SageTracey

Glad to hear that you are getting medical help with this. Best wishes.

Your band is a tool and only your doctor can make it tighter or looser for you. I hope he made it tighter as he said it wasn't tight enough! On the other hand, your eating and exercising are totally up to you. I wasn't really aware of just how much effort I would have to put into this side of losing weight with the band ahead of time but I have certainly learned! I was banded in April and have lost 48kg (about 108lb). I log my food and exercise diligently with myfitnesspal.com I plan my daily meals in advance as much as possible so that by the time I sit down to eat, I have already decided what I will eat and how much. It's that old head game. If I want to eat more, then I need to earn calories through extra exercise. Once you achieve restriction, you will find it much easier to control your portion size, but you (I) still need to make healthy food choices. Good luck.

She has had abdominal surgery so it is perfectly normal to have pain in the abdominal area. Remember, those instruments were working away inside her, not just at the incision sites. If it is severe and not improving, definitely get medical advice.

It seems to me that surgeon's fill at different rates based on their preferences and experiences. My surgeon has given me different fill amounts ranging from 0.5 to 2.5cc depending on my restriction. At my last fill he gave me 1cc and talked about how different people react to the same amount differently so he is always working on an educated guess based on his experience with thousands of band patients. It took me many years to gain all of my weight so I know it is going to take time for me to lose it. So far my journey has been quite easy and definitely successful. I hope yours will be too. Good luck.

Definitely see your doctor for some follow up advice, but I agree with Kiskis, it seems that you may not be getting enough nutrition. It's counterintuitive, but if you get a small unfill to allow you to eat properly, you may find that you start to lose weight. Good luck.

It's definitely been a tough journey for you. I think you really need to see a medical professional. I don't know the healthcare system in the UK, but you won't get the medical care and treatment that you need on these forums, only emotional understanding and support. For your own sake, and for your little one's sake, see a doctor.

The more exercise that you do the easier it becomes and you will find your energy levels growing. It's just taking that first step that is so difficult! I used to sleep til the alarm went off, and it was set as late as possible every day. Now it is set for an hour earlier and I tend to wake up before it goes off. I am literally bouncing out of bed to head out for a walk, bike ride or swim before going to work. Not having kids that depend on me, plus having a very supportive husband have made this easier for me. Good luck. By "Not having kids that depend on me", I mean that they are adults!

I try to cycle three times a week, dance at least twice a week (rock n roll is a great workout!), plus I walk and swim for at least 30 minutes up to four times a week. The more I do, the more I lose weight and the more I am enjoying the whole exercise thing!

Maybe there is a point where our bodies are most comfortable that makes it hard to lose those last 5 - 10 -20lbs. I have set myself an interim goal of getting under 100kg (2kg to go!) but then I plan to keep eating properly (note: that is not perfectly, cos I couldn't maintain that for very long!) and continuing to exercise until I figure out where I am comfortable. The charts etc say I should be around the 70kg mark but I think that will be much too low for me. I suspect I will settle somewhere around 90kg but will wait and see what my body tells me.

I was banded on April 13 this year and have lost 106lb so far. I have worked hard at following my surgeon's guidelines and, although I am nowhere near perfect, I am really enjoying these results!

Awesome. I loved my closet clean out and I'm having great fun refilling it gradually. enjoy.

I have a Body Media Fit too and love it. I track my calories and exercise on myfitnesspal.com but use the calorie burn from bmf because its more accurate. I'd like to work out how to set my goals. Any help appreciated.

I was banded on April 13 this year and have lost 106lb. Heading out for a bike ride now

Keep your dr appointment and tell him what you have told us. He/she is there to work with you through this journey. I have read several times that the band patients who are most successful are those who work most closely with their medical team. I understand that this can be more difficult in the US where healthcare is managed quite differently than in Australia and tends to be very costly, but just consider the cost of not seeing your dr.

My fills take less than a minute. The rest of the time is spent getting weighed and discussing my diet, eating habits, exercise and general chit chat with my surgeon. My surgeon has done all of my fills himself, but that just may be an Australian thing (plus he is still practicing, unlike the OP's situation.)

Geno, It's different for everyone, but my weightloss has been fast. I lost 100lb in just six months by being almost anal about following the rules. I am happily slowing down now but am still losing steadily. I won't eat crap foods, I exercise almost daily and miss it when I don't. But I think the two most important things have been a strong support system (my dear husband who even gets out of bed early to exercise with me!), and setting goals to work towards. My next goal is to be under 100kg and when I achieve that I will get a lovely new gold watch that I have coveted for years. My major goal is being able to wear whatever I like to my son's wedding next April and beyond that I have a goal to ride in a long distance, multi-day cycling event in November next year. Good luck. Tracey

When I look forward to exercising every day.

Ditto the other two posters but it also sounds as though you went into this not really knowing what to expect. I would suggest you do plenty of research about what to expect from here on in and make sure you ask your surgeon lots of questions as you move through the different stages.

Two weeks and I needed it. It wasn't the surgery itself but the anaesthetic that knocked me but I knew that from previous experience so I allowed myself the full two weeks.

My pharmacist recommended Berocca soluble. Plus I take a daily Vitamin D as I am deficient.

Myfitnesspal.com is also a very user friendly site with an iphone app for logging your calories and exercise. There are many bandsters on there already. Feel free to friend me.

Take this time to prove to yourself that you can make the positive changes you need to make the band work for you. Pick a realistic goal and stick with it but please don't try to change your whole life in one fell swoop. That would be a guaranted recipe for failure which would make you feel even worse than you do at the moment. You can work the band for success and you can keep coming back here for support. Hang tough and best of luck.

Welcome and best of luck. Hopefully your mum will realise that you have made this tough decision for your own good health. But even if she doesn't, don't let her sabotage you or cause other issues for you. Be strong and enjoy the success that will come.

I've been banded seven months and have only been stuck twice - both times were my own fault for eating too quickly and eating foods that I shouldn't. Although to be fair to myself, I didn't know that bread was going to be an issue until it happened!

Now that my weight loss is so noticeable (at 106lb it ought to be!), I find that people are watching what I eat and feel as though they have a right to ask how much I have lost and how I've done it, not to mention how much more I am going to lose! One even had the audacity to tell me that I had started too soon if I wanted to be looking good for my son's wedding next April! What, does he think I am going to fall off the wagon and put it all back on! Thanks for the support (that was my attempt at sarcasm.) The interesting part is that very few know that I have a lap band. Mostly I don't think it is any of their business, but now I am glad that I haven't told them because I am already getting the pressure about how much I've lost etc. It is starting to move beyond support from some of them. It's almost as though they are waiting for me to trip up. Well, guess what? They are going to be disappointed! Why is it that people think that obese people losing weight are some sort of public property?