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Today I start my new life as smaller person. I have roller coasted my entire adult life. Today at 3 pm I have my lap band surgery. I very nervous for several reasons. The unknown after surgery problems. My ability to deal with not being able to eat some of my favorite foods. Etc Etc. The list goes on. I'm doing this for my family. I want to see my kids grow up. I want my wife to see me in a different light. I want to see myself different on the outside. The inside is fine. I would never dream of having a picture of me taken with my shirt off, but I'm doing it on here as a reminder of where I am and where I'm going. Out with the old and in with the new. Here we go. Highest weight 298. 1 week preop 294. Not sure this morning.

Just wanted to drop a quick note. I got my unfill last monday and so far so good. it takes me about 4-5 hours before i'm "hungry" and my portions are controlled. needless to say I still am figthing that 1-2 last pounds to get to onederland. however i went shopping yesterday because i needed an outfit in a specific color for a womens conference. well i went into a little cheapy store and asked where the size 12's were since i saw the plus sized section started at size 14. she told me in the junior/misses section. I JUST STOOD THERE FOR WHAT SEEMED LIKE AN ETERNITY. ME GET CLOTHES OUT OF THE JUNIOR.MISSES SECTION. my heart started racing. i know this sounds crazy but i was totally freaked out for a minute. I HAVE NEVER BOUGHT CLOTHES ANYWHERE OTHER THAN THE PLUS SIZE SECTION. so when i bought everything from that side of the store it was soooo weird. i was happy but it was so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that i could. i even bought a tank top in a medium from that side of the store. ok just wanted to share that experience right quick. hope all is well with everyone. s/n from our conference. WHATEVER IT IS...LET IT GO!!! peace and blessings jennifer

I never had any problem losing weight. Heck, that's the easy part! Keeping it off was the problem. Without the lap band I have no doubt in my mind that I would never be where I am today. I would have gone back to eating junk, not exercising, and being miserable. The lap band is the key to my success, period. My one year anniversary is tomorrow and I've lost 79 pounds in that time. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

I'm only 7 wks post-op but I did this too. However, I really took a long hard look at myself and said "Can you really stay on this without the band?" I realized for myself, that I was only good for about 2 or 3 weeks because I knew it was leading up to the band. So, I went forward with the surgery. But the thing to take from this is that you HAVE to know yourself and whether or not you can keep it up. God bless you on this journey!

Congrats to you Jason. Happy Birthday. That's awesome for a birthday present. I got my 1st fill on my birthday last week and that was a great gift.

Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me!

You are a strong woman G4! You are capable of anything you set your mind to!!! My little guys love their sweets but also have the ability to walk away from half a cookie if they are full (something I never learned or ignored in my life.....) so now I'm trying to make a game of it. I am buying cookies and sweets that kids enjoy in moderation and keeping them on the counter which is something I've never been able to do because I work from home and would eat them all before the kids got home from school. I'm testing myself and my resolve in this. I'm making it a game of the better the cookie the more my "exercise" of self control. Not sure how long it will last but for now I've got my mind wrapped around that. We're all in this together, you are not alone, keep that in mind. I miss seeing you and your bright smilin face!!

"Im starting to make bad choices. Ive been eating things that i know that i shouldnt." I have found that if I do not BUY it I can not EAT it. I only buy what I know I should be eating. I just love snack size baggies. I put just enough in them and know that is all I am to have. If I get sidetracked with a food idea I drink warm Water. Seems to cut the hungry. I am only 1-30 to Present into this and food is not my issue getting up and moving is. So joining a gym closer to home.

A fellow lapband friend advised me to put the fork down after every bite, chew, chew, chew and then decide if you need the next bite...

I know, it's frustrating to have the surgery and then have to wait so long for your band to really start doing its job. Sometimes the careful, incremental fill process seems endless, but it's safer to do it that way because overly aggressive fills can cause very unpleasant complications. I started feeling a little bit of restriction after my 1st fill, a little more after the 2nd, and the 3rd fill really did the trick. Looking back, I'm glad it was gradual because if they gave me that much fill (2.5 cc in a 4 cc band) all in the 1st visit, my eating problems would have been unmanageable. The way it worked out made it possible for me to practice good band eating skills and slowly adjust to the fills. Hang in there! Edited to Add: don't assume your surgeon gives fills only once a month just because they automatically schedule appointments for you once a month. My surgeon will do fills at 2-week intervals if you ask.