Hi,

I'm getting discouraged. I had my 1st fill on June 6 and have only lost 2 pounds since then. The nurse told me that I will not start feeling the band until I get up to 6 to 7 ml. I'm at 5 now. It is getting hard for me to measure my food to insure I do not overeat and stretch out my pouch. I do not do well when I'm hungry. I did lose 14 lbs. on the 2 week pre surgery diet. Is this normal? When does the regular 2-3 lbs a week loss start? Thanks for any advice.

#1... the nurse is not very bright or educated in the "band" in my opinion.

There is no magic # to start to feel restriction. Some people never have a fill and have great restriction, she has no idea that it will take "7" cc for you to get restriction. I think if I had 7 cc's I wouldn't be able to swallow Water little own food!

Ok... rant over.

It all depends on your body, everybody is different. The only advice I can give you is to follow the lap band rules.

protien first, eat slowly, chew well. Really think about your hunger, make sure it is your stomach telling you you are hungry not your head. It will start to move. Make good choices, stay away from junk food. Lots of protien and veggies. I would stress tracking your calories. Log EVERYTHING (ketchup, oil you cook in etc. everything adds up) so you can see exactly how many calories and how much protien you are eating.

The weight will start to come off. Exercise is like gas on a fire with the lap band... so get moving. Every little bit helps.

It's by no means easy. I have been on a lot of diets and I have never worked as hard at losing weight as I have with the band.

Good Luck!

The surgeon left 2cc in my band.My surgery was 5/9/12 and i went in on 6/19/12 and we decided against a fill because i was going 6 hrs before getting hungry.like said above track calories..I treat calories like money i'm always looking to get the most bang for my buck.I don't depend on the band to do the job for me,i use it has a tool just like excercise and tracking calories.Give it some time and results will come.

I'm not losing a ton of weight either. More like .5 lb at a time. Somewhat frustrating when I see everyone else dropping 3 to 5 lbs a week, but I had this thought just this week. I'm not gaining!!! Before being banded I would diet like a mad dog, lose a lb or two a week and then put on 5 lb. the following week. What a cycle to struggle with. Now, I'm losing slow, but not putting it back on. This is HUGE for me. So I'll take my .5 loss and just keep putting those ounces behind me.

TURTLE POWER!

I am not losing A whole bunch of weight, it has been 1 yr since surgery on 30 June and have lost around 80 lb. I did not have restriction until my 4th fill which put it at 9.2cc in a 14 cc band and that was 2 months ago and I now have rare restrictions. like the other posts state everybody is different! Good luck

I am not losing A whole bunch of weight, it has been 1 yr since surgery on 30 June and have lost around 80 lb. I did not have restriction until my 4th fill which put it at 9.2cc in a 14 cc band and that was 2 months ago and I now have rare restrictions. like the other posts state everybody is different! Good luck

Congrats on 80 lbs! That is awesome.

I agree with TKW, that nurse spoke in ignorance. Everyone is different and feels restriction at different levels. I only have 4cc in my band and have a lot of restriction, If I had 6-7cc, I wouldn't be able to swallow Water let alone food.

Something else to keep mind about weight loss with the band, even if you do have good restriction you're not going to lose if you're not mindful of your food choices. Even small servings can be loaded with calories and fat. So, it's about more than just smaller portions, it's being certain the foods we're choose are healthy.

To stretch your pouch would you have to eat enough to feel really full even without restriction. Would you feel that you are overdoing it? I ask because now without restriction I haven't been sticking to half a cup of food per meal. The worst I have done is two cups of soft food during one sitting.

I don't believe it is that easy to stretch your pouch. If you have little or no restriction the food is going through relatively easy, you won't stretch it. Even with great restriction it is sometimes hard to quit. I have over eaten many times. I don't feel that my pouch holds anymore than it ever did. While I definately think you can stretch your pouch I don't think it happens that easily. (these are just my thoughts... from my experiences, I could be way wrong)

I could definately eat 2 cups at first. Try to fill up on lots of veggies and good for you stuff!

Good Luck

Also... 1/2 cup is not much food. My dr. thinks you should eat about a cup.

They all have very different opinions on many different issues. Listen to your body.

I did not get restriction until 10.6 cc's in 11 cc band. You need to Protein first and then low fat/cal veggies until full. I guess I don't undertand the problem weighing you protein. Do you have a food scale? My doctor says 3 oz of protein for lunch and dinner.

What exercise are you doing? Most doctors say at least 30 minutes cardio daily. Personally I have never had the weight just fall off. Every pound has been WORK!