Dr. John Bagnato - How is it that some of us have lost so much and some so little?

[abckids 0]

I have only lost exactly 48lbs. Yet I see some, like Nip50, who has lost 139lbs and had it done the same time as me. What are you doing so differently to make it work so well for you Nip50?

I feel so much like a non-loser... or part loser or whatever you want to call it... but I am not losing as much as others have and I am still HUGE.

Any thoughts?

[georgia girl 35]

I have only lost exactly 48lbs. Yet I see some, like Nip50, who has lost 139lbs and had it done the same time as me. What are you doing so differently to make it work so well for you Nip50?

I feel so much like a non-loser... or part loser or whatever you want to call it... but I am not losing as much as others have and I am still HUGE.

Any thoughts?

Hey abc! I've been wondering where you were. I'm so glad you checked in with us.

Nip50 has done an amazing job losing weight. She might be able to give you some tips on how she does it.

A few questions for you. Do you have good restriction? Are you exercising? Are you getting enough Protein? How's your Water intake? Are you logging calories? What types of food are you eating?

I know that's a lot of questions, but just trying to see how we can help you. 48 lbs is nothing to be ashamed of. You are 48 lbs lighter than you were when you had surgery, right? So, don't think of it as not being as good as others. Comparing yourself to others is never a good thing. We are all different and lose at different rates.

Please keep posting and we will try to help you as much as we can. This website has been a God send to me. I definitely wouldn't do as well if I didn't check in daily.

[abckids 0]

A few questions for you. Do you have good restriction? Are you exercising? Are you getting enough Protein? How's your Water intake? Are you logging calories? What types of food are you eating?

I think I have good restriction - I mean I can only eat a few bites of chicken or a bite maybe two of a piece of pizza. But I can eat an entire salad from Zaxbys as long as I don't eat the chicken on it. I can eat a whole cup of yogurt and I can eat an entire Protein trail mix bar. So with that description, i would say that I think I do have enough restriction. I do only have 3.5cc's but I think that is more than enough. Should I be able to eat less than that at any one sitting?

Exercising - hmmm... not really - I was for a while, but then I got into this whole over fatigue thing (doc is trying to figure it out, running all sorts of tests) where I sleep for about 16-18 hrs a day. Not fun. Needless to say my awake time is at night. He put me on this med called provigil that is supposed to help me feel less fatigued. Right now, it doesn't but I have only been on it for a couple days and only at 1/2 strength.

Protein... yeah that is a big no on that too. I tried the Isopure and can't choke it down nor can I choke down any of the Protein shakes - they all are nasty. I usually can get about 22grams from one can of tuna and can get 10g from the trail mix bars (but they have 250 calories each). But I can eat two cans of tuna a day and get 44grams... so I could just change it up a little. No real excuse here except laziness I guess... And the fact that I sleep all day.. makes it harder to squeeze time in for eating.

Any suggestions for getting more protein?

Water intake is great. I suck water down like it is going out of style. I have already had 6 bottles of deer park today. You would think I would pee more too.. but I don't .. only about 3 times per day... maybe four. Yeah that might be related to the whole sleep thing too.... who knows. I do mix about one or two with propel mixers (individual packet things) they only have 5 calories per thing. Taste great too. But the water thing is great for me.

Logging calories - no. I will try to remember to start doing that tomorrow and carry a booklet with me to remember. I might be able to see a pattern or problem if I do.

Things I eat - well... I love salad so i eat a lot of salad. I can sometimes eat a wrap (tortilla, with one slice of american cheese, 1 tblsp of mayo, 2 slices of turkey), can of tuna with some mayo, oatmeal (one packet of instant oatmeal), one packet of instant grits. I can also eat popcorn (love it) and peanut M&M's. Those two are my downfalls. But I don't eat them often. If I make Hamburger helper for the family, I can eat about two maybe three bites, but that is all. Bites are about the size of 1 tblsp. I have to be careful with everything though because I do yack a lot. Sometimes I force myself to because something gets stuck, but other times it gets stuck and I don't have to do anything because it will just come up on its own.

I am also losing my hair like it is nobody's business. I lose clumps daily. Thought it was a Vitamin thing, but that isn't true cuz I took Vitamins and (gained 5 lbs and was swollen too) and still lost my hair. It sucks.

Ok so that is me in a nutshell at this point. Any thoughts... AND...

Nip50 - You rock... I am soooo damn jealous. How are you doing it?!?!?!

[georgia girl 35]

I think I have good restriction - I mean I can only eat a few bites of chicken or a bite maybe two of a piece of pizza. But I can eat an entire salad from Zaxbys as long as I don't eat the chicken on it. I can eat a whole cup of yogurt and I can eat an entire Protein trail mix bar. So with that description, i would say that I think I do have enough restriction. I do only have 3.5cc's but I think that is more than enough. Should I be able to eat less than that at any one sitting?

I don't think you need to be eating less than that. I've never had that much restriction. I can eat way more than that. Is it possible you are too tight? I know sometimes being too tight can be a bad thing, because it makes you want to eat the junk foods that go down easy.

Exercising - hmmm... not really - I was for a while, but then I got into this whole over fatigue thing (doc is trying to figure it out, running all sorts of tests) where I sleep for about 16-18 hrs a day. Not fun. Needless to say my awake time is at night. He put me on this med called provigil that is supposed to help me feel less fatigued. Right now, it doesn't but I have only been on it for a couple days and only at 1/2 strength.

Hmmmm....I wonder if your problem could be hormonal. I was feeling the same way after surgery and decided to see an endocrinologist. I have PCOS, so that alone makes you fatigued, but she also discovered that my DHEA levels were too low. Low DHEA levels cause fatigue and it also makes losing weight harder. Might be worth checking into? Hormones can do some wacky things to your body!!

What about walking? Do you think you have enough energy to go for a walk everyday. You could start slow and for short periods of time until you build up a little.

Protein... yeah that is a big no on that too. I tried the Isopure and can't choke it down nor can I choke down any of the Protein shakes - they all are nasty. I usually can get about 22grams from one can of tuna and can get 10g from the trail mix bars (but they have 250 calories each). But I can eat two cans of tuna a day and get 44grams... so I could just change it up a little. No real excuse here except laziness I guess... And the fact that I sleep all day.. makes it harder to squeeze time in for eating.

Any suggestions for getting more protein?

Do you like greek yogurt? That may be a good for your Breakfast. It has like 15 grams of protein per individual container. I buy the Oikos brand (plain) and mix it with a little splenda and vanilla extract. I really like it!!

This may be another indication that you are too tight. We should be able to get in our recommended protein with solid food. If you can only eat a bite or two of chicken, I don't think that's enough. Something you might want to think about. I could be wrong, but I think you should be able to eat more solid protein than that.

Water intake is great. I suck Water down like it is going out of style. I have already had 6 bottles of deer park today. You would think I would pee more too.. but I don't .. only about 3 times per day... maybe four. Yeah that might be related to the whole sleep thing too.... who knows. I do mix about one or two with propel mixers (individual packet things) they only have 5 calories per thing. Taste great too. But the water thing is great for me.

Great! I use the Walmart brand flavor packets. I don't use them all the time, but water can get a bit boring after a while.

Logging calories - no. I will try to remember to start doing that tomorrow and carry a booklet with me to remember. I might be able to see a pattern or problem if I do.

There's a free website where you can log your food. It's thedailyplate.com. It's a great website and I've used it for a while now. Check it out. Here's the link --> Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, Food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plate

Things I eat - well... I love salad so i eat a lot of salad. I can sometimes eat a wrap (tortilla, with one slice of american cheese, 1 tblsp of mayo, 2 slices of turkey), can of tuna with some mayo, oatmeal (one packet of instant oatmeal), one packet of instant grits. I can also eat popcorn (love it) and peanut M&M's. Those two are my downfalls. But I don't eat them often. If I make Hamburger helper for the family, I can eat about two maybe three bites, but that is all. Bites are about the size of 1 tblsp. I have to be careful with everything though because I do yack a lot. Sometimes I force myself to because something gets stuck, but other times it gets stuck and I don't have to do anything because it will just come up on its own.

Thank goodness I don't PB a lot. I've only done it once since being banded. Are you taking small enough bites and chewing well? I've always been pretty careful. I eat slow and chew the heck out of my food, lol.

I am also losing my hair like it is nobody's business. I lose clumps daily. Thought it was a Vitamin thing, but that isn't true cuz I took Vitamins and (gained 5 lbs and was swollen too) and still lost my hair. It sucks.

Are you getting in enough protein? That's not always the case, but it's usually the first thing people ask. I lost some hair too and it wasn't due to protein. Thankfully it has gotten much better. It could be related to whatever is going on with you. Maybe the doctors will figure it out soon.

Ok so that is me in a nutshell at this point. Any thoughts... AND...

Nip50 - You rock.

I second that!!!

[nip50 2]

abckid - Please, Please don't compare yourself to me, 48 pounds is nothing to be ashamed of. Georgia girl has given you some really good advice, especially about tracking your food intake. I wonder if you're eating enough. I'm not great at exercising either, in fact the last 6-8 weeks I've been horrible (I fell and had a knee injury and haven't got back on the bandwagon).

My suggestion to you would be to track your food intake and if you're not consuming at least 900 calories a day you need to increase your food intake. Also try to eat solid Protein as much as possible. Could you be too restricted? I can eat about 1 cup of food per meal and I always start with my Protein. I never wanted to be so tight that I couldn't enjoy my food.

Finally, I would suggest going back to basics. Do you still have the pamphlets that you were given when you were banded? If you do, pull them out and read through them. Maybe they'll give you some insight as to what you can do to jump start the weight loss. Also, how about a support group?

Good Luck and keep up the good work, yes you are doing very, very good, 48 pounds proves it.

[abckids 0]

abckid - Please, Please don't compare yourself to me, 48 pounds is nothing to be ashamed of. Georgia girl has given you some really good advice, especially about tracking your food intake. I wonder if you're eating enough. I'm not great at exercising either, in fact the last 6-8 weeks I've been horrible (I fell and had a knee injury and haven't got back on the bandwagon).

My suggestion to you would be to track your food intake and if you're not consuming at least 900 calories a day you need to increase your food intake. Also try to eat solid Protein as much as possible. Could you be too restricted? I can eat about 1 cup of food per meal and I always start with my Protein. I never wanted to be so tight that I couldn't enjoy my food.

Finally, I would suggest going back to basics. Do you still have the pamphlets that you were given when you were banded? If you do, pull them out and read through them. Maybe they'll give you some insight as to what you can do to jump start the weight loss. Also, how about a support group?

Good Luck and keep up the good work, yes you are doing very, very good, 48 pounds proves it.

I had Terri email them to me, I will have to re-read them.

The more I think about it the more I wonder if I am too tight. Because I can't eat much of anything - a couple bites of any true solid food - but all the soft food I can handle. I ate scrambled eggs this morning and two hours after I was PB'ing it because it hurt so damn bad still... and I chewed the heck out of it. I ate like 10 mini-bites... of which 90% came back up (because 1/2 hour later my stomach was growling).

I wish there was a meter on my chest that said "Hey, its too tight, or Hey its not tight enough"....

SAD part is - I only have 3.5 cc's in a 10cc band. Seems like hardly anything compared to everyone else... even Terri has 7cc's.

I think I need to just go back and see Dr. Bagnato and see what he says about it all.

On the plus side... my weight yesterday was 272.2 - so I lost one pound from last week to this week. Hope it keeps on going. :biggrin:

[georgia girl 35]

abc~ Congrats! Glad the scale was your friend this time. Share your secret because I think mine is mad at me

[mia31771 0]

ABC- it really sounds like you might be too tight- I had the same symptoms you are experiencing and was too tight. My scale seems to be mad at me too =(

[abckids 0]

Guess I will have to email terri and see what she thinks I should do... don't know if I want to have some removed - afraid I would gain too much back... ugggg... the crap we go through...

:thumbup:

[ParaGirl 71]

ABC, I was banded the same day as Nip and I have lost the same as you! I look at it this way, any other time in my entire life that I have lost weight, by the one year mark, I have begun gaining it back, and will get it all back and then some. So, please know that this time, it aint coming back!

I have begun to feel as if I am too tight also. I wouldnt even dare attempt to eat even one bite of pizza. The whole idea of bread scares the heck out of me. Also, most days I only eat beef veggie Soup, chickennoodle, or chili. I LOVE chili. If I go out to eat, I eat nachos, as they are smothered in chili and cheese and all that other good stuff.

I have the APL 14cc band, filled to 11cc's. I would like to have about 1/4cc taken out, but am so afraid. I know, it is ridiculous. Please let me know how you are doing. 48 pounds is nothing to be upset about, expecially if any other time, you wouldnt have kept it off permanently.

Take care.

Dana