Throwing in the towel

[StrawartS 2]

But I've seen some people in my community who have done it and I've seen them blossom and appear happier than ever. (They don't admit to the surgery, but clues they've dropped make it pretty obvious.)

Are you sure it was the LB? If you know people who are losing quickly enough for you to notice, I would assume it was the RNY. JMO.

[BJean 16]

The reason I think it is the LB they're using is because they look really healthy. There seems to be a totally different look about people with the LB versus other bariatric surgery.

[BJean 16]

Also - I hadn't seen either of them for about 3 months.

[StrawartS 2]

I would really encourage you to ask them. In my opinion, and limited experience, the things people think about RNY patients are based on the GB that was done fifteen or more years ago.

Also, unless these people started out at very high weights, losing noticeable weight in 3 months is also not common to the LB. You'll see people on here going months post-op without losing ANYTHING or even gaining.

I know I'm sounding like a debbie downer, but I don't want to give the LB any credit where it isn't due. Maybe if you open up with your friends about your own thoughts on having the LB, you can find out how they really lost the weight.

[Iulizbug 0]

I guess I am the oddball here in this thread but I LIKE that I have PB's every once in awhile and I like that I can't shovel food in. It helps keep me in line. I was a lower BMI starting out too but I am extremely hard headed and I need the band to make me stop eating, pain or no pain... The reason why all my other diets failed and this hasn't (so far anyways...) is that the band stops me in my tracks from overeating. I do have to work for every pound lost by exercise but the problem I had pre-band was my willpower to quit overeating. I wasn't a junk food binger but I was a volume binger and I couldn't put the fork down. I still don't like exercise but I know I have to do it to get to my goal. I really think in order for the band to work like it should the person's head has to be completely ready for transformation as well as having the motivation to exercise. This certainly isn't easy but I know if I didnt' get the band I would be climbing towards 300 lbs....I would rather have a bit of pain every once in a while from eating too fast or not chewing well than the pain of being miserable in my obese body everyday. Just my 2 cents though...

~Liz~

03/10/06

241/170/160

5'7''

[BJean 16]

Hey Debbie Downer you make some good points.

But I am not good friends with these two gals. Just people I see in a couple of retails places I visit from time to time. When I asked each of them how they lost the weight, one said "I did it the 'hard' way" and the other said, "I had gallbladder surgery". Both sounded like the kind of answers that I plan to give if and when I go through the LB process.

I have seen on this forum people's stats who have lost 30 or 40 lbs. in the first weeks prior to and including the weeks just following their LB surgery.

And I see gastric bypass patients often on TV and one gal who I worked with last year. She has never looked healthy since the surgery. Also, her weight loss was so fast that she really had the saggy skin. LB patients don't seem to suffer that problem. Which is probably due to the point you made about them not losing that quickly.:straight Or it might be due to the fact that there is so much emphasis, from LB docs, on exercise.

[BJean 16]

Yea Liz!!! You seem to have the same outlook on this as I think I would if I go through with it. That's encouraging. I'm grasping at anything positive to get me back on track. Right now I'm wanting to back out of my LB date.

[Vera 7]

This is all very good information! I sat here at lunch, Soup and sliced turkey meat with a slice of cheese wanting some chocolate....reading this thread.

I'm 3 years out and down 88 lbs, yes those first 20 lbs droped in the first 2 months but it's been work ever since.

Thanks for being truthful and honest.

[BJean 16]

Vera, you're an inspiration to me! :clap2:

[Iulizbug 0]

Hi BJean,

You know its funny b/c pre-band I was the most pessimistic, mopey person out there and I was convinced that I was going to be a turtle and lose extremely slow, if even at all. But if you go into this journey knowing that IT IS VERY HARD it helps. It doesn't make it any easier per say but it makes you grateful for every lb lost b/c you know you worked for it and you didn't just S*IT it out b/c of malabsorption or anything like that. I am not trying to put down the bypass b/c it works very well for some but I wanted a lifestyle change, something permanent. I knew that the only way I was going to beat this battle was to re-think how I have been eating and how I got MO in the firstplace. You are right about the skin issue-I have NO sagging skin but it may be b/c I am only 25. I have lost weight pretty fast for a LB patient but that was only b/c of my effort I have put into it by exercising and dieting. Yes, I said dieting but only a small % can get the band and eat whatever they want and lose. Or keep losing that is.....I never could. From the get-go I said bye-bye to the fast food crap that I ate and whatnot. That doesn't mean that I don't eat a treat now and then though. So I do feel like a "normal eater" now. I eat low fat, low carb healthy foods and count my calories most of the time (80% of the time) and then I splurge and eat what I want, choc, popcorn, whatever on occasion. And that has worked thus far but I have only been banded 5 1/2 mos so I am not a veteran. We will see how I do with maintaining my weight loss. I just want you to know that there is hope with the band. It won't work for everybody but it won't fail for a good # of ppl as well. Those women you know who yous speculate had the band were right about saying that they had to work for every lb lost--you do but IMO IT IS WORTH IT. Keep your chin up...

~Liz~

[BJean 16]

Honestly I think Liz and Vera, you two have done more to restore my faith than anybody else I've talked to. You seem very level-headed about the whole thing, and you seem happy knowing that w/o the band, you probably wouldn't have had such a loss.

I can do low-carb, low-fat is the problem, but Soup, turkey and a little cheese is definitely workable for me.

Thanks for some no-nonsense answers! :mad:

[Iulizbug 0]

good luck on your surgery BJean!! We are all rooting for you here at LBT!! :mad:

~Liz~

03/10/06

241/170/160

5'7''

[DevilMayKare 1]

I dont' consider asparagus a low-cal (code for diet) food, it's an indulgence...

Nahhhh... it's only an indulgence when ya add the cheese sauce!

[ROSA_NOORESTANI 0]

i was banded on July 25/06

preband 240

now 213

I am ++++happy because i was on a gaining cycle it was vicious,

at least we ae not gaining weigh

this is a definate +++++++++++++++

[NewSho 20]

Well, I'm convinced that if you are not losing weight on a reasonable amount of calories, (or even unreasonably small numbers of calories) then you need to start screaming and demanding answers.

As usual, VinesQueen is making major sense.

If you're well-restricted, cutting back on eating and really not losing - get some answers to see what else is going on.

But if that's not the case - let's see what can possibly get you back on track.

Gosh fellow Bandsters no human in the history of American LapBanding has struggled as much as I have.

I've been there, I've felt that.

Every single thing you've said, I've thought. The only difference was I knew better than to throw money (for me, anyway) at NutriSystem or Jenny Craig. I hate the food, the texture, the friggin' smell and the consistency of that stuff. It's inhumane.

I got this band so I could eat real food and not be 'on a diet' for the rest of my life.

When I'm well restricted, I don't make brochure-perfect choices, but oh man - my choices get a whole bunch better when I'm not hungry.

I hate to see people give in so early. (This is the well-restricted NewSho speaking.

When New-Sho does NOT have a good level of restriction, things don't go well.:rolleyes )

In fact, you can see when I have those "Gee,should I have gotten a RnY days" because I always come and post here.

Do I want to PB and choke and sputter? No! But when I hear people say that - guess what. I always know they are usually at a higher weight, or are earlier in their banding. Many of those who will complain of this (rightfully so) are banded less than 2.0 in 4cc bands, especially.

Why do I say that?

Here's the dirty little secret of successful banding:

Because the further in your band life you get, the more fill you need.

Sounds basic, right? Think of a belt around your waist. The smaller your waist, the tighter it has to be pulled to get it to stay put. The band is not much different. When you're heavier you might need your belt closed on the last notch. But as you lose, you can move more notches inward - same with LapBanding.

The more you lose, the smaller your tummy gets - the more you have to adjust the band.

Most of the Bandsters I know at their goal weight (or those really skinny Bandsters, darn them :mad: ) have major amounts of fill. It's the funny little secret about the band: it takes more fill to even give you moderate restriction if you're at/near your goal weight. But they aren't PB-ing every night.

This is what NOBODY told me, explained to me, or outlined for me - and I've been banded so long that my original Inamed booklet is like Copy #4. No joke! :pray2:

So all that you speak of, with the "if I get more fill, I'll PB" is only true if you're generally carrying a bit more tummy around the band.

That's why I scream about my fill level so much.

The closer I get to goal, the more fill I really need.

Please don't think that you will always PB if you get more fill - most of us need a bit of fill to lose weight.

The biggest mistake I see most of us Bandsters make - is that we're improperly adjusted.

Period.

But once you start really losing - don't think it will be PB-ing & acid reflux each time you eat (if that happens over time, you know there's something amiss) but instead you'll be wondering if you will fill your restriction again. Man, I was so happy when I started getting re-filled and my end-of-meal hiccup (that signalled I was 'approaching' capacity ) came back. I was delighted for the restriction.:biggrin1:

While still in my active losing period, I got myself a pack of Gas-X (or any Simethicone based tablet) that fought "the foamies". Or a Maximum Strength Rolaids or Rolaids Max (also including Simethicone) helped a ton. Guess what, when I stopped overeating, I had fewer PB's or discomfort. They were my "you went too far" signals and believe me, it wasn't the grilled veggies that was giving me the signal.

And folks, I promise you - swear to you - it didn't last. I started eating a bit less and I began losing. And that golfball feeling wasn't around much then. They became rare.

You can be banded and eat and drink and have a normal life. You can absolutely do it!

I always post that my Four Favourite Food Groups are

Seafood - cheese - fruit - and Wine. (Yes, I eat veggies, but I realized that eating too much veggies was NOT what was keeping me fat. I need to eat less of the things that were fattening me up. And the band is the only tool that allows me to do that. No diet does that. )

Now, I can drink a glass of wine*, eat seafood, eat some cheese, eat fruit and live very well. That's what I hoped for, and that's what I got. (At least today.)

Heck even I may make it (to my doctors goal) and if I do it, we know I managed it without missing Happy Hour.

Well, heck. We all need some kind of vices,right? :nervous

So please, please, please - don't give up.

I know how you're feeling - allow yourselves to really use this tool you have.

* yes wine has carbs. But my doc told me I'd probably only slow my loss down a little bit - or virtually none if I watch my other carbs . So a 18-month loss time 'versus' a 21-month loss time if I keep the wine? :nervous Waiter, another Chianti please, LOL.