Was banded late July. 1st fill I felt no restriction. Just had 2nd fill and I'm feeling restriction but I'm not losing weight. What's up? I can't believe Ive gone through surgery and 2 fills and I'm not losing. I walk quite a bit every day and my food intake is way down. Has anyone had the surgery and still not lost weight?

You haven't lost ANY weight or you aren't losing weight as quickly as you think you should? There's a big difference there.

Are you getting plenty of protein and drinking LOTS of water? Those 2 things play a key role. What kinds of things are you eating?

I'm not losing any weight! I lost about 10 pounds within 2 weeks of the surgery and haven't lost any since. I eat a bowl of cereal with milk for bfast, tuna or chicken salad for lunch, fish or meat for dinner with salad. In between I'll have a piece of fruit and a few crackers. I'm drinking lots of water. I should be losing - I'm eating a lot less than pre-band. But no weightloss after 2 fills. I'm getting pretty scared. I can't believe I've spent all this money and have gone through this whole process not to have it work. Anyone else in this predicament?

I'm a little confused...you said you were banded in late July...this is August...and you've already had 2 fills????? It's been about 4 weeks since surgery? You've lost 10 pounds in 4 weeks? Do I have the details right?

Marsha

Hi, My wt. loss is also slow I was banded Aug.4th. and lost 8lbs. in 1 week and since then nothing.I am not feeling the restriction anymore but am scheduled for a fill 9-19-03 and was hoping this would help.With your 2 fills and you feeling no restriction makes me worried sounds like there could be a problem, are they sure they got into the port?keep us posted. Roxanne

I'm sorry. I was banded in late June, not July. My mistake.

i have lost 42 lbs just since i made the decision to have this surgery several months ago-im scheduled for september 11 and counting the moments!i dont understand why you are not losing weight?it wasnt easy to lose 42 lbs but i cut way back gave up all sweets and sugar and controled my intake of starches-so i did really well.maybe you need to look at how much and what you are actually eating.i eat 1/2 cup of something no more-im ready for this surgery-good luck to you.

Originally posted by postingnut

I'm not losing any weight! I lost about 10 pounds within 2 weeks of the surgery and haven't lost any since. I eat a bowl of cereal with milk for bfast, tuna or chicken salad for lunch, fish or meat for dinner with salad. In between I'll have a piece of fruit and a few crackers. I'm drinking lots of Water. I should be losing - I'm eating a lot less than pre-band. But no weightloss after 2 fills. I'm getting pretty scared. I can't believe I've spent all this money and have gone through this whole process not to have it work. Anyone else in this predicament?

Hold on there. Do you actually think that if you continue to eat way less than you did pre-band you will fail to lose weight? That doesn't make any sense, now, does it? You are human, are you not?

My theory is that everyone's body reacts to the banding process differently, and yours is just holding on to itself a little longer than you like. You've lost 10 pounds in about 8 weeks, which (as I'm sure you've heard) is right on target for a good, healthy weight loss. I'm positive that one day you'll get on that scale and be shocked that another 10 pounds have vanished seemingly overnight.

You are in this for the long haul. There is no question that if your caloric intake over the course of a week, month, year is substantially lower than it was before banding, YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT. That's just physics. You may need to be brutally honest with yourself about the crumbs that pass your lips--have you tried tracking your food on Fitday.com? But you can't reinvent nature. Just be patient. It will come, and go, and go, and go some more.

Thanks to all who are responding by pm to this. Please keep it up - the information is very helpful.

Alexandra, this is more of a problem than you might think!!

Alexandra, this is more of a problem than you might think!!

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Do you mean that lots of people are replying to you saying they have the same situation? I wish they'd share on the boards because it may be that talking about it can help other people.

Obviously every person's metabolism is different, but there's no getting around the equation that if you take in less than you expend for a long period of time you will lose weight. It is, of course, possible to eat too little, sending your body into starvation mode so it will hold on greedily to every ounce, but even that can't last forever.

I'm just saying that you're only at the start of this process, and it's way too early to think of it as a failure. I'll wait to hear from you in a month when you've lost another 5-10 lbs.

Dear Posting nut,

I lost 17 pound in 2 weeks after surgery and did NOT lose anything for almost three weeks after that.

All of a sudden, when I wasn't looking I dropped another 10 pounds. Then another 8. Then 5 more. I am 2 months post op and I can tell you with certainty that you will plateau and then suddenly lose pounds when you are not paying attention! Cereal and crackers are high in carbs and although walking is better exercise than none, there are other forms of exercise that increase your metabolic rate faster such as a good cardio workout, swimming, dancing, bicycling. I think when you feel like this, you need to take a step back and reevaluate everything you are doing to see what you can do to improve.

When I was at my doctors office recently, some of the lapband patients were complaining they were not losing enough. But when you talked to them indepth, they had pieces of the puzzle that were missing or things they were not complying with such as soft food syndrome, too many carbs, not enough exercise, NO exercise, etc... I think you need to watch everything if you want to succeed. Some people are happy with a 5 pound a month weight loss, some are not happy unless they see 8-10. SOme lose faster, some lose slower, but its very much up to you to decide what the pace is. GOOD LUCK, you are doing great even if you dont think so.

Babs in TX

-37 and counting

6/23/03

Originally posted by bbrecruiter2000

Some people are happy with a 5 pound a month weight loss, some are not happy unless they see 8-10. SOme lose faster, some lose slower, but its very much up to you to decide what the pace is.

Thanks for saying this, Babs. I will be thrilled with a 5 lb/ month loss, as long as it's 5 lbs. EVERY month. 120 lbs in two years sounds just about perfect.

I can lose 5 lbs by going to the bathroom now (har har), the hard part is not losing the same 5 lbs over and over and over and over...

WOW THAT IS GREAT WEIGHTLOSS. MY QUESTION IS WHAT DO YOU EAT FOR BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER,? AND WHAT EXERCISES DO YOU DO? I AM 5WKS POST-OP AND FOR THE FIRST 2WKS I LOST 14 POUNDS, I HAVEN'T WEIGHT MYSELF SINCE THEN, I WANT TO WAIT ALITTLE LONGER, THOUGH, I KNOW I HAVE LOST INCHES, I USED TO WEAR IN PANTS SIZE 28 NOW I COULD FIT INTO A 26 AND THEY FIT LOOSE! I DO WALK A MILE A DAY, PLUS AT WORK ON MY BREAKS THEIR BOTH 15MIN LONG I GO AROUND THE BUILDING TWICE EACH BREAK. AND THEN WHEN I GET HOME I WALK ONE MILE EACH DAY.

I am a slow loser also. I had 2 fills by 7weeks after surgery. The first two fills did nothing for me. With the 3rd fill I had better restriction, but at 7 months and with 5 fills I am still losing slowly. I have lost 40 lbs since January. I am thrilled to be down the 40 lbs., but of course I wish it was more. I'm in my 50's so my metabolism is slower.

From what I have read, the weight loss with the band is so individual. It is so hard not to compare ourselves to others, but the bottom line is that it will work if we work with it. I am finding it to be quite a learning curve. I think I expected the band to do most of the work, and I have discovered that while it helps a great deal with quantity, I still make the choices about what goes in my mouth and they are not always the best choices.

The key according to my doctor and his weight loss team is

PATIENCE!!! I do know that for the first time in my life I have hope that I can reach a normal weight. There will be some ups and downs along the way, but the band will be a tool that helps get me to my goal. So hang in there, possibly get another fill and be patient and try not judge your progress at this point.

Spring

bj7523

For breakfast, I have my coffee and sometimes an Atkins muffin or piece of Atkins bread with one oz of cheese. Most of the time I do not eat breakfast except on weekends when I have egg and 2 pieces of bacon

For lunch I eat a low carb tortilla with tuna, turkey, ham or chicken

some lettuce, a little tomato and a low carb ranch salad dressing.

For dinner, I eat 4-6 oz of meat and a little veggie

For snack I have a Protein bar or Atkins breakfast bar. I usually get 50-90 protein grams, 1000-1200 calories and less than 20 carb grams.

Since I am not much of a walker (hate walking in the heat in TX wth the bugs) I go to Curves 3-4 x a week, exercise in my swimming pool 1 x-2x aweek. I do Noodlerobics with the kids floating noodles and I find it to be entertaining without being too strenous.

It stinks because I have very little restriction and I really force myself to eat slowly so I at least get the sensation of being full. I can eat anything, so I tend to be careful of everything I put in my mouth. Today I cheated for the first time on Atkins, (I ate some of my son's birthday cake at his party and 3 tablespoons of mashed potatoes and felt really guilty) But I know I will get back on the bandwagon tomorrow and start a new day!

You gotta let yourself slip up once in a while, even if it is 1x a week. At least I did not eat the whole cake!! COulda though!!

Babs in TX

334/297/180

6/23/003

Originally posted by postingnut

I'm not losing any weight! I lost about 10 pounds within 2 weeks of the surgery and haven't lost any since. I eat a bowl of cereal with milk for bfast, tuna or chicken salad for lunch, fish or meat for dinner with salad. In between I'll have a piece of fruit and a few crackers. I'm drinking lots of Water. I should be losing - I'm eating a lot less than pre-band. But no weightloss after 2 fills. I'm getting pretty scared. I can't believe I've spent all this money and have gone through this whole process not to have it work. Anyone else in this predicament?

My guess is that you aren't eating quite enough. Yes, I know it goes against all logic, but I'm speaking from experience here. I was eating about the same number of calories that you currently are and went through 2 2 week stalls in weight loss. As soon as I bumped my caloric intake up to about 1200 calories a day, the scale started moving again.

Bottom line, you have to feed your body before it will let go of the excess. If it feels threatened, it will burn every calorie you eat and not TOUCH the reserves (fat).

I would suggest using www.fitday.com to track your intake for a little while. Shoot for right at 1200 calories a day. Your Protein sources look good (milk, fish, etc.), so keep that up, but make sure you're eating a big enough serving/or eating mini-meals in order to make sure the amount of protein is adequate!

Please keep us posted!

Tonia