julie.ann

Great job!

That is great! Welcome to Bandlandia!

I hope you just joined and didn't do anything. Let yourself heal. Then have a great time at the gym.

Keep the protein up to keep the hunger and cravings away. Eat if you are hungery (really hungery..listen to your stomach, not your head. Wait I see you just had surgery.

You just had surgery! Post op is about HEALING. NOT weightloss. Put the weightloss out of your head, or at least back behind healing. What is more important right now. What if you lost weight, but didn't heal right and had problems. First thing first. Heal. Protein helps with healing too. Keep your calorie intake up so your body can heal. One week out you should be getting more than 500 cal. Use protein shakes if you have to since you might still be on liquids.

Take care of your self and in a few weeks we can talk strategy.

Thanks and good luck to all of you in the new year. I just got back from the gym. I plan to be back on track for a long time.

It is time to blog. I have been away far too long. Let talk about my band. My band is perfect. I have restriction (or whatever you want to call the perfect adjustment) I get full quickly. My hunger is controled. So now you get to hear about what happens if you don't do your part.

You gain weight! I have gained. I don't know how much. I don't want to step on my Wii Fit to find out. So here is the perfect example of why you have to work the band. It doesn't do all the work for you.

I have only been hitting the gym about twice a week. I have been eating unhealthy food and I have been eating when I am not hungry. I haven't been keeping track on what I am eating. I know that I can come here and no one will judge me, but I also know that I need to start blogging again and getting back to the rules.

-Keep track of what I eat (on sparkpeople)

-Cardio at least 3 times a week

-Don't eat unless I am hungry

-Solid protien first then a health side until I am full

I have heard plenty of storied of people that say that the band doesn't work. Well I lost 115 lbs in one year. The band works for me, but I know if I don't work at it I will fail. The band helps. It makes it easier, but if I don't want it bad enough I will gain the weight back. I can lose more weight and all I have to do is follow the rules.

I have found that since I have given up almost all bread, pasta, rice and potatoes that I have developed a killer sweet tooth. I have to get that stuff out of my system. I am really looking forward to the New Year to jump start my loss, but I am starting right now!

I also have to admit and face the fact that I am an emotional eater. I have been banded over a year and lost over 100 lbs and I am STILL and emotional eater. We are looking at putting our 16 year old daughter in a Christian based residential program because of her bad choices and everytime I think about it and have to deal iwth it I want to eat. I feel it like an alcoholic looking for a drink. I am looking to pick up a part time job to make an extra $2000 a month to put her in this 15 month program. I work Monday through Friday days and now I may have to work Friday and Saturday nights (RN). I worry about working more and working out less and emotional eating. I guess every day is a new set of challenges. I know blogging with help and I am so glad that I have this place to come!

He Kansas Girl. I am from the great wheat state too! Where are you from? I know what you mean about re-committing. I have been off track for a very short time, but I am always worried about whether or not this will be the time I lose my way. I am just over a year out from my band.

Hang in there! A couple of days is going to make such a difference!

Try different protien shakes. Found one I really like. The others suck! I like the AdvantEdge milk chocolate from EAS. I buy mine at Walmart. Get some protein in your body. I used protein "shots" for the first week or so. You can get it at GNC or a healthfood store and it looks like a gian test tube. It is just liquid protein. Tastes gross (drink it fast) but it will help with weekness and light headedness. Are you a cafiene drinker? If so your headeache maybe from cafeine withdrawl. Have some tea.

I know you ar tempted to eat something solid but you need your stomach to rest so the band heals in place. The more your stomach has to work at digestion the more it will move around.

Hand in there. Welcom to Bandster Hell. You'll make it through!

Mine is up higher. It is sore at first and not comfortable to lay on. As I have lost weight if I am laying down and look at my tummy (without a shirt) and do a crunch I can see my port. (maybe someone explain this as "sticking out". ) It just looks like a little bump under the skin. When I have a tummy tuck for my extra skin and final tummy fat I hope to have it moved deeper to make it harder to see. It isn't gross and hubby doesn't notice it unless I bring attention to it. I have lost 115 lbs so it is easy to feel now.

When they give your band a fill (inject saline in to make it tighter around your stomach to curb your appitite and make you get full faster) they use a needle and go right through the skin. Just a pin prick. It hurts more when you give blood. It is a common type of port that is used for long term IV medications for people with chronic illness. They call it a Port-a-Cath. That goes into your vien, but this is hooked up to the band.

You might go to the lapband website. I think they have some good videos about the band and how the port works when you get a fill. www.lapband.com.

It isn't easy, but it is easier to lose the weight if you use the band they way it can be used.

Yeah, I was doing good until our jr. high halloween party here last night. I ate so much crap I felt nauseas going to bed last night. How did I ever do this on a regular basis? Yuck!

That is awesome! It is so much fun. Wait until you get to the point that you really like your wardrobe and your almost pleasantly frustrated that clothes are not fitting right because they are too big. You will get there!

Hey I just left you a message wondering where you had gone off to. Now I know. Welcome back. Good job on a tiny gain and losing it so quickly. You know before the band that might have been when you would have continued to stray. Great job at getting right back to it! Bless you for your kind words by the way. You are awesome too! Take care and keep in touch!

Thanks girls.BG, Working with a trainer to sculpt may be a good idea....it's like $15 an hour, but maybe I can make it a Christmas present to myself.

xavier - Maybe you are right the tree trunk waist (perfect way to describe it by the way) will be the last to go. That means if I want to lose it I have to keep going, but eventually it has to come off right? At some point I can't look like a tree trunk. *big sigh*.....

You know I want to start out by saying that I am going to get a little whiney and for those of you who cannot sympathize with Goal Limbo then you are going to hate this post. But I come here to voice my NSV, my SV and so I will post my whining too.

I will attach a couple of pictures here. These are my 1 year full body pictures. I have my pre-op pics on my profile page if you want to see. I'm not at my home comptuer or I would upload those. I am so very not happy with my body. I'm not talking about the drooping girls in front. I have to expect that after losing 115 lbs. I am talking about my "big" tummy and the fact that from

the side I have no waiste. AT ALL! How depressing is that? When I see myself in the mirror and in pictures (which is the real test) I am actually pretty happy with my front view. I have never had to worry about hips like one of my sisters. I am broad acrose the back, but that has gotten more propotionate lately and with my "sucker-inner" as I call my cami-body hugger I don't have a lot of loose looking skin and it help keeps the girls up. (without the sucker-inner it isn't quite as pretty ) From the side I have absolutely no waste. Infact I think my belt in is direct allignment to the girls up top.

People at work call me skinny, which doesn't tick me off like it used to when I thought they were kind of making fun of me. I had a girl at work that thought I weighed 130 lbs. Okay that made me wonder if she was making fun of me again, but I don't think she was. I weigh 170 and I told her so, but I am pretty fit and wear a size 11/12. I would LOVE to go down one more size and hit a 9/10 comfortablly. But I digress.....

What is wrong with me? What is wrong with my body. I am a short little thing. Only 5'4". I know that makes a big difference in the way I carry my weight. I know that one year ago when I was wearing a size 22/24 I would have swore when I fit into a size 11/12 that I would be estatic with my body. Now all I see is fat when I look at my profile in the mirror. Oh another thing on these pictures is that I still have a !@#$% double chin! WHAT? I thought I got rid of that. I will have to walk around with my nose in the air so that thing isn't as noticable!

Oh I know what some of you are thinking....."What is she complaining about? If I could lose that weight I would be so happy I would never complain" Yeah, I hope that is true because it is what I thought a year ago.

Maybe this is good. I have been so happy with my weight and my body that I have gone into maintaince mode. I guess maybe I needed to get to point where I am not happy to get my weight loss moving again. I am so frustrated, but on the bright side it makes me want to go to the gym.

It is funny when I first hit this weight and this size I thought I looked good. I am starting to see how skinny girls can actually with a straight face say they think they are fat. I always kind of thought that it was a ploy to get attention, but they actually look in the mirror and don't see a nice figure.

Oh this sucks. I guess I will ride the rollercoaster, hopefully get a few more pounds off of my body and hope for a waist line. I have to wait another 4 years before my surgery is paid off and I can get a tummy tuck/ lipo and a breast lift. I hope the next four years seem to go as fast as the last one!

That is awesome. I remember hitting that goal. I couldn't wait. I cross my legs all the time now. It is more comfortable. Weird uh?

Cottage cheese is my staple! I eat it with everything. If you have something a little dry it helps to break up the texture and tastes great. I have to admit I am picky about my cottage cheese. I guess I am a cottage cheese snob! ;-D

20 lbs since August is a great amount! Keep up the good work. Protein first then healthy veggies. Work on not eating unless you have real tummy hunger. You will get there. High protein will help the weight come off.

THANK YOU! That is absolutely right! The perfect word and one that will stick. I have been feeling this way for months!!!! It is hard to keep the momentum up and hard to complain when I haven't worn these sizes since jr. high!

It does help to have a word for it!

Thanks guys....you are the best!

Phil....I love it! You are so witty! I don't know how you do it. I know when I stop in you can make me smile!

Yes. You want to rest your stomach to give the band and your stomach around the band (where it is stitched into place) time to heal. Imagine having stomach surgery (not hard to imagine at this point) and doing sit-ups. Now that doesn't make any sense. Yes it would hurt, but you would probablly also be afraid of pulling or straining the stitches. When your eat solid food your stomach moves, contracts, and generally "works" more. That gives your band a better chance to slip or move around before it is healed into place. Let your body heal.

No it wasn't hard for me to eat either, but take it easy. I got to start on soft food pretty quickley but be careful. Number 1 rule is to follow the advice of your doctor. Get your protein in and don't eat unless you are hungery. Really hungery. If you start to look for food ask yourself if your stomach is hungry. Now is the time to get used to the guidelines. Do that now and when your hunger is more controlled after you have had a few fills you will be well on your way!

Good luck!

Well I will have my bandiversary this week. Hard to believe. I keep thinking about what I was doing a year ago and how I felt and how hopeful and excited and scared I was. I was so afraid that this wouldn't work. Would I spend this money and not do what I had to do. I knew it would be hard, but what if I failed? I wouldn't have anything to hide behind. I would have pulled out all the stops and still weighed 285 lbs and stood at only 5'4". Okay I am still 5'4", but now am about 170-175 lbs. My lightest has been 168 and I need to get back on program. I have been maintaining, but I would like to lose more....and I will. I know I will because I know I can.

I am starting to not be happy with what I see in the mirror. I want to get down another size, but at a size 11/12 I never would have thought 1 year ago that I would have wanted to lose more than that. I am happy with my progress. I have had 4 fills and 1 very recent unfill. I am really perfect now. (you know what I mean)

I am thankful every day! Money has gotten tight and I know that the $263 monthly surgery loan payment is the biggest part of that, but I can't help but think that it is still worth it. I look at pictures of myself from before and my kids and husband say they don't even remember me looking like that. I am used to people I know looking right past me. I have even found myself not striking up a conversation when I am in a hurry (like in line at Walmart) because it takes people a few seconds to even figure out who I am and then they want to hear all about how I lost my weight.

I still haven't told EVERYBODY, but I have told a lot of people.

For all of those wondering if you should get banded....know that it is hard work. It is a high protein diet for me and you HAVE to learn the difference between stomach hunger and head hunger, but if you are willing to work hard and want a tool that will help you get there.....this is it.

I love my band!

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congrats! Now you know what it was like 6 months out still feeling like a newbie! I have my 1 yr coming up on the 29th. I am finally starting to feel like I am not a newbie anymore.

Keep up the great work! Lots of love!

I just got my unfill on Friday. It is so nice to be able to take a glass of water and drink it right down!

I went to TGI Fridays and had my customary sizzlin chicken and cheese for lunch after my adjustment. I was able to each 1/4 of my serving and was full and satisfied and not get stuck. I think Friday was the first time of no PBing for a really long time. I am looking forward to making it a week without PBing and them even more. One day at a time. So far it has been 3 days.

Dr. K wanted to start by taking out 0.5cc. I told him I was thinking 0.1cc. I love the fact that he listens to me. We started at 0.1 removed and ended up after "tuning the band" with a total of 0.25cc removed. Not much if you look at it, but I could really tell a differce. I drove 14 hours round trip today to have 0.25cc removed. Wow!

I already know that I won't make my Halloween goal, but I am ready to get on my path. Soft Calorie Syndrome really was tough for me the last month. It might take me another 6 months to lose the last little bit I have to lose, but in less than a year I have lost 115 lbs so I know better than to complain!