Thanks for the info Kelly! Right now I think I'm at a good place with my band because I can eat whatever I want in small portions and I'm not starving an hour later!! Congrats on the realization!

that what i want to do Deedee eat small portions

<P>I've always had a pretty good knowledge of what to eat health wise. I could do well for weeks and months at a time with my well rounded healthy meals, but because of my body and some health issues one bad meal would cause MAJOR weight gain for me. I have never believed in getting your band so tight you can't swallow your own spit lol. If I can't fit in 1200 healthy calories each day I would get some fluid taken out. I do know a lot of people who only eat 700-800 calories a day and it really is not enough to realistically be healthy. You're body needs nutrients to survive and THRIVE. I use my band to keep me from being hungry between meals so it's easier to stick with the plan. It also keeps me from being as bad as I want on days where my will power is not so strong and when I do have a treat day with something not so healthy I don't pay the price I used to. It's funny now a "bad day" is eating 1500-1800 calories lol. Not that it's a lot but probably once a week I treat myself with higher fatty foods. I know before a bad day would be SO MUCH more than that.<BR>It's great that you've found something that works for you. Good job and keep at it!</P>

Thank you very much for this much needed information.

Kelly thanks for the post. I think you bring up a very good point that I personally see a lot of my friends at work do. The Band can not do all the work, having your band repeated filled to make sure you can't eat is not the key. The key to weight lose is learning how to modify your calorie intake, eat the right amont of calories daily with the right balance of protein, carbs, and fats. A lot of people are looking for the easy way out, honestly in weight loss there is not easy way out, if you under eat and over exercise you will not lose weight but honestly it is about losing fat and building muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat so if you exercise and eat well your body will thrive and use the food as fuel and shed what it does not need. I have only had two fills and the second one ended in an unfill. I do not plan to have any more fills becasue I can eat pretty much what I want, some days are better than others. I exercise (or I did before my knee went out) and a eat, 33% fat, 124%carbs and 90 grams of protein aday. I watch my na intake and I exericse 40 minutes of cardio 3 times a week and do weight training 3 days a week. to maintain my current weight I would need to eat 1660 calories aday, I eat 1200 per day sometimes more or less. If I get stuck in my weight I mix up my calorie intake for a week or say, one day I increase my calories, one day I decrease my calories. I rarely eat exactly the same amount every day. I still have fluid in my band and I can eat like this. I guess I use the band as a security blanket but it works. My goal is to be a size 10, I am currently a size 12 and weigh 175 lbs. Honestly my doctor or nutritionist did not teach my how to eat with the band, I figured it out my self by spending hours on the internet reading about weight loss. Bottom line the band is a tool and only a tool, there is no magic wand or fast solution, some of us just figure that out sooner than others. Congratulations on your loss and you look fabulious.

I exercise zero. I eat between 700 and 850 calories per day (I measure everything) I have lost 79 pounds since May 9.

from 319 to 240 today. Weight loss is very simple: calories in, calories out. But if you have a "trick" that motivates you, then go for it.

btw-no fills at all, never hungry, 3 meals, snack on 0-calories food VERY HAPPY

come see me at MichaelWasFat.blogspot.com

I exercise zero. I eat between 700 and 850 calories per day (I measure everything) I have lost 79 pounds since May 9.

from 319 to 240 today. Weight loss is very simple: calories in, calories out. But if you have a "trick" that motivates you, then go for it.

btw-no fills at all, never hungry, 3 meals, snack on 0-calories food VERY HAPPY

come see me at MichaelWasFat.blogspot.com

Hi Michael,

I have read your blogs before. Your weight loss is wonderul! I use to think it was simple as well. But what I have learned to be true for not only me, but many of us is that calories in and out arent necessarly what creates fat loss and muscle gain. There is much more science involved. I ate the same calories you did for many months but I worked out a lot. Not much was happening on the scale. I did notice, however, that my body fat percentage was not going down but the numbers on the scale were. Thats when I found the bodybuilder nutritionist. Now I have learned how our bodies operate and what it needs to burn fat and gain muscle.

I do believe that people who were considerbaly overweight to begin with will drop a bunch of weight just from calorie restriction. I only had 60 lbs to lose from the get-go. So that method would never work for me.

Im glad you have found something that is working for you and you are feeling great. Thats what we are all after. Its just, for most of us, this process is much more involved that eating very little food.

Best to you!!!!