Bergdorfblonde

I got together with a new guy I've been seeing the other night. He felt my big scar and said "Whats that?" I told him I had gallbladder surgery. Honestly I am too shy to tell most people about the band. I think when I lose most of the weight I will have no prob telling people. My friend had laproscopic gallbladder surgery and has the same scars on her tummy like us. It just leaves it so they know you had surgery, it's not something horrible, and they don't have to ask any follow up questions or make any judgements.

I am really enjoying my new body. I now fit into size 16 jeans and a size L top. I won't buy any plus sizes anymore! But I am very flabby. I still need to lose about 70 pounds. The one thing I hate is my boobs look like half filled water baloons. They totally sag and they have never sagged in my life. I have stretch marks on them and on my thighs and hips and I know those are not going away. I would rather not get ps if it can be avoided. My boobs still look great in a bra, but without a bra, they hang. Oh well.

I have a NSV to report. Today I went into Marshalls and bought a size L top and size 16 jeans (from the misses section). Neither one was from the plus size department! I realize that I can still buy plus size clothes or squeeze into "normal" clothes. I was thinking of looking in the plus section. But then I thought to myself, I never want to wear plus size clothes again. It feels so good to realize how I took my body from a 2x top and 26 bottom to L top and 16 bottom. :embaressed_smile:

nip, onederland is my next goal too...isnt it amazing how we can fit into these smaller sizes??

You need to take care of yourself. You can't control your husband's actions. But you can make sure you keep on your weight loss path and look your best. You don't look 40 by the way! You are really as young and as hot as you feel. It's an attitude. I never worry about guys cheating on me cuz I know I am the best they will ever have. If they cheat on me they are stupid. LOL As far as dieting, I need to diet with the lap band. You know that there are plenty of foods (like icecream and chocolate) that we could still eat in unlimited quantities. So we need to diet. I never was able to stick to WW so I don't think I can really stick to diets. So I made up my own diet where I eat 1200 calories a day. 1200 calories of whatever I want, sometimes healthy, sometimes junk food. Sometimes I stick to it, other days I go over that amt of calories. But I am definitely seeing my weight go down. Believe in yourself. Believe in your beauty, no matter what weight you are. Believe in your specialness. Don't worry about your husband. You are just as hot as him. Act like you are god's gift to men and he won't stray.

Dont let those jealous ppl get you down ladies! Just concentrate on your weight loss and living a happy life and dont get bogged down in the small town soap operas!

Do you guys know how much on average a woman needs for an effective fill? I am 5'5'' and 212 right now. Ive had 2 fills but they were only .50 ccs each as the nurse who does them likes to be conservative. I can basically eat whatever I want so I am thinking 1 cc is way too little to have in there. I need to go for a fill. How much saline did you guys have in your band to reach the sweet spot?

I live in Westchester and NY. Hi neighbors!!

You know why I am afraid to tell ppl? People think lap band is the easy way out and don't realize it is very hard work. They judge you. My mom told family friends and each time they saw me they kept asking how much weight I lost and I felt like a failure because it is coming off slow. Also, god forbid I spent 15k on this surgery, cut up my body, and I am still fat after it all. Thats why I dont like telling people. When I reach my goal I would have no problem telling people. I just have to convince myself it is going to work.

I am not slamming Tijuana and if you went there and had a good experience, thats great! I am just saying if you haven't been banded yet, it's not the best place to go for surgery. Read this article. El Bohemio - BEWARE OF Mexico FOR CHEAP PLASTIC SURGERY

You know what I think it is? You went from a fat person to a thin person. To non overweight people, size 34 is the same as size 20. They just see you as big. Now that you are a size 16, you are more average looking and they think of you as overweight and are like, what happened? Just be happy you are almost a size 16 (i cant wait till i am!) and dont listen to silly town gossips.

Thats why you don't go to Tijuana for surgery. My heart goes out to you for what you've been through. If you are paying out of pocket, see if you can get into a study at an American hospital in your area where the lap band is half price. I did mine in a NY hospital that was doing a study. I paid 12000 out of pocket (they usually charge 25,000 for people not in a study). I know this costs more than Mexico but it was in an accredited hospital. I saw a similar thing on Montel. A lady went to Mexico for breast implants. She came back to America and almost died. When they removed the faulty implants, they ran the serial number and saw that the implants were implanted into another woman before her! They actually used 2nd hand breast implants in this poor lady. She is very sick because of this. I am a bargain hunter, but when you are dealing with surgery, don't go to a forgeign country. Your life is not worth a couple of thousand dollars.

I bought the optifast then freaked out as I thought I would never be able to eat again! So I pigged out and actually gained weight instead of losing it! I totally regret it cuz it's nice to start out with the band with some preband weight loss and I had none. But no regrets, you have to do what is right for you.

In general, a lot of places have either rare tuna on a salad or some kind of ceviche (mexican and japanese places have this) Ceviche is an appetizer, so I usually get a miso soup and then get a double portion of it for an entee. McDonalds-a 4 piece chicken mcnugget happy meal with small fries (400 calories) Panera's I usually get a combo with a small caesar salad and a soup and I drink an iced tea with lemon and equal before I eat Subway I order one of those under 6 grams of fat sandwiches but dont eat most of the bread, plus low fat chips Can you Eat Pizza? NY Style Ive been eating lean cuisine thin crust pizzas, they are surprisingly good!

My mom told me she knows a lady who lost a ton of weight on it. Maybe I will try it for a week or 2, because I cant see myself eating just cookies for longer then that!!

I have over 100 pounds to lose and have been losing kind of slowly. I was wondering if losing it slower causes the skin to snap back more, rather than losing 100 pounds in a short time period. I am really scared of plastic surgery and don't want a ton of hanging skin when I am done. I haven't noticed so much sagging so far, except for my breasts. Does slow weight loss cause less sagging skin??

I think body shape matters too. I am a pear shaped person so I don't really think my stomach is so big right now. My arms are shrinking. If I do have extra skin, it will be on my legs and behind. I think my elasticity is good also because everyone always tells me I look a lot younger than I am. However, my boobs concern me because they are so saggy. It seems like so far I am snapping back into place except for the boobs so hopefully the rest will too.

Lap band is not the quick fix it's advertised to be. Surgery is real surgery. It hurts really bad for the first month. Also, you have to diet after the band or you won't lose weight. People think it is magic and it is not, so it is good that you are looking out for the bad things. There are 5 scars on my belly. Most are small, the one where they insert the port is very big. If you really want to lose weight and are committed to changing the way you eat, it is totally worth it. But realize you are going to feel like crap for a month and have scars forever and not going to be able to eat mass quantities of food again. For me, it was totally worth it as I feel like I am taking control of my weight and my life. Just make an informed decision and make sure you are willing to go thru the bad parts before you do it.

I just has a small victory that I'd like to share with you guys. I know its not a big deal because you guys have been losing SO much weight in these last 6 mos, and I am a slacker compared to you guys, but I just hit the 30 pound mark! I am so happy. Only 12 pounds till I leave twoterville and enter onederland!! Once I hit onederland, the size 16 jeans will be calling my name:) Name: Frangipani Weight loss from day of surgery: 81 lbs Total weight loss: 87 lbs Name: Candle Weight loss from day of surgery: 81 lbs Total weight loss: 95 lbs Name: Salsa Weight loss from day of surgery: 81 lbs Total weight loss: 81 lbs Name: Pammycakes Weight loss from day of surgery: 84 lbs Total weight loss: 86 lbs Name: Ceradad Weight loss from day of surgery: 80.5 Total weight loss: 100.5 Name: KarenG. Weight loss from day of surgery: 74 Total weight loss: 74 Name: NanaRenan Weight loss from day of surgery: 45 Total weight loss: 65 Name: TexasBecky Weight loss from day of surgery: 88 Total weight loss: 98 Name: SPEBSQSAlady Weight loss from day of surgery: 55 Total weight loss: 55Name: Brandottie01 Weight loss from day of surgery: 20 lbs Total weight loss: Name: Bergdorfblonde Weight loss from day of surgery: 30 lbs Total weight loss: 30 lbs Name: gometros Weight loss from day of surgery: 52.9 lbs Total weight loss: 74.9 __________________ Sandy Banded Aug. 22, 2007

Purplegirl you look so awesome! I wish I did this at your age. It would have saved me years of being overweight. Good job girl!!

Melissa your arms look so much smaller! I think I lost weight like that too. Good job!!

Valstar, if Denzel could see you now! LOL Great job! :wink:

Wow Becky, you look awesome! Your weight loss is so dramatic. Good job!!!

Salsa, you look like a totally different person! I bet if old friends saw you on the street, they would not recognize you. Wow, I am totally impressed by your weight loss. Good job!!

Mag you look like you are a lot skinnier but also look like your weight loss took 10 years off your age. You look hot!!