Hello all, I was banded in march 2005. I started at 285 lbs. I lost 40 lbs that year. The year after that I got down to 204 lbs. This year I made it back to 244 lbs. I am about 235 lbs...no matter what I do I can't stay on a diet, and I hate to exercise. I am lonely, and hold myself back from meeting any men, due to being so big. I just don't know what to do, I am so unhappy with myself, and I wish I could quit eating, and cant. Any suggestions? thanks:confused:

How much restriction do you have? CONGRATULATE yourself first off for losing the weight.....I think a lot of ppl forget that the band is just a tool and we have to incorporate mental changes as well....I hate exercising as well so what I did was buy ankle weights and I wear them mond-frid everywhere I go. That increases the calories burned. Find a walking buddy....or even the new Wii Fit I hear it is AWESOME....everyone slips and falls every now and then its time to pick yourself back up and just start over....it may even help to talk to someone....

YOU CAN DO IT!!

First of all, don't give up, there are options. I got rather complacent for a while, and kind of fell back into some old eating patterns. You need to do something to "shake yourself up". Get all the paperwork, or books, information, etc,,,,,,,,,, from your initial banding. Find a website with all the basics, and read them all. Go get a fill, get in touch with others who are beginning, and start over. Remember the basics. Eat Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Avoid refined carbs, focus on Protein. Don't drink immediately after you eat of you flush your upper stomach area out & are hungry again. Go back to your Dr. for support and have him give you a "pep talk". Meet with his nutritionist if he has one. I joined a weight loss competition with some other freinds, got a fill, and that seemed to have motivated me to get back on track. Buy what you need to eat, keep it on hand, don't get junk. Protein shakes for breakfast is great. Fruit or nuts for morning snack. LARGE tossed salad with lots of fresh veggies for lunch. Fruit or nuts again for snack in the pm. Dinner, lean meat or fish, grilled veggies, salad. I can't live without chocolate. Everyday I do 1 chocolate Protein Drink, or 1 Protein Bar for a snack. I'd DIE without chocolate.

You CAN do this. Get some positive feedback in the chat room here, there are great people. Read people's profiles who SUCCEEDED! There are many people online giving out advice, but only follow the ones who lost all their weight, or are consistantly losing. They have a solid program they follow that is working. Chocolate will always be my issue. And regardless of how tight your band is, chocolate & cheesecake always go in. I found a cheesecake sugar free coffee syrup! Modify your diet to accomodate some of your weaknesses, or you will feel to deprived.

Exercise? I HATE it too. It's boring, I hate to sweat, I don't like breathing hard, I don't like sore muscles, I hear you. I hired a personal trainer for 4 months. It works. I get bored quiclkly which is probably the same with you. Change activities frequently. Go for a quick walk, swing your arms, tomorrow rollerblade, then go bike riding, then hike in the hills, go fly a kite, (you have to run a little to get it up) do simple weight lifting during commercials. ALWAYS take stairs, never elevators, park in the last spot in the back of the parking lot. You can modify a lot of things during your day. You can and you WILL do it! FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS!

Lori

hey lori lets be pals

your a great motivator maybe a career move is in store for you

i have to work out or else the scales does not move so get up and go to the gym or walk your dog or cat or kids whatever get up and go..

Hi, I wanted to share my story with you. I was banded in February 2007 and did very well for the first year or so. I went for each fill and managed to lose about 50 pounds. ( I have a 10cc band that was supposedly filled to 7.5 ccs. ) Around the year anniversary of my surgery, I was not feeling much restriction and began to gain weight. I was hospitalized in March of 08 due to severe gastrointestinal flu (I'm a school nurse and more than half of the kids/teachers were out with the same thing) and really felt like something just wasn't right after that. The weight started to pile back on despite the fact that I was in the gym 5 days a week and still doing all the right things. I had another fill in April of 08, which did absolutely nothing for me as far as restriction. Out of sheer frustration, in July of this year, I decided to seek another opinion to see if something was wrong with the band and not me! I went to a doctor in NJ who was recommended to me by my aunt who is the CEO of a local hospital. I finally got in to see him the third week in August and I am so glad I did. Last week, I had my first fill with him, which he did under fluroscopy...he took a look at my band while he filled it. In a nutshell, what he found was that my band was kinked, had an excessive amount of tubing attached, and had almost nothing in it. He played around with it for a few minutes, gave me a fill and I immediately felt restriction. Luckily, the kink was small (for now, but might need to be fixed) but didn't obstruct anything. I have already started losing weight again and have felt real restriction for the first time in ages!

My point is, please make sure that everything is ok with your band before you give up and get a second opinion if you need to. As this new surgeon explained, he does every fill under fleuroscopy so he can actually see what's going on...not just an in and out visit in the office! I feel so much more hope these days.