Discouraged

Hey Guys,

I am eight and a half months post-op and I am really struggling with my weight loss. My step-dad had gastric bypass a couple of years ago and had issues with controlling his portions and getting sick at first, but the weight continued to come off with portion control and watching what he ate. He lost like 150 pounds in a little over a year. I am a member on the 20's Age Group on here and most of those girls have had gastric and they are just dropping weight left and right.

I was expecting more "restriction" from my band and I am wondering if it is me or what. I have believed that we should limit our portion to not be tempted to overeat, but I don't know that I actually have restriction. Some days I get so frusterated because I will on my second bite of food sometimes not chew enough and get stuck, clearly not full. But I have never once eaten a bite too much and felt that stuck feeling.

I get stuck if I over cook my chicken and it is too dry. That is so freaking obnoxious, like great this hurts and I ruined my dinner. I have issues with carbs, again, I think it is a dry thing, so that is a positive, but the only one I see.

In the beginning I was so worried about eating wrong, eating too much, afraid of hurting my band and so excited that I was super good and dropping weight. Now for three months I have been gaining and losing the same 5-6 pounds. I admit to having bad food and cheating. I got in the habit of afternoon coffee drinks that started healthy and led to mocha frappe fattes. Plus I laxed up and let my boyfriend bring sweets and pasta back into the house. (They are gone again now).

I got depressed about the progress and compared myself to others that I know that have had gastric and I can't help but think maybe I picked the wrong surgery. My surgeon said in reference to a fill that if I wasn't hungry between meals then I was good. If it was a portion thing not to serve myself more than I should eat.

If it was just that easy, why the hell did I pay OUT OF POCKET to have surgery? I feel like maybe I should have had gastric, but I really wanted the less invasive surgery and I am young and didn't want to worry about malnutrition and pregnancy. 

Am I weird? They did an ultrasound a couple months ago and said everything looked good. Why do I not have restriction? Is it all mental?

I have been stressed super stressed the last week and have not had much of an appetite and really have been eating right, had some workouts, not as many as I would like, but...back on track.

I have decided regardless, I am not having a revision, but I am going to get back on track on my own. I just feel like maybe it was a waste of my money because the band isn't necessarily working like I thought it would.

Am I missing something or just self-sabatoging?

i don't know how much help i'll be because i literally had my surgery this morning.

from what has been explained to me by my surgeon the goal is to have a steady and healthy weight loss of  about 2lbs a week. but everyone is different. if after you get back on track you don't start to steadily lose weight you will probably need a fill.

AND NEVER EVER EVER COMPAIR YOURSELF TO ANYONE!

Ah! I really hope that my post didn't discourage you in any way!

I really did super awesome my first few months and rocked the weight off. I am just trying to figure my way over this hump.

People on here are great and if you ever feel confused don't dwell on it, get on here and let people talk you out of beating yourself up.

Good luck to you and thanks for your support.

Walk off that gas pain!!

Hi Mallory,

I have had pretty good success with the band and I have to tell you that the reason why I think  was so successful is because my surgeon worked well with me to find proper restriction. With him, part of it was whether or not I was hungry between meals, but primarily the queston was how much was I able to eat. Will-power does not control that - restriction does. Good food choices are undoubtedly important, but the lap-band works mainly because of restriction. It sounds to me like you may need a fill to limit your intake.

Would you describe your fill process?

I have never been told the size of my band or how much is in it...

I go in and they freeze my skin and then insert the needle and take all of the fluid out of my band. Then he slowing pushes the fluids back in while I drink water. When I feel the water he backs a little more fluid out until I don't feel the water anymore and that is that.

At my last fill I walked out after this process and was scheduling my next appointment and took a gulp of water and got stuck. They put me back in line and got me in and did a little unfill until I couldn't feel the water go down any longer...

Does this sound similar to your process?

it almost sounds like you are too tight.  I was going through the same thing.........a tiny bite then sutck but not satisfied or full.........frustrating and makes ya gain weight because you turn to eating bad foods that slide down.  talk to yiour doc and consider a slight unfill or maybe under the xray to see if you have a slipped band or something.

DONT compare yourself to a bypass patient PLEASE!  You will only frustrate yourself more!!!  RUN YOUR RACE!  Its a marathon not a sprint!!!!

Also-emotions (for me) play a role in how my band tightens and loosens!  We call it band voo doo------some days its just fine, others, its too tinght others its too lose--i have found if i am upset or nervous its ALWAYS tighter! 

Hang in there!!!

I definately agree with the emotions and voo-doo. I am traveling with my boss this week and am extra stressed and barely at today because I was feeling goofy.

With that said, there are times when I eat my "portion" of protein and vegetable and sometimes even a couple of bites of pasta and go into the kitchen and during clean up can much on some more. It is not an unbelievable amount of food, and is much less than I used to put away, but it is more than 5 oz.

So I don't think I need an un-fill...just a new brain maybe.

LOL @ new brain-me too!  put me on the list if you find one!
are you drinking before or with your meals?  thats a bad thing for me, and not chewing enough or eating small enough bites.  then i "over medicate" with the garbage i dont need.....coz it goes down so easily,  Guess tahts why we need to eat our dense food first LOL, I guess the docs know what they are talking about!  if only our brains could be reprogrammed LOL

I like something sweet after a meal and sometimes I still want to eat but know that I ate all I'm supposed to.  The only thing that I have found to help combat that - and it helps prevent taking a bite during clean up, is to pop a piece of gum in my mouth.  I can chew till I can't chew anymore.  It especially helps if the meal didn't require much chewing - like when I was on mushies.  Gum is my binky; what can I say? 

I feel for you, but please don't give up!  You have the band so you need to figure out how to get it to work for you BUT you also need to make a very important decision.  Are you willing to do what it takes to lose the weight you want to lose?

I decided early on that I would change my eating habits and let the band control the portion size.  I was very strict fo the first 9 months and lost 100 lbs by banning simple carbs from my diet.  No white potato, pasta, rice, bread, etc.  And I limited my sugar intake to less than 5 g per serving. I also followed my surgeons protocol to the T and ate 800 calories a day with 60-80 g of protein and NO liquid calories, (like smoothies, fraps, etc.)  Yes it was strict but it worked.  Today I have added back some of the things that I had given up.  I eat the occasional dessert or treat but I'm not losing weight any more.  Once I started adding back the foods I had given up becuase I wanted to optimize the benefits of a leaner, healthier diet, I started to struggle  I've still lost over 115 lbs, but in order to lose the last 25 I know I need to get back to my strict food protocol OR exercise more. 

You don't mention exercise, but you know it's an important part of losing weight.  Are you exercising?

My advice, if you're going to re-commit to your band and WL effort?  Clean out the pantry and fridge.  Have a talk with your boyfriend about sabotaging your efforts.  ELIMINATE any liquids with calories, and get back to tracking everything you eat with an on line tool like the daily plate, that will keep you honest and educate you about what you're putting in your mouth.  When you start seeing how many carbs and sugar and fat, etc. are in some of your favorite foods you will start to think differently about what you eat. 

It's really up to you how you choose to work with your band tool, but don't give up!  It get's so much harder the older you get and your body chemistry changes, etc.  Make sure you have good restriction.  You may never feel full like you used to, but you must learn that 1/2 cup is the maximum portion you should eat if you have restriction.  If you hurt your band or stretch your pouch you will have wasted a lot of money on a tool that no longer works at all.  Portion size is key to band health.

You can do this!  I'm here to help if you have any questions, please ask.

Best wishes,

Lisa O.