I had trouble at first.  I hardly lost any weight my first year.  I think maybe 40lbs.  I was 360lbs...I had a lot of weight to lose and 40lbs was not even close to enough. 

I am 6 years out now and have lost about 185lbs.  What changed.  I have to tell you I had a group of friends that started going to the gym and basically forced me to.  I started to workout 5 days a week....and that first month I lost 16lbs.  I don't know after you start losing like that and you put all that time into working out...you get very motivated.  I started to eat right and live right. 

As far as your eating habits.  I have to agree with Kate.  Liquid calories will go right through your band and leave you unsatisfied.  If your sweet tooth is nagging at you.  Try a healthy alternative.  This is still got some calories in it but much better for you than junk food.  Bananas or apples with peanut butter.  My favorite snack.  Of course you still have to limit your self because the peanut butter is high in calories...BUT the fruit is high in fiber and will fill you up.  Or take a some grapes and dip them in yogurt ( I use Yoplait's strawberry cheese cake) and freeze them.  Again the grapes will fill you up.  There are so many sweet treats that are good for you. 

As for meals eat lean protein and you should feel full fast.  I always eat a lean protein and a salad.  I always walk away from dinner feeling satisfied and good. 

The point I am trying to make is it's never to late to start over and make your band work for you.  I was over year out from surgery.  And I started over and made a success out it.  Stay positive. 

PM me any time.

Would u mind if I contact u just to have a buddy to help me along the way?

Lapbands don't work for everyone. But it is equally true that ALL types of weight loss surgery require us to have the correct mindset and work hard! It is perhaps easier with the sleeve which physically limits intake (but still allows bad food choices) or the bypass which restricts intake and also causes some calories to be nakabsorbed (but still allows bad food choices!). But all weight loss patients can eat round their surgery. The DS is the most radical and in some ways more forgiving but even with that you can still fail to lose if you live on carbs, 

Unless it is too tight, the band will never stop you eating your kids' cereal!

i don't understand why you had saline removed to let you take a break. Was the band so tight it made eating difficult? And if that was the case, was it not helping you restrict intake?

All the band does -and for many people it is not enough to help them - is slow your eating so that your brain thinks you have eaten more than you have and so no longer tells you you are hungry. It shouid not stop you eating, it shouid not make eating unpleasant (unless you eat too quickly or don't chew enough). 

I consider my band to be perfectly adjusted. If I eat a sensible portion of food, starting with dense protein, and then stop eating - I will not think of food fir a good few hours. If I am around food and bored, I may well want t! I may have to fight very hard not to eat it. Do I keep busy and away from food and don't fell hungry. On a busy da, I forget to eat. On a quiet day, I have to work very hard bit to eat.  I couid aiways physically eat more. 

You have to want to be slim and healthy more than you want that food! You have work out ways to handle boredom and stress which dint involve food.  Over here in the UK, we don't go in all that much for therapy, but might that be an option for you?

Well I think if I had researched and my doctor had talked to more about other options I would have gotten the sleeve no one told me until after about other options and now I regret not doing the sleeve my aunt Jennifer had it and she is so thin she was like 400 ibs. I am failing myself I'm sabbataging myself and I don't know how to stop I'm actually looking up different low carb shake recipes maybe that will help sweet tooth u r so strong I am so happy for u. I did have trouble eating cuz of bad habits and I'm slowing down and taking smaller bites now that I am trying to get refocused it's doing better last three days. I don't exactly know how to feel if band is full enough cuz let me tell u I am hungry two hours after I eat and I feel hungry I don't know if it's my brain or what but I do actually feel a hungry sensation. 

Point by point!  Shakes are liquid calories! Liquid does nothing for our hunger level. The very best thing would be to go cold turkey. It would be HARD for a while and you would probably get carb withdrawals symptoms like  headache and maybe nausea. But they would pass. But if you feel you can't do that, find an alternative, not shakes! Bizarrely, I find fruit like melon is more filling and sweeter than other fruits. I also often have sugar free boiled sweets, many would say avoid these because of sweeteners etc and they do act as a laxative!!  But for me they provide a boost of sweetness.

Hunger, IMO it doesn't matter a damn if it is head hunger or "real" hunger. I still want to eat. So my way is first of all to get busy! Or do something where I am away from food. I might even have a bath. You can eat in the bath but only if you take food in with you! But if that doesn't work, I eat. Otherwise it will just get worse and worse.  Not just a taster, something to fill me. If I am at home,  might have three fish fingers (think you call them fish sticks) which come out at under 200 calories. But something which is solid and savoury. 

If you are eating outside planned mealtimes, it is important to keep a daily total.