dylanmiles23

I was shaving this morning and my wife came in and weighed herself, curious I asked how much? Her answer was 122.5 (she is 5' 5"), and that around Thanksgiving she noticed that her back was hurting so she dropped 5 pounds and had been holding steady ever since. You know how my wife dropped 5 pounds and then holds her weight steady? She simply eats less. Not a diet, not skipping meals, not exercising, she eats less of the things that she eats every day. If she wants a beer or a cocktail, she will skip dessert.
 
This is how normal people interact with food. I am not normal, I am a mutant when it comes to food. The band is my tool to help me pass for normal person

Hello all thought I would stop by and give an update. I went and saw my doctor today for my follow up appt. All went well. I can officially start mushies. Have to wait a week before I can start water aerobics. So I well be hitting the gym in the morning. I will get my first fill on March 5. I want to be down 10 pounds by then. I think I can do it.

I never gave my big clothes to good will or the salvation arm because I feel this way: We give them things for free and then they turn around and sell stuff for outrageous prices. Some of their clothes I could go to Ross and buy brand new ones for what thrift stores sell their clothes.
 
I have a lot of nice dress clothes and I decided I would sell them on Ebay. In one day I made 80 bucks doing nothing more then sitting in my house placing things on ebay. Everytime I need to go down a size I just start listing the bigger items on ebay. Within a week I have enough money to buy a whole new ward drobe. Lets face it WLS and losing tons of weight is inevitable we all need new clothes.
 
So why not make money off your good used clothing. I also am starting to buy things on clearance and sell them for full price. You would be surprised how many people will bid way over what you put the starting bid at. For instance: i put a pair of just my size jeans on ebay for $4.00 by the time they were done bidding I made $16.50. I think I only paid $7.00 for the jeans on clearance when I was wearing them. So I made enough to buy two more pair in my size now.
 
There is money to be made folks. All you need is a paypal account to get paid with and they will send you a debit card to use if you want one. The first sales take a few weeks for ebay to give you the money but if you are a new seller they have to make sure your stuff is legit.
 
So get to selling your old clothes and make some money for some new ones. I think I have found a new business to start. If I can find stuff on clearance for $2.00 at Ross no matter what size and sell it for full price I have made 150% profit. Use flat rate shipping, print your shipping labels off paypal, the will deduct if from your funds so no out of pocket expense for you. Go to the post office get a small box, tape the postage on and off it goes. Easy peasy. Now make some dough because who doesnt like to go shopping.

I finally got some good ole sleep. Haven't posted in a few day's. Just thought I give a little update. Was banded on the 21st. went back to work on the 28th. and have been feeling pretty good. Other than not being able to sleep until last night I slept really good. I'm doing pretty good with my protein and fluid intake so I'm happy about that. I have my follow up appt on tues. and can't wait for that. I have no problems just want to hear what the doctor has to say. Everybody enjoy you day.

I would really hate to think I was being paid a service and the person paying me did not take my knowledge that I went to medical school for 12 years enough that they would have to get help on a website for medical issues.
 
I can not believe that people really refuse to call their doctors after surgery. They are getting paid to take care of you and a pretty penny I might add. Issues regarding pain, swelling, chest pain, can't eat or drink, throwing up, leg pain, what you should be eating are all questions that your surgeon should be answering. They are getting paid 24 hours a day 7 days a week. If you are having chest pain dont post it here, get your butt to the er. If you are vomiting and cant stop, feel dehydrated, cant keep food down, have leg pain or any kind of unnormal pain then call your doctors.
 
I dont know why you all are scared of them. I have my doctors personal cell phone that I can call anytime I am having an issue and he will answer every single time. We are not medical professionals and posting here when you are having chest pain you could have been to the ER or dead by the time you"re done typing it.
 
Stop playing with your lives and your bands. Call your surgeons if you are having these issues. What really are you afraid of? That you're bothering them? Well bother them they make 4 times the amount that most of us make a year for a service. A service they chose to have.

My daughter decided to bake 2 dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies tonight. They are sitting on the countertop, taunting me. Although my husband and daughter are both asleep, and although no one would know if I ate just one, I REFUSE to visit them. I WON'T give in to the temptation. I CAN DO THIS! I am STRONGER than those cookies! Before the band, I would have eaten at least 5 of those cookies with a tall glass of milk. Now, I am so focused, I am avoiding them like the plague. I see so many people on this site that have actually reached and SURPASSED their goals, and I am inspired. I want to be a success story. If I eat the cookie, I WILL KNOW. My band will know. I don't want to disappoint my band. I think I will go to bed now.....

I packed my normal breakfast of a Protein shake and a some steel cut oats, and drank my shake when I got to my desk. a couple of hours later I was hungry again and pulled my oatmeal out. Then Mistress Band spoke, "I'm not eating that stuff, get me some more protein!" So down to the cafeteria for a couple for eggs and hash browns, threw 3/4 of the hash browns away, and Mistress Band is now one happy camper.
 
When I woke up this morning, I was feeling pretty lethargic, I knew I had been doing a lot of physical labor on 1300 calories a day with the constant snow fall here, but I thought I had been allowing for that. My body disagreed, and a real part of my journey is learning to listen to my band and my body.
 
Food for thought.

Well, I went back to work on Monday and have had a pretty good week so far! I teach kindergarten so I've been REALLY tired in the evenings but I'm glad to be back into a routine. I started walking Monday night on my treadclimber and have done 30 minutes the past two nights. Today was my first appointment with my surgeon since having surgery. He said everything looked great and I could start on regular FOOD! Oh yeah!!!! Just watch my portions and chew,chew,and chew some more! I go back in 4 weeks and will probably get my first fill then! I'm really happy with thus decision and for once in my life feel like I'm actually gonna "do it" this time! Hope you're all having a great week and achieving myth success with your band!

Two months ago my doctor said as far as they were concerned I was at goal, 175 lbs. I was happy with that and started onto the maintenance stage of my journey.
 
Last month I gained 2 lbs, first time I had a gain but hey holidays. Doctor’s office was still very pleased and said that my weight will vary like that on maintenance.
 
Then a dear friend here on LBT put out a challenge “100 miles in January”. Walk or run 100 miles during the month of January. I was in! I needed something to get me moving more. I reached the 100 miles on Monday; my total should be around 120 miles for the month. (go me!)
 
Today I went back to the doctor, weighed 171! (lost 6 pounds in 4 weeks) I haven’t seen that much loss since the beginning months of this journey. So, what did I do different? My eating was the same as it has always been 1200 calories a day, etc…. The only thing different is the increased walking for the challenge.
 
I am so happy with myself. I couldn’t ask for anything more. Okay, maybe a tummy tuck and….. Well guess I could ask for more.
 
I love & respect my band. Yellow rose you serve me well, thank you!

Awww I'm still on the post opt-diet liquids wont start mushies till I see my doctor next week. But I want to chew so band its killing me but I can hold out. Just want to vent a little

The rearview mirror is my best friend. I'm always consulting it, flicking between the road ahead and what has just passed. For me, I'm obsessed with understanding and learning. I never take "I don't know" as an answer. There ARE no mysteries, there is always a reason. Maybe we don't understand it at the time, but that's what rearview mirrors are for; they are the teacher's answer key. And the more I know, the better I get.
 
So here I am one week from getting my band replaced and am glancing at the rearview of my band failures and successes. I feel very different than the first time I was banded, and it's made even clearer by the new people I am befriending here on LBT. All the questions and the anxiety and the excitement, it's like looking at a photograph. It makes me smile and I'm probably more excited for their journey than they are, knowing what's coming.
 
I want to be a good leader, a great example, and most of all I want to not repeat my own mistakes (for I am still a human leader). I wasn't perfect on the band like many others I see. I have a food addiction. And the first step in anything is owning up to your misses.
 
 
 
I remember the first few months with the "magic fill" - I was a kid in a candy store, eating cookies and ice cream or high fat stuff. I would MARVEL that literally, two squares of a Hershey's bar would satisfy me. I would fold up the candy bar and put it in my desk drawer. I'd open the drawer just to look at it and boggle at the fact that I didn't WANT it, and I could say no. That never, ever happened to me. I destroy food like Godzilla with a hangover. I would sneak ice cream as a 7 year old when my mom was in the shower. The taste of food was unparalleled joy, all the time. And I enjoyed my bad food for a while when I was newly banded, because I had power over food for the first time in my life.
 
I did eventually get too cocky and the band would interrupt a nice dinner I'd made or purchased, and all the food was put away because I had to PB, or just felt awful. Try having something stuck on a date....ruins the mood. I needed to go through that embarrassment and wake up call to get back in balance. Play time was over, it was time to work. Then I got in line with the band; roasting chicken thighs and carrots for dinner, portioning things out. Talking more with whomever I was with and letting food fall to the background. I never felt deprived because my food choices were just that - MY choices. It was so empowering I cannot even describe it. I literally felt like a normal person because my relationship with food was changing.
 
This time around, I'm not even interested in bad food, or the permission to have it in small quantities. I have tasted normal sized clothing, I have tasted normal relationships with food, and I absolutely hate where I am now. I'm 40 lbs less than my heaviest, but I feel worse than I ever have. For 6 months now I've been heavy (half the time with a baby...the last 2 months of pregnancy were awful!) or healing from a c section, and lugging around more fat with sleep deprivation. I used to feel GREAT! I want to feel GREAT again.
 
The band makes me feel GREAT because I feel in control. I am out of control now. And rereading my past entries, I fought and fought for stability with a constantly failing band and a less than ideal mindset.
 
I am blessed and lucky to have a second chance. I'm not squandering it. Open eyes, looking ahead and behind, changing the bad and repeating the good. It's not all daisies on the journey, but yeah, when you get there, it's a freakin' field of flowers

Hi everyone,
 
Wanted to get people's thoughts or see if they have gone through any similar expiriences, because I am a bit baffled from what is going on inside my head.
 
My journey is going great, found my green zone and have learned (through better or worse) how to eat slowly and properly. Sometimes it seems that I am eating way to little, but my body is reacting amazingly well and I've personally never felt better.
 
I got surgery Sept. 2012, a bit over 4 months out and my weight loss is 65 lbs. That's amazing right? well thats my issue. Even though I am so happy that my body has dropped all this weight and I'm looking better than ever (haven't been this small since high school), I feel my brain hasn't quite caught up to the new me.
 
I get so much more attention from people (especially men) and I am no longer looked at as a "fat" person. I guess the quick transformation hasn't quite processed inside of me because in many ways I see myself the same. Every day the mirror surprises me, I am amazed.
 
Daily things like figuring out what to wear cause me anxiety especially because I don't want to purchase too much until I reach my goal.
 
I am so grateful but not gonna lie a bit anxious....

I have been going through this process for a very long time. After being denied by my insurance company, I was finally banded Thursday and I'm actually feeling pretty good. I have been walking taking in my liquids and meds and the pain has been very manageable surprisingly!! I'm excited, now I have to continue to learn and work hard!!

I was banded on 1/7/13 and one of the things that my instructions talked about was that during the "Healing Phase" of my eating, many patients stop losing or actually gain weight. With this in mind I have been very careful to log all my food and count calories Even thought my NUT said that calorie counting wasn't necessary, she told me to shoot for between 1300 - 1500. So, this morning I was able to go back to one of my pre-band rituals of Saturday morning breakfast with a friend, but I was scared because I was flying solo, no scale, no measuring cups, just me and "Mistress Band".
 
So, the result? I ordered two eggs and hash browns, I pre-cut all my food to the proper size, and tried to focus on the conversation and my eating. Pretty soon I hit a soft stop (hiccup) and then each bite I started asking myself why I was taking that bite. When the answer because "Because it tastes so good" I put my fork down and moved the plate out of reach.
 
At that point, I was satisfied, not full, but satisfied and it looking at my plate, I realized that I had eaten about the same as I would have if I had pre-measured it. Maybe one day, I will be able to move rely totally on listening to my body and my band, but until then, I will log and count.

Happy TGIF to everyone.
yesterday I got an email from a Lap Band person and they wanted me to be their friend and after some thought I sent my email. It was a SCAM! I told her/him to lose my email or I would call the FBI. I also sent am email to LapBand Talk about this. The person had her LapBand Talk name as:Lizza22. Be careful everyone!!!!!!!!!
Time to go to the gym. My FitBit said I have walked 50 miles since I got it and that was in December. For me that is great.
Enjoy your day. I am dog sitting this weekend, in the cold and tonight's snow, ugh!

It's only been a few days banded but I wake every morning with gratitude. Gratitude for my healthy happy kids and husband. Grateful my cavings are at bay...if only for today...gratitude I had the courage to finally go through with the lap band and make the commitment to change my life.
 
A goal without a plan is just a wish.

is fast approaching. Today I had an appointment with my nutritionist as part of my supervised diet. It went pretty smoothly. We mostly talked about how I would need to take supplements to insure that I am getting all my vitamins and nutrients after surgery. And the rest of my appointment was spent talking about my wedding and my nutritionist wedding. I like her very much. I wish it was awkward to try to contact her to be a friend. We have so much in common.
I also talked to the insurance coordinator about everything that I needed to do in the final month of my supervised diet so that I could be completely finished at my next appointment and ready to turn in my case to the insurance company as soon as possible.
I need to get the last 2 years of my medical records faxed to the insurance coordinator. I should have done this last month because I switched insurances and now it might be difficult to get them from Group Health, because Group Health is terrible.
Complete a Pysch, questionnaire.
Have a Physch. evaluation done on the same day as my last appointment. (I'm slightly confused on this one... are they going to deny me if I'm to depressed or not depressed enough?)
One last nutrition appointment, on February 26. (I feel like making a count down, out of like construction paper. With the loops that make a chain. I'm just so excited to start my new life)

Tyler had his first appointment today. I'm excited that he has started. I just have this looming fear that I won't be approved and he will be. Waahh!! That would be terrible!
 
Anywho, I'm off to bed, I'm so tired today.
 
Happy losing everyone!
Shelley

Sitting at my desk wishing it was Friday... when I received a call from the hospital where I had my lap band surgery in December 2010 and most recently a sonogram after my tummy tuck to see what was causing the bleeding from my belly button. My first thought was they found some dreaded infection or worse yet…tumors… I braced myself for the bad news wondering why my plastic surgeon wasn’t calling…
 
The woman identified herself as the Director of Patient Relations and she was calling to congratulate me on my successful Lap Band journey and ask me if I would be interested in a starring role in their new advertising campaign. It’s just in the works now and it may be print or television…no details are firm yet.
 
After I picked my mouth off the ground and tried to wrap my head around the fact this wasn’t bad news… I thanked her for the call and asked how much it paid. Well maybe not quite that blunt but in a roundabout sort of way…. LOL. She doesn’t think it pays but it may open the door for other things… Like what…. I have no idea.
 
So anyway…. I thanked her for the call, told her I would consider it and she assured me I would be hearing from their creative department. I hung up the phone and the first thought I had was seeing my body on a billboard on the highway…. I spent all this time to get thin and now they want to blow me up…. Hysterical.

Today I went to my post op visit. I am 12 days post op and down 20lbs from start weight on Pre Op diet!!!
 
I am so excited! The scale has NEVER moved backwards 20lbs. I was never one to gain and lose weight. I just steadily gained. My doctor said I was doing very well and being very compliant. He did tell me he did the plication pretty snug so to make sure I take it slow when eating.
 
They also told me to speed up my walking a bit and go a bit further. He wants me to walk for a half an hour for exercise 5 times a week.
 
They changed my diet today. For the rest of today and tomorrow I am on full liquids. Starting Friday I can have mushy food. YAY refried beans here I come!
 
So my clothes are not looser on me. However, my hands and feet are losing or at least lost swelling from water weight. My shoes are loose and I am now able to turn my rings on fingers without it hurting. My daughter says she can see the weight loss in my face but I cannot see it anywhere yet.
 
I am encouraged and very happy right now. At this time I am going to start weighing only once a week. I am sure like most I have been a little obsessed with that and weighing every day.
 
Hopefully, with hard work, the scale will continue to move backwards.

I read a post that a doctor told a patient that you will be relying on protein shakes the rest of your life because you can't possilbly consume enough protein in one day for the requirements. I say that is utter nonsense and no doctor should expect you to live off of protein shakes. Even being tight in the morning you can consume some yogurt or oatmeal that has protein in it. Or add some protein powder if you have too. But you have to learn to eat with your band and if you are more then three months out and still relying on protein shakes then you need to rethink your eating strategy.
 
Yes I am tight in the morning but I can get in Greek yogurt, eggs, Quaker weight control oatmeal, cream of wheat, without relying on protein shakes. I have not drank them except after a fill since I was a month post op. I want to consume food and not liquid calories. What is the point of having something if you have to drink your meals. You might as well skip surgery and do slim fast because that is exactly what you are doing. I can easily get in 90 grams of protein per day on food.
 
 
If your doctor insist that you have to drink protein shakes the rest of your life then I would find a new doctor. There is no reason to drink them just for protein when all you're doing is drinking liquids that won't keep you full. It's everyones choice what they want to do but if you can't learn to eat real food with your band then what's the point. I would rather have a full stomach that will be satisfied for 4 hours then drink liquid calories just to get in protein. No way no how am I living off of shakes to get in protein. Just my thoughts and opinion.

Just had to share, I made the best dinner tonight. I took my filet and cut it into very small pieces and put it in an Asian sauce. I stir fried pea pods, water chestnuts and almonds with sesame seeds in an different Asian sauce. Then I cooked the filet and added the 2 together and had wild and brown rice. Uncle Ben's has one cup ready to eat, I love them.
I keep getting bored with food and this one was a great one. For lunch I had a huge salad and sliced deli turkey. I don't use dressing (never have had it) so I know my lunch was lo cal.
​If I think of other great recipes, I will share them. I do make a great salmon, too. I use the Asian sauce with sesame seeds and make it crispy either on the cook top or in the oven. I love that meal too. I live in Boston so I know my sauces are local.

I had a coupon for jeans from BJ"s and decided to buy a size 16. I wear an 18. I tried on the 16 and they button but don't zipper yet. WOW, in July I wore a women's size 20. Great feeling.
Have a great evening everyone and a nice TGIF.

Just had to share, I made the best dinner tonight. I took my filet and cut it into very small pieces and put it in an Asian sauce. I stir fried pea pods, water chestnuts and almonds with sesame seeds in an different Asian sauce. Then I cooked the filet and added the 2 together and had wild and brown rice. Uncle Ben's has one cup ready to eat, I love them.
I keep getting bored with food and this one was a great one. For lunch I had a huge salad and sliced deli turkey. I don't use dressing (never have had it) so I know my lunch was lo cal.
​If I think of other great recipes, I will share them. I do make a great salmon, too. I use the Asian sauce with sesame seeds and make it crispy either on the cook top or in the oven. I love that meal too. I live in Boston so I know my sauces are local.

Ok, here I am a year and a half later!!! I have changed employers and landed a better job and found out that I may have a chance to undergo lapband! So we shall see! I have my nutritionist & psych eval Friday, had my physical and blood work done, EKG etc today! I already had my physician letters together from the last insurance process, so I am keeping my fingers crossed...if this doesn't happen, then it wasn't meant to be. I have been under a supervised weight loss program and I have been having success, albeit very slow and has extreme ups and downs. I am at peace with whatever decision is made...very hopeful to get all of this taken care of and live a normal, energetic and exciting life!!!

hello all sorry for not posting lately im officially banded. im in pain but it will pass and im on a new path in life.