I'm Stuck
Hello All,
Sorry I've been gone for so long, it's just been pure hell for personal stuff out here. My problem is that I can not get myself to lose weight, even after surgery. I can't get myself down below 350. I have been bouncing between 360 and 351 for a month now. Any time I eat anything but scrambled eggs and mash potatoes I gain weight. I'm so frustrated right now it's driving me nuts. I am on my second fill and have my third coming up. I am going to talk to the doctor about this because it's becoming a pain. It's making me wonder why I waisted all this money for nothing.
Sorry I've been gone for so long, it's just been pure hell for personal stuff out here. My problem is that I can not get myself to lose weight, even after surgery. I can't get myself down below 350. I have been bouncing between 360 and 351 for a month now. Any time I eat anything but scrambled eggs and mash potatoes I gain weight. I'm so frustrated right now it's driving me nuts. I am on my second fill and have my third coming up. I am going to talk to the doctor about this because it's becoming a pain. It's making me wonder why I waisted all this money for nothing.
I had RNY so my comments are just from what I have herad from reading at OH. It seams to me that most lapband patience had to have multiple fills til they find the spot that gets them to loosing weight. They adjust it in small amounts so that they dont close it up enough that nothing goes thur.
David B
David B
David max 317, pre liquid diet 295, day of surgery 285, current 193 09/01/10 
All I know about band patients is they have to find their "sweet spot" before the band will 'work' properly. One of the patients at my center is 4 years out and he said he had over 20 fills before finding his sweet spot ..other people have said they found theirs within a handful of fills. And I found out this week 2 people are switching from band to bypass because they aren't losing.
Hang in there!
Hang in there!
Hi Donovan:
It certainly is hard to hit a plateu - but then again you have lost 37 pounds - you struggled very much with your 6-month diet! But you stuck to your pre-op diet and you have lost about 20 pounds post-op. Look at it this way - if you loose about 2 Ibs every week - you are doing great!
In general banders loose weight slower than those who had a combination of restrictive and malabsorbtive WLS. If you compare yourself to those who got RNY - you will notice that they almost crash down the first 6 month after surgery (The golden window of 6-12-18 month) for RNY patients.
The band may restrict the amount you are able to eat - but YOU still have to control what you eat! Unlike RNY patient you are able to tolerate foods high in both fat and carbs quite early out. No one will loose weight eating donuts blended with milkshake or other poor food items.
I have to ask - Are you commited to make healthy food choices? To plan and prepare nutritious meals? Are you monitoring everything you drink and eat - by keeping a foodlog? Are you excercising - even if it is just walking for now?
If you besides your job - do not make the necessary lifestyle changes and are deeply commited to stick to making good choices - the Band will not work for you! Same for RNY patients - who after the honey-moon period slip and begin eating things they were not supposed to eat or drink, that cause them to actually start gaining weight again. If nothing is changed and people think that they can just eat and excercise as they did before (after a while) - WLS is not going to work either.
How are your post-op recovery going? Still have any adominal pain or aches? Have your incision healed well?
Do you have enough knowledge about proper nutrition - as opposed to fad diets? Do you space your meals well and are you getting enough variety? And more important - are you eating and drinking the right stuff? It takes time and commitment to learn what proper nutrition is and sift through all the confusion and unlearn the the diet mentality and eating that made us even more overweight everytime we tried to stick to a diet - if we did well we were able to do it for 3+ month before we inevitable slipped back and gave up. I really encourage you to read everything you can about eating a diet that suits your activity level (RMR) and (BMR) ensuring you get all the nutritions you need from good quality food. It is time to make peace and make food your friend.
I read somewhere that you preferred pre-packaged meals. Yes it eleminates making choices - but most often it is also a sign that you either do not TAKE the time to prepare good healthy meals made from ground or lack coocking skills?
Same with excercise! Time to get started - no matter how hard it is!
I know you struggle with depression and other personal stuff - This are huge stressors. I wonder how much food have been a part of coping with loneliness, low selfesteem, poor body image and depression/anxiety in your life?
Not sure if you still take anti-depressants - do remember that some types make it harder to loose weight and it is worth looking into.
We all face problems, loses and issues in our lives - we allways will, but eventually we find ways to cope even though we sometimes run out of strength to carry on for a while - until we get grounded and get a grip again.
So I encourage you to maybe see a counselor (who prescribed the anti-depressant)? I also encourage you to start doing a minimum of exercise - it maybe taking a walk for 20-30 min or maybe just 10 in the beginning .... and start doing some basic home exercises (I can show you a basic program - that is easy to follow - just do what you can ... it may not be much in the beginning - but you got to start - make it a priority and set time apart for this. It really helps soothe depression - but it is hard to get started - especially if you feel you have too many things on your plate already and feel tired and lack inititive.
I hope things will getter better for you - it is possible to get a variety of soft pureed foods - and mashed potatoes are not a very healthy food choice - but I do understand you still need to introduce food items that have consitency that enables it to pass the band, so nothing gets stuck.
Write and vent - use the forums and your friends here and your real life friends/social network - who want to support you and see you succeed and achieve your goals.
A big hug from me
I hope that besides focusing on how much you still need to loose - you will focus on all the things you can gain - all the non-scale things. Take good care of yourself and make that your highest priority.
It certainly is hard to hit a plateu - but then again you have lost 37 pounds - you struggled very much with your 6-month diet! But you stuck to your pre-op diet and you have lost about 20 pounds post-op. Look at it this way - if you loose about 2 Ibs every week - you are doing great!
In general banders loose weight slower than those who had a combination of restrictive and malabsorbtive WLS. If you compare yourself to those who got RNY - you will notice that they almost crash down the first 6 month after surgery (The golden window of 6-12-18 month) for RNY patients.
The band may restrict the amount you are able to eat - but YOU still have to control what you eat! Unlike RNY patient you are able to tolerate foods high in both fat and carbs quite early out. No one will loose weight eating donuts blended with milkshake or other poor food items.
I have to ask - Are you commited to make healthy food choices? To plan and prepare nutritious meals? Are you monitoring everything you drink and eat - by keeping a foodlog? Are you excercising - even if it is just walking for now?
If you besides your job - do not make the necessary lifestyle changes and are deeply commited to stick to making good choices - the Band will not work for you! Same for RNY patients - who after the honey-moon period slip and begin eating things they were not supposed to eat or drink, that cause them to actually start gaining weight again. If nothing is changed and people think that they can just eat and excercise as they did before (after a while) - WLS is not going to work either.
How are your post-op recovery going? Still have any adominal pain or aches? Have your incision healed well?
Do you have enough knowledge about proper nutrition - as opposed to fad diets? Do you space your meals well and are you getting enough variety? And more important - are you eating and drinking the right stuff? It takes time and commitment to learn what proper nutrition is and sift through all the confusion and unlearn the the diet mentality and eating that made us even more overweight everytime we tried to stick to a diet - if we did well we were able to do it for 3+ month before we inevitable slipped back and gave up. I really encourage you to read everything you can about eating a diet that suits your activity level (RMR) and (BMR) ensuring you get all the nutritions you need from good quality food. It is time to make peace and make food your friend.
I read somewhere that you preferred pre-packaged meals. Yes it eleminates making choices - but most often it is also a sign that you either do not TAKE the time to prepare good healthy meals made from ground or lack coocking skills?
Same with excercise! Time to get started - no matter how hard it is!
I know you struggle with depression and other personal stuff - This are huge stressors. I wonder how much food have been a part of coping with loneliness, low selfesteem, poor body image and depression/anxiety in your life?
Not sure if you still take anti-depressants - do remember that some types make it harder to loose weight and it is worth looking into.
We all face problems, loses and issues in our lives - we allways will, but eventually we find ways to cope even though we sometimes run out of strength to carry on for a while - until we get grounded and get a grip again.
So I encourage you to maybe see a counselor (who prescribed the anti-depressant)? I also encourage you to start doing a minimum of exercise - it maybe taking a walk for 20-30 min or maybe just 10 in the beginning .... and start doing some basic home exercises (I can show you a basic program - that is easy to follow - just do what you can ... it may not be much in the beginning - but you got to start - make it a priority and set time apart for this. It really helps soothe depression - but it is hard to get started - especially if you feel you have too many things on your plate already and feel tired and lack inititive.
I hope things will getter better for you - it is possible to get a variety of soft pureed foods - and mashed potatoes are not a very healthy food choice - but I do understand you still need to introduce food items that have consitency that enables it to pass the band, so nothing gets stuck.
Write and vent - use the forums and your friends here and your real life friends/social network - who want to support you and see you succeed and achieve your goals.
A big hug from me
I hope that besides focusing on how much you still need to loose - you will focus on all the things you can gain - all the non-scale things. Take good care of yourself and make that your highest priority. 
I am sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time. I just got my lap band on 10/28 and am in this new phase of learning about this new tool. The biggest piece of it for me is learning to slow down enough when I eat to "hear" the signals my body sends me about being full. I have no saline in the band but have had many "stuck" episodes when I eat to fast or too much. DAMN that is unpleasant and scary. I guess I am still swollen from the surgery three weeks out.
I have never been a cook and have quite a reputation with my friends as the bachelor who needs a good woman to take care of me!! Every other diet I have been on I have gotten prepackaged foods ( weigh****chers, nutrisystem etc...) or has my former wife cooking for me. I understood that this HAD to change or the band would be no different than those other diets. I was not willing to do the things to take care of myself and shift that self care piece in order to change my life, not just my weight.
I looked up alot of crock pot recipes on lapband.com because I knew that tender but solid proteins are a must to feel full and stay satisfied over the long haul. The fact that you just but the ingredients, put it in the crock pot in the am and come home to a hot and fabulous meal was the real selling point for me. So, I am proud to say I made a pot roast meal in the crock pot a few days ago and am floating on cloud nine cause I feel like a gourmet chef all of a sudden! Scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes are the kinds of foods that when your surgeon finds out you are eating them makes them think,you have too much restriction. I have learned on the lap band boards that this is a hint that you need an unfill. Since you are so newly filled I wonder if you are scared to have a stuck episode? Have you been eating solid proteins like you were supposed to do the month after surgery? It scared the hell out of me trying to learn the band rules cause I was so scared I would have a stuck episode. I hate to vomit, get worried about the scary sensations of a stuck etc...
Maybe it is important to get back to basics again. Follow the band rules and see how it goes. Proteins first ( 2-4 ounces.. get a scale to weigh it), followed buy veggies and only then, if there is room, carbs. Stay away from white carbs ( more loaded with sugar that leads to cravings.. for me it is like heroin!!). No after one hour after eating to prevent the food from getting washed through the band, Drinking defeats the band every time. At least 64 ounces fluids through the day. Get your multivitamin in every day.
Try the crock pot dude!! If this non cook can do it, I swear you can too!! Hang in there!!
I have never been a cook and have quite a reputation with my friends as the bachelor who needs a good woman to take care of me!! Every other diet I have been on I have gotten prepackaged foods ( weigh****chers, nutrisystem etc...) or has my former wife cooking for me. I understood that this HAD to change or the band would be no different than those other diets. I was not willing to do the things to take care of myself and shift that self care piece in order to change my life, not just my weight.
I looked up alot of crock pot recipes on lapband.com because I knew that tender but solid proteins are a must to feel full and stay satisfied over the long haul. The fact that you just but the ingredients, put it in the crock pot in the am and come home to a hot and fabulous meal was the real selling point for me. So, I am proud to say I made a pot roast meal in the crock pot a few days ago and am floating on cloud nine cause I feel like a gourmet chef all of a sudden! Scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes are the kinds of foods that when your surgeon finds out you are eating them makes them think,you have too much restriction. I have learned on the lap band boards that this is a hint that you need an unfill. Since you are so newly filled I wonder if you are scared to have a stuck episode? Have you been eating solid proteins like you were supposed to do the month after surgery? It scared the hell out of me trying to learn the band rules cause I was so scared I would have a stuck episode. I hate to vomit, get worried about the scary sensations of a stuck etc...
Maybe it is important to get back to basics again. Follow the band rules and see how it goes. Proteins first ( 2-4 ounces.. get a scale to weigh it), followed buy veggies and only then, if there is room, carbs. Stay away from white carbs ( more loaded with sugar that leads to cravings.. for me it is like heroin!!). No after one hour after eating to prevent the food from getting washed through the band, Drinking defeats the band every time. At least 64 ounces fluids through the day. Get your multivitamin in every day.
Try the crock pot dude!! If this non cook can do it, I swear you can too!! Hang in there!!
Jill 
sfnativewm
on 11/22/09 5:34 am
on 11/22/09 5:34 am
I am sorry you are going through this. Are you writing down your food and keeping carbs at 30 or below? I can't eat eggs for some reason but mash potatoes are a really not a band food. They are really a slider food and don't do anything for your weight loss. I am not sure how many calories a day yu need to eat to be healthy and lose weight. For me it is 1200. Typical meals should be about 75% protein, then veggies etc.
I am just learning now how important it is for me to give myself permission to lose more weight. Thats very important!
Please repost this on the lap band board as they are great people with ideas to really help you!!
You didn't waste the money, perhaps your bariatric dr should have spent more time with you!!!
YOU CAN AND WILL DO THIS!! Keep reading the boards, and walk, drink water, (but not with your meals or for about 30 minutes after)
Good luck!
I am just learning now how important it is for me to give myself permission to lose more weight. Thats very important!
Please repost this on the lap band board as they are great people with ideas to really help you!!
You didn't waste the money, perhaps your bariatric dr should have spent more time with you!!!
YOU CAN AND WILL DO THIS!! Keep reading the boards, and walk, drink water, (but not with your meals or for about 30 minutes after)
Good luck!
~Ann~
Band removed and feeling alive with energy!
Hey Emit -
Just wanted to throw my .02 in here as well.
I noticed that our bodies fight the changes we try to force on them. Think of your body as being a stubborn teenager. The more you tell it what to do, the less it wants to do it. You have to nag it, harry it, make it want to throw tantrums at you until you eventually break its will and get it to go along with you.
When that dam finally breaks, the weight suddenly comes sloughing off. I was on a plateau for 2 months - when it finally snapped, I lost 9 pounds in a week. Weirdest weigh in ever, believe you me. I thought I'd broken my scale.
Hang in there, keep doing what you're doing, go get your fill and don't beat yourself up over it.
This is no longer about losing the weight - it's about adjusting to and being happy with your new way of life. If you live this life long enough, the weight loss will, eventually, follow.
Hang in there.
Just wanted to throw my .02 in here as well.
I noticed that our bodies fight the changes we try to force on them. Think of your body as being a stubborn teenager. The more you tell it what to do, the less it wants to do it. You have to nag it, harry it, make it want to throw tantrums at you until you eventually break its will and get it to go along with you.
When that dam finally breaks, the weight suddenly comes sloughing off. I was on a plateau for 2 months - when it finally snapped, I lost 9 pounds in a week. Weirdest weigh in ever, believe you me. I thought I'd broken my scale.
Hang in there, keep doing what you're doing, go get your fill and don't beat yourself up over it.
This is no longer about losing the weight - it's about adjusting to and being happy with your new way of life. If you live this life long enough, the weight loss will, eventually, follow.
Hang in there.
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