Angera

You are absolutely correct, the compliments are really such a validation for all the hard work you've been doing. It wasn't until recently that people had been asking what i was doing because my face had changed. I've also been able to finally get back into all those smaller clothes i had in the closer :biggrin: Keep up the good work everyone :thumbup:

This is the part of the journey i fear the most. Losing the weight seems like a piece of cake, it's all cut and dry. You know what you have to do, just do it. But you can't always know what your mind will be thinking and how it will adjust. I pray that my marriage doesn't suffer because of the changes and that it only grows because of the things we'll be able to do that we couldn't do before. I'm smart enough to anticipate there will be bumps, but i've come across too many people who are quick to say my marriage won't work after my transformation is complete. I pray that I will be able to see the hard work when i look in the mirror! All I can do at this point is be positive and always hope for the best. Good luck to everyone and love yourselves.

It's my first full day day back at work since surgery on the 13th. I'm feeling good, but have some soreness in my port area today. I think I may have accidently slept on that side last night and it's bothering me a little today. It has a little stingy feeling here and there, but nothing excruciating. I may just have a shake for dinner tonight to give my tummy a rest. I really got used to the little naps in the afternoon and i'm so sleepy! Luckily, my co-workers are concerned about my health and keep saying "just take it easy, don't overdo anything....." lol, they're afraid to give me work so i get bored! all in all, doing good. How are my fellow bandsters doing just returning to work?!

no, incorrect. i lost 46 before surgery in my 6 month preop and liquids. And an additional 5 during the 10 days post op. My goal was to lose 40 before surgery just to be that much closer to my goal once i got banded.

I'm down 50 pounds and people at work are just now noticing that i've lost weight............................good grief!

30 before/60 after

So many variations on time frames. It depends on method of payment, the surgeon, and your body! My insurance required a 6 month nutrition program so in total, had my seminar in december and didn't get banded until 1.5 wk ago! Also had to do a psych eval and various pre-operative testing the doctor required. Self pay folks look like they get thru fairly quickly once all pre-operative testing has been completed. Good luck! Trust me, even after waiting all those months, it went by SOOOOOOOOOO FAST!

Don't give up just yet. Your journey has just begun! A lot of folks have demons when it comes to food. Afterall, some of us wouldn't have gained this much weight if we didn't have some kind of issue revolving around food! This journey isn't easy, but it's important you always remember why you wanted to do this for yourself. Keep your eye on the prize! It's so easy to throw in the towel, but in the end you won't solve a thing. You will end up just as dissapointed. To start off with, maybe you should focus on the reasons why you are eating. Is it stress, is it boredom, what is it? I know for me, I would eat when I was bored, so I took up some hobbies to keep myself busy so i wouldn't think of food. I would eat when I was angry, it was that instant gratification of controlling what i could put in my mouth because i couldn't control my surroundings. Food was so comforting. Make a list, write down all the the things you want to incorporate into your life. for example, 1. avoid drink with meals 2. walk 20 minutes a day 3. avoid fried foods. So forth and so on......whatever you know you need to work on.tackle the list ONE small step at a time and over time just build on it. Once you start crossing off the things on your list, you'll see just how much you have accomplished! It was hard for me in the beginning. Especially eliminating all those carbs and picking up habits that seemed impossible! I tackled it slowly. Each week, I would reward myself with a splurge if I did good for all the 6 days of the week. For me, it was eating out at lunch with coworkers or out for a nice dinner. It's okay to splurge here and there, remember to treat yourself! After some time, I got to a point where I still went out and treated myself to these meals but was well aware of my choices and after time found myself just making better ones! The weight coming off was the better tasting reward! Sorry this was so long, but maybe something in here will be useful! Just don't give up yet You CAN DO THIS!

People are going to be judgemental whether i tell them or not. I'm sure they were judgemental about my weight to begin with and even if they feel negative about the surgery, who cares?! Perhaps it's just my own personal trait to not really care about the opinion of others. At the end of the day, it's my body and their opinion means nothing! Now to answer the question, yes i did tell people. I feel very confidant with the decision that I have made and am very proud of myself for getting to where i've gotten. And if there are people along the way who i've told that aren't being supportive, i don't care, because there will be people somewhere else in my support network that do support my journey. Just gotta let the haters be haters!!!!!!!!! Be proud of your bodies, whether you're still overweight, in the midst of your journey, or at goal :scared2: Peace Out!!:confused:

It doesn't happen overnight hun. It's going to take time and lots of hard work. But stay strong and be positive. You will see the changes soon enough! :confused:

congratulations! These next few days will be SO HARD, you'll be too excited!

Of course you'll eat soup again! I know I had about 2 meltdowns during my pre-op diet. In both meltdowns, I asked myself "what am i thinking, im never gonna throw down on a thanksgiving dinner EVER!" and better yet "i'm never gonna have a buffet again"..... Sounds silly, but in the end I reasoned, well peooople were never meant to eat like that to begin with! I managed to train my mind to think well it's not like i'll never eat those foods again, i'll still be able to taste them, just not overeat! My nutritionist advised me to avoid soup once i'm fully healed as a permanent source of meal replacements. She said they will go right thru my band and not give me a "full" sensation in my pouch. However, she said if you are out at a restaurant and the soup is the best thing on the menu, try and stick to the solids in it and avoid the broth as much as possible so it doesn't wash out the food going into your pouch :biggrin: hope that helps on the soup issue. again, every nutritionist is different and this is what mine said! I know I was a wreck the two week sbefore surgery, I couldn't think or focus at work! It's a very exciting time! I am one week out of surgery and just ready to hurry up and be healed so I can start this journey!