Living My Dream

Hi everyone. It has been 3 months short of 2 years since I was banded. I have lost slowly but that has been a good thing as I am not as saggy as I thought I would be. I am still going to Curves and that is helping firm up muscles as I lose the fat. My body is emerging out of the fat layers I was hidden beneath. Who knew I would ever find a slim body after being overweight for at least 25 years. I have always had a weight problem and was a size 16 then went down to a size 12 in high school. I am in size 14 now and loving every minute of it. I am revamping my whole wardrobe, donating the big sizes as I pass them on the way down I still can't believe I am actually doing this. It is exciting to get dressed now instead of dreading it. I used to worry about what to wear especially if I was going out somewhere special. Now I look forward to finding another outfit I can now wear again. I kept all the sizes as my weight increased and hoped that someday I would wear my smaller clothes again. It seemed like a pipe dream and as I got older seemed less and less possible. Now the smallest clothes that I saved are getting baggy. I love, love, love it. I would so recommend lapband to anyone struggling with obesity. Lapband is so easy compared to the old invasive weight loss surgeries. :biggrin:

Hi everyone. It has been 3 months short of 2 years since I was banded. I have lost slowly but that has been a good thing as I am not as saggy as I thought I would be. I am still going to Curves and that is helping firm up muscles as I lose the fat. My body is emerging out of the fat layers I was hidden beneath. Who knew I would ever find a slim body after being overweight for at least 25 years. I have always had a weight problem and was a size 16 then went down to a size 12 in high school. I am in size 14 now and loving every minute of it. I am revamping my whole wardrobe, donating the big sizes as I pass them on the way down I still can't believe I am actually doing this. It is exciting to get dressed now instead of dreading it. I used to worry about what to wear especially if I was going out somewhere special. Now I look forward to finding another outfit I can now wear again. I kept all the sizes as my weight increased and hoped that someday I would wear my smaller clothes again. It seemed like a pipe dream and as I got older seemed less and less possible. Now the smallest clothes that I saved are getting baggy. I love, love, love it. I would so recommend lapband to anyone struggling with obesity. Lapband is so easy compared to the old invasive weight loss surgeries. :thumbup:

I had a big non scale victory today. I cleaned out my closet. I have been hording all the clothes that didn't fit for years and as you can imagine couldn't fit another piece of clothing into my small walk in closet. I kept thinking that someday I would eventually wear those smaller clothes again. Well the day has finally come. I threw out size 2X, 1X, 18 and started on my size 16 clothes. I was shocked at how matronly some of the styles were. I was trying to cover up my expanding body and hating every minute of it. When I got to 238 lbs I thought I would die. I kept thinking my weight would stop going up and it never did. Now I am buying size 14 and still wearing a few smaller size 16's. And I don't regain the weight. Even when I don't eat wisely, the most I gain is 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. It is so amazing! I love, love, love my band. And my husband is looking terrific with his lapband too. Together we have lost 130 lbs of ugly, uncomfortable weight. We feel fantastic. Now we are deciding how much more to lose. People are telling us we don't need to lose any more. We might still lose about 20 lbs each. It was the best money we ever spent.:wink:

I had a big non scale victory today. I cleaned out my closet. I have been hording all the clothes that didn't fit for years and as you can imagine couldn't fit another piece of clothing into my small walk in closet. I kept thinking that someday I would eventually wear those smaller clothes again. Well the day has finally come. I threw out size 2X, 1X, 18 and started on my size 16 clothes. I was shocked at how matronly some of the styles were. I was trying to cover up my expanding body and hating every minute of it. When I got to 238 lbs I thought I would die. I kept thinking my weight would stop going up and it never did. Now I am buying size 14 and still wearing a few smaller size 16's. And I don't regain the weight. Even when I don't eat wisely, the most I gain is 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. It is so amazing! I love, love, love my band. And my husband is looking terrific with his lapband too. Together we have lost 130 lbs of ugly, uncomfortable weight. We feel fantastic. Now we are deciding how much more to lose. People are telling us we don't need to lose any more. We might still lose about 20 lbs each. It was the best money we ever spent.:sad:

I had that but had my only ovary and my uterus removed 10 years ago. My eating got way out of control after my hysterectomy but I don't know why. I am interested to hear about this hormone that causes hunger. I have been banded 19 months now and have had five fills I think. I don't have any problem with my appetite now with the band. I can sometimes only eat a couple of bites and feel full. I may eat more often but only small amounts. I don't really have to watch what I am eating but I try to eat healthy ie protein first, then veggies, fruit, ... It is working great for me. I finally feel in control of my eating. I eat to live now not live to eat. Lynda

It has been 19 months since my lapband surgery. I have been slowly going down in size. Even when I don't lose any weight on the scale, I seem to be firming up and getting more compact. I can see shape in places I thought were gone forever. I can fit into size 14 now. I don't think I have been able to do that for over 20 years. I went shopping and bought size 14 blue jeans that look awesome. I don't think I have even owned blue jeans in over a decade at least. We went to an FCRV campout this past weekend and I got compliments everywhere I went on how great I look. I have bought new clothes that fit my new shape instead of baggy ones to cover up. I am excited to get dressed every morning instead of dreading it when I knew I was going out. I can't wait to clean out some more baggy clothes from my closet after our daughter goes back out west and I have some time. I have lost 65 lbs so far and am contemplating maybe losing another 20 lbs. People are starting to tell me I don't need to lose any more but I still have some rolls and lumps around my middle and on my legs. I am not getting to Curves very often right now with my daughter and grandchildren here and wedding activities. I need to firm up and Curves really helps. I am trying to walk when I can. I walk with my neighbour when we have time. My daughter's wedding is August 15 and I am looking forward to wearing my beautiful new dress. When I bought it last Spring it was really tight but now it feels loose and comfortable. I feel like a Queen wearing it. I don't have to try to hold in my stomach anymore mostly because I don't have much stomach any more. Wow does that feel great! People were calling me "Skinny Minnie" this weekend. I was delighted. My husband has also lost 65 lbs and looks soooooo... handsome. He will look amazing in his new tux at the wedding. He bought a black one. I remember when I first met him in high school and he wore his black suit for assemblies. I was drooling over him. He is looking as handsome again. We love our bands. They were worth the $30,000 we spent to get our bodies and our health back. Thankyou Dr Yau and TLBC.:cursing:

It has been 19 months since my lapband surgery. I have been slowly going down in size. Even when I don't lose any weight on the scale, I seem to be firming up and getting more compact. I can see shape in places I thought were gone forever. I can fit into size 14 now. I don't think I have been able to do that for over 20 years. I went shopping and bought size 14 blue jeans that look awesome. I don't think I have even owned blue jeans in over a decade at least. We went to an FCRV campout this past weekend and I got compliments everywhere I went on how great I look. I have bought new clothes that fit my new shape instead of baggy ones to cover up. I am excited to get dressed every morning instead of dreading it when I knew I was going out. I can't wait to clean out some more baggy clothes from my closet after our daughter goes back out west and I have some time. I have lost 65 lbs so far and am contemplating maybe losing another 20 lbs. People are starting to tell me I don't need to lose any more but I still have some rolls and lumps around my middle and on my legs. I am not getting to Curves very often right now with my daughter and grandchildren here and wedding activities. I need to firm up and Curves really helps. I am trying to walk when I can. I walk with my neighbour when we have time. My daughter's wedding is August 15 and I am looking forward to wearing my beautiful new dress. When I bought it last Spring it was really tight but now it feels loose and comfortable. I feel like a Queen wearing it. I don't have to try to hold in my stomach anymore mostly because I don't have much stomach any more. Wow does that feel great! People were calling me "Skinny Minnie" this weekend. I was delighted. My husband has also lost 65 lbs and looks soooooo... handsome. He will look amazing in his new tux at the wedding. He bought a black one. I remember when I first met him in high school and he wore his black suit for assemblies. I was drooling over him. He is looking as handsome again. We love our bands. They were worth the $30,000 we spent to get our bodies and our health back. Thankyou Dr Yau and TLBC.:sneaky:

Well it's been 18 months since my lapband surgery and I have slowly been going down. My size 16 clothes are now getting way too big, depending on where I bought them. Sizes vary a lot. I dreamed for a long time of being able to wear all the too small clothes in my closet. Now that I can wear them, I am finding that I don't really like them or they are outdated or better still they are too big. I thought I would never get into them again. It is great knowing I won't regain the weight ever again too. I weigh myself almost every day now and although I am not really dieting, I can't overeat so the band is working terrific. I also don't think about food all the time. I now eat to live not live to eat. I am quite happy going to any function where there is tons of food and just eating a tiny bit. I feel so in control for the first time in years. I don't feel deprived at all because mostly I just want to taste things then I am happy. More and more non scale victories keep coming my way. I sooooooooooo love my band. My husband is doing great too. We have both lost 62 pounds each and we feel great and everyone comments on how good we look. We both want to lose a bit more but aren't sure how much. I am thinking about getting down to size 12 and I can wear a 14 now (in some clothes). I am going to Curves and trying to tone up as I continue to lose. Life is good. I am glad we did this.

Well it's been 18 months since my lapband surgery and I have slowly been going down. My size 16 clothes are now getting way too big, depending on where I bought them. Sizes vary a lot. I dreamed for a long time of being able to wear all the too small clothes in my closet. Now that I can wear them, I am finding that I don't really like them or they are outdated or better still they are too big. I thought I would never get into them again. It is great knowing I won't regain the weight ever again too. I weigh myself almost every day now and although I am not really dieting, I can't overeat so the band is working terrific. I also don't think about food all the time. I now eat to live not live to eat. I am quite happy going to any function where there is tons of food and just eating a tiny bit. I feel so in control for the first time in years. I don't feel deprived at all because mostly I just want to taste things then I am happy. More and more non scale victories keep coming my way. I sooooooooooo love my band. My husband is doing great too. We have both lost 62 pounds each and we feel great and everyone comments on how good we look. We both want to lose a bit more but aren't sure how much. I am thinking about getting down to size 12 and I can wear a 14 now (in some clothes). I am going to Curves and trying to tone up as I continue to lose. Life is good. I am glad we did this.

Hi My husband and I are both self pay. Ouch! My husband wanted to buy me a car and I said I would rather have a lapband. I am soooooooooo..... glad I did this. We will claim it on our income tax this year and get part of it back. Are you in Canada or US? We financed ours through Credit Medical but we live in Canada.

Good for you. I also joined Curves last week and I am trying to go 3 times a week. I also started walking again now that Spring is here and my neighbour and I walked around our country block which is 5 miles three times last week. I had so much energy last week after doing all that. I felt so much healthier. I am going to try and do Curves 3 times every week. Keep in touch. We can be exercise buddies. When were you banded? :huh2:

I love the NSV's - digging through my closet and pulling out the size 16 clothes and knowing they fit perfectly now and are even getting too big - throwing out the clothes from size 18 to 2 XL (that was even getting tight) knowing I will never be that size again - knowing that for the first time in my diet history, I don't have to worry about regaining the weight - gaining only a pound or two if I am really bad for a while then getting back on a healthy track and it comes off - getting compliments on how great I look - not having to worry about fitting into places like amusement rides, theatre seats - wearing clothes that fit my new body and show it off instead of hiding under loose baggy clothes - having a waist again I LOVE MY BAND! It is the best thing I ever did for myself.:rolleyes2:

Hi I can empathize with your frustration level. I was banded Jan 08 and I was doing fine until October when we went to Australia. I haven't had a fill since Sept and though I had decided to just eat whatever while we were away now I am feeling the effects. we were only home for two weeks then we have been away again visiting family and friends for Christmas and eating whatever. Unfortunately, the foods that slide cause the weight gain. I need a fill and motivation to get back on the wagon. We are going home tomorrow and I hope to stop for a fill if I can get an appt. Let me know how you do. We'll compare notes. Good luck to you.

Hi Confused My husband and I both had lapbands put in this year and I would do it again in a heartbeat. My husband was very against it when I first told him about it, then he actually joined me and got one 6 months later and we had to fork out $30,000 to do the 2 surgeries as well. Believe me it is worth it. We are in Australia right now on a two month visit but will get back on track with our weight loss when we get back to Canada. It's a tool that works if you work with it.

Hi. Where were you banded? How much have you lost so far? Tell me about yourself. I am a retired teacher. My husband just had lapband too. We are self pay. What about you? Lynda

I was banded in January 2008 and I didn't want to tell anyone except my husband. I got more comfortable as I lost weight. When my husband was banded in August I decided I didn't care who knew. I had made the right decision and I am so happy finally losing weight and it's not coming back on. I love my band. I don't broadcast it, but if it comes up in conversation, I tell people. So far everyone has been very supportive. Good luck with your band. Lynda :tongue2:

Hi Everyone I was banded 7 months ago and have lost 37 lbs. I am absolutely thrilled. I feel so good. I am down to a size 16 again from a stretched size 2XL. My band has good restriction but I have to follow the band rules. My husband was banded on August 6, 2008. I am so proud of him for doing this. He has already lost 24 lbs from the pre-op and post-op diets. He is losing off his big stomach and is starting to lose off his face too. He had a huge hiatus hernia which Dr. Yau fixed so is off one long term medication already for acid reflux. I need to work harder to stick to the bandster way of eating so I can lose the next 50 lbs. It is a miracle that I have lost this much and I don't regain it. Even if I go up a couple of pounds, I can cut back and lose it right away. That never happened pre-banding. Man I love this band. Thank you God! Lynda

Hi Everyone I was banded 7 months ago and have lost 37 lbs. I am absolutely thrilled. I feel so good. I am down to a size 16 again from a stretched size 2XL. My band has good restriction but I have to follow the band rules. My husband was banded on August 6, 2008. I am so proud of him for doing this. He has already lost 24 lbs from the pre-op and post-op diets. He is losing off his big stomach and is starting to lose off his face too. He had a huge hiatus hernia which Dr. Yau fixed so is off one long term medication already for acid reflux. I need to work harder to stick to the bandster way of eating so I can lose the next 50 lbs. It is a miracle that I have lost this much and I don't regain it. Even if I go up a couple of pounds, I can cut back and lose it right away. That never happened pre-banding. Man I love this band. Thank you God! Lynda

Looking for a band buddy I was banded Jan 15, 2008. I have lost 35 pounds so far which feels fantastic. I am trying to be a good bandster but I keep sabotaging my own efforts. I am in control and losing weight then I want to just eat. It's like I don't want to be successful in my subconscious or something. Looking for someone who has struggled and been successful.

I haven't been on this site for awhile but my third fill is still working. I was going to have a fourth fill on May 27 but didn't need it. I dropped in to the Seminar in Kingston on May 27 before my daughter's graduation. I had booked a fill for that day but discussed it with Nancy, my fill nurse, and we both decided to leave well enough alone since everything was working the way it was supposed to. I lost another 1 1/2 pounds this morning. I have lost 34 pounds so far but am very happy with that. My progress is slow but steady which is a good way to lose weight. It is so exciting to pull some of my smaller sizes out of my closet and they fit again. I no longer dread getting dressed to go somewhere special because I can wear so many more clothes again. :cool:

I haven't been on this site for awhile but my third fill is still working. I was going to have a fourth fill on May 27 but didn't need it. I dropped in to the Seminar in Kingston on May 27 before my daughter's graduation. I had booked a fill for that day but discussed it with Nancy, my fill nurse, and we both decided to leave well enough alone since everything was working the way it was supposed to. I lost another 1 1/2 pounds this morning. I have lost 34 pounds so far but am very happy with that. My progress is slow but steady which is a good way to lose weight. It is so exciting to pull some of my smaller sizes out of my closet and they fit again. I no longer dread getting dressed to go somewhere special because I can wear so many more clothes again. :biggrin:

I had my third fill May 6th and I had immediate results with restriction. Yeah! I feel so in control of my eating. I have 6.5 cc in a 10 cc midband. I also had dental surgery which has limited my chewing. I am paying close attention to my drinking and it makes a big difference. I try not to drink for about an hour before and an hour after. I could probably do better than that but it is hard to get my liquids in. I have lost 25 pounds so far but I feel so much more comfortable at 213 than at 238 lbs. I am surprised when I see pictures of myself that I am still so overweight. I could lose another 70 or more pounds easily. I haven't been that small for so long it does seem like a dream. My next fill (#4) is in 3 weeks. I want to lose maybe 5 to 7 lbs by then for my daughter's graduation. :rolleyes2:

I had my third fill May 6th and I had immediate results with restriction. Yeah! I feel so in control of my eating. I have 6.5 cc in a 10 cc midband. I also had dental surgery which has limited my chewing. I am paying close attention to my drinking and it makes a big difference. I try not to drink for about an hour before and an hour after. I could probably do better than that but it is hard to get my liquids in. I have lost 25 pounds so far but I feel so much more comfortable at 213 than at 238 lbs. I am surprised when I see pictures of myself that I am still so overweight. I could lose another 70 or more pounds easily. I haven't been that small for so long it does seem like a dream. My next fill (#4) is in 3 weeks. I want to lose maybe 5 to 7 lbs by then for my daughter's graduation. :thumbdown:

I was just reading your post and wondered about your comment about stretching the pouch. I too have been battling hunger and have pushed the limits. I was banded Jan 17/08 but then we went south to Louisiana and Texas (I live in Canada) and the fills were too expensive and doctors in the US are not trained on the midband that I have so I went with no fills for 7 weeks. I had restriction at first but then could eat what I wanted and did. I am worried that I stretched my pouch. Then what happens? Lynda