My story is a pretty simple one that you have heard 1,000 times before.
I am a 48yr old woman, who in the past, has tried all the diets out there... WW.. JC.. Form-u-3... LA Weightloss... and of course the fad diets you see in the paper or in the magazine Womens World... and NOTHING...NOTHING worked!!! Oh sure, I would lose 20/30 maybe even 40 pounds.. and a life event would happen.. death in the family, picnic for a birthday, vacation.. and BOOM... right back to square one.. oh sure I didnt eat it all back on overnight, and I would have that conversation with myself that would usually end in the food winning... UGHHHHH...,
October 5, 2012 I decided to have the LapBand surgery, picked my surgeon, went for all the appointments and my surgery date was set for Jan 11, 2012 ... so... the 92 meals... I was not on any preop diet for my procedure... I weighed in at 262.2 initally, and then I ate... I ate .. and I ate... I got to the point where the food was running the show.. but knowing that I was going to be battling this after the surgery.. I continued to lose the fight against the food and I balooned up to 281.8 before the surgery... My doctor was very upset with me to say the least.. but in my mind it was like I was saying goodbye.. goodbye to the fast food.. goodbye to the prepackaged crap.. good bye to the late night dining... and to this date (7/10/12) It has all been gone. I am happy to report as of my last doc visit I have lost 69 pounds.. I could not be more pleased... I am at 5cc on the band that holds 12cc... my biggest battle now is eating slow enough or small enough bites... but I am working on it...
Life is better now.. although I am still not too sure about the "new" me that is developing.. but that will come along.. I have more energy, however my knees are out of whack.. so that is the next thing to get fixed.. and when that is done.. watch out!! lol
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.. size 24 to a size 16 as of today... hope size 14 feels as good....
Ok, sorry one day late, but I was BEAT yesterday!!
There was a special workout class for Zumba yesterday as in we were supposed to all wear red, white and blue. AHA...ok. I wore my Texas Rangers t shirt. But I was mistaken for the time and got there an hour early so I was convinced by an older woman to join in on the class that was going on- a Nike Fit boot camp!!!!
That class killed me more than Zumba, but I went forward. It was the same instructor who kept mentioning that Zumba followed the boot camp and she challenged/invited people to do both. So I did.
I was only able to do 23 minutes of Zumba before I cut out. I just couldnt lift my legs or arms for it. I felt like a rag doll. But I weighed before I left and it was 245.
So Ive recovered some of the ground I had lost last week, yay!
Afterwards we spent the 4th of July at Six Flags over Texas. Walked the whole park from 4-9pm and then we went to a firework festival in Bedford, more walking. Probably another mile or so. Now this morning I can barely walk, hahaha.
Yay! I finally hit my first self-imposed goal: 25 lbs down!!! WooHOO! (******cue dancing poodles and waving sparklers******)
Tomorrow will mark 3 months of being banded (surgery was Feb 1st), and in that time (well, including pre-surgery liquid diet) I have lost 25 lbs. Forgive me for repeating myself so often, but this is big for me. I think one of the reasons I set my first goal as one that would take some time to accomplish was because I needed hard evidence that this "band thing" could actually work for me, that I might finally have found a way to lose the weight I've been battling for as long as I can remember (I was a normal kid until I started school at age 5... I don't remember what it feels like not to be heavy). Trust me, I've been on every diet on earth, and I've always been able to lose a little weight, but it was always a slow, hard battle and it always seemed to take forever to see results, so I needed to set myself a goal that would be a "real" loss, not just the 5 or 10 or even 15 lbs I've lost so many times before. Been there, done that, gained it back plus some, not impressed. With 25 lbs, I'm finally impressed.
Dieting has been part of my life since I was 9 years old. In that time, I can't count the number of pounds I've lost and regained (and gained and gained). Also in that time I've tried every diet in creation, and let me tell you, they've all of them had one thing in common: they sucked! All of them felt like a constant battle, pitting me and my willpower again my hunger and my love of flavor (I would say love of food, but in this case I'm really not talking about food as comfort or emotional band-aid, but as a pleasurable sensory experience). Every time I've dieted, I've felt miserable and constantly walking a tightrope over the canyon of all the things I wasn't allowed to eat. In the past, keeping myself limited to 1500 calories a day felt like absolute torture. Seriously, it should have been covered by the Geneva convention.
But with the band that's all different. I eat between 800-1200 calories a day (usually around 1000) and I'm only hungry when it's actually time for a meal or a snack. I enjoy everything I eat, but I'm able to stop myself when I've either had my allotted portion or I'm feeling satisfied. I'm able to eat things that truly give me pleasure and stay in control so I don't overdo it. I just can't describe what an amazing feeling that it. It just rocks.
The band has changed my life in so many ways that can only be called positive. I finally have hope... no, I finally have confidence that I can and will take off this burdensome weight. I might not be one of those people who loses every excess pound within the first 6 or 9 or even 12 months, but now I know that it will come off. Let me sit with that for a minute, because that's huge. This is the first time in my life I've ever been able to say that and really mean it. That makes my heart swell with happiness. I can do this now, with the help of my band.
I can and I will.
So, my next goal is a little one: 5 more lbs for 30 lbs total. It's a small one because it will encompass 2 accomplishments in one shot. First, it will be the most I've lost in one attempt in my adult life, and second, it will put me back in onederland, 2 things I've been hoping for for a long time. Plus, hey, 30 lbs is a great round number. I can hardly wait.
