Ilovebeagles

For some reason we who are believers tend to have a habit of continually beating ourselves up over everything. I am taking a moment to encourage each and every one of you to stop, pray, and open up to our Heavenly Father in prayer. Share with Him your discouragements over your weight, and your desires to live a more productive life. He already knows anyway... He just wants us to walk in the cool of the day with Him sharing all of ourselves unto Him.

Remember the advances in Medical technology are NOT solely for those who do not believe in God, they are for us too. We are His children, and God wants us to seek Him for everything that He may be glorified in all areas of our lives. Do not allow the enemy to stagnate you in guilt because of your desire and decision to get a lapband. Instead use this as another pillar and testimony to the Goodness of God!

How? Well, I am glad that you asked...

Study daily, pray continually, ask God to allow your lapband to help you become heathier, and look for ways to use even this part of life's journey as a opportunity to share the Gospel of Christ Jesus!

Luke 11

⁹And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. ¹⁰For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. ¹¹If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? ¹²Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Be encouraged!

Forever His!

Yolanda

Great post! I for one had a hard time feeling like it was "okay" to have surgery because I kept thinking with God's help I should be able to lose the weight on my own. And then I got to thinking that Christians don't (usually) forgo having other life saving surgeries because they think they can fix their problem on their own. What if I needed heart surgery? I'd be all over it.

If it were me, I would probably tell her. Sure you both are sad and missing her sister, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want you to be happy and successful.

I had my surgery about a year ago. I have lost 64 pounds, which is good, but I just feel that I should have lost more than this with the band. I was hoping to find someone for some encouragement and accountability. Anyone have any encouragement for me? Been through the same situation and now seeing the light at the end of a tunnel?

Thanks.

Hi there,

Firstly, I think you are doing fabulous! Just think 64lbs are totally gone from your body! How COOL is that?!

Yes, I would've like the fairy to wave her magic wand and have all this weight gone in just a few months.lol

But seriously, my weightloss plan is for 3 years; my surgeon and his team designed it this way on purpose. The first year 50lbs, years 2 and 3 25lbs each year. As of August I was 1 year out and had lost 46lbs. As of today I am down 56. It's slower than part of me would like but I am doing it this way for a reason:

I know myself well enough to know that I cannot follow a super rigid low calorie diet -- sure maybe I could for a short time, but trust me once the weight is gone, I KNOW I would be back up the scale in no time. I'm going slow on purpose so these new eating habits can become ingrained into my head as "normal" so that hopefully they will stick with me for years to come and I will actually be able to maintain my loss.

There is an old saying the slower the weight comes off the longer it stays off. A girlfriend of mine has been going to WW for YEARS and she's lost 25lbs over 2 years. She always apologizes and feels badly that it took so long to lose the weight, but you know what? It is STAYING off her. Just hang in there and focus on how far you have come. You are doing wonderful!

I don't know about your particular insurance, but it is VERY common for most insurance companies to cover this surgery with your bmi, if you have at least 2 co-morbidities. FYI, joint pain is another one you could add to the list, if you have pain in say, your ankles, hips or knees. Much cheaper for insurance to pay for a band than new knees!

Great idea!

Here are some of mine:

• wedding rings fit perfectly now
  
• more energy (have to be careful to hide this, I've been volunteering to clean out the back of my hubby's work truck, fill the wood box, and clean up the leaves with all this extra energy; I'm afraid my hubby my start expecting me to do this all the time:smile2:
  
• wearing a size 18 (just this week) for the first time in 4+ years
  
• Wonderful compliments
  
• feeling so much better about myself
  

Weclome!! I think its terrific you are hanging in there and seeking out more support. Good luck to you!

I have many favorites, but here are my softer/mushy type favs since that's the stage you are in:

Tuna/chicken salad

Wendy's Chili (almost any chili, yum!!!)

Refried Beans, topped with lowfat melted cheese, salsa and sour cream

Shepherd's pie, made with ground beef

bean & ham Soup (soup is so not a slider for me)

In theory this sounds pretty good. But in practice I'm not sure. US surgeons used to do lapband surgeries like this years ago, but not now because this way caused a lot of band slips.

I recall reading something on the lapbad manufacturer's website that states the band should start to be filled at the 6 week mark and then it's to be done gradually over a long period. The reasoning behind this was the band has to "heal in place" first before tightening it.

When I left my surgery the band was really tight, just from the placement and swelling -- this tightness lasted for 6-7 weeks. I could not imagine the surgeon filling up the band too. There is no way I would've been able to swallow my own spit.

Your post title is so funny!

Can you serve them stuff you don't like? I did this for my husband (of course it was all stuff he liked though) but it turned my stomach. The Protein shakes were pretty good in comparrision?

For kids I'm thinking spagehtios and canned ravioli -- of course they are not the best meal choice for kiddos but most kids love that kind of stuff and you would have to pay me big time to eat it.

Gosh, you are doing awesome! When was the last time you maintained a 67lb loss for 6 months? That's terrific!

At this point, it's probably just a few tweaks to your eating/excersize routine that will help the most and it sounds like you've got a good handle on making those updates. The last part of our weight comes off the slowest, but don't worry, it will still come off if you change things up a little bit.

I'm approaching my 1 year anniversary and my 1 year goal. My weight loss plan is for 2-3 years. You can check out what all I'm doing towards that end on my blog below.

Good luck to you!

I would consider this pretty tight, but for me I'm like this for several days after a fill as I'm very sensitive to the swelling from a fill.

Once you lose a bit of weight it slowly loosens up a bit. So long as you are getting in all your Protein and not puking stuff up, you could hang in there for a few weeks doing what you are doing. Just be sure to take your Vitamins -- that is not enough food for good nutrition.

Take Care,

Welcome! I love being on here too!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

What an awesome feeling!

I kind of felt the same way you do, only a lot more scared of the surgery too.

One of the things that comforted me is how many people there are out there with bands that are so very happy they went through with it. I had the feeling I would be one of those saying my only regret would be that I didn't do it sooner. You know what, thats true!

This band journey is a lot harder than I thought it would be because there's so much "head stuff" to work on but I'm actually glad for the chance to work on my head/emotional issues.

Good luck to you and a speedy recovery!

Trixie

YES, and more than once and more than just the first week. I was an emotional basket case! On day 2 I remember trying to get out of bed and wondering WHY ON EARTH I ATE MYSELF SO FAT I NEEDED TO MUTILATE MYSELF WITH A "NEEDLESS" SURGERY??!!. Yeah, I felt like a total nut.

However, those feelings passed and are a distant memory now. I'm so glad I had the surgery. It is truely life changing and if anything were to happen in the future where my band had to be removed, I would get it replaced or revised in a heartbeat!

Trixie

Hi there,

I just wanted to say hang in there! I can't imagine how difficult being in that kind of pain has been for you. Personally I think you've done a great job, considering what all you've got going on.

I'm glad to hear your pain is being managed better, that should help a lot. It's so easy to get down and discouarged with the pain and the slower weight loss, but keep on keeping on and you can do it!

My insurance company will cover mine completely if I lose 80lbs or more (100lbs for a man). Two people from work had this done with the same insurance and it was no problem; they only had to pay their deductable and office visit copays. One lady had really extensive work done -- I think it's called a belt lipectomy and/or a lower body lift. All covered.

I will probably end up having to have a Tummy Tuck and would LOVE to have it covered. I'm sure hoping the insurance doesn't change before I can qualify!

Hi there,

It takes a long time for your head to catch up. Most people don't realize how large they are getting as they move up the scale. When they see themselves in photos they are absolutely floored and can't believe it's them. Well it happens in the reverese.

However, it is really important that you keep trying to see and feel like the new thin you. Time will help!

Gosh, I remember when one of my sister's was on a chew your food up, and then spit it out diet -- horrible!

When I was on my 2 week liquid diet I was so wanting to CHEW something. And, yes, I chewed something up and then spit it out : )

Hi there and welcome!

I have a large band (14cc) and it seemed like it took FOREVER to get it properly adjusted.

I had my surgery last August and am down 40lbs at the moment. My first year's goal is to lose 50lbs. It took 6 fills and 8 months for me to reach my sweet spot, up until then weight loss was more difficult and a lot more me than the band. Good restriction makes weight loss a lot easier. Now that it's been a couple of months from that great fill, things are loosening up again and I'm scheduled for another fill next month.

Hang in there, it's worth it!

Yes, this is icky isn't it? Happens to me a lot when I move back to real foods after a fill. It's that darned learning curve. For this not to happen, I need to eat very slowly and chew very well. It's SO EASY for me to forget to do that!

Oh gosh, I would be in agony if I had splenda regularly. Even one packet of it is hard for me to digest. Those symptoms are not something that can be fixed with tums or anything else, except not eating it. Try a natural zero cal sweetner like stevia instead. I've heard this is easy to digest. My husband uses it and likes it.

Trixie

Hi Cindy,

I think all of us that are overweight have felt your frustration. I was in a similar situation just one year ago. I remember how scared and nervous I was when I made the first phone call to the surgeon's office to sign up for the orientation, but for the first time I had a little glimmer of hope that with surgery I would be able to lose the weight. And you can too.

Do you know anyone personally that's had weight loss surgery -- of any kind? Can you ask them if they would recommend their surgeon to you? If you don't have a personal referral, get on the net and do some searching. Just make sure whoever you go with has a good reputation and offers complete follow up care. You will also probably want to talk to your primary care doctor and your insurance company.

Good luck to you!

I would LOVE to hear the answer on this because I wonder the same thing. When I get stuck I feel it in my throat too.

Congratulations!!

I have little mini goals that will be happy mile markers for me. A few examples were/are:

losing 30lbs because that puts me at the weight I got married in (gained 10lbs a year for each year of married life) yikes, at that rate I would've never made it to a 20 year anniversary.lol

Losing 50lbs -- a nice round number that is close to 1/2 of what I need to lose

Reaching 199 --It's been over 10 years since I've seen that number. Not there yet but can't wait.