bambam31

I had to completely abandon the "meal" principle - and food in terms of any volume and/or quantity... I just try to meet my overall calorie intake/export goals and spread out the intake over the course of the day - never going long periods without food - even if it's only a few bites at a time.

I'm 194 days post op and I guess it's about time for another blog entry... My main thought these days is that had I known 20

years ago what I know now I would have enjoyed that period of time much more. But I guess it's still better than learning 20

years from now...

I find I have to keep reminding myself that, as of this point, I've lost 81 pounds. I'm wearing clothes that I really didn't

think I'd ever wear again (still surprised I kept many of them). Yet I tend to focus on the road yet traveled. There is still

so much work to do. It's kind of like driving without being able to follow a map. I know my body fat percentage is headed

south so I guess that's the road I'll stay on - while the end destination and route of travel remains a mystery.

It seems everywhere I go these days I get compliments on my weight loss. It feels really good! Many people ask how I've

managed to accomplish this feat. It's really a question I try avoid. Am I embarrassed that I had WLS? No. But it's not an

easy question for me to answer.

I don't credit all of my success to the band. Why? Does the band make me workout almost every day of the week? No! Does the

band make the decision to choose healthy foods most of the time? No! Then it sounds to me like the band gets about

33.3% of the credit - the rest is distributed elsewhere. But If I start out by telling people that I have a band, they seem

to immediately draw the conclusion that surgery is why I've had success - But that's not the whole truth! So this normally

leads into a many-minute long explanation on my part.

There are many people who've been banded but aren't enjoying success - or at least not to their satisfaction. The answer

why is multi-faceted. Many people wrongly assume at the outset that the band itself will make them lose weight. Of course

this isn't true. People need to do more research. I did a fair amount, but not as much as I should have. Secondly, many

doctors are not telling patients the whole story. The plain fact is that if you plan to get anywhere near goal, you'd

better plan on intense exercise - and lots of it. My experience has been that a lot of medical professionals dance around

this issue. I believe they are scared that they'll chase patients away. After all, many patients see the band as a way to

lose weight without exercise. What morbidly obese patient want to hear, "oh yah, and by the way, even though you have the

surgery, you'll still have to exercise intensely most days of the week to achieve satisfactory results." We as a society

want what we want right now - and don't want to work particularly hard to get it.

Exercise is one area in which I've become more fluent, but nutrition is another. I believe everyone has a different

combination. It takes trial and error to find a method of operation that illicits the results you desire. I've found

my combination in a big way. I now know how to keep my metabolism fire burning so hot that even a wet log thrown in the

flames barely slows it down. My average calorie intake for the past month is over 2000 a day. Fall off the wagon days

barely have any impact on the weeks' results. Now I am just focused on keeping the burn going.

I've set an arbitrary goal of 154 pounds. My main focus, however, is fat loss. My body fat percentage is right around 19%

to 20%. My goal is 10%-12%. Basically, I'll be happy with whatever weight I end up at, so long as my body fat percentage

is at goal.

Keep fighting the good fight! Brad

After being banded in August this year my weight loss was cranking right along. I lost the first 35 pounds with ease after which I started cheating more and more. :sorry: Why the hell would I cheat when things were going so good? Beats me. :biggrin: It just goes to show you - the band is truly a tool that is almost worthless without an equal amount of will power. By the end of October, the weight loss had come to a grinding halt. I thought I was exercising ok but the scale wouldn't budge. :confused: I saw an internet blurb from Bob Harper (you know, one of the trainers from the TV Show "The Biggest Loser") Well 'ol Bob was talking about "Spin" classes and how the show's contestants all burned massive amounts of calories on the Spin bikes. So I checked out the Spin website (www.spinning.com) and was intrigued. Low and behold our local gym (www.greatlakeshealthfitness.com) offered these classes. So my wife and I checked out the gym and their pricing and walked out the door certain to never re-enter. Way too much $$$... But they gave us a couple of free day passes to give the place a test drive. Upon returning to the car, we both snickered that "these passes will never get used." Well then on our Wedding Anniversary (13th) on Nov. 11, she decided we were going to use the passes and try a Spin class. After about 3 minutes on a Spin bike I thought I was gonna die. WTH I thought... I'd been exercising at home - how could I be this out of shape... Well that's all it took - I was hooked - and so was she. I found a way that night to work a couple of memberships into the budget. And as Christmas 2008 approached, I found that I had missed only a few days at the gym. According to my Polar F6 heartrate monitor - I was burning 4000-7000 calories a week - mainly from Spin classes. I knew Christmas week was going to be tough. The tempting foods would be everywhere. Family/Friend get togethers 5 days that week. Gym time would be cut short. All of this a bad combination. Up to this point I'd gone from 266 pre-surgery down to 207 on Dec. 21st - but what effect would Christmas week have? I said I'd stay away from the really bad stuff - yah right... I fell flat on my face. Ate the cake, cookies, fudge, ice cream, carmel corn, chocolate, and many other sweet treats. I was quite disgusted with myself and couldn't wait to get back to the gym, which is where I found myself on Saturday morning. I was well rested (having three consecutive days without working out) and gave it my all. Did the same Sunday. Now it was time for the dreaded moment. How much had I slid back from my awful week? Time to face the scale. So how many pounds did I gain? I LOST 5 pounds... :iagree: Huh? LOST? Yep... Down to 202... Incredible. The time in the gym and focusing on keeping my metabolism on fire was able to offset and absorb that tough week. I'm still amazed. Relieved - but amazed. So now with 'onederland in sight I'm as motivated as ever. :grouphug: