Fear of losing the weightloss battle - author unknown

You won't lose the battle if you are willing to work with the band and do your part. But I can almost guarantee:

You will have plateaus when you first switch to solids until your body gets used to being fed instead of starved (most likely one-two weeks but could be three like mine.)

During many plateaus you will lose inches not pounds and then finally a larger loss.

Your loss in the first 30-40 days is a "never to be repeated" experience so enjoy it. Then you begin the long slow journey downward.

You will learn the fine art of "PBs" and what causes them for you, it is swallowing air when you eat. Eating too fast....NOT chewing well or too big of a bite. Eating the wrong food for you...and not recognizing the "no longer hungry" after 1/2 cup (satiation) versus an "I WANT TO EAT MORE CAUSE I CAN or IT TASTES GOOD" or I crave it [head hunger].

You will watch your body shrink and will walk a bit taller-literally- and figuratively...start slipping into booths in restaurants. Sit in chairs with arms, stop worrying about how strong the chairs are, not having to ask for an extender belt on airlines. Finding it easier to, and you have more energy to walk/go up stairs. Clean house and do a million other day to day activities. Slip in and out of bath tubs where the water goes all the way around you instead of damming up and it doesn't kill you to stand up from sitting on the floor. Watch the years fall off your face and drivers license picture...got to a restaurant and order an appetizer and still end up with leftovers to take home.

Go through doubts and several fills/unfills until you hit the "sweet spot" fill level for you.

You will have to stop several times along the way to reassess your eating habits (I could eat certain foods and get away with some cheating a bit quantity wise at 359 and still lose...that had to go at 250).

I have also found that I have to keep reminding myself 1/2 cup of solids three times a day--only--and drink my water (1 hour after meals until the next meal but not with meals).

Eat protein first...fruit and veggies second, and non-complex carbs last. (Keep the fats, sugars, and non-complex carbs low...still have them but keep them low).

And believe it or NOT a plateau that indicates that you need a fill is:

1. No weight loss for four weeks.

2. You are following all the band rules (8 out of 10 of us want to be able to break the rules and still lose figuring if we get a fill it will miraculously start us losing without us having to do our parts).

3. You are hungry an hour after eating (really hungry not cravings) and the 1/2 cup doesn't stay in the band for 2 1/2 to 4 hours.

4. You are drinking 60+ ounces of water a day and not drinking with your meal or for at least an hour after.

5. Once you move from mushy to solids--as much as possible get your nourishment from food that is solid. If you have problems with it sticking in your stoma, try it again chewing it well. Cut it up finer or chew it with other foods to keep it from recombining in your pouch and forming a plug (i.e. potatoes).

6. Try to avoid soups and/or protein drinks if possible (if you are able to eat your protein you will be full longer--some people have tight bands in the morning and can't eat so have a protein drink).

7. Whenever you hit a plateau, keep a diary and log everything, including water, which goes in and measure your 1/2 cup of solids. (Mine grew twice from 1/2 a cup to almost a full cup without noticing).

8. Try weighing in once a week to begin with, not daily. Later move to once every two weeks or once a month. When you are losing slowly, weight fluctuates daily with hydration levels, etc. At least this way you normally will see a loss and not a fluctuation or gain. Yes the loss is smaller but they are down not up.

9. Measure yourself monthly, often you lose inches before you lose pounds.

10. Don't compare yourself to others. We all lose at different rates based on age/metabolism/food choices/activity level...but we can all