Hey all.

So there's a bunch of us in this group, all split up into our different banding days. I was thinking that it might be a good idea to have one master thread as we move through the month, in which all of us could post as we go, from the pioneers going on March 1st to the finalists on March 31st.

I'd love to talk about our anticipation and any worries as we approach our banding date, for people to talk about exactly what happened from the moment they walked into the hospital door until the second they walked out, about how recovery is going, about weight loss and plateaus, about non-scale victories and challenges.

I was thinking that if we all contribute to one thread, it'll form a more substantial channel for information and support. At the moment, I was thinking that we might be too spread out into individual date, and that a central thread would be a really good backbone for the group, in addition to the date-specific threads.

What do you think?

Fenton

(Mustangchik! You've probably realized this by now, but you'll have your own group in the March 2008 Bandsters! You're welcome here, but this focuses on March 2008 Bandsters...)

How did it go, Mom007? Well, I hope.

I don't think you lost to goal just because of the band - it's a support, not the reason you lose. Whatever the result of the test, I believe that with Willpower like yours, you're going to be fine.

I had a bit of a scare yesterday - I had a trivial symptom, but I'm a bit of a neurotic, and made a big deal of it, so now I'm freaking out and back onboard *hard*. I'm going for a fill next week.

NOW I have to go back and find out how people eat in this WoL all over again...

Hey all, Im a March 2008 bandster. Certainly have had my fair share of learning, but i have gone from 224 to 149 and have maintained around 149-154 for the past 1.5 years. it is a learning experince for sure, but i chose to keep my perfect restriction and not remove any once i hit my goal weight. i know what to eat and how to eat to maintain. I know myself well enough if i have any restriction removed it wont be pretty, tee hee. All my blood work is good, my hair is healthy and I wouldnt change a thing. Just my short story.

And an excellent story it is, too!

It's been interesting/ironic that I've been getting notifications of happenings on this thread. Here I am, 3 years later and back where I started - almost literally. I gained back almost all of my weight in the last year - I'm trying really hard to be kind to myself but it's hard. My husband left me out of the blue last March and now I can positively confirm that I eat to cope. Who would have ever thought eating around the band would be so easy?! It's way too easy! *guilty look* I had to go buy new clothes this weekend and I have a walk in closet full of clothes, they just don't fit. I didn't speak up much here in the past because I was insecure, so I'm throwing this out there - anyone in the same boat? Anyone gotten out of this boat I'm in?

The best words i ever got from another bandster was you keep getting fills until you reach your goal weight. I will say I am very restricted but I ALWAYS shop for proteins first, then vegetables. And I have taken the approach i can eat whatever i want, and taken the "Tabboo" out of eating. Just my coping skills, and honestly I do eat whatever I want but I practice protein first, religiously. Just my .02 cents

Hello to all of my March 08 Bandsters! I have been MIA for a while now. Must say the first 100 pounds came off without any problems. Then came the problems. Had an hernia from a previous surgery that need to be repaired, so I had to be deflated. Had the surgery at the end of June 2010. It was months before I could get a fill. Did not gain that much, which was a good thing, only 10 pounds. I must say, I looked forward to getting that first fill and back on track. Then at the end of Nov. 2010, my appendix ruptured! Back to surgery, again. Spent 2 weeks in the hospital and 2 1/2 months at home recuperating. But, now back on track, Yeah! Good to see most of you are doing well.

ButterflyLady

UniqueZeke - I think those of us who've put weight back on all did it for the same reason: too much eating. And that eating was always driven by emotional stuff: you can't put a band around your emotions.

Or can you? Certainly, greater restriction means it's harder to sneak around the band.

I think one of my problems was that I always thought in terms of portions, never in terms of satiety. I have to focus more on that, this time around.

On satiety, and on what will happen if I DON'T get it right.

Girlie2shooz, would you mind talking a bit about exactly WHAT/HOW you eat with your degree of restriction? I'm trying to conceptualize my future eating pattern.

@Fenton -

My day starts with taking my one half cup tupperware containers and filling one with Colby Jack cheese, two with multigrain crackers, one with a green cooked vegetable and a regular yogurt with me to work. This is what I eat all day long, a little at a time. When I get home I have typically made a huge pot of Soup that is Protein based (Beef Vegetable, Potato Cheese, chicken Noodle etc) on Sunday, and I usually have two cups of soup for dinner and a handful of Fritos for a snack. If I want to change anything up during the day I have some refried Beans. I look at food more now as a necessity and not a reward. Does that make sense? If I fall short on my protein I have a shake. I look more at protein than calories, carbs, sugars etc.

That's really interesting - Protein is my key concern, as I'm a big (tall AND wide) sonuvagun.

Thanks, very helpful!

Anyone else who wants to chime in on their eating patterns would be more than welcome!

How do you handle dining out? It's something I do/am expected to do a lot?

Soups are a sure thing, tamales, refired beans, filet mignon, baked potatos, well done vegetables. artichoke dip with good whole grain crackers. Usually i find better choices on the appetizer menus that entrees.

I've been pretty much maintaining a weight in the 140's for 2 years. Been as low as 132 for about 10 minutes and as high as the low 150's. I eat all the same food as I ate before sugery just a lot less of it minus the junk ( cakes , Cookies and chips). Once I eat the junk I start to gain, so I have to be very careful with that. Breakfast I will either eat a banana or 2 scrambled eggs, lunch is some sort of leftovers today it was a bowl of chili and a dinner roll, for supper I will have meatloaf, baked sweet potato and green Beans. I also eat a bedtime snack some examples are Jello, popcorn, salad.

I love to eat and have to deal everyday with telling myself no I'm not really hungry inbetween meals, and not eating junk food is a constant battle.

I say Yep to what Fenton posted that those of us who were emotional eaters before have the same challenge now. I definitely felt I "deserved" my pity party of eating from last year where I lost my job and was so down on myself that I ate all the foods I knew better than to do, especially ice cream. It was a reality check to see I'd gained 10 lbs back and I wanted to reverse that. I have tried a couple approaches and the one that is helping me right now is I went back to a very restrictive diet -- i.e. back to my full liquids and mushies type days with 1 meal of lean Protein and greens combined with 5 smaller meals using protein enhanced oatmeal, protein enhanced Soup packets to get me back on portion control and calorie control. I've lost about 6 lbs doing this but I am not doing it perfect - got into jelly Beans today.

I did log what I ate on my food journal and found that 15 jelly beans were not as bad as other choices I could have made but they were totally empty calories. I need to remember what that one lady posted that eating isn't a reward, its for sustenance.

My theme is Never Give Up, Never Ever!

You guys are doing great! Very inspirational.

Going back into this WoE, I'm doing what you are, Special K - my patented Fenton shake for breakfast, soup for lunch, then I had a dinner of veggie burgers, yogurt and pear sauce. Eventually, I want to get to where Scrappy is, but I've proven myself a bad bandster enough times that I think I'm going to be using girlie2shooz' friend's "Keep filling til you're at Goal" advice.

We'll see.