bandpal

Yay, Cindy, you look fantastic! Congratulations! Your son is very handsome, but you don't have to hide behind him anymore... it's hard to get used to doing that, isn't it? I have developed so many little tricks for the camera over the years, like stretching my neck and holding my head at unnatural angles in order to hide the fact that I had more chins than a Chinese phone book, and all that accomplished was to make it look like I needed an urgent appointment with a chiropractor. I still reflexively hold my stomach in and avoid being photographed from the side. What a lifetime of shame... I'm just glad for the opportunity to live a different way. So happy for you...

Hi Kendra, It is so great to hear from you, I am so embarrassed by my lack of contact, please accept my apology. Great that you have been able to continue teaching, it's amazing how work, which can drive you crazy under the best of circumstances, can be such a lifesaver when there is stress coming in from other areas. What a source of identity, pride, accomplishment and social life the old 9 to 5 can be, huh? Is you new treatment still at Andersen? When you get to Zion, remember that another meaning for that word (in Hebrew, of course, from whence it comes) is Israel and Jerusalem, and that people there sending a lots of good wishes your way. You are still on my synagogue's prayer list and will continue to be there until you get better. It's great that you are being assertive and pro-active about your treatment. I'm sure that you are a great advocate for yourself, and that your husband and family are not far behind. Thanks for the bandiversary wishes - and thanks for keeping in touch. Love, Bandpal

Man, Sades, you made my day with those pictures - Not only is it great to finally see you, it's so gratifying to see you looking so well, and happy. This is just great - I feel like all of you are really friends, with whom I have been through so much! Congratulations! P.S. Hi Everyone! I'm in the States for two weeks with my 4-year old son, making the rounds of family and friends - have lots to share, waiting for some decent computer time. Love, Bandpal

Hey Wendy - March 5th 1960, here. And you wanna know what? Every effing year I would tell myself: "this is the year I'll lose the weight, this is the year I'll be thin". And even then I knew it would never happen. And now... it has! Go figure - live long enough, and you'll see everything! All the best,

My name is churchmouse Hi Churchmouse, Bandpal here... and I was just banded last Friday, the 21st of November 2008. Me too - November 21, 2007 I'm 53 years old and wish I had done this years ago. I felt the same way (I was 47 when I was banded) - but I wouldn't have been ready. It took me years to accept that this is what I needed to do, and all my actions or inactions have finally gotten me here. Just be glad you made it! My highest recorded weight at the Dr.'s office was 253. I weighed in at 204 the day of surgery. 286 at surgery - see what's happened to me since then along with my signature below. I'm looking so forward to a new lifestyle and a whole new life. Tell you what, that is a realistic hope! This is the best thing I've ever done for myself. Ditto. The only pain or problem I've had so far is the sharp upper chest pains associated with gas. I'm talking "take your breath away" pain. Can't wait for that to go away. I had the same thing - it will. Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself. Nice to meet you, welcome - this is a great site. Wish me luck, I do!

Welcome, Shantell - hope you can run the pre-op maze as quickly and painlessly as possible. This operation has changed my life, and the site has given me a lot of knowledge and encouragement. Good luck!

Hi Hacker, I would suggest browsing through the site and reading peoples' tickers or weight loss stats - they usually appear beneath their posts. That should give you a pretty good idea of what weight loss people are managing to achieve. On the November 2007 board, there is a thread where we post our loss, percent of body weight lost and current BMI. Come have a look! Good Luck,

Hi Jim, This is amazing - I was also banded on November 21st - last year! Check out my numbers at the end of this post to see what's happened to me since then. Your post-op experience sounds a lot like mine. I also had little or no nausea, and had to use OTC pain medication only once. Coughing will be less painful for you as time goes on, and that cramp/air bubble thing, as I understand it, is leftover gas they use to lift your organs during the procedure. Don't worry - it's uncomfortable, but it goes away. Regarding hunger and your thoughts about food, especially in connection to Thanksgiving:I was lucky enough not to have had a lot of hunger for the first month after surgery. Even though you are hungry, try to stick to your doctor's post-op diet; I believe that a good first month is crucial for future success. Even if it means just liquids - you will draw a lot of strength in the future from knowing that you were able to subsist off of liquids for x amount of time and that nothing terrible happened to you. I think that one of the most powerful insights being banded has given me is that my sense of how much I needed food, and how much food I needed, was way off. As for Thanksgiving, with all due respect to our national gorge-a-thon, I say: flip the bird to the bird this year, and next year you will really have something to be grateful for. If it makes you feel better, just stay away from the table - after all, you've just had surgery, right? Best excuse in the world. Gluttony is not inevitable, and although "food looks so much better when you can't have it", health looks even better when you don't have it, right? You are not "stuck" (I'm sure you weren't serious) - you are lucky to have had this operation, and to have found this site - it's a great place for encouragement, support and sharing experience. Good Luck, and Welcome,

Hi Steph and Lindata, Thanks for this nice exchange. Lindata, good luck with your x-ray tomorrow. I'll be hoping for good news. Maybe, as you said, it's not a slip and you're just too tight. Please let us know. Swallowing some of those Multivitamins is like trying to swallow an SUV! I've been avoiding writing about my own problems with the band. I also have been eating very little, and often, even the smallest or finest quantities of food come back up, accompanied by stunning amounts of gloop. I generally try now not to eat or drink anything for hours before any kind of public speaking or appearance for fear of scaring the clients. Also - although I'm experiencing much, much less hunger than I did before the band, there are times when I am hungry or even just thirsty and I just can't get any food or liquid down. That's not so pleasant, but most of the time, I don't freak out about it - with 20 extra pounds on me, I'm not going to wither away from hunger. Another thought that has held true for me ever since having been banded is this: no matter what my mind is telling me, I don't need food as much as I think I do, and if I do, I need a whole lot less than I think I do. I agree that there are limits to this, though. Lately, though, I've been having thoughts about an unfill, but I think I'll wait to reach goal weight first. For me, pushing that button now would be too close to self-sabotaging behavior. Steph, I really appreciate your thoughts on nutrition, your efforts to research the topic and your concern with not ending up a "skinny fat person". What you said here: "Basically, if I keep my lean muscle mass and lose more of just my body fat, my metabolism will be higher and it'll be MUCH easier to maintain once I get down to goal" really made me sit up and listen. What is a body fat scale? I've been calculating my BMI regularly - is that kind of like the same thing? Also, I have to admit - I have lost this weight with nearly no excercise at all. I consider myself pretty well informed nutritionally but have tended to obsess about it; it sent me right back to binging. I have used this last year as a "free pass", letting the band do the work for me. I'm going to set up an appointment with my nutritionist when I come back from my trip to the States next month. Thanks!

Name..-----.Start----------Current..----Goal.....--...To Go CindyG..............191...................191.............178................13 Sades................186...................185....... .....175................11 Stephanie.........175..................169.5..........155...............14.5 shortgal.............173.6...............172..............168................4 Bandpal...........172.26..............170.6........150.................20.6 Momto1plus1...187....................185............174................11 lindata...............174....................174............169.................5 Skinny_Jill........151.....................150...........143..................7 mrskrzyz...........172.....................172...........162.................10 kalipso2...........172.....................172...........165....................7 scarecrow.........190.....................190............180.................10

Name..---------.......Start----------Current..----------...Goal.....----------...To Go CindyG....................191...................191........................178......................13 Sades......................186...................185........................175......................11 Stephanie................175...................169.5.....................155.....................14.5 shortgal...................173.6................172.........................168.......................4 Bandpal..................172.26..............171.6......................150......................21.6 Momto1plus1..........187....................185.........................174......................11 lindata.....................174...................174.........................169.......................5 Skinny_Jill...............151...................150.........................143.......................7 mrskrzyz.................172..................172..........................162.....................10 kalipso2..................172.................172...........................165........................7 scarecrow...............190.................190...........................180......................10

Quote: Originally Posted by bandpal There you have it, folks. Thank you all for being with me during a wonderful year and an incredible experience. Steph: Wow, Bandpal! What a major difference. You look so completely different. LOL - you also have more guts than I do. I have the undie pics, but I don't dare post them on here. First of all, I think there's no question that I have more guts than you do - in my "before" pictures, that is. Besides that, anyone who wants to get all hot and bothered about some 48 year-old guy in his undies can knock themselves out, for all I care. I also want to reiterate: Skinny Jill - Wendy - Steph - you are each and all magnificently beautiful (whew, good thing I'm not only wearing underwear now! -only kidding, ladies, only kidding). Seriously, though, what an honor to come together with a group of people determined to make this change. I just hope we can keep together and be a resource and support for each other in the years to come. Love, Bandpal

Thank you, Scarecrow - The real breakthrough was the "before" pics - that, for me was a dramatic way of saying, "this is where I am at, I need help and I'm going to do something about it." The "after" pics were just a follow- through; a comparison has to be legitimite, right? No fairs out where I am but I wouldn't mind horseback riding, something which my feelings about the ethical treatment of animals would have prevented, oh, about 115 pounds ago...

Congratulations, Jill. I know that those 16 pounds are not long for this world. Thanks for the compliments. I guess I am a different person, kind of...

Name -----------Surgery Start Wgt/BMI -Cur.Wgt/BMI -----Total Loss Sades -----------1 Nov 07 ---229/41.9 --- -- 185/34.8----------- 44 Cindyg-----------1 Nov 07 ---253 / 42 --- -- 191 / 35----------- --62 Hollyberries-----6 Nov 07 ---358 / 54 --- --245 / 36.2----------- 115 Linda-------------2 Nov 07 ---225 / 38.6 --- 174 / 29.9----------- 51 Stephanie--------15 Nov 07--233 / 36.5 --- 172 / 26.9----------- 61 Bandpal----------21 Nov 07 -286/47--------171.93/28 --- --- ---114.071 There you have it, folks. Thank you all for being with me during a wonderful year and an incredible experience.

Steph, Wow! Those are fantastic pictures... I am so happy for you, you have no idea! Congratulations, and if you are still "in a mood", get out of it quick. With pictures like that, they should be peeling you off the ceiling.

For now, I'll take our hunk of plastic over 115 pounds of fat any day.

Sounds like you lived it up at Sammy's! Glad you enjoyed yourself. It's nice that Katz's is still around - I understand that area has changed considerably.

Name............Start........Current........Goal.......To Go CindyG...........191...........191...........178........13 Sades............186...........185...........175........11 Stephanie........175...........173...........145........28 shortgal.........173.6.........173.6.........168........5.6 Bandpal..........172.26........171.93........150........21.93 Momto1plus1......187...........187...........174........13

Name............Start........Current........Goal.......To Go CindyG...........191...........191...........178........13 Sades............186...........185...........175........11 Stephanie........175...........175...........145........30 shortgal.........173.6.........173.6.........168........5.6 Bandpal..........172.26........172.26........150........22.26 Okay, Guys, I'm shooting the moon, here. 150 will land me at my goal weight. Whether or not I make it, any loss will be a move in the right direction. Good luck, everyone!

Congratulations, Cindy! By the way, I'll be in NYC next month (Dec 4-17) and would love to meet a fellow Nymph - PM me if it's doable.

Congratulations, Sades, and happy bandiversary!. Those are great accomplishments (I know what it's like to hate myself, to dread buying clothes and to cancel dates because I felt too fat, so I know where you've been and where you are), which you have earned with your hard work, and I know there are more to come. Thank you for being here. Bring those photos on!

Name............Start........Current........Goal.......Left CindyG...........195...........191...........185........6 Momto1plus1......193.6.........188...........185........3 Foofy............226...........226...........216........10 Sades............185...........185...........175........10 Hollyberries.....245...........245...........235........10 Shortgal.........174...........171.4.........168.........3.4 Wnt2Lose.........195...........190.8.........180........10.8 Stephanie........182.5.........176...........167........9 Linda............183...........181.5.........170........11.5 Shalee04.........180...........178...........174........04 Bandpal..........185...........172.26 .......175........0 That's great, Steph - glad you're finding yourself motivated and centered. Although I'm a believer that all that stuff has to come from within, I'm also a big believer in WW - Whatever Works. I also have a family visit coming up soon and it's definitely on my mind. Good luck!

Foofy, you're killing me, here. Just looking at Sammy's online menu is enough to cause a small puddle of drool to collect at the base of my keyboard. I'd hold off on the egg cream, knishes and ruggelach - you can get them better at different places while you're in town, and the latter two are very filling. Here are my dining suggestions: Appetizers: Chopped Liver Kishka - also called stuffed derma, a spicy (garicky/peppery) sausage concoction loaded with small chunks of fatty unknown meat products. If you want to try something really exotic, go for the Ptcha, a calf's foot jelly. Soup: chicken Soup with Kreplach (Kreplach are Jewish Ravioli). My family served this soup with Thanksgiving dinner. When my fourth grade teacher asked in class what the Pilgrims ate, I said, "kreplach". I got a note home. Entrees: Flanken is a cut of meat taken from the short ribs of beef. It is either boiled or stewed and should melt in your mouth. This would be my first choice, except I can't imagine they do it better than my mom's. Stuffed Cabbage (If Sammy is really Romanian, this should be good) would be my second choice. If I had to go for a steak, I'd take the romanian tenderloin, which is basically a skirt steak. Side dishes: Definitely the Kasha Varnishkes, fried buckwheat groats with bow tie egg noodles. Latkes, or potato pancakes, are always nice. Drinks: Seltzer, or Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Tonic if they carry it. This is very filling, heavy food. Share portions or order mixed platters so that you can get all your tastes in. Easy on the vodka, you, and have a great time in the Big Apple. - Disclaimer: Let me note that this is Jewish Eastern European Cuisine and not "Israeli" cooking, which has a much lighter, Mediterranean style and flavor. And I certainly don't want to present myself as an authority on this subject - anyone who wants to, chip in.

Thank you, Steph and Cindy... This has been a pretty good time for me. My appetite is small and a quarter of a cup of anything solid generally fills me up for in between three and four hours. My eating speed is gradually decreasing, and all in all I'd say I'm adjusting to being a person with greatly different eating habits than I had a year ago. Nights are still a sticking point... the desire to compensate, to indulge and to punish or simply to perpetuate a bad habit is sometimes insurmountable, but I've been able to forgive myself and not let one bad night metastize into a bad tomorrow. As a result, the good days simply outnumber the bad ones, exactly the opposite of the way it was before. Of course, the positive reinforcement from the weight loss also makes it much easier to continue... a lot of compliments and a lot of nice clothing, too! I'm really happy about the renewed discussion here, and looking forward to closing out a year of miracles along with all of you.