♥LovetheNewMe♥

Great job, I remember when I hit 100lbs, lost never thought I would get there! Keep up the excellent work.

TwinMom, I am 4 years post op. I live in Greenville SC. Inbox me on how I can help you, I would be willing to share my number if you need someone to talk to or just for support. I am also on MFP and face book. My real name is Diane. I have been around the forums off and on since banded and just checked back in. I reached goal and have good success with my band.

James you look great, I am also 4 years 3 months post op. My spouse and I have had our ups and downs along the journey but we had a strong bond do we have made it. He was proud of my weight loss and feels like he now has a trophy wife. ( his words not mine) I am comfortable in my new body now, it took me a while but you are right it does help to have a partner to lose with. I had two friends who also had surgery, one the sleeve and one bypass. They both were Julius because I lost well, but what they failed to relieve is I worked at it day and night. Happy for you, and a great transformation.

I am 4 years post op and I can only speak for what helped me continually lose during my journey. Always eating protein first, staying away from sliders, not eating something just because it would go down, exercising and drinking lots of water. The journey is hard and it takes time to change bad habits but with patience and perseverance you can do this. Yo-yoing is common and can be frustrating just like staying at the same weight no matter what you do. It took us years to pack on the pounds and it takes years to get it off. Good luck to you and hang in there. PS: I am at goal, it took me 2 years to loose from 262 to 122. Today I weigh 130's. I overshot my goal and needed to gain some back because I was too thin! Never thought I would say that do it is possible.

Hey fellow bandsters, I hope everyone is having a great week! On the way to work this morning I was listening to the radio, 100.5 in Greenville, SC and there was a topic that made me chuckle. First on the news was the law suit that had been taken out against "Sketcher Shoes" People actually sued because the company in the advertising campaign actually said the shoes could make you lose weight. I had to laugh to my self, seriously, people actually thought the shoes would make them lose weight. But then I started thinking, hmmm, how many times have I sat up at night and watched infomercial after infomercial thinking. "Maybe that would work", I think I could do that diet, or exercise on that machine. So here is my confession of arrsoneals of my sins to lose weight, 1. Thigh Master 2. Oliptical stair stepper $1,500 dollars 3. Tony Hortons, gazelle, The premium model 4. shaker weight (new) 5. Yogo booty Ballea 6. Brazillian butt lift (new) 7. Power 90 8. Providian Life Science Diet 9. Jenny Craig 10. 10 minute work out ( I think Beach body sees me coming everytime. ) That is just my top 10, I could go on and on. So what are some of your desperiate attempts to lose weight. Looking at this list make me realize why I am so happy to have had lap band, I am sure a large portion of these pieces of equipement may work but with anything you have to be dicipline and dedicated to your goals. Diane

Raven I wish you success with out your band, there are many who can not tolerate the band and have continued problems. WW is a great program and there are many people who have been very successful with that program. I can tell you even with LB the one thing that has really helped me is hiring a trainer, I feel he taught me more about nutrition and how to really listen to my body and what to eat. Learning what your body needs and how your body burns calories is key to WL with or without the band. Good luck and success with your journey.

Do you sometimes suffer from head hunger? Do you sometimes find your self munching on something and ask your self why? Do you feel remorse and quilt after you eat sometimes and don't understand why you ate that? Well you are not alone, many of us, me included still suffer from these very triggers that cause head hunger even after WLS. Our surgery did not fix our brains or stop us from putting unhealthy food in out bodies. It takes months and years and constant reminding to undo unhealthy behaviors. The one thing that can really sabotage a WLS patient is themselves. Once we start down a self destructive path we can easily justify why we are doing what we are doing. How many of you have lied to your self about taking just one bite, when you really ate the who thing? Grazers sometimes have more difficulty with WLS than binge eaters. It is much easier to graze then it is to binge after WLS that is why it is so important to learn what your eating triggers are and to learn how to deal with head hunger early in your journey. I often surf the internet looking for ideas that may help me to stay true to my healthy self and like to share with others in thoughts that it may help someone else. Everyone has to individulize their journey and has to learn how they can best cope with this change in life style. Some of the tips for dealing with head hunger suggests things that if you are a WLS person like myself, you cannot do. We cannot bulk up on low calorie foods or eat big salads, we cannot drink soup before our protein meals to fill us up and we cannot drink large volumes of water at one time when we are eating. If these things worked for us we would not have had WLS. As a bariatric patient we must learn to deal with our triggers and behaviors that sabatoge us. I found what I consider a good article this morning that I would like to share with all of you. The article is from the Obesity Help web site. http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/mental-health/Head-Hunger-Coping-with-Your-Triggers-for-Overeating.html Head Hunger - Coping with Your Triggers for Overeating by Michelle May, MD Do you sometimes confuse “head hunger” with “body hunger”? If you’re sensitive to food cues, weight management becomes much easier when you’re able to recognize the triggers in your environment and break the associations that lead you to overeat simply out of habit. Let’s take a look at just a few of the common triggers for overeating and strategies for coping more effectively. By the Clock: Society programs us to follow a schedule, so like Pavlov’s dog, we’ve learned to salivate when the bell rings. The reality is that it’s more convenient to eat at certain times than others, so it takes effort to listen to your hunger cues. Strategy: Though it’s challenging to change this routine, you can adapt it to fit your own needs. Learn to pace yourself by observing your natural hunger rhythms. You’ll probably notice that you get hungry every three to six hours, depending on what and how much you ate at your last meal and how active you’ve been. Keep a healthy snack handy to satisfy hunger that doesn’t conform to mealtimes. If you’re consistently tempted to snack right before a meal, consider moving the mealtime up or adding more protein to your previous snack. High-Risk Times: Many people have times of the day that are high-risk for overeating. For example, you may experience a late-afternoon energy slump or a tendency to munch when you come home from work to transition into your evening. Strategy: Know when you’re most at risk and develop an alternate strategy. For example, create a Recharge Ritual or Transition Time that helps you relax or unwind. Save a favorite magazine or book to read, call a friend or walk your dog instead. Create a list of things to do instead of eating. Keep the list (and any necessary supplies) handy and make a commitment to try one of these activities before eating simply out of habit. ‘Tis the Season: Be aware of your seasonal and weather-related cues for eating. Holidays can be especially difficult because of all of the social ties to certain foods and even certain people. Many of the foods you eat during this time may seem “special,” and therefore, harder to eat in sensible quantities. Strategy: These occasions repeat themselves, so you can anticipate what typically occurs and create a plan for dealing with your triggers. Make it a point to really listen to your body instead of the external cues when making your food choices. Also, keep in mind that special foods will be even more special when you eat them mindfully when you’re hungry, focusing on the appearance and flavors of the food, the ambiance, the other people and the reason you’re all together. Tempting Displays: Seeing displays of food like candy or nuts in dishes and tempting foods when you open your cabinet or refrigerator can trigger you to want those foods. Strategy: Out of sight, out of mind. Don’t use food as decorations or leave appetizing foods in plain view. Try putting tempting foods behind other foods in your cabinets and refrigerator. If a co-worker keeps food out, ask him or her to put it in a drawer instead. Media: Food is everywhere in television and magazines (ironically, often right next to the articles about the latest wonder diet!). Strategy: Get yourself a glass of water during commercials, avoid watching programs that focus on food and skip quickly over the food ads and recipes. Break the habit of eating while watching television—usually a mindless, high-calorie activity. Location, Location, Location: If you eat in front of the TV, in bed or standing in the kitchen, you may feel an urge to eat just from being in those places. Strategy: Try to eat only while sitting at a table. Make it a family rule to limit eating to one or two rooms in the house. This will decrease triggers like TV and reading and help you focus on enjoying your food without distractions. Biggie Size: Restaurants often serve overly large portions to make their customers feel that they are getting value. Strategy: Be prepared to have extra food wrapped up to go as soon as you feel satisfied, or estimate how much you think you’ll need and wrap up the rest even before you start eating. If you leave the food sitting in front of you, you’ll be more likely to keep nibbling. Remind yourself that you’ll get to enjoy that food again when you’re hungry. You can also share an entrée or order an appetizer-sized portion. Forbidden Food Syndrome: Although it’s a popular topic of conversation, the mere discussion of dieting can trigger feelings of deprivation and cravings. Just thinking about restrictive dieting has been shown to increase food intake. Strategy: Decrease the amount of time you spend talking about food, weight and dieting. Depend on your physical hunger cues to let you know when it’s time to eat. By learning to recognize and cope more effectively with your head hunger, you’ll begin to break free from old, problematic habits. You’ll find yourself eating less, feeling more satisfied and meeting your needs more appropriately. To get a one-page handout called “101 Things to Do Instead of Eating When You’re NOT Hungry,” visit http://amihungry.com/enews.shtml. Food and Feelings Emotions are common triggers for eating. People sometimes eat to cope with stress, distract themselves from difficult emotions or stuff down feelings they don’t know how to express in a healthier manner. However, boredom, anger, anxiety, loneliness, stress and other feelings are a natural part of our lives, and eating won’t make them go away. In fact, eating in response to these feelings disconnects you from important information about what you need. For example, “I want brownies” might really mean “I want comfort,” “I need a reward,” “I wish I had a friend to talk to” or “I wish I could tell you how I really feel.” The food you eat to deal with feelings comes with strings attached—weight gain and regret. But more importantly, it denies you the opportunity to discover and satisfy your true needs. Since eating cannot meet your emotional needs, those unmet needs trigger overeating again and again. The way to break out of this pattern is to stop judging yourself when you overeat and instead try to figure out what you needed that drove you to eat when you weren’t physically hungry. Examining your current eating behavior can be a powerful source of information about your inner self and your true needs and wants. Once you have identified the emotions that triggered the urge to eat, seek ways to comfort, nurture, calm and distract yourself without turning to food. Michelle May, MD, a physician and recovered yo-yo dieter, is the author of Am I Hungry? What to Do When Diets Don’t Work, available at www.AmIHungry.com.

Confession is good, we all slip. This is life and about the journey and not about feeling guilty. The old way was to feel guilt, the new way is to admit and recognize where we went wrong and move forward. Hope your furnace if fixed and hope today was good day and this will be an awesome week.

Congratulations, you look amazing, so happy for your success!

Well Bandsters another Thanksgiving (#4 since I had surgery) has came and gone and even though I made enough food to feed an army I still was true to my healthy self. it is amazing how I have changed over time and how much I continue to appreciate the healthier side of life. This year has been filled with ups and downs and there have been many challenges that could have made me resort back to old habits and gain back my weight but I stayed true to my belief in myself and maintained my weight. I read a post this morning on my FB page and I really loved it. It was called the "15 things to give up" I thought I would share them with all of you and I hope you can use them in your life and your journey. 1. Doubting yourself 2. Negative Thinking 3. Fear of Failure 4.Destructive Relationships 5. Gossiping 6. Criticizing yourself and others. 7. Anger 8. Comfort Eating 9. Laziness 10.Negative Self Talk 11. Procrastination 12. Fear of Success 13. Anything Excessive 14. People Pleasing 15. Putting others needs before your own When I read these words this morning I thought WOW!.... Someone wrote these just for me because I think at one point or another I have done one or all of these behaviors and they have not served me well. I have been very successful with my WLS and I am very thankful for that. I so appreciate the friends I have met on LBT and this site. I have made 7 wonderful friends who without some days my life would seem empty, they are always there to support and never hold anything back. LBT brought us together and FB keeps us together. Some of us have had the pleasure of meeting in person and this has made our friendships all that much stronger.. Dawn, Janet, Terri, Michelle, Cheryl, Dee, and Carole you are all so very special to me and I am Thankful this Thanksgiving that you are all a part of my life. WLS and LBT brought us together but what keeps us together is our bond of friendship and sharing our lives and families with each other. We have a few more holidays to go this year but I am looking forward to each and everyone of them. As many of you know my mother has Alzheimer's disease and each day that she continues to have the memory of her life and her children and grandchildren I cherish and consider a gift from God. Dealing with mom's disease has really put prospective back in my life and continues to help me on a daily basis to try and remember to stop and smell the roses. At Thanksgiving this year my family all came together, yes we had a wonderful meal with everyone's favorites but the best of the day was watching the smile on my mother's face as she sat and talked with her sons, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren. Here is a picture of four generations of the women in our family and Mom is the glue that has held us all together all these years. So as you work toward your goal remember to" Keep it Real", this is your life and remember we only get one chance at this life so make it worth it. Believe in yourself and your success with come in time with patience and hard work. "Love the New Me" aka Diane

Congratulations on hitting one of your goals. Keep up the good work!

Raven, I can identfy with how you felt when you looked at the pictures. I weighed 160 plus at my highest but I am shorter than you and when I first started losing and had lost about 60 lbs or so I thought I would look a lot smaller than I did in pictures. I had a really hard time with body image and it took me a really long time to accept I was thiner. As far as no losing and not being able to eat. Honestly you have to be able to eat to lose witht he band, my personal experience has been the more protein I could eat the better I lost weight. It took me a long time to really understand how my body burned calories, for a long time I ate 1000 calories or less and did not understand why I did not lose weight. Hang in there and just continue to montior your protein intake and increase your activity. It really is more that just watching what you eat, it is portion control, mix of protein and carbs and how your metabolism burns the calories. Just keep working at it, I bought a fit bite and it helped me to really understand calorie in and out and how my body burned calories. Good luck to you.

You look awesome, I know what you mean about target WL goal. My physician set my goal at 150 also. I reached that goal and really did look good but it was not where I wanted to be. At first I worried that below that would be too small based on my age of 58 but once I got to my current weight and realized it is a good weight for me. My last 20 lbs was my hardest, I had to do a lot of cardio and weight training and really had to learn the importance of intake and burning calories. My fitbit really helped me to grasp the concept of how we burn calories. You really look Fabulous, congratulations and continued success!

Everyone is different as to how much skin they have and it is all based on how long you have been over weight and how much you have to lose. I am 3 years post surgery, at goal and have a little lose skin on my belly but not enough to hang over, my tummy just looks soft, like after you have a baby. My abdomen is flat, but I do work out and have worked out with weights since my first year. I lost 134 lbs total and have maintained my weight for over a year. In the boob department, I could use a lift and some bigger boobs but it is what it is and Victoria's Secret makes great bras. I used to be a 38 D and today I am a 32 B barely probably closer to an A, but based on my current size I look proportionate. Good luck.

Wish more people would speak up for the Steve's of the world. Our pets love us no matter what we say or do. They have forgiving hearts and deserve so much more. But sadly in this world we live into today we treat animals and humans alike very badly. Thank you for being a voice for Steve and I hope he is resting tonight and finally has some peace, warmth and comfort.

Congratulations on getting your date, so your journey begins, :-) Great time to start setting small goals for your new life.

Thanks Arlene, you are correct Dementia is hard but taking it one day at a time and taking each day for what it is helps a lot. Hope you also have a wonderful holiday season with your family.