aliciab

I had to go to the gym today due to the snow we had yesterday. It seems kind of unreal. I can't believe that we have snow in October. It definately was one for the record book. Back to this journey.....I am 15 months out from my surgery. Around 10 months, I hit a plateau. I really couldn't afford to go in to get another fill at that time. Therefore, I tried all kinds of strategies to get pass this plateau. However, I was stuck within the same 2 pound. Before the lapband, I would have given up very easily. However, I did not do it this time. I stayed the course and kept working at moving toward my goal. If you are beginning your life with a lapband, just remember to keep focused and stay the course. I know that I was so frustrated at the beginning (first 6 weeks). I felt that my weight loss was not ever going to get started. I made up my mind at that point that I would always think of this as a life time journey. If I ever felt that I was losing focus, I would strive to get myself back on board. I would keep at it. I am not near my goal. I have loss 68 lbs so far. I want to lose another 60 lbs. and I will do it. I was relieved to get back on track. I was able to get a fill at the end of September. It was too tight. I had to go back in and have a small amount removed. I am back on my way.
I have been going into the gym faithfully for the past 6 weeks. This has been a great adventure. I use to always put off doing exercise. I just don't like it. This time I am treating it as my job. I make no excuses not to show up for my job. If I missed it, I must make it up. My attitude toward exercise is slowly......... changing. I can go in totally stressed. After exercising, I come out with my "happy" hormones released. We have made it into a family adventure. My son an d daughter both have started to go with my husband and me. I am blessed that my husband is a wonderful fitness expert so I feel like I have my own personal trainer. I had a wow moment today after leaving the gym. My husband and I went to the grocery store. Wow...my grocery cart looks so different these days. My husband and I are making a conscience effort to not eat processed food. I can't say that we are done with it all. However, the only thing in my cart today was all fresh foods except for a bag of sweet potato fries. Again, this has been a gradual change. It is not something that I did after getting my lapband. I mean seriously...I work about 50 hours average a week and have to run my children to their activities. So, it has taken me some time to make these changes. I am having fun cooking from scratch. I have turned it into an adventure...finding healthy recipes that are healthy, taste great, and my family will enjoy them. Good luck to all of you just beginning your journey!

This is my third day after surgery. The gas is still an issue, but I have faced much worse in life so I am trying not to complain. I had my first protein shake this morning, I slipped slowly and it went down easy. I am thankful. At this point, I can not tell whether the feelings I have are me feeling full, but I know I am not hungry so I wont eat. According to the personalized plan I received from my Doctor's office, I am able to have strained cream soups and watered down cream of wheat or oatmeal. I love cream of wheat and oatmeal and just because I can have a watered down version of it, does not mean that I am going to take it in.
 
So let me get down to the nitty gritty. If there is ever a time where I decide to go back to my old eating habits, please DON'T PACIFY ME. I have a weight problem because I like to eat. I love eating what I want and if it were not for the fact that I dont like being overweight, limited to shopping at big girl stores, or suffering from health issues because of it, then I would still eat all that I want. I couldn't do this by myself because I made poor choices in food. Taste and instant gratification outweighed everything. So in saying all of that, if I start to deviate from the plan my doctor has for me, please don't pacify me. It just means that I am doing what I want to do. No excuses and I will suffer for it later!
 
I tried to put on kid gloves when it comes to this site, but it doesnt matter because if you are not pacifying someone or stroking their ego, then you are doing something wrong. So instead of me creating enemies on here, I will just express myself on my personal blog. We all have a weight problem and our journey is personal; however, I feel that we can support one another, but who is really in the position to give advice? We are all trying to find our way, some sooner than others, but this is like any addiction and have to be dealt with day by day, choice by choice for a lifetime.
 
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If I decide to eat the way I did pre-op, I cant expect different results post-op, its just not going to happen. If I have to question if its wrong, its wrong and please don't be afraid to tell me that its wrong. If I start eating sandwiches and hamburgers within a few weeks. Dont be afraid to call me out on it, because I already know that those are not the right choices to loss the weight. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know that I have to take this thing one step at a time.

I have been apart of this site since the end of 2009, and I have read hundreds of post/blogs with members concerns about other people finding out they have a LB! I really didn't know what approached I wanted to taken once I finally had my band. I first prayed and I thought about all the reasons I decided to get the band in the first place. God gave me confirmation not be ashamed of my decisions to live a happier and healthier life. I think most people on this site were in a life or death situation due to weight issues, and they needed help that they were unable to provide for themselves. After taking a wide overview of several members' reasons for not wanting someone else to know they were banded or getting banded was somewhat overwhelming to read. Most people feared others judging their decisions to get help to lose the weight. Okay, lets get real- if we were able to lose the weight and keep it off on our own then we would have done that. However, most of us are able to lose the weight but we have failed to keep the weight off on a long term basis.
 
I have decided in my life time to stop giving people control and credit to decide what is or isn't good for me. Most people who judge our decisions to do something pretty "major" about our weight issues don't have enough courage to confront their own "demons"! I don't care how prefect we may think someone's life is they still have underlined issues that they still need to deal with. I said all of that to say: we owe no one any excuses or explanations for why we decided to get the LB. Baby- I am proud of this little tool inside my body! That's exactly right: it's only a tool to aid and assist each of use with our weight lost goals! Work and a lot of effort must be done on our parts! The LB is not a quick fix card for all of your weight loses problems. Yes- it takes a lot of work and effort (mentally and some physical) to get the results you want.
 
I am very proud of my decision and I will never allow anyone to make me feel guilty or ashamed for having this surgery. To be prefect fully honest: people judged me fat and they judge me now but overall I am happier with the current me! To all of my fellow LB family, please be proud of your choices to live a happier/ healthier life. Just remember that "old person" who experienced so much hurt, pain, and challenges when you were heavier vs., you now. I love the new me and no person is going to ever change the way I feel. I tell them, "don't hate just congratulate my success"!

Well, this much I know. I feel 100% better. The "Tiny" Gas pills are a blessing. They have really taken alot of the bloating out of my stomach and I am not taking the pain med anymore. which was making me nauseous. I have been drinking liquids, but have a hollow feeling in my gut. Hurts sometimes. I made some potato soup (NOTE TO SELF: PEEL POTATOES NEXT TIME...) and has helped take the Hollow out. I had that yesterday about 3 times at 1 TBL per sitting and I think it is miracle potatoe soup. I feel so much better today. Am still taking it easy. I slept so much better last nite as well. Wish I could sleep on my stomach, but alas, not yet. So FAR so GOOD. YEAH !