skinnyoneday

Its almost 4 years for me and has been a smooth journey.

I got banded at 245lb, at 5ft 10, that's a BMI of 36. I too had no real comorbidities, but the weight was makign me tired, lethargic and I worried, at 38 about going down hill pretty quickly, as I knew I would continue to gain.

I hadnt been fat all my life, I'd always hovered at a BMI of around 26, which to me was humungous, but it was after 3 babies that i slid into obesity. I'd been active and athletic until that lifestyle change that comes with having children.

I lost quite slowly - I had driven myself nuts (and made myself fatter) dieting, had never had ANY success at it and vowed never ever to do it again. So I never counted calories, Protein, carbs, nothing. I just eat healthy and that's it - I buy organic, cook from scratch etc.

I took up running, slowly at first, and then onto a couple of half marathons - took me 2 years plus to get to that stage.

I lost about 70lb first year, probably 25lb the next year and a couple the year after that.

I'm at the point where my weight is perfect, at 150lb, but I think I still have a bit much body fat. My exercise focus has shifted - my main love is running, but I'm focussing a lot more on VERY intense circuit training and interval running in an effort to fine tune my figure.

I've never had a regain, my weight never budges, I firmly believe that's all the exercise I do.

Banding was the best thing I ever did for myself. I place a high responsibility on myself to do the right things and make the right choices, I'm very dedicated to my running and I believe that made it a very effective and workeable tool. However, like mentioned above, I dont feel "cured". I have an overly sweet tooth and a bad tendency to indulge in processed carbs - cakes, Cookies, etc. i cant control myself around those foods and it will ALWAYS be a matter of willpower not to eat them. If I didnt have my band, I think I would regain, for sure.

Jachut, let me just start out by saying you've been an inspiration to me since I joined LBT. I have to admit I've always been intimidated by your signature. I guess most of my issues with lack of losing can be taken care of by simply stopping with the complaints and just getting up and moving. In fact, I was losing weight steadily until around March when it started getting warm again. I started getting bored with my exercise routine and then eventually hurt my knee attempting the Couch Potato to 5k. Once I stopped going to the gym it was hard to get back into the routine.

We're pretty much the same in that we haven't always been big. In fact, I was an avid exerciser and played handball on a regular basis until around the age of 23 when I had my son. I gained weight when I had him and just continued to gain. I've also tried a few diets with little to no success and this surgery was the last resort for me. I refuse to be fat for the rest of my life. Maybe I'm just being impatient. I don't know. Thanks for sharing.

I was banded 3 years ago this month. The first year the weight just flew off me. I will say i was very strict with myself and followed every rule to a T. I lost over a 100lbs the first year. My mindset was this, i willingly had an elective surgery that i was fortunate enough to have had insurance pay for, i'll be damned if i was gonna screw it up. I kept having small frequent fills in order to keep feeling a certain level of restriction. I am filled to 9.2 in the large VG band. I did have one temporary set back. I needed port replacement, i struggled to maintain my loss during that time when we were trying to figure out where my Fluid was going. Luckily i did maintain my loss but it was pure hell without restriction. I joined a gym when i got to the point where i was comfy enough to exercise with others. I go 4-5 times a week. I will be perfectly honest and say i still have food issues and most likely always will, i am a total food addict. That is why i MUST keep myself super restricted so that it is impossible for me to overindulge. I am still able to eat anything i want but i am only able to eat a very small amount. Thats what works for me.

I think I have forgotten the rules of post band living already. Please refresh my memory. Prior to having surgery I said I'd have to be nuts to have spent all that money on surgery (insurance paid for mine also) and not get to my goal weight or at least pretty close to it. However, I've lost focus and that's why I started this thread. So that others in my position would have words of wisdom from our veterans to lean on. This thread will definitely be a "go to" for me when I lose focus again.

Wow, Marian, thank you so much for your input. Your story is very encouraging to me in that you did not gain all of the weight back (or even most of it for that matter) and that even now you are back to losing weight. And thank you so much for officially joining so you could respond. I hope many others follow suit.

I've always wanted to see a thread dedicated to people who've been several years post surgery but have never come across one. While success stories are great, I'd also like to hear about stumbles and failures just so I can get as close to a realistic view of where you can end up weight-wise after surgery. I am struggling and would love to hear about others who also struggled and still reached their goal weight.

I had surgery on 7/15/08. I initially lost 50lbs and was doing great in the beginning. But since around March of this year I have been going in the opposite direction and have gained back 20 pounds. I'm really looking for encouragement right now and would like to know how our "veterans" are doing. I am sure I am not the only one who needs this so.... if you're 3+ tell us what's been going on with you. Share your low points, high points, tips, anything!

Alright I cheated a little yesterday (day 2). Did good the whole day but took my son out for graduation and got a salad of which I could only eat a few forkfuls anyways along with an alcoholic beverage and 2 spoonfuls of dessert. Back on track today. doing good so far and already I am seeing a difference in the amount I can eat. This is not easy so kudos to all of you who successfully and faithfully stick to the test.

I'm in for this round. wasn't quite prepared for last.

Thanks Southern Missy

because it's coming up on my one year bandiversary and i am nowhere near goal.

I'd really like to take part in this but need some ideas on what to eat. It seems like forever since I was on liquids. Help!

I give my stuff to a friend to send to his family who live in a poor country.

I would like to join the challenge. Just added my info to the spreadsheet. A lot of you have lost a significant amount of weight already. I really need to get motivated again and hopefully this will help.

I don't know how you ladies looked when you had just started dating and married your husbands but... In my case when we started dating I was in great shape and always said I would never allow myself to get fat. I was a fanatic about looking good. When I got pregnant with my son it was a license to eat anything and everything in sight - afterall it wouldnt be fair to deprive the baby. Right after I had my son I jumped back on trying to get myself in shape. It worked for a while but then I started getting unmotivated and weight kept creeping up. Due to this and other issues my marriage started to dissolve. My husband started getting angry and this was demonstrated by his distancing himself from me. We went through some rough times. I would always lash out at him and he would go into himself. I was too expressive and he was too dismissive refusing to entertain my argumentative behavior. Anyway, instead of making this story too much longer, when we finally started to just talk to each other he let me know that when I started gaining weight he felt as though I didn't care about him anymore. Even before we got married he said he didn't want a fat wife and I always said (and meant) that I would always keep myself "hot". I didn't keep my promise and he felt like I'd betrayed him. When I started to lose the weight he started chasing me and I couldn't help to feel the way you felt. I had bouts of anger and hurt but I kept those feelings to myself and had to let them go. I love this man too much to hold onto those feelings. They're destructive and not worth it. But as some said open communication is necessary to the health of your marriage. Hope everything works out.

It was hard when I first got my band but I followed the rules because I was afraid of jeopardizing my progress. Now my band simply won't allow me to eat and drink together. The consequence is bringing everything back up.

Congratulations! You look terrific!

My go to places are NY&Co, T.J. Maxx and Filene's basement. All reasonably priced and really cute stuff.

I was given the okay to do all exercises 6 weeks after surgery. It has been a gradual process. I am learning to listen to my body as an indicator of how much I can do. The best thing to do would be to take it really easy at first paying attention to what doesn't feel right. I'm about 2 1/2 months postop and can do pretty much everything except for full sit ups.

Hi Chrisann,

Nope I don't think they changed the rules but I wonder if they do make exceptions. I may have mentioned that I was advanced to mushies 6 days post surgery by Gaspar. Because of that I was able to start solids a little earlier.

I have had 2 fills so far and don't have restriction. I am still able to eat about 2 cups of food without a problem. This was okayed by the nutritionist considering that I make healthy food choices. I have also been making slow steady progress weight-wise and have lost 37lbs between the preop diet and now so I guess I am doing okay.

As far as eating, I have not really had any problems with the foods that I have been eating. So far I have been able to eat chicken breast without a problem. Although I LOVE red meat I've cut that out altogether along with rice and only eat WW Pasta occasionally. And so far eating in the morning has not been a problem. I am looking forward to not being able to eat in the morning and only being satisfied on 1 cup of food.

I know how you feel Yettia. I've also had 2 fills and feel no restriction. I have had to control my amount of eating on my own. According to my nutritionist I should be full after 1/2 cup to 1 cup of food. I can and do eat 2 cups with ease. Aside from my initial issues with weight gain I have steadily been losing. Have you found you are losing weight anyway?

Where have I been? Congrats Ms. April!!! How are you feeling today?

I admire that so much! You can be an inspiration to people who see you out there!

:smile2:

Meow.......

I am using Robert Ullreys podcasts. He has them for free download on his site. The music is high tempo, techno-style. And his voice comes on to tell you when to start and stop running. He also tells you when you are at your half-way point in a run session.

Podcasts

Thanks for the link 1000. I was hoping there would be a podcast for this on the site but couldn't find one. I really want to do this (at my own pace). I have to admit I am very nervous about doing this because I have to run in public but I guess I'll just have to suck it up and think about the long run.

I just don't like to get dressed. I don't like to be around people. People take it personally and add to my stress. They don't understand that I just don't feel comfortable doing the things they want to do and I don't want people to see me at this size. It's hard. I think they take it personal, but they have to understand. It is what it is. I can only be me and feel what I feel.

I feel you. My 16 year old daughter says I'm just not a people person and unfortunately she's right. I don't feel comfortable in my own skin, so my comfort level around others is really low.

I can definitely relate to both of your posts. I hope this changes somewhat once I lose some of this weight.

skinnyoneday, I wouldn't think that restriction has much to do with incision locations or your port. Restriction is made by the tightness of the band so the restriction should be felt somewhere between your mouth and the band. It is usually felt near the stomach or up further somewhere in the esaphagus. The top of your stomach, where the band is placed is below your left breast. If you are feeling something lower or to the right of the stomach then it probably doesn't have anything to do with restriction because at that location the food has already passed through the band. What you are feeling may be related to digestion, maybe your gallbladder or or maybe healing in your port. My port is just above and to the right of my belly button which is where the intestines are.

Thanks for the explanation, Jodi. I guess I just always assumed when I got that feeling it was was my body telling me to put down the fork. Either way, I'll take that as a good thing.

would it be safe to assume where you get restriction depends on where your incisions are? I feel restriction in my right lower cage area close to where the port is. I am guessing those of you who feel pain around your bra area have higher incisions. Am I right?

Congratulations