aromanek

Hello all, I have been pretty obsesed with green smoothies lately. I think they have actually helped me kickstart weight loss since I had slowed down a lot in the past 6 months and I give them a lot of credit for helping me to break the 100lb barrier. I had started a food journal and looked at the past several months of entries and realized that I avoid fresh veggies and fruit since they are hard for me to eat. I was looking online and came across several blogs talking about green smoothies and I have tried a couple recipies out. This morning I had a smoothie with 1 cup baby spinach, 1 cup swis chard, 1 carrot, 1/2 a cucumber, 1/2 cup grapes, a couple grape tomatoes, 1 small orange, 1/2 an apple, 1 scoop of unflavored Protein Powder and a 1/8 cup pistachios. I throw it in my blender and liquify the heck out of it. It takes me most of the morning to drink it, but it is sweet and very refreshing. There are a million ways to make them. I made kale, grape, and apple popsicles and had a treat while doing homework the other day. Another plus is that I can still get my Protein, have raw food, and balance my calorie intake with whole, healthy food. I feel great. I get a lot of my food ideas from LBT so I thought I would share something that I am excited about.

At this point I dont think my day will feel complete without a shake! In the mornings I am much tighter so a shake is the best I can do unless I have a later breakfast. On mornings I go to the gym I use a blender and add fruit and a little skim milk to give me a small calorie boost while I work out hard. On days I take my shake to go, I just use my blender cup.

I came across a cheap ice cream pop mold at the dollar store a couple months ago. Every now and again I make a basic shake with chunky fruit in it and pour it in the mold and have chocolate ice pops with bananas.

I absolutely love Morning Star burgers. Since I was banded steak and pork chops are mostly a no go for me. Hamburgers are fine, but I have really been working on cutting back on meat. I had tried a bunch of brands of veggie burgers and nearly all of them tasted like wood shavings, but the morning star brans are very, very good. I usually get them once a month at costco where thay have a big bag for a reasonable price. They are so good I have been able to get my whole family to eat them. The whole line of morningstar products are great, in my opinion. The Breakfast sausage patties are damn good! I use their meatless crumbles meal starters in things like mini quiches for Snacks on the go and I also add it in homemade chili. I have found them to be easy to eat. I have never had any trouble getting them to go down.

Since getting banded, I actually make a weekly pot of chili myself in a dutch oven. Thay way I can pack it full of veggies and only add fresh ingredients. I then portion it out into containers and freeze for later meals throughout the week. I have found it is cheaper and less of a hit to my calorie budget if I make it myself.

I was on insulin and metformin pre op and now I am lucky enough to be off all my meds. It took about 3 months, but I havent taken a pill or a shot in a very long time.

After lapband and lasik I hardly recognize myself in pictures!

In a heartbeat. I am about 120 lbs down from my heaviest and 85 of that due to the band and I have gone from a 54-56 inch waist to a 38-40. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 26 and now at 30, I am free of all my meds and insulin. I no longer have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. I was taking up to 5 pills and 3 shots of insulin a day. I am at a point where my goal weight is in sight and I couldn't feel better. I think I had read a post above that someone was having frustrations with the changes that come along with the band. To that I can say that measuring food and remembering to chew and take small bites is so worth it since the alternative would be me still eating 5 (or more) double cheeseburgers from the dollar menu at one time and feeling like a complete failure. I was actually thinking the other day while clothes shopping (at a regular store since I don't have to go to the big boy store anymore) that I couldn't remember the last time I got tired from just walking around. Or being drenched in sweat from just moving around, or feeling self conscious about my weight on a date, or being embarrassed about needing a seatbelt extender on a flight, or feeling uncomfortable in my own skin.... the list goes on and on, but I think you get the point. NSVs are now a part of my life and FAR outweigh any frustrations or changes caused by my band. During the clothes shopping trip that I mentioned above, I tried on a large size shirt. When it actually fit, I literally had to sit down in the fitting room and collect myself I was so happy. I was 10 the last time I fit into anything in the large size. The band has helped me take control of something that was pretty much killing me. In 2008 when I was admitted to the hospital after I collapsed at work, the doctor told me that I was diabetic and not only that, but I had severe diabetic ketoacidosis too. I had no idea I was diabetic and thought I just had the flu. It was so bad that the team of doctors figured that my organs were hours away from shutting down. I was going to leave work early and go home to take a nap. If that had happened the doctors thought I might not have woken up. I remember being hooked up to every machine imaginable and then being told it was a good idea if I saw someone to help me put my affairs in order "just in case". I was in the hospital for 9 days and they were THE scariest days of my life. It was a more extreme wakeup call than most people get, but I honestly don't think I could have come this far without my band. I feel lucky to have been given the opportunity to have it. I consider it the best gift I have ever given myself.

Last week I sepnt the day in the mountains which is something I would have never been able to do before. I am losing much slower than before, but I couldn't be happier.

I am going in for my 3rd fill on Monday, but I am not looking forward to a day of liquids. I am hoping that my doctor is much more agressive this time around. I only have 2.6cc in my band since I have been losing preety steadily, but in the past month I have only lost around 8 lbs. On the positive side it is giving my body a chance to catch up with the loss. I am very releived that my skin seems to me shrinking nicely. Also, the couple days after the fill serve as a nice reality check time for food since you have to progress slowly back to solids. I would have to say that this has been such a positive experience overall. I nolonger have to take any diabetes meds, I feel health for once and I feel great about myself. I am going broke replaceing my whole wordrobe each month, but if that is the only downside then this is all worthwhile.

I went to the gym last night and got on the treadmill. When I was entering in my age/weight it hit me that I have lost so much weight. I havent been back to the gym since before the band and before I was entering weights between 340 and 315. To put in 247 was an awesome feeling. I was actually amazed at how easy it was to run now and how nice it was not to get so overheated and sweaty. That was truely an eye opening event.

For me, being open about my surgery was the best option. I did make it clear that it isn't a big issue and if people have questions then I am happy to talk about it. I work with some great people, but I also work with some of the nosiest gossips ever. I think that by being open and owning my surgery publicly they don’t have much to say. Set boundaries and reinforce that it is a decision that you made for your reasons and other people's opinions are not welcome, but questions are. I have had a few men here in my office who are heavy talk to me about it because they never considered it as an option for them. You never know, you might be able to help someone else out.