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I have a new hero. Thanks for the inspiration.

Making a Lifestyle change... In January my husband and I decided to commit to the lapband journey as soon as possible. first we had to finish saving the money, at the beginning of March we knew the finances would come together I started drinking a protein shake for breakfast and lunch but I also started fixing healthier food for my family, march 21 I met with my Dr. and his staff and scheduled operation for April 5 at this point I had lost 8 lbs. I've always drank alot of water and cross my fingers that it wasn't just a bunch of water weight but I'm sure plenty was though When we got home my DH husband and I threw away all junk food in the house, went to the store bought light mayo, lower calorie cheeses, yogurt, leaner meats, everything. we're making a lifestyle change, not just for he and I but for our kids as well. we have 3 daughters and a son 2 of my girls are teens and the third is right there. all of my kids have normal bmi's but 2 are at the higher end and I can see both of them copying my lifelong bad habits, not stopping when their no longer hungry, eating bc it tastes good or just bc their bored...NO it has to stop now. We completely stopped eating out we started counting calories for each of their age groups and started teaching portion control. we're still eating all the meals we used to eat with just a few healthy adjustments, but still delicious. dinners now are no more than 500 cals. total, everything we put into our bodies are healthy. when snacks for the kids are allowed its healthy. and they have to drink water, water, water. don't get me wrong we've discussed that occasionally we will have some junk food, just not everyday and when we do we need to limit it. also we've discussed if we're craving something it's probably better to have a little than to eat a bunch of other stuff trying to curb the craving. my husband has lost 12 lbs of the 20 he wants to lose and he stopped drinking soda. he says he feels better, he's sleeping better and guess what.. no more heartburn, my daughter's with the higher bmi's have lost between 3-7 lbs. we're going for walks and playing in the yard more. but it's more than that, Easter holiday my kids wanted their favorite holiday meal so I made a nice feast for them, still healthier but a feast none the less, usually they would have polished off most of the food, but not this time, they each had a small plate, they only ate half their chicken. everyone ate 1/3 of what they would have usually eaten eaten. They were full It's working!!! then yesterday my daughter came home from school (and I talk about her weight bc about a month ago at school the class weighed each other, and my daughter's friends are petite and my daughter has been very small as well but lately, as stated above she was getting into some bad habits and she weighed about 10lbs more than her friends and some comments were made I don't think purposely to hurt her feelings but it did, I realized I needed to change my families habits) anyway she came home and said some people in my class today brought in some donuts, I thought about having one but I wasn't hungry and I had eaten dessert at lunch so I passed, I didn't care if she had the donut but she was proud of herself for recognizing she didn't need it, IT'S OKAY TO WALK AWAY. I also no longer make my kids finish whats on their plate. I know their bad habits are my fault What I've realized is we needed a lifestyle change I'm proud of my whole family. and I've got this, I'm sure there will be bumps but I have support and I'm excited about our future

Well, after browsing this site all yesterday and reading others blogs, I decided that I should put my own thoughts to page and hopefully get some really awesome feedback from people who actually get it. First off, let me share a little of my story. I have always struggled with weight, even in high school. I was really active, participating in soft ball and played golf for my school. I was "plus size" even then. Got married at 20 to a man in the Navy, and then divorced by 24. I guess you could say I am an emotional eater, but this journey really has taught me a lot about what I actually need for nutrition as opposed to that satiating yummy feeling, that usually ends up making me sick 30 minutes afterward. I have tried every diet known to man, to only be knocked down a peg and it not be successful. After numerous tests (when my weight spiked to 299, and bp was 180/103) my doctors determined that not only do I have high bp, sleep apnea, PCOS, and depression; they found that my thyroid was barely working. I was referred to a seminar with Mission health at the end of November and from there it really has been a fast, whirlwind process. Had my first doctors appointment in December, and now here we are April, and I'm going into surgery in two weeks. I have been so blessed with my insurance plan. BCBS of NC has literally come back with an approval hours after submission. So far the process has been stress free and everyone has been really supportive. I can only think that this is devine intervention or something. Well, anyways. Today marks my first day of "full liquids" and I was so excited. It is like that final step before surgery. I sit and day-dream about all the things I'm going to get to do. All the clothes (that you don't have to pay extra for) that I can wear. It started almost like any morning, I was sitting at my desk at work. I had made the terrible mistake of telling my co-worker that I had taken "before" pictures. Which I probably will never share with anyone. Seeing yourself from a third person prospective totally warped my sense of "self-image." Like, I have no illusions that I'm obese. But at least when I look in the mirror I go "hmm, not that bad," but when I saw the pictures I was like OH MY GOODNESS, how could I let myself get like that? Anyways, my co-worker is and this is her quote "126 pounds and OH MY GOD a size 6" she's gorgeous. I hear daily from random patients "you are the most beautiful woman I've seen." While here I am a troll, hiding in my cave at work. She had the comforting idea to go "I took before pictures too!" (as she is doing crossfit three times a week and resistance four times a week) I can barely walk to the bathroom without getting out of breath. Of course her before pictures were disgusting and hideous and should be burned. I snapped. (Not proud, but whatever). I looked at her and said, "do you realize I've NEVER been a size 6." She retorted, "when I started working here I was a size 2, but everyone eats all the time I just join in." Like it's my fault she's gained six pounds and went up two pant sizes. We currently are acting icy towards each other and I just laughed at her response and told her I had work to do. So after saying all of that, I beg to ask... do people really not get it? When they think they are being helpful and supportive, do they really not hear what comes out of their mouths? I hate that I've let her ruin my day so early, but I'm so frustrated that someone so beautiful could think so little of herself to compare her to me, and think that its supportive that she's gained weight working here also. Just sayin' I would probably risk 10-20 years in prison to get a body like hers. SIGH, am I being petty?

Congrats on your upcoming surgery, I am scheduled for May 6th. I am so nervous and feel your pain with your co-worker. She may be getting jealous, afraid you might be competition. I guess I'm still old fashion, I still believe beauty comes from within and personality is everything. So don't let her get you down. But i have lived your same story!

I haven't posted in a little while, mostly because things have been going great, and there hasn't been anything really newsworthy. On Thursday, March 28, I went for my 3 week post op follow up. They have me down 26 lbs, but to me it is 31 lbs. I think their scale was off on my first visit by 5 lbs. I weighed 274 lbs on my first visit with clothes on, and also weighed 274 at home with no clothes. Every visit since then, I've been exactly 5 lbs more at the office than on the home scale. So, according to them, I started at 274 and now weigh 248, for a total weight loss of 26 lbs. But according to the home scale, I started at 274 and now weigh 243, for a total weight loss of 31 lbs. They are very happy with the 26 lbs, and said I can start eating small pieces of solid food, and have no more restrictions on lifting or exercise. 26 lbs or 31 lbs, I'm happy, even though I've only lost one lb in the last week. I feel like I am almost doing TOO good, if that makes any sense. The other night I cooked up a Freschetta pizza for the kids, and I was able to eat a very small piece. And tonight for Easter dinner, I was able to eat very small quantities of ham, mashed potatoes, corn, Mac & cheese, creamed spinach, with zero issues. It doesn't seem right, from reading other people's posts, that I should be able to eat these things, especially at only 3 weeks post op.