BMI 34 or less

mcd · December 5, 2006

I will be banded on the 14th and I am wondering about those of you who started with a BMI of 34 or less. How fast have lost your weight? Has exercise been an important part of your program?

Thanks for your insight.

:help: :biggrin1:

BabyGotBack · December 5, 2006

I'd like to know too! I here the weight loss is slower with people with lower bmi's. Hopefully it is at least 1-2 pounds a week!

Audree

housecatgirl · December 5, 2006

Hi, My BMI was around 35. It has been a tuff road for me but I am glad I got the band. I was too tight for a few months which is when I lost the most weight but I don't recommend doing it that way for obvious reasons. I do have exercise...sometimes 2X a day. Now that my band isn't too tight I do have to control what I eat and can eat anything (just less) for the most part. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more specefic questions. You can also PM me. Oh, I was also banded by Dr. Ortiz. He and his staff are wonderful!

Jachut · December 5, 2006

I had a BMI of 35. I've lost 65lb in a year (its my bandiversary in 3 days), which is about 30kg. I've done it on very meagre restriction, I seem to be totally resistant to fills, lol. I'm now at 3mls in a 4ml band and I can still eat a salad roll for lunch - but that's way less than I once ate. Nonetheless the band has dampened that head hunger that I suffered from so I may eat said salad roll but I dont go looking for more food until dinner time. I eat a very small meal at night, I"m tighter then. I eat carbs, I dont do Protein first and I drink with my meals, I dont see going out to eat as "cheating" and I have a lifestyle that is totally manageable forever. I'm a bad bandster, lol

I have also never PB'd, so have been very lucky. But with PBing comes good restriction and faster weight loss I guess.

Exercise has been everything to my success. I run four to five times a week or so and am up to distances of 10km now - of course I dont do that every run, I tend to do two 5kms, a 7 km and a 10km, gradually building on that distance over a long period of time - I have a 15.2km race I want to do in April and I just did my first 10km on Sunday.

As I've nearly gotten to goal and have hit a really big plateau I've now added in 2 x weekly circuit training - I'll target every muscle group interspersed with 500 metres of fast uphill walking on the treadmill - so maybe 40 squats, 40 lunges each leg, 40 triceps dips, 40 biceps curls, 40 medicine ball sit ups, planks, 40 push ups, and various chest press and shoulder exercises with dumbells, all separated by a 500 metre hike uphill. It lasts an hour and is REALLY hard, but I enjoy it. I agree with Jack though, its time now to focus and really concentrate on what I"m eating.

My MIl is giving me a barbell for Christmas, that's what an exercise junkie I am. I always was athletic and sporty though, have never had the patience for something as pedestrian as walking. Its all or nothing with me.

Although for the first time since banding I'm really having major problems with hunger - due to all the energy I burn I guess. I eat and feel full due to the restriction of the band but the bottom half of my stomach will still be growling and crying out for food, its weird.

mcd · December 5, 2006

Thank you for all of the good information. When you low BMI's were first banded, did the weight come off quicker than 1 to 2 pounds per week? Was it easy to settle into a constant weight loss or was it a battle to keep losing?

Again, thanks for the info.

Jachut · December 5, 2006

I lost quite fast for the first few weeks and then it settled to 1lb per week or less, with lots of plateaus of a few weeks where I dont lose anything.

But when you're less overweight, a couple of pounds makes a noticeable difference, you dont need to be losing faster than that.

I also have not had to go on some rigorous diet, and I have not lost my hair or suffered any other ill health.

BeacheeGirl · December 5, 2006

I was BMI 35 - weight loss has been slowwwww - 20 lbs in 6 mo.s - exercise is key - you still have to diet, band is just a tool

BabyGotBack · December 11, 2006

Is there a group for lower bmi people? Would anyone like to start one if there isn't? Audree

Bawilliams1 · December 11, 2006

My BMI was barely over 34 when I got banded. It took me 3 months and 3 fills before I started losing weight. My band was actually too tight and that's when I lost most of my weight. I PB'd a lot and now I know that I really shouldn't have been doing that! I have a new band now because the first one slipped. I went from 196 down to 132. The weight loss started in July of 2005 and I was at 132 by the end of February 2006. I haven't had restriction since May of 2005 when my band slipped. I do have a new band now and I have had four fills, but I still don't have restriction. It's been a long, tough 7 months with now restriction! I weigh 140 right now. I am just counting calories and working out 5 days a week trying to get back to 132. I can't wait to get restriction again! I have a horrible fear that for some reason this new band is never going to restrict me. It's a 4.0 cc band and I am already at 3.4 cc's with no restriction. I don't have that much room left to add more saline! My first band was too tight at 3.0 cc's. I am wondering if things aren't different this time around because I was at a BMI of 34 when I got banded the first time and then I was at a BMI of 23 the second time around. Any thoughts. To answer the original question .... Yes, i think it's harder for lower BMI people to lose the weight and the smaller you get the harder it is to continue losing. Atleast that has been my experience.

Jachut · December 11, 2006

I do know I've found it really hard to acheive restriction, in fact by the way other people talk about being restricted, I havent gotten it yeat and I'm at 3ml in a 4ml band. The band is in there doing something, but I can certainly eat more easily than most bandsters, with fewer problems