catfish87

Julie very true words. For some reason its always easier to find what's wrong with ourselves than to see what's right.

Can I just add that now that we have proclaimed love for our band... Can we also state we love ourselves???
This is a hard one for me.., I adore my size and all the good , healthy things that come with it... Sure. Small jeans included. Ok. For once ALL my clothes I have fit. ( rarity )
I'm still working on my self love????
I see my counselor next week. Sigh

@@Julie norton...LOL thank goodness for Google girl!!!:-)

It made me successful for the 1st time ever on a diet. LOVE MY BAND!!

Wow... Spelled correctly.. Said the spelling bee coach!????

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

I don't regain pounds I lost years ago
Best thing ever!!

It helped me get my life back!

Cathy Picture.docxI am one of those who have sat by and have read other peoples posts. I have been banded now for 2 years. It has been an amazing journey and I would do it again in a heart beat. My decision was easy with this surgery for I did my research and understood from the beginning that the lapband is becoming a distant memory. I just did not want my insides taken out or rearranged. I am saddened how so many people put this choice of lapband down. If this lapband had to come out I would just go with out and I would understand that the weight would come back. Just remember in a few years there will probably be something new. For me I have lost 45 pounds and my biggest accomplishment is I have been off of my diabetes medicine since the day out of surgery. I would read how people would wonder if they have reached the sweet spot including myself. It has taken me 2 years to find that sweet spot and you will know. I do not get hungry as much and the thought of food has dimmed. This lapband has made it so I can not overeat if I tried. I always liked seeing how much Fluid we have in our bands for some reason and for me I have a 10cc band and I received a fill last week and now have 8cc. Wow, what a diffence it has made, I have lost another 4 pounds this week. My weight loss has been slow but I am fine with that for it took me many years to put it on. I wish everyone the best on no matter what surgery you choose for we all have one goal and that is to be healthier.

Losing 114 pounds!

Helped me to lose 40 lbs. This ride has taught me how to eat right.

Being able to move & breath , without out being able to & the band helps me from knowing when I should stop eating so much , being a food junkie & a Soda addict all that is gone & so is almost over a 150#s I thought I only had a 150#s when I started , nope it was more My Surgeon & I hadn't realized until we discussed the initial visit to him when I started from 320#s till so far 167 , this is why I chose the band , but I don't love my tool (band) , I guess I can't say just one word about MY BAND because it has gave me my life back & more years.

The lapband gave me quality of life again. There are certain dates I'll always remember. My birthday of course, my kids birthdays, my wedding anniversary, even the day I lost my darling husband. All of them dates of great importance in my life. I've also included the day my life changed for the better though I didn't know it yet....January 14th, 2013. The day my band was placed.

My hubby hugged me today and said "you're so tiny ! " That's is all.

Lapband best decision ever

I'm laughing at how hard this is for me, a wordy writer. How about four words? I LOVE MY BAND!

It helped me regain my healthy life.

Ok, sadly I am expert on this topic.
I took a lover after losing weight but before plastics. He told me I made WAY too big a deal out of my saggy skin. I guess I was terrified of being rejected after the "big reveal" and so painted a terrible story so he could reject me before.... This man changed my life for the better as he boosted my confidence and made sure I knew that "my value" on the dating market so to speak. He was with me through plastics too..and after my scars faded a bit said "you don't need to worry about them, guys won't notice". I learned alot from him...most guys are either"into" you or not. If they are into you, the details of how you look don't matter...they are sold on the package. I decided that guys that are too critical are too much like women and not my cup of tea anyway. (That is NOT an anti female remark my best pals are all chicks, we just tend to zero in on details more!!!)
So my experience since then? Well I haven't had many lovers but I give them the high level...I lost alot of weight and had skin removal surgery. Well before there is any nekkidness...actually I do this on the first date..... I wear sleeveless tops so they can see my arm scars. 100 percent of my small sample I have to tell them about the scars they didnt notice that to me were so obvious.
In conclusion, being healthy, confident etc etc counts alot more than saggy skin or plastics scars.
I do need to mention I date within my age range..not sure what a 25 year old guy would think!

pizza isn't what made me fat.....Eating a whole large pizza(s) in the past, was one of the reasons I was over 300 pounds. I'm 6 years post op now and I eat pizza occasionally. Matter of fact we had some this past Saturday evening from a local place that makes them in a wood fired oven, super thin crust...with a nice cold beer. YUM! Things that would make a dieter cringe! But I'm way past all that.... My lapband has helped change my life
PS. My "skinny" friends eat pizza, they drink a beer, have some wine, eat ice cream, etc. It's all about the VOLUME of calories I used to eat...day in and day out. Many, many more than I was burning.

I have.

It’s hard to believe it, but July 18 marks my 12-year Surgiversary! 12 years ago, I weighed 255 lbs (at a height of 5’7”). That was at age 25, after years of being overweight and yo-yo dieting. I got the lap-band on July 18, 2003, under the skillful hand of Dr. Christine Ren-Fielding in New York, and the rest, as they say, is history. I have my life back and it’s better than ever.
I feel like the luckiest man in the world. I have a wonderful family with the best children ever, and I have the health and energy to be able to keep up with them and be a real part of their lives. I am also thrilled every day to be able to advocate for weight loss surgery patients through BariatricPal, working with major obesity, WLS, and medical organizations, and I am so grateful for the lap-band and getting my life back.
I also want to thank BariatricPal members and supporters. When I founded the boards right after my surgery in 2003, there wasn’t much other online support out there. The discussion forums helped me through some tough times, and I am so glad it is able to help others as they approach surgery, recover from it, lose weight, and maintain their loss.

What worked for me, was getting my heart rate into the aerobic or fat buring zone.....AND keeping it there. I chose to use cycling as my primary form of aerobic exercise early on when I couldn't/didn't run. It was (for me) the best thing I could possibly do. The most bang for the buck as you mention. I would never get my heart rate to the level necessary to burn enough calories just by weight training. I'm not saying you can't, but I didn't. And besides, cycling is sooooooo much more fun! After I lost most of my excess weight, I also started running.....and that changes things up too.
I'd suggest to anyone, get some form of accurate heart rate monitor and figure out how many calories you're actually burning with each exercise. Then you'll know what burns the most for you.

What worked for me, was getting my heart rate into the aerobic or fat buring zone.....AND keeping it there. I chose to use cycling as my primary form of aerobic exercise early on when I couldn't/didn't run. It was (for me) the best thing I could possibly do. The most bang for the buck as you mention. I would never get my heart rate to the level necessary to burn enough calories just by weight training. I'm not saying you can't, but I didn't. And besides, cycling is sooooooo much more fun! After I lost most of my excess weight, I also started running.....and that changes things up too.
I'd suggest to anyone, get some form of accurate heart rate monitor and figure out how many calories you're actually burning with each exercise. Then you'll know what burns the most for you.

6 years post op with no band caused problems for me! 46 years old, NO medications, NO pains. Very happy living and enjoying my NORMAL life
I attend support group meetings where all surgeries are represented. I'm here to tell you, from what I personally see.....I'm still thrilled with my surgery choice.

Good for you! Any weight loss achievement is to be applauded, no matter the method and no one way is better than any other as long as the end result of better health and fitness is achieved.
I've got to ask, @@Chuckster . You just recently joined this forum (a weight loss surgery support forum), you lost a whole lot of weight non surgically, and both posts you've made since joining have been about losing weight non-surgically. What's your agenda in being here?