements.

I eat 6 times a day, it keeps me going and it works for me. You have to find what works for you.

My Dr. says 1 cup - 3 meals a day. Uff da! they are all so different.