I have failed my band - SUPPORT GROUP

[Tabithan 19]

Hello All- As you can see from my stats- not very impressive - no one would be asking me to be the postergirl for the lapband. I did not get enough fills early in the process, but believe that I may actually be approaching my sweet spot soon. I have come to realize a few things and wonder if anyone can relate...

• I became depressed a few months after surgery when it did not fix everything. Now, I am smart enough to know that it wouldn't, but, it still happened.
  
• As a result, I found myself drinking alcohol becuase I could and as a way of numbing myself.
  
• Alcohol passes just fine through the band and has oodles of calories.
  
• So do many other things that I should know better than to eat (ice cream, chocolate, etc)
  

So, I faced all of this and stopped the antidepressants (yeah, I think they were messing me up more than helping me) and although, I swore that I would never do this again, walked in to a Weight Watchers week one meeting. Yep - accountability - just like at the start of the band process.

I really never thought I would have to do this again, but the band does not fix everything - it really is just a tool.

Aquameliza,

You've made great progress just with the realizations you made, and I am confident that if you continue on this track, you will begin to see the kind of results you want to - and feel better too. Please let us know what we can do to support you. How are the weight watchers meetings going, and what are your goals for the month February??

[Tabithan 19]

Oh my goodness, I had to tell someone this.

I went on My Virtual Model.com today because I thought I could create a new cute virtual model.

I was shocked, when I went to put in my weight, they wouldn't accept it! I put in 274 and got an error message saying that they were recalculating my weight to fit their BMI maximum requirements. They wouldn't accept a weight larger than 249!!!

This site: My Virtual Model - Your portal for social shopping

Wow, it's bad enough that we have a hard time shopping at stores, let alone to be kicked out of a "Virtual" site for being too big!!!

Anyway, that's my rant and I'm stickin to it, lol.

Hope you all are having a great day.

-music

Arggghhhhh - You have no idea what WORDS I want to use right now!! argghhhhh.

On another note - How are you doing? any word on your date?? I'm so excited for you Music!!!

[Tabithan 19]

Hey Kaelin's G-Ma, tricking the body sounds like a great idea. I've been working on keeping my calories under 1500 (more like under 1700 most days, but still) and I do notice that I seem to be MORE hungry on days that I eat more than on days when I barely eat. I'm going to try to do that on again off again thing.

-music

I love that idea as well. Thanks Kaelin's G Ma - I will definitely try it!!!!!111

[Tabithan 19]

I'm baaaack!!!! Hello everyone! I was on this thread a month or two ago and disappeared because of such a crazy busy travel schedule. I am ready for some more good encouragement and ideas! I've been catching up on a ton of posts and am glad to see that there are so many more people on here that we can chat with! I did have some trouble with my band and seriously over the Christmas holidays, something happened and all of a sudden I was unable to eat or drink ANYTHING. I couldn't even keep Water down! Well, low and behold, my band had slipped badly! I was so discouraged and just knew that I was going to have to have another surgery to correct it. I went back today for the first time and my band was back where it needed to be! Woohoo!!! I was so relieved! I was getting sick of all the Protein shakes and Soups I was having to drink for 3 solid weeks! I had gained about 6 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas but after this I lost them so I'm back at where I left off!

My goals for right now are to stay on my exercise routine which I am doing well on and really track what I am eating on a daily basis. It sounds so simple so why is it so hard for us?? Ugghhh!!! Oh well, I'm staying positive and I will get good ideas and stories from this thread that I look forward to! My travel schedule has slowed down so I'll be on here on a regular basis now! We can do it everyone!!!!!

WELCOME BACK Bayougirl!!! We missed you!!! So sorry to hear about the slipped band but excited that it fixed itself and you are back on track. Wuhuuuuuuuuuuuu. So it has been 8 days since you posted. How are you doing this week??? :thumbup: What are your specific goals for February??

[Tabithan 19]

Hey Everybody! Is there room for one more in here?

I had my lapband Feb.5th of 2008 almost 1 year ago. Anyway I have been doing awesome up untill about 2 months ago I guess. I havent lost anything in those 2 months but i havent gained either. I am looking for some advice and help i guess to kick myself in the butt and get moving down the scale again. I started at 340 and am now down to 225. That is a great loss but i know it should be more. I know i can do this. I have gotten several fills. I actually have 11ccs in a 10 cc band. how crazy is that. The crazy thing is I am still eating like crazy. At first i was doing great with the last fill but now i guess i figured out how to eat around it.

I really dont understand myself. I cant eat till around 12 so I have coffee in the morning with cream and sugar then at luch i usually can only eat like one chicken strip or a small amount of Cereal.

But after lunch its like the flood doors open and All i wanna do is eat. And the stupid thing is I am not even hungry most of the time. I will eat and it will hurt so i wait a f ew minutes and then i can et somemore and keep doing it till what ever i am eating is gone.

I feel like i have failed my band and myself.

I know I am doing wrong so why do I do it???

I keep saying i am gonna start the pouch test thing and i get up with full intentions to do it and i find myself eating and say oh well i will start tomorrow but tomorrow never gets here.

I know i have rambled on and on but i am just frustrated.

ANybody know how i feel?? lol

Hi Krysti,

I completely empathize and understand your situation. You have NO IDEA how much!!!! FOr a week through this past sunday, I was stressed at work. With the stress, I started buying food to eat and I always bought HUGE amounts of food. I would go to Wendys and buy the spicy chicken sandwich means wiht medium fries and ranch dipping sauce. And that sandwich is HUGE. I would eat it until I feel sick - wait a little bit, then eat more. And later on, I hated myself for doing it. On saturday I went to chillis and bought a rib dinner for lunch. They are HUGE - a whole huge rack, fries and corn on the cop. To top it off, I also bought the molten cake. I came home and I ate the dinner...dont ask me how i stacked it in when usually 1.5 cups of food gets me FULL - then about 30 minutes later I ate the molten cake. Yes, dont ask. Those are just TWO examples. So I feel your pain. How was I able to get back on track as of saturday? I stocked up on Progresso Soups and decided to go back on my liquids. I wasnt able to do liquids all day but I did liquids until dinner time. Then at dinner i ate really really soft runny food that was in a frozen dinner. That helped me keep it soft. I did that for 3 days and now I have regarined my control and lost the weight I had gained the week before. So instead of striving for a full day of liquids, how about trying to be on liquids through dinner, and planning your dinner so you do not "make it up" and go crazy???

It has been a few days since you posted. Let us know how you did and let us know 3 specific goals you want to work on this week. Slow and steady......we can do this!!!!!

[Tabithan 19]

I can't tell you guys how happy I am to have found this thread! I have been banded since Feb 07 and I am failing my band. I have felt so alone and so stupid! Here I went and spent 16k to lose all this weight and all I have lost is a measly 20lbs. Well I'm not going to let this get the better of me! I am back with a vengence. I know what I am doing wrong so now I need to make it right. Now I don't feel so alone after seeing there are others out there struggling just like me. I know I can do this and I would like to join this group to use at as support. Thank you to all of you who are sharing. I have changed a few habits these past few weeks, I am working out 4 times a week and trying to eat better. My goals for this week are to increase my Water intake and eliminate all forms of chocolate from my diet. I have 60lbs to lose to get to my goal. I want this so bad! I hope to get to know all of you on here. Thanks again to all of you courageous enough to admit your weaknesses!

Welcome Becca!!! I'm glad you found us and are chosing to recommitt. We can do this!! Those are great goals and you seem to be right on track. Please keep posting and we will all ensure that we are successful. Are you weighing/measuring your food and counting calories, or are you doing something different for your meal plan?

[Tabithan 19]

Well, I think we can all agree on here that we are emotional eaters. Just like you guys, stress sets me off without even knowing it. I am starting back at work next week after being off for a year at home with my new baby. I'm nervous about going back but excited as well. Maybe this is what I need, to get back into a routine so I'm not thinking about food all day. I have been working out regularly still but my body seems to just crave the sugar. Why is that? It's like an addiction, I have sugar withdrawals. How do I get over that. Any ideas? Please don't tell me will power....or maybe thats all it is?

Our bodies crave what we eat. for me - it is salt - tortilla chips and salsa to be exact. For me, moderation doesnt work, and I just have to STOP eating the chips and salsa. Question - are there healthy alternatives that can give you the sweet taste? Like Yogurt, or some sugar free candy, or some sweet apples or grapes or other fruits? that might be something to try, to get you to wean yourself off the sugar... :thumbup:

[Scarlett 0]

Hi Scarlett - How are you??? any restriction yet? Crossing my fingers for you!!!:tongue2:

Thanks so much for checking up on me! I check in every day but having nothing positive to post I just fade away. I had my *third* complete unfill last Tuesday. I was checked and my band has not slipped but it seems I have become VE R Y sensitive to fills. We are starting Monday to fill it again but we are going extra tiny this time. Office said this will be a chore for me ( and very expensive) but I really have no choice...this has to work. When the band is working it is great but on the flip side when it is not....! sorry to say I am falling back into bad habits again for comfort. Monday is a new day and I hope a new start on my road to sucess.

[crzytchr 3]

Thanks so much for checking up on me! I check in every day but having nothing positive to post I just fade away. I had my *third* complete unfill last Tuesday. I was checked and my band has not slipped but it seems I have become VE R Y sensitive to fills. We are starting Monday to fill it again but we are going extra tiny this time. Office said this will be a chore for me ( and very expensive) but I really have no choice...this has to work. When the band is working it is great but on the flip side when it is not....! sorry to say I am falling back into bad habits again for comfort. Monday is a new day and I hope a new start on my road to sucess.

I too have a sensitive stomach. I get small fills and have to be careful. I am 6 1/2 post op and only have 2 ccs in my 10cc band. My last fill was in mid November. Hang in there and you will get back to where you want to be in no time.

[Bella8891 0]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to LBT. I was banded in July 2006 and things have been slow for the past year. I have fallen back to my pre-banding behavior of trying a different diet everyday. I am just beside myself. Also, I think my pouch is stretched and am going to try liquids for a few days to see if it will shrink back to size. I seem to be eating everything that will go through my band and not the things I should. HELP!!!

[lorifavela 0]

Help! Am I posting in the right place?

I need help because I have failed my band. I was banded in 7/07 and never really lost much weight. I started at 244, was banded at 233, got down to 198 by 10/07 and that was it. Now I'm up to 217 and I want to SCREAM! I have sufficient restriction but I live on frozen yogurt, peanut MnMs, oatmeal, soy mochas from Starbucks, and cheese. I've been reading through all these pages of posts and I now see that what I've been doing is sabotaging myself. I can eat alot if I do it in stages, like some of these other bandsters described...I didn't even know that I was really eating around my band- I was just going for what went down easily. I'm so scared of making myself throw up, which has been happening quite a bit lately. It's just been easier to eat frozen yogurt than to eat a chicken breast. I just got it- it's SUPPOSED to be hard! DUH!!!

So, here's what I'm doing: I joined Jazzercise, which I LOVE. I am going to eat correctly: slow down, small portions, Protein first, low fat, no white carbs, chewchewchew!, and limit myself to 15 minutes. Although I can't eat and drink at the same time, I've been drinking right after eating, and now I am going to time myself for at least 30 minuites before I take a sip.

For this month, I will work out three times a week, at least, and I will record all of my food to see what else I can do to get off this run-away train!

Let's help each other!

[crzytchr 3]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to LBT. I was banded in July 2006 and things have been slow for the past year. I have fallen back to my pre-banding behavior of trying a different diet everyday. I am just beside myself. Also, I think my pouch is stretched and am going to try liquids for a few days to see if it will shrink back to size. I seem to be eating everything that will go through my band and not the things I should. HELP!!!

Hello Bella, if you are eating things that go through your band, you may be too tight and not necessarily have a stretched pouch. If you eat the foods you are supposed to, what happens? If you do indeed think you pouch is stretched try the 5 day pouch test and see what happens.

Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test

Good Luck!

Edited February 17, 2009 by crzytchr

[crzytchr 3]

Help! Am I posting in the right place?

I need help because I have failed my band. I was banded in 7/07 and never really lost much weight. I started at 244, was banded at 233, got down to 198 by 10/07 and that was it. Now I'm up to 217 and I want to SCREAM! I have sufficient restriction but I live on frozen yogurt, peanut MnMs, oatmeal, soy mochas from Starbucks, and cheese. I've been reading through all these pages of posts and I now see that what I've been doing is sabotaging myself. I can eat alot if I do it in stages, like some of these other bandsters described...I didn't even know that I was really eating around my band- I was just going for what went down easily. I'm so scared of making myself throw up, which has been happening quite a bit lately. It's just been easier to eat frozen yogurt than to eat a chicken breast. I just got it- it's SUPPOSED to be hard! DUH!!!

So, here's what I'm doing: I joined Jazzercise, which I LOVE. I am going to eat correctly: slow down, small portions, Protein first, low fat, no white carbs, chewchewchew!, and limit myself to 15 minutes. Although I can't eat and drink at the same time, I've been drinking right after eating, and now I am going to time myself for at least 30 minuites before I take a sip.

For this month, I will work out three times a week, at least, and I will record all of my food to see what else I can do to get off this run-away train!

Let's help each other!

Congatulations on your recommitment. It sounds like you were off to a really good start. You had lost 35 lbs in 3 months! You got off track, but you are still below where you started, so you are ahead of the game.

Please also consider the advice I gave to the above poster. If you are eating around the band, are you too tight? What happens if you eat Protein and chew it properly? Do you pb? If the answer is yes, consider a slight unfill so you can eat properly again. Being too tight is death to a bandster road to weight loss. It hurts and causes us to eat improperly to keep from pbing. Also consider doing the 5 day pouch test to get back on track. This will also help you decide if are too tight. Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test

Good luck!

[Bella8891 0]

Thank you for responding. I think you may have a point about the stretched pouch. Following the 5 day pouch test couldn't hurt and may get me back on track. Thanks for the info!

[ibbanded 4]

I have been MIA again for a WHILE. Am I welcome back here? ....stilll stuggling....

Ibbanded