The scale is going the wrong way!

Hi all! It's been a while since I've been on here so let me give you all the cliffnotes version of my history with my lap-band. I was originally banded in September of 2008 with a Realize band. Two years and 110 lbs later I had it replaced with a lap-band. For those of you Realize people out there, the Realize band was great, except that my Dr. managed to poke a hole in the pillows during surgery so my band never really held fluid. I still managed to lose 110 lbs though. So I had my lap-band put on in August of 2010 and it's holding it's fluid just fine. The problem is, I have gained 17 lbs since then. It's NOT the bands fault, it's totally mine. I've completely lost the drive to keep going. I started at 303 lbs, got down to 193, and am currently at 210. I need to get another fill, although I've been getting stuck here and there, but I can still eat larger quantities of food. I got myself a gym membership 2 weeks ago, but have yet to go. Have any of you just lost the motivation and kind of given up? If so, any advise on how you got back on the wagon? Thanks so much!!

I have somewhat, but I luckily didn't gain any weight. I just didn't lose. I blame it on my hectic schedule and the fact I am working full time and also taking graduate courses. Now that my classes have ended, I am back to the Y pool and my nutritionist.

Congrats on losing the 110 lbs. That is amazing.

As for not making progress, as I've suggested to others on this site, with a band, you have to go on a regular diet, like WW or Jenny, or see a nutritionist. I know I can't do this without the proper support. I now have to carry a little calorie tracker with me, and record all my food, plus workout 3-4 times a week.

The benefit of the band is that you don't get as  hungry, but you still have to work it.

Long winded way to say, glad you are back. Keep up all your hard work, and check in with your great results! We all want to hear about it!

Cheers!
Mary

My first year after surgery I was a Band failure.  I wasn't losing weight at all.  I was frustrated and questioned my choice of surgery.

I'm not sure what exactly gave me the motivation to give it one last chance.  I know I have a group of friends at work that started to work out (I didn't work out at all) and they nagged at me to join them.  I remember not wanting to go and trying to come up with a good excuse to get out of it.  But I went....that changed everything for me.  The first month I lost 16 lbs.  and this was 18 months after surgery!!!  I have exercised 6 days a week ever since.  I slowly kept adding time and increasing my intensity and now I am training to run a 5K...this from a person could barely walk a block a year ago!!!  I can tell you after I started losing weight it was very easy to keep my motivation.  Especially when you start going down in sizes quickly.  Last summer I was a size 24 now I am a size 16!!!  This is all my exercise paying off.  I workout so intensely now I even had to ADD calories to my diet...can you believe it!!!  I can eat more and still lose weight!!! 

I will tell you I go to the gym religiously.  I almost never miss.  I missed once when we were hit with 22 inches of snow...but I shoveled snow for 4 hours so that was my work out.  I missed once when my step-dad died.  And I missed 4 days when I was sick with strep and a sinus infection...bu I tried to go an my friends made leave.  My point is don't give yourself excuses...ever!!!  One excuse turns into another and another.  I will schedule everything around my workouts now...they come first.  I have now lost 150 lbs and I am still losing every week about 1-2 lbs and I eat about 1400 calories a day. 

Congrats to you!  Yours is a truly inspiring story.  I too have been steadily intensifying my workouts.  Although someone younger and smaller would laugh at what I call intensifying, but then they didn't start where I did.  When I told my cardiologist that I had just moved from 1 to 1 1/2, to a 2 mile walk, he asked me how long I took.  I proudly told him I walked about a 20 minute mile.  He quickly informed me that was too slow.  I have worked my butt off to shave it to a 2 mile walk at 16 1/2 min. per
mile.  It IS all I can do.  Then I do Zumba Curves or sometimes just a Curves workout. At 60, I'm still a slow loser. I decided I was kinda tired today because though I did do Curves, I didn't get to start my day with my walk.  I will tomorrow.

Congradulations on all the weight you have lost!!!!!!  I too have lost my way.  All though I still go to the gym.  I had fallen off tract about a month ago and can't seem to get back on.  I don't know if it's because I hit a size I thought I wouldn't see again or what.  It's a stuggle every day.  But my mind is always telling me my band is a tool. Use it.  I am careful not to eat foods that will make me sick.  Hard way to find out about them.  Take each hour as it comes.  You'll have some good hours, some bad.  But in the lond end of the day you know you are still trying and That is Important.  I'll keep you in my  thoughts.  Wishing you success!
Tracy

Wow, I came on here this morning because I am at my wits end with this scale going the wrong way! It's amazing that there your post was, talking about what I needed! First of all, congrats on your weight loss and secondly, I know how you feel! I've only lost 50 pounds, but this last few months I've managed to put 8 of it back on. I didn't join a gym, but I bought a treadmill, did it religiously for a few weeks and haven't touched it since. I know I'm tight enough, if not a little too tight, because i can get stuck pretty easy, but I manage to eat foods that go down easy and are not good for me anyway..in short, I still have a "fat head". I'm afraid to go back to my doctor because when I had gained before, she was so upset with me..I mean, if I was good at losing weight, would I have needed a band in the first place??
Sorry for the rant, but I am pretty much beside myself at the moment. Every day I wake up deciding today will be different and every night I realize it wasn't..just like the old, pre-band days. My only motiviation is that it's NOT the old days and we do have this tool, we just need to use it. I'm in if your in, lets DO THIS!!

Maggie, I'm SO in! I just looked at myself and said "you can't ever go back to where you were." I'm facing the music and I just made a Dr. appt to go see my surgeon and face the scale with her by my side. I'm going to get a small adjustment, and I'm starting over. Liquids, mushies, then healthier foods. I'm going to the gym after work today for the 1st time since paying for my membership a month ago. It's time to stop being in denial about what I've been doing. I can't blame others, my job, my school work, etc. I can only blame myself! I'm the one that puts "bad" food in my mouth. I owe it to myself to live healthier! Maggie, message me if you need any support, we can lean on eachother!