my name is ashley and im 25 years old. i am married to a wonderful man and have a gorgeous 5 yr old son who keeps me on my toes. i work full time in a call center and also am a full time student at USF. i live in florida so in the summer its shorts, tank tops, and bathing suits no of which i am comfrotable wearing due to my weight. i started this process a year ago in 3/2009 at 278 lbs. i now weigh 267lbs and have my date for surgery to be 3/11. so now i am on a liquid diet with the optifast shakes. i want to get down to my goal wieght which is somewhere between 140-150 lbs so i have a long way to go. this is one of the hardest things i have done bc i love food and to cook. not mention my husband is a chef and can eat whatever he wants and never gain a single pound along with my son. he is very supportive of me but no matter how hard he tries he will never understand how hard this is. please someone help me.

Well thank goodness your finally going to get some help after spending all this time working on it. Once you have the band (and start getting fills) it will be so much easier for you. Its great news that you love to cook because I personally think eating out really cuts down on your weight loss, because of the amount of calories that are in restaurant food. The fact that you have lost 11 pounds on your own is wonderful. Plus you live in a location with great weather so when you start losing you can start doing more stuff outside which in turn will help you lose more. I am so happy for you. Keep us updated. 3/11 is just around the corner!

my name is ashley and im 25 years old. i am married to a wonderful man and have a gorgeous 5 yr old son who keeps me on my toes. i work full time in a call center and also am a full time student at USF. i live in florida so in the summer its shorts, tank tops, and bathing suits no of which i am comfrotable wearing due to my weight. i started this process a year ago in 3/2009 at 278 lbs. i now weigh 267lbs and have my date for surgery to be 3/11. so now i am on a liquid diet with the optifast shakes. i want to get down to my goal wieght which is somewhere between 140-150 lbs so i have a long way to go. this is one of the hardest things i have done bc i love food and to cook. not mention my husband is a chef and can eat whatever he wants and never gain a single pound along with my son. he is very supportive of me but no matter how hard he tries he will never understand how hard this is. please someone help me.

Congrats on making a choice to improve your life. Surgery is just around th ecorner. Yes, you have alot of hard work ahead of you, and it is on ongoing process, but you will have a tool to help you get there. The liquid diet before surgery can be difficult so eamil one of us, or post when you are frustrated with it. It will do 2 things for you- 1 is kick start your weight loss and the 2nd is make surgery a little easier for your doctor- These are both good things don't you agree?

since you are so close you make find some useful information at my blog including the 7 things I wish I knew before having lapband surgery - you can get to it here:

http://sandisbandedliving.com/7-things/

Please let me know if you find this useful