Slow & Steady Weight Loss?

[Jennifer44 0]

I have lost apprximately 45lbs since I was banded in March 2008. I have noticed that some people have lost 20 to 30 more pounds than me in the same time frame. Sometimes I get upset that I am not losing weight fast enough. It took me until the beginning of October to get the fill that caused major restriction and I have been losing weight consistently for the past 5 weeks.

A friend of mine told me that I need to get the emotional eating behavior under control and it might take me longer to lose the weight in order to come to peace with my emotional eating. I figure it will take me one year or a little longer to lose another 60 pounds (which is my goal). I feel like life is a marathon not a race and I am not in a hurry to drop those pounds fast. I am looking at this in the long term too. Many Lap Band patients quickly get to their goal weight and than 5 years later they have gained a lot of it back.

Is it better to lose the weight slow and steady (1-2 pounds a week) vs. quickly losing?

P.S. I might start to exercise and was told that will speed it up.

Jennifer

[jetsy62 0]

Congratulations on your wonderful weight loss. To put it into perspective, you have lost the equivalent of 180 sticks of butter! Doesn't that sound wonderful! I think it does. Please don't compare yourself to others. The band works differently for everyone. You are losing and you will continue to lose. Slow and steady apparently is the way it is going to be for you. But the best part is that you will keep it off. Most of us that have WLS have a history of losing, gaining, losing, gaining ... that vicious cycle. You have broken that cycle. I hope when I have had my band as long as you have I can say I lost 180 sticks of butter.

[crazycatlady 0]

Well, you could be like me & only have lost 17 lbs in 5 mos! Consider yourself lucky to have lost that much in that amount of time.

[Caramelt 0]

I too was banded in March 2008. I have lost about 50 lbs. and I still don't have good restriction (yet). But the best part is that the 50 lbs. is GONE!! Sure other people have lost more weight in that period of time but it's not about anyone else- it's about YOU andYOUR body. We all lose at a different pace. Besides, I'm hoping my pace will help me avoid so much hanging skin.

[Jennifer44 0]

Thanks for your support..................Lately I have shyed away from the lap band forum website because I was frustrated about not losing weight quickly like the others on this site. Its nice to know someone else is doing the slow and steady approach.

Jennifer

[Jennifer44 0]

Have you been banded yet?

[Jennifer44 0]

Jetsy62 Have you been banded yet? (I forgot to direct my last reply to you).

Jennifer

[Kalipso2 25]

i was banded april 2008 and i lost all of my weight during the first 4 months. i haven't lost any during the last 2 months which is extremely frustrating but even if i don't love another pound i'd be happy!

i started exercising in september... running actually... and while the scale hasn't moved, people have commented that i look slimmer. so it's not all about the scale but the way clothes fit too!

(BUT i am going for another fill soon!!)

[jetsy62 0]

Yes, I am a bandster. Banded 9/23/08. I go tomorrow for my first fill. I researched this for about 2 years before having it done and made a few choices once that decision was made. One of those was to not get addicted to the scales. I had "issues" in my past attempts to lose weight that I do not want to fall back into and I will leave it at that. Anyway, I don't even have a scale in my house. When I went for my two weeks post-op I was down 21 pounds. When I go tomorrow I will be down whatever I am down. I am following the diet for the most part. Do I ever cheat. Sure, but it is different than before. Instead of downing a sleeve of oreo Cookies (really did do that one time), I now eat one Archway fat free cookie. SF popsicles are always in the fridge. When my niece turned 12, I had a bite of her birthday cake. For me, it may take longer doing things this way .. but I am looking for a lifestyle change that I feel I can live with for the rest of my life. Not until I reach my goal weight. This is it for me. Tomorrow I can join the gym. Goal is to get there 3 days a week. That is realistic for me. I work a full-time job and work on the side also. The other 4 days I plan on doing what I am doing now which is 1/2 hour of walking, climbing the stairs. I am in this for me and as long as the weight comes off and does not go back on, I am succeeding. However long it takes is not the priority. I don't even have a goal weight. I figure I will know when I get there.

[hpegg 0]

A lot of people do not lose much weight before their first fill so I am figuring you are losing about 10 lbs per month? I think this is a really good steady weight loss. You are more likely to not gain any weight back if you go at such a steady pace. Everyone loses weight at a different pace so I would not worry too much about other people's results. It sounds like you are doing great! Keep up the good work.

Helen

[maguirre67 0]

i was 266 when i started right before band i was 248 im not 227 and was banded june 30th ive went down four sizes went from 24/26 to 18/20 and ive only had one fill so i lost 20 pounds preop and 21 since surgery total 41 pounds and ive been banded 4 months so thats about 1 1/2 pds per week i feel discoured feel like i should be losing more but dont know what to do

[trinity2008 0]

I am experiencing the same problem. I was banded in April and have only dropped over 40 pounds. I had a set back where I was overfilled and had to have a complete unfill and am now back at 3.5cc. But another bander I speak with via this site, she and I had surgery around the same time and she is very close to onederland and I am nowhere near it. she is shy 8 pounds from it and I need to drop another 41 pounds to get there. Its very disheartening for me and I just dont understand what the hell I am doing wrong here...