:help:I was banded 11/10 and have lost 20lbs in the first 2 weeks. i know its probably cause i was on liq. thens mushies. But i have not lost single weight...im stuck at 224lbs sometimes it jumps to 227 but thats it..I pb at least once a day.....and its my own fault...i dont know when im full....until it gets stuck and comes back up...anyone else have this problem?? my mom was also banded but she was banded a last june and has lost almost 80lbs and everytime i talk to her she makes me feel so guilty that i havent lost anymore weight then then the last time she talked to me...im eating alot less now then i was preband.....why am i not losing weight???? and why cant i feel full.... im very dissapointed in myself....anyone else having problems feeling full???

I haven't been banded yet so I am sure I don't know exactly what you are feeling but don't beat yourself up, and don't let anyone else. Are you measuring your food? That might help you realize how much you are eating. You probably aren't completely healed yet and don't have any restriction. Hang in there and stop letting your mom stress you out. Don't get on the scales except at the Dr's office. That way you can honestly say you don't know how much you have lost.

Anitak:

Another thing you might try is to put any food you are going to eat in a small container. If the container is smaller you might feel full faster - mind game, but it can help. Ignore your Mom for now. Remind her that everyone's different and they only want you to lose 1 - 2 pounds per week and you're right on schedule for that.

Are you exercising? It helps alot.

Good luck.

Sue

Hi Anitak,

First of all congrats on losing the 20 pounds. That's terrific!!!

I lost only 14 pounds total before my first fill and look where I am now. I really don't think you have much need to worry as long as you are doing all the right things, following your Dr.'s instructions, and taking good care of yourself.

That said, even four months out, this hunger/fullness issue is a very confusing thing for me and continues to be. So much so in fact, that I recently traveled 5000 miles round trip for a fill because I was absolutely convinced that I had lost restriction. When the Dr. looked at it under fluoro, it turned out that I had excellent restriction.

I have days/times when I feel as if I have no restriction whatsoever, and then I have times when I do feel restriction -- and these feelings occur without any real predictability. Still, my overriding feeling most days is that I don't have enough restriction, even though I have been shown that is not the case, and my weight loss is progressing quite well.

I wish there was a foolproof method for knowing when you are "full," but I don't think there really is -- my guess is that this is at least partly because having a full, "pouch" is a much different thing than having a full stomach.

I therefore think the key is to do what Sue Magoo and St. Louis gal suggested, which is to stop eating when you have eaten a certain, pre-determined portion, whether or not you are still hungry. This is what I do and, so far, it is working well for me.

Once you are filled, you will notice that the band takes a significant edge off of your hunger and even if you stop eating before you feel "full," you will feel sated most of the time. At least that's how it seems to be going for me.

Crazy Ates DECEMBER Exercise Challenge

7/18 Days of Exercise

Banded 8/07/07 Dr. Miguel Zapata, Monterrey Mexico

Hi Frangipani ! We had the same doctor. How did you like him? I thought he was really nice. You are really losing fast. Congrats. Donna

Lots of people (most people?) don't lose once they go back on solid food, until they get their first fill. I was banded 10/10 and lost 15 pounds over the next three weeks, then went on solids and didn't lose anything more until my first fill November 29. I've lost 7 pounds since then, in less than 2 weeks.

Even when I am losing weight, I don't do it steadily. I stay at a weight for a week, then drop 5 pounds overnight. Don't get discouraged; just stay on track and it will come off.

Hi Anitak33,

Give yourself some credit.

Learning the band takes time and you are early in your experience. You will become an expert over time.

Typically, people lose weight right after surgery due to stomach tissue swelling, then the swelling goes away and people get frustrated and then you have your first fill and everything is wonderful again.

Here's a previous post of mine:

Don't be so hard on yourself. The stomach tissue swelling that may have given you some restriction and therefore appetite suppression after surgery is gone at this point. This is the classic time of maximal frustration after gastric band surgery. Give yourself a break. Once you've had your first fill and are perfectly adjusted, you'll be full on small meals, not hungry all the time and the dieting mentality (and being hard on yourself) will be over. Hang in there. You're doing better than you think. Focus on the fact that you're in the healing phase. The weight loss phase begins after your first fill. Celebrate the fact that you have this powerful tool healing inside that is going to help you achieve your goals like never before.

i can relate i was going to write a similiar site today. i lost 16 lbs in two and a half weeks but havent lost anything in 4 days. ive been getting food stuck almost every day also. i need to slow down but i am going back to the way i used to eat. at first i followed everything to a tee now that i am getting hungrier i am slipping backwards. i had two christmas parties over the weekend and my sons and husbands birthday on mon and tues so i cheated on one thing each day for four days straight. i feel like a failure because i couldnt resist,i know that having one cookie or a small piece of birthday cake doesnt sound to bad but thats all it takes to be like this everyday. i am three weeks out and shouldnt be cheating at all. i bought alot of good things today at the grocery store so i am going back to the basics starting tomorrow. i find myself eating more than recommended and that bothers me. its weird because we dont have restriction but food still get stuck if we eat to fast. my friend told me that if i get food stuck once i wont do it again but its happened 6 times for me now. you would think that i would learn my lession. i know that its hard to break a habit that ive had most of my life but i need to slow down any suggestions on that? is it normal to slip a little a few weeks out or should i be really concerned? i am feeling really guilty so i know that i will try harder. i just need to remember why i did the surgery to begin with. any support would be great right now. am i alone?

andrea

claps and congrats on losing thus far. I know its hard, but try not to compare yourself to your mother. she had hers done earlier and honestly shes not you. Endo of story. Everyone loses at a different rate..I stopped losing weight about 2 months after my surgery. it was like my body put on the brakes, doing everything it could NOT to lose the weight, becasue it realized this was for real. I seriously went for 3 months and lost like 3-10 lbs..it was awful and I felt worthless and honestly angry!!!I had restriction and was walking but nothing..

Now, check out my ticker..not even a year after my surgery and Im almost to goal. It suddenly clicked with my body. I began to lose again. Please dont get too down about losing. I know its hard, but please keep in mind, you have 20 lbs gone that will NEVER be back. Go pick up something that weighs 20 lbs..its alot of weight.

As to food..i play with mine alot, to give myself ample time to see if Im full. It also helps to chew alot, for the same reason. Just slow down and enjoy the taste of food. its something I had to learn to do.

Please dont worry, the weight will come off! If you need to talk or rant about it, message me. Ive been there. I stopped coming to the forum bcI would get depressed when I saw everyones tickers and my didnt freakin move!

tiff

this was very helpful. However, I have a question that no one has been able to answer yet. I was banded 11/29 and am just finishing my 2nd week, with no restriction. I find that i am eating larger portions--8 oz at a time, for ex. Also, I began eating chicken. Am I damaging my band? I don't feel any discomfort when I do this, but worry that i may be causing problems for myself. Pls. help!

Thanks,

Caryn

i was banded on 10/15 and lost about 20 lbs in the first 3 weeks. then as i healed i was able to eat just as much as i did prior to the band. i thought i had made a mistake and that i would never get this weight off. then i started to eat really hard foods that needed to be chewed a lot. that was the magic bullet. i feel full much faster and need to stop eating after a few florets of raw broccoli dipped in salad dressing and a cold (much harder to eat cold) chicken leg. as of today i am down 35 lbs. and feel like the next 100 lbs. won't be impossible.

Hi Cmeyer11,

I would recommend following the food consistency instructions given by your surgeon. We all have our own versions of the "healing period" but that is why we start with liquids and progress to solid foods - to allow the band to heal.

We have a nurse in our office that says, "just because you can doesn't mean you should". Basically, stick with the recommendations to allow everything to heal in there.

The healing phase is tough because you have no restriction once the swelling goes down. Once you get your first fill you will see the power of the band.

Hope that helps.

thanks. I'll stick to mushies for the next few wks.

Caryn

One of the things that took me the longest to learn was - I should not longer be searching for that "full feeling". Intead of eating until your full, try eating until your no longer hungry, big difference.

Congrats on the loss so far, it just takes time and restriction. Hang in there, its a learning process with the band.

Hey, thanks to Dr. Watkins for advice. I have been feeling very hungry and am anxiously awaiting my first feel! I need the restriction.

I am finding that what I eat (and in what order) is important too. I eat Protein first, then some veggies. Protein makes me feel better (I think my blood sugar does not spike) and I am not hungry for longer.

Then I wait for a while to see...am I really hungry or is it just wanting to eat more asopposed to needing it to satisfy hunger?

I have to remember that I am building new habits to replace the lifetime of bad habits I had. This takes a while and is not always easy. The band gives me a tool to make it easier...but I don't get down on myself if I am not perfect!