hi all -

my post band weight loss is going slow and whilst ive los weight i dont feel like i ever quite got going the way i had expected.

i had my band in on december 23rd 08 - and its now october the 8th. so nearly 10 months.

my highest weight was

319

my op weight was 295

and now im 260.

Its going very slowly - it took lost of fills to get it tight enough 10/14mm and im now going well but its so much slower than most people. I do cheat at times with choc bars which i know i shouldnt - but my body feels entitled to such things as my mains meals are just a few 5-7 bites - because i can eat so little food i feel like i need some and so ill sometimes by candy etc.

I need some words of encouragement to help me out of this - i know i need to stop with the sweets etc but its hard -

anyone else looseing slow or finding it hard to cope without the food they used to enjoy.

love to you all

It sounds like you are too tight. 5 -7 bites at a main meal is not enough. If you have some fluid taken out you will probably find that you can eat more at your main meal i.e the good nutritious stuff that you should be eating and then hopefully you won't be filling up on slider foods such as chocolate bars.

Candy bars are considered slider foods and you really can't be successful on them...or least not very fast at any rate.

My doctor wants me to lose 1-2 pounds a week. That is much slower than I thought it would be but in the long run, it's better for me. I am determined to lose the weight b/c I want to live longer. NO candy bar is going to get between me and a longer life. It isn't worth it to me.

You might be a little too tight if all you can eat is 5-7 bites. That's not good. You should be eating at least a 1/2 cup of food and that's a lot more than you realize.

You might try to find things that are naturally sweet to help you be satisfied and not crave the candy bars. Another thing, is don't buy them. Even a skinny person in your house doesn't need them. Halloween is coming up too...don't buy the candy!

Last but not least, you have lost approx 60 pounds since you were banded and that's really good. What if you had gained that much???? Pat yourself on the back, throw out all candy, and start again. You can do it. Remember WHY you did it in the first place. Start journaling....it will help too.

Good luck.

I do have a chocolate tooth so I generally avoid all sweets. However, I tried baker's chocolate because it has no sugar and of course that is gross. But then I found that Lindt and Girodelli (sp?) have super extra dark chocolate bars with little sugar (but beware of the cococa fat). Lindt has a 85% and 90% cocoa bars which is almost baker's chocolate. So with that (and its an acquired taste), I find that I can eat one square just every once in awhile and my craving is taken care of.

Best of luck to you.

How frustrating!!!

First of all, I totally admire you for continuing to stick with it! This is NOT an easy decision we've all made....and just because you are not moving as fast as you'd like, or as fast as other people does NOT mean you're a failure!!

How much exercising are you getting? That is one thing that I am really discouraged about. I have zero restriction right now, so I am having a hard time not eating the same foods that I loved before surgery. Also, I'm not really doing much exercise....so I feel frustrated too. But, I know that there are things that I could do better that would make my progress go faster.

Just do what you can at your own pace.

Remember: we didn't become obese overnight....it took years of bad habits to get to this place. So, expecting to lose all that weight really quickly can be unrealistic.

Stay strong. This is a huge commitment. Just be proud of yourself!