shakey88

It all depends on your skin's elasticity. Our skin has a limit to which is can be stretched and if yours has been stretched for awhile, it will be hard for it to bounce back. Think of a rubber band and how eventually they can no longer stretch. With that being said, I have lost a decent amount of weight fairly quickly and am not seeing much extra skin at all. My arms have a little as well as my thighs, but I am doing specific exercises to tone those areas up and muscle will fill some of the void left from the fat.

So after 24 weeks of hard work, I have lost 85.5 pounds! I stood on the scale this morning to see the number 199! I started dancing, ate my Cereal and now am about to begin my workout! This is such a great feeling!

Way to go!!! I love my band as well!

I definitely know what you are talking about...I am eating things I never would of even tried before surgery!

After my surgery, my knees and back started bothering me. Come to find out, I have arthritis in my knees (confused why it didnt bother me when I was heavier) and I have been going to physical therapy for my back. It has really helped but all they do is core exercises, so maybe you could try that if your back is bothering you!

You will do well beings you are being banded on my birthday! Only advice I can give you is to follow your doctor's advice. I listened to everything they said and have been doing what I learned in my nutrition classes. Also, exercise is key! I started about 6 weeks after surgery and wish I had started earlier! Good luck with everything!

I bought one of those body ball things, so that I could work on my core. I can not lay on it on my stomach because it hurts my port. Mine is not sticking out at all, but I can definitely feel it. I would make sure i put some sort of protection over the area if you are planning on sliding across the floor. It may be painful!

Congrats....I was so hoping to be there this morning, but still one more pound to go! I can not wait to have the same feeling you do!

I ate potato Soup and cream of chicken. I just put them in the magic bullet to make sure they were nice and thin!

Thanks all...it is hard to believe that 5 months ago I was wearing a 22!

I do all my shopping online, but a friend asked me to go shopping at midnight. I went and while she was shopping, I said well I will get me a pair of jeans beings I have only one pair that will fit. I go and try the 16 on...too big. I needed a 14. I was super happy because the ones I wore on Thanksgiving (yes they were a little baggy) were a size 20!!! I have not even put the jeans in the laundry basket because I keep looking at the size!!

I am averaging about 3.7 pounds a week, but my doc said 1-2 pounds is usually normal. I work out a lot and luckily have no loose skin (well my arms a very little) and I do a lot of resistance training so I know I am building muscle.

I am 5 months out and down almost 82 pounds with no fill. I agree with what Thee-O said...plenty of times for fills later on if needed!

The doctor has yet to take me off of it, but I stopped taking it the day of surgery and have no problems!

I had my surgery in the summer, so when I went back to school, a few people said something about my weight loss (I was down around 50 pounds), but now almost every teacher I run into says something. I teach at a big school, so there can be months that I will not see certain people.

The key for me has been exercising and putting a variety in my life. I do not eat the same amount of calories each day. I read somewhere that your metabolism will stay there if you are constantly eating the same amount everyday. For example, last weekend I was at a birthday party out of town. I know I ate way over what I was supposed to, but I came home and went back on my normal 800-1200 calories a day and I lost 5 pounds this week. I also change up my exercise routines. I do not go to the gym. I do everything at home with DVDs, free weights and resistance bands. THis works for me so I thought I would share it with you! Good luck and dont get frustrated.

I do not have a fill, but I do eat pizza...only a slice though and I chew very very carefully!

A totally awesome NSV! I noticed yesterday how much more confortable my seat was in the car...something I never thought about when I was heavier! Keep up the hard work!

Lisa- Thank you very much and no my band was not filled at surgery, I have nothing in it.

did they fill your band any when you had the surgery? wow you have done AWESOME, I hope to do as well as you have! Thanks for this post!!

I am also a teacher, so I understand the no energy when you get home. I often do not have any energy at all when I walk in the door, but I make myself workout and amazingly it gives me so much energy. If I do not exercise, I am in bed by 9 because I can not even keep my eyes open any more, but when I work out, I have to force myself to go to bed!

Thank you everyone for your kind words.

Skinny- I do not feel like I am doing all the work. I am really never hungry. I think the 2 weeks of liquids helped shrink my stomach. I also eat 4-5 small meals a day instead of 3 bigger meals a day. That way my metabloism stays up and I am hardly hungry. I got down to 215 3 years ago and gained 70 pounds after a very close friend of mine passed...now I am at 209 and have a goal to lose a total of 100 pounds by the 14th of January. 10 weeks to get off 24.5 more pounds!

WOW Shakey!!! That is great. Do you feel like you are doing all the work since you have no restriction? Or do you feel that the band has helped you with hunger?

See working out is not the problem for me its the caloric intake. I am a food addict. Last year I was working out 5 days a week (no band) I managed to lose (40lbs) I was at 200.4 NEVER made to onderland. Mostly because I couldn't stop eating. After a month of no weight loss I gave it all up...now I am here 50 lbs heavier on my journey to get the Lapband. I have tried on my own too many times. I actually made to a size 10 before my second child.

Hearing your story makes me hopeful...Losing that kind of weight in such a short time!!!! If I am as successful as you guys I will be doing the happy dance in my skinny jeans by summer WOOHOO

:party:

Hey Skinny...let me see if I can answer some of your questions. I do still drink a Protein shake every morning for Breakfast. I like the EAS carb control. As far as my diet, I really just try to keep my calories between 900-1200 a day. Other than that I do not do anything special. I do eat a lot less than before. I do not have any fills yet, so I do not have any restriction. I can eat bread and whatever. I only drink Water and crystal lite. Now, working out...I do that. Before work, I use the Wii Fit for 35 mins and then after work, I do about 45 mins of cardio (Walk Away The Pounds or Cardio Hip Hop or something like that) and about 40 mins of resistance (one day weights, the next resistance band)! I was walking about 3-4 miles a day before it got cold, so I have replaced it with the videos. Hope this helps!

OMG!!! You guys are such inspiration!!! I hope to do the same when I finally get banded in December. I want to be in onderland by June! Wishing you guys all the SUCCESS!!!

I want to hit the ground running with the band...any pointers or tips will be greatly appreciated! Are you guys still on shakes, what are your meals like, working out? I have read lots of inspirational stories and some not so inspiring on here. I just want to make sure that I do my part and hoping the band will do hers, so I can get results like you guys. I am hoping to inspire some newbies next year WOOHOO!!! LOL I even named my soon to be band "Hopey" I may give her a last name "Hopey Will"

My goal was to lose 75 pounds in 6 months...as of this morning, I did it in just 4.5 months! It is so exciting...only 9 more pounds until I hit onderland!

I started off at 285 about 4.5 months ago and since then, I have been trying to stay between 1000 and 1200 calories. Some days it is less, some days it is more. I have heard that your body gets used to the amount of calories if you continuously intake the same amount each day, so once a week I eat around 1400 and at different days of the week! It has worked for me so far!