A complete wate of money (or is something wrong)

[twiggysmiff 0]

Thanks for your replies but I must explain that I am abiding by the new rules as my 50 lbs loss would indicate. It does seem however that I am still on the diet that I have been for most of my life having to count the calories and leave the table unsatisfied

I was expecting the band to be helpful in allowing me to eat less food and this is not the case.

I was hoping that I would get a full feeling after just a sandwich but that is not happening. The larger than normal meal last weekend was not the norm but it did indicate to me that nothing had physically changed.

Today I almost choked on my first bite of a sandwich yet yesterday a huge meal went down with no restriction or discomfort. My fill is now at 6.2 and was at 6.5 when reflux and heart burn made it too painful to continue at that level.

It would seen that I am at the peak of fill level now.

From my understanding, you lost 50 pounds before the first fill while you were still on your liquid diet phase. You may have been following the rules then, but from what I can see, you aren't following the rules NOW. Eating 2 steaks would not be within the rules regardless of how often you do it, you said yourself in the first post that you are not eating slowly and you aren't chewing your food well. Then in another post, you said you find it difficult not to drink while you eat because of being dehydrated. This implies that you are drinking while you eat and you are not drinking throughout the day. Your exercise schedule is preventing you from eating on a good schedule like you should as well. If you are exercising on an empty stomach, you are scaring your body into thinking you are starving it. All it knows it that it is spending a bunch of calories and not getting any calories coming in, so it will hold onto as much as possible and drop your metabolism. You also admit that you are drinking carbonated beverages, which, for a lot of doctors, is a no-no. In your last post, you said that you had a signal from your body to stop eating the chicken and you ignored it and finished your meal. I don't mean to be rude or anything, but exactly what rule ARE you following?

The band will not do all the work for you. Exercise alone will not help you. Eating well alone will not help you. You must have a good balance for this to work. It really does not sound like you are using it as a tool in the way it was intended. You can't screw in a screw with the butt end of the screwdriver. You have to use it in the way it was intended for it to work.

[Bamagal 1]

I too, aswell as alot of others are still struggling with the right amount of fill.The question is not how much can you eat, but how little can you eat and not fill hungry.My suggestion to you and anyone else who has trouble controlling your portion size is do not put more on your plate than you should have.Maybe 4oz of meat 1/4 cup of veggy and 1/4 cup of fruit.Take small bites,chew slow and savor the flavor.After 20 minutes just stop eating.Wait an hour if you are still hungery drink a glass of Water wait another hour if you are still hungrey eat an apple or snake.

The band has not failed you,you need to make some adjustments in your bad eating habits.It is not the purpose of the band to be so tight your eyes pop out when you over eat.It is to help you feel satisfied on less food for a longer period of time,and you may never feel that full tight feeling you are looking for,just not stomach growling hungrey.

Edited December 22, 2008 by Bamagal

[Florida Pete 1]

First off I have to re-itterate what others have said. The band is a tool not the cure. This whole process will be lots of work. Everyone is different also. What one person can eat verse another will be different. But how you make it work is by chosing to eat the right things. Chosing to drink the right things. It sounds like to me you have been testing the band a lot which also can mean that you may have stretched your pouch or caused slippage in your band. One of the rules my surgeon gave me about the band is to "NEVER" have carbonation again. It's not that I cannot drink it but rather it can cause slippage and errosion of the band. Also as you already know you need to chew chew chew your food so that it is broke down when you swallow and doesn't cause blockage. Another big piece of advise to follow is to get real life support that is not online support. Remember how you felt before you were banded and why you were willing to get the band. Because you were not happy. You were willing to change your eating habbits and that is what helped along with the exercise to drop the weight. Now your still exercising but the weight is not coming off so that means you have to change your eating habbits again. You don't have to be on the liquid diets but certain your not going to be losing weight when having lots of soda and 2 t-bone steaks.

I really wish you the best of luck.

[Sixpack 0]

Thanks again for all of your replies and for your encouragement.

I must admit now that I do feel somewhat guilty and that perhaps I have been testing the band rather than using it as a help for the weight loss.

I must point out though that the steak night was the one and only occasion (I swear) and all other meals have been within the guidelines given by the dietitian. My consumption of soda is not great and is only a can of diet coke a couple of days a week. My worry was that it was without any complications which gave me cause to think that there was a problem with my banding which has been my thoughts since day one.

Through this forum I now realise I may have several issues to face up to and will raise them all when I next visit the dietitan in the new year. I will keep you informed.

Again my thanks, and wish you all the best throughout and beyond this festive season.

cheers

Edited December 23, 2008 by Sixpack

[kgloverii 0]

Thanks again for all of your replies and for your encouragement.

I must admit now that I do feel somewhat guilty and that perhaps I have been testing the band rather than using it as a help for the weight loss.

I must point out though that the steak night was the one and only occasion (I swear) and all other meals have been within the guidelines given by the dietitian. My consumption of soda is not great and is only a can of diet coke a couple of days a week. My worry was that it was without any complications which gave me cause to think that there was a problem with my banding which has been my thoughts since day one.

Through this forum I now realise I may have several issues to face up to and will raise them all when I next visit the dietitan in the new year. I will keep you informed.

Again my thanks, and wish you all the best throughout and beyond this festive season.

cheers

Don't feel 'guilty.' We are here to support you and 'call you' on stuff when we see it. No one is ever hear to beat you up, and we will always strive to keep you honest. Keep on trucking and doing your best. We're here to help you be the BEST success you can be. Never take what is said here personally and know we have your best interests at heart. Florida Pete is right on the money... with all he said...