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Got on the scale today and I was at 209.8! Yaayyy!!! I can see onderland in my sights now, which it has been so many years since that has happened. Without the band I would of given up on whatever diet I was on by now and been back on the upward side of getting heavier and heavier. Not now!!!!! Now if I can make thru today and my sons 7th birthday party. I really want to stay below 210 for mondays 4th of july challenge weigh in. Wish me luck!

Was reading other blogs today and it got me thinking. I have said many times that I was addicted to food, but not until today have I realized that I am a food addict. Been banded 16 days now and it has made me very aware of everything I put in my mouth. If addictive personalities run in families, then I can see that I am an addict. My father was an alcoholic as was my older brother. Second brother was addicted to perscription narcotics. I used to pride myself that I did neither of those. But now I see that I was not immune. I can sit here and blame it on my childhood traumas ( do not wish to go into those here) but it comes down to personal responsibilities. No one forced me to become this obese. I want and I need to lose this weight, as much as I can, be it 60 lbs or 160lbs. I know I need to get support everyday for my journey. I don't think very many people read these blogs so I don't expect much in the way of responses. I just want to write down my feelings, my goals,and my successes or failures in order to continue on. Maybe I can read my entries in a few months and see I am getting better.

I think this forum is a micro version of any group of like-minded people you'd find anywhere. If you walk into a room full of people, you'll find some who are nothing but positive, some who are nothing but negative, and most who "go with the flow." The personality types who are strongest will lead the conversation, and try to convince others in the room to think the way they do. It's human nature. For me, the LBT forum has been a great resource, not necessarily because of just the good posts, but because of ALL the posts. Even those who are all doom and gloom, who SCREAM EVERYTHING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS WITH SIXTEEN EXCLAMATION POINTS AFTER EVERY SENTENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It isn't because I agree with everything being said, but because I can take that post and step back, comparing it to how my own journey is going. I'm not going to experience the same things everyone else does. My band is my own, and my body's response to my band is also my own. I can learn from the experience of others, and not have to experience that problem to learn from it. I consider the general aspect of the post, whatever its topic is, and compare it to how my own journey is going. I may or may not reply to the post, if I think I have anything to contribute that may help talk that person down off the ledge a bit, or help to allay the fears of a newbie who is not sure just what the heck is going on. Time and experience brings perspective, and sometimes all people need to hear is a few calm words, so they can relax a bit. My experience with the band is often that what I was told pre-banding is a bit (or a lot) different than what has materialized post-banding. The people I talked to pre-banding at my surgeon's office are medical staff, but none are band patients. They have theoretical experience, but no real-world experience. I immediately realized their comments have to be considered in that light. I made some friends here at LBT that I communicate with offline, whose experience I can compare notes with, but who are having their own journey with this. I found my own experience is very personal, so I turned the mirror inward, and I focus on what is working for me, and how to avoid the pitfalls I see others fall into. Things have worked out well for me, because I've been able to understand what is happening inside my own body, and I've been able to respond to my own situation. I'm a generally positive person by nature, and I find I'm someone a lot of people come to for advice. (Not just about banding, but about a lot of things in life.) I try to be helpful, but usually turn the freaked-out person around to step out of their crisis of the moment, to step back, and think of things with a clearer head. Most of the time, people find their own answers, and they're appreciative that they had someone to consult. In that room full of people I first mentioned, when I hear the totally negative person trying to recruit kindred spirits, I'll tend to keep my mouth shut, or I may offer a pointed comment to give others something else to consider. If someone asks my opinion I'll share it. But throughout I'll consider the source, and cut the negative person some slack. I've learned some people try to make themselves feel better by gathering a crowd who'll stand with them and cheer them on. The advantage I have is being able to set aside such comments, because I know the person is only being emotional about the topic because they're highly invested in the situation (especially as a bandster), and things are not going as they expected it would. Those same people tend to come back later much more relaxed, once the crisis has passed. So for me, it's all about listening to my own experience and common sense, taking things I read here with a grain of salt, and considering the source. If someone is repeatedly negative just for the sake of being negative, I just stop reading their posts. Life is too short to try and educate those who won't learn. And when absolute push comes to shove, I try and follow the sign I saw on the wall above the desk of a former boss, who was a shoot-from-the-hip, damn-the-torpedoes, seriously contrary person of the highest degree. The sign said: "When they're running you out of town, try to get in front of the crowd and make it look like a parade." Dave

That is interesting, but I am 13 months out from surgery and 15 pounds BELOW my doctors goal weight so I have lost more than what that article claims. And I know of a lot of others on this board with the same fantastic results. I love my band and I went into it knowing it might have to be removed but I just had my yearly upper gi and everything is perfect and I have had absolutely no complications. I will not let myself dwell on these statistics anymore. If anything happens then it does and I will deal with it then. I will decide to either replace my band or revise.

Good luck, I have 21.3 lbs to onderland, I haven't weighed this since 1994.

I had a whole week's worth of last suppers! I had Vietnamese food one night, Indian another. It was crazy. Now I am on day 5 of an 8 day clear liquid diet and I am looking forward to my morning Flintstone vitamin! Ha!

Dear TanksMama, I really hope you can make this work even if it means switching to the sleeve. I am 53 and scheduled for surgery in 10 days. Yea!!! I have spent every single day of the last 45 worrying and fretting about every bite of food I put in my mouth. I swam on a swim team when I wa young - still overweight, I ran track in high school - still overweight, I did swim workouts with my college swim team - still o er weight, I ran 4 miles a day in my young married years - still overweight, Gym membership that I used religously in my 30's - overweight, lots of wLmi g the dogs, race walking class, water aerobics etc. in my 40's - overweight, and FINALLY gave up in my fifties!!!!! I have gone through so much emotional trauma over being fat I can't begin to tell you. I will never be able to change the quality of my life up until this time. Very, very sad. I am willing to do ANYTHING to make this work. After doing a great deal of reading on this forum I M shocked at all the work it will take but am totally ready for the challenge. I even practiced a. 2 week liquid diet to make sure 8 could do it!! I could!!!!!!! In closing.... to all of you banders out there.....make this work while you are young!! Don't waste the great quality of life you deserve because you want a double cheeseburger!!!!!! Love and Good luck to all of you.

Kitty, No problem, if you have questions, feel free to private message me as well if you'd like. Any advice on here should be run by your dr or NUT to find out what they would like you to do since everyone has different ideas on what works best. I've read a lot of people on here use sweet & low without a problem, my NUT said it was fine as long as we weren't using sugar. If you like any flavored teas, all of crystal light's teas are great! They have a peach tea, a red tea, etc and they're all very good. Full size blenders are just obnoxious unless you're having a margarita party! LoL I don't know how people use those or have room on their counters for them. I think BB&B would have more options for snow cone machines and if you get one of those 20% off coupons in the mail, even better! The chewable fiber really isn't that bad, it does stick in my teeth a little bit, but swishing with a little Water takes care of it. A person above recommended using the dissolvable fiber, I personally can't go that way! I'd rather chew it and get it done with. I don't take a calcium supplement, I'm on a bariatric Vitamin for lap band patients and my dr said if you take a high quality vitamin, you won't have to worry about additional supplements. He also does regular blood tests to make sure the levels are acceptable. Multi Vitamins this is heavily debated on here! A lot of people on here talk about taking kids chewables and adult gummies etc. If you compare the amount of nutrients with vitamins that are made for a bariatric patient, you will see that they are really lacking in some areas! My Dr is very against just using kids vitamins and the gummies but does not require that you buy vitamins from him. I go through bariatric choice for my vitamins, they have some great prices and lots of flavors and options. The dissolving Tylenol tabs should be fine! Just use the recommended amount of acetaminophen for adults on an adult package. I'm not sure of the strength difference, I just thought the liquid was slightly cheaper (had more per bottle than the package of dissolvable). I had read so much on here about people having issues with swallowing and recommending the liquid, but now I'm just using it to get rid of it. I can swallow pills just fine. The dr had me on 500 mg vicodin tabs and I'd just break them in half and I took them just fine. So if you can swallow pills after and you prefer pills, go for it! My Dr. let me go back to meds as regular the night of surgery (none were liquid or chewable, except my fiber). If you decide to just try swallowing the pills and they seem too big, break them in half or 4ths and you should be fine with 1 at a time.

First of all, I'm not going to read you the riot act about what you are eating...you know what you are doing wrong. The problem I see is that you have unrealistic expectations of what the band will do for you. That said, the fact is that you have already had surgery so what can you do to put things back in the right place? 1. Stop comparing your weight loss to your mother's. You had different surgeries and trying to compare your weight loss to hers is just going to frustrate you. 2. I realize that you don't want to count calories but, quite frankly, not counting calories isn't working for you the way you would like it to so maybe you need to try it. I use myfitnesspal.com to track mine (they also have an app for IPhone and Blackberry)...it is really not too difficult to use because you just need to type in what you are eating and select the item (I have rarely found any foods that are not already listed) and it is really easy to keep track of. 3. As far as exercise goes, I know what it is like to live in a place where it gets very hot...you need to find something you can do inside at home that is fun. Do you have a Wii or an XBox? I have a lot of fun exercising with both - I bought the Kinect for my son's XBox - because it is more like playing a game than exercising. I know you don't want to do it, but reality is that you will need to do it at some point in order to reach your goal. 4. Recognize that although you haven't lost the amount of weight you would have like to have lost, you have still lost 40 lbs, which averages out to 1.82 lbs per week. That rate of weight loss is right in line with what you should be losing with the band (1-2 lbs per week). You are actually losing faster that many people have lost after surgery so be proud of what you have accomplished! In the end, the band probably wasn't the best surgery for you because it will never allow you to lose weight without some work on your part so you have two choices...get a revision to the sleeve or bypass or decide that you are willing to put the work into making the most of the band you have. Good Luck! edited to add: You don't say how much fill you have in your band, but if you can eat a double cheeseburger and a medium fry then you definately need a fill...

I, too, LOVE ZUMBA!!! I've always been a fan of dancing and it just looked fun so I tried. I thought I would get lost and feel out of place. Not true at all. I started in the Zumba for beginners class at the Y. The instructor actually told me after class that she thought I would do great in the regular class. While I may have natural rhythm, I'm not a small girl by any means. I was probaby about 285 lbs in my first zumba class and noone stared or looked at me like I was out of place. In fact, some of the women in class actually encouraged me and invited me to other classes with them. Don't be embarassed to go try it out. I'm telling you, it is so fun! I sweat so much more in a 50 minute Zumba class than the same amount of time on the treadmill, bike, or elliptical. And, it works your muscles a LOT so that will help you continue to burn calories even after you're done. Zumba is a great thing!