How is weight loss for people over 50? Can we still expect to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week with the band?

Denise, when you go to her house for a visit ask her to bring out a ten pound bag of sugar and place it on your lap. Look at this bag of sugar everytime you want to eat something sweet. Maybe this will stop you from snacking on sweets....?!?

Green/Denise....

I am becoming a little disullusioned by this lap band...am I to understand any small deviation from protein/veg/water will pack on the weight?

I thought with the correct amount of fill a banded person was on such a small amount of food that a little normal sliver of dessert was ok....just not to be made a daily occurance???? Now I am wondering what the purpose of banding is for if we are to police each and every mouthful and then to have the same guilt gnawing at us when we have a piece of candy or cake.......I think I need to hear the whole good and bad of banding.....

I do not want to have guilt anymore.

Denise, you have done a wonderful job of losing weight. How much candy etc did you eat... that put on 4 pounds??? In the whole scope of a years time on the band are you consuming sugar DAILY or perhaps your band is not filled enough and you are consuming too many calories???

As I said, you have done a marvelous job.....don't beat yourself up over 4 pounds or a piece of sugar.....aren't we supposed to be able to eat 'normally'? And with 'normal' eating the weight probably goes up and down....right?

Carol

Denise, no worries on the 4 pounds. That would be anything. I find that over the weekend, even if I'm REALLY good and stay on plan, if I don't get all my water in, the scale will go up a few. Which is why I made the decision that regardless of what happens on the weekend, I will NOT weigh on a Monday morning. I weight every week on Thursday.

Also, remember when you first were on the liquid diet? I imagine you dropped at least 4-8 lbs. rather quickly. Yup, water weight. And what goes off easily comes back on easily. So if you drink more water and flush that awful fat (and sugar) out of your body, I bet you anything you will see a loss by the end of the week (including that 4 lbs.)

Good luck and drink more water!!! :ranger:

-Becky

Carol, don't be discouraged with the lap band process. Remember, it is not a magic wand, we still have to do the hard work of cutting back our calories and even our portions. I know of one woman who has had the lapband for over 2 years and only had 4 fills in that time. She's lost 86 lbs. and kept it off.

While it's good and a wonderful tool to have the lapband, we still have to do all the hard stuff. The making good choices, drinking enough water every day. Considering saying 'no thanks' as a major milestone and a WIN. Even progress in small increments is still progress.

Don't be discouraged or disappointed in the band. It will do what it's been put there to do, we still have to do the rest.

You CAN do this, I know it's hard heading into the holiday season, but we all CAN do this. After all, I keep thinking to myself, nothing tastes as good as thin feels. And if it were easy, we wouldn't be in the shape we're in.

Good luck and hang in there!! My money is on you that you're going to get over this 'rough patch' and make it through. Then you can be there for ME when I'm feeling down and discouraged and wonder what the hell I'm doing!

Ciao!

-Becky

I am so mad at myself. I have been eating! For two days! The result - gained 4 lbs! :fish::hungry::help:

Mistymoon - Ok - you fell off the wagon - but now all you have to do is pick yourself up and get right back on - I am a FIRM believer in keeping a food diary - and I know if i start with sweets I'm just not going to stop - so I just don't start - I have my sf pudding and fudgecicles and they seems to get me through the I want sugar phase - If you can increase your exercise this week - The band is not going to make your food choices for you - you gotta do that - it's not always easy - Food is our drug of choice - so you just gotta say NO to your drug - If you don't have enough restriction get another fill - but with or without restriction you gotta make good food choice - Next time you want candy or dessert think of those grandkids and pictures :scared: maybe that will help.

Mistymoon - you can do this !!!! this is a lifestyle change and you have dieted enought in your life to know that once you go back to your old eating habits the weight just piles back on - Pick one day a month to allow your self 1 candy bar or 1 dessert - if you just have to have them.

Hi everyone, I have been reading the forms for a couple of weeks and decided it was time for me to post. I was banded on Oct. 16, 2007, I am 69 years young. My Medicare and my secondary insurance paid for everything.

I live in Orange County, CA. Jill:)

Jill Welcome to the 50+ gang - We are neighbors (well almost when you look at we have people from all over the country here)

Denise, when you go to her house for a visit ask her to bring out a ten pound bag of sugar and place it on your lap. Look at this bag of sugar everytime you want to eat something sweet. Maybe this will stop you from snacking on sweets....?!?

That's a great idea....

Green/Denise....

I am becoming a little disullusioned by this lap band...am I to understand any small deviation from protein/veg/water will pack on the weight? Carol

Carol - As stated before and over and over again the band is only a tool you have to make good food choices - food is our drug of choice and for some it they start eating candy or deserts they just keep eating - you can eat around the band even if you are at your sweet spot - Denise has a very slow mebtoblism (sp) so if she is a slow loser - but she knows that making unhealthy food choice isn't helping - If you are like the rest of us we have dieted all our lives - but then we go back to our old eating habits - CAN'T DO IT - What do you consider normal eating ?? Normal eating is 4 oz of meat 1/2 cup starch 1/2 c veggies - that is normal eating - as fat people we don't know what normal is - we eat 2-3 times of what is a normal portion - I would eat 16 oz steak - 1 baked potato (loaded with butter & sour cream) - veggies with tons of butter Garlic bread - salad dripping is dressing - then a couple hours later dessert - this is not normal eating like this is what made me fat...

This is a lifetime - lifestyle change - If you want to keep the weight off you will never be able to eat like you use to - because that was not normal - normal is how you will learn to eat with the band by makeing healthy food choices and getting exercise..

Jilly

Hi, it's great to have you on thread.

i am just realizing that THIS thanksgiving--i'm not going to be at all able to eat like i did LAST thanksgiving--and thank my lapband for that!

but i'll be looking a lot better at the family getogether--another thing to be thankful for.

:faint:I am without restriction and turkey day is coming!!!!!!!!!!

I bought me A AIR TICKET to San Diego for Dec. 4 for my 2ed fill. Now I just keep my fingers crossed that doc will be around that day:biggrin1:

The ticket was special cheap nonrefundable or exchangable and there was only one left. I sent email to doc after I bought it. Waiting to hear.

I want to be restrained for the Xmas/New Years.

:faint:I am without restriction and turkey day is coming!!!!!!!!!!

I bought me A AIR TICKET to San Diego for Dec. 4 for my 2ed fill. Now I just keep my fingers crossed that doc will be around that day:biggrin1:

The ticket was special cheap nonrefundable or exchangable and there was only one left. I sent email to doc after I bought it. Waiting to hear.

I want to be restrained for the Xmas/New Years.

NMSunshine

The only advice i can give - Stay away from stuff you know that you can not control - just don't start .... You will feel so much better cuz you are in control and not the food.. Good Luck ....

I am 54 abd was banded on August 8th. i have lost 60 lbs so far1

I am 54 abd was banded on August 8th. i have lost 60 lbs so far1

WOW! Congrats, Janey. You are doing GREAT! :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:

Welcome to LBT.

Forgive me for interrupting the flow of the posts by asking, but how do I get to the over 50 thread when I sign on? Thanks, and you are all my heroes. I will probably be banded end of Jan. 08 or Feb.

Green/Denise....

I thought with the correct amount of fill a banded person was on such a small amount of food that a little normal sliver of dessert was ok....just not to be made a daily occurance????

I have had a hard time finding that correct amount of fill. It's a pretty fine line between having too much and not having enough.

I am not beating myself up. I know that I have the band and I can make it work. I know what makes it work. I know a lady that lost most of her weight the second year of having the band.

I am really thankful that this holiday season I do have my band. I plan on losing between Thanksgiving and Christmas, not gaining.

Forgive me for interrupting the flow of the posts by asking, but how do I get to the over 50 thread when I sign on? Thanks, and you are all my heroes. I will probably be banded end of Jan. 08 or Feb.

Go to the top of the page and look in the dark blue area for the tab "thread tools." Click on that and then when it drops down click on "subscribe to this thread." You'll get emails when there are new posts and you can just click on the link in your email and it will take you right to this thread. Good luck!

Green/Denise....

I am becoming a little disullusioned by this lap band...am I to understand any small deviation from protein/veg/water will pack on the weight?

I thought with the correct amount of fill a banded person was on such a small amount of food that a little normal sliver of dessert was ok....just not to be made a daily occurance???? Now I am wondering what the purpose of banding is for if we are to police each and every mouthful and then to have the same guilt gnawing at us when we have a piece of candy or cake.......I think I need to hear the whole good and bad of banding.....

I do not want to have guilt anymore.

Denise, you have done a wonderful job of losing weight. How much candy etc did you eat... that put on 4 pounds??? In the whole scope of a years time on the band are you consuming sugar DAILY or perhaps your band is not filled enough and you are consuming too many calories???

As I said, you have done a marvelous job.....don't beat yourself up over 4 pounds or a piece of sugar.....aren't we supposed to be able to eat 'normally'? And with 'normal' eating the weight probably goes up and down....right?

Carol

Carol, the band works best on those who have problems with portion control. This was my situation. I never had much of a sweet tooth but I ate huge amounts of food. Once the band was installed I simply could not consume much food anymore. I have always liked good food but I was awful fond of carbs and cheese. My job was to trim back on the carbs, eat less cheese and generally pay a little more attention to what I actually was eating in my banded mini-meals.

One of the things which I did do was to start reading the nutrition facts info on all processed foods before buying them. This was quite a shock. I discovered that vegetable soups are largely devoid of vitamin C. I discovered that eggs are low in calories and loaded with certain vitamins and minerals. This meant that omelettes and fritattas made with fresh vegies were a good thing to make. For a snack I will eat a small tin of flavoured tuna, one of those with a pop-lid.

Because I was still eating all the things which I like but simply eating much, much less thanks to the band I was losing weight without any sense of dieting or deprivation. And though I do have a membership to a gym I haven't been using it. I had torn rotator cuffs, you see, and have spent a year in physiotherapy. I do a lot of walking, however, which is something which I really like.

For people who have a sweet tooth losing weight, even with the band, is much more of a challenge. You see, sweets are soft and tend to slip easily through the band. They are not only calorie dense but they don't contribute to that sense of fullness. These are the people who will feel like they are on a diet and will suffer from a sense of deprivation.

And as you have already heard, some folks have slower metabolisms than others.