JustWatchMe

Awesome post!

I'm banded and I chew gum all the time. Just don't accidentally swallow it. Head hunger. Yep, it's real. My suggestions. Drink some Water. Ask yourself what feelings are lurking under the surface that are begging for food as a distraction. If you're not sure if the hunger could be genuine or not, ask yourself if an apple would satisfy. If yes, it's stomach hunger. Eat an apple and stop. If no, figure out what feelings are causing the anxiety. Spend time quietly acknowledging those feelings. In my experience as a bander, getting out of the snacking habit and sticking to three meals a day helped define head hunger vs stomach hunger for me. When I truly get hungry between planned meals, I have a Protein shake or some almonds that I keep at work. At home I have a piece of fruit. But between meal hunger rarely happens at home. This should get easier as your band becomes optimally filled (green zone). But emotional eating will always be a danger for me. I've had success this week by really examining the feelings under the surface. Good luck and keep posting. It helps.

I am so happy for you both!

Check in with the feelings. You mentioned emotional eating. Examine that. Each time. It's not easy, but it's a habit I've started and it's made a huge difference in my anxiety eating this week. I no longer deal with PMS, but try it, it might help you too.

I had super thick hair pre op. I started to lose at around 4 months and it didn't stop until after a year. My hair was also quite long. It started to regrow during that time. I recently got it cut a bit shorter and am wearing it in a different style. It's thinner but I think it will thicken up over the coming months. I believe it's a combination of surgical shock plus rapid weight loss. I've had rapid weight loss before without surgery and never lost any hair. Have faith. It's temporary.

Time for a happy post from me. Since my therapy appointment this week, I've been checking in with my feelings throughout the day. It's made a big difference in my attitude. I've cleaned up my food, stopped numbing out, and I feel so much better. This head work is really work. But I don't ever want to go back to the way I lived before. Happy Thursday, friends!

You are strong people. Prayers sent!

You can do this. I, too, started at 302. My surgeon wanted six weeks of full liquids after surgery. My nurse had me on a treadmill one day after surgery, walking 3mph for fifteen minutes and adding a minute every day until I reached two miles per day. It seemed like six weeks was so long. But it helped me kick start a strong weight loss. I lost fifty pounds before my first fill. Stay on track. Once you start getting fills, the appetite gets suppressed and it gets a whole lot easier. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful life is 100 pounds down. I have fifty left to lose, and I will. But life began to change enormously only a few weeks post op. Good luck. Post often. It helps to stay connected here.

My goals are day by day.

I flew to Europe 15 days after my first fill/return to solid foods. Plan to hydrate before your flight and during your flight but no food during your flight. Eat before flying and wait a few hours after to eat mushies. I had no problems.

I'm still getting fills. I can't imagine unfilling at goal.

Debbie you look great!

Lol, thanks for the chuckle today.

Right reasons? All of the above. For me, I had lost significant weight once before but couldn't keep it off. This time I knew that WLS was the only way for me to reclaim control over my eating and then make some really major changes in my life. What's a bad reason for WLS? Doing it against your will because someone is pushing you into it. If you're doing it for yourself, your reasons are valid, whatever they are. Good luck.

Gorgeous!

No regrets. LapBand gave me my life back.

When I read this I thought it was a stress reaction. Bandista made good points too. Was DD a binge shop for you before? Today I saw another college mom I haven't seen in two years. Our daughters roomed together as freshmen and sophomores and are rooming together again as seniors. She has not seen me (except for a Christmas card photo) since my surgery. I am 100 pounds lighter than the last time she saw me. She told me I looked great and I thanked her, but inside I was thinking I looked pudgy, dumpy and a hot mess because I wasn't wearing my body shaper under my t-shirt, my hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and I had minimal makeup on. Nuts, right? This negative self talk is so hard to battle!!!

Oh, you help every time you post. This thread in particular has been an anchor for me. Real life, real people, real problems, real solutions. I need to get honest about the self medicating I am doing with food and alcohol and "occasional" pain pills for arthritis. It's been an escape. A way to numb out. No, not at crisis level or even noticeable by anybody except me. No binging. Just hiding out in the movie theater every week, sometimes twice a week, because they serve food (crapcorn by the bucket) and wine. And taking a pain pill mid day not because I've walked a 5k or climbed hills and stairs at a state park, but because I want to feel relaxed and not anxious by evening. It's time to get real. These behaviors are keeping me stuck and they are dangerous. I've shared this with my OA and CODA groups and now with you here. Other travelers on the path to wholeness. I can't get better in my isolated bubble. I'm watching a dear friend lose a little more of her 20-year old son each day to severe alcoholism. It's smacking me upside my head. Just be who you are. And I will do the same. You all inspire me.

I had an epiphany last night. For months, I've been feeling so stuck, like a failure, and and at the mercy of my fears (divorce) and sadness (recent events and empty nest with girls returning to college tomorrow). This seems so simple, yet it took until yesterday to hit me at a gut level: pre-stall, when my food was in order and I was exercising, I could handle anything. Anything. The worst days in the previous year and a half didn't derail me because I was actively, daily, taking care of myself. All I need to take care of is today. All I need to do is me. For today, I will eat healthy. I will move my body. I will not indulge in trigger foods or trigger alcohol. Those start the emotional downturn. Maybe I needed this stuck time to refocus. Who knows. I want my mojo back. It's all up to me.

I'm far from goal but yes. I wear button-front blouses now that they don't gap when I sit down. I wear skinny jeans. I wear rings and bracelets. I cut my hair to shoulder length this month and love it. I replaced my makeup foundation with a simple sunscreen and powder and I look younger for it. I wore a dress for the first time in a decade or more this spring. Bought a pair of heels too. My advice is don't wait for goal. Do it now.

Oh I wish I could. I've tried a few times but my arthritic right knee still screams in pain on the up bend. I had really hoped 100 pounds down would eliminate the pain but it only lessened it a bit. I have fifty left to lose so we will see if getting to goal makes any difference.

Debbie, it's so hard to watch a loved one in this disease. Your park pictures made me smile this morning. I, too, went to several outdoor music events this summer for the first time. I was so happy to have fun and be able to stand without pain. My mom is young as well. Twenty years older than me, but lives the life of someone forty years older. She's always been that way. I realized recently that at the age I am now, my mom was already using a motorized chair at Disneyworld when we went on a family vacation. I was headed for that life too until WLS . I am so grateful for this second chance at life. I don't ever want to forget or take it for granted.

I always appreciate your posts. You tell it like it is in real life.

You are my hero.

You can do it.