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What was your "last straw"?



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Hi. This website has been so helpful to me in learning more about the LapBand procedure. As soon as my student teaching is over, and I receive a teaching position, I plan to get financed for LapBand. My question to you all is:

What was the "last straw" for you? What was the moment that you realized that you were going to fight the hunger battle head on and change your life?

I think everyone has atleast one, if not many, of those types of moments, and I am curious to know what did it for you. Thanks.

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I am an avid off-road dirt bike rider (motocross, woods racing) all four of my kids ride as well as my wife (5' 6" and 120lbs no matter what she eats), and lead a pretty active life inspite of the extra weight I was carrying around.

But then I topped 300lbs, and nearly all of that stopped. I wasn't riding, wasn't taking the kids riding, I wasn't taking the kids riding, I wasn't playing with the kids anymore and the weight was piling on quicker than ever.

Then the day can when I was on a business trip with my business partners. We were in your standard mid-sized rental car getting in the car was no problem but when it came time to get out I realized I could no longer just get out of a car I had to heave my self up using the oh-shit strap like a pregnant woman or an obese person. That was when it really hit me - I am obese.

While I don't have high bp or diabetes yet, if I don't do anything I will. I have been active my entire life and have never had success loosing weight. Even when I was in the Army I had to spend countless hours working out on top of the normal 5 day a week Army work out. So I decided that I needed some assistance and chose the band.

Surgery is on oct. 1st

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I knew I was significantly overweight and had tried countless diets to try to lose weight. I avoided scales and cameras for the last few years prior to banding, but when I saw photos taken of me at a holiday get together.........MAN OH MAN, I knew something had to be done. It's amazing how you adjust the other things in your life like the larger clothes, the uncomfortable positions you have to get into for those activities of daily living or the activities you avoid because they're too exhausting or even painful. But to see yourself through those unbiased lenses were just too much for me.

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I was watching a documentary on three people who had lost substantial amounts of weight and managed to keep it off for a couple of years. It was stated in the show that only about 4% of obese people who lose weight manage to keep it off. I had this realization that I would never be in that 4%, that no matter how much I lost that I would always regain. That's when I began to research the band.

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I broke a toilet seat. Yep. I'm pretty sure I just sat down funny and maybe too hard, but the darn thing cracked in two. I was so totally mortified that I never fessed up to it. And that was it for me. I was determined to make a change lest I experience something even more embarrassing like breaking a chair in public.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • bellaamey

      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
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