I probably won't be posting anymore since I'm so frustrated with my progress. Why can't I get enough restriction that I'm not hungry? I get stuck almost everyday but once I get passed that I can eat a pretty good amount & STILL be hungry but stop. I've been banded over 5 months & have lost only 17lbs. I try to eat reasonably but can't stick to a meal plan when my hunger is stronger than my willpower. I don't think my band has slipped because I do get stuck alot & have 7.6cc in a 10cc band so that's pretty tight I would think.

I exercise 5 days a week doing weights & cardio & will continue to do so since I feel this is the only reason I have lost at all. I'm so very upset that I am going to stop trying on the food end. I not only lost a lot of my 401K in the financial crisis but feel I threw away 14k on this stupid surgery.

Sorry to bring anybody else down & promise not to vent on here again but if anybody has one last bit of advice or similar experience & recovered to reach goal please advise me. Thanks & good luck to the rest of you.

I am really sorry that your going through this, I personally find it nearly impossible to make healthy choices when I'm starving. It must be so hard to do this knowing that most other people don't feel any physical hunger. I wish I had some great new advice for you, but I don't. I would listen to what everyone has to say and go back to square one and just give everything a go that everyone suggests, hell it can't hurt. GOOD LUCK!!!

Wow.....your post really rang true for me. I had my band put in 4/30/08 and have only lost about 7 pounds. I have had 6 or 7 fills and still feel as though I can eat as much as I want and only stop because I know I should.

I agree with "I said No" that the band seems to work great with terrible eaters, but if a person already eats moderately healthy, the results are not as great.

Because of the minimal amount of weight I've lost and the lack of restriction I feel, my doctor had me do a barium swallow under flouroscopy today to see just how tight my band was. Well, it was pretty wide open and he put in 2.5 cc to get it to a place where it is reasonably tight. Maybe your doctor would be willing to do the same. With the flouroscope, the dr. can see exactly what happens when you swallow food/liquids and how fast the band allows emptying. I'm hoping this new restriction will be a key to helping me finally start losing some weight.

I wish you the best and encourage you not to give up. Talk to your doctor and see if together you can come up with some strategies to help your band do what it is supposed to do.

Beth

There is a way to fix these problems. For starters, here is my profile on OH. Please read it, you have nothing to lose, right?

MidwesternGirl's Profile

Just read it, then try it.

congtratulations to you

Wow, congrats...Please share some tips that seemed to work for you. How amazing, you are a great inspiration!!!!!

Wow, I saw crazycatladys post and thought I wrote it. Its amazing what 1 fill can do. I felt exactly the same as you catlady and after my last fill things changed drastically. I finally feel what I should feel. It took 5 months of no weight loss to get to this point. Don't give up. I too had food getting stuck. I think that happens because you need to be a little tighter.

Don't give up!! I felt the same, I was banded 1 year ago and for the 1st 6 months not a lot happened (about 10 pounds) but I have to admit I wasn't trying very hard. I then got a fill and for the 1st time I felt restriction and while the restriction lasted I started to lose weight.

I took me the 6 months to acknowledge that this is really a life change not just a 'get to goal' thing. Every time I get a fill I have to spend weeks re - adjusting to my new eating habits and it is hard everytime.

Some days I'm not hungry so I can eat sensibly but other days I'm starving (mostly head hunger) and I might eat chocolate, ice cream and all other easy to go down foods just because I want to feel like I'm actually eating food. The foods I should be eating can take too long and is sometimes frustrating!

However you have to work out what foods work for you and what don't. I think people fail to realise that it is still really easy to cheat on this and for me if I'm emotionally upset then I still want the comfort foods.

Give youself time to accept this and then take it one day at a time. What keeps me going is no matter how slow the weight is coming off I have not put on weight since I've had the op. I remember standing in front of the mirror at my heaviest saying to myself 'If I could just lose weight no matter how slow I would be happy'.

Good luck.

Talk to your surgeon and tell him/her everything you've written in your post. Be honest with your Lap Band team, reach out for support. That's what they are here for and what they're paid to do.

If you don't feel like posting, at least read the forum.

Don't give up.

As we age our metabolism slows way down and it's much harder to lose with each passing year. I used to be able to drop 10 lbs like THAT *snapping fingers*. Those were the good ol' days. Now, even with the band, it's very hard. I've even been diagnosed as metabolically resistant. However, I will not give up and will continue to eat right and exercise. Even if I takes me two years, I will do it and so will YOU! :thumbup:

Don't give Up! I had the same problem. I am over 2yrs out and have still not reached my goal. I was also self-pay also. I stopped coming on this site cuz everyone was losing weight except me. Which in hind site I can tell you was a big mistake. This site can keep you motivated with challenges, advise and support. You are not alone.

I noticed that one of my problems was I didn't take the liquid thing serious enough. Don't drink an hour before a meal, during your meal, or 2 hrs after your meal. When I started following this again, I started losing again. Of course slow, slow eating is important.

Good Luck and keep us informed on your progress. Please don't give up!