Hey everyone! I haven't been on here I'm quite some time. Because of that, no one knows that I used to have the lapband. Which when I had to get the revision surgery, they poked a hole in my stomach which cause me to get an abscess. 2 days after that surgery, I had to get my lapband removed. That was 9 years ago.

I gained back everything I lost and right now, I'm 45 pounds over that starting weight. After that scary day, it struggled losing the weight. 2015 I tried weight watchers and joined a gym. I was 10 pounds more than i was when I got the lapband. I lost 42 pounds. My membership ended and I lost my motivation and gained it back!

2018 I tried keto. It works, but it was definitely too restrictive for me and the recipes weren't that get!

Last year I was at my highest weight ever (I was 4 pounds above that this year) I tried eating the way we are supposed to be eating. I lost almost 25 pounds with portion control. I slowly lost focus, determination and I was becoming depressed because of someone I really liked. He was just crushing me. I of course gained it all back and like I said, and extra 4 pounds. It sucks!

I remember coming on here saying I want to get the surgery, but everyone I told was telling me not to do it and telling me I don't need surgery to just eat healthier. I was told that everyone is scared that they will lose me and if they lose me then they'll probably lose my son. It's definitely a scary thing to think about, but you can lose me with the way I'm going now.

SO, I think I said everything I wanted to say before I write what I've about to write and that is, I want to try to lose the weight before going through with surgery. If I can't lose about 85 pounds by this time next year then I will start up the process again. I know some people will tell me "surgery is the easy way out" and I know it's not any easier than losing it on your own.

Now, I have a few questions. How much is everyone able to eat at each meal? What are foods you need to avoid? I'm planning on RNY, do you notice your insides being rearranged? How was your recovery?

I lost about 50 lbs before surgery and I’m super glad I did. Every pound I lost before was a pound I didn’t have to lose after, and also I feel like it made me healthier for surgery. The awesome thing about it as a lifelong yo-yo dieter is that I lost that weight and then had surgery so I never gained it back.

I had a lot of weight to lose as I was starting out at 339 lbs, however. I knew that the weight loss would be easiest right after surgery so I wanted to lose what I could without it and let the surgery take care of the loss I couldn’t do on my own.