Occassionally, I run across a few posts from people like me who have failed their bands. But these posts are usually just a venting opportunity. I have failed my band - I acknowledge it - and it would be great if we could have a group of other "failures" who want to work together to become success stories.

MY STORY

I was banded in March of 2007. At the time I was 299 lbs. I am a 6ft tall lady. Today, I weigh 255, and basically just as big as I was when I got my band. I have got numerous fills and I usually eat through my fiils. I can eat whatever I want. I overeat and I am confident that I have caused my stomach to expand. I snack on candy, I eat the wrong foods - I eat until I am STUFFED. Sometimes when I overeat, I feel sick and gag to relieve the pressure.

I moved to Houston 4 months ago, and last week, I went in for a port-readjustment with Dr Alanis. It went well and I now have a new resolve to make it work. My doctor mentioned to me that about 40% of all bandsters fail. I do not want to be a failure. I have paid too much money to go through this.

MY GOAL FOR DECEMBER

• To write everything I eat down, including calories
  
• To stay within 1500 Calories.
  

What's your story? What's your goal? How can I support you? How can we support each other?

Misery loves company, and company can help us move from failure to success. Please join me by telling me your story, and your GOAL for December. Let's vent - but more importantly, let's talk about strategies to make this work - let's share and support each other - Let's turn this from failure to success.

I REFUSE TO BE A FAILURE

Hi everyone,

I have an update - On friday last week I felt some sharp pain on the new location of my port (my port was revised and moved about 3 weeks ago.) I felt two sharp edges that occassionally irritated my skin. I went to the doctor today and guess what?? the sutures he used to tie my port to the skin somehow came loose and are pressing against my stomach, hence the pain. I have to go back into the hospital Friday(assuming on-time insurance approval) so he can cut off the sutures (which he explained are like a fishline.) Wish me luck!!

But you know what?? despite these MINOR challenges, I am SO GLAD about the fact that I have the band. it has taken me almost two years to lose 54 lbs (mainly because I failed my band) but the weight didnt come back - this would have been an IMPOSSIBLE FEAT without the band.

From a goals perspective, today has been good. So far, I am within my calorie goal, I worked out, and I have written down everything I am eating. Need to do better on the Water.

How did you all do today???

Hey Tabithan, sorry to hear of you having troubles with the sutures, hopefully they will get you in on Friday and get that all squared away for you.... You are an inspiration to us all and I wish you very well.

I agree, I need to get more water in today.... Off now to chart my lunch on fitday.

Keep us posted on your suture procedure on Friday.

ibbanded

Thanks everyone for the kind words!! I really appreciate it!! :mad2:

I have GOT to work on the Midnight snacking!!! *arrgh* - I can be stuffed at dinner but at around 10:00PM - I have a STRONG CRAVING to eat in order to fall asleep.

Midnight Snacking Goal:

- Eat no later than 9:30PM

- Eat 70 calories activia yogurt as my midnight snack or other low calorie option.

Once I can master the above, I will then push it down to 9:00PM, then 8:30PM, etc. Small goals.

Let's see how I do tonight!!!!!!!!!

have to go for Tae Kwondo today and because it is so cold outside, I already dont feel like going. I need to start psyching myself up to go!! I must go!!!! :blushing:

I know, I agree, it is so cold out today here, I am so spoiled getting to work from home, I don't want to get out and make me go to CURVES gym but I am going, I AM GOING, I AM GOING!!!!

Good luck on the snacking situation, I have the same food demons that attack that same time of day for me too!

My goals for today:

• Drink at least 80 oz Water
  
• Exercise at least 30 minutes at Curves and walk on the treadmill at home or walk the dog outside for 20-30 minutes.
  
• Track every bite that goes in my mouth (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly) on fitday (that place is Flippin amazing and that it is free) Love that you can add your own customize foods to the list.
  
• Track here on this thread or just sit and read here when tempted to eat tonight when the food demons strike! Got me some 100-calorie mini bag popcorn for that time and will eat it s l o w l y to make it last.
  

Good luck to us all!

Hi IBBanded - Awesome - looks like you are on track. I love the goals and I love the tracking food and finding solutions for tempting situations.

For snacking alternatives, I have found that black tea with milk and splenda helps crave some of the urges - REALLY - I put a cup of organic non-fat milk (90 cals, 0 fat), I then put one or two black tea bags, and a little water and put in microwave for two minutes. When done, I add 3 splenda - this is SOOOO DELICIOUS, you will want to cry. :blushing: By the time you are done with this hot snack, your cravings - GONE!!!!

I'm so glad you are excercising - Keep at it - when I dont feel like excercising, like today, I come to LBT and somehow I get the movitation. Also, I got an excercise ticker (as it shows below) that keeps me accountable. It feels good to add a day of working out on the ticker and see my progress towards the goal I set.

As for the weekly weigh in - I dont do it at weight watchers but that is a GREAT IDEA. I weight myself officially every sunday and record it on my ticker below, as well. I also record my activity on fitday because it does the calorie exchange calculation for you - LOVE IT.

For some strange reasons, the tickers have motivated me - and when I gained weight - I went back to my ticker and ADDED the weight - I hated doing that, but it kept me accountable - on a weekly basis.

Let us know how you are doing on your goals. I am really excited to see where we will all be in 6 months!!!!!!!!

I'm so sorry to hear that! You have a great attitude about it though. And good job getting to the gym today!

I'm struggling today. It's just a generally bad day and taking care of my diet and good habits it the first thing to go. I don't want to exercise and have been putting it off all day long. I'm going to go down and get on the treadmill right now and get it over with.

Wishing you all sweet dreams.

Hi Kathy,

I'm sorry to hear that yesterday was a challenging day - but I cant wait for you to put 7/23 on all your goals!!! that would be PERFECT

Did you manage to get on the treadmill??? :blushing: What exactly were you struggling with from a food perspective??

Hi Crzytchr!!! How are you doing???? :sneaky: I know you are not one of the strugglers but I love reading your posts. Always so insightful. Thanks for visiting us regularly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:thumbup:

I visit because I greatly admire y'all. Staying positive is not always easy, but everyone is doing a great job! Keep up the good work.

Tabitha, good luck on Friday. I will be going on Monday for a hysterectomy.:biggrin: It is kind of a rush thing. This will keep me out of the gym for 6 weeks or so. Hopefully I will be able to continue to lose, but it probably won't happen.:tongue2: Does anyone know if getting an unfill is supposed to be necessary? I called my band surgeon, but haven't gotten a call back yet.

Hey gang,

I have a CONFESSION - It is so cold out there, I felt to "achy" to go for tae kwondo - just didnt want to face the cold.

I am going to go for spin tomorrow AM at the gym and report in.

Doing well on my food goals - on track so far.

How are you doing on your goals today, fellow strugglers????????

.

Tabitha, good luck on Friday. I will be going on Monday for a hysterectomy.:thumbup: It is kind of a rush thing. This will keep me out of the gym for 6 weeks or so. Hopefully I will be able to continue to lose, but it probably won't happen.:biggrin: Does anyone know if getting an unfill is supposed to be necessary? I called my band surgeon, but haven't gotten a call back yet.

Hi Crazytchr, thanks for the good wishes! I got the insurance approval today. Good luck on your surgery Monday - let us know how it goes - we will send you warm wishes and thoughts.

I'm not sure about an unfill - that is a great question - let us know what your surgeon says. Anyone else know????????????????

I'm sure you wont gain so long as you keep your calorie intake in check - they do say that weight loss is 80% diet and only 20% excercise. I would definitely keep in mind the inactivity when determining how many calories to take in, daily. Probably hover around your minimum rather than maximum.

Good luck on the surgery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Thanks. Good luck to you on Friday. I am going to call the surgeon again tomorrow.

Hi checking in....went to curves last night, got my 30 minutes in there and 10 minutes on the treadmill. Tracked all my food on Fitday, went over a little more than I should have on the carbs, will try to do better today....take it day by day huh?

I have those recent pics printed out and sitting here looking at me to help remind me WHY I need to keep on keeping on! Compared them to pics from 2 years ago BEFORE I gained the 30 pounds back and just makes me more determined!

See ya! Good luck to everyone! Keep up the good work.

Crzytchr - Good luck on your surgery on Monday. I have no idea about an unfill for surgery but I really don't see why they would need you to? To me that would be taking steps backwards! ARGH! I will pray you won't have to have an unfill and that you don't gain and most of all that your surgery goes well. Keep us posted.

Hi checking in....went to curves last night, got my 30 minutes in there and 10 minutes on the treadmill. Tracked all my food on Fitday, went over a little more than I should have on the carbs, will try to do better today....take it day by day huh?

I have those recent pics printed out and sitting here looking at me to help remind me WHY I need to keep on keeping on! Compared them to pics from 2 years ago BEFORE I gained the 30 pounds back and just makes me more determined!

See ya! Good luck to everyone! Keep up the good work.

Whooooooooo whooooooooooooooop!! That's awesome IBBAnded - Going to carves and all - Very very nice. You are motivating me to get off my behind and go for Tae Kwondo today.

Personally I dont count my carbs, just my calories - I try and eat a good combo of all food groups - I can eat about 1.5-2 cups a meal, so getting all my necessary Protein in is no problem.

I love the idea of the pics for motivation - I should get some pics and stick em on the fridge today.

So how are you doing on your goals today?

Tabithan, I don't know if I will be able to get on tomorrow, so good luck on Friday with your surgery and be sure to check in when you can to let us know how you are doing.

Hi girlies! I am happy to announce I went to curves gym again last night, burned 434 calories according to their machine printout, it is personalized to you, very cool setup with the SMARTmachines.

Stayed pretty much around the calories I wanted to stay under, did NOTget all my Water in however : (

TODAY:

Walked 20 minutes on my lunch break already

food for today so far:

coffee with sugarfree vanilla carmel creamer (Delish)

One boiled egg - Breakfast

Midmorning snack: Light Yoplait yogurt

Lunch: Progresso Light Beef Pot Roast Soup (1/2 cup)

Hope you all are getting out and exercising like you want and tracking your food intake, need to post on FItday now... After work I guess.

Plan to go workout at Curves again today. Gonna try to find my stepcounter and start wearing it to track my steps daily and set a goal for that.

Good luck to us all!

My goals for today:

• Drink at least 80 oz water
  
• Exercise at least 30 minutes at Curves and walk on the treadmill at home or walk the dog outside for 20-30 minutes.
  
• Track every bite that goes in my mouth (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly) on fitday (that place is Flippin amazing and that it is free) Love that you can add your own customize foods to the list.
  
• Track here on this thread or just sit and read here when tempted to eat tonight when the food demons strike! Got me some 100-calorie mini bag popcorn for that time and will eat it s l o w l y to make it last.
  

Hi girlies! I am happy to announce I went to curves gym again last night, burned 434 calories according to their machine printout, it is personalized to you, very cool setup with the SMARTmachines.

Stayed pretty much around the calories I wanted to stay under, did NOTget all my Water in however : (

TODAY:

Walked 20 minutes on my lunch break already

IBBANDED - You have NO IDEA how excited I am of your accomplishments to date - the setting of specific goals, the working out, the meals - the overall FOLLOW-THROUGH. I feel like a PROUD MOMMA - CONGRATULATIONS - Great job and please, keep it up!!! With this, you will begin or continue to see results. Nice work!!!!

I am SO MOTIVATED to stay on track after reading your post. I am doing GREAT with my food intake and tracking this week but struggling a little with excercise. I have only gone ONCE this week and I know I wont be able to go for another few days since I am having the mini procedure tomorrow - But this really motivates me to GET BACK with the MOVING my behind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited about your progress. Keep it up and please keep letting us know about your successes.:huh2: