I feel like a failure.......

[chantel03 0]

thanks heartfire. and wow! 55 pounds is huge! for those of us just starting this process,55 pounds seems sooooo far away. im sure once i get banded i'll feel the same as you and the original poster. im 5'8 and 238 so i know the weight is gonna come off slow. but i think im prepared for it.hopefully.lol

[heartfire 4]

Thanks.

The 55lbs tho is since I started the process in March '08. It's 30lbs since surgery. I had to lose 10% before surgery.

It amazes me that I'm 55lbs less than I was over a year ago. I saw myself in the mirror the other day, actually SAW myself, and was shocked! And kinda proud of myself. I'm not huge anymore. Yes, I still have a long way to go and I'm still big, but I'm not HUGE and I can function better and my clothes, well the ones that aren't too big, look better. I'm not having to continuously adjust my clothing.

It's been an interesting journey so far! Enjoy the ride as much as you can!

[927Bander 0]

It has been 4 months since I was banded and I have lost 17 pounds (big whoopie)! I have worked my Butt off to lose that. For the past month alone I have worked out for an average of 45 min. 6 days per week and I have been working out hard. I count calories and eat an average of 1000 calories per day and in the last month I have lost........maybe 2 pounds, it's hard to say the scale just dropped yesterday and I can't trust that I can really count it yet. I am beginning to think that the band was a BIG MISTAKE! I have had 5 fills---I can still eat a 6 inch sub and I know that I shouldn't be. I don't think that my band is such a tool-- I look at my stomach and see all the scars but I can't see where it has helped me. It has got me to realize that I am going to have to work for every single ounce of fat that I can lose and what a waste of money. Gee--at this rate I guess for each pound I have lost I paid about 1,000 each! And I still haven't even dropped a size. I feel like a failure, not only to myself but what are those people thinking that know I had the surgery--that I am not playing by the rules, that I eat all the time and that I eat crap-- I don't think anyone can possibly understand my frustration!

[sabrina c 0]

I'm in the same boat. I've only lost 30 pounds so don't feel bad! I try to remind myself that I could still be gaining instead of losing. Keep your chin up!

[heartfire 4]

It has been 4 months since I was banded and I have lost 17 pounds (big whoopie)! I have worked my Butt off to lose that. For the past month alone I have worked out for an average of 45 min. 6 days per week and I have been working out hard. I count calories and eat an average of 1000 calories per day and in the last month I have lost........maybe 2 pounds, it's hard to say the scale just dropped yesterday and I can't trust that I can really count it yet. I am beginning to think that the band was a BIG MISTAKE! I have had 5 fills---I can still eat a 6 inch sub and I know that I shouldn't be. I don't think that my band is such a tool-- I look at my stomach and see all the scars but I can't see where it has helped me. It has got me to realize that I am going to have to work for every single ounce of fat that I can lose and what a waste of money. Gee--at this rate I guess for each pound I have lost I paid about 1,000 each! And I still haven't even dropped a size. I feel like a failure, not only to myself but what are those people thinking that know I had the surgery--that I am not playing by the rules, that I eat all the time and that I eat crap-- I don't think anyone can possibly understand my frustration!

Actually, I CAN understand your frustration. I also think you're doing well. You've been averaging 4.25 per month since surgery. That's actually right on target. The surgeons say 1-2lbs a week so that would be 4-8 per month. I do 2-3 if I'm lucky. For 3 months I bounced the same 3lbs and THAT was frustration itself! Seems I finally got rid of that. I hope!

With what your telling me about your exercise, in all honesty, I don't think you're eating enough! I'm using dailyplate and entered my weight, height and age and that I do moderate intensity exercise and it has me eating a little over 1300 calories a day!

And it REALLY doesn't matter how many fills you've had or how much is in your band. If you are not feeling restriction, then you need more. If you are, then you don't. Simple as that. Don't focus so much on the numbers, either how many fills or how much is in there. Doesn't really matter.

Hang in there, keep working hard and try to be patient. I think you're doing a great job!

[itschoice 0]

Actually, I CAN understand your frustration. I also think you're doing well. You've been averaging 4.25 per month since surgery. That's actually right on target. The surgeons say 1-2lbs a week so that would be 4-8 per month. I do 2-3 if I'm lucky. For 3 months I bounced the same 3lbs and THAT was frustration itself! Seems I finally got rid of that. I hope!

With what your telling me about your exercise, in all honesty, I don't think you're eating enough! I'm using dailyplate and entered my weight, height and age and that I do moderate intensity exercise and it has me eating a little over 1300 calories a day!

And it REALLY doesn't matter how many fills you've had or how much is in your band. If you are not feeling restriction, then you need more. If you are, then you don't. Simple as that. Don't focus so much on the numbers, either how many fills or how much is in there. Doesn't really matter.

Hang in there, keep working hard and try to be patient. I think you're doing a great job!

You know I have to agree with you. For a while there when I had no restriction and was gaining I used the dailyplate for about a week. I was eating much less than what the dailyplate said I should be eating. I started eating according to their recommended calories and after about 4 or 5 days I started to loose again.

The other thing I noticed while I was using it is that somethings had far more calories than I thought they did. I, according to me, was running a mental tabulation of my calorie intake and found that sometimes I was way off. Even when I read the back of every package of food that went into me.

Now I am not the poster child and have only lost 36 pounds but the bit that I gained and the last 6 pounds have come off almost by magic since my last fill. Yesterday we were out car shopping for my son and you know how long that takes. So we stopped at In-n-Out and I ate 3/4 of a cheeseburger and less than half the fries (It was about equal to what my 5 year-old ate and he weighs 32 pounds) and I felt like I ate half a cow. My lower tummy even hurt a bit.

Point being, keep getting your fills and it will come. Being where I have been on this journey and being where I am now I know that this thing really does work. Don't give up yet:thumbup: