raging anger and completly discouraged, who me?

[I'llsucceed 1]

HI Girlfriend-

You are a winner! Plain & simple.

I want you to think about one thing. Athletes.

Yep Athletes.

Do you think they jump on the scale every week?

Or are concerned about their weight?

NO They are not!!!

Here is what they are always aware of:

1) How fast or far was I able to run today?

2) How & what did I put in my mouth today?

3) Did I get in my Protein today?

4) How long was my workout today?

5) Did I get all my Water in today?

6) How can I be faster/stonger & more healthy tomorrow?

You are a Athelete Crystal & so are we all.

Throw the damn scale away.

Take your body measurements & chart them and your diet & activity only- not your weight from today forward.

My advice is find your inner Athelete & let her take control.

She knows what is important & how to prevail.

You can beat this pleatue & so can I !

See you in Vegas-roomie;0)

[Fauxnaif 1]

Gosh, if it makes you feel better, my BMI is 31 and I really can't get into even XL jackets!!! A large is a small size!!!

[vinesqueen 2]

just as there are 'fast twitch' and 'slow twitch' muscle fibers that fire as different rates for different purposes, my research suggests we are on the thresh hold of a total break thru in weight~consciousness~training....

There obviously are "slow fat" and "faster fat" molecules....and the 'faster fat' are the ones we initially loose in short order....they haven't been around us so long they don't really know how to get out of the way of our efforts to ship them to DeLarla in Nevada....

the 'slow fat' molecules are the ones that have adapted to our psychic and physical vessels....they know how to stay out of the way during our exercises, and how to run and hide when dietary moderation threatens their very survival...

they are 'old fat' that knows the ropes, and hang on to their position in the universe, whispering such as 'May the scale be with you Luke' and 'Feed your rage'....in short, they teach the Dragon much about his role.....and drag usdowndowndown into their brown gravitational swamp....

I've been thinking about this since you posted it Jack. It makes amazing sense. The weight I quickly lost was weight that was "new" as it were. The weight that doesn't want to budge has been with me for about 10 or 12 years or so.

I look at my DH's journey. He's yet to crack 400 pounds, but he's been over 400 pounds his entire adult life. He lost his first 200 pounds very quickly, like in the first 18 months of being banded. But those extra 200 pounds were new. He's in the physical process of rearanging his body.

I think you are absolutely right. Thank you.

[Road Queen 0]

Vinesqueen (and Jack)

Thanks again for your wonderful insight and ways of bringing topics to light. I am struggling with a plateau and now it makes sense. The first 25 pounds are my last couple of years gain. The other 65 have been my 'consistent buddies' for 10 years or more and were intermitten before. Of couse they are don't want to leave.

Just when I thought I was done identifying friends I am losing in this process (drinking/partying friends, cooking friends, eating out friends), I am finding a friend that I will lose and don't care - my long term fat cells. Thanks for reminding us that those weights were set points for our bodies for a long time and it will take time to overcome it.

I guess this is another perspective on my patience lesson. Celeste

[Jessiebear 2]

I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner Vines! I hope you are feeling better! I think you are a very wise woman & always have just the right things to say! You know I was banded in January & i have lost only 32lbs. So, I feel your pain. But I'm keeping my chin up! It's gonna work! It's just gonna take time. For me anyway. I don't know if it is true or not, but I was going to a weight loss clinic a couple of years ago & in the seminar the doc told us to embrace our plateaus or any times that the scales stop. He explained that our bodies are catching up with the weight loss. He said that the body gets rid of the fat from the inside out. Supposedly we lose it from around our organs first. If this is true it sounds like a good thing to me. Love ya Vines!.......Jess

[vinesqueen 2]

I have lost 12 pounds since March. 12 pounds. A little better than one pound a month.

I think it is time for me to accept the truth of the matter. I am just one of the few unlucky ones that the band will not help. I don't think any WLS will for for me, since I'm not losing on 700 calories, I highly doubt a malapsortion technique will do any better, so converting to some other technique isn't going to work for me. Not that I would consider any other technique anyway.

I still feel like a fraud.

[CandySmooch 0]

OH VINES - please stick around and don't ever think of leaving again - if you give up then I'd probably give up. I have the same thoughts running through my head - maybe I'm just destined to be fat - even with the drastic food reduction I'm still not losing either - hence why I gave in and ate a whole hot fudge sundae tonight - why should it matter? I'm not losing it anyway? (I'm also PMS-ing) I feel your pain - you still have lost how much total now in how many months? I do see a difference in you from your pics - there is no difference in the 13lb I've lost and why should there be? 13lbs isn't much - but I am thankful for at least knowing I will never get significantly heavier as I"d have to do too much eating around the band to gain a lot of weight - maybe I am destined to be the fat girl I am - that's not so bad I guess - I just really had very high hopes of being a healthier me at at least a 60lbs loss which is what I've gained in 7 years of being out of high school. Boo hoo - I'll participate in your grief - I'm here with you my friend

[HarleyNana 10]

Come on VQ, pick yourself up, take a deep breath and hang in there. I know it's hard and I'm certainly not gonna tell you I wouldn't be upset, pissed, and disgusted, cause I would be, as you have a right to be too, but don't give up or beat yourself up.

Personally, I think that 700 calories a day was way too few for you. Make an appt with your nutritionist and for a week, make note of everything you put in your mouth, how much and even when. See where your weakness is.

We're here for you and it's gonna get better.

[kimalicious 5]

Vines, you are not a fruad, I felt the same way and left for 6 months from this board and during that time gained 6 pounds back. What other year can you ook back and see that you have lost this much weight and continue to keep it off. I know that is what keeps me happy about my weightloss even when the scale isn't moving. I came back to this board after a well needed fill and have been moving down ever since. I need this community to keep me on track and keep me sane when I fall off the track. Don't ever leave, just re-evaluate and see what can be changed and what processes to try next, Don't give up, we need you!

[donali 57]

This journey is about HEALTH. If you focus on the weight part you will miss the beauty of regaining your health. So, you want to go back to nebulizers and oxygen tents? How on earth can you say that this is not working for you?? You are not gaining new weight, you have a list of NSVs a mile long.

I know, I know, I know. Just about EVERYONE has gone into this thing with the intention of losing "weight". How much more rewarding, though, is it to be GAINING LIFE. And every single person here who has had an NSV is GAINING LIFE, regardless of what the scale says.

I can't really tell what your total weightloss has been - your first post says 35 pounds came off before a full three months, and then a pound a month since. If you were banded in 3/05, and have lost 47 pounds (my best guess), then you are AVERAGING almost 4 pounds a month. That is nothing to sneeze at, and is a completely healthy rate of loss. Your BMI has gone from 47 to 39.6. How on earth can you say the band isn't working for you?!?!?!

This fixation on the scale is your personal way of sabotaging yourself. You can argue as much as you want, but the truth is the scale is NOT a good indicator of your success, and if you really insist on using it that way then you must WANT to be disappointed in your progress, because girl, you have NOTHING to be disappointed about.

The scale is one of the many reasons that "DIETS" DON'T "WORK". People rely on the scale for feedback on their progress, and as soon as the scale stops moving downwards they quit, give up, say "What's the point???" The POINT is your HEALTH. And Vines, if you can't take an honest look at the HEALTH you have gained then nothing I can say is going to make a difference.

Patient: "Doc, it hurts when I press here."

Doctor: "Don't press there."

In a world without scales, can you honestly say that you would not be THRILLED at all the positive changes in your life since 3/05? In a world without scales, wouldn't you just be OVER THE MOON that you no longer carry a puffer? That you can run for the bus?

YOU are in charge of your world. Make it a world without scales, and see the truth about the transformation you are making into a healthy being.

The end.

[babsintx3 0]

Hi Vines,

If I were you, I would be frustrated too. It sounds like you are working with your band and despite your efforts you are not seeing results. I'm sorry.... Maybe you might want to try something different for a while to mix up your metabolism?? Sometimes I will go on an eating binge followed by a 1200 calorie diet and then something else like Atkins for a week and then Southbeach. Yeah, Yeah, I know they are diets, but they work to jumpstart metabolism some of the time. Hang in there, keep your chin up and kick a few walls. You certainly are entitled to it.

Hugs,

Babs in TX

[vinesqueen 2]

As always, you are so right Donali. I am letting the scale dictate my success. But I am an increadably vain and shallow woman. One of the reasons I had weight loss surgery was to actually lose weight, and right now I cannot seem to get beyond that.

What I meant to say was that it is not helping me lose weight, not anything else. I realize that I probably would be dead or at the very least on full time oxygen therapy without the band. I know these thing are true. I do, but as I said, I am so vain and shallow.

My high weight was 275 in January, I was banded at 265 in March. The first two weeks I was banded I lost 15 amazing pounds, but in the last 20 weeks I have kept off a total of 12 pounds. I've lost 27 pounds since I was banded, but the first 15 pounds were mostly Water. I have lost an average of 10 ounces a week for the last 41 weeks, but for the last 38 weeks I've lost 6 ounces. I'm eating 700 calories a day, and I weigh what I did at the end of October.

It is hard beyond words to watch people who started with the same wight as I did to have lost 90 pounds to my 27. To watch people who have lost 4 sizes to my one size.

The band is not going to help me lose weight, that much seems clear to me.

Oh, and the last time I did this:

Patient: "Doc, it hurts when I press here." They scheduled me for emergency surgery

[DevilMayKare 1]

But you are going to DEMAND they at least let you TRY Thyroid medicine, right?

[HarleyNana 10]

It will, (help you lose weight), I'll bet anything you've been gaining muscle with all that dancing.

Don't make me have to travel, cause I hate to travel, but if you give up, then I'm gonna have to travel to you and kick your ASH!

[donali 57]

(((Vines)))

But I am an increadably vain and shallow woman. One of the reasons I had weight loss surgery was to actually lose weight, and right now I cannot seem to get beyond that. [/Quote]

I doubt that you are any more vain than any other "normal" human being, and you sure as heck are NOT shallow.

I know you are frustrated with the few pounds you've lost, particularly when you are doing everything "right", and have dropped your calorie count so low. I would be EXACTLY the same. But, I still have to point out that it is unlikely you would have lost even that little bit of weight and kept it off without the band, so I think it is helping your weightloss goals. It sure is taking its own sweet time, I agree. I will reiterate that I honestly believe there HAS to be more involved for you personally, as it seems beyond science to not lose more weight with the significant reduction in calories you've made. This could be a residual steroid thing/PCOS/thyroid thing, or something else entirely, or a combination of all those things and more. But I honestly believe it has to be some sort of MEDICAL reason that your scale hasn't been moving downwards. I wish they would pay attention and figure out what that is before you go off the deep end...

The band is not going to help me lose weight, that much seems clear to me.

The band already HAS helped you lose weight, but there are obviously other factors that MUST be addressed by a physician. Once the underlying problem(s) are identified and resolved, the pounds will start disappearing.

The band helps people eat less without suffering hunger, which allows them to eat less long term, which keeps the weight the lose off. However, if your weight issues are not due to your eating habits, then a band is going to have little effect on your weight. The band is SCREAMING at the docs that there is something ELSE wrong, and the docs are so dense that they will not listen JUST to you (they're certain that if you are not losing weight it's because you eat "too" much). Now that you are banded, and they KNOW how tight you are, they have to really listen now, and seriously consider the fact that your excess weight just may be, JUST MAY BE due to some other reason.

So if they finally pay attention and FIX that other problem, then the band did end up (indirectly) helping you to lose weight....

Oh, and the last time I did this:

Patient: "Doc, it hurts when I press here." They scheduled me for emergency surgery

Sh*t. Okay, what I SHOULD have said was:

Patient: "Doc, when I bang my head against the wall, it hurts."

Doctor: "Stop banging your head against the wall."

So in reality, though, it's good that you keep weighing and seeing that the weight is not going down so that you can demand that they fix the TRUE problem. If you had just listened to me it would have taken even longer to realize that your weightloss is not in proportion to calories in vs. calories out, and treatment of the true problem would have been even more delayed.

(((Vines)))

MAKE them look harder for the real reason for your obesity, now that you can prove that they CAN'T "blame" it on you.