Hi all -

Haven't been on in a good long while! I was banded in January and have hit a SERIOUS plateau (several months now).... wondering if anyone has any good plateau buster tricks to get things moving again?

Not that I'm complaining mind you... I'm still "pleasingly plump", but geez, I hit the 160's and am feeling pretty good about that. Still, it's been really, really slow for the past 3 months and I seem to gain and lose the same few lbs again and again. I don't eat that much (probably just about 1100-1200 calories a day (max), but just don't seem to be losing any more for some reason. Maybe back on the initiation diet for a couple of weeks? Ugh.... Thoughts? Anyone else had this happen?

Hope everyone is doing well...

Kim

Do you exercise Kim?

Carol

This isn't going to help you Kim, but I was just wondering, How do you know it's a plateau and not just a need for a teenie fill?

Thanks for the replies guys....

I don't "exercise", but I am extrememly active now and spend lots of time working on my house. We bought a little place on the lake in need of LOTS of work. I have been off work for the past month and have been working on the house. Tearing off sheetrock, painting, putting in flooring, etc. I would say I get at least as much exercise as I did when I was working out for 45 minutes a day.

As far as the fill goes... I don't know. I had a fill that was too tight, then a slight unfill. I worry about going for another fill as I'm not at a much lower weight than when I had my last unfill. The fill I have keeps me from eating too much and I even occasionally have slimes and PB's --- so I think it's tight enough. Band is finicky though... some days I can eat and some days I can't. I never know how it will act from day to day. That said, I have noticed lately that I seem to be having fewer and fewer incidents of PBs and I can eat more (like a lean pocket last night for instance - bread and all).... although some days I wouldn't dare try bread. It just changes from day to day.

Kim I was on that plateau just a few weeks ago...I didn't do anything different to get off it and low and behold woke up one morning and 2 pds gone for good. This gave me the encouragement I needed to start back excercising. I know that that plateau can really drag you down, it certainly did me. Good Luck

This probably sounds counter productive, but try eating more a couple days a week. Add just another 100 or 200 calories every other day and that might help. Your body's metabolism has probably adjusted to your current calorie intake, so changing it up might work. I have used that method with my past dieting attempts and it usually worked.

WHAT are you eating, Kim? Even if you are only eating 1200 cal. a day, if you are not eating your high Protein, lo carb regimen, it's going to be hard to lose. Lean pockets do not fit in our game plan, do they. Are you using a good protein supplement....one for bariatric patients, not athletes? They can help you avoid the things that we don't need (the things that go down easy) and keep your energy level up.

I had surgery a few weeks after you did (also Dr Benevides) and I have found that about every 4 weeks I hit a plateau that lasts about a week regardless of how closely I stick to the rules. I have lost 87 lbs so far....my exercise has been limited because I was so heavy to begin with but I'm doing better all the time.

That remodeling is hard work....we went thru that last year when we moved .

Best wishes!!

Kim.....I just went back and looked at your post again....you have probably slowed down because you were such a lightweight to begin with. You are now at 169 - have you weighed about 169 in past years for a lengthy period of time? I have read recently that our bodies will often put the brakes on when our weight gets to a point where it was once before for a long period of time. Guess it thinks, "Hey, this feels familiar, I'm home, gonna lay down and rest a while right here." Don't know whether that is just someone's theory or whether there is actual research on it, but it's just a thought. I almost wish I hadn't read that because I weighed 242 for years and years....now that I'm getting close to that again, I'm scared to death I'll quit losing.

Just a thought that flitted through my mind.....

Its time for some hard exercise. YOu need both - to be active all day every day AND you need to exercise, to push your fitness to a new level and to change your body composition for the better. It makes all the difference.

One KFC original recipe chicken leg and l/2 small container of coleslaw for an evening meal. Sounds silly, but it seems to clean my pipes and move the scale.

Log your calories and make sure you are getting at least 1000 a day.

Drink at least 3 quarts of water a day (this is when I really lose).

Exercise but realize that your weight may go up before it goes down.

Hi, Kim!

I don't know any tricks, so sorry about that, right off the bat.

Now that's out of the way, I will sympathize with you about the plateau. The good news is all you have to do is wait it out...During the time I've been banded, I've hit about 3 of these periods...and they have lasted for a month to two months. I have just come to expect and accept them now. I'm in one now. Does it bother me? Yes, sometimes. After I fight off the tendency to talk bad about myself and find fault with everything I do, and criticize myself for every non-perfect thing I've ever eaten or thought about eating... I take a deep breath and think, "It's not about being perfect. It's a long journey. I've come a long way. I'll keep going."

You've done great, Kim! You're going to get there...don't worry.