Is your band not working or is it you?

[YngGram 73]

This is not to slam anyone, but I really would like some input. I read here so many that say the band doesn't work, or that 20,30,or 40lbs have come off and now nothing. I realize that many of you have had problems with slippage or some other medial issue, so I'm not thinking of you,

I have been reflecting and I'm finding some greal gray areas for myself. I started to make my food changes the day of my seminar, I cut out sweet tea, sodas, starting taking smaller portions , no drink with food and soon started to feel bertter. And I was working hard to drink my Water. I choose the band because the bypass scared me, and I didn't like the look of those who had it.

I followed my own changes from Nov. until my 2 week pre op diet.in Feb. I was down 18lbs on that day. I was good about following the instructions and the weight keep coming off. I didn't exercise much, just watched what I ate. When I finally lost 63 lbs. and was in a size 12....I lost my mind. I got lazy and stopped following the rules. I lost my commitment to the program. I stopped loosing . Even knowing this I can't get on track.

I say these things because I don't think we are all as commited as we once were, we are not as honest with ourselves as we need to be. For me candy keeps wandering into my home, coffee creams are the devils inventtion and sugar has rentered through a back door. Still knowing this, I can't seem to shake things back in the right places.

I started this journey because I didn't want to be on a diet for life, and I don't feel I am. One of my problems is that even though I don't have ture restriction, I don't have a problem with hunger, I thought if I wasn't hungry I shouldn't eat...very wrong. I am stumped about how to fix where I am, I need to loose anthore 30-35lbs to be in the guidelines. I would like to loose about 15 to feel like I had a true result for my effor. I don't think doc will do a fill since I'm not hungry. I try to eat meat & veggies but it is usually only once a day. Yogurt and Protein Drinks to try to get the Protein in. My life schedule is strange and gym time never seems to come.

So, is it not working or am I doning something wrong.

[Texasbandit 8]

I know i'm a newbie, but this question came up over and over again in Low Carb forums. So this is not unique to lap banders. For me its how you look at food.

In the past I saw food as something emotional and it surrounded my social events and my friends. I was on low carb for 2-3 years and people didnt know how I did it. I just had a mental sit down with myself. Is a donut really gonna make me that happy? Well no, its just food. I had a cheat day once a month, but I'm a gung ho person and suffer serious guilt if I failed. So yeah it depends on personality too.

I've come to see food as sustainance. My husband is the opposite. He has to have different varieties and he loves fatty stuff and fried stuff. Being low carb actually reshaped my taste buds. I have a weakness for sugar, but I found ways to make healthy sweets. For me food is just food. Nothing more or less. I'm not that picky. It took a year for me to learn my triggers and to also open up to a different variety of foods. I really went on a food journey. Vegan food, indian, asian, fusion, etc. I like to cook. Once I tried other things hamburgers and pie wasnt cutting it anymore. So go on a food trip. Get healthy cook books and go from beginning to end.

[Mimilou2004 13]

I have been where you are and I got a personal trainer...not a drill sergeant kind but one who is knowledgeable kind and firm.....it has made all the difference in the world,,,,,she encourages me and builds me up, not tears me down. She mixes up the routine and we never do the same thing twice. At 60 I am in the best shape of my life including the 20 years I was in the military!!!!

Best wishes,

Mimi

[Cindy C 150]

Starting the journey easier than staying the course

HALLELUIAH, SISTER!

[SlimbandSexy 1]

First let me say I am so proud of you for how far you have come and the success that you have - and you should be too!! It is hard work to lose weight and you have done it!!

Someone else made mention of giving up just one thing until you don't crave it anymore. I think that is a great idea and maybe something you could try? Just give up the coffee Creamers for now.

Maybe give one thing up and add one thing in? The thing you add in could be a healthier food (say a hard-boiled egg for a snack to get more protein) or taking the stairs at work - or parking at the far end of the parking lot.

Or maybe having an appointment with a personal trainer would make the gym time happen.

Or maybe a 15 minute walk after dinner?

I have also recently discovered myfitnesspal.com and am tracking my calories and Protein intake through that. It is the easiest program I have used and it is very helpful to see how I am doing. It also motivates me to be mindful of everything I put in my mouth.

Good luck to you! I hope someone here can help you find the answers you are looking for to continue on your weight loss journey!!

[skinnyoneday 2]

Thanks for starting this thread OP. Being honest with myself I can say that I am the one not working with the band. I initially lost 60 pounds with the band but as of last summer starting putting the weight back on due to my own doing. Since that time I too have gone back to MANY old habits. Although I still cannot eat rice, bread and some other foods, as we all know there are many other foods, that will slip through the band. I realize that if I am to have success with the band I have to go back to doing what is required of me. I too have gotten a personal trainer but have not had favorable results because I am not eating the way I should - basically money down the toilet.

[amberakamom 13]

I'm in the same boat. It sucks.

[Rachel412 116]

So, is it not working or am I doning something wrong.

It's working. It's controlling your appetite and hunger. But it can't control what you put in your mouth, and it can't make your body burn more calories. I don't think you can really blame the band.

I think the band thing is like being in love. In the beginning it's fun and "easy" and the weight come off and we feel rewarded and motivated. Then real life comes back into play and the day to day business of eating correctly and following band rules stops being fun. It becomes hard work and it's not like many of us have a track record of working hard when it comes to controlling what we eat

The band is hard. It really is. I just don't think enough people fully realize it when they get the surgery done.

[Cindy C 150]

Well said, Rachel. Too bad they can't figure out how to put the band around our brains instead of our stomachs!

[Jachut 487]

To be honest - its probably you. I am in exactly the same spot myself at the moment. I have restriction because I cant eat what others eat, but I can eat enough to gain weight, easily. I can still overeat, because I was never a sit down and eat five courses kind of eater, I was always a grazer. I'm doing it again. I'm home, I'm bored, my cancer treatment has finished and I'm waiting to start my life again. I havent had a job because teaching in Australia works by contract, the jobs are all being advertised for next year now, but you cant just go and look for a job at any time of year, so I've had to do relief teaching work instead, which means i've been home on my own lots and lots and lots of days.

So what have I done? Eat, of course! Go to the shops for coffee and cake. Go out for lunch with my mum. Moodle away the afternoon on the computer munching Cookies and eating coffee. I've regained weight I really really needed to put on. I've passed that point and regained a few lbs that dont matter much. Now I'm moving into danger territory! I went back and got fills. I've got more fill than I had before I was unfilled last year. And I'm still eating.

I'm exercising, but there's no amount you can do to overcome mindlessly munching on Cookies, cake etc all day long. I keep feeling frustrated because my band isnt working, but really, its me. I'm not hungry and I cant eat an awful lot in one sitting, well, not of healthy foods anyway. I almost picked up the phone to book another fill yesterday but I know that it will be too tight - when i'm in a work situation, cant nibble all day and have to stick to 3 meals, I find it hard to reach 1200 calories - its me me me, not lack of restriction. I"m now back to 65kg, I wont go any higher! Some of it is rehydration (was chronically dehydrated with an ileostomy), a little bit of it *might* be the result of my efforts at bodypump (I certainly havent gotten larger) but most of it is stuffing my face with the wrong foods.

Its so so hard to put the brakes on and get yourself back on track, but we must do it, its the only way. I tell myself really, its only weight, it can be lost again, its simply choices, that's all there is to it. You have to quell the incipient panic that sets in and has you racing off vowing to lose it all again in four days and just take a deep breath, realise what is sensible and get back to it. This is life, I'm afraid, its what we will ALWAYS have to do. Even the most successful bandsters will relapse if they dont remain vigilant and many many people falter at that last 20 or 30lb because it takes real dedicated effort to get it off!

[elcee 3,341]

I agree that at the start of the journey it is easier than later on. Initially you are excited, fired up and committed but you eventually get tired of that. Also the longer you have been banded the easier it becomes to eat many foods that were difficult before. It is not something that a fill would fix as that would probably make you too tight

.I am a grazer and always have been. I only work casually and spend a lot of time at home so it is easy to go back and fore to the fridge. Luckily my grazing doesn't seem to have reached the level where it is causing problems. I am obviously not consuming as much as I think I am because I am still maintaining.

However this is what I think is going on.

The initial period after banding is the honeymoon period. You don't normally see this term associated with banding it is normally talked about with a sleeve but I believe the same thing happens with all WLS. This is the timeframe when you will have the most benefit from your surgery and are able to lose the most weight. Gradually over time you will find that you get hungry quicker, that you can eat more and a wider variety. If you had a bypass and had dumping syndrome that may no longer happen etc.

People need to make the most of this period to lose their excess weight or as much of it as they can. They also need to try and learn good habits in the hopes that once the period is over some of the habits will remain.

Once your honeymoon period is over you can still lose weight but it will be a bigger struggle. Hopefully if you have lost all the excess by then the band/sleeve/bypass will still give you enough assistance that you can maintain without too much effort. It is normal to eat "unhealthy/sometimes foods" sometimes. The trick is to make sure that you don't break all your newly learnt good habits and go back to the way you were preband.

[cheryl2586 3,053]

Well let me chime in here too. I lost 70lbs in five months after being banded then I quit smoking. Yay for my lungs but aweful for my weight. I met my husband and got married in Novemeber last year and his love for ice cream over came my ability to say no so I ate it and ate it and ate until 20lbs errupted over night. I couldnt stop. Then I discovered Hoodia from GNC and thought what the hell it cant hurt. Well guess what???? I am so full after taking that I can hardly get my meals down. I have lost 5lbs in a week yay for me so 15 more to go to get back down where I was. It has done wonders for me in a such a short amount of time. I wont get anymore fills because I go through hell of not being able to eat for a month afterwards due to swelling. I have very little in my band but I am not getting filled again for a very long time. Try it if you can its about 29 dollars a bottle I take it 30 minutes before Breakfast and 30 minutes before lunch do not go for some cheap brand either claiming to be pure hoodia. I eat roughly about a cup of food and I tell ya it works and I do not feel like grazing because I am too full. It doesnt make you feel shakey actually I have not felt any side affects at all. So I am back on track for now. I think we all could motivate each other to do it.

[PalmBayTish72 4]

I think that the band has been working, but maybe like you said, you've lost a little bit of focus. It happens to everyone...I know that for me, 3 months after my surgery, I had been losing at a SLOW but steady rate and it wasn't until I started regularly working with a personal trainer that my body just "clicked" and I had consistent losses and they weight continued to come off. I am now in maintenece and 126 lbs lighter I know that this is not a diet but a complete lifestyle change and commitment to this life. There is no getting complacent if I want to stay this weight.

The Lap Band helps us lose, but unless we continue to remember why we had the surgery, we will never be 100% happy with the results when we don't feel like we are where we need to be.

Don't give up and don't be down on yourself. You just need to find your mojo...Good luck to you!!!

[NJGirl32 43]

Well said, Rachel. Too bad they can't figure out how to put the band around our brains instead of our stomachs!

SO true!!!!!!!!!

[petuniap 2]

I have fallen off the wagon many, many times during this journey so I can confidently say this....it's you. Something happens after you've been eating properly and had success. You start to think you can "slack" a little. And for awhile you can. You have a snack sugar bar and the scale still moves downwards. At first, you are incredulous. Then you feel lucky that your indulgence wasn't punished. Then, slowly but surely, you think "hey...maybe I can eat more stuff and still lose weight". But that is a very slippery slope. Soon the scale stops moving and you hate that but you are still eating and now, you feel like you can't stop. You remember being on plan but you can't imagine how to you will get back to that place. Every morning you wake up, vowing that you won't slip today but then you do.

So what to do? Go back to square one. Not bandster square one. Weight loss square one.

1. Focus on eating planned meals every 3-4 hours....if you are a meal eater, that means breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 Snacks. If you are a grazer, you make sure each mini-meal is eaten. Not eating regularly throughout the day leaves room for overindulging at one particular meal where something that's bad for you looks incredibly tempting.

2. Make sure each meal contains Proteins and fat. I'm not a carb person but I get that some people must have them. If you do, make sure it's a healthy carb. By now, you know what to eat. But you stick to it. No little cutting of corners. If it's oatmeal....it's oatmeal, not oatmeal with a little brown sugar and some raisins. If it's coffee, it's black or w/ a splash of skim, not with a splash of half and half. If it's eggs, take it easy on (or omit) the cheese. Picture your pefect meal before you prepare it and then make/buy it and and eat it.

3. Drink lots of Water. Put it on a calendar if you have to. You drink as much Water as you can get down...even when you are tired of it. Thirst often comes across as hunger to our brains. Plus drinking water keeps your stomach full and you are less likely to eat something

4. Have a plan for what your Snacks will be. Not whatever is handy or whatever you see when you walk into a store. You purposefully pack a piece of fruit. You might eat it, you might not. But you have it. And if you feel snackish, you grab for it first. No exceptions. Even if you tell yourself that you will eat that piece of fruit and then buy M&Ms....you eat the fruit first. Chances are, you will not want the M&Ms after you eat that piece of fruit. And even if you do, you'll realize that M&Ms are not that great and you might not even finish the bag. Soon enough you don't even need the bag at all anymore.

5. You resist temptation at every turn. You say no to everything. This will be hard and you will hate it. But you still say no. The more you say no, the easier it gets. Easier, not easy. But if you say yes, you will self-sabotage. So you say no. If you've said no to yourself 20, 30, 40 times but you still can't resist.....you eat whatever is it, but you think about it as you are eating it. No mindless eating. Ask yourself if it's as good as you thought it would be. If it was worth it. 90% of the time, you'll find that the answer is no. It's not really. I've thrown out half of a lot of things I grabbed in a moment of weakness because I really thought about what I was doing when I was doing it. Sometimes 2-3 bites is all it takes to satisfy the craving. Then the trash gets the rest. And you go right back to saying no.

5a. The trash is your friend! Don't feel like you can't ever throw anything out because it's "wasting" it. It's all going to be waste anyway, the only difference is if it went through you first or not. Do not waste calories on eating something that you don't absolutely have to eat. If you were dying for something, have at most 3 bites of it and then throw it out without even thinking about it.

6. If you can't lay around the house or sit at your desk at work and keep saying no....do something else. Change your environment. Tell yourself, you'll eat what you want after a brief walk. Then, on your walk, think about what's really going on. Are you bored, tired, hungry? Then feed the real need. If it's hunger, have a cup of unsweetened tea and eat something that's good for you. If you are bored, give yourself a task. If you are tired, figure out how you are going to get rest. Anything you can do to break the cycle of automatically reaching for food...do it.

We all have very well established thought processes around food. Your job is to short-circuit that thought process as much as possible. The more you can string along incidents where you short-circuited the thought process, said no, had water or tea instead of eating something, etc., the more successful you will be.