arkansasbandster

NO WAY!!! Thanks for the reminder that attitude counts for so much! AWESOME!

Good luck! We're all rootin' for ya and are looking forward to hearing from you again on the other side of your surgery.

Just loved your post - had to read it again. Awesome that you went back to basics and starting tracking EVERYthing again. You track stuff I never thought of tracking -- thanks for the ideas!

Thank goodness you're back to feeling better! It's been so educational to hear of the "too tight" symptoms and that they can actually be alleviated. Thanks for telling us about it.

Great insight about the importance of exercise! For all my life, I'd get all inspired, go to the gym, work out hard for a couple of weeks, and before I knew it, that routine was a distant memory. I would get so mad at myself!! I felt better, I knew it was good for me, but do you think I could stick to that one little thing in my life?? Nooooo! After much introspection over the years (like we all do when we evaluate why in the world we're STILL struggling with the weight when we all know exactly what to eat, what to do do and when to do it!), I realized my problem a few years back. BOREDOM! Finally, I've found something that I dearly love with every bit of me that I cannot WAIT to get to the gym for. It's my karate! I live for it. I breathe it! It's such a blast. We have tremendously hard classes four nights a week for 1 1/2 to 3 hours each of those nights. I also work out in the mornings. But the key for me is -- it doesn't feel like a workout! It's just something I love that just by chance makes me sweat like a ditchdigger. Exercising to exercise never could hold my attention long enough to make it a lifestyle. Karate does. I just received my black belt last month, and it was one of the proudest days of my life! So hopefully, everybody gets lucky enough to find the one thing that inspires them to get ... and keep ... moving!

Well, let me play the devil's advocate here for a minute. WHAT IF, rather than trying to figure out how to keep this weight on, you pursued the "lifestyle change" with all the vim and vigor you would if you were banded. WHAT IF you wholeheartedly took full advantage of the supervised weight management program and made a full effort into trying to train your body. WHAT IF you were one of the people that really CAN get it and keep it? Just sayin' .... maybe since you have to do this time anyway, you can change your mindset into really doing what this six-month period was really intended for -- making absolute sure that you have completely and fully exhausted all your options, and there is no other alternative than to surgically change your body (which as you read on here, isn't 100% guaranteed successful, by any means). I know, I know -- we all feel the exact same way: "If I could have done it, I would have certainly done it by now." But maybe you didn't have the benefit of that six month supervised lifestyle training before. I dunno. Just suggesting that maybe this time could be spent really giving it your all? Then if it truly doesn't work out, you can know without a tiny hint of a doubt that you did all you could, and you absolutely need to resort to surgery. Now, with all that being said, my disclaimer is: This post was straight from the devil's advocate standpoint, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the poster. : )

This is such an emotional journey for us, isn't it? It's like we've lost our "go to" escape route (food) when these emotions come up. I think you're doing okay -- just be patient with yourself, and know that this is a big deal, this change we're going through. You'll be back to yourself as you continue to adjust. I've had the same thing, and it's getting better all the time. Just being aware that you may be a little "high strung" right now can be a reminder to try to give yourself time to think before you react right away. You'll be okay. : )

The scale can be a fickle mistress sometimes. I try to set my goals around what I really have control over -- my portion control, my food choices, my water (thanks for the post, BG!) and my exercise. That scale's gonna do what it's gonna do!

LOL - yep, I can tell you from personal experience.... turkey CAN be put in a blender. I did that a lot right after my surgery on the liquid phase because I was always very concerned about getting enough protein in. I blenderized up turkey or chicken with FF chicken broth. It was surprisingly good!! I made sure I blended the holy crap out of it so that there were no stringy things to get me in trouble.

My heart just swelled with emotion seeing your story. It's why we've all gone through this surgery - to get our lives back. Thank you for sharing this clip - so inspiring! Huge congratulations to you and your family -- your positive outlook is infectious! Thank you!

WOWZA - EXCELLENT weight loss!! Great for you! I'm not sure if you're sore in your port area, or in your stomach. I had a little bit of port pain because doc wasn't sure which way my port was pointing and had to dig around a bit (eek), but it wasn't that big of a deal. However, I was really sore in my stomach area after my first fill -- it just felt really "raw" that night, kind of gravelly or something. I don't know - I'd never felt anything like that. It was pretty much gone the next day. I've had two fills since then, and didn't have any pain at all. So I'm not sure what that was about. I hope yours is really shortlived, too -- let us know how that goes, okay?

Congratulations on the great compliments!! I know that feels good. And OH MY GOSH, I love your vampire teeth!! They really did come out great! Where did you get the stuff to make them with??

By blogging this, you're getting back in touch with the part of you that is screaming inside, asking you to please take care of your precious body. I'm curious as to when you're going back to see your doctor again -- I hope it's soon and s/he can help you with a plan for your future. Let us know how it's going - I wish you all the best in reigning it back in. You're worth it!

You sure listed a couple of excellent reasons to lose weight once and for all - your grandkids and being able to actually live the life you want and do everything you want to do. I know how you feel about the surgery, though, because I felt the same way. All I can tell you is that today, being over 40 pounds down (had surgery August 11), so far, it's the best thing I've ever done and I don't regret it for one second. The difference in how I can get through my day is already remarkable. I have hope for an active and healthy future - didn't have that before. Keep us updated and let us know how surgery goes for ya'. We're here!

Geez - I wouldn't have thought a banana could make such a problem. By the time it's kind of chewed, it's like puree! Thanks for letting us know that we really do have to be careful and take our time with just about EVERYTHING!

Great job!!! And too much fun that you have to buy new clothes! Can't wait until I shrink completely out of mine! 200, here you come!

Awesome doctor's report - a superstar!! I can just FEEL your happiness, and it makes me really happy for you. Big congratulations! Hmm - still not quite sure about that whole colonic thing, but hey! If it works for you, knock your socks off! Just ribbin' ya' a little - never have known anybody to do it, so it's interesting. : )

Thanks for sharing your experience -- we all know to drink our water, but this puts it into a real important reason why we should! Hope you keep feeling good.

Sounds like you're right on track - hopefully, each day will just keep getting better. By the way, I absolutely LOVE your profile pic - everytime I see it, I smile. : ) So adorable.

Hmmm - it left out part of my post, for some reason. Anyway, your weight loss results are amazing and whatever you're doing, it must be really right - and it's way great that you're getting close to being off BP meds. That right there is HUGELY inspiring!

I'm always surprised at how often your posts pop into my head throughout the day and I find myself thinking about them! This one has me scratching my head. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how in the world you're getting 1700 calories in a day - with a very small breakfast, say half a cup of chili for lunch, 6 potato chips, and half a cup of crab salad type stuff for supper!! I eat WAY more volume than you do, weigh and measure everything, and I'm between 800 and 1000 calories every day. Maybe this is where I keep missing the point. I read on here quite a bit that people just aren't losing weight, they state what they eat (which, when I add it up, is very few calories), say they exercise almost every day for a very long time, but don't lose a pound for months. What am I missing here??

The "liquids for one or two days, mushies for one or two days, and add in regular foods after that" is my doctor's recommendation. I kind of thought that was pretty standard, but I guess it's not the way your doctor does it. I just want to be really extra careful after a fill and kind of test the waters, take it slow, and make dang sure I'm not going to get a big surprise out of the blue and get something stuck. That would definitely be a damper on your Thanksgiving Day!

I felt the exact same way, as I'm sure we all did. You're not alone. You're right to understand that it really IS a big deal. Your question of "has it really come to this" just nailed it. We've all just had it with losing and gaining, losing and gaining. We've all gotten to the point where we just surrendered the hope of getting thin, after all of our failed attempts. It breaks us down. It makes us lose hope. It makes us lose faith in ourselves. The main thing the band did for me was to give me the hope to try again. Everybody's right when they say the band doesn't do the work for you, but it certainly helps as a reminder to be reasonable with our food. Only you can now if it's really right for you, but we've all had those same doubts. And I'm really, REALLY happy that I did it.

I wonder if anybody out there can say exactly "why" there are so many people that lose restriction like you've done. It's really confusing to me. I mean, really, like where does it go??!! I understand that when you lose weight, you'd need to get filled because the stomach fat flap is getting smaller. But besides that circumstance, I just don't understand! Does anybody out there get that part of it?

Good for you for choosing exercise over pills!! And oh my gosh, how crazy that a stupid little chunk of tomato did all that to you! It seems like just a matter of time before something happens. I'm just waiting for the other show to drop, 'cuz things are going pretty well for me now. But so glad to hear that you just stuck to your guns and now you're on new territory again! Very inspirational!!