It has been 4.5 years since Dr. John Morton of bariatric surgery at Stanford University placed my lap band and I will be forever grateful for the procedure. I had gained and was unable to loose 100 excess pounds. I have lost 75 pounds of the original weight. I have always gone down and never up, but it does require some work. The band does not do it all for you. Since it did take me 30 + years to gain the weight, once I lost the first 50 pounds, I set my goal on loosing 10 lbs a year. I am about 2 years out from my goal, but have managed to take off the requisite 10 this year.
My strategy is this...since I have retired, my job now is daily exercise. It has become such a habit with me that I find I never have to convince myself to do it...it comes naturally. I exercise 5 times a week for an hour, 3 days of aerobic dance or Zumba, 2 days of Water aerobics. I team this strategy with weighing myself every morning. If the scale goes up a pound, I eat lightly(Protein, greens, lots of water). If the scale goes down, I have a little more freedom.
It seems like my body tells me what it likes and won't accept. I used to ignore the signals, but now I listen to them closely. When I take that extra bite, my body says" No! this is not staying," So I've become a lot more careful. Eating too much, or the wrong foods, or too late, or a last bite, can seriously interfere with a good sleep.
Congratulations to all of you who have chosen this path, I salute you. You may now take control of your life and become the healthy person you were meant to be. It's not about your size, but the quality of your life. Hooray for you.
