TracyW2

Right after being banded, all I wanted was a big ole greasey cheese burger and fries. You know the kind you would get at a bar/restaurant? And the first summer after being banded, I would have killed for a grilled burger with a huge piece of home grown tomato. I no longer eat anything fried or greasey. Its amazing how your system reacts to that type of food when it is not use to it.

2 or 3 times a week. Make sure to give yourself a day or two in between doing them. Believe me, you will want a day or two rest. Wow, they can hurt for days!

I shoot for 100 grams a day.

I have a positive outlook on life and everything I do. I am not longer a pessimist. I have a drive in me that I love and I am determined to accomplish anything I put my mind to. I know that if I was able to lose all that weight and become a health nut, I can achieve anything.

Yep, I have the same problems. Although if something is giving me issues, I immediately go and throw it up.

It is worth it! You will get through it and look back and not even remember it being that bad.

Buy some FroYo, its just as good. My biggest problem is ice cream too!

Surgery can do weird things to a body. I had surgery on the 10 and have had af twice in 2 weeks after that. That was after I just had it a week before surgery.

I try to get at least 100 grams a day. For muscle building purposes, you need 1 grams for every pound you weigh. So I really should be taking in 160 grams, but its hard to get that much in.

I would have to agree on having the baby first. However, I got pregnant 4 months after being banded. We had to do IUI for each of our kids due to male issues.

Its hard not to read the horror stories and they are going to be there no matter what you do. Stick with the positives and you can do this! I love my band and know I never would have accomplished this with out it. Yes it is just a tool and I used my tool to its fullest ability. I have changed my life style and my band helped me do that. I enjoy eating healthy, granted those cravings still come knocking. Dont be afraid to give in to cravings. You are human! And I love to exercise. Right now I am extremely passionate about weight lifting and toning everything up.

My total hospital stay was around 5/6 hours. That was from being there for prep and walking out the door. I just had a tummy tuck done and I was in the hospital for 9 hours. Again, that was being there for prep too.

My before and after is in my profile.

Thank you! I will answer what questions I can. I know what worked for me. My biggest thing is exercise! I do it religiously and love it. The safety class I took was extremely educational for me. Taught me a lot. For right now I have just been riding my husbands bike. He had just a small Honda Rebel. However, this week he is buying his first Harley and trading in the Rebel. So of course I will be riding the Harley also. Good luck to you and hopefully you get that Sept date!

Yep. I actually just got my license in May. But enjoying the thrill of being on the bike!

Yep breastfed till he was 18 months. I have never been one to count calories. I had to have a lot of Fluid removed while I was pregnant. I went very slow with my fills over the course of a year to insure I was getting plenty of calories. Make sure you are also getting in enough Water. I could always tell if I hadnt eaten enough, my supply would drop. My first fill was when he was 2 weeks old. I soley breastfed him till he was 6 months and then started some solids. At that point I was able to get another fill. You need up to 500 extra calories a day to breastfeed. And dont worry if you feel like you are hungry all the time. It really does take a lot for your body to heal, take care of daily life and provide the nutrition to a child. I wanted to add that this was my third child and first lap band baby. It was different trying to make sure I stayed up on enough calories. There were several times I could tell I hadnt eaten enough and my supply had dropped.

Wow the emotional roller coaster is an understatement!!! The end of week one was complete hell on me emotionally! Im doing better now, but still have my moments. Its hard trying to heal, but yet feeling good and wanting to do things and cant. My tummy is looking good except one side is quite a bit more swollen than the other. They pulled out a little Fluid last week and it is back to being puffy again. I plan on calling them in the morning.

I love going to the gym, in fact I have been working there for over a year also. I am constantly looking for things to switch it up so I dont get bored. Right now I am doing Jim Stoppani's 12 weeks shortcut to size. It actually takes out the cardio and only has me lifting 4 days a week. Its a far cry from Jamie Easton's 12 weeker where I was working out 6 days a week. I have been still doing some cardio, but not hitting that as hard. So what does your workout look like?

Push up bras are my new best friends! I nursed 3 kids for all at least a year, plus the weight loss. My boob flap jacks are a far cry from the full DDD I use to carry around.

I just had a tummy tuck 12 days ago and am having to take a time out from my work out to heal. I thought it would be driving me crazy, but I'm not bad so far. I do miss my intense workouts, but healing is more important right now. The dr said I could go back next week and get on the bike for some mild activity. I plan on restarting my 12 week training program as soon as I can really start hitting it again!

Weight lifting is my passion and I have studied about what to do and what not to do. You are pretty close to goal...BIG KUDDOS! If I were you I would start adding a lifting routine and then do some cardio afterwards. You are burning calories long after lifting. Go to bodybuilding.com and click on get a program or something like that. I started out by using Jamie Easons 12 weeks program. Loved it. Change it up and you will see those pounds dropping again.

Weight training actually can burn more if you are lifting heavy and doing it right. I concentrated on cardio for quite a while then slowly worked in using the weight machines. Now I do so many free weights that I rarely do cardio, but I am also at goal and dont need the excess calorie burn. But when doing both, do weights first then your cardio. You burn carbs first and you need those carbs for energy to lift heavy. So once you are to cardio, you are more than likely now at the fat burning stage. And woman CAN NOT bulk up with out testerone and/or steriods. I have been body building since January and I'm toned and have leaned out, but I have not bulked! And muscle DOES NOT weigh more than fat. A pound of fat is the same as a pound of muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat and takes up 3 times the amount of space the same pound of muscle does.

Put the scale away! It isnt accurate and can flutuate daily. There can be so many reasons as to why you are up. I know its hard to not base everything off that number, but it will just drive you crazy!

When Im under stress and having any type of issues, the gym is what helps me get through it. For that 1 1/12 hours, I put all I have in at the gym and I feel so much better about things. Maybe try doing that to help you manage what you have going on?

Awww, thank you! Can I add I got pregnant 4 months after being banded? He is now 20 months old and even though I had to take a year off, it didnt deter me to get back on that wagon! You are doing a fantastic job as well! It is so worth all the hard work and determination!