BRINA913

So yesterday was my 3 week bandiversary. I am happy to report that I am a third of my weigh(pardon the pun) LOL to my goal. I have lost an amazing 30 pounds!:eek: When I went to the doctor on Sept 7th for my last visit before surgery I was whopping 236 pounds:ohmy: This morning when I got on the scale I was lovely 206!:smile2: Originally my goal was to be under 200 by Christmas....but I think I may up the ante & go for Thanksgiving! I have not eaten a real meal since October 10th...but who's counting:lol: It has been hard at times to cook for my family but my clothes are starting to get big on me and that is the ultimate reward. I know that I am so mentally committed to doing this. My doctor has cleared me to do only cardio and I cannot wait. I am on mushies and it hasn't been that bad....I try really hard not to obsess about food & for the most part I am not hungry. Today I had a sweet potatoe & it was like eating filet mignon. All I keep telling myself is baby steps. I know for me that this is the beat thing I have ever done for myself....I am so proud of me me me. That six months that I went thru the process of being approved was a great gift to myself, it totally helped me to prepare myself for what I was about to undertake. Do I miss food? Yes, but what I miss more is my self-esteem & my self confidence. So I keep me eye on the prize ( which is a new & improved me) and continue to stay focused & take it one day at a time.

Today I am 9 days post-op! What a difference a week makes! Feeling very good...still a little sore but that is to be expected. And for thos of you who don't know I also had a hiatal hernia fixed while I was there. hence, the soreness! Starting to feel a bit hungry every now & ten...but is definitely not the raging beast kind of hunger. I drink a 4oz serving of liquid protein and all is good. Chewing on my vitamins is like heaven though. You never realize how satisfying chewing is until you haven't chewed anything in over 2 weeks! I definitely have my eye on the prize and have told myself that this is my new lifestyle and no cheating...besides can't imagine going through all that pain & cheating! I am down 19 pounds still and every time I step on that scale I am ecstatic. I am now officially 215. My goal is to be under 200 by Christmas! The best present I could give myself. For all of you who are on liquid diets it is so worth it. And so is the post-op pain it is all worth it, the moment you step on that scale and you realize you are losing WEIGHT!

Have u tried a protein powder mixed with skim plus milk? I use chocolate flavored UNJURY mixed with 8oz of skim plus milk....it gives you 31g of protein....you need protein for energy! Had my surgery on the 18th.

So I have survived my surgery. When they went in I had a hiatal hernia & they repaired it. So my side is a little bit more sore than usual. I promised I would be honest. The gas pains really sucked!:w00t: Today I am 7 days post-op & the gas pains have finally subsided. The constipation isn't too great either:cursing: All I can say is WALK WALK WALK! I have been off my pain meds since Friday by choice because I have to start driving on Monday & wanted my system to be totally clean and because they don't help with the constipation. I havent been very hungry....I drink 4oz. every hour & I do two protein shakes a day. I have been using the Chocolate UNJURY & I mix it with Skim Plus Milk with Fiber & Ice & put it in my new Ninja smoothie maker. Definitely does not taste as bad as it smells & it only has 200 calories with 31 grams of protein. So I meet my protein quota everyday. I got on the scale this morning and ALL together I have lost 19 pounds. :smile2: The recovery has been longer than I expected BUT I also had the hernia:frown:. For the people who say they went to work three day post-op I say Kudos to them. My family has been very supportive and I really would have been lost without them:wub: My next doctor appointment is November 2nd & hopefully I move onto the mushie phase:w00t::smile2:. I will keep updating..............

Tomorrow is my big day...pardon the pun but the weight is over in more ways then one! Thank the baby Jesus! I haven't been waiting for this moment for seven months & now that it is here I am getting a bit nervous. Should I be standing in a corner shaking like a leaf or should I just run a way like a scared dog with my tail between my legs. I have prayed, had my husband light a candle for me at church, and even went as far as telling everybody my last dying wishes. OK...I am totally over the top and need to calm my ass down and stop thinking. Just wish my head was like a light switch and I could turn it off. My house is clean...my kids are clean...the laundry is done....and I have even cooked food for the first three days of next week. I could almost jump out of my skin. Did I also mention that I am friggin starving? This liquid diet sucks. Kind of unfair when you think about it...when you go in front of the firing squad they give you a last dinner. How I would die for a last meal! But as we all know tomorrow I face my banding squad & no one even asked what I want for a last meal! LOL! Pizza, fried calamari & a huge tossed salad! That would be my final meal. Oh and maybe a piece or two of sushi! But the reality is that the closest I will get to pizza & a salad is a glass of V8. ANd as far as the fried calamari & sushi...well I will just have to dream about it and when I am drinking my protein shake & chicken broth imagine lobster tails & filet mignon. I will post my progress as much as I can and give you updates. The one one thing I am going to really try to do is tell YOU my experience how it made me feel and exactly what it would be closely related to...a point of reference lets say! I always thought that would be helpful and not many people do that! Ciao for now.....

Not a problem Jan22....I will add you as a friend! I will try to update my blog this week after surgery as much as possible! If we don't speak Good Luck to you!

So I am 4 days away from surgery! I have been diligent sticking to my liquid diet & I am pretty proud of my self. Hang on while I pat myself on the back. At times you will hear me mention my family or make reference to them. But you will not hear that much about them. This journey is about ME! And only ME! To some this may sound selffish, but to me it is totally justified. Let's be honest....part of the reason that I am where I am (weight wise) is because yes I have made bad choices but I have always put everyone else before myself....My husband & my 3 children! And even though they are ALL the loves of my life, I have come to realize that I must always be the love of my OWN life. No one can love me like I can love myself. So this blog will be about my journey, my weight loss, my experiences whether good or bad, and how I am getting to the goals that I have set for myself. I have made a committment to myself to lose weight but more importantly I have made a committment to myself to put me first. If I can do thirty minutes on the treadmill & the laundry doesn't get done....OH WELL! It can wait but my transformation cannot. So as I sit here and write this, I hope you take one thing with you & that is to be totally committed to yourself! You come first and once you make a choice to do that part of the battle is over. WE are ALL worth having the life that WE are ALL trying to obtain!

No way not to tink it to death...from what I understand I go into the chat room a lot! and many of the people there complain about all the negative things...so I I havent been in as often. TMI---Too Much Information. I am scheduled for tomorrow...don't focus on the negative things focus on thpositive. Remember what got you to this point in the first place. Remember how when you go shopping you want to buy anything & everything you want & not be so limited in your choices. Also some people who have slippage is because they have made poor food choices & puke which causes slippage. Be totally committed mentally & physically and remember you have to not want the bad things to eat...the band can't stop you from eating them only you can. As far as not losing weight ask them what they are really eating...there was one lady in the chat roo complaining that she isn't losing but was consuming 2000 calories a day. Take a break from the forum & you will remember why you are doing this. On friday I had one of those moments but when I put on my outfit to go out & realized that I look like a linebacker...it brought right back to why I wanted to do this in the first place. I have a blog & I will be tracking my progress as I go. Maybe that will help you...Good Luck!

Good luck to you.....I am being banded tomorrow too! Don't be nervous but I totally know how you feel...you want it so bad but now that it is here you almost want to run away with your tail betweeen your legs! We will both be fine & start our journey together! I will pray for you & you do the same for me....GOD SPEED!

OMG! Three days to go! My surgery is on Monday and you know the weekend is going to fly by. SO...this morning I went to my sons senior breakfast at the High School & as I got ready I looked in the mirror and thought am I doing the right thing!:thumbup: BUT....as I was trying to pick an outfit out for tonights charity event that I am attending, again I realized what has gotten me to this point! As I tried outfit after outfit & realized that I basically look like a linebacker in everything, I had another lightbulb moment!:wub: This what has gotten me here....this is why I have decided to take this drastic measure and finally get a grasp on my weight issue. I want to look in the mirror and feel like my body is as beautiful as my face. When I was a kid everyone would make fun of me for always looking in the mirror. I finally realized that I never really look in mirrors that are below my waste anymore...it is just to painful:crying:. I never wanted to be the girl that people would say "Oh it's a shame she is so heavy...she has such a beautiful face". But yet here I am that person at 46 years old. So today on October 15th I mourn my old lifestyle but am looking forward to embracing my new one. I look at this Friday and think that this will be my last fat Friday. This will be the last Friday in my life that I will ever weigh this much again... As I sit here and ride this emotional rollercoaster, once again I have had my doubts about whether or not I should go forward but in the end my rational mind takes over & reassures me that I am doing the right thing!

Thanks so much all of you for the kind words & well wishes! We are all in this together & we need to be a united front so that we can all get through this together. I am happy to know that my words have inspired & motivated some of you to finally realize that we are the most important thing in our families lives. That is why it is so iportant for us to come first...if we are unhealthy how can we benefit our families.

Ok so everyone in my house is sick. It is like a booger fest in here. Sneezing, coughing, runny noses! Kinda gross when you think about it. I am tempted to go buy a surgical mask so that I don't catch anything. I cannot be sick on the day of my surgery.:ohmy: Surgery is a mere 8 days away!!!:frown: I have just realized that basically after dinner tonight, I probably will not eat a real meal until around Thanksgiving! That is crazy when you think about it & only goes to show how desperate I am not to be overweight anymore. Thank the baby Jesus that Thanksgiving is not one of my favorite holidays (as far as food that is). What the hell was I thinking? I have to go through Christmas Eve & Christmas Day newly banded:drool:. This will definitely be a test of my fortitude. I just want to clarify one thing for the people who read my blog yesterday. I was getting cold feet because I read on here about sliming & slippage. But as far as the horror stories, those are from the people who I have told that I am having the Lap Band Surgery. Those people need to keep it to themselves:ohmy:. I have been told "oh i know someone who had it & she only lost 10pounds" or "this lady I know had it & they made a mistake & now they removed her colon" Thanks for sharing but no thanks! All the people on here have been very supportive & a plethora of information. I love using big words...LOL! So I just wanted to clarify that & make sure that there wasn't any mix-up on who my annoyedness(is that even a word) was aimed at. Tomorrow I am going to buy a scale & a heating pad to get ready for my surgery on the 18th. A lot of people on here say that the heating pad helps with the gas pains. I actually think that I have lost a few pounds from nerves...Go figure! Cannot believe my surgery is a week from tomorrow!!!!!!!!! So many emotions! But yesterday as I was sitting with my beautiful soon to be 16 year old daughter, looking for a dress for her big party and caught a profile glimpse of my butt....I know that I have made the right choice. My daughter is exactly the same height as I am and wears between a 2 & a 4, and that is the moment that I thank God that she got her fathers genes and not mine. I would never want my daughter to struggle with her weight the way that I have my entire life. So even though my tunnels feels a little dark right now (only out of fear) the thought that I could be 30 to 40 pounds thinner by her Sweet "16" in January....makes it very easy for me to see the light at the end!

I got on the scale this morning and I could swear that it said 224. That is what I get for buying a scale at Walmart. Can it possibly be? That means I am down 10 pounds.....can I get a woot woot:w00t:! So as I am drowning in my land of liquids & I am starting to realize that I have way more will power than I ever thought possible. Weight watchers was hard for me...hated Jenny Craig! But yet I have stuck to my liquid diet, like it is my job....oh wait a minute that is my job right now. I will say this though, cooking for my family is really hard. Everything smells so yummy! Last night I took my 7 year old to McDonalds....I would have given anything to lick just one french fry. But I was very proud of myself...I did not & I repeat did not eat not one fry. :thumbup: So for all my fellow bandsters who are just starting this journey, believe in yourself because it will happen and you can do it. All good things come from hard work & perserverence. 5 days & counting until I am a official Bandster!:wub:

Unjury is great...try the chicken soup flavored one...sodium is a bit high but tastes great!

Janet, There opinion & what they think of me matters very very much, but I have to learn to put my needs as a priority so I don't get off track. Congrats to you & I look forward tot he day that I can say 16 months out & counting!

I'm glad I could help! So important to have positive reinforcement.

Thanks so much for the encouraging words, and I am happy to hear that you are well on your way to a newer & skinnier you! Positivity is all I kind say...There is no room for negativity or the Haters!

I am getting banded on October 18th! It has not been easy to be on a all liquid diet. But at least you had the choice of protein, I was not given that option. I just keep telling my self that I need to fight the instinct to cheat because this is what I signed up for when I decided to get the LAP BAND, and this is what awaits me afterward. Sugar-free ice pops have been great. I can crunch them & it makes me feel like I am eating. Stay positive & just keep looking for the light at the end of the dark foodless tunnel!

Seven days from now I will be sitting in a recovery room. I will have a funnel like system in my body that will help me to control my portion size. My stomach will be swollen from the procedure and not feel hungry in the beginning. After not eating, a small sip of broth or a bowl of jello maybe a welcome change BUT....and here it comes....wait for it..... I AM STARVING ON THIS PRE-OP ALL LIQUID DIET! I am so hungry....no pouch...no small funnel system! Just a large stomach that is used to eating whatever & whenever it wants. I am peeing like a race horse from all the fluids! UUGGGGGGGHHHHHH! I have had V8...I have had fat-free chicken broth...I have had sugar-free ice pops...coffee...cranberry juice and of course the chalky chocolate protein drink! But I am committed to this journey I have started. I am two days in to this liquid pre-op and all I keep telling myself is 6 days more and I will be in anesthesia la-la land & not realize how truly hungry I am. So I refuse to go in the kitchen (out of sight out of mind). But I swear my sense of smell has gotten stronger....I can smell a pizza three block away!