I got banded on August 7th and have only lost 21 pounds.

I think I am eating and working out right.

Can you guys give me some of your ins that you are doing that might help me a bit?

Thanks. I so want to be 135 by next August but at this rate. Not real sure!

Pigs

One thing that is both good for you and working against you is that you started at a low BMI! You were already ahead of most of us before we started. However, my doc said when I went in because of the lodged food, that they consider the band a success if you lose 50 pounds in 1 year. At that rate by 4 months (Dec 7) you should have lost a total of 16.7 pounds. You are not even to the 4 month mark and have lost significantly more than that. I can imagine that looking at some of us that have dropped a lot of weight quickly must be frustrating, but as much as we rely on one another for support, this is an individual journey. I have found that in order to be successful you really have to match your personality. I refuse to diet and do not exclude any foods except for rice, and only because it doesn't work well with my band. I need a very regimented schedule so I only eat at specific times of day and only eat 1 cup of food maximum. My daily food schedule looks like this:

1. Breakfast 6:30 AM - Usually a breakfast lean pocket 140cal 6 Pro

2. lunch 11:30 AM - Leftovers from dinner ( no less than 20 grams of protein) about 250Cal

3. Snack 3:00 PM - Pure Protein Bar 180 cal 19pro

4. Dinner 5:30 PM - Whatever my BF fixes but no less than 20 grams of protein, about 400 cal.

My goal is to get 1000 calories a day, but now that I am starting to lift weights I am going to try and increase it to 1100-1200.

This is what works for me, but it will not work for everyone. I am a teacher so I don't have the opportunity to eat more during the day, which is why I am loaded in the evening. I don't allow myself to snack, except for the 1 after school and that is just to stave off any sweet tooth I may want to develop and to get more protein. One thing that I realized very early on in this journey is that I am going to need to use my will power a lot.

However, if you feel that you are doing all the food right and the exercise, your body may just be going at its own pace. I am assuming that you didn't gain all of your excess weight in one year (though you know what they say about assuming), so we can't expect to lose it all in one year. Would I love to, yes! Will I? I don't know, but I have just found what is working for me and keep going.

I think that 21 pounds is great, and I hope that you are proud of that. Just keep working at it, and it will come off!

21 lbs is still less than you were (and maybe less than you would be, had you gained instead)! That's still a good thing.

I've lost more (50 including 12 preop) but I've been really strict until this past week when I let myself have some goodies for the holiday and didn't lose for the first time so far). however, I had the AP band and started off with 2 CCs in my band (had one fill 2 weeks ago and I'm at 3.2 cc's now). Here's what a day looks like for me:

Breakfast: a breakfast hot pocket, or 2 eggs and cheese

Snack: 1 c skim milk, or yogurt (I often miss this one and just have coffee with creamer)

Lunch: 3-4 oz Protein with veggies if I still have room

Snack: milk or cottage cheese

Dinner: 3-4 oz protein with veggies (same idea as lunch

Snack: milk, cheese or other protein. I have the occasional popsicle now and then too. I try to keep the carbs and sweets to an absolute minimum and haven't really had many Protein shakes or bars at all because I've had very little trouble getting my protein in.

Lately, I've been satisfying my salt and nibbling cravings with sunflower seeds in the shell. You have to work so hard to eat them you can't get through many at a sitting! Works great for long car trips (remember to have a cup for the shells of course).

I think the protein meals are the biggest help for me in keeping full and satisfied. I'm probably eating closest to Atkins or South Beach and it's working well so far!

Good luck!

I think I am eating and working out right.

Tell us exactly what you are doing. I'm sure we can figure this out!

I got banded on August 7th and have only lost 21 pounds.

I think I am eating and working out right.

Can you guys give me some of your ins that you are doing that might help me a bit?

Thanks. I so want to be 135 by next August but at this rate. Not real sure!

Ashley, I think you're doing pretty good. I was banded a week after you and have only lost a smidge more, and I started out nearly 100 lbs more than you!

How are you doing clothes-wise...? Things looser, having to buy smaller? Remember, when the scales are stalling, the inches are falling. :whoo:

I find that the cardio has really helped me - particularly if the scale stalls. Try increasing/intensifying.

Yes, tell us how much you are exercising. Are you doing hard cardio?

What are you eating? If you're eating very many carbs, that could be your downfall.

When my weight loss stalls, I go back on Protein drinks. 4 Protein Drinks per day and I can lose 5 -7 lbs in a week. It's hard the first day, but after that, I like it. I don't have to think about what to eat.

OMG, I totally forgot I even wrote this post! Being so exhausted tonight I am about to go to sleep but will respond with all of my regimen tomorrow! LOL

Ok, I was swimming before it got cold from 30-60 minutes a day. Now, I am walking either 30 minutes or a mile, but since I've been feeling a little under it has been only 15 minutes, My eating isn't quite where I want it but I don't feel satisfied, even when I stop. I don't know if I am eating too much. I can eat a Lean Cuisine which is about 9.5 oz. and be Ok with it. Is this too much? Breakfast is usually coffee or hot chocolate, someone recommended drinking something warm in the am since I have drainage problems right now. Dinner varies but it is probably another cup and a half of food. ???

Do you know how many calories you are eating? Right now I could eat a truckload of food if I wanted to. I am forcing myself to quit after about a cup (though ate waaaaay more tonight, though it was just salad). My doc and the nutritionist said to shoot for a cup of total food. When you say that you are not satisified, does that mean that you want to eat more just because that is normally what we have done OR you are not satisfied because you do not feel that full feeling. I have never had the full feeling since I have been banded and I am still having to get used to it. I rarely have actual hunger either so when I sit down to have dinner I have no feeling in my tummy and then after I eat, I have no feeling so I don't feel like I have actually accomplished something by eating. That wreaks havoc on my mind.

When you are not sick do you usually eat food for breakfast or do you still drink. My doc told me absolutely NO liquid calories because they are not stopped by the band.

It sounds like you are doing things right, but you have to make sure that there are no hidden calories that you may not even think of. salad dressings, oil to cook food, excess sodium (though it has no calories, but can slow weight loss), licking your fingers during cooking, excess sugar substitutes (again, no calories but can slow weight loss in some people LIKE ME!)

Hope something helped!

My first question is also ... How many calories are you eating? Maybe it's not enough.

Breakfast is important.

I would limit those frozen meals. They're usually high in carbs and sodium.

I think eating a well balanced diet, made up of quality foods, is very important now more than ever. We can only eat such a small amount of food.

I totally disagree with no liquid calories. My doctor insists that everyone have at least one Protein drink per day because most

people are not getting enough protein.

I personally like to drink them because then I am positive of exactly how many calories per day I am getting. I figure I lost

22 lbs the first 4 weeks after surgery, on Protein drinks.

When my weight loss stalls, I go back to 3-4 protein drinks per day plus 64 oz of Water and it always gets my weight loss going again.

I eat 70 - 80 grams of protein a day without any protein drinks. I eat a protein bar for my afternoon snack and then just make sure that every meal is very high in protein. I eat few, if any carbs per day, because I just don't have room. I don't intentionally cut them out, I just follow the rules my doc gave me. When I do have carbs, they are the "good" carbs from veggies and whatever I get from my protein bar. I think that it is individual for each person. If you are losing weight and the protein drinks satisfy your hunger then I think they are probably fine. If you are not happy with your weightloss or the protein shakes don't keep you full for long enough, then maybe that is something that you could look at. I can't STAND protein drinks so once I was off of them after the first 2 weeks, I never had any desire to go back. I start gagging as soon as I try to bring one to my lips. When I have to be on liquids after fills, I add unjury protein powder to my liquids so that I don't have to go back on protein drinks.

I love chocolate so for me it's just like drinking chocolate milk. I really enjoy them and I hate cooking so it works out well for me.

I do enjoy my Protein bars too.

How big is your band? I have a 14cc band and just went back for my 3rd fill wednesday and he said I have a total of 10cc in my 14cc band and while I am slightly more restricted I can still eat too much. does having the protein first help to satisfy the hunger?

I found that when I cut back on the number of carbs I was eating - only because breads don't like me that much- I saw a tremendous drop in weight. I also bumped my cardio up from 30 mins per day to over an hour. Start small though - but it seems to be helping. My surgeon's goal for me is 185 and i'm almost there. Good luck! (I also track all calories on dailyplate.com which really helped. I maintain about 1300 cals a day. The site is free!)