I am feeling frustrated with my slow progress, at least it seems slow compared to that of a lot of others who post here. I am now almost six weeks post op and have only lost 19 pounds. Fourteen of those were in the first two weeks, which means I've lost only five pounds in four weeks.

I wouldn't be unhappy about it if I could say "Well I don't feel restricted and I'm eating a bunch" and then get a fill and "do better," but I do feel restricted, and I'm not eating a bunch. I'm certainly eating way less than I ever used to. I can manage to finish one slice of pizza. Is this typical or atypical? Should I not be able to finish a whole slice?

I don't always get my Protein shake in. Would this slow down my weight loss significantly?

Today so far, I've eaten a boxed meal of chickpeas and potatoes in a spicy tomato sauce, which had two hundred calories (12 grams protein). I'm not particularly hungry. Oh, and I do not drink anything with calories. Nor am I sneaking any sweets (just not interested in them at all) or chips. I feel like I have to eat 300 calories a day to lose any weight.

Sorry for venting. I am just so sad. I plan to join a gym this coming week, which will help some I hope.

Violet, this is why I only write down my weight once a month. It takes the body a long time to adjust to weight loss. If you aren't eating enough to maintain the body of an obsese person, then they weight will eventually come off. Make sure you don't have any medical reasons for not losing first, but enjoy what you've already lost. Don't look at it as having lost the biggest chunk in the beginning, but rather average it out and realize that you are doing fantastic. Let your body heal and adjust to your new eating. I went through the same thing a couple months after being banded, where the weight didn't seem to move, but then 3 pounds would fall off over night. Patience, my friend. It will happen.

Violet, I am insulin resistant, too. I didn't know that the Inamed book said the band is less effective with diabetics. I guess it's a good thing I didn't know! You might want to look at my post, "The Glucose Revolution" on the food board. Following a low glycemic diet has really helped me to lose weight faster as well as to control my blood glucose. I have heard that insulin resistance makes it harder to lose weight in general, band or no, but this diet really helps. And it's not that hard to stick to.

Nancy

Hey, you are doing wonderfully, my case is differant, about a week after my surgery I had NO restriction at all. I could eat almost anything. Even after my first fill 6 weeks out on November 5th I still have only lost 31 pounds. My surgery was Sept.23rd. so I know what SLLLLLLOOOWWWWW weight lose does to you emotionally, but you may have hit a plateau, and thats ok, you'll overcome it and end up loosing like 5 pounds in a week. So, keep your head up, and remember this is only temporary!

The average weightloss with the Lapband is 5-10lbs per month. This does not mean you'll lose 5-10lbs per month each month, this means this is the 'average'. Almost certainly, you'll lose at least 50lbs per year, possibly 100 if you make all the right choices and exercise and drink water. Also, a larger BMI will almost always lose more up front. Men will almost always lose faster. Also, remember, the first 6 weeks is for healing. It's not even meant to be weight loss time and any weight loss at this point is a great jumpstart but not a given. It's a bonus! So you really don't even start counting weight loss time until you've reached some level of restriction or at least started solids and are consciously making wiser choices. at this point, you are both well above average!! Congratulations!! Keep up the good work!

hey shrinking violet

dont feel down...19 lbs is great...i am 5 weeks banded and have only lost 9 lbs but i dont feel disheartened as prior to the band i was putting weight on every week at a steady rate. I hit a real milestone this xmas, as last xmas i put on a stone (14lbs) in 9 days over the xmas hols!!!!....this year i didnt put on an ounce and boy did that feel great. I have my first fill on jan 12th so hopefully i will get restriction then as i have none at the moment and am just trying to stay away from naughty stuff as much as i can.... so hang in there and im sure in a few months time you will look back at this period in your weight loss journey and wonder why you were so worried and a bit disheartened....

love tracey

A gentleman who was banded same day as me has lost 42 lbs, but he had a higher bmi and weighed 100 lbs more than me, it's definately a guy thing.

PS

Hello Ladiebird, another same day bandster.

Thanks everyone, I'll try not to be stressed about it! How do you break the scale addiction? Sometimes I have to exercise restraint not to weigh myself TWICE a day.

I know the numbers don't really matter and it's percentage of body fat, etc. and that we gain and lose Water weight, but I seem to be psychologically fixated on weighing myself!

Nancy, the Inamed book has a chart (it's also on the website I think) with the band's success rates and I just noted that among diabetic patients there was a significantly reduced success rate. But I did this anyway and told myself that the rates showed that some people WERE successful at it so if it can be done, there's no reason why I can't be one of those who succeeds. We may just have to work a little harder.

Nana, I made sure I got my Protein shake yesterday and I've been re-evaluating my eating habits. Last night I made chicken parmesan for the family, and I ate the chicken first, which left room for only one or two bites of Pasta. And I bought some new low carb Lean Cuisines instead of some of the rice ones I had been eating. So I'll try to restrict my carbs and take a look at the glycemic index someone kindly posted in the Foods section.

Then I will try try try to just weigh myself once a week, but it's very hard! I don't know if I can do it.

I'm going to the doctor Monday for a follow-up visit so I'll try to make that day the weigh-in day.

Ladie, you do bring up a good point! At least I'm not gaining, which I certainly did a lot of pre-band. My weight would fluctuate ten pounds in a month sometimes, up and down, up and down! I was approaching three hundred pounds when I decided to try to watch what I ate better and I managed to get to 278 then went up to 286 and kept fluctuating between 278 and 286. This is the first time I've been below 260 in about two years! So I should be grateful for that.

It was hard for me to stop weighing myself constantly at first. I lost so much weight so fast that I just had to keep checking. Give it some time. You will get tired of weighing yourself.

Setting a specific day (my surgery day) and writing down my "official" weight for the week and keeping track of the total helped me. My day is Thursday and I also weigh on Monday for the weekly scale challenge, so I weigh twice a week. If I hop on more than that, I treat it as a casual glance and tell myself it is not "official." This helps me keep my sanity.

Your body is probably in a bit of shock. When was the last time you dropped weight like that? Also, make sure you are getting in ENOUGH calories and protien. If you don't get enough, your body will hold on to every last one of them.

Also, don't weigh all the time. Lots of things effect your weight. I weight every Monday. I've found myself in a pattern where I don't lose for about 2 weeks, then I'll lose for a couple of weeks, then I wont lose for a couple of weeks. At the end of that 2nd week of not losing I dread getting on the scale for fear that it hasn't moved, but so far, it has been I'm at 6 months out, and down 40 lbs, so you are already halfway caught up to me