Weight loss is slow...............getting discouraged!

[Julie norton 2,850]

I think we all need to look at the BIG. LONG picture. One year out. 2 years out. Week by week is very tricky and can upset some people. Kinda like the issue of weighing every day. Big picture...rest of your healthy life❤️

[mrse13 36]

<p>30 days after surgery, had my first fill, which did absolutely nothing......<u>.then I gained weight.</u>...and was heavier at my next visit, after a fill, than I was at my previous visit 30 days earlier...because the band was not doing what it was designed to do...not yet anyway...at that point it was still up to me and my own will power...just as it was before the surgery....</p> <p>2nd fill, things evened out 50-50....did not gain, and lost very little....still fighting hunger and eating more than I should....3rd fill did the charm for me.....THEN the weight loss began consistently.....</p> <p> </p> <p>All you have is a band installed...but it is not necessarily "Activated"...normally, it takes a few months and a few adjustments to get it working as it should....took me 3-4 months, and 3 fills...some are more, some much less....everyone on the point finds their different "Sweet Spot...Green Zone".</p> <p> </p> <p>Everyone looses on the pre-op diet...that's the point of it...</p>

Last week I got my first fill and I must say I'm feeling like you were. Feels like I'm eating a little more each day but IM really really watching myself and counting calories!!!!i'm now at 196 started at 220 , I am feeling great but i must admit I do get hungry alot!! Staying strong!

[Lady VS 1,147]

And that is great. You are expected to only lose 4-8 pounds within a months time. Congratulations!! There were months that I only lost a pound then there were some in which I gained. You are not going to just drop weight with the band. It is designed to help you eat differently with lower portions of food. Once you get accustomed to that you will consistently lose. You are doing fine. Don't worry.

[Lady VS 1,147]

Last week I got my first fill and I must say I'm feeling like you were. Feels like I'm eating a little more each day but IM really really watching myself and counting calories!!!!i'm now at 196 started at 220 , I am feeling great but i must admit I do get hungry alot!! Staying strong!

It gets better in time and with more adjustments. Just be patient. Congratulations on what you've lost so far.

[SandyM 1,956]

My surgeon considers a great weight loss, 5 lbs in a month. 3 lbs and we consider a fill and that is also based on how I answer certain questions he/she asks. I've had 3.5 lb losses where they say, practice more this or that as well. Following the losses I had with WW, it was hard to wrap my head and heart around 1 lb a week being a good loss. But now, I'm being told that Ww is embracing that concept as well. I have lowered my calories to 800-850 a day and am losing good. I'm not hungry thanks to my band, I get my 60 of Protein, I limit my carbs to 60-70 net and make sure I get 60 oz Water per day. This really does work, but not necessarily the same for everyone as we all have our bands adjusted to fit our needs. You are early into this , so be patient. It's a JOURNEY, not a TRIP.

[Jean McMillan 2,973]

As a band-to-sleeve revision patient, it's interesting for me to compare the speed and amount of weight loss between different surgeries even though that knowledge has little effect on my quality of life (which is not as good now as it was when I was banded, but better than when I was obese).

@B-52

Interesting...wonder why bypass and sleeve patients loose more weight per month....

Gastric patients only absorb half of the calories eaten because the part of the intestine that absorb calories have been cut out along with the egg sized pouch. So they've got a double bonus!

Sleeve patients entire stomachs (not just the top portion like lap band) are cut into the shape of a long tube, much like a paper towel roll all the way down thru to the intestines

Lap Band on the other hand, all we have is the egg sized pouch, we still absorb 100% of the calories eaten.

It's not actually correct to say that RNY patients absorb half of the calories eaten because different surgeons doing surgery on different people create different-sized pouches and do the intestinal re-routing (distal vs proximal) differently. Similarly, different surgeons doing VSG on different people create different sleeve sizes using bougies (the calibration tool) of different diameters. And we musn't forget that each human being is unique - even identical twins may lose weight differently (and one may be obese while the other is a normal weight). Also, our bodies undergo vital changes as we respond to daily environmental and other factors - changes that alter the way our genes express themselves in our bodily functions. It's very, very complicated. Too complicated to make any generalizations at all, but I have seen very broad trends in the way WLS patients react to each procedure.

Some of those trends can eventually shake up what we all once thought were basic truths about each procedure. For example, as aI pre-op, I was told that the band and the sleeve were purely "restrictive" procedures with no nutrient malabsorption, but there's some evidence now that sleeve patients may have macro- as well as micro-nutrient malabsorption.

I definitely have micro-nutrient absorption problems now (especially Iron, B12, and zinc) and I'm beginning to think that macro-nutrient malabsorption explains why I'm 18 lbs below my goal weight at 17 months post-sleeve. Since I'm constantly hungry, I'm constantly eating. Not a lot at one time, but a steady intake. When I study my food log, I'm always surprised to see that I'm taking in the same or more calories each day than when I was a bandster in the weight maintenance phase, and I'm exercising about the same. So why have I gone on losing weight? In an effort to halt my weight loss (a bizarre situation for a former fat girl), I started using full-fat dairy and consuming more Protein (especially Protein drinks) in September 2013 and despite the additional calories, have continued to lose about 1/2 lb per week.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Jean McMillan

[Jean McMillan 2,973]

Officially, average weight loss with the band is 1-2 lbs/week, so you're doing fine. But...I do feel your pain and frustration over your rate of weight loss. In our heart of hearts, don't we all wish we could wake up in the recovery room after surgery at our goal weight? Unfortunately, only limb amputation could accomplish that.

Generally speaking, men tend to lose weight faster than women because of their greater muscle mass. People who start out at a higher weight usually lose weight more quickly at the start because their basal metabolic rate is higher (they need more calories just to stay alive). I've encountered post-ops of all surgery types who lost weight at a stupendous rate for a month or 3 months or longer, and eventually they (and their very confused bodies) slammed into the brick wall of a plateau. The calorie restriction that comes along with almost any kind of weight loss effort (with or without surgery) is a big challenge for the human body. We're programmed to eat to stay alive, and when we eat less day after day, week after week, month after month, eventually our bodies ratchet down our metabolism just to deal with that perceived starvation threat. Then you throw in other health problems, exercise, medications, hydration, hormones, etc. etc.....

Of course, nothing I said in the paragraph above is going to make patience any easier for you to practice. It's certainly not one of my strong points. So my final words (for now) are as follows: HANG IN THERE!

[SandyM 1,956]

Well Said Jean.

[mrse13 36]

Last week I got my first fill and I must say I'm feeling like you were. Feels like I'm eating a little more each day but IM really really watching myself and counting calories!!!!i'm now at 196 started at 220 , I am feeling great but i must admit I do get hungry alot!! Staying strong!

It gets better in time and with more adjustments. Just be patient. Congratulations on what you've lost so far.

Thank u!!!

[terrydumont46 1,954]

please keep track for one day everything you put in your mouth. see if you are eating more calories than you think you are. make sure you keep track of Protein shakes too. some of them could be 180 calories. and than whatever you add it to, well you get my point. i just gained 3 lbs and was totally bummed out. my doctor wanted me to start my food log again. i went the month prior to this visit not keeping track. it really helps to see what i put in my mouth. don't get to discourgaged because that is one of our worst enemies to cheat. keep doing what you are doing and the wt. will come off. i wish you well

[DebraSV 18]

I don't know that this is any help, but I can relate. I am pleased at my pre-op weight loss, and my Dr. and nurses were very emphatic to let me know that prior to my first fill was all about getting well, nit losing weight, I really did not expect to gain. But working on 3 weeks post op I got too adventurous I guess and am now up 2 lb. But I hvae not followed anything rigidly becasue I have tons of Jello and SF pudding and Yogert left from the post op period, and I was only at a no-eatting status for 3 or 4 days. I have had lots of fun with gas, which is also very normal, but between trying to figure out if I can choose foods that will help ease that, and seeing what I can and cannot eat comfortably, I ahve not kept up with carbs and such. ALSO I found out that they were not kidding about how muc you could eat after the swelling was gone. Though my portions are significantly smaller I can easily put away 2 or so cups of WELL CHEWED food. Sometimes I run out of time before I run out of hunger. I a also trying to manage that often I get hungry after only 3 to 3.5 hours. Sometimes drinking helps but somethimes not. Though I strated learning and practicing the "right " habits back in September, I found out that I was not nearly as consistent as I needed to be. So with all this learning and healing I have not been true to the chunky low carb diet as I should be and therefore have gained.

It really helped me to do a ton of reading on this site both befoe and after surgery. By reading I was aware that my weight loss would likely start slow. And truely I will be happy if I haven't gained by my first fill. I have also found out that not everyone has the same issues. Fore example, flour tortillas are trouble for me , the softer the worse, Some noodles from Soups no less are also troublesome. But I have no issues with eggs and toasted bread. Softer bread I can only handle in very small and tiny doses. I do fine with lettuces as long as they are cut really fine or shreded. But otherwise they can give me trouble. It just goes on and on. Based on what I have read and what several others have said will power is huge on the front end of this. And since we can eat more early on exercise is much more important. I am trying to keep a perspective that I hope to have started regualr weigt loss by the end of March or so. I am not sure that you will ever suceed without some degree of self control, so It is really great that you are doing so well on that end.

[Pepper28 82]

@debravasquez

And that, my friend, is the lapband in a nutshell.

Couldn't have summed it up better myself even down to the dieting woes!

Your observation of this weightloss procedure is correct.

[Jim1967 3,569]

I think if I was able to go back and start this journey all over again the one thing I would do differently is not get into a habit of stepping on the scale every day. Average they say is 1 to 2lbs a week with the band however it is just an average. I found myself often at times getting frustrated because the scale was not moving. Well when you step on it daily its no wonder. Over time I discovered my pattern weight loss seems to happen during the last week and first week of the month. At this point the scale is just habit but I have also reached a point where I use it as an accountability tool.

Anyway, just food for though. Getting hung up on numbers and daily weigh ins can wreak havoc on the brain.