Banded on Thursday - not a single pound lost :(

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum, but came searching in the hope of some answers to my problem!  I was banded last Thursday, all went well except for it being very painful!  For the first 3 days I was on clear soups, milk. slim fast etc etc, then I moved onto mashed foods.  I have been having, for eg, 1/2 Weetabix for breakfast, mash and one fishfinger for lunch (very small amount of mash) and half a bowl of potato, carrots, onion and gravy for tea.  If I need a snack I have another 1/2 Weetabix or a small yoghurt.

I last weighed myself on Saturday, when I had dropped 2lb from having gone into hospital, but since Saturday - absolutely nothing.  Four days of eating like a crow, and not a single pound lost.  I feel restriction, food is going down okay, no vomiting, and I'm happy eating the little amounts that I do.  So why on earth is nothing coming off?  It's very, very disappointing and this morning I have been in tears, wondering why on earth I have put myself through this.  Weight was flying off me during the two week pre op diet, where I ate normal foods, but low carb and high protein, yet now, not even 1/4 lb.

I'm starting to wish I had never been banded :(  The only one other thing (TMI sorry) is that I have not been to the loo properly since Thursday, but surely that's not holding back pounds and pounds of weight??!

Any advice gratefully received, because right know I'm heading straight for depression!

Thanks, Sharon x

Please use the search facility to read the literally hundreds of posts asking this.

no early loss is totally normal -even gain is not uncommon. You say you lost a lot immediately pre-op. Early fast weight loss comes from water soluble glycogen. This store needs to be replenished as it is the quick access energy for flight/fight/famine, and we need to store about two pounds of it. But as it is water soluble, we at the same time store about four times the glycogen weight in water.  So your body is busily trying to store eight pounds. 

Don't look at weekly but at monthly loss, and include the pre-op loss. Some weeks you will lose nothing; some weeks you will lose a lot. 

And don't compare yourself to people on here who lose 20 or more pounds in the first month; the almost certainly weren't banded! We lose no faster than a Weigh****chers dieter and should be happy with 1-2 lbs a week. 

Ok deep breath.  First off you are not even a week out of surgery and they did pump you full of fluids/IV.  Which you may still be holding onto.

 What did you get for a post op "diet" from your doctor? 

Definately listen to Kate she is a great vet to get information from.

I did notice you stated you are eating Weetabix, potatoes, and gravy.  Please correct me if I am wrong but is Weetabix like a cereal?  Are you measuring and checking your carbs vs. protein intake?  In the early stages of any WLS protein should be the first thing to get in, then fiber, and low amounts of carbs/fats. 

You may have to look at what your eating and adjust things.

Kate is also right about not losing 20+lbs in the first month.  Bandsters really lose slow and steady.  If you were looking for excess amounts of monthly weightloss you may be a bit disappointed. 

Best of luck to you.

Hi there, thanks for the replies.  I don't expect to lose pounds and pounds immediately, I will be happy with a consistent weight loss of 1 to 2 lb a week, but I was just really surprised to see absolutely nothing on the scales.

I will definitely take into account the protein idea, I have already moved onto stage 3 foods as I can tolerate really well, and chew very well, although I'm still eating very small portions, about a 1/4 of what I would normally have.

Thanks again

Hzve you advanced your eating with your doctor's blessing? If you have, fine. Doctors have different plans. But the reason for the slow changes in eating is not because we don't tolerate foods, the chances are that at a week post-band you could eat totally normal foods. The issue is that any digestion causes movements of the stomach and we must not put pressure on internal sutures until they are totally healed. But if your doc says OK, s/he is the qualified one, not me! 

A few additional thoughts:

* Those who lose rapidly soon after surgery tend to have a lot to lose overall, so if you aren't as overweight initially, your numbers won't be as drastic.

* Pain meds and dehydration can cause constipation. Drink as much water as you can!

* Patience! Bodies need time to adjust immediately after surgery. Take a break from the scale and get some rest, then come back in a week or two.

Best of luck to you!

Hey, just seen you are a Brit. Weetabix was the clue - it was my main food for a while post-op!

Hi, yes I live in Britain, Nottinghamshire.

I guess I should have given you my numbers so you can get a better idea of my situation: I was 16st 9lb (sorry, don't do lbs or kg!), and was 16st 0lb by operation day, so 9lb lost on the pre-op diet.  I was banded on the Thursday, came home Friday and weighed myself Saturday when I was 15st 12.5lb, so weight loss of 1.5lb since the Wednesday morning.  And since then, nothing. 

Regarding constipation, yes, I've been constipated.  I managed to push out (!!!) a rather hard stool today (sorry, TMI!) so I'm thinking maybe that might help by tomorrow? I know I shouldn't weigh myself every day, but I get up really early for work every day (5.50am) and quite frankly it is my motivation to get out of bed! Lol.  Besides, it's not as if I can cheat and scoff a pizza if the scales aren't moving, which is what I would have normally done!

Thanks for everyone's advice, it's great to find people who have been through the same.

Sharon

You soon get used to thinking in pounds on here! And using US dress sizes which are not the same as ours!  But sometimes it is difficult with different brands etc.

constipation.  Go to your GP and ask him to prescribe Movicol and Fybogel. Now I take them as needed but when I was in the losing stages I took a ****tail! One sachet Movicol mixed with one sachet Fybogel every singie night and, if needed, some mornings too. I seem to remember a few stomach cramos at first but basically it just kept me regular  without getting the runs or urgency! You might need less -I was anyway prone to constipation. But do ask your GP. They won't give us prescribed vitamins etc  but they will give those.  Mine was good and gave me a few months at a time so it as cheaper while I lived in Engiand.  In Wales, of course, medicines are free anyway! 

Another thing bandsters have to deal with is that very often you don't lose much until you have good restriction with your band and that usually takes several fills to reach and some of us never reach that point. We bounce back an forth with fills and unfills trying to get there. So it could be weeks depending on your fill schedule. Also remember you don't want to be so tight that the band forces you not to eat, it is there to remind you not to eat more, not to force you to want to vomit. So many people make that mistake and end up way too tight causing damage to their stomachs and esophagus. Just be patient and like the others have said it won't be a consistant loss but you can lose. Good luck to you!