Any other slow losers?

Band Chick · 02-16-2008, 06:13 PM

I'm finding it very hard to come to the boards and groups for support, like I should, because I'm losing so slow. I'm down 32 lbs and the Dr says I'm on track. It's just that so many of my fellow August bandsters have lost 50 lbs or more. Is there anyone else in my shoes?

shortgal · 02-16-2008, 06:23 PM

there is a whole thread dedicated to slow losers. It's labeled "slow losers unite".

Join us there!

***Susan*** · 02-16-2008, 06:43 PM

You are doing very well. Remember, the band is designed for us to lose a healthy 1-2 pounds per week. I would not be discouraged by anyone else's numbers, as everyone loses differently. If I allowed myself to get discouraged by numbers, I truly would have given up by now.

Here is a link to the forum shortgal mentioned:

Slow Losers Unite - Lap Band Talk Forum - The largest forum for Lap Band Surgery Discussion and Lap Band Surgery Support

KimInMD · 02-16-2008, 09:29 PM

Kathy,
Your doctor is right. You are doing fine, and right on target. If you have 203 to lose, and you are suppose to lose 30% the first year, then that is approx. 61 lbs. the first year. You are 6 months post op, so you should be down 30.5 pounds. You are down 32 pounds, and therefore you are right on track. It's not that you are a slow loser, but a "statistically average" loser. Keep up the good work! Be gentle with yourself. You're doing great.

shelleyrn · 02-16-2008, 10:04 PM

Hi Kathy- I was banded in sept and have only lost 26lbs! I feel your pain. wonder if I am lacking the proper restriction. I can still eat quite a bit of food. Not as much as before banding but still quite alot. Its almost becoming embarrassing for me. everyone knows i have had it done and im just not seeing the results i was psyched for. I am at 4 1/2 cc. hang in there it has to get better!

kbinaz · 02-17-2008, 10:32 AM

I am in your shoes! I had surgery 10/26/07 and have only lost 18 pounds. My doctor also says I am doing fine. I understand your frustration with these boards at times. They are really helpful and really hurtful at the same time! The thing we all need to remember is, like someone mentioned above, the band is supposed to allow you to lose 1-2 pounds a week. That 'average' seems to have gone by the wayside. It seems that in every area in life there are people who tweak the system to get what they want. Some people get their band so tight they lose 10 pounds a week and eat 500 calories a day.It seems that a lot of bandsters want to lose weight quickly and are willing to do anything to get there. I have chosen the path of least resistance (In other words I'm not willing to suffer too much to get where I'm going) and will only get the minimum amount of restriction necessary to lose weight. I refuse to be one of those people who eat 3 peas and 1 oz. of chicken for dinner. I love food. I believe God gave us food not just for sustenance but also for enjoyment. I am not willing to live a life where food is a chore, or repugnant to me. That said, I have come to grips with the fact that I'm going to lose weight slowly and that is okay. It is frustrating, and I want to wear a bikini today not next year, but oh well. The other thing is that some of the people who are losing so much started out with really unhealthy eating habits. For instance, if I started out drinking two liters of coke every day, then suddenly stopped doing that when I had surgery, I would naturally lose a lot more weight than normal just by cutting out the 2 liters of coke. I was basically a really healthy eater before surgery. My problem was eating way too much of really good food! Other considerations are age, metabolism etc.
Slow losers, let's keep our chins up (all our chins.. I have at least two of them...) and keep on keeping on. We will be victorious eventually!

sfeiner · 02-17-2008, 10:39 AM

Kbinaz, We had our surgery about the same time and have lost about the same amt of weight. I haven't seen the scale move for 2 weeks. I'm trying not to get discouraged.

shortgal · 02-17-2008, 11:01 AM

Kbinaz:

I agree, I only want to be filled to a place where I can still eat good healthy food. I was like you before surgery, MOSTLY I ate good foods, but too much of it. I gained the weight years ago from too many bad carbs and then could never get it off, even after I started eating better choices.

I still track my calories so that I know how much I've consumed each day and hopefully one day, "normal" portions will just come naturally to me.

I do have some lower calorie days. Some are because I am to be on liquids for two days after a fill and I get some initial swelling after the fill and my appetite is lower and occassionally I do a lower calorie day to help the weight loss. I am older, not as active anymore so my calorie needs are less than someone younger and more active in their daily lives, with kids etc.

But I do know it is impossible to get the nutrients we should have, on a steady diet of 500 calories a day. And I do not want to trade one unhealthly eating habit of overeating to one of eating like an anorexic.

I hope the next fill or two will get me to a place where I can eat 1000 to 1200 (which is appropriate for my age and level of activity for steady weight loss) and feel satisifed between meals. It's the satisfied part that is missing for me at this point.

We can acheive this no matter if it's slower than others.

shortgal · 02-17-2008, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KimInMD

Kathy,
Your doctor is right. You are doing fine, and right on target. If you have 203 to lose, and you are suppose to lose 30% the first year, then that is approx. 61 lbs. the first year. You are 6 months post op, so you should be down 30.5 pounds. You are down 32 pounds, and therefore you are right on track. It's not that you are a slow loser, but a "statistically average" loser. Keep up the good work! Be gentle with yourself. You're doing great.

I have never heard of this 30% rule the first year. It doesn't make sense to me. If I have 100 pounds to lose and even if I lose an average of one pound a week that would be 52 pounds at the end of the first year and equal over 50% of weight loss.

I figured one pound a week because we generally lose a little faster in the beginning due to post op diets and then as we lose it takes fewer calories to maintain our new weight and we start to slow down the weight loss.

Everyone will lose differently. We are different ages, have different levels of activity in our daily lives and some exercise harders than other. Others have more to lose and some are more committed to adhering to the band eating rules than others. Also, the schedule of our Dr's fills can have an impact on our weight loss.

As long as the scale goes down, we are all ahead!

KimInMD · 02-17-2008, 11:30 PM

Hi Shortgal,
My doctor says he is looking for 30% weight loss the first year, and 20% the second year. Ideally, he would like to see 20% the third year, but statistically that doesn't always happen. He says that by year three the lap banders and the gastric bp people generally lose about the same amount of weight. GBP patients lose faster and higher percentage the first year than the LB patients, but it all evens out in the end. His 30% number is based on the clinical trials conducted by BioEnterics Corp. and submitted to the FDA for approval of the band's use in the USA. He rounded his number down for ease in calculation. The actual number is 34.5%
Here's the link from the official LAP-BAND® site LAP-BAND® - ALB Results

If you are interested, here is the entire clinical trial data.
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/pdf/P000008b.pdf

To be fair, LAP-BAND® System data on their website touts their weight loss statistics to be higher (based on another study) with approx. 44% excess weight loss at the end of the first year, and an average of 55% excess weight loss by 36 months.
So, by LAP-BAND® System's own admission, the "average" patient will only lose between 34.5 and 44% of their extra weight in the first year, and between 36.2 and 55% of their excess weight by the end of the third year. I hope this helps you understand where my numbers came from.

Mischievous1 · 02-18-2008, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Band Chick

I'm finding it very hard to come to the boards and groups for support, like I should, because I'm losing so slow. I'm down 32 lbs and the Dr says I'm on track. It's just that so many of my fellow August bandsters have lost 50 lbs or more. Is there anyone else in my shoes?

Ur way ahead of me, i've lost 33 lbs since May! I also have a very sedentary job so I can't complain too much I know once I hit the gym again it will come off quicker...just keep truckin' along it will come off and you can't compare yourself to others as you are as unique as can be and your body will take it off as it's ready!!

shortgal · 02-18-2008, 07:23 AM

Kim in MD, I've read the long term stats, but it seems that many of the people on the forum do not meet, but rather exceed the first year stat.

Perhaps it is their level of motivation, exercise, williness to diet until restriction, or their Dr.'s possible more aggressive fill schedule.

Long term, I can totally see how the stats change. We all become complacent and some old habits can come back and the weigh rebounds a bit. This is what the long term weight graphs indicate.

I guess if a patient has alot of weight to lose the percentage of weight loss the first year will be higher as in your example of a person that needs to lose 200 pounds. I was basing it on a person with less weight to lose.

KimInMD · 02-18-2008, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shortgal

Kim in MD, I've read the long term stats, but it seems that many of the people on the forum do not meet, but rather exceed the first year stat.

Perhaps it is their level of motivation, exercise, williness to diet until restriction, or their Dr.'s possible more aggressive fill schedule.

Long term, I can totally see how the stats change. We all become complacent and some old habits can come back and the weigh rebounds a bit. This is what the long term weight graphs indicate.

I guess if a patient has alot of weight to lose the percentage of weight loss the first year will be higher as in your example of a person that needs to lose 200 pounds. I was basing it on a person with less weight to lose.

I totally understand what you are saying, and I agree that many people here on LBT do lose more weight than the statistical average. The point I was trying to make to Kathy (the original poster) was that based on those statistics, she is not a slow loser at all, but an "average loser", right on track, and that even her doctor is pleased. I'm sure it's hard to see other's tickers who were banded the same time, with larger weight losses then her own, but she really should be pleased and proud of herself. My post was meant only to encourage Kathy in her journey. Thirty two pounds, gone forever, is indeed a wonderful thing!

Band Chick · 02-19-2008, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KimInMD

Thirty two pounds, gone forever, is indeed a wonderful thing!

Thank you, Kim and everyone else! You have all been very supportive. I was feeling so down and a bit out of place when I posted this. Since you all responded and I went to the slow losers section (Slow Losers Unite - Lap Band Talk Forum - The largest forum for Lap Band Surgery Discussion and Lap Band Surgery Support), I've been feeling much better. I am even at a place where I am grateful for my average loss-- in the end it's healthier for my body. Thanks!

Liz1531 · 02-20-2008, 09:44 PM

Well... I need to go to the no losers unite forum because my LAP-BAND® hates me. I've only lost 10 lbs since August. Sad.... I'm so embarresed to face my husband who I BEGGED to alone me to put us into debt so that I could have this surgery and here I am not losing a thing.