Today i went to, what was supposed to be my first fill. The aftercare people said i lost 25 pounds in 1 month and for the amount of fluid in my band they were expecting, or would have been happy with an 8-10 pound loss. Wait? I thought my my band was empty but i found out today that i received 2 cc's at the time of surgery. I have a 10 cc band. They seemed concerned at my weight loss and asked me what i was doing. I told them i eat 1/4 cup of food every 2-3 hours. I consume between 800-1200 calories a day and 50-70 g of protein. I walk on the treadmill for 30 min 6 days a week. They said i was losing weight to quickly and they denied me a fill, which is fine because i didn't want one anyway. I even heard one of the nurses saying maybe i should have fluid removed. what? They said they want me to eat 1/2 cup to 3/4 of a cup of food every 4-5 hours. It averages out to about the same thing but eating 1/4 cup every 2-3 hours keeps me feeling satisfied and not hungry throughout the day. I left my appointment feeling very confused because i'm thrilled about the weight loss. The reason i got the band was to lose weight but i also don't want to lose weight unhealthy. They said to come back in 3 weeks and they will see if my weight loss has slowed down. Has this happened to anyone? I called my surgeon and he said that it is a lot of weight loss for a month but that he wasn't to concerned for now. He said he would never have fluid removed from my band unless i was throwing up, or unable to get food down. He said they typically like to see a max weight loss of 10 pounds a month. He said this is healthy. I was really excited about my weight loss but now i'm kinda bummed cause everyone seems concerned. Does anyone have any advice?

Well, this may not be what you want to hear, but this is what I would tell my BFF. Your health care folks are the ones to heed and trust. But, truly they do not seem too worried as they asked you questions (and got good answers that made it plain you were eating sensibly) and let you go home with only the follow-up appointment. Basically, they are in wait, watch and see mode. I would think that if you keep losing as this rate, they will do something to slow you down, as it is a strain on the body to change too fast. Also, skin elasticity becomes an issue and we all want tight skin. Also, you want to burn fat only, not fat and muscle.

But nearly everyone with big drops slow way down after the first month. (I did) ........And sometimes, they then plateau for a month or two. (three for me).. There was a recent post on this site asking folks 6 months or farther out from surgery how much we had lost at 6 months. And it was kinda cool. We all had lost about 50 lbs (give or take 10 lbs) but some had been fast, then slow and some had been steady. I loved it because it showed me that WE ARE ALL GONNA GET THERE IN OUR OWN TIME

If the doctor's office does end up slowing your weight loss down a little, don't sweat it, you will have a band for the rest of your life.

Enjoy the jouney.

Terri

Don't be bummed, stay excited and motivated, it sounds like you are doing great, congratulations! I wouldn't be too concerned, the doctors are being cautious, and you want them to be that way. The first month or so really isn't about losing, just healing, so they probably just want to be sure you are doing things the healthy way and not over doing it. Your weight loss will most likely slow down to a normal rate soon. I lost about 15lbs my first month post-op and I really wasn't strict with my eating and wasn't doing any sort of exercise. To me it doesn't seem to be so far fetched that you would lose 25lbs with being as active as you are. Alot of that weight is fluid after surgery and with being active and keeping your calories low you were able to take off even more which is a bonus, not all of us can do that right away. I don't think this is cause for alarm unless you keep losing 25lbs every month, that wouldn't be healthy for anyone. Remember, slow and steady and everything in moderation... Keep up the good work, stay healthy, and good luck on your journey!

Thanks Stratcat. I totally agree with you. I really do believe my weight loss will slow down. I started at almost 300 pounds and i think my body was just desperate to drop some pounds. Thanks for the advice.

Congrats! I can see how it can be confusing though, my Dr's and nurses were excited about my weight loss (23 pounds), I was filled with 3cc's during surgery and .5 at my first fill because I couldn't handle a full cc, they evn had me schedule a 2 weeks appt to get another fill. Keep up the good work!! I also eat 5-6 small meal insead of 3 larger ones a day.

Way to go! If you are feeling good and not having problems I would not worry about it.