2nd fill and here's hoping....

[joujou]

Off to get my 2nd fill tomorrow and I really am hoping for some sort of feeling of restriction. Had my band on may the 1st and have lost maybe 8lbs which is so bloody disheartening tbh, I've done the crunchy salads, crunchy crispbreads etc but no restriction and most certainly no real weight loss. I'm feeling sorry for myself due to my own stupidity thinking this was going to be a little easier, restriction would arrive and I'd be eating from a small plate but the truth is I'm nearly 3 months in and hovering on the half stone loss :-(

Apologies if I'm a tad negative however I feel very down at the mo and know you girls won't mind a rant unlike my OH who's not so happy with my incessant moaning.

 

[sminky]

I think you need to take things into your own hands tbh.

I had my band at the end of February and despite three (all be it small) fills I still don't have any great restriction. I have managed to lose 4 stone on my own using the band as a tool and the £6000 as a huge incentive LOL

I calorie count and track using MFP, I think people fool themselves when they think the band alone can fix the problem, it has to be see as an assistant in losing and maintaining weight

I am hoping to rely on restriction when I get to goal to keep the weight off, but am under no illusion that I can do this without watching what I put in my mouth and making sensible decisions while the weight is coming off

The band will allow you to eat 'the wrong stuff' but accepting this and working with it can enable fab weight loss & (hopefully) weight maintanence

Good luck and keep your chin up xx

 

[top_kat]

I have to agree with sminky, after almost 11 months in and 6 fills I still have very little restriction, even then it restricts a couple of food items, but not amount, size of portions o the hunger which is there almost constantly, I've lost approaching 10 stone in that time, through choices, using Mfp, careful planning and certainly not relying on the band.

It isn't just about crunchy foods, but also amounts and what you're eating. Call your provider for support, look at what exercise you're doing, fully log your food and take it from there...

 

[joujou]

Your both right. I suppose I've just lost my way a little, I will phone my provider and speak with them for dietary ideas, I need to follow plans until I know something back to front, that's just me. Thanks for both of your input I appreciate it ladies

 

[flutterby1966]

Joujou I totally agree with slinky and tk ... IMHO those banders who do best are those who don't rely on the band. Heck I can still eat loads, but not as much as before ... However I have changed my eating habits. I know approximately the right amount and types of food to put on my plate that allow me to lose weight best. 1 do eat more than a lot of banders and have done from the start as I didn't want to over tighten my band, and also too few calories slowed down my losses! I put on my plate the right proportions of the right food for me personally so I am far less tempted to overeat, because I was always brought up to empty my plate/bowl/packet ... And I still have that mentality to a certain extent ... But what I have done is change my perspective - so if its not there on the plate, its not there to be eaten. If I go out and buy an adult use portion, I always put what is over facing / too much for me into a plastic tub to take home (or dish it out to hubby) before i start my meal so 1. I am not tempted to finish my full plate and 2. I slow my eating down. I sometimes do eat a desert when I dine out IF I am hungry but more often than not I am not hungry because I have now allowed my brain to catch up with my stomach by eating more slowly (but share it); I do have a bag of sweets/chocolate from the garage when I fill up with fuel still, but I give myself a £1 limit rather than thinking buy one get one free on family size packs is a great deal and then i have to eat both packs in half an hour I used to use MFP every day for a year and a half, and that as helped retrain my brain, so its pretty much second nature to know how much I am eating and its nutritional content. I do still check my new good habits every so often by logging food for a few days and I am still pretty much able to stick to my average of 1600-1700 calories a day that I need to maintain my 150lb loss. Don't get me wrong, As you can see, i am not perfect, but I do have balance/perspective and control in my life nowadays that I didn't have before.

Joujou your husband is probably frustrated that he cannot help you. Its often difficult for someone else to understand our emotions because unless they are us, or have gone through exactly the same things, how could they understand? Heck even our own emotions and the way we view things can change on an hourly/daily/weekly basis :sigh: Even we on this forum will probably give differing guidance/views but you need to take time out to refocus and create your own plan, based on what's going to work for you. Turn that frown upside down. That fill may not give you all the restriction you think you need, but it can be seen as a line in the sand/new starting point to creating new positive behaviours to help you lose your unwanted pounds. Think positive and take positive action xxx

 

[moomoo1]

I kinda of agree with the others but a little bit of me doesn't because it didn't work like that for me yes the band is a tool but I didn't loose hardly anything till I had really good restriction then it dropped off it may be that your someone that needs the tight rtestriction to do well, we are all different in how we use our tool I needed mine very tight so there was no allowing for me to sliup up or overeat , but I do understand you may not be like this, I also think that you shouldn't judge your loss compared top others, with a bypass the first year is the most positive for loss the band I believe is more slow and steady the more fills you have the better it gets./

 

[janeybec]

Hello joujou, fantastic advice u have been given here....I'm so with you tho, I'm feeling like a big fat failure atm - am off for my first fill Sunday but when I spoke to my dietitian the other day she told me my 16lb weight loss wasn't very good and as a rule it should be at least 21lb b4 first fill....this was such a smack in the face to me, its unreal. I am constantly hungry and even managed to eat a medium sized roast dinner today...and a sponge pudding! Am so disappointed in myself, feel like I've wasted 5k x

 

[top_kat]

Hello joujou, fantastic advice u have been given here....I'm so with you tho, I'm feeling like a big fat failure atm - am off for my first fill Sunday but when I spoke to my dietitian the other day she told me my 16lb weight loss wasn't very good and as a rule it should be at least 21lb b4 first fill....this was such a smack in the face to me, its unreal. I am constantly hungry and even managed to eat a medium sized roast dinner today...and a sponge pudding! Am so disappointed in myself, feel like I've wasted 5k x

Wow, where did she get her figures from?!! Nearly all providers will say they expect some weight loss but will also say that until you have your fill, that it can be minimal. Quoting some random figure is not helpful as it will vary from person to person.

Average weight loss with a band is 1-2lb a week, but you will only lose if you make the right decisions with your food. Remember just because you can eat it, doesn't mean you should.

I'm 11 months in, and I could eat a meal the size of what I could pre-band, hunger is there even after I've eaten, and my band has not removed that hunger feelings at all..... and so much if the band comes down to the choices we make, of not eating certain foods or how we eat.

Janet, I'm not sure how many weeks you are post surgery, but 16lb in what's likely to be about 5 weeks or so? Is a good loss so don't feel a failure!!!!

 

[janeybec]

Aw top kat thankyou so much for your advice...I'm 4 weeks post op and thought I was doing great controlling my hunger, using mfp to count calories and been doing moderate exercise but dietitian just made me feel like a failure hence I reverted back to old habits with a pudding which only ended up making me feel worse! Tom is another day and I'm Sooo determined now to do this and make it work thanks again x

 

[top_kat]

its all very well for people to quote numbers, but it can vary so much...I think today will show you that the habits we have of turning to food for comfort doesn't disappear with having a band...and that if we can stop and think of how we are feeling, why we are feeling it, and give ourselves some time before diving into the pud or the chocolate that initially need for comfort from food can ease so we don't do it.

It is hard when we have a setback to lose the "one won't hurt" thought and actions, but one can hurt, it can set us into a vicious circle and then we say the band isn't working, when its actually us who isn't.

If you find emotionally you would turn to food, look at CBT it can help in terms of how you look at food.

But yes 1-2lb is average, while she may have meant well, I wonder if she realised how damaging her words were

Tomorrow is another day indeed, use today as a learning experience. I live with the "just because I can doesn't mean I should" thought all of the time. Yes there are times when I still do and I try to find a balance so no food is banned, this gives me a healthy attitude to food so I don't then have tons of guilt feelings for having a biscuit.


.

 

[flutterby1966]

Ditto to what tk says. Don't let someone else get you down however well meaning they may intend to be. Its really difficult not to compare to others .... However the 1-2lbs a week is a positive healthy loss janey ... And you have achieved 4lbs per week just think where even 1-2lbs per week would get you in a whole year!!

Sometimes the dieticians have not walked in our shoes and the theory can be different to what happens in reality, but they do want us to succeed. This is not aimed at you x however, from a different perspective, I would make a general observational comment from what i have seen over the past two years from being on this forum and others...some banders are in too much of a hurry to rely on the band rather than change/tweak their behaviours; have too many / too big fills too quickly, and end up having to have emergency defills because they have gone just that little bit too far. Then often begins a vicious circle of fill/defill/eating the wrong types of food to be able to cope etc. The nhs fill far more slowly and less than the private providers. I know as part of our aftercare packages we are entitled to our fills but as tk mentioned, much of this journey is about recognising our triggers and creating coping mechanisms so we can achieve balance for the rest of our lives. Just because we can have it, should we have it? Dont get me wrong, it does help me in the background from not being able to eat quite as much as i used to do, but primarily the success from my Band and my £6k investment is more around the way I have changed my thinking rather than the bit of silicone around the top of my stomach.

Go for it ladies ... You can do it ...

 

[joujou]

So after pulling myself together having read the replies, I went off for my fill yesterday, a quick explanation to the nurse Re my 3 week holiday to the USA, before I got on the scales and was thrilled when she told me I'd lost 5lbs since my last visit, ok it's not a massive amount however a 3 wk holiday included in that time I'm happy!!!!!!

Driving home we stopped off at a certain retailer and I got myself a mountain bike!!! Rode to work today (6 ish mile round trip) and boy oh boy I feel über positive and quite saddle sore!!

Can I just thank you all for A. The kick in the pants ( it worked) and B. the different view on the subject. What a font of knowledge we have on here!! with great positive advise as well......I thank you all.....

 

[top_kat]

so glad it went ok, and 5lbs with a holiday thrown into the mix is a great positive!

And the bike, how good is that?

 

[joujou]

Thanks so much TK I needed the honesty from you ladies!! I now have MFP and have set it to 1000 cals a day and have been blown away with how much they must have in their data base!!! Scanned a protien shake and it had all the details!!!!! I'm so happy with that and my wheels I am now mega positive!! Thanks again

 

[flutterby1966]

Joujou pleased for you. Loving the positivity ... Keep those pounds coming off x

 

[joujou]

Thanks for your advice flutterby, I realise its actually me, myself who will make the difference and not necessarily the band, the band doesn't make, serve or feed me. I will do this ))

 

[sminky]

What a fab update, you sound sooo positive now!


Onwards and downwards

 

[top_kat]

Thanks for your advice flutterby, I realise its actually me, myself who will make the difference and not necessarily the band, the band doesn't make, serve or feed me. I will do this ))

Indeed! Hold onto that thought, even when its hard,

 

[joujou]

LOL Smirky !!!!! Onwards and downwards indeed!!! I'm now totally in love with My Fitness Pal !!! OMG I'm so stoked up and ready to do this!!!!!! Thanks once again for your honesty and firm words....... They were so needed