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.

Exercise is the key. You will find most people who have successfully gotten to goal, or lost a lot of weight, say they exercise almost every day. some say they exercise at least 5 days per week.

Sounds like you do have a lot of stress in your life. :whoo: I go to the gym when I feel stressed out. It helps a lot.

try the whey protien by body fortress. It is available from wal-mart for about $15. The texture is thin like chocolate milk- so it is easier to get down. It also contains 46g whey protien, 4 carbs, and is very easy to mix.

I enjoyed reading your responses to the "slow looser" - I am new and I do have a question.....

I got the band on 12/10, immediately lost 9 pounds but am struggling. Is is true that I will not get the full efect of the bank until my first "fill" on jan 18.....Why can't they "fill" right off the bat...I am wasting time here.....

thanks for the reply Denise822, I will try to do better with my exercising.

Thanks soo much for the advise on unjury and body fortress. i will try them both.

nubeginings- thanks for the sweet words and encouragement-- i have 90 lbs to lose and it will come off- just like i put it on- one pound at a time :eek: ----i bought a (cheap) exercise

bicycle and that should help alot too ... please keep posting your progress too. since i have the 10 cc band i kinda expected to have to get 5 or six fills before i got restriction that lasted past 10 am but after my 3rd fill... wow! what a difference a fill makes! i have great restriction until after 3 pm. and even after that i am really limited t how much and what i can eat i expect i need need another fill or 2 in the future but for now i am grateful for how this feels.

i joined weight watchers last month ( i did not tell them about the band) to help me make better food choices and for the

weigh ins.

I enjoyed reading your responses to the "slow looser" - I am new and I do have a question.....

I got the band on 12/10, immediately lost 9 pounds but am struggling. Is is true that I will not get the full efect of the bank until my first "fill" on jan 18.....Why can't they "fill" right off the bat...I am wasting time here.....

You can't get your fill yet because of the swelling. You are not wasting your time. It takes time and patience. It is not easy. I didn't loose weight after my first fill, but the second one has a much different feeling. 9 punds in dec is awesome. My dr has told me very firmly that I am only allowed to loose the equivilant of 2 pounds a week. So you are right on target. increase your walking. Feel free to contact me with questions.

aknoer@cox.net

hi eapth-- congrats on getting the band soon. after your surgery you will probably be on strict liquids for a time- your doc will tell you when- but the reason why they cant fill right away is that your new "pouch" tummy will need time to heal- very important -and will help you avoid band slippage and other potential problems i the future-

also, you will not feel the full effects of the band until you have had enough fills that you have hit the "sweet spot" - and that may take several fills- some get to the sweet spot with 2 or 3 fills- and for others it takes 5 or 6 or more fills. i have had 3 fills so far and am just now starting to feel the restriction that i want.

as you can tell by the "slow losers" thread it is a long process and the weight loss can be very slow. but it will happen :eek:

i remeber when i finally got my surgery date.. i got so excited that i cut up my lane bryant credit card! lol... like i would be skinny right away i know now that it takes time but it is the best and healthiest way. congrats again!!!!

I remember being so frustrated that people were sick of listening to me. Then I figured out that I don't lose like other people do. I go on long plateaus. I will go a couple of months and not lose. If I get into that old thinking "I am not losing, so I might as well eat (insert anything bad and sweet) then I certainly will not lose. If I keep paying attention to everything I eat, and make sure it's good protein, veggies and some fruit, after my plateau, I drop 5 lbs.

My weight loss is not steady, x amount of lbs each week. I call myself a chunk loser. I don't lose, and all of a sudden I lose a chunk.

you first fill will probably not do it either.

i have a question..how do you know if your pouch is stretched???? could that be why i am not losing?

OH GREAT...NOW ..i have my ticker to remind me that i 've been 80 days past surgery and havn't lost a damn thing..

I know how u feel bandster 1007, U have to watch what kind of calories u are eating or drinking, fruit juices have lots of calories in them, they go down easy but ar fattening-look at the labels. Ice cream, now that is my weakness and my comfort food- i gained back what little i had lost when my sister and her dogs moved in with us. The dogs thought my green carpet was grass- go figure!!! anyway, we slow losers have to watch every calorie we consume, then we have to figure out if we are eating enough to keep our body from going into starvation mode and slow down our metabolism as if we need that. it's very frustrating but we have to find that amount of calories we can consume that will allow us to lose but yet not slow down the metabolism-ya almost have to be a nutritionist to figure this out. hey if u can afford it go see one- it may be the best thing u could do for yourself. my new years resolution is to walk for 1 hour every day, i read that it is the only thing that will change your weight set point, which in my case is where i stop losing no mastter what i do or don't do, so my set point needs to be altered befor i can go below that and hopefully stay there. hang in there and evaluate your calorie consumption and where they are coming from.

bandster1007,

say what banded on 10/07 and have not lost!!! What is happening? does your Doc have any input on this?

Hey everyone. Can I be queen of the slow losers? I haven't lost anything either. I just started following Weight Watchers and so far lost two pounds the first week. It can be so discouraging when other folks from August have already lost so much and I'm stuck at 0. It's nice to know that I'm not alone! =)

liz, I see thyat u are from San Diego and that Dr. Ortiz did your surgery, I am from TX but Ortiz also did my surgery. i have not gone back to him because i live too far away. did u ever get his book "Lap-band for life" it has always been on backorder every time i went to order it. is it any good? i had my surgery on 9-8-06 and havent done well, any pointers?

NONAD and LIZ 1531

I'm no expert at just past one month post op, but sounds like you both need a fill.

At five weeks out, I'm going for my second fill tomorrow.

Liz, Unless you have not updated your signature, you've only had two fills in almost four months time?

Nonad, if you haven't been back to the Dr, then are you getting fills somewhere else?