I am new to this support group. I had surgery in Oct,2005. I have only lost 10 pounds. What am I doing wrong?

Leah,

Welcome! I am a novice so I have no clue what you're doing wrong, just wanted to say this is a great place for good solid support and information.

Kelli

Leah, do you have any fills? have you seen your doctor?

Hi Leah! Welcome to LBT!!

First, tell us about your journey. Have you had any fills? Are you food journaling? Have you told your nutritionist / doctor about your lack of weight loss?

Without fills, you're really just dieting again... so it's the same rules you've most likely seen before:

1. Get your Water in

2. Choose Protein first

3. Keep your calories down & your exercise up

4. Eat slowly

Plus the addition of the the lap-band rules:

5. Chew forever!

6. Small bites

7. Don't drink with meals (at least 15 min before & 1 hour after)

If you've had a fill & are following the rules, perhaps another fill is in order? I'd talk to your weight loss team!

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

What size band do you have?

How much fill do you have?

What do you eat on a typical day?

Do you get in atleast 30min of exercise a day?

Leah, count the calories of every single thing that goes in your mouth. Some of us have slower metabolisms and need very little to lose or maintain. I'm a big girl (5' 10") so you'd think I could get a little xtra food, but that's not the case for me. If I don't stick under 1500 calories, I don't lose. And 1500 calories isn't really all that much food unless you live on veggies, which I mainly do. Try counting every single thing you put in your mouth, including cream in your coffee, a bite of this or that. Especially salad dressings, fat, mayo, oil. If you aren't eating too many calories, see your doctor about a possible thyroid or other medical reason.

oh Leah, I'm feeling your pain. We don't Know what you've done so far 'so why don't you fill us in? I have no doubt that you've done every thingpossible, but it is important to Journal everything so you can take it to your doctor.

If your Journal shows how diligent you have been then there is less wiggle room for you docs. They like to blame everything on weight, and if you can prove you're done everything possible, they have to look at other causes" .

I have spent the better part of the last year in mental anguish because I wasn't/ couldn't loose weight. I started pushing for answers, pushing and pushing and I might have an answer. I've been diagnosed with Cushing's withwhich is a metabolic disorder.

Don't let your doctors push this back on you

vinesqueen can you tell us more about Cushing's?

Leah, without knowing what you've done or are doing I can't really help but I would like to send alot of empathy your way. I've lost 10 lbs since my October 05 surgery myself. Keep plugging away.

Like folks have said, let us know what you are doing and we can give you our opinions. :confused:

Thank you all for responding to cry for help. I eat chicken, salads with little or no dressings, veggies,low sugar yogurt and skim milk cheese and milk. I drink water like a fish and exercise every week day 30-45 minutes. What else can I do? I have had one fill and I don't know how much it was. I can drink and feel like I get choked. I also put a little whole grain in my diet.(dry cereals,oatmealand a cracker here and there) but not much. I went today and bought soy protien power to add to my diet. Tell me what ya'll think. Thanks, Leah

I'd start with food journalling, just to get an idea of how many calories you're putting in. Too high is bad, sure... but too LOW can be just as bad. You don't want your body to go into starvation mode.

Good job on the exercise! That ups your need for calories, so be sure to take that into account.

And count those Protein grams! Taken from: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/protein.html

Surprisingly little is known about protein and health. We know that adults need a minimum of 1 gram of protein for every kilogram of body weight per day to keep from slowly breaking down their own tissues. That's about 9 grams of protein for every 20 pounds.

If you're looking for a fairly easy way to track the food, www.fitday.com has a cool tracking system -- and it's free.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!