I was banded 6 months ago and things have been very slow for me. I was very slow to recover from surgery, it took a month for me to feel comfortable again, and I was on pain meds for almost 3 weeks. (I went through 2 HUGE bottles) It's also taken a lot of fills for me to feel restricted, I have a 9cc band which is now filled to 7ccs. I've only lost 15 pounds, partly because I'm just now feeling restriction. But mostly because I'm a grazer, I snack all the time and I've unconsciously trained myself to eat around the band by eating things I know will go down easy. It's a habit I'm working hard to break.

My biggest obsticle though, is that I work from home. I have access to my kitchen all day long. I'm also a stress eater, so if work gets stressful, I take the 20 steps to the kitchen and find something to snack on. Does anyone else have this problem because of working from home or staying at home? Any advice or tips?

I'm new here and reading this forum has given me a huge boost that I really needed. I'm determined to turn this around. Thank you all!

Hi there! I was also banded 6 months ago and it has been slow for me as well... I am only down 10 pounds. I am an emotional eater and a SAHM. I still constantly struggle with what to eat..

I am a court reporter. I take a deposition, then bring it home to edit. I would say the majority of the time I am working at home.

I find that on days when I'm out of the house, It's obviously much easier to have a structured three-meal day. At home, the challenge for me is keeping to a routine. (Not just for eating, but for the whole day.)

Perhaps if you add more structure to your meals for the day, you can get past this grazing behavior. Would packing yourself a lunch in the morning give you motivation to stay on track? I try to pick a set time for when I'm going to eat lunch. I set an alarm for it. Instead of not really being sure of when I'm going to eat or what I'm going to eat, I know that at 1:00 I'm going to eat my packed lunch. I'm looking forward to eating outside once the weather really warms up here again.

What kind of foods are you grazing on? Are you having things that could fill you up if you ate just a little more, or are you snacking on slider foods like pretzels or other crunchy items? If you think you need a snack after lunch before dinner, maybe you can also pack a snack ahead of time. How about a little chicken salad with a few crackers? It can be handy and fill you up just enough --and being planned could keep you from reaching for whatever is quick.

I know when I have a deadline to meet, I don't like to lose a lot of time away from the computer... in those moments, I find myself upstairs in the kitchen looking around for just anything quick, rather than take the time to fix something healthy. When I have it prepared ahead of time, I can just grab and go without searching for what sounds good to me.

I hope I've helped you a little bit. Working at home is a big challenge. I struggle with many distractions. Sometimes I do better when I take my work to the library. I don't know if your work is that mobile, but for me, it gets me away from my Internet distractions and the kitchen.

Take care! I now you can figure out a way to get the weight moving again.

I am a SAHM and was banded 5 months ago. I am down 40 lbs with 5cc's in a 10cc band. It is a struggle to stay out of the kitchen but I do. I only buy healthy food now. I know myself well enough to say that if there is junk food in the house I am going to eat it banded or not. If I don't buy the junk food, I can't eat it.

I also buy a whole bunch of fresh veggies, bring them home and cook them. I store them in containers in the fridge so when I want lunch all I have to do is heat something up. If I have to cook a healthy meal from start to finish I end up just eating something quick and not so healthy. By making healthy foods like veggies quick I am able to eat fewer calories.

As for snacking I eat a light cheese stick, apple slices with peanut butter, a slimfast snack bar...etc.

My main goal is to keep my calorie intake low. I know its like being on a diet everyday of my life but this is what is working for me.

Good luck.

I would seriously say being a stay at home mother/student is 3/4 of the cause of my weight problem. I never gained much till I became a stay at home mother.

At the moment, I'm on teaching rounds, meaning I'm working full time. 3 small meals per day is easy as anything to stick to. Spend a day at home and I eat 3 times as much.

I cannot wait to return to full time work next year. I swear I'll finish this weight loss and get right down to my ultimate goal once I'm not at home and able to eat whenever the urge strikes.

Teaching is a great job for that because in our schools, there's no vending machines, or junk food or ability to buy food, you have to take lunch from home and what you take is all there is. Kids can get lunch orders, but its nothing too tempting.

Those are teriffic suggestions above, I'm going to try them too.

Edited March 29, 200917 yr by Jachut

i run a small ranch w/dh & go to law school pt - i'm home a LOT. dh is also banded, and at goal for over a yr, he's the snacker more than i & likes his chips. we agree to have one bag a month in the house. other than that it's healthy foods, fruits / veggies. it's a GREAT time of year for both with spring in full force.

i "try" to cook up on sundays meals for the wk - pot of lentils/chicken salad/grill up some chicken/make a fruit salad, cucumber salad/hummus/boil some eggs/sweet potato chips. i also keep a big bag of edamame in the freezer, it's great toasted & kinda curbs my chip issues.

i think the biggest thing is to keep crap out of the house. when we go out, that's when i indulge more in a higher calorie meal.

since you work from home - take your lunch hr and go for a walk around your neighborhood or do some other activity. i have found i am a much better w/my eating on days i've exercised.

Thanks so much for the tips! I'm definitely going to start making my lunch & snack in the morning and then that's it. It never occurred to me before, but it makes total sense. That's what I used to do when I worked in an office, and it really helps. And I'm going to keep the junk out of the house. My boyfriend doesn't have a weight problem, but he'd like to be healthier and has agreed to eat healthy with me. The only junk he's allowed to have is the stuff I don't like... that way I won't eat it and he can still have a few things. I'm also going to start cooking on Sundays for the week, at least a couple of meals, sounds like a great idea!

I have a pretty structured work day even though I work from home. I'm a graphic designer and I work for an agency that has deadlines all day long, so I don't find it hard to stay in a work routine, hopefully I can apply that to my food. Unfortunately my work isn't very portable, otherwise I'd love to get out and work from other places.

I find that I'm much more likely to stay on track with my food on the days that I exercise, also.

Thanks again for everyone's tips, these really help!