Hello to all. I am new to this site but not new to the process. I was banded by Dr. Adam Kaplan July 22nd, 2009. I have lost a total of 93lbs according to the weight I was at the day of the surgery. But I did gain 39lbs in the 6-8 month period that elapsed between my initial consultation and the actual surgery date. I admit, I have not been what my doctor would call "compliant" to his rules, but I have lost quite a bit and have not had any set backs or problems. I am now on my last leg of my weight loss journey. I have approximately 40-50 lbs to go before I have my abdominoplasty and I am now recommitted to this process and want to finish what I have started. I have not had a fill for almost a year and I have lost most of my weight without the help of my doctor. However, I realize I need to do more and its time for a fill but in order to do this, I had to go back to eating one cup total of food three times a day. This is a challenge! I need some encouragement and do not have time with my busy lifestyle to go to the support group meetings scheduled by my Lap Band doctor's office so here I am. I look forward to learning and helping to encourage if I can.

Hi! I am so inspired by you! Here you are, still at it and reaching out for support because you recognize that you need that. We all need that. 93 pounds is HUGE...way to go! I understanf gaining before surgery. I went through this total "last supper" phase where I just wanted to eat everything that I told myself I would never eat again...not because I knew I couldn't after the band but because I knew I shouldn't. It was my mental way of letting go and saying goodbye to those foods. I practiced being mindful of every taste and every mouthful of the breads and pastas that I will not allow myself to order and ya know, I found that while I may crave them from time to time...that is just the learned habit of the comfort food self medicating I was doing and there are PLENTY of really delicious healthy foods that I will be able to be very satisfied with. I am even excited to come up with a new way to have my previous favorite...pizza....using eggplant instead of crust and making my own. And some casseroles that will include spaghetti sauce, olives, mushrooms, onions, zucchini and motzerella cheese.

The main thing I am going to do is like you said, measure my food to no more than a cup and be done...walk away, find a new activity to distract myself from the thought that I want to eat more because I know from experience it will go away and I will feel full for several hours.

I have gotten the advice from my doc also to put myself on a timer, eat or plan to eat a meal or snack every 4 hours until dinner then be done. I can totally do this...the other thing that successful people do is make a plan for the week and stick to it. If you plan it out not only will you not exceed your calories for the day, you will also SAVE money at the store buying only what you need! I go a step further and plan what I will make based on the sales ads and coupons I have...it is challenging but I do love a good challenge and since it cost me lot of money to have this done it is kind of fun to find ways to save money to pay it off faster.

I wish you every bit of luck and support. I think you already know what you need to do, afterall you have had tremendous success already, you just have to kick it into gear again and remember why you are doing all of this and that you are WORTH it!

Hope you have a fantastic day filled with great choices!

Best wishes to you!