imaluckydog

I didn't bring anything to the hospital only what I was wearing. I did more planning to be sure I had everything I needed at home like liquids I enjoyed eating and soft food ready. Best wishes and keep us posted. imaluckydog

Keeping busy is so important. I read everything I could get my hands on. I even got all the foods in the house and the pantry stocked up. Then when my surgery came I did not have to run around looking for drinks and soft foods. I started taste testing different liquid protein drinks and found the one I enjoyed eating. There are some that taste terrible to me. I even started collecting recipes. Planning is so important. Best wishes imaluckydog

It's a wonderful life and best wishes on your journey. Mine has been great, I love my band. Best wishes imaluckydog

My plan was to get everything done and just wait for my date. I was so psyched I got my date it was to be July 20, 2009 and I was called in on a Friday and asked if I wanted to go early as they had a cancellation. I ended up having my surgery on June 29 almost one month early. It was very exciting. Best wishes and keep blogging. You have a lot to prepare for. imaluckydog

I have always been a believer in planning ahead. I plan my meals and freeze food to take out at a later time for ease in preparation. I hear the confidence in your routine, it does make life so much more pleasant when everything is in place and there are fewer things to think about. I always went to my Dr. Office to be weighed as I did not own a scale at the beginning of my LB journey. I inherited a beautiful old Dr. scale and it is right on. It never lies. I never ever wanted to own a scale in my life until I got this one. Now when I step on it I get tears of JOY thanks to my LB and the fact I plan what I eat each day is a routine I can live with and I just love it. I am now in CONTROL and the food is NOT. Best wishes and thanks for sharing. imaluckydog

Keep doing what you are doing it is working for you ... Blogging is great because you stay connected to other on their own journey and what works for you may help other. Sounds like you are doing just fine. It took forever before I looked in the mirror and saw a change. Today I have to do a double take because I am not used to seeing a skinny person. Best wishes on your journey. imaluckydog

Best wishes on your journey. imaluckydog

Best wishes and keep blogging. Everyone reads and we are all taking the journey together. Congrats on your date this is very exciting. imaluckydog

Well I think you can do it. Just focus on your goals. In my surgery support group There was a guy who needed to lose 35 pounds and he did not do it so they gave his surgery date to someone else. That was very hard for him to handle, I think you will need to lose the weight so they can get around your liver. They are NOT kidding when they say you need to lose before surgery! I would not want to see you go to Mexico and then be told to go home because you did not lose? That would be a bummer. I wish you well on your journey. Best wishes imaluckydog

Hey kiddo I have lost 110 pounds and I am having a fat day too! I really think it is my head!! I have thought of myself as fat for so long it is really hard to change the way I think. And the way I feel. I am so much thinner now and I am still having a fat day. So Three Cheers to The FAT DAY. Maybe tomorrow will feel different, I hope so. I do not think there is anything bad with having a FAT DAY once in a while. Hope your feet feel better soon and Best wishes. imaluckydog

I am sooooo PROUD of you!!! You are one month before me and you have done well! I too have done well, happy to be a size 10 and I have lost 110 pounds. I love my band and Yes I have missed hearing from you so thanks for sharing you are an inspiration to all of us. Best wishes imaluckydog

I think NOT, that's just me. I would eat good quality high protein foods with lots of veggies. REAL FOOD. Pills are NOT the answer. That is my thought on the matter. Love imaluckydog

First of all forgive yourself you are so normal and I did that too. I used to lick the food just for the taste. Lets face it we love food. In a few weeks you will be able to eat anything you want in small amounts. Remember I said small. Good things are worth the wait. Stay focused and follow the band program rules it will only be better for you. You are NOT crazy!! It is the feeling (or ideas) that get into your head you will need to watch out for. I have been banded a year and a month, down 110 and Happier than ever. This lap band really works if you work with it. I choose to eat real food, not much, mostly plants and protein first. I had that "chicken bone" feeling too back in the day. It will go away if you Sip slower and smaller. Your body needs to take time to heal due to healing from the inside out. Best wishes imaluckydog

Yes, you are!! I believe in You and I know you can do this one small bite at a time. Practice NOW....I also have a mother obsessed with food. I still have NOT told her I had surgery she just would not understand. I had surgery a year and a month ago and I have lost 110 pounds FOREVER!! I eat small to be small. I work hard making sure my band is happy and healthy and then I am HAPPY and HEALTHY. The band is the best tool I have ever given to myself. Let me just say a year goes by so fast and I still can't believe I wear a size 10 and people call me skinny. I am now and this is what the band can do for you. I hear you have the attitude it will takes, it is not easy by any means. It is a fact we cannot eat the way we used too. So practice now eating small and well it is a good way to start. YOU CAN DO THIS. I eat real food, not too much, mostly plants with proteins first. Best wishes imaluckydog

Congrats this is a FEEL GOOD DAY for you enjoy. I cry every time I go to the store to buy new clothes now because I am sooooooo HAPPY I do not fit into size 24 plus anymore. Yippeeee for you and it only gets even better. I had a very similar experience, I shop at a store named Talbots and the store has two distinct sides to it. One was my side and the other was for all those skinny A-- bitches not like me side, secretly I hated them. I was found crying my eyes out last winter in a dressing room just like you. I used an entire box of tissue when I was told I could no long buy my clothes on this side of the store!!!! You just Wait!!! For me the reality kicked in because I now wear a size 10 petite (I cry for JOY today and every day when I get dressed) I have been banded 1 year and one month and I eat small to be small. Best wishes and thanks for sharing you brought back one of the best memories I have had on this journey. Although I must say most of my mornings are spent reading blogs and writing a blurb or two, this is the best part of my day as I focus on my NEW, HEALTHY, HAPPY, skinny A-- life. Again BEST WISHES on your journey. Love imaluckydog

OMG I put my newly inherited classic antique Doctor's scale in my kitchen. Yes, in the kitchen!! I seem to hop on it day and night dressed or not lol..... So does my entire family I have a family of SWA members now. They do not even know they have a title. Love this. Best wishes imaluckydog

Congrats Yes, you have it!!! I know you will lose 100 pounds. You have the best attitude and mind set for this. You have what it takes to do this. I know because I think just like you too. I have lost 110 pounds in one year and a month now I am in maintenance. I continue to eat small to remain small. It is all about the choices I make. This goal is attainable! Everyday is a new and glorious day with LB Best wishes my friend. imaluckydog

You are doing just fine my friend. Keep it up the progress is always slower than we wish. I wanted to lose so fast and in only one year I have lost 110 pounds and now I am in maintenance. That seemed fast to me. Maintenance is tricky, if You want tricky. I have not gained more than two or three pounds but I can still gain if I do not eat the healthier foods. It is all about my choices and amounts of food I eat. I eat small to be small. I am now small. That is so hard for me to believe. When I walk by a mirror in a store I have to stop and just gaze at that person because I think I know her. Yup it is me just checking... LOL I love my new body my new size and the way I look and feel. Best wishes imaluckydog

This site has been my soul support system for me I have been banded year and one month. I have only told my husband and adult children 20 and 21 and my sister who had GBPS 9 years ago. I read so much and learn so much from this site it has helped more than any other thing besides myself who has learned to be small one must eat small. I can say I am small now and I still always want to eat more than I need too. I am a work in progress. This is a great place to ask questions and I do not think ice will hurt only if you break a tooth? I world recommend just sucking on them. I can not chew gum because that causes other things to happen a little TMI sorry. I have been able to lose 110 pounds all by myself and this site and my band. I am glad you shared and keep coming back. It is a wonderful place to vent and chat. Keep up the excellent blogging. Best wishes imaluckydog

I so agree with everything you have mentioned. I cause myself stress which is not good and then I need an Un-fill. I am at a healthy spot now but as you say "Satisfaction" is really where its at for me as well. Best wishes imaluckydog

Welcome and Best wishes I get on this site and bog everyday and I am honest with myself. I love my LB and have banded June 29,2009 I have taken off 110 wonderful pounds in a year. Yes, miracles do happen. Follow all the rules I would do this no matter what the cost. Best gift I ever gave myself. Best wishes to you on your journey. imaluckydog

You are doing so well. I am so proud of you, your head is in the right place. I eat a ton of broccoli I just love it now and never ate it before LB LOL. I am cleaning my closets as well I have had to give so much away. It seems I bought clothes that did not fit and now they are all too big. It is a good feeling. I did not start to feel restriction until after my 3rd fill. But remember to "eat small to be small" is my moto... The fills always seem to kick in a few days later so eat slow and chew as a reminder. You will know when you feel it. Best wishes imaluckydog

Hi BG, I have missed you! I do read your other blog way to go girl. I went to my first after band support group. I know I have been banded and going to a support group one year and a month later seems a bit crazy but it was well worth the hour drive. I met some people who were really trying hard to work with their band and two others that have been banded as long as I have and have only lost 15 or less pounds and said that are miserable. You may want to consider in your book the support after banding is critical. If my hospital was closer I am sure I would have gone but they only hold these sessions on the last Tuesday of every month. I had to drive there in rush hour traffic and that does not make me happy. I was the skinniest one and another man who was there was skinny too we had been banded about the same amount of time, we had the same mind set. But it amazed me how others minds are just not in the correct place. I am not sure how to explain it. I have this band to get me small to make me healthy and others do not follow the rules and are still over weight and unhappy but are just not willing to make the trade offs on what they eat. I am HAPPY to say having had this web site to come to every day and to follow others who are successful has truly made a different in my weight loss and my journey to a HAPPIER me. Support on this journey is KEY... Have a nice trip. Thanks love imaluckydog

Thanks how are you feeling these days? I love trying your recipes. Best wishes imaluckydog