Need honest/realistic advice

Hi everyone,

I really need some honest advice. I'm not sure what to do and trying to be honest with myself. Here are the facts:

I have 5ccs in a 10cc band and my last fill of .25 ccs was in October 2010. I have lost 12-14 lbs (depending on the day) since then, so about 1 lb per week average - HOWEVER I have been gaining and losing the same 3 lbs since Thanksgiving.

I admit that my food choices since Thanksgiving have not been all that great. I often eat things that are higher calorie and go down easier, mostly because it's been the holidays and that stuff is around and I wasn't that motivated not to.

I have been exercising my butt off for the most part, like 30 minutes of intense working out 5-6 days a week except for a couple of weeks when I was injured and prohibited to do so.  Thus, it's very likely that I have replaced some fat weight with muscle weight. Haven't gone down any clothing sizes though so if that's happening I can't tell.

When I am following band rules to the letter I have some days where I am not hungry at all and struggle to get in 1200 calories and some days when I am starving and have no problem eating 1800. I try to keep track just to have an accurate idea of what it's taking to satisfy me even if I'm not restricting my calories.

The time I feel the band is working best is around my period when I get tighter than normal. I love that feeling but am worried if I do get a fill I'll then be way too tight around my period.  

I can and do eat whole grain breads and sprouted wheat bagels at my current level of restriction. I could eat white stuff but choose not to (I've heard "if you can eat bread you need a fill" from my surgeon's head nurse before.) 

I have not had a stuck episode or PB or anything even close since I figured out the pills I was swallowing were blocking my stoma and stopped taking them.

I am meeting with a nutritionist at work that my office provides as a free service and I can meet with once a week if I like (my first meeting is tomorrow.)

I am joining WW at work which will start next Monday and have weekly meetings for 13 weeks.

So I feel conflicting things. On one hand I feel that I am plenty tight in my band and am just not choosing the right foods to make it work because I do have days where my restriction is great. Yesterday for example - AMAZING and I wouldn't have wanted to be tighter. But then I have days where I am hungry and unable to be satisfied no matter what. And then I have days where I just don't care and I eat junk which doesn't fill me up anyway.

I guess asking for another very small fill like even .10 cc might help me and probably wouldn't result in being too tight but I am afraid that the real problem is with me here and that I should stick with the level of restriction I'm at and see if implementing these new tools like the nutritionist and weigh****chers helps.

I have an appointment this Friday morning with my surgeon. The choice to get a fill or not (and how much) has always been mine but of course I'm going to give him all the facts and see what he thinks.

Can anyone give me some honest advice, i.e. don't sugar coat things? 

Thank you.

I also have been playing with the same 5 since Thanksgiving. Tis the season...

About your restriction level. It sounds like you are there. You are in the zone enough that if you buckled down and quit having those days where you eat junk and sliders you'd be losing like crazy. It also sounds like perhaps your mind isn't wrapped around this process yet. I'm no professional but if there are days you don't care and you blow your diet out of the water, there must be a reason. if it's once in a blue moon, I get it!  I really do. But if this happens often, you better get it under control.

Try a little experiment. Buckle down for an entire week if you can. See if it makes a major difference. Make sure you are drinking enough water to flush the fat from your system. That's a huge component...so my nurse harps on me every single visit!

Thanks Tiff,

Not sure if it wasn't clear but I do have days when even "buckled down" I am just insatiably hungry. On those days I just keep eating protein and vegetables till it's time for bed, not giving into the temptation of blowing it. And then there are days when I am "buckled down" and I am not hungry at all. And then there are days when I am not that hungry but decide that if a calorie is a calorie is a calorie then I might as well use mine on something like chocolate ;) I know that's not a good argument, but it happens. I know a lot of it is me and my mentality, hence starting WW and seeing the nutritionist at work weekly too.  

I'm not trying to argue and I think you're definitely right about needing to get myself back under control in terms of junk and slider foods but it's hard to believe I should still be so hungry sometimes if I were in the green zone.  I also have a bit of the "I've lost 90 lbs in 10 months and I'm tired of this" syndrome. Not gonna lie.

buckling down for a week with a cheat day in between where there are sliders/junk coming into play isn't really buckling down. it's like it resets the cycle.

I was trying to say that it might be the mental aspect thats coming into play. Are you physically starving or mentally unsatisfied?  I sometimes have a hard time telling the difference and will graze for entirely too long if I'm just looking for something... no clue about what it is, but something in that kitchen must statisfy at some point. Is it that kind of thing?.

I also had the "i'm over this" feeling during the holidays. But we're in this for the long haul. It's so hard to refocus but we must persevere. I think getting into WW again and seeing the nut will help keep this at the front of your mind. This is a good plan in my opinion.

I get what you're saying but I'm pretty sure it's real physical hunger 99% of the time.  I tend to just be completely uninterested in food and busy enough that I forget to eat when I'm not physically hungry.  The one exception to that is when I start to go down the junkfood path because it just becomes too easy to keep going down that path and eating well beyond the point of actually needing food but that doesn't apply to the times when I'm fully on board with my plan.

Anywho... Yesterday was a great day both hunger and nutrition-wise and I'm determined to keep it up through the rest of the week. My appointment is on Friday and I will lay it all out for my doctor and let him decide if he thinks another (very small) fill would help. I have a feeling he's going to once again be very happy with my progress since last time I saw him and I'm hoping he encourages me to not have a fill and work on the mental aspect. The last thing I want is to be too tight and have to go back to him for that.

The truth is that a 'calorie is a calorie' ON THE PLATE -- as soon as it hits your body, a calorie is NOT a calorie.

That is the main reason that WW just changed its whole program.

Our bodies react to different calories in different ways -- as Tiff said, when you have the simple carbs, it resets you up for the hungries.

I take 3 days to 'de-tox' from the crap foods that I have let slip in -- and then I judge whether or not I really need a fill.

When I have a day of the 'hungries' -- I look back at my tracker and can usually attribute it to the fact that the few days before it were 'carb-heavy'.

Only you know the truth about what you have been eating ---- when I get honest with myself, if I can follow my true band-friendly eating plan and be hungry between meals, it is time for a little fill.

Yeah, I know :) My first WW meeting is this monday. I'm excited for it but nervous cause I'm not going to be talking about my band. I "know" that eating simple carbs and sugars is setting myself up for more of them cause they don't keep you from being hungry, I was just saying, I often let myself believe that a calorie is a calorie and then I find out how wrong I am when I get on the scale again. Sigh... I'm going to really commit to the WW program and support system and also do my best to only weigh at the meetings and hide my scale at home. Hopefully these things will help. I have to visit my surgeon either way and I hate to drive all the way up there and not get a fill if I need one but today is now 2 days in a row of good restriction (and good eating) so I don't want to be too tight.

I had surgery in December. In the entire month of February, I lost exactly ONE f*cking pound. I followed all the rules, exercised 3x a week, did everything I should and still only lost a pound. Was I pissed? Oh yeah!

It could just be a plateau. It happens some times.  

Lol... are you talking about your original surgery in '03?  I know losing slowly shortly after surgery is not that uncommon with it taking time to get restriction and all. But yeah, I'm probably experiencing my first actual plateau and it's discouraging as hell and makes me think maybe my body is just meant to be in the 180s and nothing I can do will change that. Who knows.

Hello

I had the same problem for months and I have over 9 ccs in my band. 

What I did was cut out all carbs except fruits and veggies...no bread, pasta, etc.  I keep my carbs at about 25-40.  One piece of wheat bread is about 10-20 carbs...so see they sneak in there.  I only drink water and Crystal lite.  No liquid caloires...no coffee, juice or milk.  I basically got more strict with myself. 

Then with the exercise, what I do is when I have a slow weight loss week I intensify the work out.  For example I put the treadmill at an incline.  that burns major calories.  I exercise 90 minutes a day 6 days a week.  60 of that is the treadmill (make sure you are doing your cardio within your target hear rate zone.), the rest is weight training and stretching.  Weight training is important because it strengthens your muscles.  Your muscles are the fat/ calorie burning centers of your body.  More lean muscle the faster your metabolism.  I do my lower body three days and upper body 3 days.  I cannot tell you how much this has helped me.  I have lost 45 pounds since October (and I' m not a newbie...I'm almost 2 years out and I'm losing quickly).  When weight lifting you want to 3 sets at about 12-15 reps.  With the weight you need enough weight that the last couple of reps are a struggle.  I also do stretching exercises because it's good for avoiding injuries.  

So my advice is to be more strict with carbs.  Intensify your cardio, add in weight training.  It worked for me!!!