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Why, do you get WLS, any type, and then not listen to your doctor or dietitian? Why? When I was given the pre-op diet, I followed it to the 't' because I was afraid. When it came to the post-op diet, I followed it to the 't', also. When I get a fill, I am on 3 days of liquids, 3 days of mushy and then back to my regular foods. I listen to the doctor and his staff. They have been dealing with WLS for many many years. So WHY, get the surgery and just follow your own rules?????? Think before putting the chip, the french fry, McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts in your hand, let alone your mouth. If you have to have one of these, at least wait until your surgery has healed and you can eat regular foods. People who have had the band for a while, I have had mine for almost 14 months, maybe some of us know what we are talking about. I listen to the masters, they have been here longer than me. I try to help and if I don't have an answer, I will say it. So when you are getting wheeled into the operating room, just remember WHY, you are there. To get healthy and live longer. Have a great night. Arlene ps Saturday night I have a wedding and yes I will eat but not over eat and I do not drink when I eat and never alcohol.

I don't like exercise. I don't get that post workout rush so many people talk about. "Oh, I have so much energy after a workout." I call B.S. I think this is a buch of hype created by marketers, much like women who've had children encouraging other women to have kids by saying, "Oh, childbirth is painful, but it's the kind of pain you forget." Yeah, right! They just want you to suffer like they did. :-P So post-op, I had to figure out how to get in some exercise without thinking I was really exercising. Here are the ways I've been able to sneak in more exercise without really exercising: Parking far away from the entrance at the mall or superstores. If you've ever been to a mall or Super-Wal-Mart, you know what I'm talking about. Wearing a backpack to work. I started using an old backpack as my lunch box after my old lunch box became overflowing with vitamins, protein powders and shaker bottles. It was an old one I had bought a few years ago when I went to college. It still had the school supplies (pens, pencils, calculator, screwdrives, and floppy disks (yes! we still used 3.5" floppies in 2005!)) and one of my old school books. The book weighs about 5lbs and I just left everythinging in the bag. It probably weighs around 20lbs with all my junk in it. I park at the far end of my office parking lot and wear it into work. It's almost a thousand feet from my car to my office. Do that twice a day and I've gotten in almost an extra quarter mile of walking. That's a sneaky way of burning a few extra calories without really exercising. Now if only I could get Security to let me walk up the stairwell to my office. :-P Bathroom workouts - squats, wall push-ups. Another sneaky way to slip in a little extra exercise is to workout in the bathroom. Each bathroom break, I do 40 wall push-ups and 15 squats. It's easy if you have a handicap stall. The one in my office has handrails that are perfect for using my arms to help support my weight when I do toilet seat squats. They're really simple, I stand up and sit down on the toilet, trying to use my legs (and not my arms) as much as possible. The wall push-ups are really simple as well. I stand as far away from the wall as I can - and still be able to lean forward safely. I lean forward with my hands about shoulder width apart and rest my weight on my hands. Then do a push-up, 1 second down, 1 second to complete the up motion. I started out at 10 push-ups and now 2 months later I can easily do 40, 2 to 4 times a day. Stairwell workout. My office moved from a single story building to a multi-story office building in January. Now I have access to the stairwell on the 5th floor. I walk down to the 1st floor and time myself going back up to the 5th. A round trip takes approximately 5 minutes. Do that 2 or 3 times a day and you can build some endurance in the legs. Walking the long way around the building. My office is pretty big and is shaped like a baseball diamond, so no matter which direction I turn when I leave my office, I can make a loop around the building and get back where I started. So I always make a complete loop around my floor whenever I leave my office. Or if I have the time, I make a loop on the 5th floor, walk down to the 4th, make a loop there and walk back up to the 5th. Pretty sneaky, huh? So these are some ways I have been able to sneak in some extra exercise without it really feeling like I'm exercising. Hopefully, you will take some inspiration from my tricks to find your own ways of working just a little more exercise into your life. Keep Pimpin' that Sleeve!

On Sunday 9/22 I will be celebrating my 2 month Surgeriversery!!! I weighed in today at 252 which is 31 pounds lost since Surgery. Also a ton of inches!!! I have been extremely happy with my sleeve. I have had one episode of dumping since surgery and that was a day i was bad and got over 65 grams of carbs. My sleeve hated me that day. I am still on the meat, cheese and eggs and next week I can start adding 1/2 cup of veggies to one meal a day. I am a little scared to see how my sleeve will handle it but I am hoping for the best. I am so excited to have asparagus , cauliflower and brocolli!!! I know we aren't likely to have a dumping issue but I am positive that it was one, I was shaky, sweaty and weak. It passed with in a 1/2 hour. I hadn't had that many carbs in one day since months before surgery. Believe me I will not be having anything that isn't on my doctors approved list anymore. I was glad to have had something like that happen because it has put me back on my path. We all have times we mess up and it is what we learn from it that matters. I started Zumba on Friday nights and love it!!! My new love! I have been walking mainly since surgery so it is so nice to switch it up a little. I haven't gone shopping yet for anything but I do know I need smaller underwear!! LOL I just don't want to go out and shop and then have to shop again a month later so i have been wearing baggy clothes. I did find some old clothes of mine that now fit me that I will be wearing for a while.

Well I am just shy of 2 months! I have made it to my first mini goal! Yay! So excited! I am and proud that I actually made it! I still am struggling to get in exercise! I know I need to but time is not my friend right now. I literally am so busy right now with everything else. My husband is going through some sort of something right now and I am picking up his slack. ALL the house chores and cooking is falling on me. Not to mention soccer pratice, homework, and giving the kids baths ect. You parents know the deal. It's like I am a single parent right now! He is not happy about his weight and I think seeing me losing and becoming more postive and happy has him in the dumps. He isn't being ugly to me or making me feel guilty but he seems a little checked out. I have mentioned to him about the slacking off but I am trying to let him work through this funk. I am however feeling a little stretched and I am going to snap soon! He is complaining about his weight all the time. It's like he is becoming me before surgery! Hopefully I can inspire him to change his lifestyle and this is just a phase before he snaps out of it and starts to. Well enough of that! It is just something I never thought would happen when I started this. I didn't think it would affect him this way. Well back to me! lol So my next mini goal is 199! That's right ONEDERLAND! Oh to see those numbers on my scale! What a happy day! So hopefully in the next couple of months I am going to make that happen! I want to make it there or under by Christmas! It is my Christmas present to myself! So my stats so far are... Pre-Op -7lbs Size 20 pant 1-2x tops 1 Month -26lbs Size 18/16 XL 2 Month -12lbs Size 16/14 regular L no PLUS SIZE! And 45 lbs lighter! Can't wait to see what next month loss will be! Happy Friday Y'all!

At the moment, I'm pretty happy that I followed my doctor guided diet really well. I miss food, but I'm kind of use to the food restrictions already, which is amazing! I'm not struggling near as much as I thought I would, and now, by day three, I really enjoy the protein shakes. The only hard thing is smelling the food all my family is eating, that kinda gets me down a bit, you know? Today I found out that I can have sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles though, so that will be amazing! I'm so excited!! I've finally transitioned into making his a positive experience as much as possible, and finding this website has proved very helpful, I just hope I can find some talkative friends, you know? Well, not everything is about the LAP-Band for me, I can't just focus on that, I need to focus on more social aspects of this journey, like the opportunity to network and meet people who are more than just mentors, but also friends. That's what I'm looking for most in this experience, especially with this website! I'm going to use this as a chance to enjoy my LAP-Band by finding people who I never would've found without it. That way the darker parts don't see so dark, you know? Currently, I'm listening to some uplifiting Beatles' music, because everyone loves and relates to the Beatles! I'm also counting down the days until the first "Gleetlemania" episode! My dad made me a Beatles' fan at a very young age, and I've carried that throughout my life and I just love watching the Beatles be reinvented by other artists and being interpreted in new ways! I might watch "Across the Universe" in preparation too! <3 I'm reflecting on the Beatles piece I did for my dad a couple of years ago. He's been my biggest support throughout the LAP-Band process and I'm really glad that we share things like music and entertainment together. This took me 18 months, but it was totally worth it. It's a mixed media piece.

Surgery was July22, 2013; recovery time four weeks. No major problem other than morphine is not my friend. The weight is coming off at a rate I can enjoy. Any faster and I'd have to go to work in a sack. Lol the slow weight loss allows me to purchase a few new clothes. All of my 22-20 size pants don't fit and I can assume my skirts won't either. I don't get upset if the scale does not move. I just look in the mirror and can see the difference in the inches I've lost. Best advise, follow the program outlined by your doctor, go to all follow up appointments, ask when and how often you will need blood work done. Continue to get your fluids in everyday. Take your vitamins and supplements, they are very important. Eat protein first. When you are unsure, ask your doctor. We are all different so the way your doctor may have trained and performed the procedure will be different and the instructions you follow will be different from someone else. That does not make it wrong, just different. Join a support group that is up lifting, I don't stay on this one much any more due to some bad vibes of folks and I've had to block them. I do check in from time to time because there are good people asking great questions and need help. Have more than one support outlet. Lastly don't judge. How and why we became over weight is personal. How we opt to lose the weight is personal. When you start to judge, please stand in front of the mirror to ensure you include yourself in the mix. If anything play it forward, be a good mentor and friend. There are some out there that will truly benefit from it. Stay true to the journey. Karen

I had my surgery on August 14, and thought it would go smoothly. (for the most part). Then I started having issues where I couldn't get food down and I couldn't drink anything. Once the dehydration started, I finally called the doctor and made an appointment. Doctor. Taylor tells me that I have stricture and that he needs to go in and widen my esophagus. I had no idea. My advice to any and all, if you don't feel right, call the doctor. Dont wait as long as I did. Back to the hospital tomorrow and clear liquids. Yum..<---- sarcasm...

So I found it amusing my blog yesterday was titled "Reflections". I walked out of my building to meet a coworker of mine outside. As I was walking back in the building, I looked up and saw my reflection in the glass doors.. I literally giggled out loud like a giddy school girl. The reflection was...amazing. I was just your normal, average woman walking towards the door. My legs looks so thin...My entire body looked so thin. I know i've lost 100 lbs. I know I'm a new person..but there are days when I just don't see it. I just see me. But yesterday, Oh lord! I SAW IT!! HOLY SKINNY MINNIES BATMAN!! THAT'S ME IN THAT REFLECTION!! not a friend, not some stranger, ME. I practically started skipping back to my desk. Oh what an amazing NSV moment. Just seeing ME. Who I was meant to be.. WHO I AM!!! Now if I could just find another job or at least get a damn call back from 1 of the ones i've applied for... grr...but that's ok. God is watching...God has a plan...

I can cross my legs while sitting. I stood up at church to pray, bowed my head and realized that all I could see was my boobs....no belly sticking out further than my boobs! The steering wheel can be lowered while I drive. I walked 3/4 of a mile today without panting and thinking I was having a heart attack. I make still look like Shamu but I am feeling like Flipper!

Good morning.... Day six found me feeling fine physically. I drove. I grocery shopped. I took the kids to McDonald's. Being in the kitchen is hard for me. I have children that must be fed. While preparing plates of burgers and chips for my two youngest kids, I dropped a chip on the counter. I reflectively reached down and popped it in my mouth. Of course I immediately spit it out. However, the incident left me wondering..... This morning I woke with an epiphany! What I am going through each day post-surgery is the major reason that patients must go through "training" for surgery. All of the nutrition training was to help with the actual - in your face - reality that I cannot, under any condition, pop chips or anything else in my mouth without thinking. Nutrition training was to help train my mind to tune out the billions of food commercials as I watch TV during my recovery. Nutrition training was giving me a foundation or a home base to turn to when I feel that I must have something to eat or I will die. Nutrition training was to give me something to think about and cling to when my mind is going crazy and I panic because today's stress cannot be fixed by food. Had I not had the time before surgery hearing about and thinking about what I must do after surgery, I would be a big fat failure. I would have been one of the people who cheats themselves by eating what shouldn't be eaten and stretched my stomach right back out to hold my dear and faithful friend, Food. I am not one of those and refuse to succumb to the overwhelming temptation to do so. I will hold on to my goal and let my goal be my friend. (My goal is to be healthy and active.) I will survive. I am woman. Hear me roar! (You have to be over 50 to get this.)