Hello everyone,

I had my 3rd fill on April 28th and lost another 5 pounds within a week. That's great, but for some reason I am stuck at 215 now. After my second fill, the same thing happened. I was 226 and then got down to 220 and just stayed there till this last fill. Is it suppossed to be this way? Do I have to keep getting fills or is this normal and can I still lose weight with this last fill?

Okay, dunno about the fill thing, haven't had one yet, but I just wanted to say HI! and good to see you here.

I get stuck all the time, always have. My body tends to like 208. I started there at both pregnancies. I was 223 on band date and at 5 weeks out and 15lbs down, I'm 208. Yep. And stuck. Sigh. Looking forward to your replies here...

Hi Norma!

I know exactly how you feel. It seems like the only time I lost any weight is when I would get a fill, then things would stop. It took a while, but I think I figured out what I was doing.

The whole idea of the band is for us to eat less = weightloss. You may want to try charting your food intake for about a week (fitday.com is a great place thats lots of folks use), then you can see where those extra calories are coming from that are keeping you from dropping more weight.

And dont forget the water! Try getting in 60-80 oz's a day, this alone should help!

How much are you eating? You should be able to eat 2-3 ounces of Protein, 1/4-1/2 cup of veggies at a meal and feel full. Remember, full now means NOT HUNGRY--not Thanksgiving day stuffed. You should feel "full" for 3-4 hours after eating.

You might need another fill if you aren't tight enough. But you might be tight enough, but getting in too many calories or too few calories or not enough protein or not enough Water. How's the exercise?

You lose weight when calories in is less than calories out. The band helps us to limit our calories in, but it's up to us to manage the equation.

jayme

That must be it. I do feel full when I eat, and I notice I can't eat as much as I would like or can, but it is the calories and the exercise that I have yet to really work on. I have an egg in the morning (most mornings), then for lunch I may have some potatoes with lot's of no no yummy stuff on it, and for dinner I have some chicken and some rice. Basically I eat what my family can afford. However, we have been eating salads a lot lately for dinner. but I stay up late at night and then get hungry when I should be sleeping. So I end up eating again.

Exercise.... I would love to do a lot of that but at the current moment, Aunt flow has come and gone real heavy lately and I have been to the emergency room for it and the docs office alot too. I am supposed to take it easy.

So, any suggestions?

It's your choices. It isn't about what your family can afford because there are healthy choices that you can make no matter what your budget is. eggs are good for Breakfast -- that's Protein.

For what that potato and not so healthy toppings cost, you can make a piece of chicken and eat some veggies. Potato is all starch and not considered a veggie.

Salads are good too -- but what kind of dressing are you using? That can really add to the calorie content in NO TIME FLAT. Plus, salads aren't usually high in protein.

If your period is bad now, then okay, this might be a bad week for exercise. In the long run, not that big of a deal. If you're exercising really well for 3 out of the 4 weeks of the month, then you're ahead of the ballgame.

Force yourself to stay in your room when you're supposed to sleep. If you keep giving into your body when it wants to do unhealthy things, then nothing will ever change.

Not to sound harsh, but YOU are the person who has to make this work. YOU have to make good choices about what YOU eat, about when YOU sleep, about when YOU exercise.

This is a difficult journey -- not physically, but emotionally and mentally. You have to make changes or the band won't help you.