one year out and on plateau

I'm not sure if I'm in the right forum but here goes.

I had lap band surgery april 07...to date I've lost 76 lbs. For the last three months I've gained two pounds and lost two pounds over and over.

For the year after I had the surgery I would just skate along losing weight. I didn't count points, calories, fat grams NOTHING! life was good. I had never known what it was like to just eat and be full and not think about food 24/7.

I've got 3.8cc in my band. I'm not sure how big of band I have since a 4cc band holds more than 4cc, etc. It's rather confusing. I have restriction with food but I can eat way more than I use to and I'm hungerier than I use to be.

For those that have been banded a year or longer...what's going on? Will I just start losing again? Did my pouch stretch and now I can eat more and be hungry? Will I have to go to Weight Watchers like I did before...which didn't work by the way!

I'm so frustrated and mad at myself for gaining any weight!!!

I'm tons more active than I use to be and don't eat anything like I use to..so why in the heck am I gaining?


HELP!!!!!

BTW...I would have the surgery again in a heart beat...it's the only thing that's EVER worked for me and I've been fat since I was 9 years old.

Thanks for listening.

Congratulations on all of that weightloss...how awesome is that??? Have you thought about getting another fill? If you are able to eat more then it makes sense (to me) that you might need another fill to get moving.

I'm having a very difficult time getting off my rear end and exercising. I know that I need to but I just can't seem to find something that I like. Have you been exercising?

I walk more and have taken up tennis. I don't have a regular gym day or anything like that. My work prohibits a regular anything. I DO need to exercise more...even though I HATE it. I love to play..that's why I enjoy the tennis. But damn!! it's hot in Texas now. WHEW!

I would love to play tennis but I'm so self conscious. I hate that about myself. The funny thing is that I had my son at his tennis lesson today and watched how much fun he was having and I just can't bring myself to enjoy it with him. It's like I have no center of gravity at this weight...I just tip over like a weeble wobble. lol.

Congratulations on your fantastic loss so far, only have 40 lbs and 5 months to catch up to you !! I'm the last person to give advice since I'm going through a similar thing but I agree you could need another fill. Exercise is great if you can do it regularly but if you can't it makes it a little harder. I try to walk every day. If I miss my morning walk then I do one at lunch time. At least it helps me keep off what I've lost so far.

hey, lunabeane,
they have a saying in one of the 12-step programs that goes, "Fake it till you make it." go play. pretend you're where you want to be (the fancy talkers would say, "envision it").

i went out at almost 300 and just kept MOVING. i had a lady to play with sometimes, but most of the time, i used a tennis ball machine that would pitch the balls to me. i'd just hit and hit and walk around picking them up and then do it all over again for the whole court time (our courts are reserved for 1.5 hours).

don't let what other people think defeat you! don't let what YOU THINK other people think defeat you!!

i've talked to some of the other players who saw me come out last Aug at almost 300 pounds and what they were REALLY thinking astounded me--they told me that they were simply glad that i was there and were HOPING that i would continue. oh, there were some people who were less kind, but i certainly didn't let them rain on my parade. but today, 86 pounds lighter, i may not be winning tennis matches, but i'm winning the battle for my life.

Live well--it is the best response.

I can't really give good advice, but I just wanted to say I too notice a difference in how my band works. I'm tighter than I was at my 'sweet spot' which mysteriously disappeared at -100lbs exactly.. but I can eat more than I use to. I heard it's normal for your pouch to stretch some as you go, since it starts out a brand new pouch, and you're eating.
I was losing fast without thinking about it, now I've definitely slowed down, but I bounce the same couple pounds and slowly (like every couple weeks) introduce a new 'low' number.
Plateaus are normal, but maybe you've finally hit a spot where you do need to be eating less calories. When I get frustrated I do it for a few days just to see where I could have cut back.. So I would suggest trying a calorie tracking website just for a week and see what calories you're averaging, then try deducting some for a week and see what happens.

Good luck & good job thus far :o)

I agree with the other suggestions re: exercise and fills but you may also want to first do the 5 Day Pouch Test to make sure your band is working well. Here is the website with the directions.

Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test