♥LovetheNewMe♥

Well Diane is having her own personal pity party. Go figure. I got my feelings hurt yesterday probably not the first time nor will it be the last but this time I am really having trouble shaking it. So who was the wonderful person who decided to be so honest with me my "loving husband", I type that with much sarcasm and anger at this moment. As all of you on this site know I have lost a lot of weight over the past 19 months, 103 lbs to be exact. I am very proud of the fact that I have been able to be successful with lapband and it has not been without ups and downs and struggles along the way. So what did the "jerk" say that hurt so much. Well here it goes, we were working outside trying to get the pool open and I had to get in the pool to srub the sides and bottom so I went to put on a swim suit. OMG, as I am sure all of you are aware of is that when you lose a lot of weight your skin does not always snap right back into place. Go figure, right! Well Mr. Brilliant says to me, "Honey, you know you are damn sexy looking except for one thing." WHAT? He repeats himself, now knowing he has crossed the path of no return. EXCEPT for WHAT??? Well I am not sure you know it or not but your THIGHS really look just AWFUL. Oh yeah, he did say it. I think I turned into let me see a TIGER, no may be a RATTLESNAKE, or may be it was SCORPION. So WTF?? Does he not think I look in the mirror everyday and see what I look like without my cloths on? Why does he think I am literal working my ASS off at a gym 3 times a week and doing cardio 6-7 days a week. So have you figured out I am just a little touchy about how I look? I have been struggling for months with my body image, I still saw the fat me for months when I looked into the mirror it was not until just the past month that I was starting to accept the new me. Starting to notice that working out was paying off, I even felt my thighs were looking better, not perfect. But for real, I used to weigh 252 lbs on 5'1' frame what do you expect. I am just hurt, pissed, mad and just can't believe he said it.
So what did I do last night, I binged. I reverted back to an old behavior. Well of course binging these days is much different than before, but still I hate the fact that I allowed what someone said to cause me to go back to an old coping behavior. So today I feel hurt, guilty and just totally like a failure.
I have tried all day to make this into a positive but I am struggling, I am trying to be a big girl and realize that everyone has an opinion but I guess my feeling is that because he said it, it is how he really feels. So to him, I look awful. I looked awful fat and I look awful thin, so what now.
 
Well I guess I could continue to feel sorry for myself and give into bad past behaviors or I can just put this into prospective. I know I have lose skin, that is a given. I know I have worked to do to try and tighten up, that is also a given and why I hired a personal trainer and am working my butt off. I spent my afternoon reading the forums for other posts that could help me and this is one I read that really hoped me put into prospective what I feel: "Don't listen to the inner dialogs that continues to put you down despite your success. Because it won't suddenly start happening once you get plastic surgery. Choose to celebrate your achievements now."
To take the above statement a little further I will not allow others to sabotage what I have worked so hard to achieve. I could chose to have plastic surgery to rid my self of the lose skin I have but I have chosen to try and tighten up with exercise, it takes longer may not be perfect but I do not want the scars that come with plastic surgery. I will not go back to being that person, the person who used cheeseburgers, chips and Fry's to comfort her. I don't want to be that person, I will not be that person and further more I am not that person anymore. So there hubby take that, maybe you have your own issues you need to work out to deal with the fact that "YOUR" wife looks "HOT" OK maybe that's a little much but you get the point.
 
So first I am forgiving myself for failing myself and not using what I have learned for the past year and a half and than I am going to forgive the "jerk" I am married to for hurting my feelings. I may not tell him for a few days because I think he needs to realize just what a "HUGH" mistake he made. Because you see I have another character flaw, I may forgive but I never forget...........................

Well Diane is having her own personal pity party. Go figure. I got my feelings hurt yesterday probably not the first time nor will it be the last but this time I am really having trouble shaking it. So who was the wonderful person who decided to be so honest with me my "loving husband", I type that with much sarcasm and anger at this moment. As all of you on this site know I have lost a lot of weight over the past 19 months, 103 lbs to be exact. I am very proud of the fact that I have been able to be successful with lapband and it has not been without ups and downs and struggles along the way. So what did the "jerk" say that hurt so much. Well here it goes, we were working outside trying to get the pool open and I had to get in the pool to srub the sides and bottom so I went to put on a swim suit. OMG, as I am sure all of you are aware of is that when you lose a lot of weight your skin does not always snap right back into place. Go figure, right! Well Mr. Brilliant says to me, "Honey, you know you are damn sexy looking except for one thing." WHAT? He repeats himself, now knowing he has crossed the path of no return. EXCEPT for WHAT??? Well I am not sure you know it or not but your THIGHS really look just AWFUL. Oh yeah, he did say it. I think I turned into let me see a TIGER, no may be a RATTLESNAKE, or may be it was SCORPION. So WTF?? Does he not think I look in the mirror everyday and see what I look like without my cloths on? Why does he think I am literal working my ASS off at a gym 3 times a week and doing cardio 6-7 days a week. So have you figured out I am just a little touchy about how I look? I have been struggling for months with my body image, I still saw the fat me for months when I looked into the mirror it was not until just the past month that I was starting to accept the new me. Starting to notice that working out was paying off, I even felt my thighs were looking better, not perfect. But for real, I used to weigh 252 lbs on 5'1' frame what do you expect. I am just hurt, pissed, mad and just can't believe he said it.
So what did I do last night, I binged. I reverted back to an old behavior. Well of course binging these days is much different than before, but still I hate the fact that I allowed what someone said to cause me to go back to an old coping behavior. So today I feel hurt, guilty and just totally like a failure.
I have tried all day to make this into a positive but I am struggling, I am trying to be a big girl and realize that everyone has an opinion but I guess my feeling is that because he said it, it is how he really feels. So to him, I look awful. I looked awful fat and I look awful thin, so what now.
 
Well I guess I could continue to feel sorry for myself and give into bad past behaviors or I can just put this into prospective. I know I have lose skin, that is a given. I know I have worked to do to try and tighten up, that is also a given and why I hired a personal trainer and am working my butt off. I spent my afternoon reading the forums for other posts that could help me and this is one I read that really hoped me put into prospective what I feel: "Don't listen to the inner dialogs that continues to put you down despite your success. Because it won't suddenly start happening once you get plastic surgery. Choose to celebrate your achievements now."
To take the above statement a little further I will not allow others to sabotage what I have worked so hard to achieve. I could chose to have plastic surgery to rid my self of the lose skin I have but I have chosen to try and tighten up with exercise, it takes longer may not be perfect but I do not want the scars that come with plastic surgery. I will not go back to being that person, the person who used cheeseburgers, chips and Fry's to comfort her. I don't want to be that person, I will not be that person and further more I am not that person anymore. So there hubby take that, maybe you have your own issues you need to work out to deal with the fact that "YOUR" wife looks "HOT" OK maybe that's a little much but you get the point.
 
So first I am forgiving myself for failing myself and not using what I have learned for the past year and a half and than I am going to forgive the "jerk" I am married to for hurting my feelings. I may not tell him for a few days because I think he needs to realize just what a "HUGH" mistake he made. Because you see I have another character flaw, I may forgive but I never forget...........................

Well Diane is having her own personal pity party. Go figure. I got my feelings hurt yesterday probably not the first time nor will it be the last but this time I am really having trouble shaking it. So who was the wonderful person who decided to be so honest with me my "loving husband", I type that with much sarcasm and anger at this moment. As all of you on this site know I have lost a lot of weight over the past 19 months, 103 lbs to be exact. I am very proud of the fact that I have been able to be successful with lapband and it has not been without ups and downs and struggles along the way. So what did the "jerk" say that hurt so much. Well here it goes, we were working outside trying to get the pool open and I had to get in the pool to srub the sides and bottom so I went to put on a swim suit. OMG, as I am sure all of you are aware of is that when you lose a lot of weight your skin does not always snap right back into place. Go figure, right! Well Mr. Brilliant says to me, "Honey, you know you are damn sexy looking except for one thing." WHAT? He repeats himself, now knowing he has crossed the path of no return. EXCEPT for WHAT??? Well I am not sure you know it or not but your THIGHS really look just AWFUL. Oh yeah, he did say it. I think I turned into let me see a TIGER, no may be a RATTLESNAKE, or may be it was SCORPION. So WTF?? Does he not think I look in the mirror everyday and see what I look like without my cloths on? Why does he think I am literal working my ASS off at a gym 3 times a week and doing cardio 6-7 days a week. So have you figured out I am just a little touchy about how I look? I have been struggling for months with my body image, I still saw the fat me for months when I looked into the mirror it was not until just the past month that I was starting to accept the new me. Starting to notice that working out was paying off, I even felt my thighs were looking better, not perfect. But for real, I used to weigh 252 lbs on 5'1' frame what do you expect. I am just hurt, pissed, mad and just can't believe he said it.
So what did I do last night, I binged. I reverted back to an old behavior. Well of course binging these days is much different than before, but still I hate the fact that I allowed what someone said to cause me to go back to an old coping behavior. So today I feel hurt, guilty and just totally like a failure.
I have tried all day to make this into a positive but I am struggling, I am trying to be a big girl and realize that everyone has an opinion but I guess my feeling is that because he said it, it is how he really feels. So to him, I look awful. I looked awful fat and I look awful thin, so what now.
 
Well I guess I could continue to feel sorry for myself and give into bad past behaviors or I can just put this into prospective. I know I have lose skin, that is a given. I know I have worked to do to try and tighten up, that is also a given and why I hired a personal trainer and am working my butt off. I spent my afternoon reading the forums for other posts that could help me and this is one I read that really hoped me put into prospective what I feel: "Don't listen to the inner dialogs that continues to put you down despite your success. Because it won't suddenly start happening once you get plastic surgery. Choose to celebrate your achievements now."
To take the above statement a little further I will not allow others to sabotage what I have worked so hard to achieve. I could chose to have plastic surgery to rid my self of the lose skin I have but I have chosen to try and tighten up with exercise, it takes longer may not be perfect but I do not want the scars that come with plastic surgery. I will not go back to being that person, the person who used cheeseburgers, chips and Fry's to comfort her. I don't want to be that person, I will not be that person and further more I am not that person anymore. So there hubby take that, maybe you have your own issues you need to work out to deal with the fact that "YOUR" wife looks "HOT" OK maybe that's a little much but you get the point.
 
So first I am forgiving myself for failing myself and not using what I have learned for the past year and a half and than I am going to forgive the "jerk" I am married to for hurting my feelings. I may not tell him for a few days because I think he needs to realize just what a "HUGH" mistake he made. Because you see I have another character flaw, I may forgive but I never forget...........................

Here is a little picture update. It is possible with lap band and a lot of hard work. First photo is pre surgery, second photo is May 2011, third photo is this week May 2012.
Some days I find it hard to believe when I look in the mirror that this is really me!

I haven't blog in few weeks or months, but wanted to let everyone know I am still out here, reading the blogs and forums to keep up with everyone. I spend more time on MFP these days. I started working out with a personal trainer 5 weeks ago and that is really working out good for me. I had really hit a slump in my program and was pretty much dead in the water again. My band was working, but I just wasn't eating very well. I had hit a spot again when food just wasn't my focus and was eating way to few calories. My trainer told me I was pretty much starving my muscles and my body was holding on to those fat cells for dear life. Sad I had to pay someone to teach me how to eat, but it is working. At first I thought there is no way I can do this. I am suppose to eat 3 meals a day and that is it. But guess what 5 weeks later, I am eating my 3 meals a day but I am supplementing a protein shake twice a day for snacks and most days take in 100 plus grams of protein. I still have my days I struggle but they are fewer and further between. My first month I lost 5lbs and 9 inches. I am hoping to lose 4 lbs this month and I will finally be out of the 150's.. While what a mile stone, I have not been this petite since high school. I used to think a goal of 132 was unreachable but I am finding out if you have the right attitude you can make anything work. Now don't get me wrong I have my ups and downs with the band but for the most part this is the best thing I every did for me. And seriously it really is all about me at this time. This is my chance, my time and my journey. Lap band is not an easy journey, it is paved with trials and tribulations. It will test your passion, it will test your commitment, you will have to fight temptation on a daily basis. There will always be food and lots of it, you have to realize that food to you is no different than alcohol is to an alcoholic or drugs are to a drug addict. My journey has consisted of distancing myself from temptations, I do not allow certain foods in my house or more specifically in my cabinets or fridge. I have no control of what others do but I do have control over what I put in my mouth. I find my self more aware of what others eat and I often think, man I used to eat like that and look where it got me. I think now my goal has become an obsession, I work my butt off, 3 days with a trainer, 6 days a week of cardio and logging religiously every morsel I eat. I have a new set of fears now, I used to fear not losing weight, my new fear is how will I maintain? I am trying to make exercise routine and part of my life.
 
To all you newbies and those weighting to have surgery and lose of you who are struggling, stay positive, stay focused and if you detour, forgive yourself, pick you up and move forward. We can all get caught up in the soulda, coulda, woulda! Look at everyday as a new beginning. Good luck to all of you and if you know a nurse be extra special to them this week, this is our week to celebrate. It is national nurse week, so hug your favorite nurse this week and tell her how much you appreciate what she does.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend and a wonderful relaxing Sunday. The day is beautiful here in SC, sun is shinning but it is still a little cool for the south. I don't know about everyone else but I can't wait until spring. I have so much more energy and motivation when it is warm outside. I find the winter months to be a little depressing and I do not feel as motivated to be outside and exercise. I am proud that I have went back to curves a week ago and have met my goal of going on Saturday mornings, and Tuesday and Thursday evenings after work. I need to set a new goal this week of at least doing 30 minutes of exercise daily of at least walking or something. I need my tread mill moved so I can use it, my son moved in late last year and it is in his room and a little hard to use. My husband says he has to take it apart to get it out of the room and has not done that yet. First thing that ticks me off lately. I go back to see my surgeon next week one , I had my last fill on Jan 30th and I am still struggling with solid foods most days, I do eat but it is usually late in the afternoons and evenings, I am getting all my protein in but with supplements. I keep thinking the band will loosen up a little and some days it seems to and others like yesterday, I just gave up and ate Greek yogurt and drank protein. I am still holding at 160 lbs, so at least I have slowed down on losing for a while. On the 30th I was at 175 which was up 5 lbs from before Christmas. I did find something good to eat this weekend, we ordered take out from the local Chinese restaurant and I ate a tofu stir fry, it was yummy and the tofu was silky soft and slide right down. I was only able to eat about 1/2 cup but it was yummy. I went out today and purchased a fit bit and tied it to my fitness pal account so I could track my activity and calories burned. I will let everyone know how that works out. I have been a little lazy lately and feeling a little frustrated with food and eating in general. I haven't felt this way in a long time but it is just so frustrating when one day things go down with out problems and they same things don't the next day. Welcome to bandster hell, I guess. The last thing that ticks me off today is people who use this site to promote sales of products. I was reviewing the forums and blogs this morning and found a blog that someone had started yesterday, she said she was 2 years out from lap band and had lost 150 lbs but was promoting a protein drink diet to get back on track. I thought to my self, every lap band patient knows that gimmicks don't work, diets don't work and getting the lap band has to be about changing your life and behaviors. Not sure why it pissed me off but it did, I feel we all work so hard on trying to live with lap band and trying to change out lives and live like others and the last thing I needed was someone telling me I could lose weight with lap band drinking yummy protein shakes. SERIOUSLY! I drink the damn shakes because nothing else goes down some days and this is not how I intend to lose my last pounds. I want to eat, enjoy my food portion. So shame on you if you are a lap band patient for encouraging us to drink protein to lose weight instead of change our behaviors and learn to live with lap band. I know we all have the freedom to post and believe what ever we want but SERIOUSLY give me a break. Ok, I feel better now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well banster family, I hit a new milestone today I wanted to share. I had a check up with the doctor and when I weighed in today, I am no longer obese,I am now just over weight. Now only my bandster family can appreciate what that means. I started this journey 14 months ago and at that time by the charts I was considered morbidly obese. Needless to say I am very excited. To reach my goal I only need to loss 12 additional pounds, now to no longer be considered over weight I would need to loose an additional 26lbs. My doctor and I decided on a weight based on my bone structure and muscle mass. Now that being said I never started this journey to be thin, my Goal; was to be healthy. It feels good to have energy and not longer have knees that hurt all the time. I feel very blessed to have done so well this passed year and am thankful for my supporting husband and family and for my wonderful surgeon for always being understanding. I never considered skinny and me in the same sentence and it still bothers me when people say I am skinny. I am by no means skinny, they were just so use to seeing me "Healthy" aka Fat that I do look "Skinny". Today people said," now your not going to lose more weight are you because you sure look skinny". So I replied, Yes I do plan to lose a few more pounds because I am still above the goal my physician and I have set. Well that just lead to well, you don't want to lose too much more, you don't want to look old. OMG! Did the forget I am old, and I would rather be think and old than obese and old. So I ask "What does skinny actually mean?" Below are the definitions for Skinny and Overweight.

Definition of SKINNY Definition:
 
1: resembling skin : membranous
 
2 a: lacking sufficient flesh : very thin : emaciated
b: lacking usual or desirable bulk, quantity, qualities, or significance
 
Definition: Overweight refers to an individual weighing 10% or more of what is considered his or her recommended healthy weight
 
I actually think I take more offense to being called skinny then to being called overweight.... emaciated. Boy I never thought anyone would use that word to describe me. When I think emaciated, I have an image in my mind of a someone who is so thin you can count their ribs. Now I may be thinner but believe me you can not count my ribs and baby still got Back! Now for those of you just starting your journey, you are probably thinking what is this women ranting about, but seriously can no one give a compliment these days. If you can't say something nice to someone just keep your mouth closed, thank you.
 
Well I feel better now and I will continue on my journey and will stop losing when my physician and I feel I am at a healthy weight for my body type.
 
Thanks for Listening and allowing me to rant.
 
Good luck to all of my bandster family, keep motivated, focused and all dreams can come true with dedication and time.
 

Well I hope all my friends are doing well. I have spent the morning reading and trying to catch up on how everyone is progressing. I noticed I had not posted since November of last year: why, not sure. The holidays came and went with no major issues, I got a GI bug before Christmas and learned I could truly vomit after being banded and it was not a pleasant experience. I learned that even with a band Thanksgiving and Christmas can be very challanging holidays. Who does not enjoy the smell of fresh baked cookies and pies and lets not forget about that wonderful dinner with all the sides. My family was a little disappointed because I chose not to bake, but why tempt a former fat person. I may have learned alot over the past year but I still love food and I love the wonderful traditions that I have enjoyed since I was a child so I decided to let my daughter do the baking for the family, they live 4 and half hours away so they were not in my easy reach. Early in January I started to notice that I was not staying as satisfied between meals, I would eat my portions but I could usually down my portion in about 10 minutes. I knew this was not good but hated the idea of getting a fill. Any of you that have followed my blog know that I have not had but a few fills but my last one resulted in an overfill and an unfill before they got it right. Multiple sticks later I was back in the green zone again. Well I went to see my surgeon the second week of Jan and had my 3rd fill on Jan 30th. What an event, I had an esphogeal spasm when he pulled the fluid out of my band," it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest." But I survived and the past week has been as fun as I remember, that is where Wow, it;s like starting over comes in. My first thought after this fill was, "Why can I not just learn to control my hunger so I don't have to go through this." 48 hours of clear liquids, than advance to soft than to solids. It has taken me 7 days to advance back to solids and it is really small amounts, about 2 ozs every 2-3 hours. I had to go back to the protein drinks to get all my protein in for a few days. I thought I might be too full, but I can pass liquids easily and solids if I chew them well. I think I had been a little more unrestricted than I thought for quite sometime and had become comfortable with managing my portions on my own. I lost 7 lbs last week but have finally leveled off maintained for the past few days, I am gradually adding solids back into my diet and cutting back on the protein drinks. So I guess this past week I have learned that this truly is a life long journey! Never give up and stay true to your self and you will be successful.....................

Well October the 27th was my one year band-iversary. Wow... what a year this has been. If you would have asked me a year ago if I thought I would be where I am today I am not sure how I would have answered. The road has been bumpy along my journey, I have been too lose, I have been too tight, I have peaked and plateaued weeks and months on end. I have lost no pounds, I have gained a pound or two, I have lost inches, I have not exercised, I have over exercised and I have had knee surgery but my biggest accomplishment is that I really do love "me" and I have learned that food is a necessity for nutrition not a coping mechanism. If I learn nothing else from this journey it will be that I can get angry, upset and frustrated and I know McDonald's is not my friend, my friends have been my family, my co-workers and all of you who have supported me and encouraged me. To all of you who are just starting, or who are struggling and to those of you who have been successful, share your success, admits your mistakes and love yourself! We are all worth the effort that this journey takes!
 
I weighed in this week at 168, still not at goal but very pleased with my progress and yes, I really do" love the new me." I am going to share some before and now photos with you. I have dropped from a size 24 to a 12.

 
Cyber Hugs and Kisses to All!

OK, I have been posting on this blog for a year now and those of you who know me have come to realize I am a bit of a nerd and spend a lot of time surfing the INTERNET looking for and asking questions. I try hard to read all the posts and make comments when I can but one theme that keeps popping up for many is their frustration with not losing the amount of weight they wanted to or fast enough. I like many of you probably did not ask all the right questions. I am a nurse and I know I did not ask everything and have found out a lot of my answers on this blog, on the INTERNET and from my own dumb mistakes. I am no expert but I am a true believer that we can all learn from each others life experiences. I am not your typical lap band patient. I have lost greater than my 50% of my total weight in my first year and believe me I feel very fortunate but I have worked the program. But if you really knew me you would learn to know that when I set my mind at something, I can be very OCD. I use this blog as my new addiction, I checking it religiously to see how others are doing, it is free and it does not add any inches to my hips or numbers to my scales. So you ask, what is Diane trying to tell us??? Well tonight I was doing my usual INTERNET surfing. My question was, How much weight can a lap band patient expect to lose?Wow, imagine, I found some answers and all were pretty consistent with what my doctor had told me. Hmmm, I also found this calculator on gottolose.org How much can I expect to lose? So I plugged in my height and starting weight and this is what it said.... I was 116 lbs over weight when I started, My ideal body weight should be 132 and I could expect to lose between 29 to 63 LBS. Well friends do the math that is about 50% give or take a few pounds of what I need to lose. 50% of my weight would be 58 lbs. To date I have lost 80 lbs, and by their numbers I have another 36 lbs to lose. It also showed me how much I could have lost if I had the gastric sleeve or the bypass and guess what I have pretty much exceeded all their numbers. My point is, no matter what surgery we have ladies and gentleman, WE have to work the program, not 50% or 75% of the time but ALL the time. We have to continue to work to change our behavior and develop healthy habits. This is more than just losing weight, this is gaining life and a better quality of life so like the article says, focus on how you feel not how much you are losing. Focus on all the positive and not the negative. Also everyone, stop beating yourself up, we are all worth the effort and we are all our worst critque. No one ever needs to tell us we did something wrong, we are all to busy say, yes I did it that was me Guilty as Charged. So you ask, if you have lost what they statistically expected are your going to settle, the answer is NO, not only NO but Hell NO! I am going to prove their statistics wrong, invalid, and I challange each of you to do the same.
 
Here ya go!
 

Your Most Burning Questions about Lap Band Surgery


So you'rethinking about having Lap Band surgery for weight loss, you're bound to have alot of questions. How does it work? How will it affect my life? How much doesit cost? These and many other questions are important to ask, and Iencourage you to learn more. But for today's purposes let's get straight to thequestion that is foremost in everyone's minds:
 
How muchweight can I expect to lose with the Lap Band?
 
There are really twoanswers to that question. Let's take a look.
 
ANSWER #1:Most people lose 50 to 60 percent of their excess weight with the Lap Band.
 
Some people lose a little more. Somepeople lose a little less. But, on average, most patients who have the Lap Bandprocedure lose half to almost two-thirds of their excess weight in the first 1to 3 years.
 
So what does that translate into in terms of howmany pounds you'll lose? That all depends on where you're starting from. Theheavier you are, the more pounds you will lose. For example, take someone whoweighs 600 pounds with excess weight of 450 pounds. If they lose 50 percent oftheir excess weight, they'll see 225 pounds go away. In contrast, consideranother person who starts at 220 pounds with 65 pounds of excess weight. Fiftypercent of their weight would be 33 pounds or more.
 
So the pounds lost will vary greatly per person,but the ultimate goal is the same: to lose a significant chunk of the extraweight you're carrying around. We strive to work with each patient to reach aweight loss of two-thirds of their excess body weight. What that means for youwill be based on your personal needs.
 
How much you'll lose will also depend on how muchyou adapt to the guidelines for eating andexercise after you get the Lap Band. The good news is you're notalone on this part. We have a whole aftercarestaff whose job is to help you to adapt and maintain and healthier lifestyle.Plus, your Lap Band will be the best reminder of all, helping you to feel fullafter eating theright amount offood for weight loss.
 
You also might be wondering how fast you'll lose the weight. The answeris that you should see a nice, steady weight loss over 18 months to 3 years.Honestly, this is not about speed, because rapid weight loss is not going to bea healthy weight loss. This is one of the great things about the Lap Band.Because it's adjustable, we can keep modifying the restriction level you'regetting to make sure you're achieving a successful rate of weight loss, allwhile also avoiding the rapid weight loss that you may not be able to maintain.Depending on your starting BMI, a good rate of weight loss will probably beanywhere from two to eight pounds per month.
 
All this said, there is another answer to thequestion of "how much weight will I lose."
 
ANSWER #2: Don't focus on the pounds.Focus on how you feel.
 
Don't focus too much on exactly how many poundsyou're losing per month and comparing what you're losing to others you meet,say, in your support group. You're going to know ifyou're making good progress toward your weight loss goal even if you never stepon a scale. Because you're going to feel better.
 
Losing weight is the main purpose for getting theLap Band. But that's really just a means to an even more important end:improving your health.
 
As you lose the weight, you're going to startfeeling better. You're going to have more energy. You'll be able to do thingsyou couldn't do before – from touching your toes and fitting into clothes youfeel great in to playing on the floor with your kids and going for a brisk walkwith a friend. For many Lap Band patients, losing weight even means improving orputting an end to troubling medical conditions from diabetes and high bloodpressure to sleep apnea and acid reflux.
 
So, while I can't tell you exactly how many poundsyou personally will lose, I can tell you this. Thanks to weight loss with theLap Band, you should be physically and mentally healthier. You'll have a betterquality of life. You'll feel more confident. And, you can expect to live longer.
 
Repostfrom: by Nives Champion
Aftercare Manager at True Results
January 27, 2011
 

I sit here tonight after a long day at work, reading blogs and watching "Dancing with the Stars." As I am watching these people 'stars" put them self out there doing something that pushes them out side their comfort zone it came to me, "Is that not what each of us are doing?" We are putting ourselves out in front of everyone and allowing ourselves to be judged for our progress in our journey. I would like for all of us to give ourselves a "10" tonight. A "10" for being willing to admit we are not perfect. A "10" for taking each day, "one day at a time." A '10" for each new healthy habit we embrace and enculturate into our daily routine. We are all individuals and each of us has their strengths and weaknesses that we need to highlight. If we collectively added up all the weight each of us have lost over the past 6 months or a year, would we not be the "biggest losers." And guys being a loser on this site is a WONDERFUL thing, we need to stop thinking, I only lost a half of a pound, I only lost a pound. Instead we need to be saying, "WOW, I lost another pound. After all we are not the gainers we are the losers. For the first time in our life losing is winning. Now how often can you make a negative a positive. We may stall occasionally, we may stumble, we may even fall, but we will pick ourselves up, we will admit we strayed and we will get back on track. So I challenge each of my cyber friends in this weight loss journey to pick one positive affirmation to post for the week and embrace the positive energy it will instill in your life. I am posting a web site that I think may help us all if we could just allow ourselves to believe in our selves and open our minds to some positive thinking. http://www.vitalaffi...ons.htm#example
 
 
When I chose my name for this blog I used the positive affirmation theory. LovetheNewMe. Honestly when I started on this journey I did not love anything about me but now after a year of logging into this blog and signing on everyday with my user name "LovetheNewMe." I do love me, I love the person I am becoming, part due to weight loss but even deeper than what you see on the outside. I love the person I am on the inside. It is hard to love yourself, we are our toughest critique, we judge our selves and we always see our failures not our successes. Each time we loss an inch or a pound or make it through a day always choosing healthy foods is a successes. We should celebrate every success we have, big and small. We are learning to lIVIT not dIET, we are learning to Love ourselves.
 
My affirmations for my journey are:
 
1. I choose to make positive healthy choices for myself
 
2. When I believe in myself, others will believe in me also
 
I say my affirmations every morning as I am getting ready for work, I look in the mirror and yes I talk to myself. and no I am not wacky.
 
So my challenge to all of us is we put our best foot forward and and get the positive energy flowing on this blog, love your self, support yourself and most important believe in yourself, why you ask, why because you are WORTH IT.
 
Have a great week all.
 

This is the question of the day. I have been reading the blogs this week and it is so distressing to see so many of my Lap band bloggers struggling with this very topic. I wish there was a magic wand we could all wave or a crystal ball that we could all look into and see if we were going to be successful. Personally the biggest fear we all have if we are willing to admit is FAILURE. We all ended up here not because we were just wanting to lose weight but because we needed to lose weight, it had impacted our lives in some way and we wanted out. But sometimes what we all do not realize is how much work this is honestly going to be. This is a life long journey and I'm not sure all of us realized that when we signed on. I walked into this with my eyes wide open and I realize that this will be a journey that I will work and live my entire life. I had a incident this past week that made me realize just how easy it would be to screw up. I have done exceptionally well with my lap band and have lost weight well. Maybe almost to well. It has almost given me a since of false security. This past week has been hard, I went back to work after surgery and everyday I threw up. I ask why did I throw up, because I did not follow the rules. I threw up daily and sometimes several times a day for 3 days in a row. On Friday evening my husband and I went to dinner, he wanted Mexican. I didn't feel well but I went. I decided to not order and just share some of his dinner, good move I thought. Where did I go wrong, I allowed my self to eat the one thing I know I have no control over. CHIPS! Well ladies and gentleman I paid for it and I paid dearly. No I did not throw up but oh God I wish I could have. I had the most horrific pain I have ever had in my life. I hurt myself with my self destructive behavior. To be honest I don't care if I ever see another tortilla chip for the rest of my life. I surfed the INTERNET looking for how much damage I had done to my self and my band. So fearful that I had stretched my pouch with my stupidity. In my search a came across this article for some tips for long term success from a lap band patient. I like everyone of us wants long term success and I know I will not find it at the bottom of a tortilla chip bowl. Good Luck to all my new friends and I know we can all learn to lIVIT instead of dIET!
 
 
Below is just a small part of the article if you want to read the article in it;s entirety go to http://ezinearticles.com/?Long-Term-Success-With-Lap-Band-Weight-Loss-Surgery---10-Lessons-Learned-by-Successful-Patients&id=3892363, I also posted a link to her blog.
 
 
My doctor, my head coach on this banded living journey reminds me over and over again, that it's a tool, and I need to work it. I shouldn't expect "it" to do anything. (A screwdriver can't remove a screw unless you turn it.) I have to work it to get the results I want - and for me that was more than the average 5o% Excess Weight Loss. My band helps me with portion control, controls my hunger, and leaves me with a feeling of satiety when I work it. Here are the 10 things I learned about how to use my tool:
 
 
 

I stay close to my surgeon and his staff. I have a whole team of people to help me on my journey. It starts with my surgeon who is my head coach. I also surround myself with other successful members of the Banded Living community. I don't drink with meals. It defeats the band. I make sure I get enough protein everyday. I eat good quality meals and I don't graze. I do best when I eat for 20 -30 minutes and leave the table. I don't drink my calories - my properly adjusted band helps with portion control but only if I am eating solid foods. (It doesn't restrict ice cream or a high calorie frappuccino, or Long Island Iced Tea). I've learned to take small bites and chew, chew, chew. I also use small plates. I've learned what foods are difficult for me, and I stay away from those choices. I have lots of great choices. I've learned to dine and enjoy food again. I always have a plan or a least a plan B, each and every day for how I am going to use my tool. NO EXCUSES. I'm not afraid to carry food with me (Ziploc bags are my friends), or ask a hotel to open the gym at 5:00 am because I'm traveling and have an early meeting. I journal when I need to. I journaled consistently during my first year of Banded Living. When I wander off track, or gain a few pounds, I go back to basics and journal for a while. It helps me stay in my target weight range by keeping me accountable to myself. I make myself a priority. I take care of my health, I eat right, I exercise, I take my vitamins...and live my life to the fullest!
 
Now I'm not saying that I use my tool perfectly all of the time. What I am saying is that I've learned how to use my Lap-Band to get great results and keep myself in the same (small) pair of jeans for over 2 years. When I don't use my tool correctly, I gain a few pounds, but I know how to go back to basics, and keep my weight within a normal, healthy range.
 
If you or someone you care about has a lap band or is struggling with significant weight issues learn more about Banded Living by visiting http://www.bandedliving.com, a community for lap band patients, by lap band patients.
 
To learn more about how Gloria Samuels uses her lap band to maintain her 90 lb weight loss, visit http://www.gloriasbandedliving.com.
 
© 2010 Banded Living, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
 
 
 
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3892363

Well I did it! Today I made a commitment to exercise daily! :Dancing_wub: Yes you heard me right I finally got off my butt and made a full fledge commitment to exercise 30 minutes every day. So what was my motivation. Thank you Judy Jones. I read your blog the other night about you losing 59 pounds but had never been committed to exercise. I was right there with you, I have exercised off and on but never completely committed to doing the deed. For Christmas I bought myself a treadmill and have used it off and on, I have a gazelle, it makes a nice clothes hanger in the spare room. But I have just not had the drive and motivation to be consistent. So you ask why now, well it is a short story. Our insurance rates are going up at work, starting in September. To get 800 dollars back on our annually premiums we were required to do a health assessment with employee health. Well, even though I have dropped from 248 to 180 I am still OBESE! What an ugly word, but it didn't sit well with me. My total cholesterol was 196, my HDL is only 47 and my ratio was 4.7. Well that was a slap in the face, I eat healthy, I eat around 900 to 1000 calories a day, 60-80 gms of protein, I take my vitamins religiously, I drink all my water, I write my food down and I don't cheat. I count every morsel I put in my mouth. So what is left. EXERCISE! Stop being a couch potato :behindsofa: in the evenings, get off your ass and EXERCISE!!!! Sorry to curse but I need to get motivated and being the stubborn Italian I am sometimes, stupid has to slap me in the face. So today, I joined Curves, made the appointment this morning for 3pm, did my measurements, signed up and made my commitment and first 6 appointments. I am so excited and pumped this evening. You see I am one of those people who does better with goals, especially if I am PAYING for them. I spend all that money on exercise equipment but there is nothing that pushes me. Obviously if I could do things on my own I would never have gotten OBESE or had weight loss surgery. I also joined with a friend, so we made a commitment together. She had gastric bypass 18 months ago and has lost 135 lbs, needs to lose another 25 but is stuck. We both figured if we did this together we would keep each other motivated. When they did my assessment they asked me what size I wanted to be, I said a size 10. Boy did I pick a lofty goal, I am 5'1" 55 years old and that makes me need to lose 52 to 53 inches and about that many pounds to reach this goal. That would put my weight at about 128-130. I am not real sure about that goal, it may be a bit lofty for me but just to set a goal and make a commitment to myself and now all of you know so I have to be accountable to myself and the entire lap band community because everyone is watching now. I had to laugh, she said, "How do you feel about your thighs?" I had to laugh, then I said, "Well there a little chubby right now and I would like for them to stop jiggling." My thighs measure 27" each and I set my goal for 24-25 inches. All of my life I have been called "Thunder Thighs" Well Ms. Thunder Thighs is going for the gold. I will keep you in the loop, I start on Monday at 7am, my friend Janet and I decided to exercise , 3 days a week before work and 2 days a week after work and on Saturdays we will do mornings. Sundays will be on our own to commit to some type of exercise, yard work, house work, bike riding, swimming or using one of the two exercise machines I own. Dr. Anderson would be so proud of me!:Banane43:

I started this journey 7 months ago and yes it has been a journey. I had my appointment with my surgeon today, it was 4 weeks post a fill and slight unfill of .4 cc's. I had lost 10lbs since my last visit. I am down 56lbs since surgery now and have dropped from a size 24 to a size 14. I really am enjoying the new me, I went to the beach last week and actually was not embarrassed to wear a bathing suit. My husband and I had so much fun, it was great not to feel short of breath or have the pain in my knees I had the summer before. We road bikes, walked on the beach and had a wonderful time. It is the first time I can actually say I went on vacation and actually lost weight not gained weight. But back to my journey. This journey has had it's ups and downs, I have had to learn to listen to my body and what my band is telling me. Eating early in the morning is just not an option for me, I drink protein. I have learn to be creative with my protein drinks and use unflavored in my coffee or lattes from Star Bucks and call this breakfast. Unfortunately I was one of those people that thought weight loss surgery was a cop out, but believe me I have changed my opinion. This has been one of the hardest journeys of my life. It truly makes you learn to make healthy choices or pay the price. I have paid the price along the way when I have tried to eat pizza or pasta. Yes I can eat them but it is a painful process and they sit in my stomach like a piece of lead as the digest. I have found new loves, vanilla protein shakes with peanut butter powder, I consider this a treat, a little crushed ice to make it thick and I think I am drinking a milkshake. Yummy! One of my favorite desserts has always been German Chocolate Cake, last week I found, chocolaty coconut, Biggest Losers Protein Bars. I told my husband, you know you have crossed over to the other side when a protein bar is the best tasting thing you have eaten for a while. He thinks I am crazy most days, but is one of most devoted supporters. Life post lap band surgery is truly a journey and a new beginning to a better life. I ask my self daily, why did I wait so long to do this, I could have been so much further than I am. But honestly I was not ready emotionally. The emotional part of weight loss is probably the most difficult for all of us. I mourned the loss of food in the beginning and really did not realize how much I had used food as a coping mechanism until I could no longer use it as a crutch. Food has much less importance in my life now, I see it as nutrition for my body and not something to run to when I am frustrated. My family sometimes has difficulty dealing with my honesty and so do co workers, but if it is between me binging or purging my thoughts, the thoughts are coming out. I have learned in order to be successful in this journey, I must listen to my band and not to the emotional eater that hides in the shadows waiting for me to let my guard down and find a weak place in the armor. I will not fail in this journey, this is for me, I do love the new me and I love the commitment I have made to myself to give this journey 100% of my ability to succeed. As I continue I need to challenge myself to increase my exercise. Actually I need to get off my butt and exercise daily. I am making a pledge to myself today to increase my activities by taking the steps instead of the elevator, walk from my car to my office instead of taking the shuttle, spend 20 minutes each day doing some type of physical activity. I will be successful in this journey!