JustWatchMe

I've landed on "process".

My team had me on a treadmill starting the day after surgery. I was instructed to walk 15 minutes at 3mph no incline, and add a minute every day until I reached two miles. It was hard but it helped with the pain, especially gas pain.

Hiccups can be a soft stop signal for some people. I too had to slow down. I still have to slow down eight months out. Stop signals for some people can be: a hiccup, a sigh, a burp. The slower you go the more able you are to notice it. You're doing great!!

I was banded 8 months ago. I didn't see most of these scary band stories on here until after surgery. I didn't have anyone in real life to talk to who had WLS. This forum, books, YouTube, my surgical team, and real life WLS support groups from three different hospitals were and have been my research and resources. I am 53 years old. I once lost 130 pounds at age 28 without surgery and gained it all back. In February I started at 302. I now weigh 198. I have gone off the following medicines: one of two blood pressure meds, Prevacid, prescription NSAID for arthritis, cholesterol medicine, prescription pain medication, a diuretic, Fiber supplements. I couldn't walk one block without back and knee pain before. Now I walk daily and enjoy watching the miles (MILES!) accumulate on my FitBit every day. My dog loves it too. I have reduced the frequency of my cortisone knee injections. My knee pain is controlled with Tylenol and most days I now forget to take even that. I have had four fills and am at my green zone. For me the green means I eat moderately and on a schedule three times a day. In between I have coffee or Water or tea. In between I am not hungry at all. I become mildly hungry about a half hour before my meal. If I am ravenous or thinking about food, it is almost always a sign that I am stressed. I've learned to recognize this sign and to NOT feed it with food because food will NOT make that restless feeling go away. I have learned to substitute self care by food with self care by: walking, music, 12-step meetings, foot massages, socializing with people, praying, counseling, going to the movies. Head hunger is real. Head hunger wasn't cured for me by WLS but it became easier to recognize, because I now feel and recognize real hunger three times a day. I am still a newbie but the thing I had to give up when I got banded that maybe some people are not ready to give up is this: I can never binge for comfort again. I got WLS to make that happen and yet it is the saddest thing to let go of. If you are ready to do that then you are ready for WLS. Knowing it and doing it are two different things. I was ready. I was motivated. I decided. Then I got banded. And still, after surgery, when it hit me months later during the most stressful time of my life that I couldn't turn to binging on food for comfort, I hurt so bad. I cried. I was simultaneously glad for the band and scared to death because my go-to coping mechanism was gone. I knew and expected that to hit me at some point. Still, it's a shock when it does. I survived the feelings. I developed an inner resolve that no matter what, I was not going to cope the old way anymore. I am a new woman and I am teaching myself new ways to cope and a new way to live. I get stuck on certain foods and I'm still training myself to eat slowly. Yes, 8 months post op I still am in training. It's okay. I have the rest of my life to get better at it. When you are ready, you are ready. And nothing will stop you.

I'm so happy for you!!!

Oh yeah. Mine can be loud and most inopportune at times. I've gotten used to it. It's not daily though. Still not sure what, if any, pattern there is.

Much better, thanks. I had a normal small dinner of a few bites of soft food (pastitsio and moussaka) and no problems today. That stuck episode was scary!

My big sweater at work has to go. It's enormous on me and it looks like I'm sleeping in it.

Great post. Congratulations!

I have an iPod nano and I listen to political show podcasts on it. I'd like to add some motivational or weight loss podcasts to listen to, but I don't know any. Any thoughts?

Great news and congrats to both of you!

You are both beautiful. And boy is there a strong resemblance !!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. This year as I divorce, I am going to be surrounded by family of choice. I am hosting and cooking. I love this idea of expressing what each person at the table means to me. This is my first Thanksgiving banded. It will be very different from earlier years.

Welcome to the other side! Your new life begins....

Lentil soup for breakfast. Easy and no issues. Whew!

Feeling better this morning. That was rough. Let's hope for an uneventful day. I'm starting with liquids and we'll see how it goes.

What a miserable day. It's four pm and I'm still only able to sip (not drink) liquids. I had two protein shakes today and had to drink them very slowly. Misery. I really irritated my band. I think the blockage may have finally moved sometime today but I'm not taking any chances. Liquids today and tomorrow. I didn't even eat that roast beef quickly. But I just knew it was going to be a problem as soon as I started chewing and boy, was it ever. Decaf coffee is going down okay now. Medium sips. What a long, miserable day.

I'm a bander but I'm cold too for the first time EVER in my life. It's only November. Yikes.

Welcome to Bandland !

Interesting video!

When, when, when am I going to learn that I should not eat after emotional stress????? Major stuck episode tonight. I've been stuck for the last hour and a half on dry roast beef. Stupid choice after a stressful conversation but it was dinner time and I was hungry. I thought I chewed my small bites enough but it didn't get past my band. I suffered for ten minutes then PB'd. Ugh. I thought it was over. Half an hour later I sipped warm coffee. Nope. Not over. Half an hour after that I sipped again. Nope. Not over. I apparently now have trouble with roast beef. This is new. It was very dry, so I should have been prepared for a problem, but sheesh. What a miserable evening. The band is still blocked apparently. It doesn't hurt but I'm not attempting to drink anything else tonight. This just has to work its way down. Tomorrow is a fasting day. At least that's the schedule. But if I wake up hungry because of this missed dinner, I'll just have a protein shake for breakfast and then my lunch. I don't want to be ravenous at my one meal tomorrow. Flexibility, right?

I'll keep this brief because I'm headed into a support group meeting. I got WLS because I needed to take control of my unmanageable life. I had to get out of my food fog and make some huge changes. I did and I have. WLS saved my life in more ways than physical. Great post, Lisa.

Wow wow wow! Amazing! THIS is what it's all about, people!!!

This article is so good! I'm blessed to have the support of my daughters and my mother. I want to show them this because it explains so well how important that support has been to me. Thank you and bravo!

I never weighed before WLS. Then I weighed daily, enjoying the dropping numbers. Until it stopped dropping so fast and my mood was fixed at 6am based on my number for the day. In September I started weighing weekly. Much better.