Llyra

Peanut Butter in the cream of wheat and Wendy's chili: thanks for the ideas, folks. I'm another one who can't eat in the morning. Thank goodness for hot tea and Carnation Instant Breakfast.

Maybe you aren't doing anything wrong. Could be your body has reached a point of equilibrium and is just resting, aka a plateau. Try some different activities, maybe dance or stairs or bucking hay, to give your body something new to deal with. You are very lucky that your efforts have resulted in such regular, sustained weight loss. Count your blessings, be patient, don't lose faith. That last twenty pounds can be a real bitch, lap band or no lap band.

And congratulations on your fine achievement!

I drink a lot of diet soft drinks- at least one a day. My doc said it's okay, that gastric bypass patient's have more issue with it than banders. I know lots of other docs nix it altogether, and I'm NOT trying to argue with anyone else's habits, but it's my favorite vice. I've learned to not drink it fast and not drink it too soon after meals to avoid discomfort from the carbonation.

I also had Hair loss about six months after surgery, even though my weightloss wasn't as rapid as many folks'. Turned out I had a nodule on my thyroid and ended up having surgery to remove half of my thyroid. Might not hurt to have your thyroid checked just in case.

bread was one of the things I liked best of all foods and it is something I've been pretty much unable to eat for the last 14 months. Oh, well. Being thinner feels better than bread tasted and I've mostly come to terms with it. I order hamburgers, club sandwiches, and similar meals without bread and eat them with a fork. I guess servers have heard it all because no one has ever so much as blinked an eye at my special request.

I can eat crackers without any problem and with all the money I save on bread I buy really tasty crackers.

Dang, that really sucks. Hugs to you.

I like my new ticker tape. It shows me how far I've come- more than half way to goal. The last ten pounds or so have come off slow thanks to my love affair with sweets. Oddly enough I was never much of a "sweetie" prior to LB surgery, though I could eat my share of the coconut cream pie at Thanksgiving. I was more of a "salty" personality. But on those days when my band just doesn't seem interested in cooperating with the program and tightens up like a boa constrictor, sweets like ice cream and milk shakes just slide down beautifully. Then the band returns to normal and I'm back in the habit of sweets.

I know what to do, of course, and I'm not asking for advice; it is just nice to have a place to write this stuff down knowing there are people out there that have been and are still going through the same thing.

In one of the other threads I read that the majority of bandsters lose 40% of the weight they wish to lose. My dietician told me 50%, so either way I am ahead of the curve and that makes me happy. My weight loss has not been particularly dramatic- no thirty pound months for me!- but I am pleased both with the loss and with my usually cheerful attitude about it all. Last time I was at this weight, I thought I was the size of a box car, but when I compare it to where I was 53 pounds ago, I smile. Heck, thirty years ago I thought I was a whale at 5'7" and 145 pounds. If nothing else, I have a better sense of my own proportions than I used to.

Life is good, even with ice cream.

I meet with my long time counselor about every six weeks just to check in and tune up and make sure I'm not acting on any weird ideas. I highly recommend it, though I'd look for a counselor through a church, county mental health center, or community center since those places are usually cheaper than a psychiatrist. Some even work on a sliding scale structured to your income.

"Thank you so much for your concern; everything is going exactly as planned. Have you seen that new Angelina Jolie movie? What did you think of the special effects?"

or

"I'm doing fine, thank you. Are you going to plant a garden this year?"

or

"Everything is right on schedule; thank you for asking. What are you going to get Grandma for her birthday this year?"

Good manners and redirection are your friends.

Darn. I'm not getting a single bit of fun out of poking my port. Reckon I'm doing it wrong?

I went to a Chinese restaurant today with my daughter. Half a bowl of Soup and a few bites of Jade chicken was more than enough. I learned I could worry about eating too little and having people think I don't like their food!

My consult weight was also my highest weight ever. May I never see those numbers on my scale again.

It is and WILL BE possible for you to lose more than her if you follow the rules and do what you're supposed to.

Funny how that works, isn't it? I'm okay with slower weight loss- any loss is just dandy. The slowness (53 pounds in 13 months) is due to me still struggling with emotional eating issues and not the band or the program. Step by step, I'll get there, even if it takes me longer than other people.

Can you gently tell your friend, "It's not a race to an end, it's a journey through life and I'm glad to have you along for the ride. We'll both get where we're going, and I want us to enjoy the trip together."

It's hard when the teacher becomes the student, and that is sort of what is happening here. She's trying to deal with her envy by joking about it, but it has to be very hard for her. Good luck to you both.

Good for you! I'm glad things worked out.

I eat out regularly, though not as often as I did pre-band. Wednesday nights I go out with my dance students after class; my usual order is Soup and crackers (the place makes divine pepper cheese soup), though occasionally I splurge and have a chocolate malt. My daughter enjoys Chinese food, so I order kung pao chicken, eat the Soup and a few bites of rice, chicken, and vegetables and box the rest for later.

bread doesn't work for me any more, neither does dry meat of any kind. I always loved sandwiches and my friends like to meet at sandwich shops. It has been an adjustment, but I've learned to love soup just as much.

I'm a little concerned about eating on the road next week, but I will manage.

This was such a good idea for a thread! I am enjoying reading about everyone.

Thought I should mention that I have lived in Wyoming for 33 years, but I was raised in TEXAS!!!!! My husband and I are heading to the hill country next week to meet friends and to go motorcycle riding. No one knows how much weight I've lost since the last time I was there a year ago. Wonder if anyone will mention it?

I went back to school at 43 to get my certification as a legal assistant. I worked 11.5 years and retired from the job's headaches. My daughter graduates from HS next month, though she is already taking college classes. She moved out for 2 months, then moved home. Guess it is about par for the course any more.

I would love to fit into my daughter's size 9 Wranglers and a long, straight, bias cut dress- not worn at the same time, of course!

Nice to meet you, Cheri. I am 56, married for almost 30 years, two children, one grandson, seven cats, four dogs, two horses. Banded almost 14 months with a weight loss of 53 pounds. I make my living through equal parts writing, teaching dance and art, and acting for a local historical reenactment group (yes, I get paid for acting! )

My favorite leisure pursuits involve horses, motorcycles, walking, reading, sewing, embroidery, and gardening,

Cheri, my depression/anxiety/arthritis pain were all greatly relieved by Cymbalta, a prescription drug. It enables me to live a kind of life I never expected to enjoy. I wish you equal relief from your own struggles with the Big D and A.

Dang, no wonder you're unhappy. Is there no one locally that would be willing to do an unfill? ER maybe?

I can't really do anything but offer you cyberhugs and hopes that things will improve for you.

Before surgery the nurse put a small piece of tape over the newest piercing in my ear so that I wouldn't need to take the stud out. The chance of choking on a detached tongue stud should it happen to come loose would be enough to convince me to risk having the piercing close up instead.

No offense taken by me, Edivel. I am curious, though, about why you object to a twelve step program for overeating but not for drug or alcohol use. If you're willing to share, I'd appreciate it. If not, just forget I asked.

I think we are finally on the same wave length, Rainy!

No, I do not believe battling one addiction is harder or easier than battling any other addiction. Telling oneself that one's own addiction poses special challenges (e.g. we have to eat) not only disregards the special challenges faced by other addicts but sets an unneccessary barrier in one's own path to recovery.

The desire to have people recognize the difficulty of the battle and provide support and encouragement is why I strongly recommend seeking out a twelve step group- that is precisely what a twelve step group does. It also teaches you step by step how to go about recovering from addiction so that you can lead a better life than the one you have now.

Fair enough. I agree, people do have to eat to live and people don't have to do heroin to live, but eating more food than our bodies need is a choice.

All of us know obesity sucks or we wouldn't be here. We all know diets don't work. We all know it is hard to stop eating once you get started. No one denies those things. But give yourselves a break- quit emphasizing how difficult addiction to overeating/food is and put that energy into learning how to cope with it.

Twelve step programs for overeaters/food addicts evolved from programs designed for other addicts: people have found a way to deal with the problem of addiction. We need not resign ourselves to lives inside a wall of fat. We can choose to stop eating when we've had enough and are lucky to have the lapband to make that choice easier to follow through with.

No jumping on a trampoline? Really? Wow. My doctor hasn't said anything about limiting my activities and he knows I ride horses on a regular basis, which is a constant fall risk.

One thing about skydiving, if the chute doesn't open the last thing you are going to have to worry about is dislodging the band. I think sky diving sounds wonderful and I hope you get to do it, Jessica.

Rainy, I think we're kind of talking at cross purposes here. Do you understand the difference that I'm making between sheer will power and working a program? Recovery begins with the realization that will power is not enough.

I also know addicts who are afraid to take so much as an aspirin, but there often comes a time when a person needs painkillers for an extended time in order to heal from a particular physical ordeal, say spinal surgery. It can be done without a relapse.

I'm not saying it is easy to deal with any addiction, I'm saying it is possible. And it is not a matter of will power, it's a matter of having tools to deal with the situation and an understanding support group who can help you use those tools if necessary.

To keep telling ourselves that it is harder to recover from overeating than from other addictions where the substance can be eliminated completely is not helpful and may even enable us. What I want to get across is that difficult or not, it can be done, it has been done, and will power has little or nothing to do with it.

I'm really not just being argumentative. I'm trying to share the experience, strength and hope that I learned during the last decade and a half as a member of a twelve step program.

Honey, it's not that I don't see your point because I do. I used to think that way myself. But the point doesn't stand up well under scrutiny. More than one heroin addict has been faced with needing medically prescribed painkillers to deal with a physical condition and has managed to take the medication without overdoing it and sliding back into active addiction. That's no easier than needing to eat while learning to not compulsively overeat.

What I want to convey is the defeatist attitude involved in bemoaning the unfairness of our particular challenge. It is what it is. By all means, spend what time you need to feel angry about the situation, but then move on and learn how to deal with it.

You are nineteen pounds down a long road to good health and ultimate triumph over big challenges. You can do this, but if you find it is too difficult to do alone, the twelve stepers are always there to lend a hand and a time-proven method of moving yourself down the line.