This is my first post here, I thought I'd test the waters and see where I'm at in comparison and where I should be.

I'm from Shreveport, LA, and was banded by Dr. Merrimen.

I was banded Nov. 26th 2007 (I think), and have had mixed results so far, I'm starting to wonder if there is reason to be discouraged.

When I first went in for LB, I was 290. I was told that I may want to get up a little heavier, so I started trying to gain weight. I wanted to get up to 300 so I'd know my insurance would cover it. When I had the surgery, I was 310 lbs, by far the heaviest I had ever been.

In the first 3 weeks after the surgery, I lost 22 lbs. I stayed on a completely liquid diet, and did not know why I was feeling so horrible. I found out soon afterwards that I was supposed to be drinking a protien shakes during that time - I wasnt.

Around the last week in december I had gotten down to around 288. I began going back to the gym at this time. I went with the same workout plan I used in college to prepare for football...

4 sets of 12 each, chest on mondays, arms tuesdays, back wednesdays, legs and stomach thursday, shoulders friday. Every day I also jog-walk fast (it's something in between really, a fat mans jog) for at least 20 minutes. I did this for two weeks and felt great.

So two weeks ago I had lost 5 more lbs, and was down to 282. I then went in for an adjustment, he added a very small amount, because even with the smallest addition my throat was making weird noises when sipping from the straw. He told me to not eat anymore protien shakes and get my nutrition completely from food. Before, I had been getting 40 grams of protien in a shake for Breakfast.

It's now 2 months from surgery date, and unfortunatly I have noticed a significant decrease in my energy while working out since getting off the shakes. The most discouraging part though, is although I'm working myself as hard as I can on the weights for strength, and have not missed a day of cardio or weight training yet - I still have somehow managed to gain 2 lbs over the last two weeks.

I am eating the following:

breakfast either a egg and cheese, or a piece of turkey wrapped around a cheese stick

I take a one-a-day all day energy Vitamin during the "drinking period"

lunch is a chicken breast sandwich, every day. The bread is natures choice 8 grain wheat... the healthiest I could find.

dinner is normally a cheese sausage thing. They have around 150 calories and 2 carbs, with a good amount of protien. They taste pretty good without any bread as well.

I drink only Water, most of the time with pink lemonade mix in it that has 5 calories a glass and no sugar or carbs.

The only splurges I've had is twice I've drank alchohol. I was actually drunk for the first time in my life. It took like 4 shots and I was gone. Which was... unexpected.

Now it's mardi gras weekend and I know I can't drink anything with my friends because I'm gaining wieght the way it is. They told me not to limit my food intake myself, let my stomach do it... but I'm obviously doing something wrong, and I'm becoming discouraged.

I had the lapband because of back problems... the 6-8 ibuprofin I used to eat for pain everyday before the surgery isnt applicable now. The doctor told me my stomach didnt look great and no more NSAID's. I cannot get back surgery until my weight is down around 200. So in the meantime, I'm just living with the pain. That is the only reason I'm in such a hurry to get the weight off.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone else at this point started gaining weight back? I swear I'm a stickler on my diet, I never eat anything other than what's listed above... so I'm wondering if what I listed above is just a bad diet. Is gaining a couple of lbs in a couple of weeks time not a big deal really? I have lost 25lbs, but 22 of those were when I was on Soups and had no protien intake. I'm very open to any suggestions. Thanks

omg, so LONG!

I know you are frustrated but remember that it takes a few fills to get to the proper restriction. Until that time it will be harder to lose weight. It seems like your eating is under control though. It could just be your body adjusting the great weight loss you've had so far. Keep it up and you will lose weight. You are doing great!!!

Jill

thank ya Jill, appreciate it. Just done so many of those fad diets in my life that blow the lbs off the first couple of months... then you plateau and it starts coming back. I don't want to lose hope that this will work.

There's only a couple things I can think of. First off, your body may be getting used to the same amount of calories every day and adjusting your metabolism accordingly. Try upping your caloric intake for a day or two and then cut back down to regular. That usually kicks my weight loss in the rear big time.

Another thing - doing weight training, it's possible you are gaining MUSCLE and not fat. Have you measured yourself at all? Are your clothes getting looser? It may be possible that your heart isn't getting enough of a workout with the cardio portion of your workout (making it harder to burn fat at the same time you are building that muscle). Try switching things up and doing a different kind of cardio (like stairs instead of run/walking).

The body is a fascinating and sometimes very frustrating thing. It will do all it can to hold onto its fat stores just in case a famine comes along. It's a survival thing. You kind of have to surprise it and do something different and it can startle it and catch it off guard so the pounds can keep coming off. Good luck!

How about drinking one protein shake/day if it gives you more energy? I know they really help in filling me up for the day. If I don't have one I eat way more.