Marchies Bandiversary Month

[demsvmejm 5]

Great NSV Husker!

Kinda like when I get out of the swimming pool and the inside of my thighs don't stick together anymore! ...LOL Please, don't try and picture it!

[Alicia99 0]

We made it, one year!

My bandiversary is on the 13th. My goal was to lose at least 1 lb per week, the low average for lap banding. I have always been a very slow loser so I did not expect to lose my whole 74 lbs in the first year. But just a few days ago I reached 52 lbs lost, so I made it to that goal. And I only have 22 lbs to go so I feel pretty great about that!

In the past year I have gone from a size 16/18 to a size 10...in another 5 lbs I think I might fit into the size 8 jeans I bought a couple weeks ago. :smile2: But even better than that....

• I lost all my extra chins!
  
• My resting heart rate has dropped from 100 to 78-80!
  
• I can RUN on the treadmill now...I am up to about 17 minutes of running in a 40 minute session (the rest brisk walking). And my max heartrate is lower than when I first started doing the elliptical, slowly, 2 years ago. It is much harder to get the heart rate up and it recovers quickly.
  
• I'm about to resize my wedding ring AGAIN...it keeps falling off.
  
• I have no desire to eat 90% of the crap I used to eat on a daily basis...including all the sugary Snacks I loved. Now when I have a taste, that's all I want. No entire pint of Ben & Jerrys.
  
• I have energy all the time, and I look forward to exercising every day!

So it's been a great year. And unlike spending over a year on WW to lose 35 lbs, there has really been no suffering in this process. It's been a learning process, and I did go through the Bandster Hell phase initially, but since about my 2nd fill I've been able to rely on making sensible choices 90% of the time and eating other things in moderation, and I do not feel deprived at all. In fact, I feel richer, because I know I am caring for my body and being kind to it.

2007 was a difficult year in other ways, but my lap band has truly been a blessing to me. It has been great to find this group online and share experiences!

Janine, I hope you do stick around and let us know how things are going. Your goal is totally attainable, and with all the things you've learned since being banded, I'm sure you will get there! Your achievements already are incredible and you should be very proud of yourself. That's a great idea to just carry on as though you still have your band...I'm sure it's very hard but we have to deal with what we're dealt, I guess. Thanks for letting us know about what can happen (what rotten luck! ) and being kind enough to share it with us. It's valuable to know that you can do everything right and still end up losing your band, you just never know. But thank god you are healthy and healing.

Everybody, happy bandiversary!

Gwen,

Your post encourages me, I am getting banded April 2nd and was reading here to see what life will be like in a year. Then I was surprised to see you are from Spokane! Me too! You inspire and encourage.

Thanks,

Alicia

[gkeyt 0]

Alicia,

Good for you! Life a year later is nothing like before. Most folks around here would probably say the same thing. It's still a daily project. I still try to make the best choices every day, and if I do it 90% of the time I am doing great. I still have to exercise and keep increasing the intensity so I can continue to progress. But this is life now, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Good luck to you and your surgery. I just moved to Spokane in November. I had surgery when I lived in Portland. I think there are 2 band surgeons in this area--Dr Trotter and Dr Pennings, right? I'm seeing Dr Pennings in a couple weeks since my Portland surgeon referred me. There are several Spokane area bandsters on the local Eastern Washington board, and they're very nice.

Thanks for the nice comments and I hope everything goes well for you!

[tammyj 15]

I'm a day early, but wanted to post my 1 year pic. I LOVE MY BAND!!!!!

[gkeyt 0]

Wow, Tammyj! You look amazing, and only 11 lbs to goal!!!

Congrats and happy bandiversary! :biggrin:

[momlambert 77]

Amazing, Tammyj! Just amazing. Good job--what a great year for you and so many others. Keep up the great work, beautiful people!

[thickchickTEXAS 0]

Tammy J You Look Wonderful!!!!!

Keep Up The Great Work!!!!

[thickchickTEXAS 0]

Happy Friday!!!

I Went To The Ob/gyn Yesterday

Found Out I Gained 3 Pounds no more Klondike Bars & Cheetos!!! :party: :biggrin:

&

SHE FOUND LUMPS IN BOTH BREAST :smile: :waytogo:

IM GOING TO FOR A MAMMOGRAM ON NEXT WEDNESDAY

SO PLEASE KEEP ME LIFTED IN PRAYER..

I've got no time for sicknesss gotta raise my babies!!!!!

love you all!!!

[tammyj 15]

Thanks so much everyone! I really do feel like a different person.

OH MY....ThickChick....I will be praying for you!!! Please keep us posted!

[Rosi 0]

:thumbup::thumbup::blushing::thumbup::ohmy::thumbup:Oh My........You all look great. I can't believe its been a year already. What a great trip its been. I would do it again in a flash. This tool is the greatest. Sure I would have liked to have lost more but I am so very happy and proud of what we have all accomplished this year. A year ago the scale was only going one way and that was up. Now I know I have the tool to make that scale go the other way. I no longer feel it is hopeless, that no matter what I do I cann't lose the weight. I have the power to change and change I am.

Thanks so much for keeping this post going. I don't always have something to add but I am here and try to follow how everyone is doing.

You are all such an inspiration, and it is so nice to know that we are not alone on this journey.

I too will try to find some pictures to post.

HAPPY ANIVERSARY TO ONE AND ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::bored::thumbup::tt2::thumbup:

[gkeyt 0]

ThickChick, I will be thinking of you. My doc found a really large lump recently and I am having a mammogram this week too. I'm not super worried about it because I'm pretty sure it is a (huge) cyst. But it does nag at the back of my mind.

But the thing I wanted to tell you is, I think after losing weight it was a lot easier to find this lump than before. You know, the "girls" are still there, but they aren't quite as firm and full as they were before...and it's a lot easier to feel lumps now than before. That might be true for you too. So...I guess what I am saying is, IF (and this WON'T be the case) but IF this lump is something to worry about, just think if you hadn't lost so much weight (have you lost 71 lbs?!?!? WOW!!) they might not have felt it at all. It's another way this band is helping us be healthy, this time by finding out about stuff before it gets a chance to really take over your life.

I hope that helps a little bit. It is very scary. But the chances are good that you have less fat in your breasts now, and these may be normal "lumps". And if not, you are in a much better position to get healthy if, god forbid, you were sick, than you were a year ago. Keep your chin up, and we will all be praying for the best for you!!!

[OH Juli 15]

Tammy

You are looking great!

Tia and Gwen

Keep us informed with what your doc says.

[Foofy 0]

I Went To The Ob/gyn Yesterday

SHE FOUND LUMPS IN BOTH BREAST :sneaky:

IM GOING TO FOR A MAMMOGRAM ON NEXT WEDNESDAY

SO PLEASE KEEP ME LIFTED IN PRAYER..

Hey ThickChick and Gket - put worrying out of your mind. It doesn't help. Plus, it's likely to be nothing to worry about. I've had lumps momgrammed twice now, and they've just turned out to be cysts. I've also had several friends who have gone as far as biopsies and removals, and they were either cysts or fatty tumors.

If it is something - you'll deal with it. Be glad you have doctors who are extra careful and that you have lost the weight!! YAY!!

[Nikki 0]

Oh Juli, Gkeyt, my5grlz and tammyj you all look sensational!!!! I am sooo happy for all of us!!!

I'm sorry I kept away for so long, I really needed you ladies, you all make me smile

One of my very best freinds just had surgery on March 12 this year. She said that I was an inspiration:blushing: my other very close freind will be attending a seminar soon.

I go back to work on Monday (with a helluva commute) after being unemployed for a couple of months ( I was laid off - I worked in the mortgage industry), can't wait to have insurance again so I can get a fill!!

I have to get one my kids to take a new pic so that I can post my before and after.

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK EVERYONE!!!!

thickchickteaxs and gkeyt I'll keep you in my prayers too!!!

Please keep us posted.

[pala 0]

OK so now that were at our one year mark, can anyone tell me if they are still getting fills? I have not had one in about 5 months, I'm thinking I was at my max when i went last and now feel like I'm defeated. I feel like nothing more can be done and that the weight i lost is all that I'm going to be able to lose with the help of the band. I have some pb'ing once in a while but i never really feel full from a meal.