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Congratulations to you as well!!! I hate that you were sick, but hopefully feeling much better now! It's exciting and scary at the same time, but oh soooo worth it! I already feel better!! More confident, more outgoing, my true personality has surfaced again! :-) Good luck and best wishes to you as well. Keep me posted and let me know if you have any good food/recipes tips that are working for you. I'm always interested in learning anything new to help! Thanks!

Hey everyone!! I am a newbie here...but just wanted to share that I went to my one month post op appt. today and I have lost exactly 25 pounds! I was shocked! 10lbs were before surgery and a total of 15lbs since band surgery. I have not yet been filled, I will have my first fill on June 15th. I'm thinking 25lbs is pretty good but just want some input from you guys....I know a lot of it had to be Water and sodium retention b/c I was a Diet Dr. Pepper addict! Like 6 a day! I gave them up cold turkey and have been drinking only water and unsweet tea from time to time. Thanks for you input and I am excited I found this great forum!

Weight Loss Surgery was such an out of the blue decision for me -- I'm not even sure exactly how it came about. We live in the boonies, I don't watch TV, and I didn't know any one else with a LapBand (or any other WLS). I am kind of a health food type and had never been an overnight patient in the hospital before. I guess I heard that a cousin's doctor had recommended this for him and so I started digging into the research. Almost right away I realized I was the perfect candidate. I think what this means is that I was READY. I had spent two decades dieting and working every weight loss angle under the sun, yet I always put the weight back on again plus a little more. Each year I was a little heavier, and since I'm in my fifties it was really starting to add up. I ate well, just too much. Now I eat well, just in much smaller portions and at appropriate intervals. What a difference this makes over time.
Here I am today 75 pounds down from when I started 17 months ago. I honestly can't believe it. Next month at a year and a half I hope to be able to report 80. It's been a long winter and I have not been exercising as much as I'd like. I know from experience that for me the exercise is really the magic ingredient. I hate the gym and as soon as this sleet and snow clears off I can't wait to resume outdoor walking again. Last year I bought a bike and I look forward to that. I have arthritis and being able to do these things is a real gift. So much easier without carrying around all that extra weight!
The scale is the scale and sometimes it doesn't budge. I tend to lose some and then hover a long while around a particular number for a while. This can be frustrating but I've learned that it is okay, that the scale will eventually move. Meanwhile, its all about the pants, the pants. I have gone from 18 jeans down to size 10 in the same brand. Right now I have a pair of size 10 jeans in another brand that I picked up on sale and they are way too tight. But I'm going to get into those jeans over time -- and I also have a couple of pair of linen pants in my closet. I try them all on from time to time and that helps keep me motivated. It's all about the pants, the pants.....
Determining a goal weight is hard -- I guess I will know when I get there (and I know I'm not there yet). I'm fairly tall and don't want to be "skinny" -- I like my curves. For now I am thinking 155 might be a good weight for me and I am thrilled to be just 22 pounds away from that goal as of this morning. Oh my goodness, I am so happy!