Well today is my 1 year anniversary!! I will start this blog by saying this has been a dream come true! I currently weigh 140 lbs with a BMI of 23.3. I have lost 126.6 lbs..that is almost another person..this just amazes me. I am now wearing a size 5/6 pants and a medium top..previously I was busting out of a 3X.

This year I spent only 1 6 day stay in the hospital and to this day there still isn't an official diagnosis but I believe it was due to how low my potassium level was. I had a stroke 3 1/2 years ago and one of my medications strips out all of my potassium and as a bandster we need to be sure we get enough in and retain our potassium--once we figured this out I bounced right back and all was great! Why I mention only one hospital visit is I had averaged 4 per year for the previous 3 years so this year was quite an improvement.

In this blog I thought I would list things that helped me achieve my goals...

Resources used: immediate family support, lapbandtalk.com, local support group, www.sparkrecipes.com (for sparkrecipes not only did I get recipes from this site I would enter my own recipes and it would calculate the nutritional value and some recipes I was already making were healthy I just ate too much of it), portion control, my beloved crockpot, always following up with my surgeon, staying positive regardless of the scale and finally remaining focused on the big picture (or the small one LOL).

For me staying connected with people who have been there or going thru it really meant a lot so being online with lapbandtalk.com gave me more motivation than it probably should have but it was and still is so addictive. It allowed time to go by and I didn't think of food.

Sparkrecipes generated so many new family favorites I couldn't even begin to list them. It was also a huge motivator..I dusted off the crockpot and started to cook again only in a healthy way. Not only do I cook 95% of all of our meals I use the crockpot 4-5 times per week. I found that having dinner ready and waiting for us there wasn't any excuses but to eat healthy. It is kind of game at our house..we vote on dishes as to if we will make them again but for the most part we have found very good recipes..if I can get a 3 year old to clean his plate knowing it was a homemade healthy meal that I made then I am pleased.

As for seeing my surgeon..I am self-paid and the contract I have with him is for the first year I am entitled to 12 monthly visits and as he said I was to get my money's worth. I saw him the 1st Thursday of every month--I never missed an appt. I reached my sweet spot on the 4th appt, so for 8 appts I went to see him and we talked about how I was doing and nutrional things..but the point is to stay in touch with your surgeon and do not wait until it is out of hand and you talk yourself out of going.

Exercise: My source of exercise has been swimming and using water resistance weights. I have a blood disorder that doesn't allow me to do a lot of other types of exercise.

Foods/things I do not eat/do: bread, ice cream, tortilla chips, drink from straws, soda, or chew gum. I think that is pretty short list.

As I have told many on this site before I never refer to this as a diet this was a lifestyle change. I feel know that I have retrained my brain to think properly. Yes, I have cravings but I know if I eat a bite or two that is all I need and the craving is gone.

Regrets: Waiting so long to do it--however I believe everything happens for a reason so maybe before now I wasn't ready?

Favorite recipe: Pizza Soup...yummy!!

In closing if this blog helps just one person then I would really be happy!!!

The pictures attached are showing when I first started 266..then weighing 150 and then yesterday at 140