Hi everyone! I am new to this and this is my first post on ANY type of site! I'm excited about joining all of you and hope to be able to get feedback/support from fellow bandsters. As my title indicates, I'm feeling pretty disappointed in my progress thus far. I was banded in November 2008 and to date have only lost 27#. I don't think that we have found my "sweet spot" yet, but then again, my surgeon doesn't spend much time exploring what may be going on with me during all of my post-surg visits. Any ideas about which questions I could pose to him on my next visit 10/28 so I can get this thing going?? I'm so frustrated!

If you're not doing it, keep a food journal of what you're eating and how much in volume. Keep track of how soon you're getting hungry too and whether drinking satisfies that hunger. It's sometimes hard to figure out, but it's important to know if you're physically hungry or if it's a craving, which for me, would generally be something like chocolate.

It sounds like your doctor isn't giving you much guidance on when to know whether you need a fill or not. This is just my doctor's band rules of thumb for fills. I'm supposed to eat 1/2 cup (volume) meals, mostly solid Protein (like 3 oz) and then veggies or fruit three times/day plus a healthy snack. That should leave me feeling satisfied for 3 to 4 hours, before physical hunger sets in. No drinking 1/2 hour before or 45 mins after a meal. Then lots of fluids. It's time for a fill if I'm eating more than that and getting hungry in less than three hours. Also, his goal is 1 1/2 to 2 lbs weight loss/week. Plus at least 3 days of good exercise.

There are many different band "rules" for when it's time for a fill, but I hope this gives you something to reference.

kiz...thank you for your feedback. I like your doctor's rules of thumb and will start following that guideline so that hopefully by my next visit I will have some information to pass along to my surgeon. Although I started off very gung-ho about keeping the food log, I have to admit that as I have become more disappointed about the slow weight loss I have let that activity fall by the wayside. I will start it again...it really is a good idea and visual aid! Thanks again!

Hey some people loose slower. Maybe you should get more of a fill. Your doctor needs to be supporting you more he should be concerned. Are you eating correctly?