YngGram

INCHES!!! Ladies keep an eye on how things are fitting. This was the first sign that I was doing anything right. It has taken me over 3 years to get restriction I was not dieting, just eating less and getting some small results. When the weight started to come off it was very steady for about 6 months and then I was just cruising. I got a fill on the 30th that gave me restriction and I am now working on getting things moving again. Just keep doing the right things.

This is me laughing, laughing because I want you to smile. NOW! Forgive yourself because this is a part of your new life. Not everyday will be easy nor will it be this hard. I spent last weekend crying, in part because now that I finally got restriction...I am gaining. I am so Pick it up and keep moving to the next step. Get ready, you can run this race, and you can win it.

I feel myself tighten as a storm front heads in. This summer has been lots of fun.

Somebody snapped a pic of me last year, I didn't know I still had a collarbone.

Great! I got there last week and it's been great. I thought it would never come, but 6.0cc was my magic number.

I love having a band, especially now that I have restriction. I am learning again, but it is wonderful. I was an overnight, TriCare required it; and I had an onboard pain med system for about 2 days. I was able to go out that night and the rest of the week. Worse thing is the gas from surgery, it can rally be painfull without warning. My life is so much better, and the healing was simple. The journey can be trying, but the joy of helping yourself is unbeliveable. I did this at 51 and I can't believe all the years I wasted being morbidly obese and sitting on the sidelines of life.

I made what I thought was an achievable goal, and got real happy before I got there. Now that I am at a stall, reasons are mostly the choices I've made, I know that my mini goal is not enough Three years and I am ready to start loosing again. I got a fill, finally have restriction and feel like I'm at the starting gate again. I did this for my health, and I really have improved it that much. 135 will most likely never happen, but 150 if doable if I work at it. I have committed myself to it, I hope I get there.

I am TriCare standard in VA. If you search Tricare here you should find the info I listed. Three yrs ago, I had to show 5 yrs of weight loss efforts and the required test and got approval first time.

I have had my band for 3 years, my doc and his team were just wonderful with passing on info and being available to me. I was given a boat load of info pre and post surgery however, nobody has the ability to make you understand. I started strong and was thrilled, so of course thought I was doing things correctly. I was very far off the mark. I had started gainning and thought it was just some bad chocies (it was), but in the last two weeks I have learned many things. I knew I wasn't in the green zone, but thought I would never be because I didn't feel restriction and thought it was just me because I had not been a volume eater, I ate under strees, boardem, and happiness. Of course I ate when everybody else did and I do love food and would always have everything. After the band I wasn't hungry and at 5.5cc I could eat most things I tried. I would sometimes have problems but didn't know why. I saw my doc two weeks ago and asked for another copy of my post op patient handbook. Shocked at how differently I took this information now that I have been living with the band for 3 years, Almost everything meant something different to me now. I had been taking bites that were to large, drinking not sipping and to often feeling uncomfortable after meals. I got a fill last Mon. and now have RESTRICTION! It is great, I am only eating about a 1/2c and feel content. I am not hungry, still tight in the AM and do hot tea until I feel that food time has arrived. I am now struggling to get the water in because it takes so long when you sip. So, what I have learned is that I hadn't understood as much as I thought I had. I had researched and talked with others with the band; but you must first walk in the journey to fully understand the info recived.

Just remember to SIP! I just recently realized that I still needed to do that so the water will still flow out as it should.

I got a fill on Mon. that took me to 6cc for my 10cc band. It is truly the first time I have had restriction, and it is great. Last year I got badly stuck and didn't know to rest things and continued trying to eat; I had to get an unfill. What I felt in those days following the problem was just awful, and I was worried that I had somehow gotten tighter because of heat. This so much better. I haven't had any hunger and eating everything I've tried without problems. Tonight was chicken parm with a little garlic toast.

My doc says we should be able to eat most foods, just small bites, well chewed and slowly. 3 years and I just got restriction and learned I was drinking wrong. Keep working.

Hot Flash Momma here says, "Thank God,YES!" The extra padding is what made me so hot, I usually have a throw over my legs at home, and never go out without a jacket in the car.

Just last week I realized that I was drinking incorrectly, I would get a sloshy sound on the left and feel the air as well. It would take some time before I would feel better. I simply was taking in to much at once, SIP, SIP SIP. I was also not eating the right way. 3 years and still learning.