In April, when i stepped on the scale, that I had been avoiding all winter, I weighed 287 lb. I knew that I had to do something drastic. I had tried and tried and failed and backslid, for the last 10yrs. I decided on lap band, as it seemed less invasive than the other types of bariatric surgery. I found a wonderful surgeon, Dr. Chris Coburn, in Mississauga, Ontario. The day of my consult, June, 21st, I weighed 284lb. My surgery was scheduled for July 27th, because I was a self pay, I didn't have a lot of preliminaries to take care of , besides a general medical check up and a two week full Liquid Protein diet. I think the liquid diet was very beneficial for me. Besides getting my liver into shape, I totally turned around my thinking and cravings about food. It was like doing a cleanse and a lot of my bad eating habits fell away.
The day of my surgery, on July 27th, I weighed 271 lbs. Now, here it is, just over 5 weeks from my surgery and I'm down to 256lbs. I couldn't be happier. I was just in my hometown visiting family and already people are noticing that I am losing weight. I'm down like 2 sizes and I've lost a lot of weight off of my stomach. I can bend over without feeling like my eyes are going to pop out...lol
I'm also amazed and delighted just how easy this journey has been so far. The surgery itself was a piece of cake. I slept on my recliner for about the first 3days and by day 10 post op, I was better than I had been even before the surgery. I have stuck to my doctor's guide lines and now am eating most solid foods. Still can not eat grilled steak, no big deal. I make sure to get all of my Protein, at least 70 gr. a day. I keep my carbs low and make sure I get in some Fiber. My appetite has been tamed to that of a thin woman. I have my 3oz. of protein, and usually two small servings of some kind of veggies. I am using a divided childs plate to eat on and that works good for me and keeps my portion sized in line. I am learning to listen closely to my body and as soon as I get the first feeling that I'm done and satisfied, I stop. If there is still food on my plate, that's ok, I leave it.
As, my doctor says , the idea is not to see how much you can hold, but how much you need to feel satisfied and able to hold over to your next meal. I never snack in the evening anymore, ever. I have no desire to do so. I actualy sleep great, with no heartburn or acid reflex, since I have not been stuffing myself with food all evening.
This has been way easier than I ever imagined, and I think its probably one of the best decisions that I have ever made.
sguyan,
Where do you live? Your profile doesn't say. I'd love to be buddies! Feel free to send me a PM anytime. Do you track your food? I use myfitnesspal (user: ajtexas0) add me as a friend if you do. It really helps keep you honest. Track everything even if you have a bad day, you can then look back and may see a pattern. I know I have found patterns, that time of the month is killer, stress can do numbers too and for me bordom during the evenings reall gets me. I'm a big evening eater!
Also look at your food choices. I do Low Carbs and try to eat 60-70g of Protein a day. They say Protein first, the veggies, the carbs. Plus keep to 1 cup of food total per meal. "Just because you can eat more doesn't mean you should", I'm sure you have heard that on this site a few times. Well it's true!
Do you exercise? This is a hurdle for me. I hate the though of going to the gym, etc... I have a desk job so I have very little movement during the day. I am trying something this week, I set up remionders on my work computer at 10am & 2pm that say "Go for a walk". So far I have gotten up from my desk and gone fore a 15 minute walk (course it's only Tuesday, but it's a start).
Keep coming back to this site. The support you get here is great, it will keep you motivated!
Good luck!
I am new to this. I was banded in Feb 2012, lost 46 lbs. Feel like I'm loosing focus.... 4 pounds away from weighing under 200. For some reason this milestone scares me. I haven't been this weigh since high school (46 years old). I have a fully supportive husband and family and until now I've been doing this without using the support groups. I think it's time to reach out for support. I don't want to go backwards and I keep finding myself making bad food choices, eating too much, etc. I haven't gained but I haven lost in the last month either. Is this a plateau or am I sabotaging myself?????
I really need a buddy or 2 to help with this journey.
