Welcome to the "Slow Loser" thread on LBT.

A few orders of business to begin.

First, we need to elect a leader. Someone who will voice our opinion clearly and with wisdom and humor. Our Leader will support us in our efforts and remind us of our NSV's and to not be discouraged.

I nominate - Vinesqueen. I can think of no on here on the board more eloquent and positive in her day to day outlook. (she has no idea about this, by the way - this is my own little invention - but I still think she should be our leader)

Second - we need to define "slow loser". I would propose that a slow loser is someone who is losing (or lost) less than 1 pound per week (average) during the first year of banding.

Third - Our Mission. Our Mission will be to stick together as a group. There is always strength in numbers. As we see newly banded people losing more in a month or six weeks than we have lost in 6 months to a year, we will join together and remind each other of how well we're doing. We'll chant the LBTSL ( that LapBand Talk Slow Loser) mantra of "It's not a race, it's not a race" over and over again.

Will you join me? Will you, a slow loser, a turtle in the weight loss race, make your voice heard amongst all these rabbits? Mostly will you let me know that I am not alone out here in bandland?

Looking forward to hearing from all of you.

That I'm going to be a slow loser, too. I was banded 11/7/07 and have lost no weight since the surgery.

It is way too early to call yourself a slow loser. You haven't even had a fill yet, and like you said it's a time to heel. Don't be hard on yourself, you are still in the very early stages.

Of course, by all means stick around here for support. Every little bit helps.

I haven't visited this board in months. I've been too depressed. I had my surgery in July and haven't lost a pound. I've had four fills. After every fill, I have restriction and start losing. Then, after just a few days, the restriction is gone and I'm able to eat whatever. If I could do this with willpower, I wouldn't need the band in the first place! Every time I go in for a fill, my fill doctor, whom I love (she is awesome), tests to see if all my fills are still there. And then she adds some. I have great restriction, and I'm thinking...okay, now we're talking! Then, in a few days, back to eating whatever I want! We know I'm not leaking, and she always does a real-time x-ray, so we know my pouch isn't stretched out and it hasn't slipped. I'm really down about this. This is not what I signed up for! Any advice?

I am so sorry to hear this. At least your band hasn't slipped or your pouch hasn't stretched out. Just keep on trying. Maybe you haven't found that "sweet spot"' yet. I am still looking for it too! I had my surgery in 2005 and weigh the same exact as I did before surgery. It is very depressing. I agree with you about the willpower. I don't feel that I have any right now. I am at the point that I am either going to have my band removed or I am converting. But you HANG in there a bit more. You haven't been out as long as I have and gee whiz........the holidays are here! What a difficult time of the year!

My advise is to try going back on the liquid diet. That's the only way I can get losing again. It's hard the first day, but after that, it gets easier and the scale starts moving.

You have to figure out how many calories it takes for your body to lose. For me it's 800. If I eat food, once I get started, I can't keep it to 800. I can drink 3-4 protein shakes a day and not be hungry and that will get me losing again.

Hey Jenny,

I went 3 months without loosing an ounce. A full filll of 10cc's in a 10cc band PLUS exercising a minimum of 5 days a week is what it took to get the scale moving. Sorry you did not see results after going thru all you did but that is all history now. Stay on it. Keep getting fills until they find the spot, exercise NOW as you will have to make that a permenent lifestyle change anyway and make smart food choices.

Belive it or not its a blessing that we are in control of our results. Someone told me if you are going to loose weight you are going to be hungry sometimes. My first reaction was DUH.. but you know what.. You got to understand it will still be a challenge with or without the band.

Up 2U. I would advise fighting back. You will win.

I lost 23lbs the first month I had my surgery but have only lost 7 lbs in the next 3 months. I have had one fill and I can eat just about anything and as much as I want as long as I get it chewed up well. Rolls and donuts don't do too good...lol! I don't know how I am supposed to feel when I am full seems I am never full. I usually just stop eating when I am about half done with my meal. My problem is that I desire something sweet. What do you guys eat that is sweet and lo-cal?

I eat sugar free fudgsicles, sugar free popcicles only have 10 calories.

I sometimes eat sugar free pudding but it doesn't taste all that sweet to me.

It's better than nothing sometimes. Plus I love yogurt and they are sweet and good for you if you get the non fat light which has carbs from the milk, but some of them have no sugar added.

Back to a former question, what is a bodybug? I am not blazing any trails, still hanging around 196-199. I will be so happy to make it thru the holidays without gaining!

A body bug is a little gadget that tells you how many calories you are burning and you have to log your food into the computer to see if you are burning more than you are eating. I am sure there are other features to it too. You can do a thread search on bodybug.

There are a lot of threads about it and I am sure someone else can tell you more about it. It's too expensive for me. It's about

$300 I think.

I wanna join!!!!!!!!!!! Banded 1/07,lost 30 lbs, gained back 7 and am miserable................................................ HELP!! iIt helps just knowing there might be more like me. I have been feeling like a loser!!!!!!!!!! (Not the weight loss type!)

norgaw i was banded one year ago and lost a total of 30 lbs. and now ive been the same weight since july that a long time. but i feel you 100% you are not a loser non of us are. we just need a little extra support. trust me i feel miserable and need help also mabey we could support each other well good luck and this year you had a 30 lb loss you should be proud of that .

Melanie, quick question for you? How is your restriction? Do you think you need a fill since you have lost 30 lbs?

i just had half of my fill taken out due to dr orders i was trowing up every day having alot of pb going on so tommrow is one week that i went to the dr. i haven't been sick all week so i think my restriction is good now i can eat soild food now thanks.

Hi Melanie, Thanks for the response. We should support each other. I've been feeling down lately, and I dont seem to have any self control with the food. Do you have that also.........

Hi Everyone,

I was banded a couple of years ago, lost 40 lbs and then gained it all back. I was severly depresed for months, thought I made a big mistake. I had my fill taken out because it was too much. For awhile, I didn't want to have any put back in - I thought it just wouldn't work for me. During this time, I guess I tried to do some serious soul searching. I've always been overweight and struggled with emotional eating. When I had the surgery, I did not have a plan on how I would deal with the cravings and strong desire to eat - they would still be there. I thought once I lost weight, I would not allow myself to gain it back. I was wrong.

The last couple of months I guess I accepted that I would have to work at this the rest of my life. I would have to incorporate healthy living into my life everyday. I would need to walk, eat healthy, record what I eat aim to do this everyday. I know that is not possible for me, but that is what I work towards and I'm working on not beating myself up too much when I don't acheive it.

I started to get motivated, so I started my own run/walk group. I joined ww just so I would have a program to follow and meetings to go to where I can get support. I just started following the Beck Diet Solution - How to think like a Thin Person. Its not a diet but daily activities you do to start to change your behavior. Its a great book.

However, for the last couple of weeks I'm struggling with too much fill. I'm having a hard time eating healthy food and I'm once again turning to unhealthy food that will go down easily and make me feel better (for about 1 minute). It is so frustrating, I do have a doctor's appt on Monday. I'm hoping nothing is wrong as I had my last fill several months ago and now I'm too restricted. I plan to have some of my fill taken out. Of course, I worry that if they take out some of my fill I will gain weight back because I can eat more. I don't want lose my motivation!

I really want to start a yahoo group for others like me who have the band, but do struggle or lose weight slowly. I need the support and want to give support to others. We would follow the beck diet solution and post daily to the board. Also, to be able to send ims to someone in the group when you are really struggling and need to talk to. Like I said, I do go to ww, but I just don't feel like I can talk about this stuff with ww members. I really need to talk to others who know what I'm going through. If you are interested, please send me an email marilync1266@yahoo.com

Marilyn