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One day while my husband and i where not married but a couple i went out to where he works for lunch, As we ate our lunch we got to talking about this guy that he didn't like and i had just seen. I ask what his name was he said Robbie i said oh like my name lol he said yes. We where talking and the conversation came up that he had had lap band surgery about two years ago. I said well how much did he weigh before? My husband said he weights more now then he did when he started. I could tell i had a puzzled look on my face and i said but my real mother had gastric bypass and she lost about 200lbs. He said yeah well he said lap band doesn't work. That right there was my first conversation about lap band and the first time that i had even herd of it I thought well that will be something that i never ever do and just forgot about it. Until i considered the surgery for myself after i found a doctor that would do it and it not cost an arm, leg, and liver then i got to thinking about that very conversation. I was a little worried so i got online and looked it up. I stubbed on a video on YouTube about lap band and i saw that people did really really good with it. I was confused and wanted to know why in the world this guy had only gained weight. So who better to ask then the doctor himself right. Well my appointment came around and i had so many question and thoughts and was pretty much scared crapless why i still don't know but i did ask if this going to work because there is a guy and he said it doesn't work and he gained lots of weight back. The doctor and the dietitian both said you have to make it work. It is nothing but a tool and you can cheat it but really your only cheating yourself. I said so is there a way that i can know that i wouldn't end up bigger then when i started? They said yes you do what your supposed to and don't try to cheat your band and make sure that you have fills like your supposed to. I said really that's it. The dietitian said its a tool its there to help you loose the weight, if you are not serious about it and you continue to do what your doing now then NO it will not work and it will be no ones fault but your own.So i left that day with a new look on life and a new feeling about life i thought well i can do this and i want to, I want to be the person that i feel like i am on the inside! But the thought was still in my head if this guy gained so much weight back what did he do wrong. So i asked my husband who later came back and told me, He had one fill, drank sodas, ate whatever he wanted and more. That was all i had to hear was that the band didnt fail him he failed the band. And **** happens i know but i still cant for the life of me understand why someone would pay so much money to have this done and not do what they know they are supposed to do? Its not even that hard to stick to really. Its protein really you just have to make sure that your getting lots of protein and not lots of crap. Yeah im sure it will not kill you to eat bread but the first time it gets stuck i promise you probably will not be eating bread again. Grease the first time you get heart burn real bad and throw it up you probably will try and stay away from it right? I know i do. Sugar well they make all kinds of sugar for people now that cant have real sugar its not hard to just stop buying and sub it for the fake sugar. Sodas I can see being a problem. I don't miss the taste and i really don't miss buying them the only thing i really miss are the bubbles. I know it sounds really crazy but that's really all that i miss about them. I haven't had a soda since august. Candy wasn't hard for me to give up i don't like it any ways. Chocolate well you can find it in sugar free and most of it now is pretty good. I will eat dark chocolate but i don't like to much of the rest. Cookies i will be the first to tell you i went through a cookie faze but again it in moderation i didn't just sit down and eat a whole box of cookies just about two or three a day and i didn't gain anything. Ice cream again i am going through that faze right now and still in moderation. I remember when i could sit down and eat a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's by myself now it takes me weeks and weeks to get through one and still i don't weigh any more. The band isn't there to be a BIG DIET your whole life its there as a tool so you can learn to control your portions and control what you eat and to know that most the time its not that your hungry but your board and that's what people tend to do when they are board is eat. Why i don't really know it just seems to be the thing to do. That's why i am going to say this if you dont work with your band it will NOT work with you. It didn't take you one night to gain all the weight and its not going to take one night to loose all the weight. Hell it might even take longer then a year but if you are doing what your supposed to be doing to work with the band then there shouldn't be a problem! Now don't get me wrong there are ways the band can fail and i have read about it and watched it on YouTube but most of them where fixable unless the person didn't want them fixed or couldn't have them fixed. I have herd about a hole in the band where it leaks the water and wont fill that is the bands fault not yours. Also your band can slip and they will tell you that and from all the ones that i have herd about its because of the person not listening when they say very clearly DO NOT EAT HARD FOOD. Don't eat to soon and don't do anything that they tell you not to do there are reasons they are telling you this. Its not to piss you off and its not to hurt you its because they want you to have success with the band. Now what you cant always help its when you have a tummy bug and are throwing up to hard your band can slip and i have read that you cant even keep down liquid and there is horrible pain in your lower back and chest. I hope i don't ever have that! But really the band can only work if you work with your band. If you don't want to work with the band then don't worry about the surgery because you probably shouldn't get it. Im not trying to be mean im just saying i am so sick of people saying the band doesn't work. I think its a bitterness that it didn't work for someone and they are pissed and they don't want anyone else to get the band because for them it didn't work. I can sit here an honestly say all the bad things that i have been through have been MY OWN DAMN FAULT. And i will say that so far every time except for the tummy bug there just wasn't anything any one could do for me. It wasn't really anyone's fault. I could blame everyone but at the end of it all i am the only one that is putting things in my mouth. No one else does it for me. So don't let anyone put you down if you want lap band and think its the best thing for you then you get it and make everyone else eat their harsh mean words! Because i know without a doubt that you all can do it and everyone can make it work for them. There will be bumps, bruises, scratches, cuts, stops, slips, tears, pain, sweat, emotions, and maybe even some heart aches along the way but you have to remember your starting a new life. And with new things comes other new things. And im sure you can always find a friend on here who will understand what your dealing with and can find a way to help you to deal, and heal from whatever it is. And never let others get you down. Because once you see the new you, you will smile and know that it was all worth it and it really wasn't so bad it was really kind of fun. And once you see the 100's mark even if its 199 you will feel joy and just feel like you can rule the world and maybe even cry with happiness. Always remember this you didn't get fat over night so don't think you will get skinny over night. It takes work and more work and time.

It took me five months to see that i had lost weight. It took my mom forcing me to into a size 16 from a 20 (because i was scared they wouldn't fit). And sometimes i don't see that i have changed at all. When i look in the mirror sometimes i still see the old me, the me that was over weight to the point of i didn't look like i had a neck. I don't recognize the person looking back at me sometimes. Although lots of people have said to me "you have lost so much weight! How did you do it?" The first time i realized that i really wasn't the fat girl any more was really two weeks ago when i took a pic with my daughter for the first time since i had surgery. Granted i cant fit in any of my old clothes but i do still try to wear them sometimes. I cant wear the pants clearly since i am in a size 11 now but i do still try to wear my old shirts size XXX L when really i can fit in a size XL and its loose. So why do i feel like i haven't lost anything? The mirror is my worst enemy. I have no full length mirrors in my house all my mirrors are boob up mirrors. I did that because i didnt want to see anything below that before and i really had no reason to as long as my shoes matched. I know that i have lost weight, but when i saw that it was like wow! I kinda feel like i have cheated myself like i just woke up one morning and the weight that i see in the mirror was gone. I saw the scales but i guess in my mind i just didn't want to believe it. I really hope that i am not the only one that is feeling this way. I want to be able to see what everyone else sees but im not sure that i can ever see that. I love wearing jeans that i can buy from jcp or the buckle or where ever i want and i love to be able to go in to any store and buy any shirt or under wear or bra that i want but i just want to see it for myself! Any ways im not saying that i am not happy that i am getting health im just saying why can i not see it? Please someone tell me that you are having the same problem, that its not just me and im not just crazy,

My surgery took place on March 16, 2012 in Celebration Florida and was done by Dr. Keith Kim, a very good surgeon in this field. I have done research for about 4 years on the subject and talked with countless people about the surgery and those who have had the procedure done. The most surprising thing that I learned was that most people view WLS as a negative cheating way to lose weight, but the majority with that viewpoint were often uninformed or just ignorant to the whole weight loss process. As I sit here 3 days post-op and can feel my body returning to the size it was meant to be I can say that much of my concern is not centered on getting in shape. As a former Army recon scout I was really ashamed of how I let myself become out of shape and lacked the self discipline to eat right and stay in shape but I vowed to not be over 50 and fat……. And so begins my first steps.

Well its a new day and that means new obstetrical, I have found since me and lap band became friends that i have new things to deal with everyday. What are you talking about you might ask well here we go lol. Before banding i would wake up in the mornings slowly get out of bed and want to cry as soon as my feet hit the floor. my feet hurt and my back was in a big amount of pain. Then i would go to the bathroom, Then strait to the kitchen for a soda and the remote. not to menchen i would wake up at eleven if i didnt have to take kids to school. any ways after my soda i would head to the fridge for my breakfast which was usually leftovers from the night before and since i would wake up at like 11 or 12 i didnt see the point in trying breakfast. so i would eat ten times to much and then it was lay around and watch tv, play on the computer, or maybe wash a load or two of clothes. I didnt have energy to do anything any more. And my clothes where always jeans when cold and an XXXL t-shirt and if it was hot or warm basketball shorts and an XXXL t-shirt. I mean dont get me wrong i had very beautiful clothes but i was to big to wear them. So that was my before life all that right there i didnt like to go or do anything! I was a total couch potato! Now this is pretty much what i face every morning i will wake up uncurl myself (i usually wake up with my knees in my chest) then i will get up out of bed stretch no pain. journey to my bathroom do my stuff, go to the kitchen start my coffee, feed my dogs play with them a while, get my coffee and get on the computer and usually this is all before i wake up the kids to go to school or like a day like today where it is spring break all before nine o'clock. any ways i drink my coffee and get on the computer and check my email, and i run a business from home called Pomeranian's place. after all my computer stuff is done and all the coffee is gone i start off with maybe a protein shake because its so hard to eat in the mornings or i just mix protein and fiber with the coffee that i am drinking. Then i start off my day with cleaning (sometimes lol) and running earns like food shopping and just everyday life stuff. I usually always try to eat by 12 in less i am working at my other job which i got in October, then i will eat at one because i dont get off until 12:30 most days. After my lunch time meal is done i will do some more cleaning or play with the dogs, then maybe go and get the kids from school or when they dont have school i will work in the garden i am planting or mow the yard i find that i love to be outside now. And i am just waiting and counting down days until summer when i can go swimming anytime that i want. And clothes well for one i had to by all new clothes and i find myself bying things that i really love and no t-shirts my sizes now are pants size 11-10 and shirts xl to large. but i can buy girls shorts and look good in them again nothing skanky im to old for that lol. well i dont think i am to old i am 25 but with three kids i don't want to embarrass them. My point is is that after lap band i feel better i feel the need to get out and go. instead of trying to find the closest parking spot at a mall or store i find one that is farther away i mean yeah i dont want to loose the car one and two sometimes i just want to get home after a long day at the mall. Thats another things shopping before i hated malls and i hated food shopping. I hated malls because most stores just dont make things for big women. And food shopping because that is when people are the meanest. When they see one big girl with a basket full of food they tend to sometimes say "and she wonders why she is so fat" any one else ever hear that? It will make you cry and just leave but what they dont think about is i have four other people at home besides me. Let me clear something up i knew i was fat and i knew i had a problem but until someone is in the same place that you are they will never understand what your going through. As for malls now i love it no one looks at me crazy when i pick up a little shirt and no one says anything about do u really thing that you can wear that? No its really not like that for me. Here is a good story it was in january when i had just hit the 100's i needed new clothes and so i went shopping at a mall. What i didnt realize was that i had no clue what i was supposed to wear. I knew the size 14s i had on where way to big for me now and the XXL shirt i had on was also way to big. I went in to a store called the buckle. I was greated by a girl and a guy, they asked me what are you looking for i said i dont know. so the guy must have seen that i was almost ready to burst into tears and he came over and said what can i help you find what kinds of clothes do u like i said well i really dont know. He said what do you mean you dont know. I said well you dont understand before now all i have been wearing is basketball shorts and t-shirts. he smiled and said why i told him because before now i weighed about 300lbs he smiled and said no you didnt, i said um yeah i did and now that i can wear things in this store i dont even know where to start. He said well how much do you weigh now i said 198. he stoped and said holly crap! but he brought me all kinds of things to try on and worked with me untill i found a pair of jeans that fit perfect. He asked what size i was wearing right now i said a 14 he said no you my friend are in a size 11-12! Thanks to that guy i can now go into a store and know exactly what im looking for and what to buy although my size has dropped again i still know where i am supposed to be. I know many people have had to feel like this sometime in there lives right. It is just so awesome to know that when i tell people how big i was they are like no way your so little now. Ill admit after that i went a little extream with the weight loss. And this right here is why they will not fill my band i lost to much weight to fast and with out really seeing it i was in trouble. I haven't been filled since January. I wasnt eating like i was supposed to and no i wasn't eating crap i was eating maybe once a day. and my band gets tighter and tighter when i don't eat. again i dont know why this happens it just seems to happen. I would eat one slice of lunch meat for lunch and again for dinner. I wasn't hungry and if i thought i might be i would drink something. Well my husband started trying to make me eat and thats when the throwing up started and im still fighting with it but im also eating right again and im trying very hard to do what i know i am supposed to do. And the treat of going to the hospital makes me want to stay on track. What i was doing wasn't right but i got carried away with all the weight that i was loosing and weighing myself everyday wasn't helping. And my scale was way off and that wasn't helping either when i thought that i weighted 198 or like a month and what i really was weighting was 189 well that's a big difference. I am back on track now and i gained a little weight back but it wasn't bad i didnt crumple and die but im slowly loosing weight again and the way that i am supposed to so im happy and i only weight myself once a month and when the doctor does it for me. And that takes a lot of pressure off my shoulder. So even if you slip a little make sure you have someone to catch you and throw you back in place because everyone needs someone while dealing with change. And im not going to stop im am just going to do it smarter. And at the end of the day i know i am better then one year ago. and that to me is well worth it.

Today, March 19, 2012 is the start of a new life not just for me but my family as well. Today marks the beginning of a life for health, fitness and well being. When I started this journey on February 17th, I never thought that I would be here based on all the things I have heard and seen. Hearing my husband stating he would have to wait six months and reading his information, who would have thought that a month later I am starting my PreOp Diet. However, when I think back over my life, in 2002 I started Hydroxcut and lost 60 pounds and gained it all back with the birth of my son in 2003. In 2009 for one solid year, I took Adipex and lost 30 pounds and gained it all back. In 2011, I was a contestant in the Genghis Grill Health Kwest and lost 13 pounds and gained. So for almost 10 years, I have been trying to get this weight off and nothing work. I have decided to put my fears aside with this being a major surgery and starting to concentrate on what God has prepared for me ahead. This will be a huge milestone, but I am so happy I have the support from my husband and mom which means the world to me. To the wonderful support system on LapBand Talk, you are the absolute best anyone can ask for. Yes, the next two weeks will be hard but I will make it even with me being sick right now. What I realize this morning is that it will be better for me to prepare everything for me to eat during the day to avoid eating the junk foods at work. But I am going to enjoy my soup and salad tonight like no other!

Got the advice from a fellow bander to mix Peanut Butter in with my Vanilla Protein powder..I thought why not Chocolate? Soooo Goood! My boyfriend loved it too! Guess I gotta buy the bigger Peanut Butter Jars from now on... If you havent already and you are looking for something new..Try it !