Finally I’ve won the battle with my weight. I am in great shape and great health because on August 16, 2006 I got a Lap-band®®®. With the help and support of a great team, I learned how to use this amazing tool. I am maintaining between 140 and 149 lbs. Some days I wonder if the scale is broken. It’s been hard work, and it certainly wasn’t the “easy way out.” It’s been over 3 years since surgery. I’ve been maintaining a healthy weight for more than 1 ½ years, but I still have days when it’s hard to believe that this is really my body, the one that I live in.

One of my goals when I had my LAP-BAND®®® surgery was to keep up with my kids. Nowadays they have to keep up with me.

Looking back, I vividly recall the pain and embarrassment of being weighed in my elementary school gym, praying that the school aide would not announce my weight for everyone to hear. I started dieting at the age of 10. My days were defined as good or bad by what I ate.

I have been on every diet you can think of; I took diet pills for years; I cannot remember a year when I didn’t gain or lose at least 40 or 50 pounds. My hunger never went away. I always gave in. For me, dieting was like holding my breath, eventually I had to come up for air. I’ve always exercised regularly. I was a fit, fat person. I have thyroid problems and low body temperature and it’s too easy to use that as an excuse for my weight.

The irony is that except for my battle with weight, I’ve been successful at everything I’ve ever attempted. I’m very fortunate. I have a great marriage, two wonderful children, true friends, and I’ve enjoyed a successful career as an executive and officer in Fortune 100 companies.

I couldn’t have been this successful without the support and encouragement of a lot of people. I hope to pay that forward.

I've decided to blog my entire Lap-band® journey, from the time, I first started exploring my surgery, preparing for surgery, recovering, transforming, and finally maintaining my weight loss . You can find my blog at Gloria's Banded Living — My LAP-BAND® Weight Loss Success Story.

Good Luck on your own journey.

Edited February 1, 201016 yr by atgoalgal
more info/update to share

Thanks for the inspiration...I am getting banded Dec 17th, and am looking forward to the re-education. Right, it is not the easy road, but doing nothing is a far more difficult road.

I always could lose weight and keep it off when I was younger. I also am a fit fat person...no high blood pressure, no high cholsterol, nor diabetes, etc. I don't even have a slow thryroid! But I weighed 333 lbs just a week ago. Am on the pre-op and am down 13 lbs already. Bye bye to those pounds, I never have to see them again.

What a gift from G-d. I give Him back the thanks and gratitude...I feel like the leper who was healed and is coming back to thank Him and I haven't even been banded yet...but He saw fit to help me in my distress.

I have a charismatic dynamic husband who deserves his wife by his side at his business gatherings. He is so happy and loving and shocked that I have the courage to do this...but it is not courage, it is honesty. I have had to admit that I lost my way...

I describe it as I was swimming at the beach, and while I was not paying attention, I drifted out so far that people could not even see me anymore or hear me scream. The band is the life raft that is being thrown to me to save my life.

I am getting tears of gratitude in my eyes. Love You God.

Love you all out there in lap land as well.......let's see if my ticker comes through below on this post.

Sara

Edited December 9, 200916 yr by seraiah3

Good for you! Wonderful story! I am 1 and 1/2 years since my band and it has been a real learning experience. I am down 52 pounds and still losing.

I have never been able to maintain my weight loss either until the band. I lost 40 pounds then maintained for 9 months and now am losing again. I too have been successful in every area of my life except losing weight. The band was what I needed to be successful with weight loss. Gald I did it...

Folks getting the band should not fall into the "I must lose all my weight in 1 year" trap. It takes a lot of getting used to- let it work and do the emotional work you need to do to be re-aquainted with normal eating. Sometimes that takes so time- be nice to yourself...

Thanks for posting your success- I think I will be at my goal in 3 years too... or maybe 4 years.. who cares? I am happy and getting there and feeling great...

And I am finally in regular sizes- yay- no more XX's for me...

Sadie

Congratulations! You have done what we all are hoping for.

I have been banded for a year and a half and am finally within reach of my goal (from 237 to 145). I would like to get to 135 at some point but I am so happy to be where I am. What I am finding is that I live in constant fear that it is going to slip away. That I am going to blink and I will be rolling up near 200 again. Did you find this fear? How did you handle it?

Thanks, LaBella :biggrin:

Congratulations! You have done what we all are hoping for.

I have been banded for a year and a half and am finally within reach of my goal (from 237 to 145). I would like to get to 135 at some point but I am so happy to be where I am. What I am finding is that I live in constant fear that it is going to slip away. That I am going to blink and I will be rolling up near 200 again. Did you find this fear? How did you handle it?

Thanks, LaBella :biggrin:

LaBella,

It's great to hear from you. I absolutely went through the same thing. This really is a journey and it doesn't end when we reach a normal weight. I call it Banded Living. Now, in my fourth year, I am finally starting to understand that this weight loss is the real thing. Like so many other people who decided to get banded I spent much of my life yo-yoing; I lost a lot of weight before, I just never could keep it off, so it was really hard to believe that this is different, BUT IT IS DIFFERENT. For me getting my band and learning how to use it has made that difference. I have to remind myself that I've been wearing the same jeans for 2 years, and they've never gotten too tight! For me, that seems nothing short of a miracle.

That being said, I still have days when I feel fat. My friends tell me that means I am now normal!

My doctor gave me great advice that calmed my mind a bit. He gave me a 10 lb weight range to try to stay within, so for me it's 140 - 150. I got below 140 and everyone thought I looked sick; I try not to stress at 149, because I have the tool to help me get back to the middle of my range where I am most comfortable.

As you approach your goal weight you may also experience a strange phenomenon. People are getting used to how great you look, the compliments slow down and you are no longer dropping sizes quickly. That was a hard adjustment for me; coming off of the weight loss high and getting used to my new body. For me that was the time when I really needed to surround myself and learn from other people who had been through this journey. It's scary and wonderful to learn to love your body and trust your appetite.

Would love to hear more from you.

Gloria

Yes, what you describe it it exactly. I have to live it and realize it is not going to slip away. Gradually relax without going back to old habits - or catching the habits as they begin anyway :smile2:.

I am still occasionally getting a little fill in my band. I am at 8 out of 10 right now. Do you still need an occasional fill or did it eventually reach a point where it maintained itself. I don't want to reach a point where I need more and have no more room.

Thanks for getting back to me. It is nice having someone ahead of me in the journey to talk to.

LaBella :wink2:

Thank you for posting an update and giving all of us "new" bandsters something to look forward too.

:smile2:

Yes, what you describe it it exactly. I have to live it and realize it is not going to slip away. Gradually relax without going back to old habits - or catching the habits as they begin anyway :thumbup:.

I am still occasionally getting a little fill in my band. I am at 8 out of 10 right now. Do you still need an occasional fill or did it eventually reach a point where it maintained itself. I don't want to reach a point where I need more and have no more room.

Thanks for getting back to me. It is nice having someone ahead of me in the journey to talk to.

LaBella :ohmy:

I find that I get a little relaxed at times and that's ok, because it's real life. The key is that I have this tool, that makes it so much easier to go back to basics, when the scale creeps up. Staying within a range is definitely a great way to approach it.

Yes, years out I was still getting fills. I haven't had one in more than 6 months, but I am still in regular contact with my surgeon. I have one of the earlier bands, it only holds 4cc's and I haven't had an issue. I really don't think the capacity of your band is something to be concerned about. I've never heard of someone needing more volume than their band could hold...but it is something I used to think about too. I think maybe I was just worried that the miracle of this band would stop for me at some point, now in my 4th year, I really trust the tool.

It great hearing from you; I love sharing this journey. I wish that when I first had my band there had been more successful people out there to learn from. I was lucky to find someone in my doctor's practice who took me by the hand, and I think that is a big part of why I've been so successful.

Let's keep this dialogue open, so that others can learn from our experiences. It feels great to pay it forward

Gloria

Sounds great. It is wonderful to have someone else to talk to!

LaBella :thumbup:

Please share your tips

Please share your tips

Where are you in your journey?

So much of what I've learned on my journey revolves around always having a plan, but that plan really depends upon what's hard at the time. For example, I feel like a "normal person" around food when I am at a good fill level, but that can change a bit from day to day. I need to really listen to my band. When my band feels a little loose, ice cold drinks seem to have a tightening effect for me. I also make a point of using plain white meat chicken and raw fruits and vegetables, to fill me "pouch" and get that feeling of satisfaction that helps keep me on track.

Please share where you are and what you are struggling with, and I'd be happy to share what I've learned that may help.

Gloria

It's great to see you up here! Congrats on your achievements. I know all the work you did to get here having been your Banded Living mentor from day one. I knew you when you had not yet decided on the surgery and you just kept asking- ARE YOU HUNGRY? Now we both know the answer is - We can use the "tool" to truly keep our hunger at bay. oesn't it feel wonderful to have some control over a part of your life that seemed so out of control for so many years?

I love that you've put yourself out here.

sandi2004

Sandi@bandedliving.com

I am a year post banding. A slow loser.ihave to exercise 1-2 hrs a day.i cannot eat raw fruits and veggies they make me plb.and give me severe gas.i can't eat bread,rice or pasta i have 40lbs to be at my goal

How much have you lost so far? What do you mean by a "slow loser" I'd be interested to hear more about your journey. Is your issue that you can't eatsome of the things you would like to eat, are you frustrated that you are a "slow loser"? Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss.

Gloria

what i am saying is that i cant eat bread, pasta, rice,ground meat .that i really lose wt slowly does anyone else with the lapband have too exercise 1-11/2 hours too lose wt.62lbs over ayear with the lap band and exercise.i am working out harder since the lap band

i did a search there is a program called belite this woman had a lapband in2001 and seems to be capitalizing off the lapband concept talking about fills and cost