Kime-lou

Thanks ladies. I had some homemade icecream left from a family reunion on Saturday. I love my homemade vanilla. I was good only one snack today- small meals and tried to listen to my body - drink when I'm not sure if it's hunger or not- eat only when really hungry. Thankfully I was able to keep my sugar in control today!! Starting to feel a little better and controlling my sugar better, by being careful to eat more protein and few carbs.

Try using wheat germ or flax seed in the place of bread crumbs- they are very healthly and you don't notice the taste in a dish such as this.

Life has been tossing me a lot of lemons lately- I am drowning in Lemonade. Work has been horrid, working way to many hours. I am tired and gumpy. When life is like this making good choices isn't easy. However, I am not gaining weight, which is, I suppose, a triumph. I still try to make good choices when it comes to food, they are just a little spare of the moment instead of planned. This week I had my check up with my primary care for my anxiety med refill. While there I got my flu shot and a pneumonia shot. Since I have asthma they recommend I go ahead and get that. Bad idea. This morning my arm is swollen and very painful to move or touch, I have a mild temp, head ache, naseau and upset tummy. My band isn't happy about all this either- it's TIGHT- the yogurt is not going down easy, so I think the protein shake is going to have to come out. Doc just says take Advis and Tylenol rotating and rest. Well, I am at work- no rest for the weary. Working out isn't happening these days. My works out are cleaning, cooking, yard work and dog duty. IF I get those done I consider the day a success. Yesterday, I spent 2 hours in the yard- cut grass, rake grass, trim flowers, sweep deck. Then I went in and cooked dinner. I do really try to make sure our dinners are healthy- non process, homemade and organic. Having a garden has helped with this. While the weight loss has stopped, my body continues to change. Just bought a pair of nice dress jeans in a 14 about a month ago. Slipped them on yesterday and they are loose. So hey, I must not be doing to bad. I have stopped worrying about the scale, the weight will drop when it drops. I am moving more, sleeping better and doing more than before so that is a success in it's self. I still very much want to lose 40 more pounds and be in the 140's; maybe I'll get there maybe I won't. At this point, I know I am eating better, moving more and all my labs are perfect- so I can't ask for more than that. This journey, if nothing else has taught me to be more aware. More aware of being lazy and what I choose to put in my body. I use to not bat a eye at eating a Big Mac and a large fry. You will never catch me eating that again. It just plain out isn't worth it. Now, last week on my 4th wedding anniversary the hubs and I went to cheesecake factory and my once a year slice of heavenly cheese cake was worth it- of course followed by a long walk. I always try to move more and add more steps and movement to my day. This could be standing while working on something or while on the phone. Walking to offices rather than calling, Walking to classrooms instead of calling. To me it's all about making the little choices throughout my day that equal a healthier me. I might hit my goal one day, but right now I am good with the choices I make. I am able to look myself in the face and say ok you aren't making the dumb choices you did before. I no longer hide eating- food doesn't control me, I control it. I like these steady changes and if they scale never moves anymore, I will be thankful for the 60 lbs gone right now and the changes I have made that have made me healthier. The band is totally worth the trouble and little issues.

Thanks all- I am my own worst enemy. I had hoped I would have lost more by this point. I have been at the same zone for 3 months, I feel like I may be stuck. OH, well- the stress of my work life at the moment isn't helping much. My NUT said that I need to try to maintain for now until the stress level dies down and then try to start losing again. I guess I need to take that advice.

When ever and what ever journey you take your are often inspired to take it by someone or something. I was inspired to have WLS due to several friends having it and having great results. Once banded I have been inspired by people right here on this site- Carolina Girl has done amazing, Missy Wowzer what a awesome job, AJ beautiful!! There are many others, but these are those that I look to and always want to read what they have to say, because I relate to them and are inspired by them and their words. Yeah some times my toes get steped on, but that means they are getting to me and will help me. In the 1 year time period I have had my band I went from 244 to 187. Yeah, people have lost twice that much in the same time period, but I didn't. I am a little jealous, would love to have done better, but I am me and am where I am and I am working on it. My journey brings to mind a song that the little kids at my church use to sing and it inspires me: "I am a promise, I am a possibility, I am a great big bundle of potentiality" - That line make me smile, because I know I have the possiblity and the potential to do whatever I set my mind to. It inspires me to work hard to get the things I want, like getting to goal. We all have to get our inspiration to work hard and continue the journey on the rough days from somewhere and something- there are people all around me that give me this. My hubs, the three amazing ladies above who inspire me with their post even if they don't know it, my mom who is always telling me how proud she is, my friends who are proud, and my body that feels better and doesn't get winded when I run up my stair case in my house. While I was lucky I never reached the point of having diffulity walking, I was getting there. My knees were begining to have pain. My ankles, both of which have been broken multiple times were crying out for me to lose weight. I am glad I finally was inspired to do this last year and I am thankful for all the place and people that inspire me to contiue this journey each and every day. Look around you today find your inspirations and smile- hold on to them so on a dark day you can whip 'em out and keep movin'.

Don't worry about it, really. I lost really fast to begin with and several co-workers said I was losing way to fast, but it slowed as time when on. Now I have been stuck in the same 5 pound zone for about 3 months.

I was told yes, baked fish was ok for mushy. But that was my NUT.

You are still very early on. Likely your feelings are more surgery that sugar. While I do not have diabeties, I do have issues with my surgar droping, it just never goes up out of range. The days following surgery as the swelling decreased I felt that Sh*&. I wasn't getting much in and feeling low. Once I got back on mushies I started to feel better and it just got better from there. Your body is adjusting not only to surgery, but to the far less food, it's trying to heal, so it's using up some energy for that, Give it a few more days before worrying to much. Best thing you can do is check your levels make sure they are ok, stay hydrated (very Important), walk as much as you can, and rest! Your body has to have time to heal and adjust.

Don't stress about it. As long as you follow the doc directions you will be ok. The scale will bounce based on water retention, time of day weighed, salt intake, pooped or not, type of food eaten, water intake, time of the month, medications, ect. Therefore the scale is not the only measure of success.

My hubs is like this. He will not eat fish if it smells or taste fishy. So that means no salmon or tuna. White fish like tilapia, cod, and flounder are good and are not to fishy. I buy large bags of frozen tilapia at Walmart. I pull out two fillets and make these for the hubs and I. There are a lot of different rubs and batters you can use and bake. If you like lemon, try a lemon pepper rub. The lemon pepper rub is yummy if you sprinkle on your fish, place the fish in an aluminum foil packet and grill. If fish smells to fishy when you unwrapped it, soak for about 30 min is Water, a couple drops of lemon juice, and a little salt. This will weaken the fishy taste.

Tomorrow I will have had George D. Band for one year. Luckily, I haven't had any problems. I have gotten about 6 fills and feel like I am in a good place. George is a little tempermental, tightening up whenever he wants to. I have lost 57 lbs and counting. The first 6 months the weight came off with what seem of ease. Then the last 6 months it's slowed to almost nothing. I know, however, the slow down is my own fault. When I began this journey in April 2012, I was excited and determined. I was banded June 22, 2012 and did everything that I was told. As time went by and the weight came off I started to become a little lax on following the rules- like a couple of extra bites here and there and eating more calories than I should. For a while I was getting on the elliptical daily or at the least every other day and getting 30 -45 min. Now my workout routine has become sporatic at best. Partly, the lack of exercise is because work has become very busy and life consuming since we are switching computer systems. Partly, I let the work outs slip because I just didn't want to do it, even though I knew I should. The last month my weight has bounced between 187-190, basically the first 50 lbs fell off the last 7 have come about a pound a month. I do follow the water thing religiously and I do not drink any type of carbonation. I have only had a couple of alcohol drink and they were mixed drinks, which is my preference anyway. I have really started these last couple of weeks trying to get back on track and not allow myself a cheat. This isn't always easy, but it is something I must do. This time of year ice cream and iced coffee from McDonalds are deamons. I love these things during the summer months, so I am trying to avoid them. I hope that I can rededicated my life to dear George and get him working like a champ again. I admit that I have not lived up to my end of the bargin, but George has agree to forgive me. However, George must be a little upset at me because for the last two days he has decided to tighten up to the point yogurt is my food of choice and it keeps me going for 4 hours. I wish he'd loosen up just a touch. So to sum it up after a year of happy marriage to dear George D. Band we are still stitched together, just needing a little couple's therapy.

I have to say I agree with a lot of the others. If I were to have any problems with my band and it needed removal I would revise to the sleeve or bypass. I just don't know if I could do it alone.

At 3 days shy of my 1 year banding mark, I have come to a lot realizations. Through this process you tend to learn about yourself and your strength. I have come to realize, I've lied to myself for a long time. I use to think I ate healthy- WRONG. While I didn't hit fast food joints a lot, what I cooked at home wasn't cooked the healtiest and I ate a lot of processed foods. Beside that I just plain out ate a lot. I use to think that this process would be a snap for me- easy as pie- that I would be a leader and knock the docs socks off- WRONG. I have lost 60 lbs, which isn't horrible, but I could have lost a lot more. I had to realize some things about me and it took a while. It's not always easy to make the right choices when it comes to eating. I use to think- ok I can do this with out exercise- WRONG. I have lost the weight I have with little exercise. While on occassion I take a long walk with the pups, I did good for about a month on the elliptical and the hubs and I ride bikes when the weather allows. But, my workout are not routine, they are sporatic at best. Honestly, I believe I am going to have to add consistant exercise to my routine to ever lose more weight. I use to think- ok, it's okay to eat not so great food today, it's only one day- WRONG. Some people are able to do this, I am not one of them. I find that if I go out and eat something that I normally don't, say fried chicken, that will set my cravings for other not so healthy foods off. For me going off a rigid plan only leads to a slippery slope that I have great difficulty not going over. I have fallen off this slope more times than I care to count. I am currently climbing my way back up to the top. I use to think- I can do this alone- NOPE again. I need the support of so many people. When you are having a tough day, even though you know the answers to some questions, you just need someone there who can reassure you that you are correct. You need the support from the people you are around on a daily basis- spouse, kids, parents, roommates, friends and sometimes co-workers. You also really need a good open relationship with your doctor and nutrtitionist- these are the specilaist to can help you best of all with tweeks to your plan. You also need some type of support group- it could be an actual group meeting or this site- but a group of people who are going through the same thing as you are; who can understand the ups and downs. You also need somewhere that you can come and encourage others, so you feel value in this process - it's an evolving cycle. These are not nearly all the things that I learned, but it's a lot of the big ones. I've stuggled with my weight since I was 6 years old; always being the big girl. I find that I ate complusively and emotionally for years even though I didn't realize it. I realize that while I haven't done horrible on this journey, the only reason I haven't lost more is that I did fully invest in it. I thought I could do it my way and still get where I wanted and that was wrong. I have to do what the doctor and the nutrtionist recommend- healthy diet (plan- whatever you want to call it), exercise, rest, lots of water. So even though I am one year out and about 45 lbs from my goal of weight in the 140's, I am going to have to reinvest myself, get back into the game and hit it hard. I am going to have to do it or I will remain in the 180's.

WOW, that is awesome. I am only at 60 lost and 1 year out, but I must admit I don't go to the gym.

I know that is a bold statement, but not doing this is what got me to 250 and not doing this will make me gain weight back. Yesterday was Father's Day and I went up to see my dad. I ordered a nice cake with a pic of him and his tractor on it and we got him a new Tab computer for a gift. He was so happy. I am a Daddy's Girl, so I love bringing a smile to his face. My brother's came, my mom had gotten chips and icecream to go with the cake. So we snacked. I got a small piece of cake with one scoop of ice cream. I ate about 3 bits of cake and got the hicups. At first I wanted to ignore them, but then I realized, wait that is my single to stop. My body is saying ok, we tasted this, now we are done- put the darn cake down. This is when I can either continue eating or put it down. I ate another couple of bites and tossed the remainder. I learned something in this. My body knows what it is suppose to do, but I over rule it sometimes and this is what lead to my original weight gain. If I just shut up and listen to my band/tummy it will tell me what I need to know. If I ignore it, not only will I gain weight, or not lose, I will increase my chance for complication with my band. Soooo- if you are choosing to ignore your body, to ignore your band, to ignore your doctor, who do you have to blame for lack of weight loss or weight gain- YOURSELF. I know that may sound harsh, but it's true. I haven't lost as much as I wish I had, and you know whose fault it is - it's not Dr. Yoo's or my band's- it's Kim's!!! I have to own it. Food is awesome, it taste wonderful. One of the great things about the band is- no I can't eat as much, but if I eat the way I am suppose to, slow and chew slow I can enjoy, savor, taste, really get the joy out of what I am eating. Think about it when you scarf something down, do you really taste all the flavors, do you taste the layers, the goodness, all the hard work put into making the dish - nope. Enjoy food- slow down and take the time to savor. When you body says ok enough listen. Then when you body says ok, I need nutrition- eat.

Dylan- they go out about 2-3 days a week. I try to eat as healthy as I can. If I know a head of time where we are going I will google the nutrition info for that place. 2 of the girls (It's 4 of us) have had Lapband along with myself. The other one is a vegitarian. One of the banders doesn't eat like she should so she hasn't lost anything the other has lost 70 and has kept it off for 4 years, but she doesn't follow the rules at all. So we are all different situation, so I don't ask there advice.

the above is correct- don't worry about pain with the needle for fills- it honestly doesn't hurt. It feels odd, but not really pain. Every doc is different, but mine does fills with floro. Floro fills allows him to see my band and my tummy. I drink a little bit of the white stuff and he can see it go down into the pouch and through the band. If it refluxes then he knows I am to tight, if it goes through fast, I need more Fluid. It is goes through in 3 seconds, then it's right. With this type of fill I have never had a problem. So you may want to ask, what type of fills the surgeon does.

You should stick to healthy foods. My NUT says we shouldn't totally cut out anything we love because that can lead to a binge. You should strive to eat good lean Protein, fruit and veggies daily. But, if you crave and really want a sweet- eat a little bit. Like if you want cake- go buy ONE cupcake at a deli- eat the ONE and then let that be it. I did this one day, after two bites, I had my fill of it- tossed the remainder. Honestly, it didn't taste as awesome as I expected even though it was my fav at one time. I have friends who allow themselves a "cheat" meal or a "cheat" day- I use "cheat" loosely, because this should be more of a life style than a diet. I think the goal is just make sure you aren't giving yourself "cheat" meals or days every day. Plus, you must make sure you are not over eating, because that can cause complications. For me, I still eat what I want, but I eat healtier versions and I eat small amounts and look for healthy but just as tasty alternatives to foods I enjoy. There are so many great healthy recipes out there- google it.

I will be one year post this coming Saturday. I've lost 60 lbs. I want to lose about 40-45 more, but honestly I think I would be ok with another 20-25. It is easy to get discorraged when I did reach our own goal. I told my doc that last week, his comment was- "so you feel like a failure because you haven't reached your goal, so losing 60 lbs isn't successful?"- ok when you put it like that it's not so bad. I've lost over half of my excess body weight in one year, which is considered an success. My doc said normally people, if they continue to do what they are suppose to, will lose weight for about 3 years. The first year it's faster, then it slows, but continues. So, I feel like I will get there. The is a process, not a race. For me I can not allow myself to get to discouraged or complasent about this process, if I do, I will cause myself to fail. So each day at a time, make good choices and see where I end up. I go see my NUT again next month for my 1 year, hopefully she will be able to help me tweek my eating habits a little bit to help me lose more. As for you, I would say 70+ pounds ain't so shappy. You have done great. You have come a long way in a year, don't discount that because you haven't reached a certain goal. If you continue to work at it, you will reach your goal, not tomorrow, but you will get there.

To sum up my life of late "I have been runnin 'round like a chicken with his head cut off". This is a countryism where I come from and basically if you wack a chicken's head off he runs around in all directions until he finally falls over dead. Basically, I've been busy. Work, family stuff, work, dogs, work, doctor's appointments, parties, ect. Things are begining to slow a touch, but not much, I am just hoping to catch my breath a bit. I need to be able to come up for air. At work this morning, being that the kids are gone as are most of the teachers, I am "bumbin' it". I have my jean capri's with a wally world t-shirt and my trusty "don't leave home with out 'em" flip flops. This is my standard appearl in the summer months. While my capri's are a comfy 14, my t-shirt is a left over from last summer XL, so it's big and floppy, but comfy. However, as I looked in the mirror at my reflection this morning I thought- I've changed. Last summer at this time I was in a 20 pant, and XL-XXL shirts and busting out of them. This year the double chin has faded, I can see my collar bones (I was never sure I had those 'till now), and here is the kicker- and for you former fatties you understand me- I can see between my thighs - I see light- WOW!!! Since I was in kindergarden my thinghs touched, now they have separated- I see light. What a thrilling thing to see. Last weekend I went to Victoria's Secret to get some new undies as mine were saggin in the butt. I ask the lady what size she thought I needed. She told me to turn around and she oggled my a** for a min and said Large. I was shocked but happy. So I bought 7 pair and headed home, some what thinking these will never fit. Low and behold they are soo comfy. No more saggy butt. While I always seem to harp on "why haven't I lost more", it seems that I have come a long why. Yes I still have about 45 lbs to go. Will I make, I sure as heck hope so. Good Lord willing and the creeks don't rise I will see the blessed 140's. This journey, my journey, seems to have been about a steady slow change of habits. Sheading the old ways and replacing with new healthier thought processes. It hasn't been easy, but it hasn't been killer either. While I haven't lost 100 lbs like some who completely flipped their habits upside down, I have slowly made changes and slowly lost weight. I feel that by making this slow progress toward a healthier me I will be able to stick to it as the days, weeks, months, years, decades pass. So at almost 1 year post op I would say I am in a pretty good place. I still eat foods I love. I haven't competely cut anything from my diet, I just eat far less of the bad stuff and in general just smaller amounts at the time. I do still enjoy a slice of veggie pizza from time to time, but a slice instead of a half a large pizza. I still on occassion eat pasta, but try to avoid due to fear of getting stuck. I eat sweets on special occassion, but rather than a goliath size piece I eat a bird size peice. Life is Good and a whole lot more comfortable this year than last!!

Each day is a different story. The band tightness for some people is effected by the time of the month. flying, weather, having a cold, ect. As long as you are taking small bites and not eating fast you are doing all you can do to prevent getting stuck.

Awesome!!! Onward and Downward Congrats!

Some great things to try to get protein in and still get yummy things is use Greek Yogurt for a fruit dip. Dip apples in PB. Each a Weight Watchers Cheese stick with a few grapes. Fruit is good for you and give you fiber, adding a little protein in gives you a nice balance. These were ideas my NUT gave me.

Such a wonderful feeling when you finally see a 1 at the start of your weight!!! Congrats!!

Talk to your Doc and NUT. I got to a point where I was burning a lot more than I was taking in (according to my fitbit). They told me to increase my calories- I upped them slightly by adding in Snacks instead of just 3 meals and I lost 5 more lbs quick. Now I have hit another plateau, but that is another story.