I am new to this.... does anyone have a sense of why some people seem to lose really quickly and some people take a bit longer? I know in the long run it doesn't matter. Is it BMI, is it follow-up care?

Restriction, choice of food, metabalism, etc... all play a part. Some of us "slow losers" are just part of the 25% that the band does not help. I am one year out and only 20 lbs down. Guess that makes me a slow loser.

Eating and exercise behaviour play a huge part, but also, there's a lot of people out there that wonder why the heck they're so fat. They dont seem to eat more than the average person - and I think its true, some people are just unlucky, they have slow metabolisms and get fat very easily and struggle to lose it.

I think age play a big part

I'm a turtle, too....but I have to admit I don't exercise like I should. I'm very inconsistent about it, and lately haven't been doing it at all! Uggggggh!

Toni

IMO exercise, exercise, exercise and even more exercise. Plus watch what kinds of food you eat and generally you will lose. That imo is why most don't lose. Then there are those that will tell they do all that and still don't lose but I think they are kidding themselves.

Metabolic issues do play a huge part. I am a slow loser, in spite of extremely low calories, low carbs, and high exercise. I can do this it is just going to take me a very very long time. I am hoping my metabolic issues will improve the more weight I get off and from there make it easier to lose. There are just some people very resistant to losing weight, especially those with severe forms of insulin resistance.

Honesty, I'm still very sceptical that the band will work for me. I eat less than the normal person, watch what I eat, and have exercised religiously in the past with no results. I don't snack. I rarely eat dessert. I don't drink soda or carbonated drinks. I've been on 600 calorie a day diets under doctor's orders and took prescribed weight loss medication. The most I ever lost was 18 pounds. (I didn't cheat either) The depression I suffered from the frustration was worse than being fat, so I gave up. I felt defective. The band is my last resort. If it doesn't work, I am REALLY terrified of the depression that will result. So 25% of banders see no results????? That's pretty high. No one has told me that. Now I'm starting to doubt this will help me.

Hi Aubrie, as I said I am not banded yet... but I get the impression that everyone who gets the band felt like they couldn't lose without it and therefore there must be a subset of people who were slow losers (or not losing at all losing) before the band who it works really well for after the band. Those people should statistically be the majority if it works for 75% I hope that makes some sense - basically what I am saying is I am skeptical too but the 75% feels hopeful to me.

I think it has to do with how much you eat before the band. If you ate alot before the band your body will lose the weight pretty fast. I am a slow loser, and before the band I was not a heavy eater, was always on a diet. I just gained very easily and worried about food constantly. Now I have been on a plateau for 1 year, still trying to get that last 20 pounds off.

If you are a junk food eater the band will not work for you. It is terribly frustrating when you are hungry and solid Proteins will not go down, but you can eat Pringles, ice cream, and chocolate.

Today for example; I went to a baby shower. Did not eat anything but those little baby mints. Came home and tried to make chicken salad, after buying hubby Sonic. My chicken salad would not go down, but one of his onion rings did... go figure.

Metabolic issues do play a huge part. I am a slow loser, in spite of extremely low calories, low carbs, and high exercise. I can do this it is just going to take me a very very long time. I am hoping my metabolic issues will improve the more weight I get off and from there make it easier to lose. There are just some people very resistant to losing weight, especially those with severe forms of insulin resistance.

I think some of this is spot on.

It's not any one thing really that contributes to weight loss, but rather a combination of your lifestyle.

What types of foods are you eating? Are you eating healthy or do you think that now that you're banded and only eating 1/4 of a snickers instead of the whole thing will help you lose weight? Eat better, lose weight. Stay low carb when you're sedintary, only eat starchy high carb/high glycemic meals after you've exercised. The rest of the day, you don't need all those carbs to function. If you do eat carbs, the excess energy will likely be stored as fat.

How often are you eating? Do you think eating only once or twice a day helps your metabolism? Eating more often in smaller amounts helps regulate the blood sugar levels and prevents insulin crashes and speeds up the metabolism. 5+ times a day is healthy.

Are you counting your calories? Many people eat less volume, but now eat different foods since they have to decide what to eat per the restriction. Less volume, however, does not mean less calories. You can drink and soft food your way into caloric hell easily with no effort. There's no point in drinking anything that has any calories at all (save for Protein Shakes if you're not meeting your daily Protein requirements.) Water and green tea should be your main focus. Green tea has lots of health benefits. Read up on it.

Are you exercising at all? Why would you decide to get surgery without the intent to seriously change your health habits? Exercising also speeds up the metabolism. Much of the initial weight loss is due to loss of muscle tissue along with fat. It's important to do some cardio, but more important to do some weight training to help prevent muscle loss. Weight / resistance training is more effective in weight loss per your body does not stop burning calories after you finish your work out. Cardio on the other hand, stops almost immediately when you're done. As soon as you get off the bike or treadmill, the weight loss winds down. On the other hand, your body has to repair the muscles you just worked, so there is a residual effect going on. Lift weights, it will help your weight loss and also help change your body composition to make you look a lot better.

If you're serious enough to get a surgical procedure to save your life, then you should be serious enough to realize that even surgery can't help you if you're not willing to change who you are. The old you had a weight problem. The new you should change your lifestyle so that you can become the new you that you've always dreamed about. Make it happen, you can do it!

Hey Big Monkey,

I loved what you wrote! It is so true! And exercising is the key!

Big Monkey,

I so totally agree with you!!!! I know I read so many posts about people eating all this junk food because that is all that will go down. Get an unfill then!!! So you can eat healthy! I also think that the poster you said that people are kidding themselves about how much they eat and how much they exercise and not losing weight is right on too!!! A person can only walk a mile a day at a leisurely stroll for so long before 1) you have to pick up your pace to walk faster 2) you have to start adding on the length of your walk. I think far too many people think that they can just stay doing the same cardio at the same pace forever and this is simply not true. Change up the workouts and add time and some resistance. I totally am sold on the exercise being the key to this whole thing. I KNOW I would not have lost like this if I were eating candy and onion rings and ice cream instead of healthy food and exercising.

I have been a slow loser, yet I have been successful at it! I lost very slowly before the band as well. In fact I lost so slowly before that I would go all out and diet and exercise for 2-3 months, and when I was only 10 or 15 lbs down I would get discouraged and frustrated and pretty much give up. I suppose I felt like it was just too hard to stick with it, I wasnt able to make it an actual lifestyle change.

The difference for me has been that while I still lose slowly with the band, I have continued to lose the weight! The gradual changes have truly become part of my lifestyle now....healthy foods, daily exercise, awareness of what and how much I am feeding my body..they are like second nature now. I continue to see that pound or two lost add up and it has slowly gotten me almost to goal. There a so many factors that possibly could have increased my loss.... I do exericise, but should do MORE hardcore cardio...I eat pretty good, nice portions and healthy choices 90-95% of the time, but I still severe insulin resistance and still take 1000mg Metformin. Is my age or metabolism a factor? Who knows.... I just know that slow will still get me to 100% of excess weight lost!

I'm one of the quicker "losers" being that I'm down 100+ lbs and haven't even hit my 7 month "bandiversary".

I am pretty strict with my food and very, very active. I'm lucky to be able to make weight loss my #1 priority - I'm single, no kids, have the disposable income to join a gym, hire a trainer, buy a nice bike. Not everyone has the ability to do this - so I would not expect many to lose as fast as I did.

The band will work for the majority of the people that are willing to make the changes to make it an effective tool. You CAN eat around the band. It's not magic - you've got to work it. But most will succeed - some faster than others. It's a really simple calculation - calories in vs. calories out. Counting what you eat (if you measure and are truthful!) is easy to do. Dealing with the calories out is a factor of everyone's activity level and metabolism - much harder to calculate. But in the end, it's still all down to Calories In must be less than Calories Out!