bigethel

Take each day one at a time. When I slip and fall off the wagon I choose 2 small things to do each and eeryday. Recently it was: Get my Vitamins in...and get 3 litres of Water in. And I committed to myself that I would do it for a week. By the end of the week, that was easy. I also noticed at the end of that week that I wasn't eating as many sweets. The next week I committed to getting to the gym 4 times...check, done! and by the end of the first week the scale had moved, end of the second week, again! And then I got a slight fill...and I am pretty sure I'm in my green zone...so it's all on me now. I've my weight doesn't move, it's because I'm not working the band.
Go bag to the basics...get yourself hydrated..then walk for 30 minutes...when you feel the urge to eat, the do something else with your hands....like drink some Water or paint your nails.
The bottom line is...you have to want it...no one else can want it for you. You have to find what motivates you.
Wishing you renewed motivation

I was perhaps the biggest chug=the=grub bozo out here, as it did solve the problem of stopping to chew as well as being able to get it all down as rapidly as possible.
Surprisingly it wasn't all that hard to change my own habit.
So don't set the drink anywhere near you, maximize the inconvenience of going to get a drink, and take the time to appreciate your brain has a choice in what you do.....that last bit was a hard one for me to become convinced about, but certainly fits with the notions of training ourselves out of Bad Habits and into Good Habits.
Start your New Good Habit today.

It's not that I won't drink with my meals...it is because I CAN'T drink with my meals....
After achieving a certain level of restriction....drinking Water after taking a swallow will immediately come right back up.
The food is sitting there, slowly passing through the band....adding Water will immediately increase the volume sitting in my pouch...having no where to go but right back up....
But that's the thing about the band..it is adjustable and everyone will have a different experience depending upon how their band is adjusted....
As far as washing food down...that NEVER happens with me....

Don't pour the glass.
BTW-If you can wait 1-2 minutes after each bite to drink, your food should already pass through the stoma. It's drinking to wash food down so you can grab another bite that's the problem.
I seldom drink while eating but occasionally I do. But I try to wait one minute after I swallow before I do and try to never wash food down with fluids unless I'm eating leftovers that can be very dry.
Watch this video and pay attention around the 2:00 minute mark. But obey your own doctors protocol if you can?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZCE8pGJHG4

I instinctively reach for my glass if it is there. So get it off the table or cover it with a napkin. Set your phone alarm for 30 minutes after a meal and that means you can drink. Before the first bite take a nice big drink of Water. My doc allows drinking up to the first bite but nothing during or 20 minutes after food.
It's only a habit. You can break it. Stay hydrated before you eat and it is easier.

GREAT news! LOL!

Thanks for the inspiration! I have a few toddlers in my life and hope to be chasing them around this summer and getting up and down off the floor. A friend and I recently joked that this could be an entire exercise class -- just standing up and sitting down in place, get up, sit down. We could throw in crawling for the intermediates! Congratulations on all -- your enthusiasm is contagious.

This morning, as I was crawling on the floor, playing monster trucks with a two year old, I found myself feeling so grateful ! In 14 months post surgery, how my life has changed! The chronic back pain is now occasional, I can RUN without getting out of breath, I am a size 2-4 instead of 18, my energy level is through the roof! Could not be happier! Thanks to the lap band, I truely have a new lease on life! Wishing you all success however you define it!

I was banded in 2008. I have truly struggle. I lost close to 60 pounds, before gaining 50 back. I started getting refilled recently, and my plan is to start back on full liquids. I know that will also assist in tightening my band. I had a small fill to assist as well. We can do this. I am here if you need support.

I'm not a veteran, but this is what I would do: call your surgeon & make an appt, you probably need to begin having fills so that you are not hungry. Once you can get the hunger under control, that will be a big step. I understand your frustration, but you are ready to begin getting back on track, you have the tool to do it - now you have to use it! I am rooting for you!

How did you lose the weight before? Did you exercise? Watch calories? Did you ever reach the green zone?
Maybe a good place to start would be a visit to the surgeon. Could you get a fill?
I think that just coming on here and showing interest is a great start. Make small changes every day. And go see your doc.

So I'm a male, now 29 years old. I was banded on June 4, 2008. When I started my journey I was 343lbs I got down to 269lbs and then started making bad decisions and gained most of the weight back. I am now 320lbs again and know it's because I have given up on myself. I have had roadblocks along the way but instead of busting through them I let them knock me down. I want to loose the weight again and get back to good emotional/physical health. I would love to hear stories of challenges overcome/success to help motivate me and any encouragement you could share. Just looking for friends who have been down in this hole and know the way out. Thanks!

i havent been through what you have persay. but i was banded in 2012 pretty much had given up on life all together. i was 467 lbs, unable to walk without a cane and eventually rollator and wheelchair. once i got better i got back into some bad habits and now trying to break those again. i started drinking and going to the bar all the time, started smoking cigarettes again. mostly just to be around people because i was bed bound for 2 years mind you im 25. After my birthday i realized I needed to make some changes and am now starting on those. My goal is get small enough to not get back surgery and be able to move around and standup without having to lay in the bed or take pain pills. ive lost over 157 lbs and refuse to go back to where i started. if you have any advice for me it would be much appreciated.

All of us get lazy or distracted or lose our concentration, despite what our earnest intent may be.
As a diabetic Bandster, the advantages of realistic moderation of my natural inclination to put off/ignore/deny the need for ACTION in my own behalf, is a conflict between the Rational and the Emotional part of my brain.
One of the most helpful tools I have is the (free) newsletter of David Mendosa. I heartily recommend his information-rich postings.
His recent article at <http://www.healthcen...esolutions> is a timely boost for my own waning dedication to my own best efforts.
Consider what he has to say and how to add his own experiences to upgrade your own Action Plan.
Cheers on our New Life

Motivation, attitude, morale, and opportunity for me all improve the harder I work at doing something, no matter how tiny it seems at first, to take control of my life
It was too easy for me to set around inventing reasons I was 'fail' in my life, until I took a step that seemed to break my unconscious fixation on being somehow a 'victim.
Doing just ONE thing a day lifted me from the mucky bottom of the Pit, and helped see that each daily step allows an ever increasing sensation of control over my own life.
At the depths of my despair, I told a friend 'each day is a s**t sandwhich and each day I take another bite'.....
Here's the payoff: She blinked her sweet brown ER nurse eyes and said (without a hesitation) "Have you tried taking a smaller bite?"
From that sparkling moment I was on the mend.
Hope we can do something here to help OP.....
work like you don't need to
love like you never been hurt
dance like no body's watching
wag more bark less
It all helped me.
Cheers on your journey.

10 1/2 years post and very thankful for my band. Not to say I haven't had my issues with some weight gain and difficulties but I attribute that to me learning about the reasons for being overweight, emotional eating and learning to life a healthier lifestyle. I am very blessed to say I have had no issues with my band such as reflux, etc. My band keeps me in check but a lot of the weight loss success has to do with me keeping up my end of things with exercise, making good food choices and not reverting to emotional eating.

Hi, I am almost 12 years out with my band. I am still happy that I have it. I have no regrets. I have kept the weight off almost 10 years. The band is an awesome tool. Mona

I am 4 years banded. I am down 102 lbs. I started at over 385, lost 20 before surgery and now weigh 283. My goal is somewhere below 240. My BMI now is only obese, not morbid obese. After surgery I went from 365 to 290 then back to 353. This year, I committed to following the rules and lost 70 lbs. My secret, eat real food. I usually start my day with Unjury Protein Shake with a banana in it and chocolate Silk soy milk. lunch is usually what my wife makes. Salads, meat and cheese, sometimes leftovers. We do Water Zumba at the gym. dinner is meat, vegetables, salad, sometimes potatoes or bread. All made from the outside aisles of the grocery store. Way off the carbs. Way off the sweets. When we eat out (we travel a lot) we ALWAYS split everything. Never order 2 Entrees. Little soda, never diet soda. Alcohol is allowed. This is how normal people live. I now feel normal. I spent the last 6 weeks in Hawaii, Atlanta and Florida and most days in swimsuits. This is how normal people live. Really, while I still want to loose 40 or so pounds, I feel normal. It has taken 56 years, but I am Happy!

I just past my 7th year mark. I have had no issues at all.
Best thing I ever did. I can eat anything in moderation except rice and apples skins... and no carbonated beverages.
I started with a 54" waist... now 30".
I find maintenance very easy... I still get weighed in every month with my family doctor.
Tom, Toronto
Banded July 6 06
Wt. Loss: 160 lbs

Hi my name is Donna. I am 62 years old from MA. I was hoping to lose all of my weight by now but did'nt. When I started on my journey in 2005 going through the consultation and the phycological part before the surgery, the surgical team wanted me to have the RNY because I had a sugar addiction. I did not want that. I was so excited when I heard about the band. Well, since starting at 314 lb, I am 230. I would like to get to my goal of 160 and will do that in 2014. I can do this. I know the good thing is if I didn't have the band I would be eating 4 slices of pizza. Now I can only eat one, if that. Or go to McDonalds and have a burger, fries and a shake like I use to. I am lucky I can eat a half of a burger. So, it's the curse of the sugar that is stopping me. I will just keep going forward.

My band is the fullest it's going to get. Sugar is my problem not food. It still a good thing.