Hi all! I'm a "newbie" to this. My name is Renee and I'm a 35 year old stay at home mama, student, and wife. My children are six and a half ( I HAVE to say the "half" or she gets upset! :-) ) and five. My husband is a federal employee and also serves in the USAF. He is gone a LOT, so many times I feel like a single mom. I'm also slowly working on getting my teaching credential.... SLOWLY. I was scheduled to student teach in the fall, but now I may not be able to as my husband received orders to go to Afghanistan *sniff.*

Long story short.... I lost track of "me" over the years of being married, enduring many, MANY moves, 2 babies, a broken ankle w/ 2 babies, and on and on..... over the years the scale just continued to climb until I had no idea who was looking back at me in the mirror. I was once a vibrant, active, smart, athletic girl... my first date w/ my husband was hiking up a big mountain in Carmel, CA. I figured, if he could hack a 10 mile hike w/ me sweaty, in a ball cap and no make-up...then we had a chance! Nine years later.... I'm desperately trying to find that girl again.

I now have degenerative disk disease and have completely lost the last disk in my spine and am losing the second one. I have arthritis in my right knee, have sleep apnea, and am just plain miserable. food became my comforter in the times of stress, loneliness from having a husband who is gone all the time, and a study buddy late at night. I am 5'9.5".... I lost half an inch to age and weight!!! I currently weight 249 lbs. My profile picture shows me on my 35th b-day in Las Vegas weighing in at 247 lbs! My goal is to lose 100 lbs though the body measurement scale my surgeon uses says that, due to muscle mass, I only need to lose 80. "We'll see"... is all I say to him.

On March 31st I was given the good news that I was approved, first time trying, by my insurance to receive the lap-band surgery. The following day I received my surgery date of April 20th!!! I was so excited, scared, and overwhelmed I just started crying on the phone... then I thought I was going to throw up from the shock. Now, 17 days away from a new beginning... its starting to sink in. 7 months ago, when I began this process, it all seemed so un-real...so... unattainable. I had to jump through soooo many hoops! Its almost like I began to lose sense of the seriousness of it all... because it seemed like it was never going to happen! I stopped counting calories, I went back to many of my old ways... I just stopped caring again. Then BAMN! Just like that... I have to re-set my mind, get a nutrition plan up and running and a menu for my first 2 difficult weeks going in a matter of days. Talk about stressful!...which btw is a trigger for me to eat! ugh.

Well, I'm hoping to meet some new people here, hear some wonderful success stories, hear that I'm not alone in my struggles, my fears... and hopefully a LOT of my joys.

Its nice to meet you all :-)

Hi Renee. Welcome to the Forums. You're in the right place, and there are many here who have similar stories as yours. You'll meet a lot of great folks here who are very interested in helping others make the most of their journey. You've come a very long way, and now it's time to turn the corner and take the next steps. Take things slow and steady, do your homework, and educate yourself as much as possible about how the band works, and how weight loss works. Learn your food triggers and the kind of risky behavior to avoid. It'll help you quite a bit.

You'll hear time and again that "the band is just a tool," and to be the most successful, you'll want to know how that tool works. Those who seem to have the most trouble are those who don't take the time to learn what to expect - so they develop unrealistic expectations, and suffer needless disappointment.

I'm a retired Navy guy who used to be active like crazy. I was "that guy" everyone always talked about. But over time, due to the stresses of my post-Navy job (I'm in IT for a hospital) the weight started stacking up. Arthritis set in due to the damage done to my knee joints from twenty years of pounding up and down ladders and walking on steel decks aboard ships, and I slowed down. The slower I got, the more I gained. Finally, I decided to call a halt to the downward spiral. I'd look in the mirror and see a fat guy staring back at me, but on the inside I was the fit athlete I'd always been. I knew I had to find "that guy" again.

The band has been an amazing tool for me. I'm about halfway to my goal after just six months, and less than four months after being banded. I'm back in the gym 4 or 5 days a week, and the weight loss has been pretty dramatic. I've completely emptied my closet of my fat clothes, and replaced them with things that fit right, because "that guy" doesn't need those big sizes anymore. It's amazing.

Best of all is that as the weight comes off, so do the extra years that stacked up on me. I feel better, younger, healthier than I have in many years, and I'm absolutely delighted. I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and find it's all been a dream. Then I'm reminded of how hard I've worked to get to where I am, and how much further I need to go. As I've said many times, my ONLY regret about being banded is that I didn't do it years ago. But I think if I had been banded before I was truly ready to tackle it head on, I don't think I'd have had the success I've enjoyed so far. For me, it was the right decision at the right time.

I wish you the very best of luck on your journey. Good luck!

Dave

Hi Dave

thank you for the warm welcome!

Yes, I DO hear "the band is just a tool" ALL the time. I'm very aware it is NOT the answer. I'm aware that my weight is just as much emotional as it is physical. Luckily, I'm a student by nature and have been studying and going to counseling for some time now...wow, not that I think about it...its been well over a year. I know that the changes will not just be physical ones. In fact, I chose the lap-band for a slower weight loss rate so that I could have time to adjust with the mental/emotional aspects of it all. I suffered from an eating disorder when I was younger and weighed it at 5'10" at 120lbs. Technically I still have one...just the extreme opposite of when i was younger. I was warned that the rapid weight loss of bypass may trigger that need to lose "just a little bit more" and not have the time to adjust as well. I agreed.

I am back to the gym now on a regular basis. I have a personal trainer and have built up my strength quite a bit. I've also started with a personal trainer in boxing as well. I'm worried about not being able to get back in there as fast as I would like. Were you working out before the surgery? I can't seem to find anyone in my position to ask how long it takes to get back up to full speed... and then some. I'm already addicted to working out. I'm worried about becoming weak after the surgery.

Any thoughts???

Hi Dave

thank you for the warm welcome!

Yes, I DO hear "the band is just a tool" ALL the time. I'm very aware it is NOT the answer. I'm aware that my weight is just as much emotional as it is physical. Luckily, I'm a student by nature and have been studying and going to counseling for some time now...wow, not that I think about it...its been well over a year. I know that the changes will not just be physical ones. In fact, I chose the lap-band for a slower weight loss rate so that I could have time to adjust with the mental/emotional aspects of it all. I suffered from an eating disorder when I was younger and weighed it at 5'10" at 120lbs. Technically I still have one...just the extreme opposite of when i was younger. I was warned that the rapid weight loss of bypass may trigger that need to lose "just a little bit more" and not have the time to adjust as well. I agreed.

I am back to the gym now on a regular basis. I have a personal trainer and have built up my strength quite a bit. I've also started with a personal trainer in boxing as well. I'm worried about not being able to get back in there as fast as I would like. Were you working out before the surgery? I can't seem to find anyone in my position to ask how long it takes to get back up to full speed... and then some. I'm already addicted to working out. I'm worried about becoming weak after the surgery.

Any thoughts???

It sounds like you're in a great place to move forward with the band. The pitfall many run into is seeing a rapid weight loss during the liquid diet phase right after surgery, but as they start onto solid foods, the weight loss slows or even stops. They want to continue that sort of loss trend, but it takes planning and work to get onto that track. Over time, as there are fills and the person's body adjusts to a new way of eating, weight loss picks up again. It's all about managing diet, exercise, sleep, and making the most of what the band allows your body to do. If you're already working out with a trainer, you're on the right road, and probably won't have the kind of peaks and valleys a lot of new bandsters go through.

In the first few weeks right after surgery you'll want to focus on healing from the surgery itself. Working out should not be high on your list. Plenty of time for that after you're healed up.

I wasn't exercising before banding. It hurt too much, and I was too busy planning my next overeating splurge. I'd create opportunities to overeat (like take-out pizza three times a week or more, and there are only two of us in my household...) After the initial rush of weight loss, I began to feel better, and started back at the gym. Now I've made that my daily routine - after work I go to the gym before heading home. I get my workout in, and THEN I give thought to what I'll eat for dinner. food has taken a secondary place in my life, and I'm okay with that.

One thing you may want to check out, which I can highly recommend, is the armband made by Bodymedia. They make several versions, including the Bodybugg worn by contestants on The Biggest Loser. It takes the guesswork out of where you are for the day, in terms of calories burned, calories eaten, amount of exercise, and even how well you're sleeping. I rely heavily on mine to keep track of the day for me, so I can focus on my work. It's an excellent tool. And since you're working with a trainer, you may find it especially helpful.

Dave

Welcome! I can certainly understand how you feel. My husband and I meet at 17 and I was very athletic played soccer hiked you name it we did it. Then 4 kids later and college classes and his always changing shift work schedule (evey 7 days he switches shifts). I went from 145 38-28-38 to 293. Oh my! I had my band done in dec and it has been the best thing for me. It is still difficult I have lost 51lbs since everything started. I had lost almost 30 gained some back waiting on approval then lost 42 since surgey. It is hard it is a tool but it can be done. I also know that now that my weight loss has slowed I see my weight drop more when I do the Wii fit on a regular basis. Just something new I started back on since I hit a plateau at 45lbs. But it has been wonderful to put clothes on from last year that are way to big?

The best advice I can give is your gonna have bad days, your gonna slip but this is a process and we are undoing the habits we have taught ourselves so it is hard to change as with everything.

welcome! i had a relatively low BMI and i was self pay so my surgery was scheduled pretty quick. we're all nervous when it gets close to the date of the surgery.

my banding experience hasn't exactly been smooth sailing and if i knew then what i know now, i'm not sure i would get banded again BUT i have reached my personal goal weight which is "normal" on the BMI chart.

at my 2 year anniversary, my surgeon told me that i probably wouldn't lose any more weight (i was at 171 pounds at the time) because i had lost 60% of my total weight. well, i wasn't happy with that because i was still in the "overweight" category. so, i pushed on and during this past year i've lost another 26 pounds which got me to my goal of "normal".

i has taken me almost 3 years to lose 68 pounds and although i've never gained any weight back, it's taken forever! BUT i didn't exercise at all either. things might have moved quicker if i had.

the most difficult part of this entire process is eating (or not eating in my case). i've been a binge eater for many, many years and it's still hard to control. i've said many times that i have a devil (my brain) sitting on one shoulder and an angel (my band) sitting on the other shoulder. every time i eat, the devil tells me to keep eating... it tastes SOOO good, just one more bite but the angel tells me i'm full and satisfied and its time to stop eating.

if i listen to the devil (brain) and keep eating... i throw up everything that i've eaten. if i listen to the angel (band) and stop eating... i'm left feeling depressed because i want to eat more. i still struggle with this on a daily basis.

i have gone from a size 16 jeans to a size 6... a size 14 skirt to a size 4... a size XL shirt to a S.

good luck on your journey and please, tell your husband i said, "Thank you for all you do!!" he's such an honorable person to be serving our country!

Hi Renee ... welcome aboard! My best advice, get educated about the band and how it works. I'm suprised at the number of people who think it is a magic wand! Best of Luck to you! I love my band!!!

wow everyone! thank you so much! I really want to take the time to reply to each of you but I've had a super long day and my hubby is waiting for our very rare "time with out the kids" time. :-)

I genuinely appreciate the welcome :-)