FAILING!!!

I was banded in January 2009 and have only lost 25lbs. I am starting to gain weight back and have had many fills.  The last fill I had was about 3 weeks ago and I am eating EVERYTHING in sight including bread, pasta, etc.  I still have to eat it slowly, but as long as I do, it goes down. 

A few fills ago it was probably too tight because I was throwing up a lot, but I was losing so I didn't tell my dr.

I'm afraid I've done some damage, but my dr. hasn't seen anything.  I am terrified that I am going to fail!!!!

HELP!

Liza

Hi Liza-
I'm a preop wls person, so take my 02 for what it's worth. I'm in the 2cd month of my 6 month medically supervised diet.

I've gone on 2 consultations and both doctors told me the same thing - that the bands are a much slower weight loss, and the statistics show that most wls only loose 50% of their excess weight.  There are exceptions either way, and a lot of that has to do with how you work the tool that you have.  That being said, I am bouncing back and forth myself trying to figure out if I can accept a slow weight loss without losing hope of ever achieving my  goal.  I understand how frustrated you are....I would be as well.

It sounds like you are sabotaging yourself - you know the rules of the band, but you're still eating carbs...and the wrong ones.  I would gently and respectfully suggest that you see a therapist and/or get to an OA meeting for support. 

I'll be rooting for you to get back on track, and hope to see a post in the near future annoucing it to the board :)

unfortunately, you're right - as much as I hate to admit it. I only wish I had gotten more support from my Dr. It would have been nice to get nutritional support through his office (they only offered 1 free visit to a dietician).

Hi Lillybell.

I'm sorry you havn't felt the support of your Dr. However, look to the internet for info if you don't feel you are getting it there. I know the net doesn't offer one on one support like face to face contact with someone would, but at least  you would be getting the info you need. Use this site as support too. Try a food journal to help track and make yourself accountable for what  you taking in. Set up a routine for exercise and find a buddy to do it with  you. It sounds like you are going to have to search for your support, so be creative, turn this into a positive and motivate yourself that your not going to be failure, but a success. You can do it, you just have to get into that frame of mind. Remember that your band is your tool and you are the only one that can make it work. I know you can do it!!! Search out the folks here that have success stories to share, it's a great motivator!!!

If you want, I would be willing to fax stuff to you that my nutritionist has given me. I have only met with her once face to face, but she responds well to email too. Consider seeing if your nutritionist will answer your questions by email to allaviate a cost of a visit.

You can do it girl!!!!

Everything goes down my band.  I don't chose to eat everything, but nothing I have tried has been a problem.  However, I don't use my band to physically restrict me from food.  I use it to feel satisfied after eating, so that when I eat a reasonable portion of healthy foods I feel okay until my next meal.  I have to do the work to stay away from grazing, eating large quantities, or eating to many starches, sweets, and fried foods, because my band is not going to do that for me.

I really encourage you to review Jean's posts over on the Lap Band board.  She did a series of posts on "Lap Band Rules" that are an excellent reference for any bander needing to get on track.  I think if your head isn't in the game, that going in for fills to get tighter and tighter isn't going to help and could make things worse.  Especially if you were throwing up but not sharing that with your doctor.  That is a big fat red flag that you are not using your band the right way.

Figure out why you are eating "everything in sight".  Try to remember that you are going to have to diet to lose weight.  But don't forget that you have an amazing tool that will make that diet so much easier and ultimately so much more successful than any diet your have ever tried before!  Please believe that!  You can do this!!  

Lillybell68,

 

Hope you don't mind advice. Here are some points I want to mention, and hope you find it helpful.

(01)

 

I spoke to a close friend, who is a Certified Fitness Trainer, about losing weight. He gave me some information I found interesting, and thought I’d pass it along.

 

The first thing he said is “You have to EAT in order to lose weight". He further explained, this does not mean to OVEREAT, but eat sensible portions.

 

He explained the body is a marvelous machine, and it will protect itself. If one doesn’t eat enough, the body’s metabolism will slow down - in order to keep itself functioning. If a person intake is less then what it expels, the body will start to “store" food. If a person stay on this type of eating regiment over a prolonged period, the body starts to “eat itself" - which is extremely unhealthy and could be fatal.

 

According to my friend, the first thing the body will first start to “eat away" at is all the stored sugars in the body. After that has been depleted, the body then attacks all the (both good and bad) carbohydrates and fats. Finally the body starts to “digest" the proteins in the body. The proteins are mostly stored in muscle. One of the most important muscles our body has is the HEART. That’s why many anorexia patients die of heart problems - basically the body ate it away. 

 

He said don’t worry if you’re losing right away. He said as long as we follow the guidelines our Doctors/Nutritionist has set for us, we will lose weight. The body sometimes takes a while before it “resets" itself.

 

(02)

  

Recently a friend of mine had WLS. While she’s been successful on her lost, she’s a little upset she hasn’t lost the same amount of weight as others have. I explained to her to stop comparing her success to others. Just as long as she is losing is the true measure of success.

 

Some of us (me include) believe scales should be used only for fish or piano ... However, many others like to weight themselves regularly. They feel it helps keep them on track.

 

Many compare their lost to someone else’s, and get discouraged. The amount of weight lost is affected by many factors. Everyone loses weight at different rates. It has to do with age, gender, one’s weight, exercise, etc.. A 10 pound lost to one person could be as affected as a 40 pound lost to another. Think of it this way: If a 400-pound person loses 40 pounds; a 300-pound person loses 30 pounds, a 200-pound person loses 20 pounds, and a 100-pound person loses 10 pounds – the 400-pound person didn’t necessarily lose more weight than the others. All three lost 10% of their body weight. 

 

And sometimes it is not the number of pounds that someone loses in a specified period of time that is important. Remember, if you are toning up muscle – your weight loss may seem to have slowed (or stopped), when in fact you are replacing fat with muscle. Muscle is heavier then fat. Someone weighing 200 pounds with a body fat percentage of 25 is carrying around 50 pounds of extra fat. That same person weighing 200 pounds with 10 percent body fat would be carrying only 20 pounds of fat. So it’s not the number that is important.

 

Remember there are other “scales" you can use to monitor your success: your constant hunger reduction (eliminated); reduced clothing size; increase energy; re-familiarizing yourself to body-parts unseen for years (errr… toes) ; “common" activity becoming easier (walking, climbing steps), just feeling good about yourself; sleeping better (reduced snoring); the mirror; better medical exam results (lower cholesterol and/or blood pressure); etc.

                    

Finally, we a generation of instantaneous results, however remember we didn’t put all the weight on at once, it took years. So don’t you think losing it would take just as long? This isn't one of those miracle instantaneous weight loss programs. Those types of programs always fail. This is a way of life. Plus in all my years of losing weight I’ve come too realized with instantaneous weight lost comes instantaneous weight gain.

 

Nowhere does any of the literate state you will lose x amount of weight in x days. Think LONG TERM. That’s what I am doing. My new outlook is  “Slow and steady wins the race".  Even if it take me over 5 years to lose all the weight I want to, I know in the long run I will be happy and healthier. My doctor firmly believes the slower you lose weight, the better chance you have of keeping it off. My doctor reminded me that each pound I gained took time to put on, and it’s going to take some time to lose those same pounds. Try to remind yourself that even if I lost only 1 pound per week, in year’s time I’d be 52 pounds lighter.

  

Be proud of your lost. No matter how small it may seem. Remember, it’s better to lose not a pound than to GAIN a pound.

 

 

(03)

 

In the beginning don’t be too concerned/worry about “calories, fats, sugars, carbs, etc". Make sure you are getting your 60 to 80 grams of protein. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO WEIGHT LOSS. In the future you can worry about all those other things, but for now - WORRY ABOUT THE PROTEIN. Now don’t get me wrong - I don’t want you to eat a bag of chips, or whole cake or drink tons of ice cream shakes in order to get protein in. You need to use some common sense :) !!

 

Last year when I first had the operation I noticed if I ate 4 ounces of protein I didn’t feel full - however if I ate 6 ounces I did. I spoke to my Doctor about it. FOR ME he said that those “numbers" are somewhat guidelines. He went on to explain there are some folks who feel full on 2 ounces of protein while some need 6 or 8. He also explained that the calories intake should not be too much of a concern in the beginning. The way he explained it to me was: Prior the operation I may have been taken 3,000 calories per day. After the operation, with the amount of food I was taking in - I may have been taking in 1700 calories. While that’s 500 calories more then the recommended daily allotment - it was actually 1300 calories less then what I normally took in. So not only was I losing weight, but was also feel full. We need to worry about calories when out weight slows downs/stops or starts going up. ADVICE WARNING: TALK TO THE DOCTOR BEFORE INCREASING YOUR INTAKE.