On my liquid phase I lost about 16 pounds. I'm on my 3rd week (mushy foods) and after going from the liquid stage to the mushy foods I went up about 4 pounds. On liquids I was on about 300 to 400 calories a day to now about 700 - 1,000 per day. Why the weight gain if the calories are still low (under 1200)?
When does the weight start coming off at a normal rate of 1 to 2 pounds a week? Once I start regular food and go to maybe 1200 will I gain all my weight back?

Yes its very normal. Just hang in there. When you first lose weight its mostly water, then once you start eating real food thats when the body goes whoah mama FOOD, CARBS, SWELL lol !!! Don't worry it will come off again. You might want to eat at least 1200 calories. Eating to low can some times make you stall and its not healthy. 1 - 2 lbs is great!!!! When I eat below 1000 calories I have a hard time losing.... when I eat 1200 - 1400 I start losing again.... weird huh.

Besides, if your losing at 700 calories and your getting near your goal, how low will you have to go to continue to lose ? 500 ? thats dangerously low. So start off higher and work your way down.

Good luck !!

I was slow starting ... at least I thought I was. I had only lost 28 lbs when I went in for my 6 week checkup. But after six weeks I went on regular food and then I started to lose faster. In fact, I started to lose too fast and the doctor put me back on one protein shake a day. It's slowed down some now though. From what I can see from reading these posts..it's different for everybody. Just keep on doing what the doctor says. Hang in there !

PS... I still only average about 800 calories a day. And I'm never hungry unless I'm a little late for a meal.

Debra,
I am in the same boat as you are. I got my band on March 20th and lost 16 pounds on the liquid diet. Now that I am eating mushy foods I gained about 3 1/2 pounds. I am trying to stay around 1200 calories per day. I had a nutritionist that recommened staying between 12-1400 calories otherwise your body goes into starvation mode.

So the responsed you get from this post will interest me a great deal. I am ready start my downward weight journey.

Hi Debra and Deborah (or shall I just say Debs?)

Remember that we bandsters will have a different journey than the bypass girls. You probably won't have much significant weightloss until you've reached good restriction, which can take a little while. I'm guessing that you aren't even scheduled for your first fill until you're six weeks out, right?

The mushy phase was the hardest for me, because I was eating stuff that was pretty high in calories per my surgeon's instructions, and not losing very much - very typical! Remember, you're probably not getting much exercise in yet, your body is doing wierd things adjusting to surgery and you just have to be very, very patient. Just do your best and don't worry about weightloss until you start getting fills. The band can work it's magic once you've achieved good restriction, which I'm sure you know can take a number of fills to reach. Once you're able to eat real foods and concentrate on dense proteins, you'll be amazed at how quickly you'll feel full and at how easily the weight will come off. Patience, patience, patience!

Keep plugging away ladies!

That old bandster,
Chickadee

Chickadee,
You are correct, I am only three weeks post op. I went for my two week check up and my doc wants me back in seven weeks because I had a lot of fluid over my port. The mushy phase is hard, I can not find much that is good and low in carbs and high in protein. After a couple of days I get tired of eggs and tuna.

I am trying to increase my exercise. I am currently doing about 15-20 mins. every other day on my elliptical.

I will be patience, because this is for the greater good.

Debo, try refried beans with a little cheese on it for protein. Mashed cauliflower is delicious too. How about a protein drink, they make some pretty good ones. Do you have a trader joe's near you?

Here's some ideas:
Cottage cheese
Eggs (poached, scrambled or soft boiled)
Blended cream soups
Yogurt
Low Fat Cheese - unmelted
Peanut Butter
Tofu (silken only)
Pudding
Applesauce or other fruit sauces
Canned fruits
Mashed potatoes
Cream of Wheat or oatmeal (diluted with milk)

Chickadee, what is fills?

Leenie,
Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to try them out.

Angie,

Fills are what make the band work so well. The band is a doughnut shaped device that has hollow, expandable tubing in it. The band is placed around the stomach and the tubing connects to a port which is placed right under your skin on your abdomen. The doctor inserts a needle into the port (fairly painless) and fills the band with saline solution to make the stomach opening smaller. Most people need on average from 2 to 5 fills to reach good restriction. Restriction means that you feel full on just a little food. Bandsters have to be very careful to chew, chew, chew and make good food choices to make sure we get out protein needs met.

That will conclude my lesson on banding 101!

Professor Chickadee

p.s. Debo - when I was on mushies, my favorite thing to eat was blended chili (to avoid chunks) over mashed potatoes with a little melted cheese on top. Yum!

chickadeedeedear: any jalapenos on that blended, mushy chili??? inquiring minds are curious, ya know!

Thanks everyone for the comments. I will look forward to my first fill, however I still get full very quick and don't eat over 1,000, I'm usually around 800 - 900.
By the way one of my favorite protein dishes during this soft food stage is:
Tuna mixed with cottege cheese and a hard boiled egg, add a little mayo. Very tasty and lots of protein!