Banded Together

Okay, I know I’ve heard that the time between the surgery and the first adjustment isn’t about losing weight, but I still want to know what people’s experiences have been. I started out losing 1-2 pounds a day! Then in the last week that abruptly stopped. Then yesterday I gained two pounds in one day! This, on a day when as far as I can tell I did everything right, (only took in about 1,000 calories and did some walking as I’ve been doing every day). Obviously, this is a little depressing.

What have others experienced? Is this kind of thing normal, or should I worry that I’m not doing something right? (BTW, I should mention that my net weight loss is still good—I’ve lost 13 pounds in 2 1/2 weeks. It’s just this plateau and today’s uptick that worried me.)

I hate to hit the panic button, but I didn’t do all this so I could gain weight. Help!

It is normal to go up and down on the scales.  There are many factors that can affect your weight loss besides calories and exercise.  Just continue to stay the course eating what you should and exercising.  Some people prefer to only weigh once a week so as to avoid the fear and confusion that comes with the fluctuation of the scale.

That’s good to hear. What was your experience, do you recall?

I don’t remember specifics, but I do know there were some frustrating times in which the scale would down half a pound one day and up another pound the next day.  I was weighing the same time and the same way every day.  You just have to be stronger than your scales and know that in the end the results will be in your favor.  Seriously tho ugh, if you rely too much on the scales you need to cut back on the number of times a week or month that you weigh.  The scales cannot rule your life or you will be miserable.

Smiley - 10 July 2009 02:43 PM

...if you rely too much on the scales you need to cut back on the number of times a week or month that you weigh.  The scales cannot rule your life or you will be miserable.

I know what you mean. Like most people who have come this far, I’ve got many years of dieting history behind me and know all the arguments for not making it all about the number on the scale every day. There are two reasons why I’m weighing in every day for now:

* If I don’t weigh in, it’s in my thoughts even more than if I did. In other words, I’ll be more obsessed if I don’t check the scale.
* For right now, I want to get the feel of what patterns to expect. The problem with not weighing in, in my personal experience, is that it’s way too easy to kid myself about whether I’m doing what I’m supposed to or not.

In this instance, even though it gave me a bad turn to see a weight gain, I’m still glad I weighed in. I’ve now lost the two pounds, plus a little more, so I’m not flipping out any more. AND what I get from having gone through that experience every day is some information that might come in handy next time.

Eventually, when this is second nature, I’ve got no problem about weighing in 1x/week or 2x/week.

That is great to hear that you lost the two pounds are aren’t quite as anxious! I know that I went through the same thing you did in the first month. There was a day or two that I gained weight rather than lost weight and went through the same mental roller coaster. Trust me it does it get better and if you are like me then you will quit relying on the scale so much. I was on it every day during the first month and now it’s only a couple of times a week. It’s sounds like you are doing great! Keep up the fabulous work.

would you beleave i weigh twice a day 5:30am and 9:00pm it works for me. i use the wii and it is just fun to do it plus i get the graph for weight and bmi if you ask me what i weighed on may 25 i can tell you my weight and my bmi plus the time a day i did it.  pat

I know that a lot of people say that you should only weigh once every week or month, but I read something yesterday that brought up some interesting ideas about daily monitoring.

The writer had suggested getting a digital scale accurate to .2 lbs so that you can see smaller movements than just a lb. A 1-lb-increment scale may show you at 250 three days in a row, leading to some disappointment and maybe self-defeating thoughts and behavior. However one that shows smaller increments would show you at 250.8, 250.6, 250.4, etc., so that you get a better view of how your efforts may pay off.

Just make sure you don’t get too caught up in the day-to-day weight fluctuations.

Adam,

Good advise as not to get cought up in the day to day weight fluctuations. What helps me so much is the .01,.02,or the .03 if I do that for a couple days than I know I am needing to get back on track. What I have found is IT IS NOT SO MUCH WHAT I EAT BUT IT’S WHAT I DO AFTER WHAT I EAT. ie. if I eat something that’s not the best for me than I know I need to stay out in the garden or walk an extra mile that night.

Pat

I know how you feel I am on my fourth week post op and of course have not gotten a fill yet so I have very little restriction so i am trying to stay on track but find myself somewhat cheating at least once a day.I was so hoping that when surgery was over I would have some sort of willpower I guess that has to be learnt.But I have scaled back alot but I am also at a stand still.I have lost 24 lbs since my preop which started on aug 10th so I am within the 1-2 lbs but I just hope the fills will help me I have my first one on the 28th so lets keep each other in our thoughts.please I need all the help I can get lol.

Tammy,

You can do it. Trust me this works and with just a little help from you along the way it will pay you back big time. Let me pass on just one thing that I do and I am sure it has helpd me BIG TIME and that is to never put a waisted calorie in my mouth ie: pop of anykind, ice cream, fried foods, and anything else that tast good. NO just kidding about taste there is so much food that I have been eating the last 5 mounths that I never tried in the past that is just incredible. Mr. Pat

thank you pat.ONe of my biggest problems is i work evening until 11 pm and i do great for the most part during the day and then when I get off I am so much used to eating before I go to bed and I will get on the comp and next thing I know I have something not something extremely bad but like a bowl of cereal way too big or something like that.I juat have to get my bedtime routine somehow under wraps and i should be alot better.Thanks for any input.I am up to any suggestions lol.

If you want to continue with the cereal snack, just make a few adjustments.  Choose healthier cereals that are not pure sugar, measure out 1/2 cup servings into sandwich bags so you only grab one bag instead of the entire box.  Eat the cereal dry as it will stay in the pouch longer than if it is mixed with milk. 

Some other snack options to help get in some protein would be a cheese stick, a banana with some peanut butter on it, a slice of fat free cheese and 4 saltines, some nuts, a cup of yogurt, or an apple with peanut butter.

I forgot all about this thread, but since I started the whole thing, I felt I should come back and give a little perspective. Yes, I did have an uptick, and yes, I have had to learn in the last eight months since surgery how to use this new tool. But overall, I can’t fault the lapband for my ups and downs. I can usually tell before I get near the scale whether I’ve been serious about my efforts or not. Personally,

And probably the most important thing to mention is that overall, I’m going in the right direction—sometimes slower and sometimes faster. I’ve lost 55 pounds and all my friends and family are going ooo-ahhh, just like they’re supposed to. It’s all good.

Grace - Glad to hear that things are going well for you.  Ups and downs are part of life with the band just as they are part of life without the band.  I know what you mean when you say you know if things have gone well or not before you even step on the scale.  I play a game with myself in which I try and guess what my weight will be when I get on the scale based on my behavior the day before and I usually am correct or at least within half a pound.  Keep up the good work because those ooohs and aaahs are kind of fun.