Four Months Post-Op: Is this thing working?

Zero.  That's how many pounds I have lost in the past month.  Before you start to yell at me saying that I can't just go off the number on the scale, "muscle weighs more than fat," and I need to stop being a Negative Nancy, please know that I'm not.  I'm stating the facts. That I haven't lost any weight this past month.

While I know I have lost inches and feel better about my health than I did a month ago, it still makes me question this whole process and whether the lapband is going to work for me.  The difference between lapband and other weight loss surgeries like gastric bypass and the sleeve is that the others result in immediate and drastic weight loss right from the start.  The moment after surgery, their stomach is smaller and they feel immediate restriction with whatever they put into their bodies.

With Lapband, it's a different story.  You may lose a large amount of weight at the beginning since you are on an all liquid diet for ten days, but once your stomach is no longer inflamed from surgery, you no longer feel that restriction.  I have been able to really eat whatever I want and large amounts of it.  The goal with the lapband is that with each adjustment you start to feel more restriction to where you eat less and you stay full and satisfied for longer periods of time between meals.  You keep going back to the surgeon get more saline put into the band until you are in what they call "The Green Zone."   Here's an illustration below that might explain this a little better:

So where I have been in the past four months is the yellow zone.  I get hungry between meals, am able to eat large portions and, well, haven't lost any weight this past month.  Currently sitting at 221 compared to 251 when I started.   What that really says is the thirty pounds I have lost is really due to the exercise and workouts I have put in and then also eating a bit less than I was.  I may have cut out some of the bad stuff like soda and alcohol (except for a weekend or two), but my eating behaviors haven't changed as much as I thought they would.  Or as much as they probably will once I'm in the Green Zone.

Four-Month Appointment:
So I went back to the doctor on Tuesday where they agreed I wasn't where I needed to be since I have only lost three pounds in the past two months. But in those two months, I've lost over three inches in my waist so obviously I'm making progress, just not on the scale.

They agreed to put another 1cc of saline into my band making it 7.5 total in my band that holds 15. Immediately following my fill, I could already feel restriction that I have not felt since surgery.  I'm not sure if I'm in the green zone yet, but I definitely feel the band working a bit better than it has been.

Here's a view of the progress so far.  You can't necessarily tell a huge difference between May and July, but it is still progress.

Non-Scale Victories(NSV):
One of the greatest things that has happened over the past four months is at some point I stopped being completely self-conscious about how I look(I mean, I shared those pictures above, am I right?!).  If you go in my closet you will find an embarrassing number of cardigans and jackets that I have worn in the past to disguise my weight.  I was disgusted by the fat on my arms and how tight some of my clothes would fit, and cardigans were my way to hide my flaws.  

Since I had surgery, I have been to two weddings, to both of which I wore sleeveless and strapless dresses with no cardigan at all.  Even though I am definitely far from where I want to be, I am finally happy in my own skin.  When I get dressed up or even when I'm wearing workout clothes (which is 98% of the time), I am finally proud of where I am and know that I am the best I can possibly be in that moment.

So I'm going to continue to set goals, like I did with exercising 180 days in a row-- on day 103 today-- and take things one day at a time.  And no matter what that number is on the scale, I'm going to keep going and eventually I'll get to where I want to be.