A Little Discouraged...suggestions?

[ShazamLOL 3]

Hi all. I was banded on 4/24 of this year. As part of a pre-op, I was on a monitored diet from May of 2011, and since then, I've lost 95 pounds, and am very grateful for that.

But, now I've hit a snag. It seems my weight has all but stopped dropping. I've been plateaued for about 2-3 months, now. My job requires quite a bit of walking around. On average, I walk about 6 miles within my 8 hour shift, and that's 5 days a week. I used to walk a river trail behind my house 3 miles a day in around 50 minutes (avg. 3.2-3.3 mph walking--pretty brisk), but I've stopped as of recent because I wasn't seeing any results. My band has been filled to 7CC of 14CC max capacity as of this past Wednesday. I eat pretty good throughout the day; scrambled eggs and a sausage link for Breakfast, usually drink liquids during lunch time, something small when I get home, like a tuna sandwich, then something protein-rich, like homemade chicken stirfry or something similar. Weight still doesn't budge. Is there something I'm doing wrong, here? Maybe I need to walk more? Maybe more calories? Protein shake? Honestly, I think the walking at work has severely undercut my caloric intake, and my body is holding onto everything I eat. I'm more concerned about losing weight than building muscle, so I'd like to stick something cardio instead of weight-lifiting. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Ms Bandit N AZ 1]

It's possible your body has become used to your activity level. The body is a very smart machine and will adjust when it knows what to expect. I was an exerciser before I had the Lapband placed and could loose the weight (runningb12 miles a week and going to a boot camp workout three times a week. When I first got banded my body didn't budge for the first 2-3 months. I had to increase my exercise level to working out 6 days a week with hikes in the mountains. I know it's probably not something you want to hear but increasing the exercising and write EVERY BITE will definitely help. Hang in there, great job on what you've achieved so far. Celebrate that too!

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

How many calories a day are you eating?

Are you sticking to a cup or less of food per meal?

[ShazamLOL 3]

Though I'm not calorie-counting as of right now, I'd say I'm hitting that 1200 cal/day limit.

[♥LovetheNewMe♥ 1,216]

Honestly you probably are not doing anything thing actually wrong! I plateaued at about 7-8 months out and stayed at the same weight losing maybe 5- 6 lbs for about 7 months. I did lose some inches during that time because I dropped from a size 14 to a 12 but weight stayed steady at 175 to 172. I did exercise during that time but was limited due to hurting my knee, exercising. My goal weight was 132 so I still had a ways to go. This is what I did: I changed my entire routine and how I was eating and I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer. My first consult with the trainer was tuff, he told me I was not eating enough. I argued and said but I have a lap band I can not eat that much. He told me I need to increase my Protein, decrease my carbs and increase my calories. i walked out a little discouraged and thought to my self, well I thought that was why I had surgery so I didn't;t need to do all this crap. So, I sucked it up and started his high Protein low carb way of eating, did cardio 5 days a week and weight training 3 days a week. I hate to admit it but he was right, I started dropping weight again the second week and within 7 months I reached goal. I use to eat 60-70 gms of protein aday and around 900-1000 calories, with the trainer I ate 90-120 gms of protein and 1200-1400 calories a day. i still eat my 1 cup portions but I do supplement with Protein Bars and shakes between meals to get all my protein in. I never ate fruit before and I eat a banana or apple every day now, I eat 1 tablespoon of Peanut Butter daily, I drink 2 Protein Shakes, i eat oatmeal, lean meats and veggies. I only have carbs for Breakfast and lunch. No carbs after 3pm in the evening. i eat more protein on training days. I am in maintenance now and i have struggled with not losing additional weight, my first month I lost an additional 5 lbs, so now I am up to 1580 calories a day and I have cut back to training and cardio to 2 and 3 days a week.

Mainly do not get frustrated, try instead to analyze what you are doing and see what you can do different to get you off the plateau.

good luck

[ShazamLOL 3]

Honestly you probably are not doing anything thing actually wrong! I plateaued at about 7-8 months out and stayed at the same weight losing maybe 5- 6 lbs for about 7 months. I did lose some inches during that time because I dropped from a size 14 to a 12 but weight stayed steady at 175 to 172. I did exercise during that time but was limited due to hurting my knee, exercising. My goal weight was 132 so I still had a ways to go. This is what I did: I changed my entire routine and how I was eating and I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer. My first consult with the trainer was tuff, he told me I was not eating enough. I argued and said but I have a lap band I can not eat that much. He told me I need to increase my Protein, decrease my carbs and increase my calories. i walked out a little discouraged and thought to my self, well I thought that was why I had surgery so I didn't;t need to do all this crap. So, I sucked it up and started his high Protein low carb way of eating, did cardio 5 days a week and weight training 3 days a week. I hate to admit it but he was right, I started dropping weight again the second week and within 7 months I reached goal. I use to eat 60-70 gms of protein aday and around 900-1000 calories, with the trainer I ate 90-120 gms of protein and 1200-1400 calories a day. i still eat my 1 cup portions but I do supplement with Protein Bars and shakes between meals to get all my protein in. I never ate fruit before and I eat a banana or apple every day now, I eat 1 tablespoon of Peanut Butter daily, I drink 2 Protein Shakes, i eat oatmeal, lean meats and veggies. I only have carbs for breakfast and lunch. No carbs after 3pm in the evening. i eat more protein on training days. I am in maintenance now and i have struggled with not losing additional weight, my first month I lost an additional 5 lbs, so now I am up to 1580 calories a day and I have cut back to training and cardio to 2 and 3 days a week.

Mainly do not get frustrated, try instead to analyze what you are doing and see what you can do different to get you off the plateau.

good luck

Tell me, what is the significance of eating a spoon of Peanut Butter? Also, what protein/brand do you recommend?

[Kinley7390 80]

Honestly you probably are not doing anything thing actually wrong! I plateaued at about 7-8 months out and stayed at the same weight losing maybe 5- 6 lbs for about 7 months. I did lose some inches during that time because I dropped from a size 14 to a 12 but weight stayed steady at 175 to 172. I did exercise during that time but was limited due to hurting my knee, exercising. My goal weight was 132 so I still had a ways to go. This is what I did: I changed my entire routine and how I was eating and I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer. My first consult with the trainer was tuff, he told me I was not eating enough. I argued and said but I have a lap band I can not eat that much. He told me I need to increase my Protein, decrease my carbs and increase my calories. i walked out a little discouraged and thought to my self, well I thought that was why I had surgery so I didn't;t need to do all this crap. So, I sucked it up and started his high Protein low carb way of eating, did cardio 5 days a week and weight training 3 days a week. I hate to admit it but he was right, I started dropping weight again the second week and within 7 months I reached goal. I use to eat 60-70 gms of protein aday and around 900-1000 calories, with the trainer I ate 90-120 gms of protein and 1200-1400 calories a day. i still eat my 1 cup portions but I do supplement with protein bars and shakes between meals to get all my protein in. I never ate fruit before and I eat a banana or apple every day now, I eat 1 tablespoon of Peanut Butter daily, I drink 2 Protein Shakes, i eat oatmeal, lean meats and veggies. I only have carbs for breakfast and lunch. No carbs after 3pm in the evening. i eat more protein on training days. I am in maintenance now and i have struggled with not losing additional weight, my first month I lost an additional 5 lbs, so now I am up to 1580 calories a day and I have cut back to training and cardio to 2 and 3 days a week.

Mainly do not get frustrated, try instead to analyze what you are doing and see what you can do different to get you off the plateau.

good luck

Wow, that was some good information! Thanks for sharing, and congrats on your success!

[♥LovetheNewMe♥ 1,216]

Tell me, what is the significance of eating a spoon of Peanut Butter? Also, what protein/brand do you recommend?

The spoon of Peanut Butter is yummy! It is 5 gms of Protein and I feel like it is a treat, I eat it with a small banana every afternoon. As far as Protein everyone has their personal perference. Some like powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury (you have to order it) I like Pure Protein, chocolate and vanilla. I mix mine with Water not milk and i only mix mine with 4-6 ozs of Water. I hate premixed, most are two sweet for me and I can;t get past the smell. There are several places like GNC, CVS, Unjury, the Vitamin Store who have individual serving packets so purchase a couple and try some before you purchase a large amount. As far as my diet, I basically follow a weight training diet these days. I enjoy what I eat and I eat pretty clean, very little processed foods, little to no dairy and take supplements to cover the vitaman D and C.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Though I'm not calorie-counting as of right now, I'd say I'm hitting that 1200 cal/day limit.

If I were you, I'd start counting calories. Most people who don't are shocked to find out how much they're actually eating. It would be a good place to start so you can get an idea where possible changes can be made to help you.

[♥LovetheNewMe♥ 1,216]

If I were you, I'd start counting calories. Most people who don't are shocked to find out how much they're actually eating. It would be a good place to start so you can get an idea where possible changes can be made to help you.

Missy is correct on counting calories, I record everything i eat and I measure and weigh all my food. A lot of people do not want to do all of this but if you look on this site the majority do count calories. There are some who have been successful by eating anything they want but it is a sippery slope and I feel it is better to change behavior and develop new healthy choices.

[FLORIDAYS 3,040]

I agree with Missy.... I too am a calorie counter. I track everything except toothpaste and when I hit 1000 for the day I am done, I also measure my portions... 3/4 oz Protein, 1/2 c veggies and 1/4 c startch every meal eaten in that order....

If you start doing that you might be surprised at how much you might be eating....

[Wtloss 75]

Thank you to Lovethenewme and Missy! Great information. My weight loss has also slowed way down and I still have 30-35 lbs to go. I lost inches like you, but the scale fluctuates by a few lbs up and down. I track everything in myfitnesspal . I need to get losing again.

[Wtloss 75]

Also I want to eat frequently. I am hungry before 4 hours. I may need another file. I have 6 cc in 11 cc band.

[bigtruk_us 56]

My resting metabolism rate is 2500 calories a day pre banding.I feel fortunate that my rate is so high.Do any of you know your max metabolism rate.If you do.Then you have some idea of a baseline to work with

[Skyvic 226]

I had a full after a long plateau, but I also upped my Protein intake with a 40 gram Isopure zero carb drink ( liquid not shake) its not bad but expensive. Start looking for high Protein Drinks usually in Vitamin stores and sports performance stores. The protein and less carbs have jump started my weight loss along with the fill. Also change your exercise. I did left weights and more cardio.