Hi everyone! I'm having surgery on January 10th and created a group in the groups section "January 2012 bandsters". Would love to get some discussions, support going.

Hi there, back again but this time I didn't backslide! I started back to logging, etc in August of 2013- after a dang regain- and with a little slipping around the holidays I am now at 201! yay! So I've lost 35 lbs since August 2013, and 83 lbs since being banded in 2012. I got a fill right before Christmas, and am pretty tight, but not too tight. I did have a stuck episode a week or so ago, but that was from eating way too fast and not chewing.

Wow, yah, 2 years! I can't remember the date, I'll have to go back to the beginning of this thread! Seriously, this is awesome- I will have more time to post, started a new job that I love, soon I'll have a new phone that I can get the new app on, and guess what? I went to the Goodwill to get some new work clothes, and ALL of the pants I bought were size 18! It has been more than 9 years since I wore an 18!!!! Yay!!!!

LadyB- you're dedicated, and I'm so excited for you to reach your goal!!! That is so great, I'm so proud of you!!!

Kymie- glad your test was good and that everything is good! Just think- we CAN always start over, we CAN make the band work for us, and I don't know about you, but for me, I'm pretty sure that I'd just keep gainig weight instead of losingif I hadn't had the surgery.

Chrissy- Hey there! I'm almost not able to wear that pleated black skirt you sent me, when I finally do give it up I'll find it a great home.

I will check in more, off to do some more work!

Nicki

Nicki!!!! So glad to see your post! I've been keeping your in my prayers that all is good, and looks like it is! Onederland here you come! I'm proud of you, too!

Hi everyone! JDI...great job! yes...pass it on to someone else. That's what I did with all my clothes except a few pieces to remind me where I don't won't to be again. Kymie...glad the test went well. I've been experiencing a bit of reflux lately too (I had it really bad before my surgery). However, we've been doing a Daniel fast at church so I've had a LOT of fruit juice the past three weeks. I think it will calm down after we finish the fast on Sunday. LadyB---thanks for being so dedicated & reminding us to post here. Its so great for us to encourage each other and keep each other accountable. Can you believe its been two years?? My bandiversary is Saturday. Still got that 100 pounds off! yay! I could stand to lose another 10 or 12 back down to 160-ish, but honestly, I'm okay where I am. If it comes back off...great. If not, I'm 100 pounds healthier today than I was 2 years ago. Thank you all for being there and making this journey a lot more fun! Love you all...God bless!

Grr, the scale keeps saying 200.6, 200.8. Jerk! LOL. I have a brownie sitting on my desk from a potluck my nursing students were having- which I am now throwing out.

There, I squished it first so I wouldn't change my mind!! LOL. I'm so close, don't want to sabotage myself! Though the trigger food that shall not be named is calling to me every night from the grocery store (as I have none at the house, of course). Every time I get this close I sabotage myself, so I'm actively thinking about NOT doing that this time!

Lady B- I truly appreciate you keeping me in your prayers. I think of you and of all of us in the group often- Otaknam, Kymie, Nicole, Chrissy- and wonder about people. What is your eating looking like now, so close to goal? I wonder about that- like, how many calories are you eating, are you exercising and what are you doing- just because I know things slow down, and I already eat more than 1000 calories a day!

Chrissy- I'll bet it's the fruit juice for sure, they have a lot of acid in them! I love that skirt, but can't wait to not be able to wear it anymore, LOL.

Do any of you use a heart rate monitor when you work out? I'd like one that would give an accurate calorie count during aerobic and weight training exercising. I need to get back into working out!

Have a great day everyone!

Nicki

Hello I am still out here.

I go to see a plastic surgeon in morning. I have held my weight between 150 to 157 for the past 6 months. So going for a consultation to see if I am close enough to eliminate some skin. I might not be as bad some but may be worse then others. All I know is that I am the one who looks in the mirror. I am so glad I am single because my mate would think I was part elephant with all this wrinkled sloppy skin.

When I figure out how to get back in here I will return.

Glad to see all the old and the new in here....

Chrissylu, yay for you! 100 pounds is SO good, and maintaining is even more awesome. I also agree that fruit juices are very acid-filled. I used to like orange juice, but not anymore. If I do drink them, I take a tums.

Otaknam, great to see your update! Plastics, oh my. Tell us how that goes. I've toyed with the idea, but thinking I probably won't go that route. Would love to know more about it though. And congrats on your maintenance, that's awesome.

Nicki, keep with it ... You are there! As you know by my slow slow progress, I also dealt with self-sabotage at weights of 200, 180, and 160. It was like when I broke 200, I got to 180 with not much problem. And then struggled. Then then the same at the other weights. Not sure why, not sure of I want to delve that deeply, lol.

What I found that works recently is weight lifting. I do very little cardio, although I'm much more active (walking, moving) than I used to be. But I lift light weights regularly, and that really did something to help me burn more calories/fat. I also take a Pilates class (on the reformer machines) between 2-3 times a week. That has been a miracle and I love it. It is not hard at all, but gives results very quickly. At first I just lost inches all over, and not a pound, but then the pounds started adding up too. More people actually comment that I'm getting smaller now than when I was losing all the weight to begin with. Go figure.

A typical eating day is Greek yogurt with flax or chia seeds, or some fruit, for Breakfast.

A Protein (lettuce) wrapped cod filet from Carls Jr, or a taco salad, or Wendy's Chili, or a small sandwich when I'm at work for lunch. I still love Soups, but they don't always "fill" me unless they are chunky too.

dinner is any number of things. I try to do protein and veggies usually.

I don't really count calories, because I'm so horrible at it, but I still monitor amount with my band. Sometimes I'll eat Pasta and bread and the like, but I am very aware because then I'm not getting in enough protein. I would say that I now eat like a normal "thin" person. (Who would have ever thunk?!!!) Eating now is WAY easier than when I was actively trying to lose. And with my exercise program and the band, I find that the scale doesn't go up 5 pounds if I indulge in something heavy on calories once in a while.

Wow, this is a long post for me. I'm so very proud of all of us. It wasn't that long ago that we were all starting out.

Otaknam, I'm jealous, plastic surgery!! I'm pretty sure DH won't be on board for that, lol. Do let us know the process and everything!

Ladybandido, thanks for the run down. It reinforces that I need to add strength training in. I have Pilates dvds I can do, but have always wanted to try the reformers.

My big news-199.8!!!!! Just dipping my toe in, but it's feeling good!

Have a great day!!

Nicki

Whoop-whoop!!

So guess what? I'd had some email problems and finally got to view a message from my doc, and he's closing up his practice! So now I have to switch. Otaknam, isn't that what happened to you? I'm in a good spot I think with my band, and had only seen him twice last year anyways- but it's funny, I saw him right before Christmas and he didn't mention a thing- and the email came on January 8, so he had to have known! Oh well.

I fell face first into some chocolate this past weekend, so we'll see how this week wid goes, but I'm keeping on! It was a hard weekend overall, so I'm just going to pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again!

Nicki

Saturday was my 2-year anniversary...yay! What is everyone else's date? I've forgotten.

Nicki...awesome news on "dipping the toe in" to Onederland! Great job! Otaknam...good to see you. Please share with us your experience with the plastics if you go that route. I've been thinking about some lipo myself. Honestly...its the money that's holding me back since I know insurance won't even look at something like that. I guess I just need to get my butt back in gear & get back on the treadmill. Oh...and Nicki...don't beat yourself up over the chocolate dive. We all have our moments or days...LOL. I just came off a 21-day Daniel Fast with our church. And though losing weight was not the goal, that basically vegan diet did help me lose about 6 or 8 pounds that I had gained back. However, the first thing I grabbed to break the fast was dark chocolate covered almonds...and then I licked the chocolate frosting off a mini cupcake. LOL. I pray you all have a wonderfully blessed day.

LOL Chrissy about licking the frosting off! I think some of mine is psychosomatic- like, I'm so close to "under 200 lbs" ya know?

My 2 year anniversary was Sunday- I actually had to go back to the beginning of this thread to remember. I do have the size 5x sweatpants I wore to the hospital still- I keep them as a reminder. Now, I wasn't wearing 5x, I was actually in a 4x, but bought them "baggy" ha ha. So crazy.

Thanks to Otaknam's great advice I called my doc and requested my medical records. I won't have insurance until March, so I can do a little looking and see which of the practices he said would take us on as patients I want to try- and which my insurance will take. If they cover it at all, I don't know! Insuance is such a labrynth.

I'm back to logging, etc, I wonder if it's a ttotm thing- I'm HUNGRY!!!!! But powering through.

Everyone have a great day!

Nicki

Sigh, I'm tired of my "head hunger" and dumbness, LOL. I got to 199.8- and now back up to 202ish- eating my crappy foods and not logging.

Karen, what did the plastic surgeon say??? I wish I could just have someone lop off all the flab, LOL.

It's a journey, a marathon- not a sprint.

Right?????

Nicki

Ok Nicki, you need some butt-chewing! For ONE complete week, stick with solid healthy Proteins. Eat on a regular schedule, and get all of your Water in. Just for one week, girl! You can do this, and I can almost guarantee when you can get to 198 you will be enlivened for more and easier losses.i am so familiar with the self-sabatoging thing, I do commiserate, but really... If I Did it, you can too! Now get with it! No excuses! One foot in front of the other!

(Please please know that I am in your corner, not trying to be offensive in the least! X) I just know how good it feels to get to goal, and wish I hadn't fiddle-farted for as long as I did. :-/

Well, I hope to know in about four weeks if and how much insurance will cover.

I am excited they figure what needs to be removed Will be approximately 20 pounds of skin. If that is true I worry about being to small. That would put me at about 130 that is a crazy way from 285!!!!!!!!!

The arms and legs are all done in about 2 hours. That one is a day surgery. The tummy is an over night stay and you leave with a bikini cut and a drain tube for a week. So I guess if I could have band and kidney removed I can handle this. Might even get rid of kidney scar in the process.

I asked if this would interfere with my bands port they said no. They do liposuction while they are in there to get things flat.

But I was told can and will be sore for a bit. Brusing and have to wear contouring clothes.

So we will see what happens.

We have beat yourselves up for so many years about our weight. So we need to pat yourselves on the back for even a bad day. Because we know the next day is another new day in this crazy journey we choose.

If I can do it anyone can do can do it!!!!!!

Thanks for being here no matter what kind of day you had. Somehow your sharing keeps me on track.

HELLO GUYS......

HOW ARE THE MALES DOING WITH THE CHANGES IN THEIR NEW JOURNEYS.

I just wonder if you guys go throughout the same stress, emotional the feel of going no where like I did from time to time?

THANKS FOR SHARING GUYS.