Lori_K

Thanks for the great words of inspiration. I am trying. I just realized everyone thought I was taking the easy way out! and I just realized that I didn't.

In my humble opinion, anyone that tells you this is the "easy way out" is just ignorant (lacking the proper information). There is no easy way out of obesity. To me, the lap-band is like a friend - it's there to help you, it's your tool, but it's up to you to do the work. :confused:

(((((adding Big Warm Hugs)))))

Aw RSG, I'm so sorry you are feeling down. Tap gave you some excellent advice, please do that and hang in there! You can do this! We all have bad times, I know I stayed away for awhile too, when I thought I wasn't doing good. I was hoping to reach my "goal" by my bandiversary (silly me) but I've learned to be happy with what I have done. This isn't easy, and like Tap said, this isn't a race or competition.

Please don't be sorry! I'm glad you posted here, that's what we double V's are for, to help each other through the tough times. You are not alone in this! Get your fill, keep exercising, and you will see results!

Hang in there with us, ok? Just Keeping Swimming! :confused:

Just sharing a picture of my latest motivator (and boy does she have lots of energy!) Click for larger pic.

Rhapsody - Try not to worry too much in advance. I know, that's easy to say, but try! Keep on the tm and with each step say "Spring is coming, spring is coming"...that's what I do!!

Our last fills seem to be doing the trick - I can't believe how I am NOT hungry or grazing now...although I would love to be able to eat before exercise, but my band says NO> No food until 930 or so.

Keep up the good work, and everyone keep on posting!

Thanks once again for the help and kind advice Tap, you are the best! :confused: I am staying focused and telling myself not to worry until I have something to really worry about. And I like your saying, "Spring is coming!" Yes, that's keeping me motivated. I wanna feel good in shorts and other cute clothes, be outside and enjoy the warm weather! Too many days in my life I've hid inside. No longer! I love the outdoors.

As for fills - I'm currently loving this one! It has really cut my hunger in half (what a relief) and I feel like a "true bandster" again - eating those small bites and chewing forever, lol. I can't eat in the morning either. Since I'm currently an "at home mom" (otherwise known as a domestic goddess :thumbup:), I can eat when I want - I usually don't eat Breakfast until about 10 or 11 am. Before that, I just sip on some of my Water intake for the day. I can't exercise on an empty stomach though - I wait until the late afternoon to do my treadmill jog. I have found if I eat a Protein bar about an hour before (they have special ones at the weight loss center at Beaumont Hospital), I find I have lots of stamina and can stay on the tm lots longer, and I feel really good after, and not so tired out.

hanging in there !!

okay. you are all such an inspiration to me. I am only 1 week post-op today! Very new to the site. Any advice you guys - who have all done AWESOME - can give? please do. Thanks..

Welcome to the Lap-Band talk forums Kimmie, and congratz on your new life with the lap-band! Feel free to hang around and ask questions when you need to. I'm sure the people here can give you great advice - the best advice from me would be to hang in there during the tough times (you'll have good and bad days, just like anything else), do exactly what YOUR doctor and nutritionist tells you to do, and remember you can do this! It takes time and hard work, but remember the saying - what's worth the prize is always worth the fight. Don't give in to cravings (although we all do it at times), don't let food have the power, YOU take the power over food (i.e. I'm not going to eat that, it's not part of my new life). If you do slip up, just get back on that horse, and keep on going. My inspiration during this journey - Just Keep Swimming! borrowed from Dory the fish in "Finding Nemo". :confused:

I wish you all the best!

Just wanted to update you all that two days shy of my 1 year mark I weighed 199 this morning! My goal was to be here by my bandiversary on Sunday and I can hardly believe I made it! That 203 stuck around for a very long time, so I had almost given up hope of making this specific goal. I also just got a fill, so that helped. Here's to reaching my goal in year 2!

WOOT! :confused:

Congratulations SHM, welcome to Onederland!!! You've been working so hard, I'm happy to see you made this goal. :thumbup:

I'm sure you'll reach your final goal this year!

Amy sister! (((warm hugs)))

It's SO good to hear from you, and what a wonderful, positive post! You life has really changed, you deserve to be so proud of yourself. I'm proud of you! And your pictures! Omg girl, you look like a model! You are so beautiful. Congratz on everything and your new life. Who would have known a year ago, when we were all scared about having surgery, that we would have come this far in just one year? You've not only changed your weight, but also found a new life. Many congratz!

You have a terrific time in Maui! Please post some pictures here if you can, ok? I wanna see you on a sunny beach, looking hot in a bathing suit! :present: I do hope you will be adding a new addition to your family soon - that is so exciting. You've got to keep us informed on that! I wish you the very best, and I'll keep you in my prayers. I wanna know about my new niece or nephew! :heart:

Take good care sweetie, and please keep in touch! It was so wonderful to hear from you. My bandiversary isn't until the end of the month, but I'll be posting my story too.

Warm hugs and lots of love my sister from another mister! We sure did a lot of swimming this past year, haven't we? :bananalama:

Lori :cheers2:

SHM, LilMiss,Rhapsody, Ezma - how are you doing?

I was at the Y this morning - did 40 min cycling. Didn't work up the same sweat as when on the tm but it is still better than nothing, and I feel it in my legs.

Hello everyone :present:

Still doing ok here Tap, a bit busy with a new dog, it's like having a new kid, lol. But the walks are nice, it's been sunny out, but COLD!!!!! Too cold, even with a scarf on my face it gets too cold to stay out long. I'll so glad to see Spring get here.

So the dog walks are only about a half hour recently, and I'm still doing the treadmill, but only about 2 miles. I don't know, I've fallen into a bit of a lull with the exercise, but trying to stay motivated. I had my yearly mammogram a week ago, and now my ob-gyn wants me to come in for an exam, because they "saw something". My mother had breast cancer, so I'm a bit worried. :bananalama:

But thanks for keeping me motivated once again! The exercise may have slowed down a bit, but I'm still hanging in there. On the plus side, I did get a fill on Monday, and oy, I'm feeling it! Good restriction for now, I'm full on a lot less, so maybe with my controlled appetite, I'll maintain my weight loss, even though I'm exercising less. My band gets really "tight" in the morning, and I swear I was stuck on Water this morning, lol. :cheers2: eating ok now though.

LilMissDiva, I'm really sorry to hear about your knee. It is best just to take it easy for now, although I'd be frustrated too if I couldn't exercise (and agree that feels weird to say that!). I hope the Ortho Dr. can help you out and give you some better news . . . please keep us updated, ok?

SHM, congratz on your speed of 7.0! That would kick me in the butt real quick . . . I think I'd fall off the treadmill. You go girl! But I agree, do get your hip checked out.

Keep up the good work all!

Tap, are you feeling like me - soooooooo done with shoveling snow and ice! :w00t: And it's only February, lol. The temperature got up to a "balmy" 40 degrees on Sunday, and it melted some, but it hardly made a dent in all of it.

As for exercise, I did double duty this past weekend. On Friday, we adopted a blue merle Australian Shepherd (a purebred even!) from our local shelter - I've been looking for the "right dog" for a year now. Her name is Gracie (I love it) and she's only 1 year old (past that puppy hood, lol), housebroken, spayed, and very well behaved. It's sad when someone has to let a beautiful dog like that go to a shelter.

Anyway, since she's an Aussie and young, she needs lots of exercise! Everyday I've been taking her for hour long walks around the neighborhood. Walking in the snow is a challenge (they plow our streets but it's never down to the pavement) but Gracie seemed to enjoy it. And since a leisurely walk around the neighborhood really isn't enough exercise for me (oy, I remember the day when I would have come home from that walk, and wanted to pass out!) . . . I've also been doing my 3.5 miles on my treadmill (I do that in the late afternoon).

My muscles are feeling it all today! But I'm so happy with the new addition to our family. Gracie is definitely a keeper! No excuses for not getting out and getting some fresh air now, lol.

If anyone out there is ever looking for a new animal companion, please consider your local animal shelter first. Even if it takes you awhile to search the right one. It's amazing how many purebreds and beautiful animals are in the shelter. I'm a big animal lover, and it always touches my heart to give the homeless a second chance.

"Please don't breed or buy, while homeless die!"

Okies . . . off my soapbox Just a cause that's dear to my heart.

Well, I did it. I ran 6 miles. It took me 80 minutes which makes my average mile 13:20. I'll take it. I decided at the very last second to change back to my old shoes and I'm glad I did because I got a blister in those ones, the new ones would have been worse. I will wear the new ones for my short runs until I'm comfortable in them. I'm very tired and unusually sore, but happy with my accomplishment. :drool: Thanks for all the well wishes. You guys are such a help to my motivation. :thumbup:

Awesome job Shiny, big congratz to you! :tongue2: You continue to inspire and amaze :cheated:

As for working out, there is only B&Bs in this town, so no hotel with an exercise room. So I'm been "forced" to walk on the beach - did 2 hours walking on the beach the last two days and plan on it again this afternoon. Wish this was my regular way to work out! So nice!!!

Will be back at the gym once I get home to the "Land of the Perpetually Frozen"!

Two hours of walking on a beach! (drooling with envy :thumbup:)

And I know what you mean about the "Land of the Perpetually Frozen". Feels like a new North Pole here! The bottom layer of snow is completely frozen. :eek: Impossible to shovel all the way to the pavement anymore.

Enjoy your weekend Anna! It sounds wonderful.

Fun idea! It'll so fascinating to read about everyone's one year journey. I hope some of the people who have been missing will come back and tell their story too. Hopefully we will get a lot of posts, just like we did when everyone first had their surgery experience.

We have the same bandiversary Tap! I'll be posting that day too

Rhap - Love the new pic! You're looking great.

Awww, thanks Ezma :eek: Some of my camera shyness is going away, lol.

I used to tease my husband when I was heavy that he had gotten twice the woman he bargained for. He doesn't mind losing that other half so much although he was never ever negative to me about my weight. Bless his heart.

Well, I made it 4.5 miles. It was supposed to be 1 mile warm-up (I did a level 4.7), 3 miles at a challenging speed (I did a level 5.7, bumping it up to 6 and even 7 at one point.), 1 mile cool-down (4.7 again). I made it through all but the last half mile of cool down. My toes were killing me in my new shoes and I couldn't continue. I need to wear my insoles from my other shoes next time. I should know better than to try running five miles the first time I wear a pair of shoes. I'm exhausted, but proud of my accomplishment. Saturday will be a new distance of 6 miles. Yikes!

It's so nice to have a supportive hubby! My husband is also a sweetie, he never said anything bad about my weight. And thanks for posting some speeds SHM! I'm only doing about 3.7 on my treadmill, it takes me about 50 minutes to do my 3.5 miles. When I'm able to run (for about a minute ) I do get it up to 4.7 or 5 (never as high as your 5.7 to 7! You are really aerobic). Maybe going from 3.7 to 4.7 is too fast for me right now . . . I'll try and build that up more slowly, then try and increase distance.

New shoes! I'm sure you'll get them broke in very soon. :thumbup: I could really use a new pair of shoes. Maybe a treat when I hit my bandiversary next month. :cool:

Rhapsody - :cool::eek::w00t:You broke your plateau, and your total weight loss to date is fabulous!! And doing 3.5 mls on the tm is good! I started at 2mls, but as my speed to do that changes, I am slowly adding some more distance. I really want to be able to run 5K - not in a race, just myself to say that I can.

Thanks Tap! :wink: 80 pounds is not as fabulous as some of you awesome ladies who've lost 100 or more, but I'm happy with it. I'm just glad to see the scale move finally, I was ready to bury it in the permafrost snow we have outside! Our backyard is a sea of snow it's so deep. It's snowing again today. If this keeps up, we're not gonna thaw out until July, lol.

I'll still be overweight at 150, I'm very short . . . only 5'2". But at least I won't be obese at 150, and my exercise physiologist says (according to my body scan) that about 167 is a "healthy" weight for a woman my "age" (ugh, lol). If I get to 150 pounds, maybe I'll think about going lower. I just can't remember being lower than that . . . maybe back in high school, about a million years ago. :thumbup:

I'd like to run a 5K too! I know I can jog one now, or at least power walk it. It'd be nice to do something like that for a charity.

Thanks again to everyone for keeping me motivated!

I thought we might get a chuckle from this...

ROFL!!!!!!!! :thumbup::cool: I love it!

Cheers to everyone having surgery in February 2009! Whatever you decide your name to be, please always feel free to come on over and visit your friends in the 2008 Victorious Valentines forums. We'd be happy to answer questions and give support at any time! There were times I didn't think I'd make it this far, :bored: but I did! Gotta love the lap-band :w00t:

Good luck and a safe surgery to all of you!

Lori :eek:

Hi all,

I haven't posted in a bit, not much exciting on the exercise news, except that I'm hanging in there and doing it everyday (I do miss a day here and there :bored:). Still doing about 3.5 miles on my treadmill, but improving speed!

Travel_Anna, I just wanted to say God Bless you in your work with the little (or tiny!) ones! That has got to be so challenging yet very rewarding.

LilMissDiva, I hope your knee is not seriously injured. Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing!

ShinyHappyMommy, you have my admiration - running 5 miles!:eek: That's a distant dream for me, I don't have such great knees either. I try and run some while on my treadmill, but I can only keep it up for about a minute - then I have to slow back down to a jog.

But on the plus side, my weight plateau seems to have broken - I've finally lost 80 pounds!!!!!!!!!!! :w00t: I never thought I'd make it this far. Just 22 pounds to goal . . . the last time I weighed 150, was when I got married (17 years ago). I was teasing with my hubby that he'd get back the woman he married, lol :wink:

So, back to basics....well, once I am past my day of fluids. Here's hoping that 1/4cc quells my evening snacking urges, because really and truly that is the only time I have indulged. I can't go from supper time until the next morning - that would be almost 12 hours, so I need to find something for the evening that will reduce the need to feed, and yet not start me binging again.

What I really need, is to figure out WHY I need to eat in the evenings, and deal with the real issue...but until then, I need to stop the 'little tastes' treats and bad habits.

Hi Tapshoes,

Let me know if you find anything that helps the evening/night time snack issues. That's my problem. I do fine all day long - but it's in the evening that I want to eat and snack. I can't go from supper time to the next morning either - 12 hours is too long. Currently I'm trying to save a "fruit serving" of strawberries (which is quite a bit, like 2 cups) for the evening, that helps some. I like snacking on those. Plus baby carrots. But I do get hungry for something else. Ugh!

Tapshoes, thanks so much for your encouragement, you're always so upbeat, and I just want you to know I really appreciate it! :smile:

I thought I was going to be really sore after that long jog, but I took a nice hot bath that night, and it really seemed to relax and help. (Small NSV - I usually take showers, so it's been awhile since I've had a nice hot bubble bath. I just have to say how nice it is to have my body AND the bath Water both fit in the tub! :biggrin:)

ShinyHappymommy, I'm so jealous you can run outside! :wink: I'm like tapshoes, I gotta wait until April or May. Although I still can't run - I tried it on my treadmill, I get out of breath and don't last long. Maybe one day, I'm working on it.

Yesterday I only got 2 miles in on my treadmill . . . just a tiresome day, but I do try and get a little something in everyday. Writing things out here has been like a journal of sorts for me, it keeps me going!

Keep up the GREAT work all, and thanks for all your inspiration! :thumbup:

Good to hear you're feeling better Peek, and that you've got great restriction! :tongue: Welcome back with us, & keep in touch!

8-10 hours of shopping? Power shopping, now that's my kind of stamina and exercise, lol. You go girl! :wink:

I did 4 miles of jogging on my treadmill today. My longest yet, in about the same time that I've been doing 3 miles. I don't know if I feel good or bad right now. I'm happy I did it, but I am tired and more than a bit sore. :tongue:

Hi Gals

Last week I had to get a complete unfill after bad heartburn ,not being able to eat Protein and finally not being able to drink a Protein shake or tea.

I'm not allowed to get a fill for 4 weeks and the Doc wants me to have under flouro as I had also stretched my pouch on one side.

I am going to get my fill in 8 weeks so that is 9 weeks of bandster hell before I get to start all over again.

I have already gained 5lbs and can't get back on the wagon I'm so frustrated as I only had 6lbs to loose. AARGH.

Sorry just had to vent.

If it helps any Nicole, I'm there with you feeling this pain. A few months ago I had a complete unfill too, due to being too tight. During the few months after while my surgeon was giving me refills to get me back to some restriction, I got stupid and swallowed a piece of turkey too fast (on Christmas day no less) - and it got stuck. It took it a few hours to get unstuck, but I ended up back in the ER anyway, because I just couldn't stop throwing up. Another unfill, leaving me with only 1.75 cc's in my band. So far I've had another fill bringing me up to 3.75, but it's not enough. I have no pouch, food just goes right to my regular stomach. I'm right back in bandster hell with you. I hate it, I'm really growing tired of the gnawing hunger in my stomach all day long. I actually wake up in the middle of the night, because I'm hungry. I've had days where I've cried in frustration for hours. (I am seeing my dietitian on Monday for some more help.)

ShinyHappyMommy gave some good advice (thank-you so much) I'm just trying to hang in there until I can get my fill level back up. I've been hanging out in the exercise thread, because I know if I don't keep up my exercise, I will start to gain. I'm counting my calories using the FitDay program (I know some people don't like to count calories, but I really need to right now) and I'm trying to keep up my spirits up by doing some good exercise. It's very hard being back in bandster hell. My doctor has never mentioned flouro. He has done x-rays to make sure the band didn't slip, he says it is in the right position. I wonder if flouro would be any different? I don't want to start telling my surgeon what to do, but it is my body, and any intervention would help my frustration right now.

Well, I have another fill appointment on February 2nd. I'll see what happens then. This is very frustrating Nicole - and you were really close to goal. I'm so sorry! (((warm hugs))) I have about 24 pounds to lose, not a lot, but I really need to get it off, so I can at least feel "normal" (the 24 pounds will put me at a size 10-12, I can live with that). I'm there with you. Take SHM's advice and just do the best you can. That's all we can do right now.

Thanks for letting me vent too. You are not alone. This has been the worst part of my journey for me.

Let's hang in there together - c'mon over to the exercise thread if you feel like it - it's the best we can do until we get that restriction back.

Good job ShinyHappyMommy! If 3.1 miles are 5K, then I did that on Saturday. :w00t: I can't run though, I've tried it and I last about 3 or 4 minutes, and I have to slow the the treadmill down, or I'll fall off, lol. I am jogging, so now that I have my distance goal, I'll try and work on picking up some speed.

Good luck with your training, and congrats on the 4 miles! The marathon sounds fun, I know you'll be telling us how well you did. You are definitely not crazy for this - exercise is not only good for weight loss, it's good for the mind and the soul. Go for it! :wink2:

I'm loving the motivation here, you all are wonderful!

I made 3 miles on my treadmill yesterday! Almost back to 5K (3.2 miles) . . . 5K just sounds so much better I really broke into a sweat, I had my t-shirt wet. Feelin' the burn. I even lost a pound, so that's motivating. I've been plateaued ever since the feeding frenzy of the holidays.

Gonna keep up the 3 miles today, and do some steps for a half hour. This last bit weight is really gonna fight me to come off, and I'm gonna give it the fight! :reddevil: Still fightin' the dang hunger too . . . everyday it's a challenge, who's gonna win? I so want to! Can't wait for my next fill.

Hang in there everyone! :banghead: