msdeevee

That is a lot to me for a first fill. I've been banded for over a year now and I'm just at 5.9cc. Admittedly I had to cancel a couple of appts to be filled but my surgeon has always been very conservative with fills. I think my first fill was 1cc. When I went for my last fill he threatened not to give me one because I had not lost any weight. The band is supposed to be a tool to help you if he doesn't fill me properly how is the band supposed to help? He accused me of sitting and eating ice cream and cake. I am not into sweets and am that rare one that does not like ice cream. I was very insulted . He finally gave me a tiny fill , less than 1cc. So I'm now still not losing because I can eat more, not sweets but regular food. I'm having to rely on sheer willpower just like any other diet I've been on and I'm really not losing like I should. I've been at the same weight up or down a couple of pounds for almost 4-5 months now. My next appt is on 9/21 and I'm struggling to lose a few pounds by then so that I can get a sizable fill and start to lose again. Very frustrating.

Theres a whole thread about C25K in the exercise forum. I was trying to get into it but I had to realize I just can't do it. I have an internally degraded left knee and it really started to hurt on week 2 . Then on top of that we had a car accident 2 weeks ago that aggravated everything so I'm gonna have to go back to Leslie Sansone walk away the pounds. The best to you on completing the program I hear it can be ver rewarding when you complete it.

I wish I had this option. My losses have been so slow since my surgery in 8/10. I just can't seem to find my groove. I don't regret my band but I'm now wondering if another surgery would have been better for me giving me more restriction. I feel like I'm just struggling on another long diet.

Hi, We had surgery on the same day. We also started at the same weight almost. I was 264 according to my home scale. I have not done as well as you and I take full blame for that. I have not followed the rules as closely as I should and I have been indulging in alcohol on most weekends which stalls and slows my weight loss. I had to come to grips with that today and stop fooling myself. So I am cutting out the alcohol all together. I am also cutting out the carbs for the rest of the month so that I can jump start my losses again. I have been at the same weight for the last 3 months. My next fill appt is on 8/17 hoping to be down at least 10 more lbs by then. You have done very well at least your in onederland as I should be too. I take consolation in the fact that most surgeons say that with the band we can lose from 1/3 to 1/2 of our excess weight. I'm so disappointed in myself overall though. My band has not failed me I have failed it but I will get it together.

Whew!! My heart fell into my stomach when I read your thread title but now I see and oh the relief!! Nice way to put it in perspective. I don't know what I've lost ...well I guess so I have an 11 lb Maltese so I've lost 4 of her. Still striving to lose one of those skinny Hollywood starlets like Nicole Ritchie (100 lbs!)

I like it too. i got the Mango peach (?) flavor. I was pleasantly surprised by it. The taste was good and not an aftertaste .

Congratulations, You're so close to goal. Keep up the good work.

Congratulations, You're so close to goal. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for this post. I don't know about OP but it gave me food for thought. Very helpful.

I'm loving the Skinny Girl Margaritas. I buy the one by Bethenny Frankel but I ordered one at TGIF and they had berries muddled in the glass so that's what I do. I muddle some blackberries or a couple of strawberries in a glass and a little bit of Splenda with ice and it's good. I also like the vodka with one of my diet Snapple Iced teas. I have not had any carbonated drinks since my surgery and I will continue to stay away from that. I'm so glad to be out of my Diet Coke habit. Honestly though I need to stay away from alcohol altogether . I find that it stalls my losses and if I was not having the drinks on the weekend I'm sure I would have lost more by now. I'm like the poster up thread I can go for weeks without having a drink and then I see someone on Tv with a nice frosty looking cocktail and then I have one and continue that for a while until I decide to stop so I'm gonna stop now.

I was thinking the same thing.

I agree the billboard is the problem. A lot of people are ignorant as to what the band is and how it works and that you have to work hard to have success with it. Even though I did much research before I was banded. I still thought I would lose all of my excess weight in the 1st year without having to work as hard as I have on other diets. I honestly feel I have had to work harder with the band. I don't regret my choice though. That billboard only reinforces the negative ideas some people have about WLS.

My feelings exactly!!

Well, their not chemical drugs or medicine . They are a natural enzyme from fruit. So it's not like I'm chewing 8-10 Tylenols . If 4 would have helped me I would have stopped there. We all have to do what works best for us. I wish you well.

Well Hello everyone, we are fast coming up on our 1 year surgiversary and I came in to check to see how everyone is doing. As for myself I'm glad to see that I'm not alone. My weight loss is very slow and I have been at a weight plateau for about 3 months now. Like a lot of you though my inches seem to be going down and I am back into a lot of my dresses that I was wearing the last time I lost a good amount of weight BL (before lapband) . I had an appt last friday to get another fill. I think that would have been my 4th or 5th not sure but I cancelled it because when I went for a fill at the beginning of June I had not lost anything and my Dr accused me of eating cake and ice cream (slider foods) I was a little miffed because I'm not a sweet eater at all. Why do people including these weight loss surgery Dr's think that if your overweight you must be sitting on the couch eating Bon-Bons with empty ice cream containers around you? I'm at a point where I can't eat much at all but I do eat the wrong things sometimes like I will eat fried shrimp. I can only eat about 3 or 4 at a time but it would be better to have the shrimp grilled or steamed and I eat late sometimes and I'm not shy about having a drink now and again and I know for a fact that alcohol stalls my losses and bloats me. So I take responsibility for my slow loss. I plan to make an appt to get my next fill just before my 1 year surgiversary which will be on 8/16. Hoping that I can bite the bullet now and at least lose another 10 lbs before then bringing me to my halfway point. I'm disappointed because I wanted to be like those star WLS peeps that lose 100lbs in a year but I guess I will be like what the lap band research says that will lose 1/2 their excess weight the first year. Wishing everyone continued success.

I bought my papaya enzyme from the Vitamin shoppe. I have 2 bottles, They are chewable and they taste good to me. When I get stuck which I try to avoid at all costs I chew a few of them and after a few minutes the stuck food seems to dissolve. Their called enzymes so in my mind they kinda eat away at the stuck food until it goes down. I had a bbq a few weeks ago and I got stuck on the 1 rib I tried to eat. It was horrible. I felt a stabbing pain in my back. I walked around. I did the chicken dance, held my arms above my head and nothing helped. I hate to throw up but I was desperate to throw up that day and nothing happened so I chewed about 8-10 papaya enzymes and after a bit I felt much better. I think their a good thing for a bander to have in their arsenal along with Gas-X and Pepcid .

Congrats to you Shadena!! You are doing so well. So inspiring and encouraging. Keep it up you will be running it the next time for sure. Dee

Thanx Dena, I needed that!!

I may join WW. When I was first banded back in Aug. 2010 I asked the dietitian at the surgeons practice if I should join WW ...she said NO. She is not too helpful though . I have learned more about how and what to eat from the books I've read and here and Youtube than I heard from her. I have been struggling to lose at a good steady pace since then. I do have pretty good restriction so I don't eat much and I'm not a sweet eater but I feel I need more structure to get to goal. I tend to agree that the band plus WW will bring a good result. I'm thinking that I need the weigh in accountability. I'm thinking about it.

You are not alone Khloe. A lot of us are struggling. I have done Ok but I am disappointed and depressed today too that I have not lost more and like you it's mostly my fault. It is truly a mind set that you have to have to push past your comfort zone. It is taking me longer than I thought but I refuse to give up. I had surgery , I cannot fail with this band. Perhaps you do need to go back to your surgeon and get a fill if you feel like you can eat more than you should. I have noticed that stuff that is not good for you are sliders and for the most part are sweets. Thankfully, I'm not into sweets but I do like food and I have been drinking alcohol more than I should. I will be having another fill at the end of this month and I am working on my mind set so that I can get back on the horse and follow the rules. Almost every successful bander will say that "Follow the rules" !! Today is a new day you can make a fresh start. So can I.

Hey Dena, Congrats on being so close to goal. You have done it!! I'm ok. thanks for asking. Still struggling along. Losing very slowly but surely. I know that I can be doing much better but I'm not consistent with my exercise. I can't eat much but I sometimes eat the wrong things. I won't be at goal by my 1 year surgiversary but I hope to be on a good losing streak. Thanks for that link, I'll be checking it out.

ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS "YOU GO GIRL!!! " I've had 2 stuck epi's and it's not a good feeling. That alone (to me) is reason to do the right thing and follow the rules.

Oh thank you Kelly. Yes, I knew exactly what I was doing but I'm getting out of that mindset. Surprisingly, I bit the bullet and got on the scale this morning and surprisingly I was down 5 lbs from my last weigh in about 2 wks ago. That gave me the incentive to keep pushing because now I'm in the teens and I can see onederland down the road. I think if I stay the course I will definitely be there by the time I go for my next fill at the end of May. That also showed me the Skinny girls were not hurting me. Every other time I had a regular drink on the wkend I would stall for at least a week . I'm not saying I'm gonna make it a habit but at least I have a good lo cal alternative. I wonder if any other bandsters have tried it. Dee

I'm glad to see some are still checking in. I must confess I'm not doing well. I have not even weighed myself because I am not doing well. I don't think that I've gained because I'm wearing clothes that I have not worn since I lost a good amount of weight the last time. I'm into sz 14-16's now. I was up to 20-22 depending on how the clothes were cut. I have pretty good restriction with my band at 5.5cc but I'm not working with it. I am picking up all my old habits I had before banding such as eating and drinking together and I am sipping a bit to push food through so I can eat more. Also not exercising like I should despite joining a gym. I also picked up another bad habit of having a Skinny girl margarita every night. Even though they are lo cal it's not a good habit and I'm cutting that out as of tonight. I cancelled my appt for my fill this month but I got in touch with my Dr's office today . I won't be able to get in for a fill until 5/27 but I'm gonna push to be down and close to Onederland by then . That will be my goal for this Summer. I'm still holding out hope to be close to goal by My 1 year surgiversary and to be at goal by November when I go on a cruise. Just wanted to come clean.

I've figured that out too because I'm barely eating and I am not happy with my losses at all. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO slow!! I had the flu really bad last wk and was not able to eat more than 1 cup of soup and drink water almost every day. I got up on Sat, to weigh myself just knowing I had dropped a ton. I had gained a lb. Save your keystrokes, I know all about how the body retains when we're not eating and all that but it's still very discouraging. When I had my last fill the PA said that most patients that have success are gym goers. so I'm vowing this week that besides going to the gym and doing Zumba and the rest I am going to walk for at least an hour every day on my treadmill as I look at TV instead of sitting on my butt. I'm so over all this worrying about my losses and worrying if I'll ever reach my goal I have to make it happen and push past my comfort zone. Tylee I wish you the best with your surgeries hopefully after all is resolved you'll get back to losing. Don't worry about it just heal quickly. You've already done so well.