JustCallMeKelly

Thanks Juno for replying...you are awesome cos' I notice you respond alot on this thread and I know it is appreciated. I wish you much joy during your pregnancy and many blessings for your little miracle. Be well. KKG

Hey everyone, well I was just wondering how long after being banded did most of you wait to start trying for pregnancy? Also, how much did you weigh when you got pregnant? One of my main reasons for being banded is so that I can have another child. When I got prego w/my son 3 years ago I weighed 300 lbs and although I had no problems conceiving i did encounter problems during pregnancy due to weight issues (high bp, gest diabeties w/insulin, low blood sugar for baby when born, etc.) so when I got the band my goal was to lose 110 lbs. before even thinking about trying for #2, but now it's been 6 months and I've lost 90 lbs. (20 to go) but I'm getting so anxious and worry cos' I'm getting older by the day (which means so are my eggs) and I'm starting to think I should just throw caution to the wind and start now, even though I'm not to my pregnancy goal weight yet (my ultimate goal is 180 but I'm already 35 and will be 36 in Nov so don't want to wait till I reach 180 cos' that just seems too far away). What do you think? Any and all input would be appreciated. Peace to all. KKG

Thanks so much Salsa for all that AWE-inspiring advice! Can I just tell you that you are amazing...not because of your weight loss (although that is awesome) but because you are so willing to help a perfect stranger and treat them as a loved one or friend! And for that I salute you Your advice is awesome and exactly what I needed to hear, I've already started writing those things down for my list and once I complete it I will not only carry it around with me but I will enlarge it and post it in my bedroom and kitchen as well to make sure that I see it all day everyday! I think what happened to me was I got TOO confident! I started thinking (even though I still have over 100 lbs. to lose) that this was so easy to do that I didn't really need to "try" so I stopped doing all the things that had brought me the success so far cos' I didn't really see how important they really were (journaling, exercising every day no matter what, watching every bite that went into my mouth, reminding my self on an hourly basis why I was doing all this to begin with). But today I went to see my lap-band doc and along with his advice, a fill and then reading all your great advice I now feel confident and armed with the tools I need for the next part of my journey! I will continue to check in with you for support and read what you say to others as well so that I can learn from them as well! Thanks again for putting yourself out here for all of us in need! You are now and always will be a friend of mine, Much love, KKG

Salsa, first let me say thanks for volunteering to be a mentor. After reading about 20 different stories of bandsters offering to mentor on this new thread I liked yours the best and am hoping you can help. I'm 35 yo SAHM with a 3 yo son, I've been happily married for 15 years. I've been overweight since my early 20's and been battling that long as well. I was banded on 12/26/07 and have been blessed enough to have lost 83 lbs. so far but with 107 to go to goal. But now I seem to be failing myself and my band. After some hard self examination I've come to the realization that now that life is not as hard on a daily basis and I don't have all those constant reminders of just how much my weight effects me, I'm slacking off on my eating and exercising habits. The worse part is that even though I'm cheating almost DAILY, I'm still not gaining (it's just keeping me from losing) and the reason I say that's the worse part is because I'm not stopping and I think it's cos' I'm not really seeing the consequences of my actions like I would preband. So what I think I need the most mentoring and help on is how to keep strong long term. I'm trying to get to 250 and try to get pregnant before I'm 36 (which I'll be in November) but even though I have set that goal for myself I just can't seem to get back on track! What is wrong with me!!! I always said I would not go through something as serious as surgery and be one of those people who backslide... but here I am doing exactly that!!! HELP ME PLEASE! I'm desperate right now cos' I'm starting to get scared of this addiction. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Much love, KKG

Libra, well first let me say thanks for volunteering to be a mentor. After reading about 20 different stories of bandsters offering to mentor on this new thread I think that you fit me best. I'm 35 yo with a 3 yo son, I've been happily married for 15 years. I've been overweight since my early 20's and been battling that long as well. I was banded on 12/26/07 and have been blessed enough to have lost 83 lbs. so far. But now I seem to be failing myself and my band. After some hard self examination I've come to the realization that now that life is not as hard on a daily basis I'm slacking off on my eating and exercising habits. The worse part is that even though I'm cheating almost DAILY, I'm still not gaining (it's just keeping me from losing) and the reason I say that's the worse part is because I'm not stopping and I think it's cos' I'm not really seeing the consequences of my actions like I would preband. So what I think I need the most mentoring and help on is how to keep strong long term. I'm trying to get to 250 and try to get pregnant before I'm 36 (which I'll be in November) but even though I have set that goal for myself I just can't seem to get back on track! What is wrong with me!!! I always said I would not go through something as serious as surgery and be one of those people who backslide... but here I am doing exactly that!!! HELP ME PLEASE! I'm desperate right now cos' I'm starting to get scared of this addiction. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Much love, KKG

Tied2BeFit...I just wanted to tell you how much I LOVE your screen name!!! When I first read it I was like oh that's cute cos' she switched it around from Fit2Btied...but then I realized it's actual meaning "Tied (meaning the band) 2 Be Fit (losing weight to get healthy)" and I just think that is so darn clever and wanted to let you know! Much love, KKG

Mary, thanks so much for those kind and inspirational words of wisdom...you can't know how much it helps me to have this kind of support! I just want to tell you what an inspiration your success is to me! When I decided to get the band I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to lose as much weight as I needed and thought I maybe should have done bypass instead but then I noticed that they are plenty of people that have lost MORE weight than what I need to lose and that convinced me that it CAN be done! And I know I WILL DO IT Too!!! So thanks a million and keep up your awesome momentum and success. Also, how did you go about finding a personal trainer cos' I am looking to have someone come to me (I HATE gyms) at my home but don't know where to start looking...any tips would be appreciated. Much love, KKG

Hello all, just wanted to introduce myself cos' I just found this thread and am loving it. I was 366 at my highest, lost about 10 lbs presurgery, was banded on 12/26/07 and have since lost 83 lbs. with 4 fills and one partial unfill. Am very happy with my success so far but in the past couple weeks have started to lose my focus and drive...I'm thinking it's cos' life isn't so hard anymore, even though I still weigh 283 lots of things are easier to do so I'm not constantly being reminded of why I started this journey. Any advice or tips to get back on track with the exercise and eating habits would be much appreciated cos' I'm starting to get scared that I'm falling into a really bad pattern of behavior. Thanks in advance and congrats to all you Super Big Losers! Love and peace to all. KKG

Hey there Cindy, well I have to say that I've been having a few "off" weeks here lately and have not been very good....but I will give you an excerpt from my food journal from a week when I' was being a good girl...here it is: Sunday 4/20/08 Breakfast – NONE lunch – Ate at Wendy’s: Sante Fe chicken salad ate the chicken and cukes w/dressing: Total Carbs = 6 grams dinner – Ate at Home: Lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, chick peas sunflower seeds, Caesar dressing: Total Carbs = 6 grams Exercise: Treadmill 167/52.2 / 6.4/1.60 / 44:00 / 3.5 – 1.5 / 2.0 – 2.5 Feelings: Okay day; wishing I hadn’t screwed up so badly yesterday but making it right today! Monday 4/21/08 Breakfast – NONE Lunch – Ate at Home: Low carb Tuna recipe: 2/3 cup of tuna w/8 butter crisps: Total Carbs = 11 grams Dinner – Ate at Home: Low carb Tuna recipe: 2/3 cup of tuna w/8 butter crisps: Total Carbs = 11 grams Exercise: NONE…too tired from cleaning and making beds and laundry! Feelings: Good day, back on track w/eating…very tired from taking care of sickie and sleeping in guest bedroom! Tuesday 4/22/08 Breakfast – NONE Lunch – Ate at Subway: Chicken breast salad w/cheese, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, black olives, jalapeños, o/v, s/p, and ranch dressing (ate only ½): Total Carbs = 11 grams Dinner – Ate at Home: Low carb Tuna recipe: 1 ½ cups of tuna w/12 butter crisps: Total Carbs = 18 grams Exercise: Stat Bike: cals 710/ fat 221 / time 60:09 / miles 14.15 / speed 13 – 16 Feelings: Good day, not too hungry, back on track!!! Felt more in control of cravings today! Started period too. Wednesday 4/23/08 Breakfast – NONE Lunch – Ate at Chik-fil-a: SW Chrgrld Chik Salad (took out carrots & cabbage) (ate entire salad): Total Carbs = 10 grams Dinner – NONE: made the decision to drink a Venti Breve Latte from Starbucks w/splenda: Total Carbs = 25 grams Exercise: No formal - Walked around Target for 1 hour Feelings: Good day except that I decided to drink my dinner and went over carb allowance, but it was a thought out decision so I’m not going to berate myself about it. Surprisingly I did not get hungry for the rest of the night! Thursday 4/24/08 Breakfast – NONE Lunch – Ate at Mc D’s: Sante Fe Chicken Salad – ate chicken breast w/ranch dressing: Total Carbs = 9 grams Dinner – Ate at Home: cup of tuna and 5 crisps: Total Carbs = 10 grams Exercise: Stat Bike: cals 360 / fat 112 / time 30:03 / miles 7.17 / speed 13 – 15 / played at park for 45 minutes with Hunter – basketball; running, walking and standing while dribbling Feelings: Pretty good day, high energy! Felt great after playing at the park w/Hunter; doesn’t hurt to be on my feet for longer periods now. Friday 4/25/08 Breakfast – NONE Lunch – Ate at Chili’s: Marguerita Grilled Chicken Breast w/steamed broccoli, melted butter and ranch for dipping (ate about 1/2 of breast w/ranch) Total Carbs = 7 grams Dinner – Ate at Home: cup of tuna and 5 crisps: Total Carbs = 10 grams Exercise: Treadmill: 154/48.2 / 6.1/1.54 / 41:15 / 3.5-1.5 / 2.1 Feelings: Pretty good day, high energy! Felt great after playing at the park w/Hunter; doesn’t hurt to be on my feet for longer periods now. Saturday 4/26/08 Breakfast – NONE Lunch – Ate at Home: Rotisserie Chicken – ate from the breast meat dipped in horseradish sauce and sliced tomatoes on side: Total Carbs = 2 grams Dinner – Ate at Home: Slices of Roast Beef from deli dipped in horseradish sauce and sliced tomatoes on the side: Total Carbs = 2 grams Exercise: No formal – Walked around Wal-mart for about 1 hour Feelings: Okay day, felt very tired and kinda achy all day. Sunday 4/27/08 Breakfast – NONE Lunch – Ate at Home: Slices of Roast Beef from deli dipped in horseradish sauce and sliced tomatoes on the side: Total Carbs = 2 grams Dinner – Ate at Outback: Seared Ahi Tuna appetizer and side house salad w/ranch dressing: Total Carbs = 12 grams Exercise: Stat Bike: cals 725 / fat 226 / time 60:40 / miles 14.47 / speed 13 – 15 Feelings: Good day, never very energetic, tired; late night no sleep. Tried on size 26/28 clothes and they all fit! Yea! Hope this helps w/your decision to eat low carb. And like I said, even though your body stops craving carbs, your mind is still your WORST enemy on this journey and as I've proven to myself this past week, I have NOT gained control over this beast! Be well. KKG

Very well said TurtleWind and I agree 100% that journaling truly helps now and in the long run as well. Inspirational words! Thanks. KKG

JGunter, sounds like you are doing great! Don't sell yourself short cos' you've made incredible progress in your journey so far! I'm in a similar situation as you, I started at 366 pre-op (12/25/07) and am down to 293 and am feeling Great!!! My surgeon requires us to do an extremely low low carb diet for maximum results, which believe it or not, really helps cut out most of your physical cravings for sugars and carbs (once your body gets used to not having them it forgets about them all together) but then there is still the head cravings to deal with, which I don't think ever truly go away, but I've found the best way to deal with them is to stop and look at my progress and success so far and really think about whether I want to jepordize the momentum I've got going right now...sometimes I do give in and tell myself that it is a treat for doing so well, but then I get right back on track and contiunue moving forward on this journey's path we are all on. I think that every once in a while you need to give yourself a reward, not necessarily food, but something that you really really want and treat yourself to it. I hope this helps some...keep on keeping on! And remember to remember that you are doing fabulous already! Much love, KKG

I would say that Atkins could be your best friend for preparing for the lapband, you can have extreme weight loss quickly (I usually lose anywhere from 12-16 lbs in the first 2 weeks whenever I would go on it) but it is a very extreme change in eating and you MUST adhere to it very stictly cos' if you cheat at ALL then you've defeated the purpose and will probably gain weight. It's all about changing your body's way of burning stored fat so if you get half way into it and cheat then you will turn all the food you've eaten into fat instead of burning stored fat (that of course is a very simple explanation of what it's doing). I am a huge fan of low carb dieting and it is what my surgeon recommends for all his patients and so far it's working for me, I've lost 60 lbs in 3 months. You will need to commit yourself to it for at least the first two weeks where you will keep your daily carb count to under 25 grams per diem (very hard but worth it if you can do it). You will go through withdrawal symptoms and feel like shit for atleast the first week, but if you can stay strong and get through it then you will be successful. Talk to your doctor and see what they recommend for you. South Beach Diet is also a very good healthy way to lose some fast weight as well. Check the books out at your local library and see what you think, but no not enter into Atkins lightly, get informed so that you maximize the loss. Good luck to you. Be well. KKG

Oh, sorry I guess I didn't realize it wasn't something good for us to eat. I don't want it unless it's low carb so never mind. thanks for clarifying. Be well. KKG

That pudding idea sounds good, do you have a recipe? If so, would you mind sharing. Thanks. KKG

Wow, Kelintx, that's awesome and congrats on your incredible weight loss. Care to share any tips with us on how you did it; what worked best, what didn't, etc. Any input from such a big loser would be greatly appreciated seeing how I need to lose 141 lbs. to get to goal. Thanks in advance. Live well/be well. KKG