My goodness, if anyone was new to this and just read the Oct 07 posts, they would never get a band! I guess we are all together in bandster hell. I goit my 2nd fill yesterday and I don't feel any different. To make matters worse, I had gained 5 pounds! I've been angry with my Dr for making me wait so long between fills. Blaming it all on him. But in all honesty, he didn't force me to eat so much pizza, ice cream, xmas cookies and candy and those 2 big bismarks. Now I hate myself but I resolve not to try to eat away the anger. I'm going to try and eat as if I do have restriction, not challange the band to see how much I could eat.

Don't hate yourself just remember how you are feeling and move forward and keep on trying....

i had gained about 5lbs between my fills too. i waited too long and can only blame myself. but now i have lost that 5 again and am gonna keep going! at least that is what i am telling myself. maybe your fill will take a couple days to "take". i know mine did. after i got mine i was like, dang, nothing...but then a few days later, oh boy do i have restriction!

dont hate yourself. i was doing that, but realized i wasnt getting anywhere. we will have ups and downs, its better to just forgive yourself and move one. focus more on what you can do now instead of what you did then. i know, i know, so much easier said then done. i am just amazed that i am actually doing it, so i know you can too!

I have had challenges but more centered on my emotional health. It sure is rough to lose my favorite vice (binging) I underestimated the impact.

My band is wonderful - I'm losing slow but steady and have never pb'd so I'm so happy.

Hope you all the best.

Thanks for the encouragement. I sure wonder why it takes awhile for the fills to "take". I hope that's the case for me.

Thanks for the encouragement. I sure wonder why it takes awhile for the fills to "take". I hope that's the case for me.

Honestly, I felt both of my fills immediately. The first was not enough restriction. The second gave me *probably* too much restriction, but I am working it and losing quite well right now.

I have never heard of anyone saying it takes time to feel a fill. Hmm.

Best wishes.

Honestly, I felt both of my fills immediately. The first was not enough restriction. The second gave me *probably* too much restriction, but I am working it and losing quite well right now.

I have never heard of anyone saying it takes time to feel a fill. Hmm.

Best wishes.

Hi,

Wanted to join the pity party. I was banded October 26th, have had three fills and have only lost 15 pounds, and the doctor doesn't even count 3 of those because I am counting from my pre-op appt.(my highest) and he is counting from day of surgery. I feel very little restriction and am just feeling really down and like I am going to be a failure at this. My fourth fill is Monday and I sooooo hope I get some restriction or I will be really discouraged.

I hope youd don't mind someone butting in from another thread, but I wanted to give you some encouragement. You all seem to be doing well. I know that some of you are not losing as fast as you want, but the scale is going down. Fills are tricky thing...Mine did get tighter after 2 weeks. Now I am too tight.

Sharon - You have taken the first step and made the committment to not push the band. Your tool is only as good as you treat it. It is alright to have those treats once in a while. After all, thin people have a bismark. But it is what you do 98% of the time that is going to influence your life. My doc considers you successful if you lose a total of 50 pounds in 1 year (including pre-op diet). Therefore if you have lost more than 12 pounds you are on track! Keep that number in mind and it doesn't make you feel as much like a failure as you think you are. I personally think that you are doing great and am proud that you made your committment to yourself.

Want so bad - You got it. Positive attitudes are the only way to do this. The more postive you are the more likely you are to create successes in the future. If we didn't use this band to help us forgive what we have done in the past in terms of our eating, we NEVER would lose weight. Ughh if I kept dwelling on all those super sized meals that I ate, I never would have lost the weight. Instead I would just keep sitting their feeling guilty for eating fries while chowing down on pizza.

Kbinaz - All 15 pounds count in my book! They are 15 pounds you aren't going to get back if you just keep on the right path. I know it is not easy to make the right food choices and exercise. Heck if it was, I wouldn't have dropped 17000$ for this tool. Restriction can take a while and believe me I know what it is like to be completely unrestricted. I had to have my filled removed because I didn't chew well enough and got something lodged. But even though I didn't feel the restriction I kept following the bandster rules. If you are not getting full, try adding some more veggies or salads as they help bulk up without adding to many calories. Don't look at this next fill as the breaking point for being a failure. You are a success just in the fact that you have taken the steps to get healthy and lose weight. That in itself should make you feel like a million bucks. It will happen. Some lose fast, some lose slow, but if we struggle together we will all lose.

It sounds like you all give each other good support and I hope that you can help each other through bad times.

Good luck and best wishes.

Karri that was really true what you said...yopu gave me a boost i needed.

All doctors are different. I had a 3 month follow up on Thursday, and I was pretty happy with my result because I count the weight lost from day one. He doesn't count the pre-op pounds. He told me that I was losing too slow. We went over the rules again and he identified that I was grazing. Grazing according to him is when you take longer than 20-30 minutes to eat your meal. Although I wasnt eating that many calories, I could have eaten less because I wasnt paying attention to when I was full. Since then I have been paying attention really well to the clock while I eat. When I do that, I eat less! It is amaxing what you dont realize that you are doing. So my advice is this: Talk to your doctor. Go over everything you do in a day with food. He may beable to identify something you are doing that you dont even realize. After all, he or she is the expert and should HELP you follow the band rules. We will see about the weight loss from here. Hopefully I will see the results of my calculated moves with food...

Keep on Truckin' guys...