princessheather

Ibtrouble that is awesome and I am happy you are motivated to get it together you can do this!!!!

I made that same mistake but I let mine go much longer. I was initially successful with the band slowly the weight came off but I quit working it. I wanted the band to do everything for me. Some health problems kept me away but I logged back in TODAY and reset my Ticker....and read your post!
I have enrolled in a support program including nutritionist and medical support. Thanks for sharing your story- it made a difference to me right now....

Thanks everyone!
To answer the questions: I drink several Protein shakes throughout the day which have 30 grams of Protein each. Then the rest of my protein comes from fish/chicken/turkey. I am a numbers person and a creature of habit so i normally plan my whole days worth of calories/protein each morning or the night before so I have a plan to follow each day and even if i am busy I can just consult the log and grab what i need.
As for how I get so much exercise, well..I do not have kids so i know that can make it a bit easier, That being said, I have worked more than one job during the majority of my weightloss and what i have done from the start is schedule my workouts a month in advance. They are all in my calendar and i treat them like a job. Everything else gets scheduled around them no matter what. Even when i am dead tired i still get up and do it. I actually get up and hour and half before I have to workout to give me time to drink a smoothie and let it "hit my system" as it takes me about 30 mins to drink one then i let it process through my body for that hour before i workout. I make the time because it is so important to me. I have so many friends that want to workout but i hear so many excuses when it comes down to it. You have to figure out what you can do and when you can do it and then DO IT.
I never expect anyone to go full blast immediately, but just start something and don't give up! You guys got this!!!!

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds!
(sorry if this is a repeat for some of you but thought i should post this in this forum too to
help/motivate more people)
So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!
As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.
The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.
You can do this!!!!!

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds!
(sorry if this is a repeat for some of you but thought i should post this in this forum too to
help/motivate more people)
So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!
As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.
The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.
You can do this!!!!!

Thanks everyone!
To answer the questions: I drink several Protein shakes throughout the day which have 30 grams of Protein each. Then the rest of my protein comes from fish/chicken/turkey. I am a numbers person and a creature of habit so i normally plan my whole days worth of calories/protein each morning or the night before so I have a plan to follow each day and even if i am busy I can just consult the log and grab what i need.
As for how I get so much exercise, well..I do not have kids so i know that can make it a bit easier, That being said, I have worked more than one job during the majority of my weightloss and what i have done from the start is schedule my workouts a month in advance. They are all in my calendar and i treat them like a job. Everything else gets scheduled around them no matter what. Even when i am dead tired i still get up and do it. I actually get up and hour and half before I have to workout to give me time to drink a smoothie and let it "hit my system" as it takes me about 30 mins to drink one then i let it process through my body for that hour before i workout. I make the time because it is so important to me. I have so many friends that want to workout but i hear so many excuses when it comes down to it. You have to figure out what you can do and when you can do it and then DO IT.
I never expect anyone to go full blast immediately, but just start something and don't give up! You guys got this!!!!

Awesome and motivating post. As my excess skin hangs off my arms n elsewhere or when I hear it flapping at the fun. I say in two years when I get my plastic surgery it won't matter. I randomly picked two years it will be my 41 bday present for me. I will have the entire summer off to recoup n I need the two years to save for it. You are an amazing woman! Yes the band does help but making the right food choices and exercising is really the key

Posts like this make me so happy I made this decision and so motivated to do the work! You are beautiful.

Thanks everyone!
To answer the questions: I drink several Protein shakes throughout the day which have 30 grams of Protein each. Then the rest of my protein comes from fish/chicken/turkey. I am a numbers person and a creature of habit so i normally plan my whole days worth of calories/protein each morning or the night before so I have a plan to follow each day and even if i am busy I can just consult the log and grab what i need.
As for how I get so much exercise, well..I do not have kids so i know that can make it a bit easier, That being said, I have worked more than one job during the majority of my weightloss and what i have done from the start is schedule my workouts a month in advance. They are all in my calendar and i treat them like a job. Everything else gets scheduled around them no matter what. Even when i am dead tired i still get up and do it. I actually get up and hour and half before I have to workout to give me time to drink a smoothie and let it "hit my system" as it takes me about 30 mins to drink one then i let it process through my body for that hour before i workout. I make the time because it is so important to me. I have so many friends that want to workout but i hear so many excuses when it comes down to it. You have to figure out what you can do and when you can do it and then DO IT.
I never expect anyone to go full blast immediately, but just start something and don't give up! You guys got this!!!!

This was my reaction, too. I had to zoom in and compare. WOW! Congrats!

@princessheather--CONGRATULATIONS!!! Your hard work, committment and focus have paid off!!

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds!

[ATTACH]42404[/ATTACH]

Ok sorry if this sounds rambling but I wanted to kind of give my background for those wondering since a couple people emailed me too. Feel free to ask me more as I was just typing what I could think of:
So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!
As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.
The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.
You can do this!!!!!

Wonderful success story..you look great. The loose skin issue is something we all have to deal with. I have decided that unless mine gets really bad I am not going to worry about it but I have lost 60 lbs not 168.. and you are much younger than I am so you would be a good candidate for skin removal. Love your honesty and approach to exercise. I am hoping once the weather warms up I can get more walking in.

This is great! A real reminder for those even in the beginning stages. On the liquid diet still, I am dreaming of real food. But, I need to not get too excited and make sure it's the "right" food.< /span>
:)K

Ok sorry if this sounds rambling but I wanted to kind of give my background for those wondering since a couple people emailed me too. Feel free to ask me more as I was just typing what I could think of:
So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!
As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.
The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.
You can do this!!!!!

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds!
(sorry if this is a repeat for some of you but thought i should post this in this forum too to
help/motivate more people)
So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!
As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.
The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.
You can do this!!!!!

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds!
(sorry if this is a repeat for some of you but thought i should post this in this forum too to
help/motivate more people)
So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!
As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.
The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.
You can do this!!!!!

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds!
(sorry if this is a repeat for some of you but thought i should post this in this forum too to
help/motivate more people)
So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!
As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.
The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.
You can do this!!!!!

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds!
(sorry if this is a repeat for some of you but thought i should post this in this forum too to
help/motivate more people)
So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!
As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.
The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.
You can do this!!!!!

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds!
(sorry if this is a repeat for some of you but thought i should post this in this forum too to
help/motivate more people)
So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!
As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.
The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.
You can do this!!!!!

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds!

[ATTACH]42404[/ATTACH]

Ok sorry if this sounds rambling but I wanted to kind of give my background for those wondering since a couple people emailed me too. Feel free to ask me more as I was just typing what I could think of:
So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!
As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.
The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.
You can do this!!!!!

Thanks everyone!
To answer the questions: I drink several Protein shakes throughout the day which have 30 grams of Protein each. Then the rest of my protein comes from fish/chicken/turkey. I am a numbers person and a creature of habit so i normally plan my whole days worth of calories/protein each morning or the night before so I have a plan to follow each day and even if i am busy I can just consult the log and grab what i need.
As for how I get so much exercise, well..I do not have kids so i know that can make it a bit easier, That being said, I have worked more than one job during the majority of my weightloss and what i have done from the start is schedule my workouts a month in advance. They are all in my calendar and i treat them like a job. Everything else gets scheduled around them no matter what. Even when i am dead tired i still get up and do it. I actually get up and hour and half before I have to workout to give me time to drink a smoothie and let it "hit my system" as it takes me about 30 mins to drink one then i let it process through my body for that hour before i workout. I make the time because it is so important to me. I have so many friends that want to workout but i hear so many excuses when it comes down to it. You have to figure out what you can do and when you can do it and then DO IT.
I never expect anyone to go full blast immediately, but just start something and don't give up! You guys got this!!!!

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds!
(sorry if this is a repeat for some of you but thought i should post this in this forum too to
help/motivate more people)
So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!
As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.
The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.
You can do this!!!!!