Hey guys sorry to vent like this but I need to write or I am going to explode.. I have lost quite a bit of weight and am happy with that but I seem to be stuck and not only with this band but when I was doing lindora weight loss program I got stuck there too.. For what ever reason I cannot get past this stupid 200 lbs every time I stare at the scale it stares back it refuses to budge its an all out war between me and my scale and right now it has the upper hand.. I have been doing very well with eating and water intake and even exercise so what else is there.. I just want so very bad to be under the 200 mark and after that the weight as it comes off slow will be rewarding but I just dont want to see 200 anymore.. well thanks for the ears and sorry to vent like this but I just needed to write it out and get it off my chest you know...

I understand your frustration. We all do. Babs is currently going through the same 200 marker battle. I've heard it said that sometimes, it seems as if our body reaches a weight that we may have been at in the past and it tries to hang on to that familiar weight. I'm sure there is some more technical way of explaining that, but it does seem to sort of reach different weights and stay there.

Maybe if you try adding something new to your exercise regime? If you're walking, maybe add bicycling an evening or two?

Have you tried tracking your Protein, calories etc in www.fitday.com ? sometimes, we may be taking in more than we think. It might help to just check that out for a few days to see if there is an imbalance somewhere in your protein/carb intake.

It could be very possible that you are building muscle or 'compacting' at this time. Sometimes, I thought I was going nowhere but should have been losing, my body seemed to be shrinking but the scale wouldn't budge. Then, suddenly, I might drop 5lbs at once. It's still early. Remember this is for life. You'll cross that hurdle, I promise.

Am I reading your post right? Have you lost 20 pounds in a month? I think that is fabulous!!!!

Jeanie, you're doing great! Try not to get on the scale too often. I think that backfires on you. Maybe, once a week. Then, hopefully, you'll be pleasantly rewarded. But 20 pounds in a month! Wow!

Jeanie, I just got off the phone with Dr. Rumbaut, who said I could expect to lose weight until about a month after being banded, then I'd probably hit a plateau for a couple of weeks and be ready for an adjustment around week 6. I don't know if other doctors' patients have similar stories, but if you were a Rumbaut girl you'd be right on schedule. I know what you mean about that 200 mark. I'm excited just to be on the other side of 250 for the first time in over a year!

Jemigirl, you really are doing fabulously!!! We are only supposed to lose an average of 1 to 2 lbs a week. According to your stats you have lost 5 lbs each week. Your doing great!!! Look at the positive aspects of it. Best wishes, Teresa

Thanks for all the support everyone.. today I did not eat good at all I guess thats par for the course.. and I think that I let that 200 thing get to me... but I am not going to change it this way by eating all the wrong foods I even tried to eat a piece of bread last night cause I felt like having some and it got stuck and well you know what happend next.. PBing everywhere so tomorrow its back to being a good girl... I am going to get under 200 by the end of next week thats my goal.. ZOE.. thanks for the info and even if I am not one of DR Rumbaut girls its nice to know that I am on tract and that its just a plateau that I have hit... Hope everyone is doing well and also has anyone heard from Andrea yet just concerned and hoping that she is doing fine.. I am sure that she is probably sore and a bit tired as I was and the rest of us were as well..

ohhh thanks so much for asking about me. I am back I wrote al about my experience if you would like to read it. Keep up the good work.

Jemi, what you are experiencing is completely normal. When you first have your band fitted, you get a very rapid weight-loss. This is because your body stores excess sugar that it doesn't need in your liver as glycogen. The sugar is stored in a Water solution, which weighs quite a bit. When your food intake drops, your body uses the stored sugar you have and so then no longer needs the water that it was using to store it. In the early days, you will pass as much as a litre a day of water, which makes you feel like you are losing LOADS of weight - the truth is you are, but it's only water. Eat a lot of sugar and the weight goes straight back on, because your body starts storing it in a water solution again.

In reality, your body cannot metabolise more than about 2-3 lbs of fat into energy per week. Any weight loss above that is only water loss. What has happened to you is that you lost a lot of stored water, then your water level stabilised and you started losing fat. Now all the excess water has gone, the weight loss will slow down a lot, but that just means now every lb you lose is pure fat :mad:.

You can realistically expect to lose 10lbs a month now, if you follow the rules, but you can't lose any more 'cos the body just can't work that fast. It seems slow but think of it this way, keep going as you are and you'll be down another 20 lbs in the next two months - well done!

My body plateaus on a regular basis. I never lose a pound or two a week. Instead, I weigh the same for several weeks, then I suddenly drop 2 pounds or so. I'm not in a hurry to lose, as long as I lost some. Even if I only lose 5 pounds a month, that's 60 pounds in one year, and the years are flying by.

I try to think of plateaus like household repairs. I'm having my pool replastered, so right now it's a disaster because it's in the middle of a plateau. It's going to take the workers a couple weeks to get it up and running, but during this time progress is being made daily. That's how I feel about plateaus - even though the scale doesn't show a loss, my body is doing things internally that will eventually purge some weight. If you are eating small, drinking lots of Water and exercising, your body has no choice but to get below 200. But a watched pot never boils, so stop staring at that scale!

Good advice that DeLarla. It's really easy to see how much weight comes off the first two weeks after being banded and then think it can came off that fast forever (we wish :mad: ) You have to remember that it physically can't, 2-3 lbs of weight is the absolute maximum that your body can lose in a week when very strict diet is combined with vigorous daily exercise. 3-5 lbs a month is a much more realistic target. Water retention fluctuations will create the impression of losing and gaining weight on a daily basis, so weighing yourself no more than monthly is recommended if you do not want to experience that "Frustrated!!!!!!" feeling again.

Thanks, Wiz & DeLarla. I love the repair analogy! Right now someone's hanging new cabinets in my kitchen; I haven't had a kitchen sink in weeks, and it won't be reinstalled until October. Meanwhile, there's a little bit of progress every day, but it's frustrating because I want the final result NOW. Kind of like this dopey nagging thought I have: I've been banded for three whole weeks; how come I'm not thin yet?! (You can see one reason I repeatedly failed on diets.) Patience is a virtue I lack, but I'm learning.

By the way, any prospective bandsters who are also remodeling, consider having your kitchen torn up while you're on liquids and mushies -- just make sure there's a clear path to the refrigerator, and that you have some way to heat up soup.

Wiz, you should start a whole new post about what you wrote. I've read it a hundred times, but the way you put it really hits it home. The fact that water fluctuates makes us look like we've lost weight (even on weekly weigh-ins) when all we've really lost or gained is water. Great point.

I weigh myself every day, but I only chart my weight loss once a month on my band anniversary. I can gain 5-7 pounds during my period alone, so any weighing around that time can't be accurate.

I'm glad my home repair story helped. That's the only thing that keeps me sane when I plateau. A few weeks ago I tore my house to shreds to clean it. You would have thought I was demolishing it because I had everything torn out of the closets, but the end result was worth the wait.

You can realistically expect to lose 10lbs a month now, if you follow the rules, but you can't lose any more 'cos the body just can't work that fast.

Wiz,

What about those that have lost weight in a very short time with the GB??? Ive wondered many times how the body can lose that much weight in such a small time frame.... one friend has lost 76lbs in 4 months... another friend - 160lbs in 8 months.

HOW can the body do this????

They're losing muscle mass. :mad:

Leatha, good point. When you lose that fast, you're not losing just fat. Losing muscle ain't the way to go. Plus, many bypass patients have to take supplements for life because their newly mutilated stomachs don't absorb nutrition from foods ingested.