I went to my first consultation. I was a little nervous but felt pretty confident until my Dr began to undress me without first letting me know. He asks me to lay down on the table, then he lifts up my shirt, and then without saying anything to that, begins to undo my pants! WTF mate?

Anyhow, other than feeling slightly violated (and I am only partially jesting...), we got along well and I liked him. But I began to wonder if this is right for me, right now.

I think I've decided to hold off on the surgery. But I have to say, having my PCP suggest the lap band AND finding this site, has been a life saver for me, and a real eye-opener. I began to tweak my diet so that the lap band diet wouldn't be so drastic, and in doing that, began to lose weight on my own. I now work out about 5 times a week in half hour sessions, in addition to riding my bike with my husband/kids/dog(s) and hiking/swimming at my leisure. My entire family loves the strawberry kiwi NECTAR protein smoothies I make, and I am actually drinking water now. Not only that, but I am eating so much fruit, which I love, and we have started our own veggie garden. We no longer eat canned veggies, but I make all fresh veggies. The dinners are so tastey, and I don't restrict myself.

Several times a week when the baby goes down for a nap, I sit on my deck with a book and read in the sun while eating fruit or a salad with one of my parrots. The sun has really helped my acne go away, and I've developed a nice, light tan. It de-stresses me and my hubs has noted my new (better) attitude.

I'm now 241.5lbs. I'm losing 1-2lbs a week, most weeks. I hope I will keep losing like that. I'd love to be down to 220 by September/October. I was really happy when I took a week's vacation to Illinois and "pigged out" compared to what I normally eat, (and didn't work out at all), and didn't gain! I'm kinda waiting for a shoe to drop here....it seems too good.

I also tried to buy a horse, thinking it'd help tone me up. Unfortunately, I got on the wrong horse and got bucked off of it...and won a one-way ticket to the ER. Five hours, 3 CT scans, and a full set of x-rays better, I left with a concussion, banged and bruised but apparently not broken, and with a hysterically scared family. So I won't be getting a horse anytime soon...but I will be starting lessons in the mean time.

Lapband may still be the way for me to go. And I hope no one cares if I continue to use this to blog about my weight loss even without the lap band...because the lap band has been my sole reason for being able to lose this weight. :thumbup: Just a short few months ago I was tipping the scales at nearly 270. I can't believe I actually can use the "200" weight bar instead of the "250", when I hop on the scale.

There have been a few bandsters who have had the band for over 9 years who cautioned me to really think this through and think it over...that if they had the chance to go back and make the same decision, they probably would not have done it. I really took that advice to heart and I think I'm making the right decision. The time for me to work out and eat right isn't after I get the band....but before. And *if* I can do this on my own....and not gain it all then some...and keep up with just being healthy...I'll be so grateful to everyone who has helped me, talked to me, given me criticism and/or suggestions, or just kudos on this journey.

So many of us can't lose the weight without the band. And maybe I'll get to 240 and realize that I have hit my plateau and can't get below that, no matter how hard I try. But I'm going to try!

It's all about getting healthy, with a band or without. Congrats to EVERYONE who is doing what is right for their health, no matter how they are doing it, as long as they are healthy and true to themselves. :w00t:

You're so right...it's all about getting healthy no matter how you do it!

I've never had a problem losing large amounts of weight, just keeping it off. I've chosen the LB to help me get healthy and stay there. It's all a personal choice and we each know if/when we're ready and for what kind of help. Good luck to you on your journey and keep on blogging. -BG