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Can Everyone Share their best tips for Success?



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Hi everyone, I was just banded two days ago on 1/9/08. There are so many people on here who have had tremendous success with the band, and I am just wondering if people can get together their best tips for being successful in losing weight with the band and reply to this thread. I don't know why, but my biggest fear is that I will go through all of this, and then not lose weight! Any tips would be appreciated. What rules (besides the obvious ones from the doc) have you all followed that helped you lose the weight?

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I have three tips that worked like a champ for me.:

1. Weigh every day at the same time (like when you first get up) and log it online somewhere (I use FitDay...there are lots of programs). This is not so much to watch the weight FALL off, but to watch how what you eat correlates with the scales....you get a feel for what you body can work with.

2. Log every single food you put in your mouth on a program like FitDay or SparkPeople. You will become hypersensitive to what you put in your mouth. You will start thinking in terms of calories. This is what Weight Watchers has touted for YEARS and I always thought was "bull hockey". I am now a firm convert!!! If I overdo it for Breakfast and lunch, I can know that I need to cut back for dinner, or vice versa, if I know I am going out to dinner in the evening, I will keep my intake low in the morning and afternoon. I try to keep intake to 800-1100 calories a day.

3. Set easily attainable "mini-goals".....My first was to hit 210. Then 205, then to get to Onederland...my mini-goals were 2-3 pounds each and I gave myself an adequate time to reach them. Right now my goal is to get into the 150's....I've been vacilllating from 160-163 since early December, because I have been "bad" during the holidays, but I am getting back into the game. Always set a goal you KNOW you can reach. As you reach them you will get greedy for more goals and successes. Sometimes a success can be going from 163.6 to 162.8. That's the beauty of a scale with 10th of a pounds on them.

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you have to exercise. for me its a must I do 30-45 min of Cardio 6 days a week. I cannot just watch my calories it don't work for me I need the workout.. log your food I found that to be the most important

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i agree with everyone on all the tips!

i bought a lil pink blank journal and i would write down everything i ate including Snacks and drinks and expecially Water intake....

also, log down exercise, weight, goals, and any notes to self, etc. and goals.

its a great way to look back at your progress if you ever hit a plateau and maybe see what you used to do while losing that you aren't doing anymore or haven't done in awhile.

i actually got out of the habit of writing in my wls journal and was beginning what i thought to be an early plateau...but after going back and reading in it, i see that i had gotten off track some and have now gotten back into writing in it, and staying on a better diet that includes exercise challenges/goals too!

GOOD LUCK!

xoxo, christie

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    • LeighaTR

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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.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • 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
      1. This update has no replies.
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