In short, the following is my general background:

• I've had the lap band for 3 months now
  
• I've lost 13lbs since surgery [all of it was in the first week - not kidding]
  
• Had first fill last month [1.4cc in 4cc band = 35% fill capacity]
  
• Going for another fill next week [2cc in 4cc band = 50% fill capacity]
  
• I'm 5'10 [male] and currently 284lbs [was 297]
  
• My BMI is 41.7 lbs and to maintain my weight I must be take in 3400 calories per day
  

To lose weight, I've set the following boundaries up to help me be successful:

• Take protein first thing in the morning with protein shake
  
• Select small food portions in every meal
  
• Chew thoroughly and take my time eating
  
• Drink water before I eat and 1 hour after I eat
  
• Do not eat past 7pm
  
• Go to bed no later than 11pm to get enough sleep
  
• Eat no more than 1500 calories per day [today was 1100 calories]
  
• Exercise at least 5 hours per week
  

Any thoughts or advice?

You can read more about "Set Points" below. Was able to find a nice thread that talked about this in 2007. Interesting read....

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/105905-set-point-theory/page__hl__%22set+point%22

sounds like you are doing okay.......sometimes the scale doesnt move as fast as you want it too but that does not mean your surgery and your excellent eating habits are in vain...look at the big picture....with you exercising and eating better, are you feeling better? are your clothes looser? i mean those are wonderful signs that the band is working...

stop comparing to your brother. that is him and you are you. you will not lose like me or your brother or elvis. you will lose as yourself..so leave the comparison shopping for the grocery stores.

eat good foods in your allotted amounts

eat lean Proteins, veggies and fruit and drink alot and exercise and your health and life will be the better for it.

as for what cals you need or dont need, ask a nutritionist as they can advise you better than anyone on this forum. but what i do know is that if you take in more calories than you burn off, you will gain or *not lose*

wishing you all the best MD as always

and those are my thoughts/opinions

You can read more about "Set Points" below. Was able to find a nice thread that talked about this in 2007. Interesting read....

http://www.lapbandta...hl__"set point"

I read this thread and everyone's idea's were interesting, but no one offered any scientific data to back up the theory.

In the past I have read things about the hypothalamus (brains thermastat) . What I read was by avoiding white sugar and white flour can reset the thermastat to increase your fat burning metabolism.

You're encourage to eat whole grains and very, very little sugars.

I believe this to be true and believe the healthcare professionals have jumped on this theory.

So eating whole foods is the way to go.

Any ways that's what I know and my opinion.

BTW, that is what I'm doing and it seems to be working. I know the band living is to allow you to eat whatever, just less of it. But eating totally healthy is working for me now, so thats what I'm doing. Maybe after I hit green zone, I can add somethings back, but until then, no thank you.

MD... you ask for advice and then respond you are doing OK... Make up your mind and let us know when you seriously want us to chime in. Otherwise, it is waste of our time to post and yours to read!

IMHO!

I"m wondering if being at 50% [2cc's in a 4cc band] fill capacity will make a big difference than where I'm currently at === 35% [1.4cc in a 4cc band].

Thoughts?

It did for me. I also had a 4 cc band.

One of the most important things for me has been emphasizing solid food. Even so-called healthy soft foods (like yogurt, cottage cheese, tofu, some fish, Beans, etc) get a low scale on the satiety scale.

BTW, that is what I'm doing and it seems to be working. I know the band living is to allow you to eat whatever, just less of it. But eating totally healthy is working for me now, so thats what I'm doing. Maybe after I hit green zone, I can add somethings back, but until then, no thank you.

See, the idea of the band allowing us to eat whatever is a tricky one in my mind. Eating whatever doesn't serve any of my long term health goals, quite aside from my weight. I saw a nearly miraculous improvement in my cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood sugar, A1C and blood pressure at only 3 months post-op, and my blood tests looked fantastic until I was around 17 months post-op, at which point they went bad again - not to my pre-op levels, but no good, either. The ony thing that had changed in that time was that I had discovered I could eat whatever (in small amounts, but indiscriminately) and not gain weight.

See, the idea of the band allowing us to eat whatever is a tricky one in my mind. Eating whatever doesn't serve any of my long term health goals, quite aside from my weight. I saw a nearly miraculous improvement in my cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood sugar, A1C and blood pressure at only 3 months post-op, and my blood tests looked fantastic until I was around 17 months post-op, at which point they went bad again - not to my pre-op levels, but no good, either. The ony thing that had changed in that time was that I had discovered I could eat whatever (in small amounts, but indiscriminately) and not gain weight.

That makes a lot of sense Jean. Thanks for the heads up. Lab reports don't lie!

Sounds like a good article to me