vlp1968

Oh yes- you are deffinatley not alone. It's known as "bandster hell", the time inbetween surgery and when you get "restriction" (full for about 4 hours after a small meal). Be aware it may take several fills- took me 3. Hang in there, it does get better. For now, I would focus on eating the right foods (low carb. low fat, high protien) even if your portions are larger than they will be once you have restriction. Congrats on your surgery, you took a huge step towards getting healthy.

You have gotten good advice from the above posts. That is great you are going to journal and have joined a gym. I workout about 5 days a week. I believe snacking is ok and long as there planned into your calories for the day and fit into your food plan. I love to snack on nuts, low fat cheese sticks, berries (they are low in carbs). You want to eat lots of lean protien and veggies. As I was loosing, I stayed away from high carb fruits, veggies and anything with flour. Good lean sources of protien are ground turkey (make sure it's just the white meat- no skin), chicken breast (I love perdue perfect portions), lean pork loin (they come in different flavors, you just bake it in the oven for about 40 minutes), chicken sausage (I buy the flavored pre-cooked kind. Just wrap in a wet paper towel and cook in the micro. for about 2 minutes). I recently discovered frozen veggies that come in single servings (I think it's green giant- they are called just for one- I like the broccoli and cheese- 40 calories). Hope this all helps and best wishes.

Keep doing what your doing (you don't say if you are excersising, start if your not). Your weight will naturally flucuate with water retention, hormones et.. Try not to get on the scale every day, it's just discouraging you. When I was loosing I weighed in once a week and recorded it. You might also want to take some measurments. Sometimes the scale doesn't move but inches are lost. Good luck!

You are doing awsome! Keep up the good work.

Glad you are feeling better. Hope the xray shows everything is fine. Keep us posted.

Sorry you are having so much trouble. Hang in there! WW meetings sounds great. I used to do it and found the meetings very motivational. Focus on eating the right foods, even if your portions are larger than they will be when you have restriction again. When I did it they had 2 programs. One you counted points and one you ate from a list of foods until you were satisfied (very south beach). You might want to try the later. You also get points for treats during the week, I think 35. Good luck!

Sorry you are having trouble. I really don't have an answer, just wanted to sympathize with you. Work closely with your doctor and hang in there. Best wishes!

Toot Toot! Keep up the good work! Half way is a milestone.

You are right, you may have swelling. When I have been too tight after a fill I drank watered down protein shakes. However, I must say that there were a few times I suffered longer than necessary. I finally broke down and had a slight unfill and still had restriction. That's too bad your doc. is so far away- hopefully you will feel better in a day or two. If not I would call. Good luck!

You would know if your band slipped because suddenly you can't keep anything, even Water, down. At least, that's what my doc. said when I asked him. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

isaviolinist- just imho 33% fat seems high. I would decrease the fat a bit and add in more protien. You may be fuller longer. You will probably find your volume of food can be a little higher if you reduce the fat. Just my .02.

Yeah- lots of people think smoothies are healthy, but they are full of sugar. Fruit may be a natural sugar, but it's still sugar. You are much better eating the fruit itself, at least you are getting some fiber.

I lost about 2.5 pounds a week. Some a little bit more, some a little bit less. You are doing great! Keep it up!

I paid 160 ish for my fills. The doc. waived his surgeon fee for the first year. When I went in for an unfill after it had been a year, is was like 250. I am self-pay.

You did great! I probably would have moved the donuts out of my face. Keep up the great work!

I believe cutting back on carbs is good for weight loss. However, it is still calories in and calories out. When you burn 3500 more calories than you take in you loose a pound. IMHO the way most people do atkins is too high in fat. I ate both low carb and low fat and lost 107 pounds in about 10 months. To me, what you say you are eating is simply too much food. If you have restriciton you probably shouldn't be able to eat that much. Maybe you need a fill. I wish you the best!

I agree with the above posts. I wouldn't go into the surgery thinking you will get it loosened anytime you want to be able to eat more. I reached goal in Sept. In january I decided to get a big unfill. I wanted to be able to eat breakfast and to eat bread and pasta. I also didn't want to have to eat as carefully as I did when I was tight. So far it has worked for me. I monitor my weight very carefully, weighing in every day. I pretty much base what I will eat (or not eat) during that day on how much I weighed. Hope this helps and good luck in your decision.

I don't journal but I watch my sugar for sure. Greek yougurt has more protien and less carbs than regular yougurt. I guess the least amount of sugar would be in the plain, although I can't stand the taste. Also plain cottage cheese would have much less sugar than the doubles. I highly reccomend you recommit to an excersise program, it makes a world of difference. Whenever my weight loss stalled I would increase the duration and/or intensity of my workouts and the scale would start moving again. Be sure you are getting all your water (at least 64 oz) and protien (at least 60 gms). Good luck!

I too am thrilled to say I shop in the petite dept. What an NSV!

I agree with the above post- try to workout 5 days a week- it should help. Also, varying your caloric intake may help. Try doing 1000 one day, 1200 the next, 900 after that (just examples). It is suppossed to keep your body guessing so it burns fat. I hope this helps! Best wishes.

Don't think the band will work on it's own. You have to work the band. That means making healthy food choices (at least most of the time) and a regular excersise program. Craving sweets is common. You will probably find that when you stop introducing the sugary stuff into your body, your cravings diminish greatly. I wish you the best!

My 2 cents- just because you got sick doesn't mean you are at restriciton. You said you ate too fast. You may actually need a fill since you are otherwise able to eat what you want. Also- start excersising, if you haven't already. The benefits are just too numerous to pass up. Best wishes!

I have a trainer- she is great. I go to LA Fitness. I go 3 times a week for 25 dollars per 1/2 hour session. I am thinking of increasing it to 4 a week. I had plastic surgery so haven't been going- I start again 2/7- can't wait. I think 2 days may be enough to see results- especially if you do an hour long session. As you learn the moves, you can do some stuff on your own. I highly reccomend getting one if you can fit it into your budget and schedule. They motivate and also make sure you are doing things correctly so you don't hurt anything and get maximum results. Good luck!

Until you reach restriction (wich for many takes 3-4 fills) you are going on sheer will power. I suggest you focus on eating the right foods (low carb/fat, high protein) even if your portions are larger than they will be once you have restriction. Good luck! It does get better.

Awsome! It is so much fun to fit into smaller sizes. I hit my goal in Sept. Recently did shopping with mom and some of the things I bought were a size 0- who would have though. Keep up the good work!