Hi all I HAAVENT POSTED in a while i can hardly stomach getting on anymore because i am soo discouraged im soo happpy for eveyone on here but dont understand why this is not working for me i did great in the beginning lost 40 lbs within the first 4 mos literallly have lost none since them ive heard the platuea thing the be patient the excercise thing done it all nothing works i have had 5 fills can hardly eat anything including any meat or bread or carbs pretty much of any kind but yet im still hungry not losing and now gaining i dont know if something is wrong with my band if this is normal my doctor is not concerned telling me it takes most people 2 years to lose all the weight! but why am i gaining then! i feel like i have been screwed by having this surgery cost me 1,200 out of pocket i didnt have and am still paying on! Is this a hump or is this just as good as it gets thinking seriously about having band removed i just dont know what too do! im sorry if it sounds like im feeling sorry for myself i guess i proboly am lol! i need some advice

Can I ask what kind of exercise your doing, and how often consistently?

Can I ask exactly what your eating?

Are you keeping a food journal?

Make an appointment with your surgeon and tell them what is happening. There is a reason why the scale is not moving. It could be a combination of things - if you are hardly eating your might need to eat more. Your body needs calories to burn calories. You also have to exercise and track your food. You might be getting a lot sodium and that may lead to retaining water. Talk to your surgeon and figure out your next plan of attack. You can do! it:thumbup:

I agree with Claudine, make an appt. Make sure you voice your concerns and go over your exercise and food. Make sure you are tracking what you eat and your exercise.

I also agree with the Protein issue. Make sure you are getting enough protein for your body to burn the fat! If you don't get enough protein the scale will not move down.

Stick with it! The scale will start moving down again! Don't give up! This is a bump in the road and you will be on your way again!

If you eat food that is bad and don't work out, you are going to gain weight. It is a battle, every day. It is hard work. The smaller you get, the harder it becomes. But what do you think you will happen if you get your band removed? If you are gaining slowly now image how quickly the rest is going to come back.

If you can't eat now then you may need a bit of an unfill. It is hard to stay satisfied and not hungry if you can't eat. Believe me I spent a lot of time there thinking that I don't need an unfill if I am gaining weight. But I gained weight because I was grazing on crap all day and not eating a god solid meal because of restriction.

Don't forget, you can do it. And yes it will be hard. But totally worth it.

Hi Jamie,

First, I want to tell you that you are NOT alone in this battle. I have felt frustrated MANY times. I was banded in Dec 07 and have only lost 46 lbs, (40 of that lost in the first 3 months). I pretty much have only dropped 6 lbs in the past 5 months. THATS NOT GOOD ! So i have been trying to get back on the food journal wagon and weighing my food. I also have been really honest with myself about food choices... For instance, the "no liquid calorie" rule, i break that constantly and I decided to go back to basics and follow everything my doctor instructed me with.

Of course I don't know what exactly is going on with you, but i want you to HANG IN THERE !!

GOOD LUCK !!

thanks so much for everyone input I excercise about 4 times a week olptical however spelled for 30 min treadmill 30 min and about 20 minutes weights and machines for excercise! i know im not too full because i dont feel full after eating now i do graze instead of eating one big meal that could be it i know sometimes i make wrong choices in food but once in awhile like all of us not enuf to warrant no weight loss! Removing my band would proboly be a mistake i know i would gain it all back i just feel like if my stomach is soo small and there are so many things i cannot eat and i still am not losing whats the point almost like it was all for nothing . I dont know what to do anymore my surgeon just sort of blows me off like its normal dont worry ive had four fills in a 9cc band i have prob 6cc alot of stuff gets stuck i bring it back up not to sound gross but everything i eat feels very tight going down but yet i dont feel full go figure !!!

Snacking/grazing is one of the biggest reason for weight regain ;(

snacking and grazing? looks like part of the explanation you are looking for.

aside from that...be patient. i know it is hard to do, but give it some time. i only lost 17 pounds the first year, and that was all lost the first few weeks. i had to suffer the rest of the first year with NOTHING lost and periodically regaining and losing the same 10 of the 17 lbs. i was miserable too. when i finally gave up on trying to be as tight as possible, and unfilled a little. eased up on my strict diet, and resumed my normal pre-band foods, just in SERIOUS moderation, the pounds started melting off. i have now lost all but 20 of my excess pounds.

talk to the doc about a little bit of an unfill. keep up your exercise regimen. reconsider your diet.

YOU HAVE TO FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU, MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY.

best of luck to you. i know it is hard sometimes, but make a long term goal...where do you want to be two years from now? i bet you come a lot closer to making that goal than you think you will. i would have never guessed i would be 20 lbs from my goal right now. i have been banded for 2 1/2 years now...the first 3 weeks, lost 17, by the end of 17 months, i was still at 17 lbs lost. over the next five months, i lost 25 lbs. and did not even realize it because i had given up on dieting and weighing. my friends pointed out how big my clothes were, and i went to buy more. i found that i had gone from a size 16 to a size 8!! i dont even know how i was managing to keep those big clothes on. i stepped on the scales and learned something about myself. try to relax a little...maybe thinking about other things will help you overcome this.

I would encourage you to keep a journal...everything that goes into your mouth gets written down. Likewise, I would also journal when you PB, exercise, everything. If after reviewing that yourself, you are still having problems and everything looks like you are eating/exercising correctly, then I would show that to your surgeon and he should have some more feedback, when he has facts to base his information on. Good luck!!

Amy

Don't give up, I can only imagine how frustrating it is for you to have done something so good for yourself and then have it go so slow or not at all. I have just begun my journey and today just started eating mushy food. I look at others tickers and my weight seems to be coming off slower for me than others, but for me I can't give up, the other option is that I would just get bigger. Don't stop...look at the advice and talk with your Doctor. We are all supporting you. Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing.

omg you guys thanks for all the advice it has helped me alot MINI ME I AM so encouraged to hear you say that because i guess i felt like if i had not lost the weight mostly in the first year i was proboly not going to my doctor told me in the beginning that it would proboly take 2 years my goal was 80lbs i have lost about 40 struggling between losing and regaining about 6 of the same lbs i guess i was just really down yesterday when i came on and posted to everyone thanks for bringing me back up lol

so glad I could help. just keep the faith...i kept telling myself that if i kept feeding my body this small amount of foods that eventually the weight would HAVE to come off....and it did!!

also...when i was counting calories and grams of this and that...i lost nothing. my pcp advised that i go back to my normal diet, which was not unbalanced, it was just in EXCESSIVE amounts. i eat WHATEVER i want now, and i listen to my band so that i stop at a reasonable amount. when i adopted this practice, i just so happened to start losing weight again. the pcp says that my body was shocked by the diet change and shut down the metabolism. most people can trick their bodies over time to adopt the new diet and return the metabolism to normal, but not EVERYONE. my pcp says that i gave my body the foods that it was accustomed to and the foods my body wanted, and my body returned the favor by not freaking my metabolism out. my body did not think i was trying to starve it anymore and returned my metabolism to a normal state...and the pounds went away.

he explains it better, but i hope that made sense.

good luck to you.

I agree you need protein,but drinks are not the answer.You should be getting protein from solid foods that keep you full.Also do not drop your food intake so low your body thinks you are starving,it will only cause your body to slow down and store more fat.Try this just for a few weeks

eat solid food,watch your carb intake and get at least 2000 calories a day,no liquid calories not even protein use bars and real food.I know many will not agree but it is a fact if you drop your calories to low it will cause your body to hold on to the fat .Your body is not designed to count liquid calories so no eating around the band.You tried everything else so what do you have to lose but the pounds.If you can try to break it up in 6 small meals.

Edited August 16, 200818 yr by Bamagal

thanks so much for everyone input I excercise about 4 times a week olptical however spelled for 30 min treadmill 30 min and about 20 minutes weights and machines for excercise! i know im not too full because i dont feel full after eating now i do graze instead of eating one big meal that could be it i know sometimes i make wrong choices in food but once in awhile like all of us not enuf to warrant no weight loss! Removing my band would proboly be a mistake i know i would gain it all back i just feel like if my stomach is soo small and there are so many things i cannot eat and i still am not losing whats the point almost like it was all for nothing . I dont know what to do anymore my surgeon just sort of blows me off like its normal dont worry ive had four fills in a 9cc band i have prob 6cc alot of stuff gets stuck i bring it back up not to sound gross but everything i eat feels very tight going down but yet i dont feel full go figure !!!:thumbup:

I just started journaling on dailyplate.com. I thought I was an expert in knowing how many calories I put in my mouth. Boy did I have a shock! I hate to hear that your surgeon is blowing you off Perhaps you should remind him he did not do the surgery for free. Keep at him till he helps you.

Good luck.

If you eat food that is bad and don't work out, you are going to gain weight. It is a battle, every day. It is hard work. The smaller you get, the harder it becomes. But what do you think you will happen if you get your band removed? If you are gaining slowly now image how quickly the rest is going to come back.

If you can't eat now then you may need a bit of an unfill. It is hard to stay satisfied and not hungry if you can't eat. Believe me I spent a lot of time there thinking that I don't need an unfill if I am gaining weight. But I gained weight because I was grazing on crap all day and not eating a god solid meal because of restriction.

Don't forget, you can do it. And yes it will be hard. But totally worth it.

Brilliance, I tell you, brilliance. Listen to her. :thumbup: