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14 months ago I embarked on an incredible journey. I have struggled with severe depression since my early teens and, like most, I took to eating as a coping mechanism. Throughout the years I have tried many diets. All of which were soon abandoned within the first couple of weeks. Towards the end of 2009 I had an injury and knew exactly what the cause was. The gavel in my mind slammed down. It was time to make a change and change for good, even if that meant taking drastic measures. I had always been against any form of weight loss surgery. Thinking, "Why can’t you just lose weight like everyone else on a normal diet?" I finally caught myself in a huge pit of denial. After much research and consoling with my family; I decided to opt for laparoscopic banding. I knew that if I was to be paying for something this drastic, I would do it right and stick with it no matter what. On 8/9/10 my 10 day pre-op liquid diet began, and my weight was 435 pounds! My surgery took place on 8/19/10, with no complications. I remained on my liquid diet for a total of 28 days. After that I was slowly re-introduced to foods. Having cut out all fried food, fast food, and sweets (I have had NO FORM of rice, bread, or Pasta since beginning). I now love my new diet. Fresh and healthy is a lifestyle I have learned to love. Sure, someday I will enjoy what I cut out from my diet, but I will be way smarter and more health-conscious when doing so. After losing a hefty amount of weight, I was ready to hit the gym! I started a membership in January 2011, and have been dedicated to going at least 4 times a week since. Through the months, as the weight has been melting off, I begin to feel superhuman! Things I have not been able to do since my early teens, I now enjoy and love doing! I will stay true and dedicated to this lifestyle, even after my goal is met. Thank you everyone for your support and love. Life is good. Oh, by the way, I have gone from 435lbs to 244lbs. A loss of 191lbs, as of 10/22/11. Before: After(pic is a couple weeks old):

I had to go to the gym today due to the snow we had yesterday. It seems kind of unreal. I can't believe that we have snow in October. It definately was one for the record book. Back to this journey.....I am 15 months out from my surgery. Around 10 months, I hit a plateau. I really couldn't afford to go in to get another fill at that time. Therefore, I tried all kinds of strategies to get pass this plateau. However, I was stuck within the same 2 pound. Before the lapband, I would have given up very easily. However, I did not do it this time. I stayed the course and kept working at moving toward my goal. If you are beginning your life with a lapband, just remember to keep focused and stay the course. I know that I was so frustrated at the beginning (first 6 weeks). I felt that my weight loss was not ever going to get started. I made up my mind at that point that I would always think of this as a life time journey. If I ever felt that I was losing focus, I would strive to get myself back on board. I would keep at it. I am not near my goal. I have loss 68 lbs so far. I want to lose another 60 lbs. and I will do it. I was relieved to get back on track. I was able to get a fill at the end of September. It was too tight. I had to go back in and have a small amount removed. I am back on my way. I have been going into the gym faithfully for the past 6 weeks. This has been a great adventure. I use to always put off doing exercise. I just don't like it. This time I am treating it as my job. I make no excuses not to show up for my job. If I missed it, I must make it up. My attitude toward exercise is slowly......... changing. I can go in totally stressed. After exercising, I come out with my "happy" hormones released. We have made it into a family adventure. My son an d daughter both have started to go with my husband and me. I am blessed that my husband is a wonderful fitness expert so I feel like I have my own personal trainer. I had a wow moment today after leaving the gym. My husband and I went to the grocery store. Wow...my grocery cart looks so different these days. My husband and I are making a conscience effort to not eat processed food. I can't say that we are done with it all. However, the only thing in my cart today was all fresh foods except for a bag of sweet potato fries. Again, this has been a gradual change. It is not something that I did after getting my lapband. I mean seriously...I work about 50 hours average a week and have to run my children to their activities. So, it has taken me some time to make these changes. I am having fun cooking from scratch. I have turned it into an adventure...finding healthy recipes that are healthy, taste great, and my family will enjoy them. Good luck to all of you just beginning your journey!

Now that my weight loss is so noticeable (at 106lb it ought to be!), I find that people are watching what I eat and feel as though they have a right to ask how much I have lost and how I've done it, not to mention how much more I am going to lose! One even had the audacity to tell me that I had started too soon if I wanted to be looking good for my son's wedding next April! What, does he think I am going to fall off the wagon and put it all back on! Thanks for the support (that was my attempt at sarcasm.) The interesting part is that very few know that I have a lap band. Mostly I don't think it is any of their business, but now I am glad that I haven't told them because I am already getting the pressure about how much I've lost etc. It is starting to move beyond support from some of them. It's almost as though they are waiting for me to trip up. Well, guess what? They are going to be disappointed! Why is it that people think that obese people losing weight are some sort of public property?

There is another side of this as well. Now that I have "come out of the closet" about my surgery I feel that I have to maintain. ( I haven't told everyone but amongst those I have told a few know someone that has had it done and failed). To gain back any weight would just prove the theory that so many have that WLS doesn't work. I have heard so many negative comments about how surgery doesn't work, or how after 5 years you put all your weight back on, or how someone had surgery and didn't lose etc that I feel I have to prove that it can and does work. Those people that have had a friend that failed with it also now know that the weight loss is not automatic. That there has to be some kind of effort on your part and that if there is then you reap the rewards. I am now 2 years 5 months out. I am hoping that I can maintain so that at 5 years out I am still a success and can prove all the naysayers wrong.

Sometimes weight is one of those things people are not sure what is ok to say. It's like commenting on an older woman's age ..... you just avoid it. Sometimes people are thinking all sorts of things, but the words never come out of their mouths. Some bandsters who have been here at LBT for a couple years may remember I had posted about my husband not saying anything about my weightloss. I had lost 40 pounds .... then 50.....and so on. He said nothing. I was hurt at first, then I was pissed, then went past that point and didn't care if he said anything at all. I waited..... and waited....... finally after I lost a whopping 91 pounds he said something ..... geesh...... To tell you the truth, he's lucky he didn't say anything when I was at the pissed stage When he got around to saying something, I calmly said, "I didn't think you noticed. This is the first time you said something." He said. "oh, I noticed."

My sleeve surgery date is November 7, 2011 and I'm at midpoint with my 2 week pre op liquids. At this point, I don't have any more ambivalent feelings. I have been trying to lose weight on my own for the past 20 years and have done a great job losing, but keeping if off has been a different story altogether (as I'm sure it has been for many of you as well). My last great weight loss effort was with Crossfit...I got hurt doing that and have not been able to participate with full effort since then. If you know Crossfitters (as I do) then you know there's no room for people who don't give 110% to a workout because of an injury. I loved Crossfit, but I love myself more and there just wasn't room enough for the 2 of us; so I'm back at the Global gym (with central heat and air) working out there. I still love to do squats, pushups and lunges, but I'm done with running and box jumps for sure (my feet just can't take those anymore). I'm repositioning my efforts with a new tool. I will lose weight again, but this time I will be able to maintain that loss with my sleeve. My Goliath is finally not just going to fall, he's going to die once and for all.

I was banded in Jan 2011 and maybe have thrown up 15 times since then at most, i am reliant on my memory, as what makes me sick doesnt get eaten again unless i can see another cause like i was very hungry and just ate too fast or didnt chew my food enough. My best friend is a sharp knife i cut up all my food really small, i do not eat bread or bread products at all, and tend to avoid things like cold chicken as that is a big no no for me. What i do eat a lot of is Soup, homemade vegetable soup or tomato soup from weight watchers. If you do throw up then give your band /stomach time to recover, going onto liquids/soft food for the rest of the day is good advice. Eventually you get to know your band and what u can and cant do with it, i had to change my whole approach to food and what i was able to eat where other people just ate smaller portions of 'normal' food. Food can get stuck more often after a band fill so be cautious after a fill for a few days and hopefully things will improve. Be pateint we all lose weight at different rates just keep at it and eventually u will be ok. Just make sure u are burning more calories than you are eating I have lost over 170lbs so far by monitoring closely everything i eat, the band is a tool for weight loss and not the whole answer and i really hope things improve for you .

I THINK YOUR CALORIE INTAKE IS TOO LOW. I WAS BANDED 7/11/11 AND I EAT 1000-1200 CALORIES A DAY.EVEN THOUGH I HAVE BEEN LOSING OK, I STILL HAVE HUNGER PAINS FROM TIME TO TIME. TODAY WAS MY 4TH FILL I NOW HAVE 8CC'S IN A 14CC BAND. TRUST ME I CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE... SO TELL YOUR DOCTOR'S ASSISTANT TO GET WITH THE PROGRAM OR REQUEST TO SEE THE ACTUAL DR. HIMSELF. HE WAS PAID OVER $17,000 SO HE NEED TO HIS JOB!!!!

i have been banded since July 25th. The past month I have experienced 2 stuck episodes that were no fun at all. Is it normal to be getting stuck so much after 3 months out?? The first was on a piece of bacon while I was on vacation. That lasted about 18 hours before I found relief. Had to keep getting it up.....(sorry) until I got relief. The last episode (last night) out for dinner with friends. Got the stuck feeling after 2 bites of french dip (roast beef with gravy). Went to ladies room to get relief. Then started with the excessive indigestion....hiccuping....belching.....and foaming saliva which came up unvoluntarily. No fun at all. Last night's episode lasted about 2 hours. When I got home I made myself vomit to get relief. Is this normal????? Does a stuck episode usually last this long.\??? I have not had a fill and am happy with the weight loss, but not happy with these stuck episodes. I am chewing and careful what I eat. Any advice would be appreciated. Also, do you think I can damage the band by making myself throw up the stuck food?? I am going to the dr. on the 15th and have alot of questions for him. CAT