please help*

[santosha]

hello,

well I posted a little while ago, and got some help, but I'm still distraught.

I was banded in June, and filled in July.......it is now mid Aug. and I have lost a total of 5 pounds!!!!!!

what am I doing wrong? what can help?

I do have restriction, it's hard to eat bread or French fries,.....I know I'm eating less!!!! I don't understand?

PLEASE if anyone can help I would love to hear from you

....Did I just waste 8,000?

[Phoenix]

Please call Dr. Miranda for a daily diet plan to follow. Part of what we paid for is nutritional advice.

You didn't mention using a food diary (thedailyplate.com or fitday.com are both great) or what you're doing for exercise. Those are important, too.

[Kim2BSlim]

I agree with Phoenix. Please start tracking your caloric daily intake. You will be shocked that you "thought" you were dieting and really eating 2,000 cals or more a day! I was shocked when I started tracking my calories.

Are you drinking with your meals? If so, stop that right away! It flushes youe food to your big stomach and you stay hungry all day.

Get your magic water daily intake in. It helps me so much! Stay away from liquid calories!

You didn't say if you are exercsing? If you are, great! If not, start with just 5-10 minutes a day of brisk walking or 3-5 situps. Then increase your exercise when you start to feel like you can go longer.

The pounds will come off if you do the above things!

[Kimmy in MD]

ditto to everything Kim said, except not sure about the sit-ups. I was told to wait 3 months until I did any abdominal work. I was banded in late May and can not do sit-ups until September. If you were banded in June, I would think you need to wait until later than August to do sit-ups.

[4mygirls]

Hi there,

I have restriction and have to be careful to chew and chew. I started a new class at my gym. It is a very good workout and I am burning about 600 calories just in that hour long class. First week I lost 5 pounds. So excited because I had hit a plateau of about 4 weeks before losing that 5lbs. So after the second week I couldn't wait to weigh. Working out, eating less, drinking lots of water.....that got me about 1/2 pound. I was feeling a lot stronger but no weight loss.. WTF!! I was pissed. So I scheduled a meeting with the owner of the gym that I workout at and he asked me about how many calories I was eating. I told him I was eating about 1100 a day. I felt like I sat down in the principals office in High school. After doing a body evaluation he explained that me just sitting doing nothing but breathing, I burn 1800 calories. The reason that I am not losing is my body is in starvation mode and is holding on the everything. So I increased my calories up to 1500 and I lost one pound on vacation not even working out. I am looking forward to this next week after i have been eating more and see where it takes me.

I think that sometimes people get so focused on eating so little that they are not eating enough to fuel a human body little lone to lose weight. I am not sure if this is your problem or not but I am suppose to be eating up to 2200 calories in 10 weeks. (If I continue to workout as much as i am) So less isn't always more.

[Manda_T]

First of All, (((((BIG HUG)))

Second, I posted the other day re: not being perfect.....I was banded in March and had not lost any weight, actually had gained some. I thought I had 3cc in a 4cc band and while I could not eat bread or french fries I could eat ANYTHING else and not in small portions.

I saw another doctor and found that I only had 2cc's in my band...he added another 1/2 cc and I FINALLY have restriction....6 MONTHS after my surgery.

That being said, even with restriction I have to watch what I eat....I have FINALLY given up on icecream...because I didnt want to waste $8k.

So please know that once you hit your sweet spot, it will get better. BUT, you still have to measure your food and watch what you eat.

My diet consist of 1000-1200 calories, 60-100 grams of protien and 40 grams or less of carbs. And in the week since I have had my fill and really made an effort to weight, measure, calculate and JOURNAL all my food I have lost 10lbs. I feel so much better and am even going to joing the evil G word tonight.

If you want, I can email you my Excel spreadsheet I use. I print it up, stuff it in my Calorie King book and toss it in my purse. NOTHING goes in my mouth without being written down.

I wish you the best, and remember it is a daily battle....you can win the war.

hello,

well I posted a little while ago, and got some help, but I'm still distraught.

I was banded in June, and filled in July.......it is now mid Aug. and I have lost a total of 5 pounds!!!!!!

what am I doing wrong? what can help?

I do have restriction, it's hard to eat bread or French fries,.....I know I'm eating less!!!! I don't understand?

PLEASE if anyone can help I would love to hear from you

....Did I just waste 8,000?

[santosha]

......yes I'm working out..at least 3x a week.....and no I haven't been counting my calories. I hoped I didn't have to!!!

so....I will start with that! thanks for all your advice, I'll keep you posted!!

[snowbird]

......yes I'm working out..at least 3x a week.....and no I haven't been counting my calories. I hoped I didn't have to!!!

so....I will start with that! thanks for all your advice, I'll keep you posted!!

Working out three times a week will help your muscle tone, but it will not help you lose weight. Remember, one pound is 3500 calories. With most exercise, unless it is extremely strenuous, you are burning under 500 calories per hour. You can undo it all with two cookies or just a little extra food.

I always have to count my calories if I want to lose weight. And regardless of whether I have great restriction or not, I can't eat bread easily, so that's not a good test.

Good restriction should make you eat much, much less than a normal person--not just bandkiller foods like bread, but everything. My band takes care of how much I can eat at one time, but not how often I eat or what I eat. I have to take care of those things myself, and must be very mindful of what I put in my mouth. Good luck. This is an incredible learning process we have to go through, but the band is a great tool to help us along.

[cckcsharp]

I was struggling with my pre-op weight loss, and the number one thing I was doing wrong....eating more calories than I thought I was. I was shocked when I started to count and even MEASURE the correct serving size. Previously I was actually eating about 3 times what the real serving size was which meant 3 times the calories. Here I was thinking I just ate 200 cals, when in reality I ate 600. YIKES!!!! So count and measure everything. You don't have to do this forever. After a very short time you start to memorize how many cals are in the foods you eat regularily and you also start to know what 3 oz of meat looks like so you don't have to measure anymore. Also, I like mommamicheles tip about planning what you will eat for the next day. This way you can quickly write down your meal plan and then add up the calories. Then, post it on your fridge and only eat what you planned out. Then you don't have to write down everything you eat all day long, unless of course you stray from you plan. Also, I stopped drinking diet soda, ate more protein and drank tons and tons of water. I actually have a 32 oz water jug and I fill it and carry it with me all over the house. If I go to the store, I through it in my van. So it likes my little sidekick. I give myself time frames of the day when I should have it emptied for the first and second time. I often go through it 3 times in a day. That's 96 oz of water. This helps the appetite and flushes your body. All of these things helped me to start losing weight. I hope this and everything else that was offered helps you. I know this can be so frustrating and overwhelming at times. You have to keep trying different things and until you find what works for you. You can do this. Best of wishes.

Jessica