Hey there, I was banded 6/30/11 and went from 267 to 208, but now Im stuck. I cant seem to lose anymore and I think it has to do with falling off the band wagon I cant seem to keep up with the one hour exercise routine that is required by my dr. My weak point is diet coke and I think its stalled me. I need motivation, please help. thank you

I think they can stretch your pouch and they can crate gas that is difficult to release. I think mine is mostly mindset. I'm used to drinking them, so I want them. I had one on Monday, and it was ok, but I found myself constantly burping, so maybe I'm getting used to not having them. I've not had the surgery yet, just in the dr. supervise weight loss part. I've gone from 3-5 a day to 1-2 a week. And it definitely saves money .

Not to add insult to injury but I was told soda can stretch your pouch from the carbonation. Which obviously is not a good thing for us. Try weaning off of it, it's hard and you will crave it for a little while- but you will be ok. You can do it!!

Hi, I am new here and did not know that we are not supposed to drink soda but now I know! In regards to the exercise, I was 360lbs. at my largest and putting on my work shoes was the most exercise I got in one day. After the surgery I just focused on one day at a time starting with walking. In the beginning it was a chore to exercise because I knew it was something that had to be done to get where I wanted to go. I was focused on the end point of my journey, or the light at the end of the tunnel. I only thought about what I wanted to look and feel like at the end of my journey and I soon started to give up because it seemed so far away and unattainable. And then somehow I changed the way I looked at it. Instead of being focussed on the end point, I fell in love with the journey itself. The endpoint will come when it does. I began to work out and exercise because I wanted to. Try and fall in love with the journey (exercise) and not the end point! I hope that helped and I am sorry if it didn't.

I fell in love with the journey itself...I like that! I haven't been banded yet, but I think I'm gonna write this down to remind me when I am fully in my journey.

I am currently trying to wean myself off of diet coke because I know it will help once I get banded. I feel like a crackmonkey with diet coke, I will bring two to a 1 hour long meeting and carry one everywhere I go. i started supplementing with crystal light. So far not to bad. I am down to 2 a day which is pretty good for me. Good luck and let me know of any tricks that work for you!

To those talking about drinking diet soda or any other carbonated beverages after being banded, my advice is to stop and stop immediately.

There is good reason we're not supposed to have carbonation after being banded. It can cause both slippage and erosion. When I had my Lap Band surgery, my roommate in the hospital was in there for a band replacement. Why? Because she was regularly drinking soda and the carbonation resulted in her stomach prolapsing through her band.

I used to be a big time diet soda addict, but I'd much rather be healthy without soda than risk a slip or erosion from drinking soda. It's just not worth it.

As I drank less and less diet soda, I liked it less. After a whicle it tasted really syruppy and gross. I haven't had any Diet Pepsi in months and now I can't remember what I liked about it so much! I went from 4-6 cans a day to 0 in 3 months.

It has been hard, but no sodas for two weeks. Mine is mental, and I know that so I just have to keep battling the mind.

It has been hard, but no sodas for two weeks. Mine is mental, and I know that so I just have to keep battling the mind.

You know how I got off the soda wagon? I used to be ADDICTED to diet mountain dew and the md said it was fine to drink as long as it was flat. So I would pour a can out in a glass before bed so it would be flat the next morning....it was the most disgusting thing ever! Def broke that habit. If anything when I go out to dinner with the bf and he orders a coke I'll have a sip of it kind of roll it around in my mouth so it gets most of the bubbles out and drink that, but I don't order a whole coke usually water or iced tea.