Going on 8 months banded and just starting to work it!

[jingleboob 5]

Things are still going well... actually down 8 more pounds since last week. In 2 more pounds I'll be smaller than I've been in 15 years!

[newbandlady 3]

Congratulations and thanks for posting this. I needed some encouragement. I was having that "this is never going to work" feeling today. I'll hang in there.

[futurelookinghealthy 0]

Candis, I'm pretty much getting that same feeling. My surgery was September 2nd and I have only lost 37 pounds. I've had 5 fills, I'm at 8 cc in a 14cc band. I'm having a bariatric swallow done Monday morning, whatever that is but I hope it tells the story. Thank you all for your inspiring stories.

[lindkind 0]

I am soooo frustrated!!! I got my lapband october 3rd 2010. I have had 4 fills since then. i've only lost 30lbs total. i feel a restriction in the mornings but as the day progresses the restriction releases and i'm able to consume almost anything if i chew it well enough! I'm having terrible late night cravings for things like crackers, Cookies, Cereal...I feel like such a failure that in 6 months I am only down 30lbs!!! I have actually gained 5 lbs in the past 2 months. Will this change for me or did I make a huge mistake? I want to get this weight off so badly. Don't know what to do. I have 100lbs to go and I don't feel like this was a good start. I need words of encouragement or something. I have a 14cc band and I already have 8cc's right now and only 30lbs lost!! What happens if I reach that 14cc's and have only lost 40 or 50lbs??

I was banded in August 2010. Fills in September, November, and January... last week I opted for no fill as I am finally FEELING IT. For the first 7 months I thought I had made a mistake... that it just wasn't going to work for me. I didn't feel "restriction", I was always hungry-- even more hungry sometimes than before surgery. Then I got my 3rd fill in early January... about 2 weeks after that I was sure something was different... and I had a very difficult couple of weeks. It was like a crash course on the band. I knew you had to chew and eat slowly and not drink while eating... I knew that, but I hadn't experienced that need. I thought I was chewing well and eating slowly- and compared to pre-banded I was... but not near what I was supposed to be! I had a lot of stuck episodes, pb'd a LOT for a couple of weeks... it's hard to re-re learn how to eat. But I finally feel like I'm where I should be...

2 months ago the thought of only eating 3 cups of food a day... 3 1-cup meals... I didn't know how anyone did it! Now I'm doing all I can to get those 3 cups in. I bought toddler plates for me... the little plates with dividers. Perfect size... a big spot for my Protein, and small spots for veggies adn whole grains. I haven't been able to finish that plate in weeks.

I've lost 10 lbs in the past 2 weeks... more than I've lost since september.

So... if you're feeling frustrated because it's not how you thought it wuold be... hang in there. :-)

[jingleboob 5]

I do understand the frustration! I was banded on Aug 13th, and lost about 10 lbs post op on liquids and mushy foods. Between my 1st fill in Sept and my 3rd in January I gained and lost the same 5 pounds. I was hungry all the time, and breaking down and snacking at night. I told myself that since I "could" eat 3 pieces of pizza that my band wasn't working and I kind of gave up a little. I didn't really gain, but I certainly wasn't making losing progress.

I knew as soon as I sipped Water after that last fill that it was different. I could FEEL the Water sip slowly draining from my pouch. I hadn't felt that at all yet.

Also in the past month my fiancee found out his cholesterol was insanely high... so high and off the charts they couldn't calculate it. He's spent the past 8 months thinking he's been supportive of my diet needs, when he hasn't been at all. There was still snack food and junk food in the house. He was still ordering pizza and chinese food and getting ice cream multiple times weekly. Although I wasn't eating as much as I had before I was absolutely having little bits of all of that. I would tell myself the band wouldn't let me eat more than I should... I was deceiving myself. I knew that none of it was OK to have so often. a piece of Pizza once a month.. OK. 2 or 3 pieces of pizza a couple times a week... NO. He's also a big night time eater, and as I struggle the most after 7pm it was killing me. I'd be tired and what little willpower I had through the day had been eaten away. He'd want me to make something at 9 or 10 pm.. basically a 2nd dinner. So I was constantly around food and preparing food and eating food.

Now we're on a very strict diet and he's sticking to it. Bringing his cholesterol down is very important... his dad has had 2 heart attacks. As bad as this may sound, his bad cholesterol has been great for me! He isn't bringing junk food home. He isn't ordering out. He isn't eating all night. I am spending a lot of time in the kitchen preparing healthy meals, packing them for both of us for work, making sure we have healthy Snacks for the kids to eat too... no junk for the kiddoes either... high cholesterol runs in his family, not taking any chances with the girls. He's actually lost 10 pounds in the past couple of weeks and is very excited about it. I'm down almost 10 in that time too....

So... what I needed for success has been the band being at the right place, AND the home being in the right frame of mind. I need absolutely nothing in the house that I can or want to snack on. Even with restriction I'd eat a bowl of ice cream if it was in the house.

Get the junk out of the house. If there are others in the home who really want it, have a chat. They can pig out all they want at school or work or out with friends, but the home is healthy food... and not a lot to snack on healthy or not. Even doing this for a month or two- to get into the swing of it- will help. I know that if I can stick strictly to a diet for a month it's so much easier to say no to the bad foods. I turned down pizza and wings last week at work! from the BEST pizza place in town. No birthday cake either. I know I'm not ready to even have those things in small doses... because I do think I understand now that food is an addiction for some people. I am one of them. I get a taste of chocolate and I'll do what it takes to get more. I would hide it so nobody else could have any. i would eat junk in secret so nobody would see me... if they didn't know it didn't count. Cereal is a HUGE problem for me. Thankfully our girls are strange and hate most cereals so we just don't need them in the house. It makes Breakfast on school days a pain, but it keeps me from ahving 2 bowls of cocoa puffs while watching Grey's Anatomy.

I'm no expert on all of this, but I have lost and gained hundreds of pounds over the past 20 years... ever since I was a 150 lb 5th grader and went to Weight Watcher's camp. I know that food is an addiction. People without this problem can't understand it. Just like I can't understand an alcoholic's need to drink constantly... I don't really care for alcohol much anymore. One or two glasses of wine a month are fine for me. But I accept that some people can't say no to the drink. Can't say no to a bong or crack pipe. I can't say no to my problem foods when they're around. It's how I made it past 300 pounds.

So. If you're feeling frustrated try ridding your home of everything you'd snack on or eat too much of. Others in the home may whine at first, but it actually will be better for them too in the long run! and it doesn't have to be forever... but ask them this. If your husband/wife had a heart attack and you HAD to follow a low sodium/low fat heart healthy diet... you'd do it, right? So why isn't it important enough to support you and your weight loss? The thing you underwent surgery for? I couldn't get him to understand this until he had to change his diet for his health, and he's since apologized for not being as supportive as he thought he was being.

Having my band in a nice spot of restriction has helped. I can't eat very much at one time right now, but having no snacking options has been a Godsend.

[thsisme 14]

You go girl! congrats!

[Cara1 0]

I was banded in August 2010. Fills in September, November, and January... last week I opted for no fill as I am finally FEELING IT. For the first 7 months I thought I had made a mistake... that it just wasn't going to work for me. I didn't feel "restriction", I was always hungry-- even more hungry sometimes than before surgery. Then I got my 3rd fill in early January... about 2 weeks after that I was sure something was different... and I had a very difficult couple of weeks. It was like a crash course on the band. I knew you had to chew and eat slowly and not drink while eating... I knew that, but I hadn't experienced that need. I thought I was chewing well and eating slowly- and compared to pre-banded I was... but not near what I was supposed to be! I had a lot of stuck episodes, pb'd a LOT for a couple of weeks... it's hard to re-re learn how to eat. But I finally feel like I'm where I should be...

2 months ago the thought of only eating 3 cups of food a day... 3 1-cup meals... I didn't know how anyone did it! Now I'm doing all I can to get those 3 cups in. I bought toddler plates for me... the little plates with dividers. Perfect size... a big spot for my Protein, and small spots for veggies adn whole grains. I haven't been able to finish that plate in weeks.

I've lost 10 lbs in the past 2 weeks... more than I've lost since september.

So... if you're feeling frustrated because it's not how you thought it wuold be... hang in there. :-)

Thanks for the encourgement. What does PB'd mean? Sorry I am new here, about a month now lol

[Darlyne 0]

So glad to read these posts! I was banded a little over a year ago and FINALLY found my "sweet spot"...In the past few weeks I started losing again. It is definitely a SLOW process, but like most of you, I am SO glad I made this choice. Thanks all for letting us know we're not in the alone : )

[margbarg 0]

I am so glad to read these posts. I'm an August 2010 bandster as well, and have had many fills (6? 7?) and still have no restriction. I have been losing steadily (abeit slowly), but it's been 100% willpower. I'm going in next Tuesday for my next fill and am hopeful this will be the one.

I thought I was the only one with this problem. And I cannot wait until the band kicks in to help this process along!

[lindkind 0]

Thank you so much for that! I do have others at home. I have 2 daughters. 10 and 6. my husband is off working right now, but he can eat whatever and never gain. '' i have always kept Snacks in the house for them until recently(past 3 months). i started buying sugar free pudding, yogurt, granola, baked chips opposed to greasy regular ones. they seem to be adhering to that ok. im not able to eat anything at all during the day and i think thats where my night problem comes in. im so hungry by night that i just crave whatever(but lets just say i'm not craving broth and veggies!) i have a weakness for Cereal. even special k or cornflakes...i will sit and eat 2 bowls and not even be that hungry. i am craving mostly starchy foods...i just wonder if there is some sort of herb or supplement i can take to curb the starch cravings and to help night hunger(other than being prescribed a sleeping pill? At this point i'm just disguisted with the matter. I'm going to call around to different clinics where i can go to get fills also. i feel as though where i am going right now is not the best place for support at all. When i go they just compare my case to others and tell me it's not that bad...not what i want to hear at all!!!! it seems so easy for others to lose it fast. i don't want the weight to just fly off, but i want to see progress also. i know the lapband is only a tool and the most of it has to come from yourself...but i just don't feel like things are just right with my body...like there may be some cravings and/or different things i can do to help jumpstart the weight loss. are you familiar with supplements that can help? some i know take B12 inj or take acarbose(sugar blocker)...i definetely don't want to take a stimulant such as adipex!...not when i just spent 11K on this! that's another thing...i paid for this out of my pocket and im feeling like it was such a waste!!!! now comes the guilt of spending that much money along with the guilt of being fat!

I do understand the frustration! I was banded on Aug 13th, and lost about 10 lbs post op on liquids and mushy foods. Between my 1st fill in Sept and my 3rd in January I gained and lost the same 5 pounds. I was hungry all the time, and breaking down and snacking at night. I told myself that since I "could" eat 3 pieces of pizza that my band wasn't working and I kind of gave up a little. I didn't really gain, but I certainly wasn't making losing progress.

I knew as soon as I sipped Water after that last fill that it was different. I could FEEL the Water sip slowly draining from my pouch. I hadn't felt that at all yet.

Also in the past month my fiancee found out his cholesterol was insanely high... so high and off the charts they couldn't calculate it. He's spent the past 8 months thinking he's been supportive of my diet needs, when he hasn't been at all. There was still snack food and junk food in the house. He was still ordering pizza and chinese food and getting ice cream multiple times weekly. Although I wasn't eating as much as I had before I was absolutely having little bits of all of that. I would tell myself the band wouldn't let me eat more than I should... I was deceiving myself. I knew that none of it was OK to have so often. a piece of Pizza once a month.. OK. 2 or 3 pieces of pizza a couple times a week... NO. He's also a big night time eater, and as I struggle the most after 7pm it was killing me. I'd be tired and what little willpower I had through the day had been eaten away. He'd want me to make something at 9 or 10 pm.. basically a 2nd dinner. So I was constantly around food and preparing food and eating food.

Now we're on a very strict diet and he's sticking to it. Bringing his cholesterol down is very important... his dad has had 2 heart attacks. As bad as this may sound, his bad cholesterol has been great for me! He isn't bringing junk food home. He isn't ordering out. He isn't eating all night. I am spending a lot of time in the kitchen preparing healthy meals, packing them for both of us for work, making sure we have healthy Snacks for the kids to eat too... no junk for the kiddoes either... high cholesterol runs in his family, not taking any chances with the girls. He's actually lost 10 pounds in the past couple of weeks and is very excited about it. I'm down almost 10 in that time too....

So... what I needed for success has been the band being at the right place, AND the home being in the right frame of mind. I need absolutely nothing in the house that I can or want to snack on. Even with restriction I'd eat a bowl of ice cream if it was in the house.

Get the junk out of the house. If there are others in the home who really want it, have a chat. They can pig out all they want at school or work or out with friends, but the home is healthy food... and not a lot to snack on healthy or not. Even doing this for a month or two- to get into the swing of it- will help. I know that if I can stick strictly to a diet for a month it's so much easier to say no to the bad foods. I turned down pizza and wings last week at work! from the BEST pizza place in town. No birthday cake either. I know I'm not ready to even have those things in small doses... because I do think I understand now that food is an addiction for some people. I am one of them. I get a taste of chocolate and I'll do what it takes to get more. I would hide it so nobody else could have any. i would eat junk in secret so nobody would see me... if they didn't know it didn't count. Cereal is a HUGE problem for me. Thankfully our girls are strange and hate most cereals so we just don't need them in the house. It makes Breakfast on school days a pain, but it keeps me from ahving 2 bowls of cocoa puffs while watching Grey's Anatomy.

I'm no expert on all of this, but I have lost and gained hundreds of pounds over the past 20 years... ever since I was a 150 lb 5th grader and went to Weight Watcher's camp. I know that food is an addiction. People without this problem can't understand it. Just like I can't understand an alcoholic's need to drink constantly... I don't really care for alcohol much anymore. One or two glasses of wine a month are fine for me. But I accept that some people can't say no to the drink. Can't say no to a bong or crack pipe. I can't say no to my problem foods when they're around. It's how I made it past 300 pounds.

So. If you're feeling frustrated try ridding your home of everything you'd snack on or eat too much of. Others in the home may whine at first, but it actually will be better for them too in the long run! and it doesn't have to be forever... but ask them this. If your husband/wife had a heart attack and you HAD to follow a low sodium/low fat heart healthy diet... you'd do it, right? So why isn't it important enough to support you and your weight loss? The thing you underwent surgery for? I couldn't get him to understand this until he had to change his diet for his health, and he's since apologized for not being as supportive as he thought he was being.

Having my band in a nice spot of restriction has helped. I can't eat very much at one time right now, but having no snacking options has been a Godsend.

[vivacious123 0]

This post is very encouraging, I was banded on November 30 and while I have lost 30 lbs (10 pre-op and 20 post), I have really not

lost anything in the last couple of months. I have only had one fill so far so I figure that is the reason, but I am self pay and the fills

are fairly expensive. I plan to have another fill next month and a couple more in the next 2 months after that, so I hope to get some

restriction after that. My husband thinks I am failing at this, and I had been thinking maybe that is true.

[wnkyates 0]

thanks for your words of encouragement. I was banded January 28 2011 and I had my first fill March 21. The weight loss seems to be very slow...Thanks for all the reminders

[FeelingGroovy 2]

Thanks for posting. This is the inspiration I needed. I just my 2nd fill today. I have been slacking a bit lately especially last week since I was on vaca. After reading your post I have renewed energy and looking forward to continueing on this journey.

Thanks and much continued success to you!

Ally

[Shelley64 26]

How nice to hear! I'm only 3 months out and have had 2 fills and I feel restriction when I eat too fast or swallow too much at once. However, when that passes, I can seem to eat forever. I don't really get full, I just figure I've had enough and stop. I'm trying to have 3 oz of Protein (usually a homemade turkey burger, cottage cheese or a thicker type chili that I make along with a non-starch veggie and a salad. After dinner however, I'm having those same "gotta have something sweet" and end up eating 200-300 calories of allowed foods between dinner and bedtime. I know I have to fix my head hunger and only eat when I'm truly hungry but it is still so hard! I'm thankful to hear your positive story. I have only lost 20-22 lbs BUT my body has shrunk. I don't know why it's not showing on the scale but I am smaller. I'm down a couple sizes in clothes and everyone I see comments that I've lost weight so that is excellent. I just wish the scale would catch up! thanks!

[Suznty 6]

Yup that's me. I'm the one waiting for the restriction. I have 8.2 in a 10 band. I'm able to eat bread, easily scarf down 2 grilled snack wraps and then eat 4 hours later. Is there something wrong with me? I don't drink before or after meals as directed.......I can easily eat over 1 cup at a sitting.. WHat's wrong with me?? Banded in September 2010, I only lost 40 pounds.. Regretting this. I think I made the wrong decision. SHould of had the bypass. Help!!