kah1213

Now that I got the DREADED before picture out-of-the-way, I think I'll start taking pictures once a month to see my progress.

Over the weekend, I realized that my weight loss really has changed my opinion of myself. Something that would once have hurt me and caused me to cry in a corner with a box of Oreos just made me shrug and go "Meh."
On Friday, my fiancé, who is an art teacher, was dealing with a student who is nothing but trouble. He's been pushing all the teachers' buttons and is defiant and obnoxious. He acts out constantly and seems to relish in the fact that he is generally despised by all the staff. Anyway, he found a new way to get my fiancé's goat by picking up a picture of me and him on vacation before I was banded and making comments about my weight. Supposedly my fiancé almost decked the kid and took steps to have him permanently removed from his classroom.
He called me up after the fact and told me what happened. His voice was shaking and he was ranting and raving about "How dare this little so-and-so say something like that about you?!" I was upset because he was upset, not because this obnoxious little snot rag called me fat. I calmly told my fiancé "Don't be upset. I'm not that person anymore and I have nothing to be ashamed of. Let it go." To me this is a HUGE leap forward, because after years of dealing with low self esteem and low self worth, I was finally able to look beyond personal criticism and see the person I really am. I'm not a fat person. I have lost both physical and emotional weight and it feels great!

I am very glad I had the Lap Band Surgery in September 2011.
My weight loss has been slow and, but in the final analysis, I am 55lbs lighter than I was a year ago! In what universe would I NOT BE HAPPY to loose 55 lbs in a year. I read so many forum posts where people are literally expecting so much that they are unhappy with significant weight loss, but it has slowed down, or they are no longer loosing 4 pounds a week like in the first weeks after surgery. The nasty secret about loosing weight is that once you loose a sizable amount of weight (whether you think it is good or not), your body adjusts, your calorie requirements just maintain your new weight go down, perhaps your metabolism slows down, and you need to to consume still fewer calories to loose weight.
Also, it is very important to realize (and truly internalize) that the band is just a tool. You still need to learn how to eat less, not snack excessively, and learn to find other things to do when you have the urge to eat. As the psychologist at my Bariatric center says, most of the time we aren't really hungry, we just want to eat. And we live in a very toxic food environment, where high calorie, low nutrition food are around us all the time.
The band has made it easier to not eat Snacks (hot dogs, donuts, croissants, pretzels), that I see and therefore want to eat during the day. I've pretty much been able to cut out between meal Snacks during the day, but still struggle at night. I seem to still want to eat after dinner while I'm watching TV or working at the computer.
So I've devised some strategies to resist that urge to eat after dinner. I guess I'm successful about 2/3 of the time, and the rest I just let go. I don't beat myself up, call myself a failure, or think about it. To me that is self defeating and makes me feel bad about myself !!!! I keep a wide variety of nutritious foods such as greek yogurt, hummus, etc so if I do eat an evening snack it is not the end of the world. I'm just thankful to realize that before my band, I couldn't even resist unecessary eating 100% of the time. To me 33% of the time that is tremendous progress!
To summarize, the band is only a tool. T0 be successful in the long run (and that's what I'm interested in!), you need to figure out your triggers, and how to deal with them. The band will not do that for you. Naturally, your weight loss slows once you've lost a significant amount of weight, and your body gets used to the band.
I consider myself a real (and continuing success) ! I have more to go, but i'll do it slowly, without making myself crazy, which only made me eat more.
Also, the bariatric psychologist at my center has been a real help in my journey. I began to see her when I realized I did not have a healthy relationship with food (soothed me when upset or anxious, or even when I felt bad about myself). She tells me that in times of stress (like the holidays, family illness, etc), just staying even is a big victory. If your center has a psychologist, I highly recommend you utilize them. I really think she has been the difference in my success, not just the band.

I'm having banded plication on may 29!

Im going in on 5/29 for banded plication... Anyone else having surgery that day?

That would annoy me too! Can you ask him to go in another room?

I think something that we all need to remember is, we're in the social situation for the socialization not eating. Eating is just secondary to the company you're with and should have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you have a good time.
I have been to many social situation in recent months, even at my own home, and being banded has never once effected me. As B-52 stated, I just have a small plate of whatever is being served then just pick at it. My focus is my company not my food.
I've eaten out many times, too. Again, I either order half portions (if they allow it) or I simply eat very slow, listen to my band for full signals, and stop eating when I'm satisfied. I also use an app called Lose It to track calories but it also a food search by restaurant name, so when eating out if I'm not certain I look it up there to have a look at calories and fat content before ordering.
Being banded doesn't have to stop you from having a social life or eating socially. You just have to put the focus back on the people where it belongs rather than the food being served.

for me, i am setting mini-goals. For my overall end-goal, I would love to get to 160 which i think i could maintain...if I get to 150 that would be AMAZING...I ended up putting 135 as my goal...135 seems like a far-fetched dream to me, but it would get me right in the range for a normal BMI. So, after I hit 160, we'll see how I feel.

My doc was so busy, I had to wait 6 weeks for my first appointment. It felt like 6 years. Now here I am ready to have surgery before end of month!

Thanks Lucy Lover! Maybe i won't board the dog and it will give me a reason to get out and walk her...I keep hearing that walking is a big help with gas pain.

Thanks Lucy Lover! Maybe i won't board the dog and it will give me a reason to get out and walk her...I keep hearing that walking is a big help with gas pain.

I'll be interested to watch!
Watch Dr. Shawn Garber on ABC's 20/20 Friday, May 11th at 10 PM EDT/ 9PM CDT
The New York Bariatric Group's Director, Dr. Shawn Garber, is scheduled to appear on ABC News 20/20, Friday May 11, 2012 at 10 PM EDT / 9PM CDT. Tune in for an hour-long show on obesity, weight loss, and the weight loss industry. Dr. Garber was interviewed for the segment on a new weight loss procedure called the POSE (Primary Obesity Surgery Endoscopically.)
We encourage you to tune in Friday night

I'm 5'6" and have a goal of 150, which would put me in a size 10. Less than that would be wonderful, but I need to see what's going to be realistically maintainable. I told my doc that I'd do a naked cartwheel if I ever got to 140 and he laughed and said be careful what you wish for!

I have a couple really good friends that I'm NOT telling. We are friends who eat together if you know what I mean. food is our bond, but I'm the biggest out of thr group. I fear our relationship will change when I can no longer eat and pig out with them....but change doesn't have to be bad. I just think for now I need to keep this to myself and do this for myself.

I'm 5'6" and have a goal of 150, which would put me in a size 10. Less than that would be wonderful, but I need to see what's going to be realistically maintainable. I told my doc that I'd do a naked cartwheel if I ever got to 140 and he laughed and said be careful what you wish for!

I'm choosing not to tell people about my surgery (except my dad and 1 friend). I've found so many people refer to WLS as a quick fix. We all know that's not true, but even when I hear my friends say things like this it makes me upset. I don't need to justify my decision to anyone. I think they're all jealous!

I think a few months ago it was decided that people with bmi of 30 or higher might be eligible for Lapland as opposed to 40+ bmi. I think it's case by case, but usually if youre under 40 bmi, you need to have 1 other problem like sleep apnea, etc.