It's been 15 months since I was banded. Looking back over this entire process is somewhat of a fog. My feelings are totally different today than I remember them being initially. I was so very excited and I didn't know what to expect from the band or my “body”. I had joined this site almost a year before having my surgery so I was very familiar with the way some things were going to be. However, until you actually cross this bridge for yourself- no one else's experiences can compare to your own!

Learning to live with this band and how it's going to work for you is a total different story. There were a lot of trail and errors for me and it still continues to be some rough spots from day to day. My whole entire life, I have had issues with food. I have good restriction now, but I still have to monitor my desire to over eat. When I don't listen to my band, and I eat one bite too many -I do pay for it several hours later. I experience this awful pain that you just can't imagine. I can say- that I am learning to pay attention when enough is enough for me. Really, having this band is not a quick fix to anyone's weight lost problems, but it's an aid to make your weight lost more achievable and to feel full a lot quicker or more satisfied. The key to this band is not to fell full but satisfied. There is a lot of work on my part and self discipline with right food choices. It's very easy to fill up on high calorie foods (that goes down really easy) then wonder why you are not losing weight. Unfortunately, I have been there and done that as well. I think it's really helpful to let others know that bad choices are made with this band, but you can recover from them and still be successful with your weight lost. Yes, I am a slow loser and a lot of it is because of my own choices, but I have changed a lot. I have also lost a lot of weight as well!

I have learned to be accountable for my own actions and not blame everything in the blue sky for me being over weight. I've learned that working out is not a punishment, but being good to myself and overall all fitness! Most of all- I love all of the positive attention from other people. Since I am 6"1 people think I have lost a whole lot more weight than I actually have. Yes- I love the new me. I always remember why I did this and I remind myself that anything worth having is worth working toward!

My beginning size was 24-26 and today I can wear a size 16-18. Yesterday was my 9^th wedding anniversary and my husband purchased me a pant suit from NY & Company size 16! I was tickled pink. I've always been embarrassed for my husband to buy clothes for me due to my size, but yesterday was a totally new and different feeling! Yes- I love it!