Hi everyone and happy new year. I am in need of some serious advice/support or maybe just a good kick in the but!!! I was banded 7/23/11 and have lost a total of 30 pounds, from my first appointment ever, not just from the surgery. I have had three or four fills, my last being from before thanksgiving. I need to get back to my dr. but haven't had a chance to.

When i eat, i do feel some restriction but I still eat too fast and don't chew enough, so I end up vomiting (only sometimes). I can pretty much take down a small piece of chicken or another hard food with not a great deal of chewing and it will stay down. The only difference I really feel is the QUANTITY of food I can eat at one sitting. The food choice can be pretty much anything. My food choices are not always the greatest but i do try and emphasize Protein and keep down the carbs, sugar, and fat. I have completely cut out any carbonated sodas, regular or diet from my surgery! I feel that the greatest change has been how much I eat. I simply cannot have as much as I used to, but then why isn't the weight coming off???

I am trying to gage if what I am experiencing is similar to what others are experiencing. I know everyone's experience will be different but I just want to know that I'm on the right track. My brother and mother had bypass a month ago and are losing huge amounts of weight. I realize that I shouldn't be comparing, two different surgeries, but it is hard to watch!

I do remember at my last fill the nurse mentioning that i didnt have a lot of Fluid in my band (i think i have a 10cc band) and maybe I need to keep up with adjustments? I have a problem with emotional eating and I realize that that aspect will not be fixed by the band but isn't the band supposed to help with suppressing appetite?

I realize that i need to make huge changes both mental and physical in order for the band to help me. I feel that I have made some considerable changes, but i'm just not feeling that it has been all that helpful. I really want to be one of those people posting a topic about LOVING my lapband!!! LOL, i hope I will be there eventually.

Please throw some advice/support my way, I would REALLY appreciate it. GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

My advice to you is to start moving if your not already. Exercise is te Key! I can diet all day long but if i don't exercise then the scale doesn't move. Try it and see. I can eat a not-so-strict diet and exercise and loose weight. I gained about 10lbs over Nov & Dec because we adopted our son and I didn't exercise and ate badly. Well Monday I started Jazzercise and walking every day and cut back and I have lost 6lbs just this week. Good Luck and keep your head up!

I would definitely keep going back for fills. However, the band won't stop you from eating what you want. YOU have to stop YOU. I haven't even felt restriction yet, but I'm counting my calories and making healthy choices. You really have to be in the correct mind set to do this or the band won't work. Good luck!

thank you, i appreciate your help. I know that i do need to move more and be very good about tracking calories. I just went to sparklepeople and opened an account, so hopefully that will help.

i heard that the band's true function is to help curb your appetite, not to help you feel full so that you stop eating. I'm hoping to feel that after another fill.

good luck with your journey and your new son kimmy!

Go back to your doctor and tell them everything you told us!

I to think exercise is the key. I gained three pounds over Christmas and new years because I ate whatever I wanted and enjoyed it. I left curves last week because I was not getting enough out of it and joined another gym that challenges me. Three pounds gone this week and am excited to get that last 12 pounds off! Just get moving and it will all fall into place.

thanks for your advice everyone! xavier, i have to make an appointment with dr. and i will tell him everything.

The only difference I really feel is the QUANTITY of food I can eat at one sitting. The food choice can be pretty much anything.

This is what the band is designed to do. It does not and should not affect your choices. What are you expecting your band to do?

My food choices are not always the greatest but i do try and emphasize Protein and keep down the carbs, sugar, and fat. I have completely cut out any carbonated sodas, regular or diet from my surgery! I feel that the greatest change has been how much I eat. I simply cannot have as much as I used to, but then why isn't the weight coming off???

If you are still eating a lot of high cal, low nutrition, slider type foods etc then of course the weight is not going to come off. In order to lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit. You do this either by eating less than you expend or increasing your activity levels so that you expend more than you eat. If you are continuing to eat the same types of food that you did prior to banding then you are probably still consuming a lot more calories than you use on a daily basis and you won't lose weight.

Fills won't make any difference until you start playing your part properly. You have to make the healthy choices and eat the correct types of food.

Stop expecting the band to do everything for you and realise that it is a fabulous tool/aid when used in the way in which it was designed to be used. Then you should start to reap the benefits.

Mamastwo...I am feeling exactly the same as you (except I am 10 months out) and I appreciate you posting this thread. Youtube has a lot of great vloggers who have videoed their experience and it is really inspirational as well as helpful. Also, myfitnesspal.com is a great site for tracking your calories and also has a great app for your phone if you have one that uses apps I wish you luck in your journey!

The band, when well restricted, does make you feel full, and full for ages. I cannot physically eat more than a certain amount, no matter how much I want to. And I stay full for hours after. What you're describing sounds very much like not enough restriction.

Having said that, I can still eat chocolate and drinks shakes and eat all the things that can mean I wouldn't lose weight, so yes, good choices are still a big part of it, as is exercise. But the band works when it's restricted. So go back for more fills. If you've got some restriction now, then take it slow. A small fill might get you there.

thank you for all the advice!!

I am defenitely not expecting the band to do it all, it can't and it won't unless I put forth enough of my own effort, i do realize that. I am just getting stuck in little ruts of frustration on my way to that "perfect place" where my adjustments are just right, my food choices are just right, and my excercise is just right. Its just the getting there =) i didn't become over weight over night and i am not going to fix old habits that easily. Everything dis just very slow moving.

i commend all of you that were able to make the huge lifestyle change of better food choices and excercise after getting banded, but it hasnt been that easy for me. I'm working on that a day at a time hoping to do away with older habits and ways and make better choices. I wasnt one of those fortunate people that changed all my old ways right after being banded. I wish i could be, but i'm not.

I'm not expecting the band to "DO" anything more than its already doing. I need more fills and i need to fine tune my diet and activity.

again, thank you all!!! good luck on your journeys