Im Bobbie..im 51 in southern california and will be banded after over a year wait, on 7/7. I'm very excited, and nervous and so ready to make this happen - and having a friend/mentor to talk with and work through this new lifestyle would be great!

Im a single mom of 2 adopted beautiful girls..and im looking forward to being an active mom!

Any and as much help as i can get with this transition and new lifestyle would be wonderful!

Thanks!:grouphug:

Hi Bobbie..I was just banded on 5/28/09. So far all is well. Thanks to this forum I have had so many new "friends" reach out to me when I had questions or just wanted to vent. Congratulations on your surgery date. It will be here before you know it.

I am 45, married with 2 daughters 19 and 13. I live in Texas. Just look me up and I will be glad to help.

Hi Bobbie,

I was banded on 9-3-08 and have lost 70 lbs. I haven't posted a lot on the board, but I have found a lot of usefull information here and have been enlightened by other peoples experiences. This is a great place to look for advice and ideas, but everyone is different and we all have to adapt to what suits us best. I would be glad to be here to pass along my experiences with the band to you and answer questions if I can. I wish you the best, you're in for a crazy ride! But it has all been worth it.

thank you, 2911plans! I would welcome all the help i can get! how are you liking your band? did you find it easy to transition to this new lifestyle in the last couple of weeks? is your "discomfort" over???

Wow Mymiserys - that is an awesome loss! How do you feel? Did you find the weight just fell of you quickly??? Amazing that your almost at goal! Will you be happy losing those last few pounds? Or will you revise your goal???

You know, it seems that the weight came off easily at first. I stuck with my 1200 calorie a day diet and the protein shakes, I still drink shakes a few times a week. I have a hard time eating meat so I try to get a lot of protein in other ways.I was lucky enough to have a lot of restriction from the very beginning, and had all of my fill removed from Dec. through March because of some nerve pain in my chest. But I still felt restriction without the fill. The weight has been coming off slower now, and I can finally see what people mean when they complain about only wanting to lose 15 pounds - it seems to take forever. I did revise my plan on what I wanted to lose...I had originally wanted to lose 100 lbs. but as I got closer to it, I felt that was too much. I had no desire to be super model thin, and I am afraid of having too much extra skin. It doesn't snap back like it did when I was in my 20's. I guess I looked at clothing size more than the actually pounds. My main goal was to wear a 14 (I had worn a 20 for the past 15 years) So I have reached that goal and now would like to try for a 12. I think a lot of it is how comfortable you are in your own skin. I didn't set out to be able to wear a bikini. I just wanted to not have to buy womans sizes, and I wanted to not cringe when I saw a picture of myself. Just think how great you will look a year from now, and it does go by fast. I've never regreted this and I have learned so much about eating healthy. I haven't eaten fast food since last september and you know, I don't miss it. I also don't drink carbonated drinks. I used to drink about a 2 liter of regular Coke a day, and I hate diet pop. So now I drink sugar free Hawaiian Punch and a LOT of coffee!

Hi Bobbie..Today is day 14 post op and I am feeling pretty good. I am on soft foods now which consists of yogurt, mashed potatoes, fish and soft cooked eggs. I have to go shopping today. No yogurt. I would much rather the yogurt over heavy mashed potatoes. I have lost over 11 pounds. I feel good about that. I also do not want to be model thin. I wore an XL top and 14 bottoms, but was not comfortable. Heart disease and diabetes runs in my family and this was a chance to stop any of those from happening to me. My goal is to wear a L top and a 12 bottom. Roughly that should be a 30-40 pound drop.

My husband and I are High School Sweethearts. We met in 1978. Over the years he is looking great. Some signs of graying around the edges and his weight is good. Me on the other hand began to look and feel really old. I thought no way. I want the two of us to age gracefully. I'm on the right track.

It feels good to turn away from food. I'm also conscience of what foods to avoid and I have made every effort to do so. Before the band I would eat it knowing it wasn't good for me. I know this is the best thing I have ever done for myself.