JustWatchMe

Sugar has never been a big draw for me. I have always been the one in the office whose desk has the candy bowl. I almost never touched it before weight loss surgery, and I never touch it now. But since I always had it on my desk, I just decided to keep doing that. People have gotten used to it. Other people contribute candy towards it as well. Like I said, for me personally, the candy is not a draw. Now if that bowl contained Cheetos, or potato chips, I'd be doomed.

Hair loss started at 2 months post op, was the worst at about 5 months post op and is slowing down at 7 months post op. Definitely due to surgical stress since I never lost hair with a previous non wls rapid loss many years ago. I also get plenty of protein every day. Just dealing with my long hair strands everywhere for now but it's turning around.

I'm interested in the replies here too. My first support group meeting pre band was quite an eye opener. It's amazing I returned for a second one. The group was for LapBand patients and consisted of a facilitator and two patients, a husband and wife. Both admitted to eating slider foods constantly and vomiting every day. Both were still overweight years after banding and the wife was revising to bypass. I was scared by them and had serious doubts about LapBand after that meeting. It wasn't at my own hospital. But I went to other meetings and went to RNY and sleeve groups and listened to as many people as I could. I found this site and read Alex's book and learned as much as I could, and I still wanted the band. I'm not a veteran but I'll offer that I wish the medical team had cautioned about band erosion and slipping and never taking nsaids again. I learned all that here and not in the doctor's office or support groups.

Just found this thread. I'm very interested in this for two reasons. First is my daughter, who is not banded or obese but is six feet tall and nineteen years old, has had occasional fainting spells. She's been checked out and diagnosed with Neurocardiogenic Syncope. Her fainting often occurred after sleeping too long and not eating breakfast and then going to church and kneeling. (3 times under those conditions.) Cardiologist said her BP tends to run low and plummets, so she needs to maintain good sodium levels (Gatorade) and not oversleep which causes dehydration. Her other fainting spells were at home after waking from a long teenage sleep and then walking downstairs to the bathroom. I have heard anecdotally that this is more common in very tall girls. Blood going down to feet with gravity as mentioned above. Coincidentally, catfish, she noticed no incidents during allergy season while she was on Claritin. Claritin raises blood pressure. Knowing that, she sometimes takes Claritin to keep symptoms at bay. Second reason this interests me is that I had several weeks of dizziness this summer. I attributed it to recent weight loss and not adjusting my high BP meds. I would get very dizzy but not pass out after exiting my car and going into a store to shop. I was always holding a cart and never got so bad to sit down or see white or anything. But real sudden and just dizzy. I then stopped taking my second BP med each day and over time this dizziness stopped. I had almost forgotten about it until I read this thread. My BP is normal with one instead of two BP meds now. I'm eager to ditch the second med but my BP goes up again without it, at least for now. Anyway, I hope you're getting relief and feeling good now. Thanks to everyone for all the info.

Gotta love blinking brownies.

Three things. My surgeon offered me sleeve, but fully supported my choice for LapBand. My reasons were many, and he enthusiastically continues to band many patients every year. In my opinion you should choose a surgeon and surgery that both of you are excited about. If my surgeon was lukewarm about my chances, I would have run out the door. Instead I know he's there for not just me, but for many future banded patients as well. Second, I hate these personal comments about celebrities. I am sure some celebrities are on this site under anonymous names just like I am. They are here for the same reasons I am. I don't mind when someone disagrees with a celebrity's public WORDS, but for Pete's sake, stop the name calling. Third, I enjoy healthy contrast-and-compare dialog about the different surgeries. I learn here daily, and I never know if my life will include changes down the road. But your surgery is no better or worse than mine. My surgeon and I are thrilled with my outcome so far. And don't kid yourself folks. It is "so far" for all of us, no matter what road we chose. When we are at the end of our lives and face THOSE new medical uncertainties, we can then decide if we chose the right WLS all these years earlier. But I respect your choice today, and if you don't respect mine, please just shut up about it. I'm here for support and learning. I can learn from your trials and successes and feel free to learn from mine. Keep this a welcoming place for all.

This is very inspiring. I've read some of her posts. Thank you, Yvonne!!

I had no social confidence when I was at my high weight at age 28. I was confident in my career skills and my intelligence, but not in interactions with people. I could teach a training class and get accolades for my ability to explain concepts, but don't talk to me alone after the class ended. I lost my excess weight in 1988-1989 and everything changed. I was a normal size and my social confidence skyrocketed. I tried new activities and met people. I met my husband and got married. It took a lot of years for all the weight to come back. It took a lot of years for all that confidence to erode. I was still "all that" for quite some time. I was also in denial. Slowly I lost the self confidence I had when I was fit and happy. My marriage deteriorated and I felt powerless in the relationship. I allowed myself to be overridden at every turn. I focused on my children. Life became very miserable. A year ago I decided to get my confidence back. I needed to change my life and in the mental state I was in, that was never going to happen. I remembered the confidence I had when I lost weight years before. I got my band in March this year and made huge life changes in July. I am taking my life a day at a time now but slowly my confidence is coming back. For me it is not only about appearance. When I am obese I am also in a food coma every night and I am "checking out" of life. When I am eating clean and taking care of myself I am fully present and proud of myself. Yes, my size is part of that but it's so much more than size. I don't ever want to feel "less than" again. I've learned that how I treat myself ultimately teaches others how they can treat me. And they are going to treat me well, or they will be out of my life.

Love this !

Good reminder. I never thought about osteoporosis because I was always obese and brittle bones seemed like something only skinny older people got. But one day I will be a skinny older person too. And what I do now can prevent problems later. Thanks!

I needed to read this today. No matter how magical my new band is now, if I pick up unhealthy behaviors I can destroy all the good it does for me and harm myself as well. Thanks for the article.

I generally despise fat free cheese. Why bother? But I found a really good low fat cheese stick this week. Trader Joe's Light Mild Cheddar Cheese Snack Sticks. 70 calories. I tried a sample in the store and liked it, much to my surprise. It made a good breakfast on the run today.

Like @@gowalking, I've had to replace most of my clothes and shoes recently. I've given the old ones to charity, bought a couple of nice blouses, and go to Goodwill for the rest. I'm losing pretty fast and the clothes won't fit me for long. I also moved, and that forced me to get rid of stuff I might have otherwise pushed into the back of a closet. I hated shopping when fat. I don't really like it now either. I do like trying on something that fits. Last week I bought 9 blouses at four different Goodwill stores and paid 38 bucks for the bunch. Three of them are too small but will fit me in a month. I've never been able to do that before. They were cute and just a tad too tight. It made sense to buy them when I found them. I can switch addictions. I'm built that way. But I agree that some shopping for us is not only normal and healthy, but required!

I'll watch the video later, but feeling light on my feet and healthy does it for me.

I too cried as I read this. I can relate on many levels. God bless you and thank you for inspiring me today. Your honesty and courage are a huge help to me.

Good post!

Good reminder about caloric values. Even when it's only "once in a while".

Excellent article. .

I went to Italy 17 days after my first fill. All of these tips are great. Especially the powder packs of Protein shake. I also brought my shaker bottle. I did need it twice in two weeks when I couldn't get a good Breakfast in the hotel. One big addition to the list: Stay connected on Bariatricpal! This forum kept me accountable every day. It was a godsend. Another tip is to have a meal buddy to share food with. My daughter helped me by sharing my meals. We saved money and didn't have to worry about leftovers with no refrigeration.

@@lisacaron, imagine a Relay for Life type event for raising obesity awareness. I've lost as many family members to obesity related illnesses as to cancer.

Ana Gram, this sentence just set off a lightbulb for me. Boredom is an emotion. I tend to think of emotion as sad, happy, angry, etc. I'll now ask myself, is this impulse this moment driven by a thought or not? Boredom isn't a thought, right? If it's not a thought, it's probably an emotion. Then I can feel the emotion, and take control of the thoughts that follow. Ooh, we're gonna get so GOOD at this!

With WLS, we've all taken such drastic lifesaving steps to change the physical actions of eating and overeating. But our minds are more powerful than any physical limitations from surgery. Wherever my head is, my eating is. If continue to let my feelings rule my head, it's a lost cause. I'll sabotage my band and my WLS will be useless, or worse, dangerous because I abuse it. If I instead work on the heart/mind/body connection and recognize and respect each component, it can be different. I'm so glad I read this upon waking up today. It's a reminder that my mental state is under my control, and I don't have to turn my thoughts over to my feelings. My feelings are valid, but obeying my feelings at the expense of my thoughts and body is a habit I can break with practice. Great article!

Others have recently recommended switching up your routine. If you exercise at a certain time of day, temporarily change the time, or the type of exercise. Or switch your meals around a bit, staying within the guidelines. I tend to get into food and exercise ruts. It's actually my way of staying on track, because when things are too interesting, I may overindulge. But I see how my "bored" body could land in a plateau due to the same old, same old, every day. Like HealthyNewMe, my past habit was to give up at the first stall or gain. No more. I'm learning so much about how the body works from this forum. Thanks for the great article.

Slowing down is my next challenge. Still in liquids post op, but eating soup too fast. I actually do better in a restaurant with a friend because I'm talking. But at home or on lunch from work, I'm still going too fast. I want to work on this before I introduce solids on April 24. Don't know how to slow down my morning protein shake, since that's happening as I'm getting ready to leave for the day.

Amen! Imagine, for a minute, how many of us came here while still debating ANY surgery. Then again, how many of us told almost NOBODY that we were having this surgery. This forum is invaluable to me. I am learning every day and getting a better understanding of my body and its new "partner", my LapBand, because of this site. Alex, I read your "The BIG Book on the Lap-Band" (available at Barnes and Noble or on Amazon folks) over the last several months, which mentioned LapBandTalk.com, which by the time I found it, was this combined site. I knew from these resources what to ask my surgeon before, during and after surgery, and what to expect every step of the way. I do like to read some posts from the other forums (Sleeve, Bypass) because as you said, so much of what we face is a shared experience. I also casually know a person with gastric bypass and another with the sleeve. It helps me understand what they face. One last thought. I've been on Weight Watchers literally dozens of times. Some members of their online community can get pretty in-your-face mean if you admit a slip or ask how many points some "bad" food is. I've been shredded there in the past, which caused me to no longer post those types of questions. One of the first things I noticed here is how kind most posters are. Thank you for this wonderful haven of knowledge and support. I check it throughout the day and it gives me such hope for my future!