Welcome to the "At or near goal forum"

[macacoza]

I dont have a clue how to even get a ticker line...lol..congrats to ALL of us!..Go for the dream!
deb
banded April 2003...95 lbs lost and maintaining..give or take 5 lbs

[TracyinKS]

Far away from goal, but peeking in for INSPIRATION! Thanks!

[Dibaby]

Well I need to get back on weight watchers..I loose my mind when I'm not on it. It's a definite tool I need. Although I'm thinking of getting that body bugg thing. I heard its fabulous

[bluebike]

i have a question goal weighter's...how did you guys make this work? i was banded july of this year. i lost 15 lbs on pre/post op diet. after a month or so, gained most of it back (i had NO restriction). my second fill (about a month ago), i was premenstrual so it was extremely tight. i couldn't hold down solids, as a result, lost the 15lbs again. i am currently at a 15-18 lb weight loss, and my fill has 'given' a little. some days i can barely eat anything... others i can eat almost a normal portion. i never eat more than 5-7 oz. usually i keep it at 4oz. i work out at least 3x/week. it feels crazy. my goal was to loose 30 lbs by now. the scale has not budged for about 3 weeks, however, i feel like i am not ready for a fill...i think i would be too full. i am so frustrated!!! admittedly, i am trying to cut down on sugar (dessert is my favorite) and limit dessert to 1-2/week. i think that was stalling my weight loss. but as far as other foods, i make fairly good choices. very little fried. protien first. i drink vitamin & fiber shakes. HELP!!! i don't really know what else to do!

[Boo Boo Kitty]

Originally Posted by bluebike

i have a question goal weighter's...how did you guys make this work? i was banded july of this year. i lost 15 lbs on pre/post op diet. after a month or so, gained most of it back (i had NO restriction). my second fill (about a month ago), i was premenstrual so it was extremely tight. i couldn't hold down solids, as a result, lost the 15lbs again. i am currently at a 15-18 lb weight loss, and my fill has 'given' a little. some days i can barely eat anything... others i can eat almost a normal portion. i never eat more than 5-7 oz. usually i keep it at 4oz. i work out at least 3x/week. it feels crazy. my goal was to loose 30 lbs by now. the scale has not budged for about 3 weeks, however, i feel like i am not ready for a fill...i think i would be too full. i am so frustrated!!! admittedly, i am trying to cut down on sugar (dessert is my favorite) and limit dessert to 1-2/week. i think that was stalling my weight loss. but as far as other foods, i make fairly good choices. very little fried. protien first. i drink vitamin & fiber shakes. HELP!!! i don't really know what else to do!

My first question is how much you are exercising, it is key. Also do you track calories? You may be highly surprised at what you drink for calories.

And for the desert, how many calories are you getting in?

[Jachut]

I've found exercising five times a week worked for me and when I exercise I exercise HARD - I run. Three times a week is fabulous but its more a maintenance level, you lose better when you do more.

And I think I just relaxed into the whole "my body will do what it wants to when its ready" mentality, there were loooooooong plateaus in there. I just had faith that if I did the right thing over time the weight would come off. Dont panic that you're plateauing out a bit now, its very common after an initial fast loss and you will get going again. But weight just doesnt come off week in week out unless you're super duper dedicated and disciplined with DIETING, something I stank at before and still do.

I figured if I acted like a normal weight person, I eventually would be one. That to me meant eating well, not eating too much but not obsessing over it.

It will work for you, have faith. Just keep plugging away and at the end of a year you wont know yourself.

[parrot0927]

I agree with roboop.

[Chickie]

You agree that it's a super idea to live off meat and vitamins?

[RLittman]

I selected the initial goal of 149 because that was the top range of the BMI for my weight/height. Now that I am so close I think I will go for another 5-9 pounds. I can't believe I am wearing size 8 and 10. So many people have said I should stop, even my husband but I know I can look better. This is the first time I can get to that perfect weight and I am going for it. After maintaining at 184 for seven months, I started exercising regularly in September and since then have lost 26 pounds, 8 pounds since my last fill on 2/19 which was the tightest one so far and it really jumped started the weight loss for me. That and a big increase in exercise which I know do 4-5 times a week. Working with weights really helps carve off those inches.

What do we do when we hit goal? Has anybody opted to loosen the band so they can eat more but maintain? Robin

[salsa1877]

Originally Posted by RLittman

What do we do when we hit goal? Has anybody opted to loosen the band so they can eat more but maintain? Robin

Welcome to my ultimate question. Technically I am still 16 pounds over weight but I am really happy with my size right now especially with my upcoming TT. My doc would like me to slow down/stop the weightloss so that I can have a stable weight before/after the TT. I am fairly muscular so I am going to be a little bit heavier anyways. I will decide after I heal from the TT if I want to lose the last bit or just ne happy. I went to my nutritionist who is helping me transition into maintenance. I know a lot of people have stated that they didn't do anything difference but that their weight loss just slowed to a crawl. For me I had to up the calories because I was still losing 2-3 pounds per week with my workout schedule. My fill is still tighter that I would like it to be but I am dealing with it for right now but mainly because I live 6 hours from my doc and don't want to take another day off of work. Good luck and let us know what happens...I am eagerly waiting to hear from more people about life at goal.

[AthinnerDenise]

I have no intention of having any of my fill removed. When I get to goal, if I keep losing, that will be great. I can't imagine that I will get down much beyond my goal at my age. I can always add a protein shake or something, if too much weight loss is a problem. I seriously doubt that will happen.

I agree with the weight training. I love feeling muscles in my legs. Still working on the arms though.

[Chickie]

Originally Posted by RLittman

What do we do when we hit goal? Has anybody opted to loosen the band so they can eat more but maintain? Robin

Personally, I needed my fill out to stop losing weight. I am an odd bird though, and my surgeon has never seen or heard of this happening before. I put it down to the way I eat and exercise, and also down to the fact that I never maintained a tight fill.

Most people need to maintain most, if not all of their fill to maintain their weight.

[salsa1877]

Originally Posted by Chickie

Personally, I needed my fill out to stop losing weight. I am an odd bird though, and my surgeon has never seen or heard of this happening before. I put it down to the way I eat and exercise, and also down to the fact that I never maintained a tight fill.

Most people need to maintain most, if not all of their fill to maintain their weight.

I am thinking that I am going to have an unfill before my TT so that I don't have to worry about it getting too tight while under the stress of surgery and I am going to see if I can maintain without it. I like you don't keep my fill very tight. In fact after a slight fill and then 2 weeks later an partial unfill, I still am tighter than I would like. My doc thinks that I was going to have to have a partial unfill to maintain anyways. I have 2 years worth of fills as part of my self-pay program so I figure if I start gaining then I go get another fill. Right now I just wish that I lived closer so that I could have some of this one taken out!