Looking for mentor

[HappyOne 0]

I was banded on 2/15/08 and have lost a whopping 15 lbs since then. I hit a plateau about 6 weeks ago and have been bouncing up and down with the same 2 lbs since them.

I am a single mom with 2 daughers, 11 and 16. I'm 47 yrs old. I work full time and have a part-time job that I work about 5 hours every 2 weeks on average.

I live in San Antonio Texas. Considering it's about 100 degrees here today and has been in the upper 90s over the past month I don't do a whole lot outside. I try to walk at least a mile 3 x a week at work. The more I try and don't lose, the more depressed I get. The more depressed I get the more I want to eat. I haven't been tracking my foods lately but am starting that again this weekend.

Thanks,

Lesly

[kansascase 0]

It sounds like something is not working for you. My nutrionists requires 3 meals a day, 2-4 ounces per meal. Each meal should contain 25 gr of Protein - that is hard to get unless you are using something like New whey liquid Protein - it has 42 gr of Protein in a 3.1 oz vial. My diet is 90 percent protein and 10 percen complex carbohydrates. Now, I can tell you that the above works and works well. The first week is rough because you can be hungry, but soon even the protein diet suppresses appetite. At this stage - I was banded June 4th, I lose about a pound a day. I do have to take vitamin/calcium supplements.

If you are following a different type of diet plan, I suspect that it may be slower. My experience with a plateau is that it will pass - may take a bit, but you may be able to get past the plateau if you "trick" your body, by increasing exercise. Sometimes, I have broke it by literally eating a full day's calories - no diet for one day.

Fifteen pounds is still fifteen pounds - any loss is a success.

[nip50 2]

Happyone - I want to give you a few things to think about.

- How is your fill level? Are you in the green zone? If not, see about getting another fill.

- How much are you eatting? Try keeping track of your calorie intake. I use fitday.com, but there's other sites too.

- What are you eatting? Are you following the lapband guidelines like Protein first, then good carbs like fruits and vegies? Drinking all your Water?

- Exercise - now that's a tough one. I live in south Georgia so I know about the heat too. I walk on my treadmill 4-5 times a week for 30 minutes. It may not be much, but it works for me.

- Try going back to the basics. Do you have the lapband booklet that they give you when you're first banded? If so, get it out and reread it, maybe it'll help.

- Finally, if you're doing everything you're suppose to be doing and still not having much success, mix it up. By that I mean eat a little too much for a day or two and pump up on the exercise. Sometimes we need to shock our bodies. Our bodies get use to eating less than we need and they adjust to that, so give it more and it'll relax a little.

Good luck.

[kansascase 0]

I just got my band on June 4th so I haven't had a fill yet. What is the green zone?

Thanks

[nip50 2]

The green zone is also called the sweet spot. It's when you get your fills to the level where you're not experiencing too much hunger, not eating too much, and loosing about 1-2 pounds a week. Most people here on the board call it the sweet spot, but many doctors' offices call it the green zone.

[HappyOne 0]

NIP50

Thanks for the reply. I started tracking my food intake on dailyplate again this week. I eat between 1100-1200 calories per day which is what my nutrionist wanted. I do eat my Proteins first and try to avoid Pasta, potatoes etc.

It's really hard for me to get the exercise in since I don't have a treadmill at home. I try walking at lunch but with the limited time I have it's about 1/2-3/4 mile. I try to get in at least 1 mile, 3 times a week but maybe that's not enough.

I go back next week for a fill. I didn't get a fill last week when I went in because the physician assistant wanted me to try to cut back on my portions. I've done that but am still at the same weight.

I'm a little nervous about another fill though. When I went for my last one they put in .4 cc. I couldn't get the Water down - golf ball in the chest feeling. They took out .2 cc and I was fine. Do you think it is possible they actually took out more than .2cc?

One of my other problems, I think, is that I hadn't taken the time to come here to the forums. Maybe I need to read others stories and see that I'm not the only one in this predicament. I don't know....I'll what happens.

Lesly

[nip50 2]

This site really is a big help. Most of us don't have support groups to go to and use this instead. I don't know what I would have done without it. It really helps to keep me focused.

In regards to your fill, I would go in an talk with them. Some have said that even .1cc has been enough to make a difference and some even say that you can loose some to evaporation (I haven't experienced that yet). When you go in, ask them to check your level. Have them pull out what you have and see where you are, a lot of people find they don't have as much as they think for some reason or another.

I myself am going in next week and plan on getting a small fill. They say that just loosing the weight can loosen up the band and I think that's what I'm experiencing.