Hi everyone!

I remember when I was researching the lapband I found LBT and I loved reading posts of people’s personal success stories with the band. It gave me hope an encouragement that weight loss and success is possible with the band. I wanted to one day share my success story with everyone. I found LBT to be a great and supportive community to discuss and share experiences about anything and everything lapband related. After a year of having my lapband and having a lot of success with it, I would love to share my story with the LBT community in hopes of giving people the same encouragement I received from others in the beginning of my journey.

I apologize in advance that this is a lengthy post….

A year and 2 days ago (Jan 9, 2008) I got my lapband. I started this whole journey to health and weight loss in August of 2007. My highest weight was 315lbs in April of 2007. On August 6, 2007 I weighed 305lbs. I had made the decision to get the lapband, but I had to wait until January 2008 to get the surgery. I resolved that I would not waste my time before surgery to begin my weight loss. I had previously done the Atkins diet with a lot of success, losing 50lbs in 8 months. When I did Atkins, I felt healthy and full of energy. So I started the induction phase of the diet and never looked back again! I continued doing Atkins low carb until the day of my surgery. In that 5 month period pre-op I lost 55lbs! Not only was I in great health going into surgery, but now I had less to lose with the band and would get to my goal weight quicker.

A year after surgery and 17 months after this weight loss journey began, I couldn’t be more please with my results. I have lost almost 80lbs since surgery and almost 145lbs from my highest weight! I continue to subscribe to and eat a low-carb diet. I love to exercise and be active. I feel so alive!

But, I don’t want to deceive you and make you think that this journey has been all rosy and perfect, because it hasn’t! This past August, only 7 months out of surgery, I found out that my band had a leak and I needed to have the entire band replaced. While the surgery was a lot simpler and the recovery a lot quicker, it was an unexpected bump in the road. So if someone asked me if I would do the surgery over again, I could honestly say that I would, because I actually did!

I also learned that having a lapband does not guarantee anything, it is not a cure-all, nor is it the easy way out (and don't let anyone try to make you think that it is!!!). The band does not stop me from eating foods that pass right through the band. It does not stop me from grazing all day long. It doesn't make me exercise! I learned that when following the rules and using it properly, the lapband helps you to be successful. The lapband takes a tremendous amount of dedication, patience and commitment, but the results and feelings of accomplishment are worth it! If there’s anything I’ve learned about the lapband and about anything in life, is that success does not come over night. In order to reach your goals, you must be dedicated and patient. There is no such thing as instant gratification.

The lapband was one of the best decisions I have ever made for myself. I have been extremely overweight since I was a child. I tried a bunch of diets with minimal success. I had resorted myself to the fact that I would always be overweight……until I found out about the lapband. If you told me 2 years ago that I would weigh almost 170lbs today, after having weighed more than 200lbs since I was 12 years old, I would never have believed you.

I am now roughly 10lbs from my original goal, which will put me at a normal BMI. My weight loss has slowed and it gets harder and harder to lose those last pounds though. I know I will get there eventually, but I couldn't be more pleased with where I am today! My journey is not over, and it never will be. I have made a commitment to myself and my health for the rest of my life!

While the number on the scale reflects a measure of success, the benefits of the weight loss impact many other things in your life. It's the small (and big) changes that make all the difference as well! I have experienced so many Non-Scale Victories (NSVs) along the way and I would love to share them with you (there are so many more, but here are just a few):

Before surgery I:

Didn’t go to amusement parks in fear of not fitting into the rides.

Couldn’t barely fit into restaurant booths or the school desks attached to the chairs, baseball stadium seats, theatre seats (basically any seat with side-arms!)

Got the aisle seat on a flight because I wouldn’t have room if I sat in the middle.

Could barely fasten the airline seat belt

Couldn’t walk up a flight of steps without getting winded

I could barely walk a mile on the treadmill on 3mph

Couldn’t keep up with my skinny friends

Couldn’t bend down to tie my shoes without losing my breath

Had difficulty finding shoes for my wide size 11 feet.

Couldn’t wear heels for very long because they hurt my feet

Had limited choices of clothing from Lane Bryant and plus size sections

Had limited choices of jewelry because my neck, wrist and fingers were so big

Now I:

Fit into every ride with plenty of room to spare

Slide right into restaurant booths, desks and seats without a problem

Sit in any seat I want because I have plenty of room on both sides of me

Can fasten the airline seat belt with lots of room.

Can walk up lots of flights of steps without getting winded.

Don’t even think twice about walking a mile on the treadmill. I can run comfortably at 6mph. Not only that, but I ran my fastest mile in 9 minutes and 7 seconds last week! I have so much energy to do everything. I can keep up with the class instructor during work out classes. I love exercising and I miss it when I don’t.

Now I have to slow down so my friends can keep up with me!

Can bend down to tie my shoes and even bring my leg up on a ledge to tie them without losing my breath.

Wear a size 9-9.5 shoes! Who knew that feet shrink when you lose weight! Now I love shopping for shoes even more than I did before

Can wear cute shoes with heels.

Can go shopping with my friends in any store because I know that I can find something that fits.

Don’t need a wide-calf boot anymore

Can buy any piece of jewelry I want without adding a chain extension to my necklaces. My ring size went from a 11 to a 7-7.5

Stats:

Highest weight April 2007: 315lbs

August 2007:

Weight: 305lbs

Size: 26W bottoms 26/28,3X tops

BMI: 47.8

Body Fat %: 46.9 (almost half of me!)

January 2008:

Weight: 250lbs

Size: 20W bottoms, 2X tops

BMI: 39.2

January 2009:

Weight: 171lbs

Size: 12/14 Regular bottoms, Large tops/some Medium

BMI: 26.8

Body Fat %: 27.7

Total loss 1 year post-op: -79lbs

Total loss from highest weight: -144lbs

Thanks so much everyone for allowing me to share my story!

Great post!

Just proof that the real key to success is all within ourselves, its your outlook, your determination against adversity and challenge, your ability to remain optimistic and make the best of any situation. We cant prevent real problems that result in losing our bands etc, but many people cant even get past the fact that they actually have to choose what to put in their mouths.

Well done, I bet you're a success in many aspects of your life.

Thanks Jachut for your comments! Wyomingrl, you touched upon what I was going to say. I agree wholely that one's emotional state is definitely a key to success. But unfortunately, a healthy emotional state is not an easy thing to attain. I am extremely blessed and cannot give my parents enough credit for raising me with lots of love, encouragement and positivity. They accepted me for who I was even when I was overweight. My value as a person was not dependent on how I looked, what I weighed and what size I wore. It was enough that so many other people judged me because of my weight. They taught me to love and accept myself for who I was. They believed that I could be successful.

Throughout my weight loss, it has become so clear to me how important it is to have a positive self image and self esteem. I constantly had to draw on my strength to remind myself that I was committed to this change and I wasn't going to let anything stop me- most especially when things weren't so easy.

There are so many people, overweight and normal weight alike, who were not raised with the same self acceptance and love. I see my skinny friends who suffer in other aspects of their life as a result of their low self esteem. Then take an overweight person who lives in a society where physical beauty is the ultimate goal and that's the message they've been hearing their whole lives. When your self image is dependent on what society says, it's going to be a lot harder to stay motivated when the number on the scale doesn't move.

When people realize that they are not happy even though they're losing weight, their idealized image of weight loss= happiness is shattered and they're is nothing to work towards anymore. All of the sudden you're faced with the reality that true happiness is not rooted in the way you look. This idea is so much more clear to me now that I'm at a relatively normal size and weight. I used to think that my skinny friends were all happy, but now I see that they're not necessarily.

I'm not saying that if people have poor self esteems that they can't be successful with band, because they can, but it will be harder. Having a positive self image does not happen overnight and it can take a life time to undo the damage that family, friends and society have had on a person's self esteem.

I would say to those who are pre-op to think about how they view themselves. If you see that you don't accept yourself, start trying to view yourself differently. Tell yourself that you're worth it, complement yourself and really try to believe it. Seek out the people who accept you for who you are and will be supportive of you. Talk to a professional. Taking the steps to improve your emotional state as much as possible will definitely help you in the long run with success with the band and in other areas of your life as well!

Red Tulip

That was a wonderful post. It is truly inspiring to both newbies and oldies. Thanks.

Red Tulip - you're awesome!

Your story is so inspiring - and I really appreciate your thoughts about the importance of self-acceptance. It's rare to see that sort of empathy and understanding from someone who DID have the experience of being loved/cherished.

I have always struggled with feeling unworthy - and my weight has become entrenched with that identity. I definitely think that's played a role in my plateau in recent months. While it's exciting to feel more like a normal attractive woman, in some ways it's less comfortable for me than just being in the familiar fat chick role. So the motivation to stay on track and keep losing gets weakened because I'm still adjusting to where I am now.

But without the band I would have regained everything by now. As it is I've just gained a couple pounds and am now getting ready to get back into it. It helps to have a good shrink and work through all this! With hard work - mentally and physically - I'm hopeful that, with the help of the band and therapist, I'll be able to overcome my battle with my weight, overeating, and low self-worth.

Thanks for sharing your story - and your empathic perspective. It's great food for thought (not fattening either! :rose: )

-Susan