drew05

I've been lifting weights as well as running and drinking 4 bottles of water minimum a day. I've noticed a lot less loose skin than before I started doing this. Hope this hlps someone out.

I had an awesome one the other day. I BOUGHT WORKOUT CLOTHES FROM A NORMAL OUTDOORS STORE!!!! I haven't been able to do that in YEARS!!!

Woooow. I'm getting into this late. Well here's my stats. surgery date: 12/30/2008 heighest weight: 375 preop weight: 367 surgery weight: 337 current weight: 295 weight loss since surgery: 42 total weight loss: 72 my end goal is to be: 195 Goal for March is 20lbs (I stole your template Apeavy :thumbup:)

Haha I know I'm late with this but I was a late December bandster! I've lost a total of 72 pounds since I first started my journey back in May of '08. Almost 40 of that has been since my band. Just wanted to drop in here and say hey!

I thought that people would see what I'm doing as copping out. That's why I didn't tell anyone. A few I have told reacted exactly as I thought they would (they asked why I couldn't do it the old fashioned way) and the ones who were my first choice to tell (Family, close friends) were EXTREMELY supportive. The reason I did it so young is because I don't want to spend my entire life like this. I want to be sprig and spry in my mid to late 20's straight on into my 30's. I don't want to deal with diabetes, HBP and heart disease. It's not copping out. It's getting a tool to help me loose weight. The band is not going to do everything for you. You have to work with it and exercise and eat right. All it does is limit HOW MUCH you can eat. Not what you can eat. Ask anyone here. We can all still eat all the junk food and fast food we want. But we don't. If you are ready to make the changes for the band to work then it's the best decision you'll ever make

Well I lost about 30 of that pre surgery. But stick to filling foods that stick in the pouch (steak... mmm) and no drinking 30 minutes before/60 minutes after a meal. And EXERCISE!!! It's so much fun and feels soooo good!

I don't miss being out of breath and tired all the time. It's awesome!!

Ohhhh Facebook is a tricky one indeed. I'm friends with jane on facebook and we both have a pact to not mention the band on there at all. I also told my parents not to tell anyone of my friends. I don't want anyone to know about it unless I want them to know! Oh and yes the people here are amazing.

The baggy pants are my favorite part. Yesterday I walked around the mall several times (a huge mall too Shops at La Cantera, where I work) and I never got out of breath or tired. It was amazing. And I fit into size 42 pants!! I started out at 50 so that's a huge deal. Almost down 10 sizes!!

Pre band: 2 months post op, 70lbs down:

I too did the hernia thing. it was pretty easy since I have actually had a hernia so I know all about it :thumbup: as far as telling people, I am your age as well and I have only told my close friends (like 3) and my family. My family is EXTREMELY supportive as are my friends that know. Everyone that sees me on a daily basis have even noticed the weight loss and I tell them that I am on Adkins (which isn't a lie) and I exercise daily (once again not a lie). I just don't tell them about the band. It's none of their business. If you don't want to tell them, don't. If you do, great! It's all up to you. And keep coming here! Everyone here is a GREAT support system. It's nice to have someone to come talk to whenever

I myself still have the stomach groans and rumbles. I've just come to accept it as part of life. Hopefully it'll go away but if it doesn't I'll live. The pains and soreness are to be expected. You did just have surgery :thumbup: And as for that fool that told you you won't loose the weight with the band, they are dead wrong. The difference between the band and bypass is that the band is a tool. The bypass is a drastic solution. You can loose weight with the band. I've already lost more than 40 pounds with it in a little over a month. And yes start walking around! It'll help the gas pains and get you into a rhythm. Start walking around your house and once you're feeling up to it, venture outside. Walk up and down your street, adding distance each time. Walking and running are GREAT exercises. Someone telling me to walk right after the surgery was the best advice I got when I was heading into this. Good luck!! And we are all here for any support you need

The drinking thing is HUGE for me. If I drink with a meal I can easily put away 2 cups of food because when you drink the fluid mixes with the food in the pouch and makes it mushier and therefore makes it easier for it to pass through the band. My doctor does a 30/60 rule (no drinks 30 minutes before or 60 minutes after) which is incredibly hard to follow but boy does it work!

It'll be great MrRiceGuy. I can't really convey how great it feels to put your pants on and they are several sizes too big! Just wait :thumbup:

That's awesome Jane!! I already shared this one with you but I had a great one tonight. I was at the gym and I was doing some leg presses. I'm really focused and then I look up and see this girl checking me out. Checking me out!! Jeeze never thought that would happen :biggrin:

I found this application called Lose It! on the app store. It allows you to set a calorie/carb/fiber intake goal for the day and track what you eat as well as track your exercise and how many calories you are burning and taking in. The cool thing is it also tracks your weight loss! It has helped me already and I figured some of you would be interested in it :bananalama: And it's FREE! http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=297368629&mt=8 That link will open in iTunes.

I had another one today. A coworker of mine who has been on vacation since just after I got the band came back to work today. The first thing he said when he saw me was "Drew, are you shrinking?" Made me smile and made my entire freakin' day!

Yeah I finally had my band put in. Dr. Carcamo and the staff at the Nix downtown were AMAZING!

Haha I haven't! Shame on me eh? I have a few I took the other night but I have this huge bulky jacket on. Kind of defeats the purpose eh?

I had one yesterday. I went and got a haircut and went to my friends to show her my new hair. She runs up to me and goes "OH MY GOD YOU HAVE A JAWBONE!!" I looked at some old pictures and she was right. I have a jawbone now :thumbdown:

I am doing much much better. I am up to mushies and I am down to my slimmest since my sophomore year in high school!

Well my port is on the right side so I think that might be why it's so sore (the liver and all that). Either way I ate a Jello cup and filled myself up! It's amazing!

Hey everyone. I don't want to clutter the board up anymore with another thread about me so this is gonna be my update thread. I stayed overnight at the hospital and it was a wonderful experience. They came in every few hours and took my vitals, gave me pain meds whenever I needed them and served me my liquids at meal time. I was released this morning and I am home now. My port is super sore but none of my other incisions are sore at all. I am soooo ready for the port to stop hurting. How long did it take for everyone else's port to stop being sore? If you have any questions feel free to ask!

I have my surgery tomorrow morning at 4am. I am soooo nervous. I've had quite a few surgeries before but this is my abdominal surgery. What did you do to kind of ward off the nerves?

I finally got my approval from Aetna. I did the 6 month diet and it took me about 2 weeks to get approved. Just wanted to let everyone know that you don't have to do the 3 month diet. Thanks for everyone's support through this!