Pats Fan in MA

Good luck tomorrow! I'm having mine tomorrow also but I don't ave to be at the hospital until noon. I'm going to try to stay up late so I sleep late. No coffee tomorrow is going to be tough. I'm going to need it to keep me calm. I'm so nervous and excited all at the same time.
There are a couple of us on here that are having our surgeries tomorrow. Yay us!!!

Can I tell you...for me, Its because of jealousy and the fact I cant face my own disappointments in myself. My best friend, who has been my best friend since we were 9...started weight watchers in january - shes lost about 40 pounds...and i notice...i never say anything...because it reminds me of how much of a failure i am - she has seen me lose and gain and lose and gain...this was her first attempt at changing her lifestyle.How come she can do it and I cant? I am jealous of her. So much so that i cant bare to hang out with her. Because looking at her makes me think about how I want to be in her shoes so badly....I want those things...maybe its me being caddy. I dont know. But thats why i dont say anything....and I hate myself for it - because she deserves to hear it...and I just cant do it because it kills me inside.

I read these post here yesterday and commented myself about how no one at work had really said anything about my weight loss. Today I wore something a size smaller (pants and top) and my boss said 'wow, you're really slimming down' and then one of the men in the office said 'your hair looks really nice' I said thank you and he then replied 'as a matter of fact you are glowing, whats going on with you?". So I told him I have lost 67 pounds and he said he had noticed but was afraid to say anything. So, I guess some of you previous poster are correct. Some people, for whatever reason are afraid to say anything. I don't like a lot of attention on me but it's nice to hear this because it shows me other poeple are noticing my weight loss. It's encouraging to me. What a good day today is!!

I'd be eating the furniture on those Spartan rations and going insane due to lack of taste and variety, but that's just me. If you can stick to a diet like that, you'll be a stick insect in next to no time.
Its true that you should really only eat for about 20 minutes - you'll find that if you take, say an hour to eat a meal, you can put away a lot. If you graze all day you can also eat a lot. If you sit, concentrate and eat in a 20 minute session, you'll restrict calories.
I wouldnt worry so much about not losing as having no energy, losing my hair, looking like a deflated balloon on a diet as extreme as that. But we all have different points of view on that score so that's just mine. No fruit, no wholegrains, no good fats like avocado or nuts, only one vegie, I just dont think that's healthy. Protein is only a part of a balanced diet, not the only important thing. Its also very important for bandsters, who are so restricted in what they can eat, to eat different things every day to avoid nutritional deficiencies.

I was very seriously considering RNY until I could not come up with any good evidence of the positive effects 10-15-20 years out. I'm 39. I don't want osteoperosis or not be able to drive at night because my vision is so poor from lack of nutrients. The studies I've seen show that 95% of RNY patients after 5 years suffer severe malabsorption issues even while following the prescribed Vitamin protocol. I take Vitamins and minerals already. i believe in their importance to every function in our body. I cannot- will not- have such a drastic procedure (that cannot be undone) when I see those that kind of outcome. And I can't talk about it on most forums because most people have had RNY and I'm not looking for a battle nor do I want to freak them out, because they can't do anything about it having had the surgery anyway.
I want to go about losing weight as I have in the past- but without the hunger or the ability to eat more than I should in one sitting. I've been successful in the past with tracking my foods, eating yummy but very healthy meals, exercising at the gym, doing cardio in my target heart rate range, strength training to prevent muscle loss......I know how to do it the right way. I just find myself becoming exhausted of it after a period of time. And getting started when I feel so down on myself. My thinking was that I'd need to do all those things I mentioned including counting calories, Protein, carbs, fat and Fiber, but having the band would be my extra motivation, my extra kick in the ass to keep me going and help me in my problem areas- eating too quickly, too much and being hungry on 1200 calories.

I promised myself, that when I hit a year, I'd post a "success" story.
A year ago today, I lay in the "big" hospital bed at 274 pounds and completely miserable. The two days prior to surgery were the worst ever. I called my Dr's nurse the morning of surgery and told her "I think I need to cancel, I can't do this." She told me that she wasn't going to listen to me and that she expected to see me at the hospital in a few hours.
I'm so glad I did. There are very very few things in my life that I'm more happy about than my decision to have Lapband surgery.
I was 32 and miserable. Couldn't stand to look at myself, even more, couldn't stand to have my husband look at me. We got together when we were 17. I was fit then, always the bigger girl, but very active. Softball, cross country, track, etc. Almost immediately after HS, the weight just piled on. When we got married at 20, my wedding dress was a size 16. I hated my wedding photos, they are horrible. To this day, very few people have actually seen them. I still have them in proof form, in a box underneath my desk. I have no pictures of my wedding out on display. For that matter, I have very few pictures of myself in the last 14 years.
We have two kids, two boys, who are very active. It was so hard to want to do anything with them. My husband, thank goodness, is one of those people who could eat the world and couldn't weigh more than 160 if he tried. So, while I always took the pictures or sat on the sidelines, they had the fun.
I spent my 20's with no sexual drive whatsoever. I was disgusted with myself. If I couldn't even look at myself, how could my husband want to. It made him sad, he always said he didn't see me the way I did. I couldn't believe him.
So, after three years of research, I initially tried to get the band in 2007. My insurance changed at year end and no longer covered it. So scratch that. In 2010, I went to my GP and he asked if I'd thought about it. Yeah yeah, I did, but insurance. He encouraged me to call and check again. Unbeknownst to me, they covered it again. I cried and cried and cried. That was in Feb 2010. I quickly researched the two Dr's that I had chosen and decided on one. Went to the seminar, got my 6 month supervised diet in, all the other pre-req's and next thing I knew, I'm laying in the hospital bed seriously thinking I shouldn't be doing this.
Recovery was HARD, not hard hard, but not what I expected. The first week, I was sure that this was the worst decision I had ever made. Only a clinically insane person would put themselves through this, I was sure of it. However, things started getting better. I was losing weight and I was losing it quickly.
When I was around 3 weeks post op, I started walking/running. Eventually, I was running a mile, then two, then three. I was actually able to RUN and ENJOY it!!!
There have been some bumps along the way. Mainly mental. Around September, I was sure I was going insane. I was okay, but, it wasn't until then, that I actually realized my crutch, my addiction, was food. I was going through a "detox", lol. It made me for one very very grouchy and irritable woman.
I believe, I finally hit onederland on December 8th. 75 pounds gone since July 29th, a little over 4 months. By the end of 2010, I was down 80-85 pounds. Now, today, I'm down 106 pounds. I still have 15-20 pounds until I reach goal but I'm happy. I'm so happy! I'm plateaued, but I'm happy.
I run 5k's WITH my kids and husband now. I have energy. I'm the person, I think I always knew was inside of me.
Make no bones about it, it is difficult. It is a huge mental mind screw. There are days I look in the mirror and I don't see me now. I see me as I was a year ago. It's hard. But there are days, I look in the mirror, with the biggest smile on my face and I see me as I am now. I've made it and I've done it.
Hugs to everyone who does this journey. It's well worth it.
I was going to post some pics from my gallery, but they were insanely too big.
Here is the link. http://www.lapbandta.../7195-new-pics/