I had surgery in October. I've lost less than 5 lbs. I've seen the doctor twice and have had 2 fills. Wondering if this is normal, or do I need more fills? Is there a limit? Any suggestions?

Having the band installed and getting fills does NOT make you lose weight.

You have to change your lifestyle and burn more calories than you eat in order to lose weight.

Have you been logging everything you eat? If not, start doing that. It will help you and your doctor/nutritionist see where the problem may be. It may also surprise you. You may be eating more than you thought.

Eat only 3 meals a day and space them out 5 hours.

Try to eat more meat and vegetables than you do grains. If you have trouble here, eat the meat first, then the vegetables then the grains.

Chew each mouthful long and hard. Not only will this keep the food from getting stuck, it will give your stomach time to tell you when it is full.

Stop eating when you are full. You do NOT have to clear your plate.

Do not drink with your meals. This only helps the food slide through to your real stomach and defeats the purpose of the LAP-BAND®.

Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. None within 30 minutes of a meal.

Didn't your surgeon go over all of this? If not, call him on it next time you see him and ask him why not. If you have questions feel free to ask them here but don't forget that your surgeon made a bundle off of you and it was for more than just an install.

I've heard it all 4 times from my surgeon and I'm not even banded. I have to hear it again on January 11th.

You can do this!

Keep reading the forums and blogs here. Read what the successful people have done and try to follow their examples. Read what the failures have or haven't done and try to steer clear of their mistakes.

* forgive me but this is a cut and paste from a reply I posted on the forum to a similar question this morning.

I've done everything the blogger before me has said. But when you are still hungry we are going to eat! If I could do it with willpower I wouldn't need surgery. My loss has been very slow- 30 lbs in 5 monthes. I'm going to talk to my surgeon on the next appt. I think he is being too conservative with fills. I'm hungry the next day after a fill. He is putting in 2 and 3 cc's at a time. Don't give up and have a heart to heart with your dr. Good Luck.

If I understand correctly btrieger who made several comments to you, has NOT had the Band yet! But is full of advise that really only a Dr. can give you. Please contact your Dr. and get more specific answers, you have had major surgery and need to keep open communication with the surgeon.

Janet,

None of my advice is medical at all. Only a doctor should advise people on how to lose weight? What are you talking about and what does me not being banded have to do with anything?

Most of what btrieger said and then some. The band is a TOOL, not the be all, end all to your weight loss. Something obviously isn't working, and chances are it's that you're not giving your body enough so it's holding on to what it has. Too little protein and too little caloric intake can make your body go into starvation mode and reserve what is has. Thus causing you to not lose any weight.

Banded or not it IS about will power.. If you sit and eat twinkies all day, you WILL get fat. If you're eating right you'll lose. Our bands help us with portion control and feeling fuller faster, not will power. That's where the fight against head hunger comes in.

Without knowing how and what you're eating it's really hard to give advise. But I would definitely discuss with your surgeon and nutritionist to see what can be corrected to help you lose.

Ditto on what btrieger said.

Keep in mind that even when you do reach restriction, it is still up to you do follow the rules. In the back of my mind I kept thinking "once I reach restriction, everything will be ok and I'll start losing."

Nerk. Even after you have restriction, some foods just slide down well. At one point I was so tight that I could only drink protein shakes for a week, but the cookies went down with no problem (this was between Christmas and New Year's). If you want, you can graze all day. Restriction won't stop that. If you want, you can drink with your meals and help your food slide through. Restriction won't stop that.

It is still up to us to follow the rules of the band...

Don't drink with meals. Limit meals to 1 cup (or whatever your doctor told you) and don't eat between meals (or eat something high protein mid-meals to keep blood sugar stable -- hard boiled egg, an ounce of cheese, a low carb/low cal protein drink, etc.). Finish your meals in 20-30 minutes and then step away from the plate. Make good food choices...proteins first, then vegies and then carbs if you still have room. Drink 64 oz of water every day.

If we do that, we'll lose weight. If we don't, and depending on how much we don't, we will lose slowly or not at all. We can even continue to gain weight.

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