I thought I'd start a thread to share the special times of our journey. I invite everyone to participate. I think it helps to "feed" on others success. You might help make a difference in someone else's life. I've received a lot of my motivation from guys like ousooner and Jack.

I'll start it off by saying that today is my 6 month mark of being banded and I haven't regretted one minute of it. After a fast start, my weight loss has slowed down, but I'm very happy to be 2/3 of the way to my goal.

I go in for a fill on Thursday. I have always had a nice weight loss following fills, so maybe I'll be under 200 in the next couple weeks. I tend to lose in bunches and I am due. I'd like to be at my goal (170# or a 25 BMI) by year's end. I've been able to up my exercise lately because my RA has been much better, so that helps.

Anyway, enough of my rambling; let's hear from others who are at a special point or passing a benchmark.

Stand strong brothers!

Bruce

Hey Bruce...I hope all is well.

Today has been exactly one week since I had my surgery. Things have gone better for me than I would have ever expected. No real pain to speak of...just some general discomfort. Following the eating and exercise plan has not been an issue for me either. I don't know if that's because of the band...my mind set...or both. Whatever it is...I'll take it as a blessing.

My pre-surgical weight was 288# the morning of...and my weight at discharge was 295#. I had my first follow-up appt. with my surgeon...and I'm down to 277#! So...not only did I lose the 7# of Fluid from the surgery...I have a net weight loss of 12#! Not too bad for 6 days.

My next appt is 9/7...so I'll have a one month milestone to post then.

Take care and have a great day.

Bud

August 9th will be my 3 month anniversary and I will say I am loving it !

I am down over 80 pounds already and less than 10 I will be in the 200's !

Clothes I haven't worn in years are starting to fit again and some are to big already. I no longer take nexium for acid reflux and I am totally off of my blood pressure pills ! PILL FREE WOOHOOOOOOOOOOO I haven't been that way in years. :biggrin1: I am exercising every day and loving it ! Things are great and only going to get better. I love my band. :clap2:

Congrats chris I have about the same time frame as you and about the same weight loss. again congrats I started losing lot slower nowbut am stillpumped at how it is going. My 3 month Bandervirsary is Aug. 21. and have lost 77 as of today.

Way to go BigShow ! Just wish I had that same height as you lol my short 5'10" Italian a$$ lol. I think I have learned that the band is 30% and the rest is pure determination and will power.

What a great idea this is.

For me - just a couple days past one month and down 46 lbs. I am very happy with my results thus far but I have to say I have not been good all this time and would suspect that if i stepped it up a level i would drop weight even faster. Lets keep this up so we all stay motivated to loose. My first goal is to be down 50 lbs by my first fill appointment. I believe i will get there no prob but i really want to wow my doc.

Keep up the good work gents

I'll post a couple.

I am 6 months out from starting my band process, pre-op diet Jan 24, surgery Feb. 14. I passed the 100lbs lost mark in the last few weeks and have never felt better. I have gone from over 60% body fat to 30%, so not only am I losing weight I am gaining lean mass.

I was planning on keeping my band private, but that seems to be out the door having lost so much weight in so little time. My job requires me to appear on the news from time to time. After an appearance the other night I had people who dont see me that often phone me up to ask me what the hell is going on. My Mom also had to call me up the other night to tell me that all the ladies at her work think I am really "cute". Sorry ladies, I'm taken.

Other NSV include not having any clothes in my closet since that all hang off me and having to get my wedding band resized because it kept falling off. There are more, but that is a pretty decent start.

Andrew

gaff i know what your going thru I havenot wore my wedding ring in a while it is loose and I have not ought any clothes yet. My pants are a 50 and I need about a 42 now andam about to be in sme 2x shirts. but ongrats and hang in there.

Chris I am not sure of my bodyfat I go in o the 16th for my 3 month and they will do all my meaurments again. I started at abot 45% but want to get to 15to 20 and I will be hppy.

great idea for a thread...

i am banded 4 mos.

some of my NSV's

-airplane seat belt now has 6 extra inches instead of strangling my belly.

-no more blood pressure pills

-went from size 22 to 16. (only downside of this is i'm spending alot of $jack$ on clothes i'm wearing for weeks.....but i'm not complaining)

-i'm going on my first date in years (i wouldnt date being fat)

-not having to shop in fat lady stores (this is the best)

as it was said below...the band is definitely a tool but i am working hard to make this a success.

thanks and have a great day

gaff i know what your going thru I havenot wore my wedding ring in a while

If you want to wear your wedding ring, but find it too big you can go to a jewlers and ask for a "ring guard". It just clamps around the bottom of you ring so it will not slip off. You can adjust it by bending it so your ring stays tight and you can wait until you lose more weight to have you ring resized. Mine was only about $5.

Looks like this.

That is a cool find Gaff I put mine on the other day and it still fits fine But by the time Ilose another 60 lbs I will be screwed.

Anthe ring Ihave has to be sent off and then A new one will be shipped to me. Something about how the ring is made it can't be resized. Do thy have a guard that iswide for big rings or just for narrow ones

An the ring Ihave has to be sent off and then A new one will be shipped to me. Something about how the ring is made it can't be resized. Do thy have a guard that iswide for big rings or just for narrow ones

Is your ring made from Titanium by chance? If so, they are forged. I really liked the titanium ones when I was shopping for mine, but being unable to be resized was what put me off.

As for the ring guard, the do come in larger sizes for wider bands. If you go to a local jewler that does repairs they will likely have one. I found it really handy whne the weight was falling off I could just bend the guard to make the ring smaller.

Andrew

hi

i was laughing yesterday thinking about one of my favorite NSV's...

i can actually fit a regular bath towel (not a bath sheet) around my waist and it overlaps the other side.

before lapband i could only do this with a double beach towel! ha!

I went in today for a fill at my doctors office. They did my 3 month progress and here it is I am so happy with progress so far.

5-10-07 8-16-07

WEIGHT 421 336

BMI 47.5 37.9

FAT% 50.1 34.3

FAT MASS 211LBS 115.5

FFM(fatfree mass) 210.5 220.5

TARGETS

BF% 20% 20%

PREDICTED WEIGHT 263 276

pREDICTED FAT MASS 52.5 55.5

FAT TO LOSE 158.5 60.0

These results were shown by the tanita scale that calculates the findings for you.

Went in yesterday for my first fill - piece of cake. Still don't feel any restriction but good to know it is there. The doc was pleased with my wl thus far. I made my goal of being down a total of 50 lbs by first fill. I am going back in a month for another adjustment. keep up the good work