SpecialK

I can relate - 4 years ago when I decided to get information about lapband on my own and get all the way through the qualifications process, the last thing I did was get the records from my Primary care doctor sent to the surgeon's office as part of the 5 years of documenting my weight history and related medical supporting issues like high cholesterol. She was a doubter right up to the day I had the surgery but interestingly enough, she is pretty darn happy I have lost 140 pounds! Hang in there and do what is right for you.

I am hanging in here - still at 127 lbs off out of the 140 I had reached and I'm getting some counseling to help me with my family stress which is what is driving me to poor eating choices so I feel I can get turned around and back in control. My motto is 'Never Go Back' to where I was. There is a meeting o my hospital's bariatric patients this month and I am going to get some in person support. The girls I used to see each month at my local mall have all gotten busy with their lives and we don't have that connection any more either. So I guess you could say its time to just live the rest of time now with finding motivation from within - ultimately I am the one who has to carry these pounds around. Let me know if you'd like to be an offline email buddy and I'll send you a private message with my email address because I haven't been good about checking here but do keep up on Facebook and my email. Kathy

My hot air balloon basket link I had the most wonderful work experience but it was also another weight loss journey checkpoint for me too. They had a carnival at work with all kinds of great rides and they also were offering tethered hot air balloon rides where you got in the basket, they take you up about 50-100 feet and then bring you back down. It turns out they have to be careful about how much weight they put into a hot air balloon basket at one time -- oh my! never thought that they would make a comment about me and my friend being too much weight with the 2 others they put in our group to get in for a ride. The balloon pilot was a little nasty or snide that they hadn't planned right to put me and my friend in a group with lighter people. I hate this kind of weight embarrassment stuff. It wasn't easy climbining in and out of the basket but I did it okay. So that is a win for me -- I was light enough with this 130 lbs gone that I could do it but still embarrassed that there are things you can't do if you are still a certain size. On all the other rides I was able to fit on the rides just fine. There were some rides that are hard for me to step up and get into and then you had to jump a 18" or so for getting down but I did it! It did make me aware I have to keep working at this. I want to be able to jump down from a small height and not be fearful of my knees. Last, I'm celebrating a victory that I walked and walked all day in 90 degree heat and my feet were not hurting and my friend who is about the same size or little smaller and definitely 8 years younger than me, was so tired and her feet were aching and I was still going strong years later. So keep on going Shamrocks, no matter how long it takes, getting to our healthiest weight is worth it. http://www.lapbandta...38353-dscn0283/

I've had these awhile but they might still be available online or a library maybe. The Thin Book by Jeanne Eddy Westin, 365 Daily aids for fat-free, guilt-free, binge free living Thin Tastes Better,by Dr. Stephen P. Gullo. The Dieters Prayer book by Heathe Harpman Kopp This is a more recent buy that I am just starting: Made to Crave, by Lysa Terkeurst

Happy 4th of July to my Shrinking Shamrock friends. Yes, I am still hanging in here and hope you are too. I have recently begun reading some of my inspirational books again about eating and controlling your urges and it is helping. I keep thinking I should go back for some counseling to get stronger but then I have good weeks and think I'll do it on my own. So, I've been pretty good for this holiday weekend -- promised myself to give up the sweets that I had been indulging in and get the sugar out of my system. I did allow myself some corn on the cob yesterday and it was good. I find that I can only eat about 2/3 of an ear of corn and then I get the full signal and have to stop for 15 minutes and then I can finish my ear of corn and even eat a 2nd one. I know 2/3 of an ear of corn can't be a nourishing meal but it is a treat to enjoy a summer favorite. The fresh strawberries in the stores are wonderful. Enjoy your summer.

Hi friends. Summer is here and I love getting outside. Been doing some celebration and stress eating so I guess I always need to be on guard. Not out of control but coming back to this forum for support helps. Have any of you tried Overeaters Anonymous.. I have been considering this for emotional support. I can't make my hospital support groups due to my new job being so far away now and I can't get there in time.

Hi there to the Mt. Carmel bandsters and others in Columbus, OH who are still working the program no matter how slow. For me I'm maintaining my 135-140 lb weight loss within +/- 5 lbs but would still like to kick it in gear and finish off my last 50 lbs and then reward myself with the tummy tuck I need to get rid of the excess stomach skin. I've been tempted to get my arms done later this year as I am very frustrated especially in the summer now with having to hide my arms and not wear anything sleeveless out in public. Rules out sundresses too unless I put a shrug sweater on top. BUT --- I would do it all again to anyone who is still checking in here on this website. I don't come here as often as I did when I was first banded because I'm busy living and enjoying things in life I never could have before losing 140 lbs. Planning to join a couple other bandster friends again at Polaris Mall in north Columbus, Saturday June 11 from 2-4 pm in the Food Court area. We sit in the corner by Chik-Fil-A and the Great Indoors - there are small children rides in that area. We usually are at a table by the corner/wall.

Hi Scrappyfriend ! You are doing fantastic. I am maintaining within +/- 5 lbs right now but never got the last 50 lbs off. I was a stress eater before and still am a stress eater now. I know the right choices to make and do very often which is how I'm maintaining but I am discouraged with myself, not the lapband, that I didn't stay committed long enough to finish. I have to say I still have the desire to finish but I just don't stay committed every single day, every meal, every snack like I need to. I got to the point where being healthy at this weight was such a blessing that I'm just enjoying that. Plus, I'm still under incredible stress due to my family situation and as we all know, eating doesn't solve the problem but it sure is a quick fix that is hard to walk away from when you have a lifetime history of behavior. I did see my foster mother by dropping in uninvited on Mother's Day and she invited me to stay and eat with them and I did but I was under such stress that I could barely eat due to restriction. I haven't seen them now since but I am staying committed to myself to do what I know is right for me. Can't let family drive my life and I was doing that. I walked in the Race for the Cure for breast cancer here in Columbus and really enjoyed that. I am still getting out and taking walks and I did a tremendous amount of spring yard work this year 250+ bags of mulch! because I couldn't do any last year due to being post breast-reduction. I'm totally healed great from that surgery and still wish some day I can get my arms excess skin done - they look atrocious -- but I am not going to allow myself to get the stomach skin problems done until I lose what I think will be my final weight or close to it. Just want to say hang in there to all of us who are now 3+ years post op! I would still do it again!

Congrats to both of you upcoming May banding buddies. We have our Columbus group informal get together on the 2nd Saturday each month at the Polaris Mall food court area - 2-4 p.m. we sit in the corner by all the kiddie rides by Great Indoors and Chik-fil-A. Post on here to let us know if you guys need anything or questions. I was actually feeling pretty good the next day after surgery so if you are up to a outing, stop at the mall.

Hi friends. Let's keep helping encourage each other. I did drop 2 more pounds this week using my Medifast 5+1 program and I am feeling pretty satisfied with myself. It is amazing to me to get it in my head again that 1/2 cup of oatmeal or a small Protein bar is enough to fill me. I guess I don't want to share a post of what are the easy foods to eat around a band -- sweets and dairy primarily, crackers, chips but I know now I just can't keep them in the house. I do keep sugar free Hard Candy at my desk at work and in a dish at home to satisfy my sweet craving. I found that it gives me something to suck on and distract myself and I can't eat too many of them, it lasts longer than a candy bar which I can wolf down too easy. Yes, this is a mental battle but I am committed that I want to do this. Hang in there with me friends. Send me a private message off this board and I'd be willing to exchange an email address for contact off line. Kathy

Wow- was it a year ago I walked for the MS Walk at the Columbus Zoo! Time has flown by. Ladyroz - what did you say about your lapband changing and you're on mushies again? Kathy

I say Yep to what Fenton posted that those of us who were emotional eaters before have the same challenge now. I definitely felt I "deserved" my pity party of eating from last year where I lost my job and was so down on myself that I ate all the foods I knew better than to do, especially ice cream. It was a reality check to see I'd gained 10 lbs back and I wanted to reverse that. I have tried a couple approaches and the one that is helping me right now is I went back to a very restrictive diet -- i.e. back to my full liquids and mushies type days with 1 meal of lean Protein and greens combined with 5 smaller meals using protein enhanced oatmeal, protein enhanced Soup packets to get me back on portion control and calorie control. I've lost about 6 lbs doing this but I am not doing it perfect - got into jelly Beans today. I did log what I ate on my food journal and found that 15 jelly beans were not as bad as other choices I could have made but they were totally empty calories. I need to remember what that one lady posted that eating isn't a reward, its for sustenance. My theme is Never Give Up, Never Ever!

Here is the link to the source I found for bariatric quality Protein enhanced oatmeal, protein enhanced Soups, etc. These were in the range of $10.99 a box of 7 servings versus the equivalent Medifast 7 servings were about $15. http://www.bariatricchoice.com/bariatric-diet-protein-foods-11.html

Here is the link to the Medifast website I found. I ordered the Women's package. See my prior post of what came in that. http://www.medifast1.com/how_it_works/index.jsp

I have tried a couple approaches so far in 2011 to get back on track and get losing again. Proud of my total loss so far but know I need to finish my journey and was plateaued out for a long time. From early January to early March I tried the new WW Points Plus system but I quickly found that when they kept advising us we could do unlimited vegetables for the bulk of our eating, and unlimited fruits, plus lean meat and counting points for any processed foods, I found I was still eating too many processed foods because they were the easier things to go down. I couldn't eat alot of bulk on vegetables due to my restricted level from my band. So unfortunately for me, I didn't stick with this new WW program. I still think it is a healthy weight loss approach I just wasn't making progress and was getting frustrated. Sounded so much like my weight loss efforts before my lapband. So I kept seeing articles for Central Ohio Nutrition which is a protein shake based program and the cost of a supervised program was out of my reach financially for now. I did find a program on Medifast that was approved by doctors as a bariatric program approach for pre- and post-surgery patients and I decided to try this. I ordered the Women's program for a month and started it two weeks ago. I have lost 7 lbs in those 2 weeks and have been satisfied on what I had to eat. It came with the following types of foods in packets that are mixed with water or ice, and you eat 6 times a day, breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, evening snack. Scrambled eggs Oatmeal Protein snack bars - 4 different flavors, peanut butter was really good! Soft Serve (ice cream like) Pudding Soup - Chicken noodle and Chicken and Wild Rice Brownie mix Pancake mix Shakes - chocolate, vanilla, banana creme, strawberry Hot drink mix - cappacunio So the program calls for using 5 packets chosen as you wish from the options above and 1 Meal of Lean Meat and Green Vegetables and 1 tsp of healthy oil, I used olive oil or canola. All the packets are virtually equal in calories and protein value - about 100-110 calories each and 10-12 grams of protein each. So with 5 of these packets and a lean protein meal, I have definitely stayed within a 60g-70g protein level a day and I'm thinking with 600 calories from the packets and 200-400 calories from the lean protein/veg meal, I am probably consuming close to 1000 calories a day. So after 2 weeks, I have used up about half the packets of food received in the prepared box for a month supply and I am committing now to order some more to keep going another month. I did make some adjustments in what I think I will order. I didn't find the Pancake one that helpful to me. I think I could fix 2 egg whites for breakfast as my substitute for the powdered scrambled eggs. The pudding and soft serve were nice evening treats but they weren't portable to work for eating as lunch or mid-day snacks. The hot drink cappacuno was good but I had previously ordered Syntrax Nectar/Matrix protein drinks where I could get the equivalent of about 100 calories and 10g protein to mix with my coffee as a hot drink I enjoy. The same Syntrax company has an Orange Creme protein mix which also was a good option for a shake besides chocolate, strawberry and vanilla which are easily available in retail stores. The value of buying the packets is that it is all packaged up for you -- no prep work to get ready. I plan to measure out snack size baggies of the cappacuno and orange drink and feel I will be good. I did have a couple days where I used a canned protein drink like Slimfast but it was 170 calories for the same 10g of protein - not bad but I am trying to stay at 1000 calories or below and can't do that with Slimfast as too many substitutes. On the Pancake one - it tasted and looked okay as a pancake but without syrup or lite margarine I couldn't eat this as well as eggs or oatmeal as a breakfast. I'll post some additional links here because I found that a box of 7 soup packets for about $15 on Medifast are similar to a box of 7 with same calories and protein for a couple other brands. I found a bulk container of protein enhanced oatmeal also for less for a 20 serving container than individual boxes of 7 packets for 21 servings would have cost. If the convenience of the packages already done is what you need, stick to that. If you are a cost conscious person, maybe a few substitutes for cost reasons would be okay but keep to 1000 calories and 60-70g protein a day. I have not been overly hungry - after the 2-3 hrs after breakfast, I am ready for my snack, and etc. But I was supposed to be doing this approach to 6 small meals anyways and I had gotten away from it. Will post as I continue along and share honestly what is working and what is not.

I posted this today on the Ohio thread and while I am not in the pctures wearing the Tshirt I can assure you all that I indeed wore the blue Size 3X shirt with bulges hanging out and now proudly can wear this much smaller black Tshirt. Still have a ways to go but this amazes me. Thank God who showed me this as an option because my primary care doctor did not -- very anti-weight loss surgery. Unfortunate for me. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/127063-tshirt-sizes-then-2008-and-now-2011/

Hi newbie. I've been hanging in here since 2008 and welcome anyone who can keep coming alongside me until I get my last 50 lbs off. I did post this today under the Ohio thread and would love to keep in touch. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/127063-tshirt-sizes-then-2008-and-now-2011/

I wore this black T-shirt for St. Patrick's Day 2011 as my 3 Year Bandiversary – 3 years since lapband surgery and when I did the laundry and went to fold it and put it away for another season, it struck me how small it seemed to me compared to my Tshirt I had on in the fall of 2007 when my cousins from Germany came to visit. I got this blue Tshirt when Michelle and I went to Sanibel Island and ate at the Cheeburger Cheeburger where they have huge hamburgers that are so so good and I got a Tshirt that I thought was really cute and funny at the time… not that I thought being big myself was funny but just being defiant that I wanted to live life and be happy no matter my size. I can't see me ever walking around with a Tshirt that says Big is Better ever again. Thank you all for supporting me in my lapband journey -- I'm trying to move on and finish this last 50 lbs before my 4th bandiversary.

Congrats Bugwitch -- I had my surgery in March and our little group that month was called the Shrinking Shamrocks! You're gonna love the progress. Also, for all, I am so proud to report that I did get my act together and started setting my alarm for 5:30 a.m. and I'm going into my job where I have a great gym for workouts and I'm hitting the treadmill and weight machines at least 3 days a week. Trying to get up to even more. Today I did 20+ minutes with Walk at 2.7 MPH and then JOG at 4.2 MPH for 2 minutes so a 50/50 mix of walking and jogging. Really gets the heart rate up and a sweat going. I am trying to get my endurance up to where I can do 30 minutes of the 50/50 combo and then try to get to a higher percent of jog compared to walk. Key is get moving and stay moving! I'm not going to let life pass me by!

Thought I'd add to this to bump it up on the list. We are still getting together in Central Ohio at the Polaris Mall monthly for in person support. We are from different hospital programs, some self pay. Now most of us are past the 2-3 year stage but we welcome newly banded or those considering as well.

New exercise regimen -- I keep looking at those big folks on Biggest Loser running on the treadmill and breaking a really big sweat and go why can't I run like that? So I started alternating running 1 minute walk 2 minutes, then changed to run 2 minutes, walk 3 minutes. I'm hoping I can get to where I can run for 5 minutes at about 4-5 mph speed on the treadmill but its going to take some dedication. Key thing is I'm trying!!

Its been awhile since I posted on this Mt. Carmel bandsters link but I'm still out here working the band! Had a great visit this past weekend with other bandsters at our monthly Polaris mall gathering. I still appreciate them for helping motivate me.

Bugwitch - why did you choose Mexico for your surgery? Cost due to no help on insurance? Best wishes on your decision about lapband or sleeve. I am 3 years out now for my lapband and glad I made that choice. Interesting that my hospital program (Mt. Carmel)did the analysis about offering sleeve but most people are good candidates for either lapband or RNY and they aren't doing too many sleeves. Let us know which you chose and why. We try to stay open minded; We'll be meeting once again at Polaris Mall on 2nd Saturday in March 2-4 pm in the food court area near Chik-fil-A and Great Indoors. This next month will fly by! Best wishes.

Congrats Jimmy on getting approved for OSU so quickly. Several of us had to go through months of fighting with our insurance - for me three years ago this March. These next 2 weeks will fly by. They didn't have us do a pre-op diet but some programs do. See what they tell you. You should be in overnight and out the next day. Some of us had shoulder pain from where the gas is escaping post op but it went away pretty quick. We'll be meeting informally at the Polaris Mall in mall so if you feel like getting out, its the 2nd Saturday in March 2-4 pm in the food court area in the corner by Chik-fil-A and Great Indoors - there are some kids rides in that area. Best wishes!

Hi Harley Girl! Yes, its coming up on 3 years. I'm not at goal yet but I'm so thankful for where I am. I am doing WW now and trying to get weekly weigh-ins as a form of accountability since I don't see my doctor to have to face the scale. I think that was motivating me more than I gave it credit for - having to face the doctor. I didn't do so great last night watching the Super Bowl - they told us about these SpecialK chips that were 27 chips as 1 serving - well I didn't stop at one serving. At least I did pick a lower calorie item and added an MGD 64 calorie beer to Celebrate my Packers winning. On to the treadmill today for some exercise to keep going and start fresh. Never giving up, never going back is my new motto.