I posted this issue a while back in a different catagory, so maybe you guys will have better answers. I need someone to explain the logistics on how a person (me) can cut their intake by at least 1/2, improve the things they eat dramatically (no more cokes, burgers, fries, tons of sweets ... that sort of thing), and NOT lose any weight.

I've been banded 2 months now. I eat much, much healthier and much smaller portions. I've lost 14 lbs to date ... 10 lbs the week of and right after surgergy (liquids only), and 4 lbs the day before and week after my 1st fill (liquids only). Once I start eating mushy or solids again, I maintain whatever weight I ended at on the liquids.

I just don't understand how this can logically be. How can a normal, healthy 31 year old cut their portions in 1/2, improve the things they eat, and STILL not lose weight? I need some real, scientific kind of explanation for this.

Thanks in advance to all you beautiful skinny people!!!

The only explanation is that you WILL lose weight, for real. It just takes time. One day you will wake up and five pounds will have dropped away. Patience, patience, patience.

In the meantime, are you shrinking? That's what happens when I haven't lost weight in a while. I'll find that my sizes are getting smaller even if the scale isn't moving.

Weight loss is NOT an even, weekly, regular progression of numbers dropping. It's not helpful to describe it as "1-2 pounds per week" because people then expect to see that happening, and it just does not work that way for most people.

You're NORMAL, Lovebugg, and just need to find your patience and stop worrying about the numbers.

Alex, thanks for the encouraging words - and that is exactly what people I've met that have had the surgery tell me ... "one day you'll wake up and it'll just start falling off", but it's been 1 month since my first fill and I'm so stuck on the logistics of it - it just doesn't make any darn sense!

I have lost a little "size", but only in my face, my back, my lower legs - nowhere that changes how my clothes fit, so I'm still in the same clothes, still fitting the same way, absolutely NO change there - it's like I've done absolutely NOTHING in 2 months.

It's so very hard not seeing ANY results, I'm scared to death it's never going to happen for me. I want the patience your speaking about, but I'm so scared that it's not going to work for me. I've been fat since I was 5 and I paid cash for this, $15,000, and feel like I'm a failure for reasons I can't explain. Thats' why I'm here today, when I get some encouragement and experienced opinions, it relaxes me for a little while longer.

Should I call my doctor and get another fill, it's been a month since my 1st?

hi lovebugg, may be you can ask your doctor about it. i just had my first fill this monday and was told to come back in a month to see if i'd need another one. i suppose that's ok to do. another regular on this site, la madam gave me this link...maybe it can help....

http://lapbandtransformation.com/Adjustments.htm

oh and just be patient...losing weight works mysteriously i suppose. i actually find it really surprising that all surgeons recommend only 1,000 calories a day....because if you read health publications they always say never go below 1,200 a day. and as far as i know, undereating can also lead to no weight loss as the body goes into survival mode thinking you're in famine.....

Motivated22 - thanks so much for the link - great site!

I am having the same issue! I feel in good company. I am eating so much less and no snacking and I have not dropped a pound. It is so weird.

I just had a fill aabout three weeks ago and I am scheduled for another one on Wednesday. I am having second thoughts about going to get the fill because of soemthing Alex said the other day about letting your mind catch up with your band. I notice I want to eat so much more than I really should/can. Right now I am able to eat more than I should but much less than I used to be able to so I don't know whether I need to let my mind catch up and be patient or go ahead and get another fill. I have an appointment...so I asked God this morning to bless it or block it so I know whether I should go get the fill next week.

Thanks for the link - great information. I go next Thursday for my first fill. I'm very nervous. I, too, am not eating very much and trying to drink a lot, but havn't lost any more in the last 2 weeks.

I have those same thoughts every day, how could I NOT be losing weight every day. When I compare what I use to eat for a meal or just the Snacks and starches alone, OMG, I should have lost twice as much weight by now.

I was starting to get super depressed and down, then went in and had the nutritionist do the weight vs fat vs muscle test and I had gained 12 of muscle, then 3 lbs another time, so just because you're not losing lbs, you could be losing fat and gaining muscle.

It's easy to say don't get discouraged, but.....don't get discouraged, hang in there.

One day you will wake up and five pounds will have dropped away. Patience, patience, patience.

I agree wit this 100%..I have been on a mjor plateau so on August 9th I started heavy duty exercising, riding my stationary bike 8 miles a day,swimming laps 45 minutes 5 days a week that is alot for me considering I have not exercised much since my band. The scale never moved. This week no bike for meno swimming...and the scale has moved..GO Figure! In the time my scale did not move I did notice a big change in my body shape...so something was happening. Just because the scale is not moving does not mean you are a failure...Other things are happening. I have said it a hunbdred times...Dont let the numbers on the scale dictate your success or faliures with the band. Think of all of the other possitive things that have started happening or happened since your band. Keep doingwhat you are doing...it will happen! Hang in there

I so under stand..the first two weeks 14lbs.

Week 3, with the "mush", up 2lbs.

I'm going to keep calm and not get on the scale for 7 days.

Try that!

Hey Lovebug,

Sure but steady wins the race. Heres my take on the situation:

Before you were eating too much and were gaining. You probably only need a 1/3 of what you ate in your formal life of eating to lose. When you are on liquids, you lose a lot. Once you start on solid food, the weight comes off slower. I lost 154 pounds over 19 months. It was pretty steady weight loss though at the rate of about 7 pounds a month. So give it time, keep track of calories, carbs fats... etc. I know its tedious, but the truth is band or not, people like us will always have to eat less. I only eat about 1100-1200 calories a day. Any more than this and I gain.

Babs in TX

334/180

-154

PS August 5th 2005

I am so swollen so I have no idea what I weigh!!!!

I suspect part of the reason lots of people become obese is because there is something about their metabolisms - much as popular wisdom says that you're fat because of eating and exercise habits, I swear there's some hidden mystery they just havent discovered yet. And I think fat people's bodies are way better at adapting to reduced calorie intake too - they adapt faster and they adapt more adroitly. That's the secret of weightloss 101 according to Jacqui, lol.

I dont know if that's true, but I suspect there's something to it.

Its the same principle as why some people just eat and eat and never gain weight.

I also think exercise for weight loss is different to exercise for general health. You need to be scientific about it, not just toddle out for a wander round the block every now and then. You need muscle building exercise probably more than cardio. Cardio will burn fat but you need to increase your metabolism by packing some muscle onto your body and resistance exercise is the only way to do that. There's also quite an exact science to that as well.

In the beginning I went through, and continue at times to go through the same thing. I had to take stock of what I was eating. Was I getting in enough water? No... it is still an issue for me to get water down, but I am working on it. Was I getting the minimum 60 grams of protein? No... If you arent feeding your body what it needs, it will conserve what you have on board. I find that sometimes when I'm not being very careful about water and proteins, I stop losing, even when my total intake is minimal. Believe it or not sometimes I have to eat more to lose, because when I feed my body what it really needs, it doesn't go into starvation mode and conserve body fat. Try evaluating your intake in terms of nutrition, not amount or calories. Is it balanced well? Lots of water and good protein intake can make a world of difference. Good Luck!

I went through the same thought process that you are going through (been through it a few times, actually, lol). I count calories like a mad woman, and I used to stay between 1200 and 1500, which actually meant 1400 to 1500, lol, and I just wasn't losing. How can a 230 lb person not lose on a 1500 calorie diet?? Well, I swallowed my pride, and made my max 1300, and within a few days the scale started moving. I can maintain at 1500, but I can't lose. You just have to figure out the math that works for you I guess...

I know this sounds funny, use the food pyramid and a shot glass. That is what I have been doing, and it works for me. I measure it with the shot glass and I try to do what I can out of the pyramid. I lost a huge amount of weight, and now I am losing normal, about 1-3 pounds a week. I look at pounds of butter so I know that is what is gone off my body. I had surgery on 4/15/05 and I am down 108 pounds.