Day 11 Postop...somewhat discouraged

[jbaker5d 34]

Hi, I need some encouragement here. Unlike alot of you, my dr didn't put me on a liquid diet preop. He required Southbeach Phase 1, which is basically Protein and veggies only, no carbs whatsoever. I did ok on it except for a couple of slip ups. Nothing major. However, at the time of my surgery I had only lost 1 pound. My dr was visably put out with me and let me know it. I feel like I would have been better off on the liquid diet. Putting that behind me, I have been sticking to the rules for the postop period, adding only what is recommended when it is recommmended. I am still on full liquid, cream Soups (which I tend to enjoy more than anything else), pudding, yogurt, oatmeal, cream of wheat, and thinned mashed potatoes. The food restrictions have not been that bad, however, I've only lost 7 pounds since surgery. I know, 7 pounds is 7 pounds, but seriously, I would have thought that with such restrictions I would have at least lost 10 by now. I am trying not to be discouraged by this, but I am. I don't feel I have very much restriction at all anymore. What I had at first must have been from swelling. I know there is some, but not enough. I can easily drink down a cup and a half of cream Soup. Maybe more. I did push it last night with closer to two cups of cream of mushroom soup and I was so miserable for about an hour. Anyway, the lack of weightloss is disappointing. am I expecting too much? I see all of you guys with such great weightloss PREOP, then more POSTOP.....I guess it's just discouraging that I didn't do better preop. I don't know. Just needing some encouragement. I know "hang in there" "it will get better" "7 pounds is good" I've heard it all, but I can't help how I feel. Sorry to be so glum.

Thanks for understand,

Jennifer

[vlp1968 83]

Hang in there is right! You are doing all the right things, the scale will show it. Just give it a little time. Your body is adjusting to huge changes. Be sure to excersise once you get clearance from the doc. It works wonders for weight loss! Best wishes.

[reverie 49]

Only 7lbs? That's 7lbs lost. If there's any advice I can give you, it's to completely rid of the word "only" when speaking of weight loss. Also, understand, I mean REALLY understand that no one here loses the same. Just as you lost 7lbs, there may be another bandster lost less. Learn to Celebrate every. single. pound, really. Do not compare your journey/loss to anyone else here. It will only frustrate you and cause you to become discouraged.

Also, you're 11 days postop. Your body needs 6 weeks to heal. Weightloss, at this time, is not, and shouldn't be your biggest focus. Congrats, you've lost weight, but please remember that your body needs to heal, and healing requires calories. Stay off the scale.

So yes, I'd say your goals right now are maybe not unrealistic, but not the wisest.

Good luck!

[trish151 33]

Throw your scales in the closet..........................giggle. I say that because I had to do the same thing. There are all kinds of reasons we can get down on ourselves and sometimes we get defeated in our minds before we ever step on the scales. Get up and do the I got my band wiggle, I'm on my way down, and nothing can stop me dance. I am a firm believer that if you change your mindset, you can change your life. I had gotten in a pattern of looking at every situation as hopeless and I prayed about my surgery relentlessly beforehand. I have stalled out for the past 2 weeks on loosing anything so I just walk around my house feeling good. I put my scales away and I'm doing my exercise like I am supposed to and eating right as best I can. We have to remember every day that we have to have FAITH that we are going to reach our goal and faith comes by hearing. I put up words of affirmation all over my house and I say them out loud each and every day out loud. I also recall my favorite scriptures that say I am the head and not the tail, everything I lay my hands to shall prosper.If faith comes by hearing the word of God, then I have to say the positive words out loud so I can hear them and the faith quickly follows. I know 7 lbs lost sucks when you think of where you want to be. That's why I set my goal every day just one pound under where I am today. When I reach it, I Celebrate. I don't celebrate with food like I did before, I celebrate by doing my "happy" dance. Then I declare out loud "I did it! One more pound gone that is not coming back" We can only be defeated if we believe we can just as we can only succeed if we believe we can. I have also had other victories besides just my weight loss. My skin is shrinking with my weight loss and I "choose" to believe it will continue. When I started out walking, I could only walk 2 mph on my treadmill. The day before, I was jogging on my treadmill at 2.7 mph. That's a huge increase for me................time again for the happy dance. I also used to hate to exercise. It was boring and all I did was watch the clock to see when I could stop. Now, I find myself looking forward to that runner's high feeling I am getting. I just put on my favorite music and tune out the rest of the world and let myself feel good. And, when I am done......................time again for the happy dance because I did it another day. I gave up a 24 year Mt. Dew addiction and have not had one in 7 weeks......................another happy dance...........................I am eating vegetables that I never thought I would like..............another happy dance. I'm allowing myself to feel good, despite what is going on around me.......................another happy dance. I block out anything negative anyone says to me and ...............do the happy dance.

I hope you will find some peace today in where you are and do the happy dance with me. We are banded now, which means we got the help we all prayed for. I thank God each and every day for the help and remember that I may not be where I want to be but Thank God I am not where I started either. I had to start somewhere and so does everyone else. Thank God that we are on the journey and may peace be with you as you find the happy dance in your heart and celebrate your ride. God bless you girl.

[nallygirl 4]

Hi Jennifer! Congratulations on your surgery!! I agree with Reverie in that you should be focusing on healing right now. Its all too easy on this site to compare ourselves to someone else's journey which always leads to frustration or guilt that you may be doing something wrong. Its amazing how different everyone's body reacts to the surgery and from the 8 months I've been on these boards its hard to find two people with the exact same experiences. Its really important right now also to make sure you are drinking your Protein. In the days after my surgery it was the first thing I drank in the morning. Even if it didn't taste so great I knew it was what my body needed and I believe it has helped me tremendously. Now that I'm on mushies I track all my protein and calories on a website like FitDay and it keeps me accountable for what I'm putting in my mouth. I also make sure to measure my portions. While I could easily eat more than a cup of food at a meal I haven't broken from it since being banded. Not having restriction makes it so hard on everyone at this stage. Just stay focused on why you decided to make this change! Good Luck with your journey!!

[dlynn1635 1]

Hi Jennifer, my surgeon didn't put me on a weight loss path prior to surgery either. As a matter of fact I only had to do the liquids for seven days prior to surgery just to make sure the liver was not too fatty during the surgery. Afterwards I stepped on the scale on the third day and had lost 7 lbs!! I was elated!! But then as the second week came around... OMG I was sooooo hungry I could have eaten my first born and not felt guilty about it!! I went in for my surgery follow up and met a woman in the office who advised me to drink drink drink. If I was getting hungry between meals, drink Water, Protein water/shakes, Fiber Water, anything that was not high in calories drink it and it would hold me til the next meal. And surprisingly it worked for me. In between meals is really the only time that I am able to get my fluids in anyway so it all works out. My surgeon offered me a diet pill to help me til I had my first fill but I turned it down because I wanted to make the changes on my own by changing how much I eat without a pill. And so far so good, my weight has been on a steady decline ever since. It took me three fills to get to the point of not being so doggone hungry but thank God I was able to tough it out because it has paid off.

Like everyone says on here, we are all different what works for one may or may not work for you but it can't hurt to try it and see. Good luck to you!

[Mrs Firth 1]

Feeling glum when you have been brave enough to put yourself through SURGERY in order to try and manage your weight and health better, and you have strived hard to follow your diet plan, and you have been admonished by your doctor (!!!! how dare s/he!!!!) for your pre-op weight loss, and you are being deprived of all the ways you soothed your moods with food previously, well feeling glum sounds absolutely normal and acceptable to me! And so you reached out and asked for support....well done.

What all this says to me is that you are being human, normal, acting in your best interest, are persevering, are trying to cope with temporary disappointment, and are going to be ok, because you have the self-caring to ask for support.

Well done, but not because of the seven pounds but because of your honesty and dedication. You now need to look at yourself and glow with pride at your courage and tenacity mixed with vulnerability and authenticity.

Time.....healing.....getting there....and you will, I am sure.

Thanks for sharing. I for one have felt glum, angry, despondent, wondered why on earth I submitted my otherwise healthy body to surgery, why I can't just get on with it without all this, felt helpless, bordering on hopeless....then elated, proud, happy, energised....and then bored, forced to look at my weight gaining behaviour, forced to be brutally honest with myself....and accepting that a body is a body and has its own means of rebelling, doing things its own way, being complex and difficult to comprehend...and still having faith that in the LONG TERM it is going to be ok and it will work. It has been 23 days since surgery and I have stagnated, but this WILL change because this is how I have previously given up on dieting, and with a lap band implanted in me, well it is drastic, and I can't give up....so I won't...and that is why I had it put in me, because KEEPING GOING is what has always defeated me.

Thank you so much for your honesty.

Lynda