JustMeDee

September 4th is my surgery date!!!

All done! Just chillin in my hospital room. It went great. Just waiting on my jello. :-D

hi Jason and welcome!
You are not a pansy lol. It's totally normal to be scared. I think I'd question anyone who wasn't at least a little nervous. It's a major lifestyle change!
You have nothing to fear. It's a minor surgery and the recovery process after is fairly quick. The lifestyle change can definitely be daunting. I know for me, that was the hard part. Many of us (myself included) actually go through almost a mourning like process, leaving behind the lifestyle and eating habits we've known our whole lives. I know it sounds weird, but in some ways, it's almost like losing an old friend. So many of us grieve with food, Celebrate with food, even kill boredom with food. No longer being able to do that is difficult and often emotional.
The good news it, it gets a lot easier as time goes on. I was banded 7 months ago and have lost 125 pounds so far. I love my band and the new healthier lifestyle I've adapted. I still have to do the work. I still regularly battle the difference between physical hunger and head hunger, too. But with every pound the scale drops, I am reminded how far I've come and how happy I am with my new life. I have no regrets and would do it again in a heartbeat.
My best advice is to educate yourself on the band thoroughly before surgery. Learn all about not only the mechanics of it but what to expect from it- as well as what not to expect from the band. I would also highly recommend seeing a nutritionist before surgery. A nutritionist can help you set up food guidelines specifically for your needs and lifestyle. For me, this has been a crucial part of my weight loss so far. By having clear guidelines and an understanding of nutrition, it takes the guess work out of eating.
Best wishes to you

I was just banded last week, but have lost 50 pounds since I've started the process. It's HARD!
My advice to you is to take it day by day, hour by hour, meal by meal and bite by bite. The best advice I've gotten during my journey is this: When you feel "hungry", ask yourself these questions--"Am I REALLY hungry or am I bored, emotional, etc...", "Am what I am about to put in my mouth worth it and how is it going to benefit me?"
Sometimes, that piece of chocolate cake IS worth it, but most of the time. No, it's not. I make sure I really take the time to chew and savor each thing I put in my mouth. Take time to enjoy the texture and the flavor. Don't just eat it because it tastes good. Eat it because it is something you truly enjoy and make it a treat for yourself, not something you eat because you can. I don't keep treats in the house because then I eat them. I make them hard to get to. If I'm wanting ice cream, then I have to take the effort to go and get it and I only get ONE serving. Not enough to bring home and eat whenever I want because then it's not a TREAT. You know what? I rarely have ice cream anymore, but when I do... Boy, do I ENJOY it!! When having a treat makes you feel guilty and depressed, it is not a treat.
I used to walk past the fridge and open it because it was there. Everytime I opened it, I found something to eat. Maybe a slice of cheese, or a meat stick, or whatever. I don't open the fridge anymore unless I have somethng that I'm opening it for. It's not worth the temptation to me.
Every day, every hour, every meal. Ask yourself these questions. Am I REALLY hungry? Why am I eating? What am I eating? Is what I'm putting in my mouth worth the calories and what it is going to do to my body?
Day by day, hour by hour, meal by meal. You CAN make the right choices and you can make the band work for you. It's just a tool, not a miracle worker!

After I lose about 40 pounds or plus I'm looking forward to the huge shopping spree my hubby doesn't know he's paying for yet. lol.

My fitness pal is really good.

So I've blogged about this a few times, but I have several other more severe comorbidities that apparently may or may not count for Cigna, but I just got the results of my sleep study and I do have Obstructive Sleep Apnea which is apparently my rubber stamp! It's really funny because I know the long term effects of OSA but it's still the least of my worries due to my other problems so I'm seriously ready to jump up and down (if it weren't for the horrible asthma attack that would follow LOL) . Now I just have two more months of nutrition and October here I come!

That's my sister...JustMeDee. She pretty much covered what I was going to say...lol. She learns well....bahahaha! Good Luck to you!! I'm just starting out...only 2 weeks post-op, but I am still so excited about the NEW me that is on her way!!!!

I haven't been banded yet but my sister has and she's given me a few pointers. For instance, stock up on protein shakes, gas x, broths, start taking multivitamins, calcuim and biotin (if you fear hair loss after surgery) start watching your calorie and sugar intake. MyFitnessPal is a wonderful tool for this. My dietician also recommended watching how quickly i eat. I think she said ever meal should take 15 minutes to complete. Not sure if that was solids or every stage. Last but not least CHEW CHEW CHEW! Hope this helps.

I'm 34 and she's 32. we're oldies but goodies

Have Started using Myfitness pal, an ap on my iPhone for a week now and it has helped me so much. I'm 3 weeks post op and it had kept me on track. Also, gives me the freedom of knowing I am doing the right thing and not feeling guilty for eating. It is a free ap !

Congrats and hope everything works out.

I was just thinking, I been big my whole life.... I have never seen my face skinny other then early childhood photos. Some of the before and after photos on this website and youtube are amazing! Not knowing them personally I don't think I could have identified them as being the same people. Well one thing is for sure I'm going to be damn sexy.

I've been preparing my family for the after surgery food intake. I've told them that we ALL will be eating healthier and living more active lives after mommy heals. My 14 yo son, thats the healthiest of all of us, threatened several times to move in with his Nana. I explained that its not really that big of a change since I'll be preparing alot of the food we already eat just in a healthier way and I'll be eating smaller portions. I think he's on board now.

You slipped...we all do it from time to time. Just do better tomorrow and try not to beat yourself up too much about it. Good Luck!

Don't have a surgery date yet but I plan on going public via FaceBook as soon as I get the date. I'm not good at keeping secrets from my friends plus I want to tell the world about this experience (good or bad).

Don't have a surgery date yet but I plan on going public via FaceBook as soon as I get the date. I'm not good at keeping secrets from my friends plus I want to tell the world about this experience (good or bad).

Congrats! I hope to be joining the August Bandsters also. Just waiting on a few things...

For me it was easy to tell the people around me, my wife,mom and cousin are all nurses another cousin is a surgeon I work in the medical field and in a hospital. The people in my clinic are all rather close even the ones I don't much care for are all wishing me the best. My friend actually was the one who talked me into it and has paid for a large portion of my co-pay. With out his support this would never have happened. He said its a selfish thing he's doing... He just wants his buddy to be around when he's in his 60's.

Almost everyone I have been around within the last few weeks knows my surgery is coming up on monday. I'm not embarrassed by it, this surgery isn't something that I would keep a secret. I am proud of myself. Everyone knows I have struggled with weight issues since I was 10, and that I have always eaten healthy & etc. So I have no problems sharing it. I've been on diets since 10-11, I am programmed to eat healthy and lapband is just there for extra helping measures while I start kicking myself into shape.

OMG so excited for you. Congrats

After I lose about 40 pounds or plus I'm looking forward to the huge shopping spree my hubby doesn't know he's paying for yet. lol.

Love the dress! You'll look beautiful.

Wow my Lap Band journey is moving very fast! Went to a seminar late May, earlyJune I had my first appointment with my surgeon, late June my insurance approved the procedure (without any prerequisites) had my upper GI the first week of July, Nutrisionist a week ago and scheduled the surgery yesterday. I'm very excited its scheduled for Augest 30th that's a Thursday and the following Monday is Labor Day for me thats a free day off...So I'm just going to need to use two days for my surguery. Now it's just 33 days until my 10 day starts... My beautiful wife is going to change her eating habits with me too! We are going to start reeling in the calories and caffeine starting yesterday. I'm very excited.

SWEET topic!!! :wub:
My husband has brought it up several times how he thinks I'm going to lose weight, get a boob job (because YES, this is sooo in my future) and leave him for another dude. His concern has really made me think about it!
My internal answer is...I don't know! That's just brutal honesty. I've always loved big guys, my husband is 6'5 290# but when I was not so big, my choice in men was not so big either. My preferences went from a baseball players to a football players as my weight increased. Here is what I know. I love my husband, we are not together by accident. God placed us together as part of His plan for me, for him for our daughter. Are there days when I think I deserve better? Yup. Are there days when I think HE deserves better? For sure.
We'll just take it day by day like we always have (marriage is work whether your skinny or fat) and try to be better examples for our daughter.
Now as for fantasies....can we go there in this forum? Probably not, well at least not mine. Let's just say mine involve BOTH the football player and the baseball player...mmmm-kay?