I'm on the way to finally taking the leap into WLS, right now I am so uncomfortable in my own skin I can't stand it. I have no energy, clothes are 3X and still don't fit, moving is a struggle, I feel like I'm sitting on the sidelines of life. For those of you already into the journey, when did it feel like things started to turn around?

It was about 3 months for me. It is supposedly the easy way out, but hello. You have to make it work. Good luck!

It was about 3 months for me. It is supposedly the easy way out' date=' but hello. You have to make it work. Good luck![/quote']

There is NO way this is the easy way out lol. I'm still counting calories, measuring my food and do everything I did before as far as dieting goes. However, with the lapband tool I'm feeling fuller faster and I'm staying within my calorie count without feeling hungry like I did before. Yes, you have to work at it or technically the lapband won't work for you. Occasionally I will feel hungry before 4 hrs are up. I eat sugar free Gelatin (Hunts snack pack) and it helps curb my appetite totally.

I'm on the way to finally taking the leap into WLS, right now I am so uncomfortable in my own skin I can't stand it. I have no energy, clothes are 3X and still don't fit, moving is a struggle, I feel like I'm sitting on the sidelines of life. For those of you already into the journey, when did it feel like things started to turn around?

i had trouble walking and wiping my butt at my highest and wore 5x skirts/size 30 pants...and the surgery gave me my life back.today wearing size 16 pants...things started to turn around for me mentally (it clicked) when i was on my pre op diet (2 1/2 weeks all liquid) and i was b*tching bad.....and my ole man told me to woman up....he pointed at me and said you wanted this (surgery) so do what you have to do to make it work/happen....that turning point got me to where i am today....losing inches steadily.....walking/moving/believing in me......so it can be done....you just have to decide to do it and then actually do it........make up your mind to go for it.....its either that or get bigger.....that was my option...dont let it be yours...you can do it..

I'm on the way to finally taking the leap into WLS, right now I am so uncomfortable in my own skin I can't stand it. I have no energy, clothes are 3X and still don't fit, moving is a struggle, I feel like I'm sitting on the sidelines of life. For those of you already into the journey, when did it feel like things started to turn around?

I'm not sure of your age, but I see you are about the same "size" I was, according to your profile.

I was 39 years old when I had a heart to heart with my PCP. He was very blunt....called me morbidly obese and warned me I was headed down the road to an early death, unless I made a change. I knew dieting wouldn't work for me long term. It HAD to be something that wasn't based on my willpower alone, because I would fail again. So upon advice of my PCP, I attended a seminar for WLS. I seen a couple of people there who were in much worse physical shape than I was at the time, but I knew I would soon be there with them. I read, I listened to YouTube, I watched video's, I read some more, I talked with a friend who had been banded a few years before me, and read some more....then made the decision.

It hasn't always been an easy journey for me...but being morbidly obese wasn't easy either. Think about that...."Morbidly Obese". The experts use that term for a reason.

This surgery has changed my life....I couldn't imagine going back to where I was 4 years ago. I can do ANYTHING I want now....well, at least within reason

I'm on the way to finally taking the leap into WLS' date=' right now I am so uncomfortable in my own skin I can't stand it. I have no energy, clothes are 3X and still don't fit, moving is a struggle, I feel like I'm sitting on the sidelines of life. For those of you already into the journey, when did it feel like things started to turn around?[/quote']

I remember my initial consultation with my doctor, I cried through the whole thing. I truly hated myself.

I knew I had to do something and the band was what I chose. Once I made the decision everything started to change. Most important was I put myself first and started the healing of how I felt about me.

18 months later and I love who I am, my attitude is positive and I look good (if I do say so myself).

The band saved my life.

I'm on the way to finally taking the leap into WLS, right now I am so uncomfortable in my own skin I can't stand it. I have no energy, clothes are 3X and still don't fit, moving is a struggle, I feel like I'm sitting on the sidelines of life. For those of you already into the journey, when did it feel like things started to turn around?

I had my surgery on 4/24/13. The first time I really felt a change in my body not related to a scale was about a month after the surgery and my wife and I had a wedding to go to the first weekend in June....what to wear, what to wear? I tried on an old suit that I had in the back of my closet that I had not worn in years.....and it fit.

Like you, I was a male in 3XL shirts. And some of those shirts were snug. It is only 3.5 months since my surgery, I am down nearly 60 pounds since the week before my surgery. My waist is 4 inches smaller, I am down to 2XL shirts, and some of those are feeling a bit baggy now. My size 12 feet are now down to a size 11.5 or 11.

So, it doesn't take long to start to see some payback on your investment of time and effort.

I sat on the sidelines for nearly a decade about WLS. I thought about it a bit three years ago, but not seriously. I went to a WLS seminar back in October of last year, and followed up with an office visit a few days later. I saw a nutritionist for nearly 8 months before I had the surgery....it was worth the delay because I felt I was ready after all those meetings.

But really, the first time I felt things were turning around was the day I weighed myself in the hospital, a few hours after surgery. I had been on a liquid diet the week before surgery. As I was doing my laps around the ward, I spied a scale. I stepped on it and it was one of the sweetest sights I had ever seen coming from a scale. This was Wednesday night. I had weighed myself at the doctor's office on Monday and I weighed in at 340. That day I was down to 330. That is when I knew I could do this....that is when I really first felt the turnaround.

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.....

Ron

Day one after the surgery but I am really starting to feel different, even though I have only lost five pounds in the last 12 weeks, I know where I made mistakes and didn't follow my plan of eating right and exercising. You look different and you definitely feel different.

Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I'm on the way to finally taking the leap into WLS, right now I am so uncomfortable in my own skin I can't stand it. I have no energy, clothes are 3X and still don't fit, moving is a struggle, I feel like I'm sitting on the sidelines of life. For those of you already into the journey, when did it feel like things started to turn around?

I started my weight loss journey October 1, 2010 when a doctor told be he'd be at my funeral within 2 years if I did not change. I than lost 176 pounds in just under 2 years, than I sat at the same weight for nearly a year and than decided to get banded. I use to wear a 7X only could special order clothing. 3 years ago I had a home health care worker I was in such bad shape, I couldn't even do my own house work! Now I do it all! Wear a size 14, and have lost nearly 200 pounds. I was banded July 24th this year and there is no looking back for me. No regrets here at all! Some ow the NSV's of weight loss are, before the loss I went to the zoo with my family and had to sit down every 15-20 feet, I got in and they had to take me out in a shuttle! My boy friend took me to the zoo and we ran all over for 8 hours and I never stat down once! I have been able to walk for miles just enjoying a fantastic day with him. He is 16 years younger than I am and I never could have kept up with him before. Life is fantastic and just keeps getting better! I never thought 58 would be so darn good! Best wishes to you!!

I can honestly say I noticed a difference on day three... why because my acid reflux went away !!!!

I suffered from acid reflux since I was 14... I got banded a month before my 40th birthday. I was on 3 medication for my AR. I didn't have a hernia. My AR was so bad I was hospitalized on several occasions with it.

I was self-pay and if I was told I wouldn't lose a pound but my AR would go away I would have still paid for the surgery. I started with a 54" waist... now 30". I noticed the inches and pounds coming off very fast. I didn't have to do the pre-op diet and lost 17 lbs my first week.

Tom, Toronto

Banded July 6 06

Wt. Loss: 160 lbs