Oregondaisy

I was banded on 12-29. I lost 22 lbs the first 4 weeks while on the post op liquid diet. It took 5 months to lose 18 more lbs. My dr. told me I wouldn't lose as fast as others who needed to lose more weight. I was 215 the day of surgery. I am 5'2" tall. I have had 3 fills 1.5 2.0 and I am at 2.5 right now. I haven't lost anything since the middle of May, right after my third fill. My doctor didn't want to give me another fill because the way he judges it is if I am full on 2/3 of a cup of food for 4 hours, then I don' t need one. I am. I had a resting metabolic test which showed I have an extremely slow metabolism. He said he has never seen the test come out with such a slow metabolism. I am really afraid I am not going to be able to lose any more weight. I will give up the elliptiKILL for awhile and concentrate on learning to run faster. I usually do the elliptiKILL at level 10-12. Yesterday, I was running short spurts at 5.0 and longer at 4.5. I could never run outside. I am like Bubble when she says she can't go to the gym. I would feel ridiculous running outside, but I love running on the treadmill. I need to read that couch potato article again to figure out how long to run at each speed. Any advice is welcome. I think I answered all the questions. I eat protein and veggies and about 3 cherries or 1/4 c blueberries. (I have blueberry bushes) Last week I drank 4 protein drinks per day instead of solids and didn't lose anything anyway. It's like my body really likes 173-175. and does not want to go down any more than that. I sure am not happy. At 5'2" I need to lose quite a bit more. HELP!!

I would love to get the copy of your nutritionist's eating plan. Is it all typed out so all you have to do is photo copy it? I am not sure how much one would charge me here to see one. They only have them at the hospital, and I am sure it would be expensive. I am pretty broke right now, but also depressed' to know everyone else is losing like crazy and I have been stuck for 2 months. :help: Denise

Chrispy, I am so happy for you! That's great news! Karla is the only one that has the amount of her fills posted. I am wondering if I got another fill if I would start losing. I don't see how it would help because I eat about 2/3 c of food at each meal. How much less are we supposed to eat? Two bites?

I drink a protein drink for breakfast . For lunch I had a salad made with spinach leaves and chicken breast. For dinner I have some sort of meat and veggies. I am not losing so I don't know what else to do.

Mel, at least you know why you aren't losing. I am not losing and I am doing everything they tell me to do. I get to thinking I might as well eat some Cookies or brownies or whatever I want because I am not losing anyway. But then I know I will just gain weight if I do that. I wish the band worked the same for everyone.

Has anyone ever gotten stuck on a plateau? I am so sick of not losing. I hate butting in here because you all seem to know each other so well, but I am in desperate need of help. I don' t see how it's possible for me to not lose weight. Since my last fill, I eat about 2/3 of a Cup of food, and I have always exercised like crazy. I feel like fasting, but everyone says that will put me in starvation mode. I didn't pay all this money to only lose 40 lbs.

I need help. I came to this thread because all of you are losing winners and I am not. I asked if I should give up the elliptiKILL machine and just concentrate on running. I thought it was in this thread that I asked that. I am so sick of not losing. I usually do the intervals, but today I tried it the way it was explained here. Bubble, don't you get hungry??? Those protein drinks make my stomach growl. Doesn't your stomach growl on 570 calories? Somebody help me! I have only lost 40 lbs in almost 7 months and haven't lost any in almost 2 months. This plateau has got to stop and get me on the losing bandwagon!!

Dr. Tersigni and his staff are all wonderful. You'll like him. He could be doing a lot of other surgeries to be making a lot more money but he wants to do lap bands for a reasonable price because he genuinely wants to help people.

The way you pm someone is to look over to the left where it says their name. Click on their name and it will say send a private message to them or look at their profile.

No, I am glad I don't have any trouble with them. Anything I eat goes down just fine, as long as I chew it well, and wait before taking another tiny bite.

I got so depressed when I went shopping for jeans yesterday. All my jeans are too big, yet I can't fit my butt into a regular 18. The plus size 18's are way too big, so I just don't get it. Luckily, I am going on vacation next month where there will be a lot more stores. My stupid town has very poor shopping choices. Maybe by next month I will have broken this plateau and will be down a few more lbs.

Neveragain, that's fabulous news. I wish I had lost enough weight to need PS. Congratulations!

Chrispy, that sounds so encouraging! I am so glad to hear you had a good time. Neveragain, I have plans to meet up with Bubble. She's pm's me quite often. She's actually a very nice person. She has sent me some Protein shake samples. Tucson is not that close to Mesa but if you're in the area, I'll be there from 8-8 until 8-15. Ha Ha , about the date. You're young enough to be my son. My son is only a yr older than you. He is skinny. I don't know where he got his metabolism from. I am so disgusted that I seem to be one of the few people who can't lose weight with the band. It doesn't seem to matter that my portions have gone down dramatically and that I work out regularly. It's making me furious!

Bubble, I think you should join a gym. When I go in the morning around 9am, there's mostly senior citizens there and it doesn't bother me to work out around them. The gym should give you a orientation to teach you the machines and how much weight to put on each one. My thighs are rock hard and that's from the machines. I can't pinch any skin on my thighs. I have lost 3" in my thighs and that's from the weight machines. When I was in AZ one time for a few weeks, I went to a gym by my dad's house and I loved it. It was so much better than my gym here. The people were really nice and I got a free training session.

Yes, it does get easier. You will learn to take tiny bites or be in pain. I get the full feeling. I feel so full I can't take another bite if I wanted to.

So what does the diaphram do to cause this referred pain? I am not all that up on body parts so I don't really get what the band does to the diaphram to cause this. Thanks bubble! you are always so informative!

Hi everyone, Thanks for being willing to help me. I do weight training only twice a week. When I started 3 years ago, I built up muscles. My legs are very firm. I read the book "body for life" and he said after you have developed the muscle that you want, you only need to do it twice a week to keep it up. I use the weight machines at my gym. As soon as they get a new trainer in August, I am going hire her to help me learn the free weights. I started out at 215. My dr. told me I would lose slower than anyone who had more to lose. I lost 22 lbs the first 4 weeks on the liquid diet and it's taken me 5 months to lose 18 more. The last time I lost anything was after my last fill 2 months ago. I drink a protein drink in the morning, for lunch I will either have cottage cheese with a 40 cal. Dannon lite and fit yogurt mixed in, or a spinach salad with chicken breast mixed in. I use Walmart's 10 cal. for 2 Tablespoons of dressing. For dinner I have some sort of meat and veggies. I have a sugar free fudgesicle for an evening snack. 40 calories. I will usually have some small amount of fruit in the afternoon sometime after lunch, like a few cherries or blueberries. So here it is, almost 7 months after surgery and I am stuck at 40 lbs loss. I don't even know what my goal is, but I am 5'2" and 175lbs and I am stuck. I am sure I don't need another fill, because I get really full fast and stay full for hours. If you have any suggestions, I will do whatever it takes to break this plateau.

I go to the gym 6 days a week. That's why I don't understand why I don't lose weight like other bandsters. I am losing my mind. I haven't read all 323 pages, but does anyone know how to break a plateau?

Hello, I am glad I stopped in today to read this thread. I am not anywhere close to goal. I get really discouraged because I can't seem to lose. I had a resting metabolic test taken and it showed I have an extremely slow metabolism. I read the post about the plateau breaker. I usually do 30 min on the elliptical and 30 min on the treadmill. Do you think that I should skip the elliptical (I call it the elliptiKILL) and concentrate on learning to run faster? I really need help. I have had the band going on 7 months and it drives me crazy to never see the scale move. This week I am doing liquids because I saw the dr. on Wed. and he said that might help the plateau. I should also say that I have been doing weight training for over 3 years. I joined a gym 3 years ago when the weight just kept creeping up. It didn't seem to help, so I got the band. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear what's working for other people. It's maddening to be eating such tiny portions, exercising 6 days a week, and the scale stays the same.

I read online somewhere that left shoulder pain is sometimes chronic-meaning it never goes away. I have it sometimes in the morning, but it goes away during the day. I also read it has something to do with the diaphram, but it's felt in the left shoulder.

Is this thread just for bandsters who got banded in the same month? I am not shrinking very quickly, but I could use support. Anyone know the best way to break plateaus?

I am pretty lucky. I don't eat bread because their is no nutritional value, but I know if I chew something well enough, and take itty bitty bites, I can eat just about anything.

I am glad you stopped in Neveragain. Do you live in Phoenix? I am coming there (well actually to Mesa) next month. I am excited. I actually love the hot weather.

I hate that too. Another thing I really hate are the ones that post these big huge posts with no breaks or spaces in the paragraphs. They fill the entire page and it's very hard to read. Plus I am getting very sick of new people posting they are 2 or 3 days post op and they are going to eat pizza or something equally as bad when they are supposed to be on liquids. :faint:

I am sure going through menopause has a lot to do with slow weight loss. Most people in menopause gain weight. That doesn't make me feel any better though. I take hormones too, and I am sure they also play a part in this slow weight loss. I just have to keep telling myself I would have gained more weight by now. I have to figure that eventually over time, it has to come off. The sizes of my portions are so much smaller, I don't see how it will not be possible to drop some more lbs eventually.