♥LovetheNewMe♥

I don't think you are having a pity party, I think you are asking a good question. When do we take charge of the food instead of the food taking charge of us? To put it bluntly the holidays just plain suck if your a lap band person starting out. I wish I could say it doesn;t and say the holidays are all about being with family and being together, etc, etc etc. But lets be realistic, most of our favorite times were spent around the dining table visiting with family enjoying food and drinks. I was banded the first year two months before Christmas and one month before Thanksgiving, and had my first fill 3 weeks before Christmas. It was the most stressful holiday of my life, my second Christmas (last year) I had been stuck for about 5 months at the same weight and continued to be stuck until after the holidays. Patience is hard, we all want that brass ring and that wonderful feeling of success and it comes at different times for all of us. Why am I telling you all of this, well I reached the brass ring and food no longer controls me or my life, but it was not easy. My journey had ups and downs, set backs and obstacles all along the way. I got frustrated, I cried, I hated my band, I hated what I ate, I hated what I thought I was missing, but the one thing that gave me hope was knowing that there were people that were successful and I tried to learn from them. I often e-mailed people and asked, tell me about your journey, was it hard, did you get stuck, how long did it take you, when did you stop feeling fat, when did you stop thinking about food. So when did I know I was going to make it and know that I was going to no longer allow food to control me, I can tell you exactly when and where I was. It was 8 months ago and I was at work. I was getting ready to get on an elevator and caught a glipse of my reflection in the long mirrored elevator door and honestly I was shocked. I was thin, not only was I thin, I didn't even recognize the person in the reflection. Food had always been a big part of my life, I am a very social person so parties and families and food all go together. I am still a social person but have found that I can be social with out food and drink, I no longer have to carry my food, I know what I can eat and how much and I know when to say no. I won't lie, I do have occasional days that I feel less in control but I just look up from my dest at the fat girl on the bulleton board and know for sure I do not want to be her again. So your question was when do you finally allow food to stop controling you, my answer is when you can finally start thinking like a thin person. When I was fat I always thought about food and the preparation of food and what the next meal was going to be. Now food is just that food, yes some of it is very yummy, and I love to cook but food made me fat and I prefer to be thin. There does come a time when you control the food and you control the band, for me it took almost 2 years and daily I remind myself of the fact that there is still a fat girl living inside me and she would love to come back if I gave her half a change. So yes be patient but you too can be successful if you just Bee "lieve" Good luck to you in your journey.

Old habits are hard to break but you did not sabotage all your work so just put that day behing you and move forward. I am so sorry for your stress with your father, family being sick can way heavy on our hearts and bring back lots of feelings and ways of coping. Prayers being sent your way for healing and strength, believe in your self, we all know you can do this and this is just a Minor setback.

Old habits are hard to break but you did not sabotage all your work so just put that day behing you and move forward. I am so sorry for your stress with your father, family being sick can way heavy on our hearts and bring back lots of feelings and ways of coping. Prayers being sent your way for healing and strength, believe in your self, we all know you can do this and this is just a Minor setback.

I don't think you are having a pity party, I think you are asking a good question. When do we take charge of the food instead of the food taking charge of us? To put it bluntly the holidays just plain suck if your a lap band person starting out. I wish I could say it doesn;t and say the holidays are all about being with family and being together, etc, etc etc. But lets be realistic, most of our favorite times were spent around the dining table visiting with family enjoying food and drinks. I was banded the first year two months before Christmas and one month before Thanksgiving, and had my first fill 3 weeks before Christmas. It was the most stressful holiday of my life, my second Christmas (last year) I had been stuck for about 5 months at the same weight and continued to be stuck until after the holidays. Patience is hard, we all want that brass ring and that wonderful feeling of success and it comes at different times for all of us. Why am I telling you all of this, well I reached the brass ring and food no longer controls me or my life, but it was not easy. My journey had ups and downs, set backs and obstacles all along the way. I got frustrated, I cried, I hated my band, I hated what I ate, I hated what I thought I was missing, but the one thing that gave me hope was knowing that there were people that were successful and I tried to learn from them. I often e-mailed people and asked, tell me about your journey, was it hard, did you get stuck, how long did it take you, when did you stop feeling fat, when did you stop thinking about food. So when did I know I was going to make it and know that I was going to no longer allow food to control me, I can tell you exactly when and where I was. It was 8 months ago and I was at work. I was getting ready to get on an elevator and caught a glipse of my reflection in the long mirrored elevator door and honestly I was shocked. I was thin, not only was I thin, I didn't even recognize the person in the reflection. Food had always been a big part of my life, I am a very social person so parties and families and food all go together. I am still a social person but have found that I can be social with out food and drink, I no longer have to carry my food, I know what I can eat and how much and I know when to say no. I won't lie, I do have occasional days that I feel less in control but I just look up from my dest at the fat girl on the bulleton board and know for sure I do not want to be her again. So your question was when do you finally allow food to stop controling you, my answer is when you can finally start thinking like a thin person. When I was fat I always thought about food and the preparation of food and what the next meal was going to be. Now food is just that food, yes some of it is very yummy, and I love to cook but food made me fat and I prefer to be thin. There does come a time when you control the food and you control the band, for me it took almost 2 years and daily I remind myself of the fact that there is still a fat girl living inside me and she would love to come back if I gave her half a change. So yes be patient but you too can be successful if you just Bee "lieve" Good luck to you in your journey.

well said my wabbit hunting friend...even though (we) overeat in private, the excess poundage is there for you to see in the end...

Thanks for this post, it is nice to know that even the successful banders stuggle and aren't perfect 100% of the time.

I don't think you are having a pity party, I think you are asking a good question. When do we take charge of the food instead of the food taking charge of us? To put it bluntly the holidays just plain suck if your a lap band person starting out. I wish I could say it doesn;t and say the holidays are all about being with family and being together, etc, etc etc. But lets be realistic, most of our favorite times were spent around the dining table visiting with family enjoying food and drinks. I was banded the first year two months before Christmas and one month before Thanksgiving, and had my first fill 3 weeks before Christmas. It was the most stressful holiday of my life, my second Christmas (last year) I had been stuck for about 5 months at the same weight and continued to be stuck until after the holidays. Patience is hard, we all want that brass ring and that wonderful feeling of success and it comes at different times for all of us. Why am I telling you all of this, well I reached the brass ring and food no longer controls me or my life, but it was not easy. My journey had ups and downs, set backs and obstacles all along the way. I got frustrated, I cried, I hated my band, I hated what I ate, I hated what I thought I was missing, but the one thing that gave me hope was knowing that there were people that were successful and I tried to learn from them. I often e-mailed people and asked, tell me about your journey, was it hard, did you get stuck, how long did it take you, when did you stop feeling fat, when did you stop thinking about food. So when did I know I was going to make it and know that I was going to no longer allow food to control me, I can tell you exactly when and where I was. It was 8 months ago and I was at work. I was getting ready to get on an elevator and caught a glipse of my reflection in the long mirrored elevator door and honestly I was shocked. I was thin, not only was I thin, I didn't even recognize the person in the reflection. Food had always been a big part of my life, I am a very social person so parties and families and food all go together. I am still a social person but have found that I can be social with out food and drink, I no longer have to carry my food, I know what I can eat and how much and I know when to say no. I won't lie, I do have occasional days that I feel less in control but I just look up from my dest at the fat girl on the bulleton board and know for sure I do not want to be her again. So your question was when do you finally allow food to stop controling you, my answer is when you can finally start thinking like a thin person. When I was fat I always thought about food and the preparation of food and what the next meal was going to be. Now food is just that food, yes some of it is very yummy, and I love to cook but food made me fat and I prefer to be thin. There does come a time when you control the food and you control the band, for me it took almost 2 years and daily I remind myself of the fact that there is still a fat girl living inside me and she would love to come back if I gave her half a change. So yes be patient but you too can be successful if you just Bee "lieve" Good luck to you in your journey.

I also at goal was able to give up my BP meds all of them for 6 weeks, but I also went back on one medication. Yes it was disapointing but genes are genes and I we unfortunately got bad genetics but I sure look good in my skinny jeans, how about you!

Weight lose does stall with the band even when you are doing things right. Couple of questions, you say you are eating a calorie restricted diet but are you eating enough protein. If you read some of the research with lap band they have found that people who eat a low calorie high protein diet lose better. Now I am not talking about a low carb diet but a balance of carbs and protein with the protein intake being higher than the carbs. i know it may be silly but sometimes you have to eat more to lose, if you eat a too restrictive calorie diet your body can think you are trying to starve it and can go into hibernation mode and hold onto every little fat cell we have. You may want to keep a food diary for a week or so and figure out your BMR so you know how much your body needs everyday. I was really surprised when I calculated mine, I myself stalled for over 7 months. Did not drop not one pound, I was eating to little, i had to increase my calorie intake up to 1250 and my protein up from 60-70 fms per day to 90-110gms perday. Once i did this combined with cardio in the form of walking on the road or treadmill 5 days a week with 2-3 days of weight training I started to lose again. It took me several months to figure out that I was not losing because my intake was not enough deficit of what my body needed to lose a pound of fat. I hope this all makes since, a good nutritionist or trainer could help you figure this out so you don;t feel so frustrated with the process. Good luck and hang in there, It can and does work just slower for some than others.

Weight lose does stall with the band even when you are doing things right. Couple of questions, you say you are eating a calorie restricted diet but are you eating enough protein. If you read some of the research with lap band they have found that people who eat a low calorie high protein diet lose better. Now I am not talking about a low carb diet but a balance of carbs and protein with the protein intake being higher than the carbs. i know it may be silly but sometimes you have to eat more to lose, if you eat a too restrictive calorie diet your body can think you are trying to starve it and can go into hibernation mode and hold onto every little fat cell we have. You may want to keep a food diary for a week or so and figure out your BMR so you know how much your body needs everyday. I was really surprised when I calculated mine, I myself stalled for over 7 months. Did not drop not one pound, I was eating to little, i had to increase my calorie intake up to 1250 and my protein up from 60-70 fms per day to 90-110gms perday. Once i did this combined with cardio in the form of walking on the road or treadmill 5 days a week with 2-3 days of weight training I started to lose again. It took me several months to figure out that I was not losing because my intake was not enough deficit of what my body needed to lose a pound of fat. I hope this all makes since, a good nutritionist or trainer could help you figure this out so you don;t feel so frustrated with the process. Good luck and hang in there, It can and does work just slower for some than others.

Wait till you get that TT you will be one hot mama!

Just thought of something, you know what amazes me. The size of my underware, I wear panties now that would not even have covered my boob let alone my butt cheek. I know TMi but my hubby says, when did Hannah leave her panties at the house and I just smile and say sily those are mine.

Weight lose does stall with the band even when you are doing things right. Couple of questions, you say you are eating a calorie restricted diet but are you eating enough protein. If you read some of the research with lap band they have found that people who eat a low calorie high protein diet lose better. Now I am not talking about a low carb diet but a balance of carbs and protein with the protein intake being higher than the carbs. i know it may be silly but sometimes you have to eat more to lose, if you eat a too restrictive calorie diet your body can think you are trying to starve it and can go into hibernation mode and hold onto every little fat cell we have. You may want to keep a food diary for a week or so and figure out your BMR so you know how much your body needs everyday. I was really surprised when I calculated mine, I myself stalled for over 7 months. Did not drop not one pound, I was eating to little, i had to increase my calorie intake up to 1250 and my protein up from 60-70 fms per day to 90-110gms perday. Once i did this combined with cardio in the form of walking on the road or treadmill 5 days a week with 2-3 days of weight training I started to lose again. It took me several months to figure out that I was not losing because my intake was not enough deficit of what my body needed to lose a pound of fat. I hope this all makes since, a good nutritionist or trainer could help you figure this out so you don;t feel so frustrated with the process. Good luck and hang in there, It can and does work just slower for some than others.

Weight lose does stall with the band even when you are doing things right. Couple of questions, you say you are eating a calorie restricted diet but are you eating enough protein. If you read some of the research with lap band they have found that people who eat a low calorie high protein diet lose better. Now I am not talking about a low carb diet but a balance of carbs and protein with the protein intake being higher than the carbs. i know it may be silly but sometimes you have to eat more to lose, if you eat a too restrictive calorie diet your body can think you are trying to starve it and can go into hibernation mode and hold onto every little fat cell we have. You may want to keep a food diary for a week or so and figure out your BMR so you know how much your body needs everyday. I was really surprised when I calculated mine, I myself stalled for over 7 months. Did not drop not one pound, I was eating to little, i had to increase my calorie intake up to 1250 and my protein up from 60-70 fms per day to 90-110gms perday. Once i did this combined with cardio in the form of walking on the road or treadmill 5 days a week with 2-3 days of weight training I started to lose again. It took me several months to figure out that I was not losing because my intake was not enough deficit of what my body needed to lose a pound of fat. I hope this all makes since, a good nutritionist or trainer could help you figure this out so you don;t feel so frustrated with the process. Good luck and hang in there, It can and does work just slower for some than others.

Weight lose does stall with the band even when you are doing things right. Couple of questions, you say you are eating a calorie restricted diet but are you eating enough protein. If you read some of the research with lap band they have found that people who eat a low calorie high protein diet lose better. Now I am not talking about a low carb diet but a balance of carbs and protein with the protein intake being higher than the carbs. i know it may be silly but sometimes you have to eat more to lose, if you eat a too restrictive calorie diet your body can think you are trying to starve it and can go into hibernation mode and hold onto every little fat cell we have. You may want to keep a food diary for a week or so and figure out your BMR so you know how much your body needs everyday. I was really surprised when I calculated mine, I myself stalled for over 7 months. Did not drop not one pound, I was eating to little, i had to increase my calorie intake up to 1250 and my protein up from 60-70 fms per day to 90-110gms perday. Once i did this combined with cardio in the form of walking on the road or treadmill 5 days a week with 2-3 days of weight training I started to lose again. It took me several months to figure out that I was not losing because my intake was not enough deficit of what my body needed to lose a pound of fat. I hope this all makes since, a good nutritionist or trainer could help you figure this out so you don;t feel so frustrated with the process. Good luck and hang in there, It can and does work just slower for some than others.

Awesome, enjoy the bike, I bought myself a treadmill last year and it was a great investment, really gave me the motivation I needed.

excellent post
me luvs ya

You rock! I do understand what your saying, everyday people always want to comment about how I look and i am just not use to all the attention. But looking in the mirror the person who looks back at me is foreign and only a 1/3 of the person I used to be. So proud of your continued success, you look amazing.

You rock! I do understand what your saying, everyday people always want to comment about how I look and i am just not use to all the attention. But looking in the mirror the person who looks back at me is foreign and only a 1/3 of the person I used to be. So proud of your continued success, you look amazing.

Awesome job, congratulations on your success to date!

Congratulations on losing 18 lbs, it is not expected that you will lose a significant amount of weight during the first 4-6 weeks after surgery. You have not had a fill yet so you do not have the benefits that the band gives you with making you feel less hungry and satisfied.. I caution you to not become discouraged this early in your journey with not losing every day or every week, this takes time and a lot of hard work. It took me 2 years to reach my goal and I had many "stuck" periods along this journey even doing the right thing. Your question is not stupid, no question ever is. Patience is my advice, I know we all want quick results but remember none of us became obese over night so the weight will not fall off over night. As far as eating to lose this is correct, it you have a large amount to lose 100-150 plus pounds during the early days if you eat 1000 or less you may lose weight, but it is very difficult to maintain a healthy body on that few calories and also very difficult to get in all the protein that your body needs. I stayed between 1000-1200 calories for my entire journey, I occasionally ate below 1000 but only on days when I was not hungry or when my band was adjusted. I will say the closer I got to goal the harder it was to lose weight, I had to eat more and exercise more for those last 30 lbs and it took me 7 months to lose. My advice is focus on getting your protein in, drinking your water and exercising. I wish you much success.

Kime CONGRATULATIONS!, I remember that day! I too thought I would never get below 200 lbs and it is so exciting. You can reach that goal of 140 if you set your mine to it. I never thought I would be at a normal BMI but yet here I sit and have been here for 3 months now. You are doing awesome, you should be so proud of your accomplishments to date.

I was a year out before I started eating popcorn. Pop corn is one of the foods that can be a slider for some folks, it dissolves well for some but the kernals can be a problem for others. I would not recommend in early band stage, you need to stick with the healthy foods and leave the snacks for later after you start really eating better. Just an opinion, can you eat it, the answer would be yes, you can eat anything as long as you chew it well and it goes down, is it a good choice this early in your journey, no.

I was a year out before I started eating popcorn. Pop corn is one of the foods that can be a slider for some folks, it dissolves well for some but the kernals can be a problem for others. I would not recommend in early band stage, you need to stick with the healthy foods and leave the snacks for later after you start really eating better. Just an opinion, can you eat it, the answer would be yes, you can eat anything as long as you chew it well and it goes down, is it a good choice this early in your journey, no.

Claping, Claping. Yeah! for me and Yeah for you! and Yeah for all the Banded B's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!