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The Skinny: A Journey Through Lap-Band Surgery

A blog by ALuv82 in General

  • Entries

    25

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    3,975

About this blog

The skinny on getting skinny. A twenty-something's journey through weight loss surgery.

Entries in this blog

The Skinny on Fear

Geez, it’s been a long time since I’ve written in this blog. A lot has happened, and also not so much. In a lot of ways I feel stuck. My weight loss has definitely stalled. In fact, I had regained about 10 pound although I’ve re-lost about 5 of them in the past couple of weeks and am hoping this is the beginning of me getting back on track.   Anyway, that’s not really the point of this post. The truth is, my psychologist gave me a homework assignment—to write about fear; to help me with my fe

The Skinny on My New "Normal"

What? Me? Really? Yes! It’s true—I’m back with a blog update. I’d love to give you some grand reason for my disappearing act, but the truth is just that life has just gone on. Being banded was a huge life altering experience and for many months it affected everything. In a way, it defined me, just as being fat has defined me for the past 20 or so years of my life. Being banded affected my daily routine—what I ate, how I moved, work, the gym, doctors appointments. And then slowly, it affected me
  • ALuv82

The Skinny on Holly Mother of Pain, Batman

Last night around 4:30 in the morning, I woke up to go to the bathroom and noticed my lower back hurt a little. I have a history of having back spasms there so at first I thought nothing of it. Then I lay back down and tried to get into my usual comforting positions when by back hurts but it kept getting worse and worse. I also noticed that even though it was the same spot as my back spasms, it didn't feel the same at all...I could stand up straight move around, etc, etc. which I can’t do when I

The Skinny on My 3 Month Weigh-in

Another month has passed and it’s time for another weigh-in. Things have slowed down a bit scale-wise but as long as they’re not stopping or going in the wrong direction, I’m happy. Besides, I had another fill 1 ½ weeks ago and I think that will help pick things up again. Not to mention that I’m looking damn hot in my new photos :confused: The inches are coming off too, although I’m getting kind of depressed by my upper arms—or the “double good-byes” as my trainer calls them (because they ke

The Skinny on Moving Out and Moving On

Three months ago this coming Monday I made what I believe to be the best and most important step in my life so far second only to becoming a veterinarian—I got my lap-band. Life since then has been a series of ups and downs and relearning the habits I’ve developed over the last twenty-seven years. It hasn’t all been easy, but it hasn’t been hard either. My life did not change as drastically as I had hoped for and feared in equal measure. I’m still early in my journey and believe that those good

The Skinny on Fills Gone Bad

I had my second fill today—woohoo for more restriction! Not that I was doing too bad with the restriction I had. I can definitely see the difference between how much I can eat now versus how much I used to be able to eat. It’s a world of change. But it’s still not quite to the sweet spot. I can eat more than the recommended portions and I have had no trouble with any food I’ve tried. I can eat bagels, pizza, pasta, rice—no problems. Although when I eat bagels or rolls or anything, I do scoop out

The Skinny on My 2 Month Weigh-In

So another month has passed and I'm back for another weigh-in. I'm down to 269# as of today. That means I officially have double digits until my goal (170) and my BMI is 39.7--I'm not morbidly obese anymore...woohoo!!!   I've also made it back to the gym after my unfortunate back spasm-y deal a couple of weeks ago. I ran 30 minutes today starting at a 4.0 and working my way up to a 5.1, then I worked out with my trainer for an hour. I can do ab workouts again. I don't know if I'm excited about

The Skinny on Feeling Better--or the Lack Thereof

I had an interesting reaction to something someone said the other day. I saw one of my neighbors and she was complementing me on my weight-loss, which was nice to hear, but then she said something about how I must feel so much better. I just shrugged, but for some reason I felt myself getting defensive, especially when she seemed incredulous at my non-committal reply. I don’t know why it bugged me so much. My first thought was that I was annoyed because everyone just assumes that because you’re

The Skinny on the Hard Days

Remember in my last post I wrote about how there would be days when I didn’t have the strength to even try to say no to the indulgences I used to consume? Well, I think today was on of those days. Not that I went on a binge or ate myself sick or anything—but the “rules” definitely didn’t seem to apply.   Strike number 1…I left the house without breakfast as I was running late for an appointment. Luckily I had an Atkin’s protein bar in my bag which is actually a pretty typical breakfast for me.

The Skinny on the Ups and Downs of Banded Life

I’ve been a bad, bad girl…abandoning my blog for almost 3 weeks. I’ve been busy trying to get everything in order with the bank to buy my co-op apartment which I will hopefully be getting in the next week or two. I also have my sister’s wedding and have been doing some stuff with her as well as getting started on plans for her shower. Then of course there’s just the fact that I’m a lazy bum. I’ve spent much of my free time the last week or two catching up on episodes of Doogie Howser, M.D. court

The Skinny on My 1 Month Weigh-in

It’s officially been 4 weeks since my surgery and 5 weeks since I started my pre-op diet. I figured this would make as good a time for an official weigh-in as any. I took some 1 month post-op pictures which can be viewed below if you’re interested. It’s actually pretty cool to see how much can change in a month. In addition I also took my measurements again. Of course they’re probably completely meaningless since the first time I had them professionally done by my personal trainer, J and this ti

The Skinny on My First (Un) Fill

Well, last week I know I was all gung-ho about my super-duper restriction. Yippee, I was hardly eating and I was losing weight fast. What more could a lap-bander want? Well I’ve got to tell you, it got old quickly. You see, this past week I actually started to experience some hunger. Only problem was—I couldn’t eat…or drink. Maybe it was just because I was actually hungry that I noticed it more, but my band actually seemed tighter this week than it was last week. Looking back at some of my MyFit

The Skinny on NSGs

So I finally got a chance to sit down and watch my DVRed episode of The Biggest Loser finale. I have to say, for a show that promotes losing weight and getting in shape, they make you sit in front of the TV for an awfully long time to find out who won. That aside, those contestants are damn motivational. Seriously, Mike lost over 200 lbs in 6 months, and that 64 year old guy who won the at home prize lost nearly as much and he was only on the Ranch for 2 weeks. If these guys can do it without su

The Skinny on How Much I'm Loving My Band

Man I love mushies. My protein shakes were tolerable, but this is definitely better. Right now I’m perfectly fine with my new diet. The portions (2 oz protein, 1 oz carb 6 times a day) are more than adequate for me. I’m still feeling plenty of restriction and sometimes I’m not even eating my entire meals. I do feel hunger, usually if I haven’t eaten in 3 hours or more, but otherwise I’m fine. I’m thrilled with my progress so far but I’m waiting on this bandster hell I hear about to hit. The way

The Skinny on Getting Back into the Groove

Week two has been an eventful one—though sad to say, not on the scale. In fact, the scale didn’t move at all for 5 days. Luckily it started up again and I’ve lost 3 pounds in the last 2 days. Now, I know I need to get out of this pesky habit of weighing myself everyday. I certainly can’t expect to keep up the rate of loss I have for the weeks pre and post op, but it’s hard not to expect big changes when you’re eating 600 Calories a day. Anyhow, I’m down a total of 24 pounds in 3 weeks and still

The Skinny on Week 1 Post-Op

I’m about a week into recovery and things are going pretty well. I’m finally starting to feel like myself again. My immediate recovery from anesthesia was extremely smooth but I didn’t fair so well on the pain front. I was popping pain pills like crazy the first few days. The only problem was that the Vicodin was too big for my new, little tummy. It eventually went down but I could feel it sitting there for a little while at first and it was pretty uncomfortable. I started crushing them up after

The Skinny on Joining Bandy-Land

Well, it’s official; I’m in band land. I went to the hospital yesterday, around 2PM (I was the last of the five surgeries Dr. G did yesterday). After checking in, I was taken to the surgery waiting room which was filled with cookies and the not-so-faint aroma of brewing coffee. Now, I don’t drink coffee too frequently, but man did that stuff smell good. Isn’t hospital coffee supposed to be bad? Anyhow, I went to the bathroom and then noticed there was a computer with internet access in the room.

The Skinny on the Day Before Surgery

I am starving my freaking tookus off. I guess that’s the point of all of this, in a way—minus the starving part. That part is actually kind of the opposite of what this is about, in the long run anyhow. But tonight I am definitely starving. Tomorrow is my surgery which means I was relegated to clear liquids all day. That means all I was allowed to consume were Italian ices, sugar free jello, broth, juice (of the white grape and apple varieties) and water. I’m here to tell you that while I love I

The Skinny on Weigh-in Number One

This afternoon I had my last work-out with my personal trainer, J, before surgery. In honor of this I finally let him take my measurements like he’d been trying to convince me to since I first started working out with him last summer. I though it would be good to have some starting stats, so here they are. Weigh-in #1 Weight- 308.4# (I was actually 313.4# on Mon night so I’ve already lost 5#. Yay me!) Chest- 52.5” Shoulders- 49.5” Waist- 51.5” Hips- 59.5” Thigh- 29.5” Calf- 20”

The Skinny on the Pre and Post-op Liquid Diets

I finally started my pre-op diet Monday. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, the pre-op diet is for one week prior to surgery. The main purpose is to shrink my liver. The liver stores energy in the form of fat and glycogen By adhering to this diet which is low in fat and sugar, my body will utilize the energy stores and my liver will get smaller. This helps Dr. G to be able to visualize my stomach during the procedure since the liver can get in the way. The other purpose of the diet is t

The Skinny on My Pre-Op Freak-Out

So the big day is closing in…and I’m starting to freak the hell out!!! I’m scared as frack for a multitude of reasons and my trepidation is increasing with each passing day.   Tomorrow I start my pre-op diet. I did try to be good this past week, at least in the beginning. But then I seemed honestly, legitimately more hungry than usual and my junk food cravings were unbearable. I would be good all day then come home and give in to the ice cream in the refrigerator or feel the intense need to s

The Skinny on the Rapidly Approaching Big Day

So I know I kind of disappeared off the face of the blog-o-sphere, and so shortly after I appeared, but fear not, I have returned. (Was that a run on sentence? I think it was but I have always sucked at grammar. Please forgive me my faults. :wub:) Anyhoo, I apologize for my prolonged absence. I tried to sit down and write a couple of times, but I was sick, first with the cold from hell and then with a stomach flu and I was busy with all my pre-surgical testing during all of it. By the tim

The Skinny on My Battle With Obesity

I have always been overweight. In elementary school there used to be a day every year where they weighed you in gym; I think it was at the same time that they did the scoliosis test. I don’t ever remember a year where I wasn’t afraid and embarrassed to step on that scale. My parents tried to get me involved in sports to help control my weight and I played little league soft-ball and soccer, but it didn’t keep the pounds off.   By the time I was 12 and heading off to junior high, my parents we

The Skinny on My Decision

Well, here goes nothing. Earlier this week I paid a visit to a bariatric surgeon and have decided to start preparations to undergo Lap-band surgery. I’m about to embark on a life changing journey and I’m here to give you the skinny on getting skinny. Not that “skinny” is really what it’s all about; it’s far too superficial of a word to encompass everything that I’m trying to achieve by undergoing weight-loss surgery. In fact, I don’t even really expect to get skinny at all. Mostly I’m shooting f

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