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Today is my 6 month bandaversary, and I'm taking a minute this morning to reflect and to enjoy my journey so far. Before my pre-op diet, I weighed 230 pounds (which I always count as my "before" weight) and exactly six months later, I have lost 40 pounds! It has been an amazing experience, not always easy, not always fun or comfortable, but I am loving and working with my band! My medical team has been incredible and I am blessed to have the support of some amazing friends who are also bandsters. My family is supportive, my husband proud of my accomplishment (and I'm so glad, he was really concerned about spending the money on the surgery, but sees how happy and healthy I'm becoming!) I have about 45 more pounds to go, which I hope to have off by sometime in the summer of 2013. If I keep on working with my band and exercising, that shouldn't be a problem! I've had my share of stuck episodes, overeating, eating too fast, eating the wrong thing, and learning - and it's all been worth it. I am changing my habits slowly and surely and will be maintaining a healthy weight for the rest of my life. I am blessed and grateful for the opportunity to have a lap band - this is the BEST decision I've EVER MADE!

I have been posting in the forums for several years and never even noticed the blog feature... but recently I am seeing that everyone is blogging.. so thought I would try it out. This week my patience has been tried on the forums so maybe I need to be more selective in replying to certain posts and use a blog to vent... something to think about.... Have to go to my office Christmas party in 30 minutes.... I will stand around with my pretty glass of water with lemon and watch everyone stuff their faces on rich fatty appetizers... And tomorrow I will still be in my new found size 8s and they will be thinking of how to shed the bloat from their over induldging. Life is good!

I was banded on February 7, 2012, ten months ago. So what has changed? Ten Months Ago Today Weight 250lbs Weight 175lbs BMI 37 BMI 25 Pant size 22 Pant size 10 3 different meds for high blood pressure Don’t take any meds for high blood pressure Diagnosed pre-diabetic All blood work is NORMAL Hated myself, depressed Very happy with myself! Isolated myself, no friends Love all my new friends (especially the Banded Bs) Couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without being out of breath Walk up 8 floors of stairs to my office every morning When I started this journey I knew I would have to change a lot of things (food I ate, volume I ate, exercise, etc…), I knew it would be a long hard journey and I hoped I would have the strength to be successful. Now here I am ten months later, at goal and starting the next chapter of my journey (maintaining). I make it sound easy, but I have to say IT’S NOT! I struggled many times. I got frustrated and wished I didn’t have to follow the rules. I had weight gains and plateaus. BUT, I didn’t give up. I kept plugging along and it worked. Here I am happier than I have been in 30 years. Now, I am focused on maintaining my weight and hopefully saving enough money for a tummy tuck next year. Lol To all the newly banded or about to be banded, success is a wonderful thing. It takes hard work, dedication and wantpower (CG I love your term). I love my band!!!!

It almost 5am and as usual, I cannot sleep because I slept too much during the day. I'm happy to report that my surgery went fine. Each time I walk by the hospital chapel, I cry thanking God for this new opportunity. I don't remember waking up from surgery, the dr explained they had to use a lot of anestecia because the fat from my belly was absorbing it fast. Whatever that means. All I know is that I was so high when I woke up in my room at night time. I barely could talk, move and was feeling no pain at all. All night I was so thirsty, those hours were endless, but the next morning we had a leak test and finally I could have water. I felt discomfort with every sip, but nothing horrible. Whenever I'd go walk I'd get nauseous, but it has gotten better. Today, hopefully, I can go to the hotel. I don't like the teas or juices. I just loved the chicken broth I had today. I'm a bit scare about the Fly back, it's 3 hours to get to Dallas and another 3 to get to Tampa. But I already overcame the biggest fear, I can now do anything. I'm happy! Thank you Jesus! Thank you all who prayed for me!

So I've been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. The guy on the phone said he'd never seen anyone with as low level of oxygen as me. Apparenlty 60% is really bad. So I go Sunday to do another sleep study to get fitted for a mask. It's kinda taken my attention off the surgery for a bit but I'm still keeping my eye on the prize. I've come too far to fail now. I still have to lose the 10 pounds the doc wants me to lose plus about 3 that I've gained since then so all in all 13 lbs needs to vacate my body! I had gained 7 lbs but I've lost 4 lbs of that thank God. Boy this is gonna be tough but I don't have a choice I have to do it. I'm not getting any younger!! LOL! Wish me luck and encouraging words would be nice. Thanks!

Well the holidays are in full swing! So far, so good here! Still small trickle losses but most days I do get my calories in for maintenance. I am still trying to keep my walking up but darn the cold weather. I do a lot of trips to Walmart to wonder around for exercise. Have been taking advantage of some of the nice weather we have had as well. Have a great holiday, everyone! Be safe and enjoy your loved ones! Start Weight 242 Height 4'11'' 6 month Pre-op loss (-28.6) Surgery date 8/8/11 weight 213.4 1 month - 194.2 (- 19.2) 2 months - 180 (- 14.2) 3 months - 170.2 (- 9.8) 4 months - 164.4 (- 5.8) 5 months - 167.2 (+ 2.8) 6 months - 162.4 (-4.8) 7 months - 155.4 (-7) 8 months - 149.6 (-5.8) 9 months - 143.4 (-6.2) 10 months - 139 (-4.4) 11 months - 132.6 (-6.4) 12 months - 126.8 (-5.8) 13 months - 121.4 (-5.4) Made goal! Normal BMI! 14 months - 118 (-3.4) 15 months - 116.2 (-1.8) 16 months - 114.8 (-1.4)

Gosh where shall I start? I was given the opportunity to represent my bariatric surgeon and his facility by having an interview and be photographed by photographer Bob Cascerelli. Not sure how to spell his name but sounds something like that. This all transpired on December 4th. I was so nervous I felt like I was rambling on while being interviewed by the hospital media department. They all said I did well and the photos came out good. I beg to differ thou. I have yet to see either one lol. Im praying that I dont look or sound like some ebonic fool. I will keep you posted on that when it becomes available to me. Lets also pray that it does look and I sound decent since all the hospital facility will be seeing this video. If not, all my 15 years of an employee there shall come to a screaming halt! I'll just die of embarrassment!! LOL So Ive been feeling kinda bummed out. When dont I is the question. The month of December seems a bit harder for me, I lost my father December 7th, 2003. It feels like it was just yesterday. I also have those fears of not losing weight and staying a full-figured woman for the rest of my life. I tell ya, my mind is gonna be the end of me! I weighed myself today since I wont have a doctor's follow-up visit until February. I still refuse to get on the scale regularly/routinely and just have myself weighed every 6th of the month. I dont want to obesse with the scale nor do I want to let it dictate my life and mind. The mirror on a daily basis reminds me of my weight and the way I look. The magic number today is 170! It's been four months and Im averaging 6-9 pounds a month of weight loss. Im praying that by May I will be at 125. I was wearing a size 18/20 pants and a 1x blouse. I am currently a size 14 pants (I say the pants are snug but my friends say its still baggy on my ass) and a size large blouse. I can honestly say that I dont see what everyone else sees. I get compliments all the time on the progress Im making yet I cant seem to see it for myself. I guess not only does my body have to adjust to my changing appearance but my mind also has to adjust to the image I see in mirror (still a chubby girl). I am eating the lean cusine dinners, usually under 300 calories,I'll usually have a hard boiled egg and a cup of coffee or I'll have a rice cake in the morning with a triangle of cheese (laughing cow). Actually someone told me today that their intake of protein that may help me is making chorizo (mexican sausage) and a can of pinto beans combined in a pan. Though I did wonder if the chorizo would be to greasy, protein there is alot of to help with the daily requirement. Im eating watermelon, almonds, and yogurts when I have a sweet tooth or need some clutch at that moment. My intake of food is still about 1/2 a cup to 1 cup of food all depending on the food. Im still popping all my vitamins and the intake of water remains the same, about 20oz. Ive noticed that I also feel cold most of the time compared to always feeling warm/hot/personal summers that I would have going on. I have noticed that my hair is thinning out but nothing to cause concern. Im at fault, my intake of protein is not where it should be. My smell and taste buds have not returned to normal and everything smells or tastes different to me still. Ugh!!! Do I regret my surgery? NOT EVEN THE SLIGHTEST! I wont make this blog a long one, kinda feeling emotionally drained today. December 4th-170 pounds Oh and most importantly, here is my December picture. The outfit is actually what I wore for the interview and photoshoot.

Today was my first surgeon’s appointment and I have got to say that my surgeon is awesome. He was great to talk to and he was really amazed as to how far I have come to quitting a lot of things already. He believes that I can be very successful in this process. Now I am sure he says that to all his patients but I do believe that I can be successful. After talking with the surgeon I talking with my case manager. Now she is a cool person and she just recently had surgery herself….8 weeks out and she is bubbly and so nice. We talked about my insurance requirements as well as what they expect. In the beginning I thought that my smoking and having to wait 6 months before I can have the surgery was way too far out but seeing my schedule and everything I have to do before it now doesn't seem too far way. I am actually excited now because we are shooting for a May surgery. I was amazed and wondered if my insurance would take a long time but she said that as long as I meet the requirements it shouldn't take long especially since my BMI is 66 and even if I did lose weight I would still be in the range to qualify. So I have my first dietitian appointment on Friday and I meet with the nurse on January 4th to start my 3 month supervised diet. OMG….I am actually in this process and can’t wait to see what is next. I am not going to put a number on how much I want to lose. I want to be able to feel good in my body no matter the number that I lose. And so it begins….

Well I have reached the plateau and can not seem toget my weight to move down. HELP what can I do.... I have been walking and tried to not eat as much not that I could eat much anyway. ı am getting frusterated. anyone help please ı wıll greatly apprieciate your ınput... thanks

Yesterday my husband & I were at an extended family gathering and a few of the relatives commented on my weight loss (they had not seen me since my surgery). I was sitting at a table with one of the cousins and she was asking me about it. I told her I had the Lap Band surgery and she said her daughter was thinking about doing that. Her daughter was also at the table and said either that or the sleeve. We started talking about WLS and I expressed that it didn’t matter which WLS a person does, they have to change their eating habits in order to be successful. They have to eat a lot of protein and veggies, no junk food, etc. She said oh I don’t know if weight loss is worth all that……. WHAT?????? Is losing almost 75 pounds in 9 months’ worth it? YES Is going down 6 pant sizes worth it? YES Is being off all prescription medicines for high blood pressure worth it? YES Is not being pre-diabetic worth it? YES Is being able to walk up the stairs to the 8th floor of my office building every morning worth it? YES Is being able to push the lawn mower around my house worth it? YES Is hearing friends & family say how wonderful I look worth it? YES IS IT WORTH IT? HELL YES!!!!!