WLS isn't for everyone!

I will be having my one year bandiversary this coming Wednesday, and have only lost 20 plus pounds in a year's time.  I feel like such a failure when I see everyone else on these bariatric boards losing weight.  I guess I am destined to be a big woman for the rest of my life with no chance of getting to a normal size for me.  Like all of you, I have been on every "diet" known to man (and woman), and have failed at all of them, too.  What is wrong with me?  I am a 60 yr old postmenopausal woman who has so many medical problems and can't lose enough weight to get rid of these conditions.  I am also insulin resistant, diabetic, and take numerous medications every day, the latest being medication for hypothyroidism.  My only drawback during this one year journey, is that I do very little exercise ( from the underactive thyroid and no motivation or energy) and don't journal my meals ( got burned out from doing that during my South Beach and Weigh****chers phases).  I have changed my eating habits around drastically, and don't eat the junk foods and carbs I used to pre-band.  I drink my water all through the day, and have cut out most of the bad carbs (like breads, tortillas, potatoes, rice, pastas, corn, peas, and white sugars).  Why can't I get my scales to move past the 20 + lb loss?  Having another WLS is out of the question because of my blood clotting issues and the lack of money for the procedure.  I have good restriction and have to be very vigilant as to what I put in my mouth and how well I chew it....did I say that I have the lapband? My surgeon is over a 4 hour drive away (one way) from me, and I haven't seen him for almost 6 months.  He turned the saline fills over to his "fellows" and doesn't do them for his patients anymore.  How does that sound to you???  He got his money for the surgery and is "washing his hands" of us now.  Some helpful and concerned doctor, huh? 

I am so disheartened and frustrated with my lapband that I just want to cry.  Does exercising really affect the weight loss that much?  It's not like I sit on my couch all day long...I do my usual household duties during the day and move a lot while doing them.  I have just given up on ever being a success at this new way of life for me....it just doesn't work for someone like me.   Grrrrrrr!  Does anyone relate to my problem?...or am I the only one?

Susie 

Oh yes, exercise makes an big difference - that's exercise over and above what your normal exercise is.  If you have only lost 20 pounds in one year and have been totally, you need to see your surgeon ASAP.  As to lapband fills, they are essential to success.  No wonder you aren't losing well.  Turning them over to his associates sounds appropriate to me - it's such a simple and quick procedure and new patients need his attention much much more.  It wasn't too far to go for the surgery - it isn't too far to go for your fills.  I had my first fill 6 weeks after surgery and have had a fill every four months since until the last time - and it was six months between fills.  It will be six months again this time as I think I'm about where I want to be.

Calories still count the same way they did before surgery.  There's still only three ways to lose weight - ****at fewer calories  (2)burn more calories with exercise (3)a combination of 1 & 2 - and it's the combination we'll have to use the rest of our lives.  Bariatric surgery isn't a magic want, it's only a tool.  And, as with any tool, it is our choice whether or not we use it.  These are LIFETIME lifestyle changes we must make if we are to be successful!

It is also your  choice whether or not you give up or whether or not you make the changes necessary and vital to succeed.  I invite you to choose to succeed.  Your post indicates there are a lot of significant changes you could choose to make. 

I am not a lapbander but feel your pain. Yes you have made some mistakes along the way but many of us do. Remember your age too. You are not going to lose as fast as someone much younger then yourself. Everyone is different. Are you taking your thyroid meds, vitamins and calcium 4 hours apart ? This was a mistake I was doing until recently. Calcuim and Iron will stop your body from obsorbing the meds for up to 4 hrs. I was already on 100% Thyroid replacement and my thyroid was still out of wac.  Then I read an article on the meds and changed the way I took my meds and vitamins. You need to make that trip to the Dr. for follow up appointments. YOU ARE WORTH IT.  My Dr's office has someone else do fills too. I think that is command now. As far as exercise I would recommend you buy a pedometor and increase your steps until you reach 10,000 steps a day.  It all comes down to calories in verses calories out. The first thing I did when I was getting back on track was sit down and write an honest letter to myself along with a plan A and Plan B. I gave a copy to someone I really trust. When they read my letter they called my daughter and said my letter was good but really deep. I tell her everything but she has not read my letter yet.  It would make her cry but it is my thoughts on my life and how I plan to handle my life and continue on this journey. I now journal my food in a tablet. Not fit day or anything. I want it handy to look at fast.  I also journal my thoughts,water,exercise and vitamins. I go to group therapy and got a personal trainer at the gym. I AM WORTH IT TOO ! This is a journey for life. We will have many bumps in the road and hit many pot holes. You have the tool. Now it is up to you to miss all the potholes and continue on. YOU MIGHT HAVE LOST THE BATTLE , BUT YOU HAVEN"T LOST THE WAR UNTIL YOU GIVE UP !  YOU CAN DO THIS ! Try writing that letter today . Hope this helps you,  Count your blessing !  Sometimes life gives us lemons, it is up to us to turn them into lemonaide. See you lighter. Joanne

Joanne...Thank you for your most welcome advice and suggestions.  I haven't really "given up" on my band, I just lost the "excitement" that came with it when I stopped losing for many, many months.  I know in my heart what I have to do to get the scales moving again, but my body and mind just won't let me do it !  I can pretty much talk myself out of anything I don't want to do.  And I consider myself the "Queen of excuses"!   I know it's from lack of exercising and arthritis, but my body just aches so bad when and after I do exercise, then I just don't feel like doing them anymore.  I walked on my treadmill for about 10 minutes yesterday in 5 min increments.  I also did 3 loads of laundry, cleaned our master bathroom, loaded and unloaded the dishwasher, stripped the bed and remade it, and fixed lunch and supper for myself and my DH.  So I am not totally inactive...I just don't get enough of the cardio and strength exercising I really need.

I have not gained back the 20+ lbs that I originally lost, which is good.  My band is keeping that off.  I can't overeat like I did prebanding because I am afraid of getting a major stuck episode and don't want that again.  So I am very aware of what and how I eat.  I'm feeling like I may be losing some of my restriction in the last few days, though.  Food seems to be going down much better lately.  I take my thyroid medicine (75 mg) every morning (on an empty stomach) along with my atenolol (for high blood pressure, my HCTZ, cozaar, glimepiride and metformin for diabetes.  Then after lunch and dinner,  I take a chewable calcium and before dinner I take a chewable multi-vitamin.  Are these vitamins and calcium tablets too close together?  I recently had my thyroid checked again, and the blood test results came back normal at a 9.9 reading.
I have never been much of an exercise person, but do get everyday activity with my housework.

Maybe I will call to make an appointment with my surgeon in a few days, but don't look forward to that 4 hour trip up there and the 4 hour trip back home.  But if he can help me get this weight moving again, it will probably be worth it.  I just don't have any faith in myself anymore.

Susie

Hi Susie, and welcome to BOTT,

I just wanted to tell you that regardless of the weight loss, you have made some amazing changes to improve your health and you are a healthier person because of it.  You should be proud of yourself for sticking with a plan even if you don't see the scale move the way that you would like for it to move; That takes a lot of determination.  You are not a failure....everybody's body works differently.  My ultimate goal is to do what you have already accomplished...to eat in a more healthful way on a more consistent basis.  I'm still working on it, but it is not easy at times.  Just an idea, could it be that you are not taking in enough calories, and your body is in starvation mode....trying to hold onto all of your calories?  I know that if this happens, it can slow down weight loss.  Hang in there, Susie.  You are not alone.  You have come to the right place for support and understanding.

Thank you, Hope!  I am glad someone understands my plight.  Some people say to just exercise...but my body just doesn't want to.  I have no problems planning out my meals and preparing them...but to journal every calorie that goes into my mouth is more complicated than most people realize.  I am from the old school and learned how to cook from my mom, but do so in a much healthier way now.  But I cook from scratch and it's hard to calculate every morsel that I eat.  I'd have to break down every meal I fix and that could really get to be a pain in the behind!   I'm sure I'm getting in enough calories...maybe too many, and that's one of the reasons I'm not losing.

I have done so many diets over the years to no avail.  I tried Weigh****chers for 6 months, counting every point I ate and stayed in my allotted amounts every day.  I also went to the physical therapy exercise place and did 45 mins of cardio and 15 min of strength for 3 days a week for 6 months.  Do you know where that got me, Hope?   I lost a whopping 11 lbs in 6 months.  So I'm telling you that diets and exercising DO NOT WORK FOR ME!  Now do you see why I give up so easily????....it isn't worth the effort for me.  I need serious help!

Susie

Have you ever thought about a revision? Maybe the lap-band was just not the right surgery for you.