hi, my name is brenda from arkansa. i just read ur tips for a slow looser. i need your help. i am 6mo. out of LAP-BAND® surgery. i have lost 40 pounds but feel like it was will power alone and following a low carb hi prot. diet. i did not have surgery to be on a 'diet.' i currently have 8 cc in a 12 cc band. sometimes when i eat faster or dont chew properly i get a stuck feeling but it eventually passes and im able to eat as much as i did before surgery. this is where im confused. you said ur band would tell you when to quit or when you were full. i have not experienced this. what will it feel like. is it a feeling of fullnesss like after eating a big meal like thgiving dinner or what. as far as your protein intake goes, the atkins diet worked the same for me. but i ate a lot of calories on it but still lost. so, im wondering what the point of the surgery is if i can still eat way more than 2 to 3 cups of food. im having some restriction when i take a bite in the morings or mid after noon but then , nothing. i started out at 360 and im now 320. ive been off track for a few days too. i want to get back to loosing. do you think i have a stretched pouch or an esophageal stretch. what can i do to start over again on diet. thank you so much . please replay asap as im desperate. email me at chubgirl2003@yahoo.com. thanks again, brenda

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