Tabithan

I've finally hit the 50lb loss. I am SOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Glad to be back on track despite the HORRENDOUS Thursday and Friday!!!!:sad_smile: How are you doing, Fellow strugglers?????

Why is it that when I was eating my fried foods - Philly Cheesesteak and a basket of fries - I ate EVERYTHING and had room for more, but now that I am back on track, eating healthy, I feel the restriction???? It's almost as if the band loosens when you are cheating - helps you CHEAT!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to admit that I missed all my goals on Thursday and Friday and drank alcohol and ate fried foods. It was BAD - To make matters worse, I could eat ANYTHING - it's almost as if I magically lost restriction with the BAD foods - I am back on track today, and miraculously, my restriction is BACK!!!

WOW Christina - I think we all NEEDED TO HEAR YOUR STORY - Needed to hear how "being too tight" is truly the wrong thing for us. Needed a reminder that the band on its own isnt the solution - that we need to connect to our band mentally - restricting the ability to eat food will not work - but an appropriate restriction along with mental committment and willpower is the right approach. Interestingly enough, reading your story has just motivated me to get back on track. Plus it is rare to meet other fellow 6ft ladies - I too am 6ft and fighting to get to 200lbs - Once I get there, I will re-evaluate my goals - but since I am not the "skinny kind" naturally - have always had muscle tone - I dont think I will go too much lower than 200lbs. I'm so glad to hear that you are taking the right steps now with your band and are recommitting to using the band in the right way. Hopefully the acid reflux issue will correct itself sooner rather than later. Please share what your diet looks like, so that we can take some tips from you. Again, thank you for sharing - I get the hint of RESOLVE TO SUCCEED in your message and that has inspired me and I am confident will inspire others as well. Out of curiosity - can you shop in regular stores at 230 0r 220? I am still a Lane Bryant Shopper at 250 and I cant wait to be able to shop at the "regular store." Where do you get TALL jeans from????

Hi Fellow Strugglers, I have a CONFESSION!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't been here the last two days for a REASON. The last two days were MISERABLE - I failed my bad MISERABLY!!! Remember all my lofty goals to avoid calories and stay within 1500 calories?? well, it didnt work. Here is what happened!!! Thursday - Have to take a client for lunch - We take them to pappadeaux. Everything at PPDeaux is DELICIOUS because they fry EVERYTHING or SOAK IT IN OIL. I tried to be good by checking nutritional content online - NOT TO BE FOUND - I even called their toll free number - they said they do not release nutritional information but recommended that I order something grilled. I WONDER WHY THEY WILL NOT RELEASE NUTRITIONAL INFO!!! Well I ordered the tilapia and asked for it grilled - problem - it still had butter and was delicious - Problem # 1. Anyway, later that day I take my team for happy hour at some sushi place - I figure I can at least eat healthy there, right?? NOOOOOOOOOOOO - I drink two glasses of Red Wine and GO TO TOWN with the rolls. After that, I go for an ornament exchange party. At the ornament exchange - the ornament I have has 8 Girriadeli(*sp) chocolate squares in it. I come home and FINISH OFF THE CHOCOLATE - at 480 calories. So I figure I will be good on Friday - However, on Friday I was taking my team for lunch and a movie at the tavern......I took my lunch to work and decided to eat before the movie so that I didnt order anything - well I got so busy, I didnt get the time. We go to the tavern and everything on the menu is fried. I order a philly cheesteak with fries and eat the WHOLE THING - Somehow my restriction is LOST. After the Movie, we go to chillis and order the SINFUL Molten cake - we split one for every three of us. Since my day was BUST already, on my way home, I go by CHIPOTLE and order my weakness - chips and GREEN CHILE SALSA. The worst part, fellow strugglers, is that I avoided LAPBANDTALK like the PLAGUE during these two days. I dont know why I avoid this place when I am *SINNING* - It is almost like I cant bear to face LBT knowing what I have done. But today is a New day - I am back on Track - I gained two pounds, which unfortunately is the two pounds I had lost. Well, I am not going back here for a while. Thank you for listening to my rants and raves. I need support to keep back on track because my mind is now wondering back to the good ol meals I had the past two days. My goals for this week are: Eat 1500 calories Write down everything I eat Measure everything Work out 3 times this week How was your week, fellow strugglers????????

Did yoi do better today, Jeni?? :thumbup: My day today was good. Tomorrow will be TOUGH!!! I have to take a client to lunch (I dont like eating out because I cant control my calories well) and I have happy hour with the team in the evening. My challenge for tomorrow is: a) Stay within 1500 calories by checking the calories of the food at the restaurants in Advance :cursing: Dont drink Alcohol at Happy Hour c) Work out - Tae Kwondo - I know, LOFTY goals - wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I LOVE READING YOUR MESSAGES, Crzytchr - for some reason you always motivate me. And I think that is the RIGHT approach - you are looking at the band as a long-term solution, so you are trying to learn to live with it rather than torture yourself with a tight band for immediate/faster weight loss. Really great!!! Keep it up - we will LOSE ALL THIS WEIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!1:biggrin:

Thanks for the Motivation, Crzytchr!!! At some point it got so bad, I decided to go and sleep RATHER THAN KEEP EATING - I over indulged in carrots and seriously felt SICK - But at least it was Carrots!!!!!! :thumbup:

Today I did my Tae-Kwondo again. I was sweating like....really sweating!!!:cursing: I didnt feel light headed because I ate dinner before the workout, so it felt GREAT At work, one of my team members brought chocolate for everyone and pretty much FORCE FED US!!! Of course, she is one of the skinny ones and I HAD TO EAT THE CHOCOLATE - Didnt know how to say no - good news is that I ate only 2 of the 4 cubes she gave to us, so that amounted to only 120 calories. TOMORROW IS GOING TO BE SO TOUGH!!!!!! Have to take a client out for lunch - then, in the evening I have to take my team for happy hour!!! How in the world am I going to stay within my 1500 calories????? I must work out tomorrow, somehow. GOAL FOR TOMORROW - Stay within 1500 calories - Do Tae Kwondo class at 7:45 - Do NOT drink alcohol at Happy hour - lawd help me - Eat a salad or SOMETHING at the client Lunch. How was your day today, fellow strugglers???

I just ate and my stomach is STUFFED!!! but I am still thinking of food - feeling hungry - Argggggggggh this Head Hunger!!!! I have to resist!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whitepants - You have done SO WELL - Only 30lbs to go?? WOW - you should be proud. And I am willing to bet that most people who see you, wouldnt consider you fat!!! On those days that you feel fat and anxious, try pulling out one of the pants or shirts you wore prior to the lapband. Putting that on might help you get your spirits back up and the real perspective. I know it definitely helps me!! Carol - Let us know how it goes with the doctor. Hoping everything is OK Everyone has such great goals!! Good luck to everyone on their goal!!! Yesterday I went for Tae Kwondo and came back home EXHAUSTED - I barely had energy to stuff my face with dinner - before just CRASHING and sleeping through the next morning. How's everyone doing so far? Day 2 in December. On track?

Today was an interesting day. Got TOO busy at work and was unable to eat - managed to sneak a Kashi bar and some coffee. On the way home, because I was SO HUNGRY, I found myself CRAVING chips and salsa - from Chipotle - love their salted chips and green chile salsa - it is my WEAKNESS - well, instead of indulging, I passed by Walmart and bourght a round-eye steak. Came home STARVING and cooked the steak - ate 4 ounces with rice and veggies and I am STUFFED. Luckily, I am still within 1500 calories. Fellow Strugglers, what is your daily calorie limit? My surgeon told me to ensure I am around 1500-1700 - keeping in mind my height and weight.

Hi Crzytchr, I think you are on to something!!! There is alcohol addiction in my family as well, and I guess I chose food as my drug of choice!!! Also, thank you for the encouragement - I sincerely appreciate it. I see that you have already had so much success in such a short period of time. What is your secret??? Today was a GREAT day - well, parts of it, at least. Breakfast went well - did you Kashi cereal. For lunch, I had to take my team out to Celebrate one of our birthdays. Birthday girl chose MEXICAN food of all - everything is fried or in cheese, which makes it sooo good. I went with a Grilled Mahi Mahi and asked them to keep out the sauce. It felt like there was butter or some oil on it, but at least I didnt over-indulge. I also stayed away from desert. I LOVE THE BAND. I went to see my surgeon today and he told me that with my port revision, they took out ALL the saline and only put back .25cc. I cant believe I have restriction with so little, yet I went through a whole year and a half at almost full, able to eat anything. THIS BAND HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN...or is it that I now have a new mind? a new outlook??? :biggrin: Another major accomplishment today - I went to tae kwon do - my first day - boy, was that a WORKOUT - I can tell my legs will be sore tomorrow. I felt LIGHT-HEADED A FEW TIMES - I wonder WHY???? Fellow strugglers - How was your day today? Any successes? any failures you want to turn around?? what are your goals for December? Mine are: (I know I say them everytime - but there is something about repeating them all the time - like a mantra.) -Eat no more than 1500 calories a day -Write everything I eat on fitday and my journal -Measure any food that is not-pre-packaged

Thanks for creating the December thread, Jeni!! I'm excited the holidays are here - but it is one of the busiest times of the year, at work, for me. I signed up for Tae Kwondo and just got my uniform yesterday!!! :wink2: My challenge over the holidays is to stay within 1500 calories, and make time to work out despite the BUSY work schedule. What's your main challenge going to be?? We can do it though!!!!!!!!!!:thumbup:

I wonder if food addiction is somewhat genetic. Like alcoholism - if your parents are alcoholic, you have a much stronger chance of being an alcoholic. Wonder if that works the same, with food. My mom always struggled with her weight - she was never as big as me, but she was always yo-yo dieting, and I started dieting when I was 13. So I wonder if there is some genetic link.... SD CHICK - It's exci5int 5hq5 you will be seeing the surgeon- will you be getting a fill as well?? You've gotta fill us in on whether you feel more restriction after. Wish you the best on this!!! I'm excited to go through this journey with you. Let us know, everyday, how it works with your December goal to measure everything. I did well yesterday - today, I TOTALLY VIOLATED A BAND RULE - I purposely had tea with my afternoon snack - and it my meal slid right down - I already have hunger pangs from it. I hope I have learnt my lesson. I also nibbled on some leftovers my friend brought over -no clue how many calories that held!! Arrghhh - where is the SELF CONTROL???? But so far, I am on track with my three goals - measure everything, 1500 calories a day and writing everything down. I am struggling with getting in all my Water, however!! TOMORROW will be a better day!!! I have found out that in the past, when I am not doing too well with the band, I stay away from LBT like the plague. But I realized, that hurts, rather than helps me - Pushes away the time it takes for me to get back on track as I don't want to be accountable for my failures with my eating. I will try to stick here, document it all - through THICK or THIN. I hope you will do the same, and stay with me as well, fellow strugglers!!! How did you do, fellow strugglers, through the weekend?? GOOD OR BAD - let's put it out there!!! :thumbup:

I had my surgery in Colorado but I had my port revision with Dr Alanis here in Houston. He has a website so you can google him. I can tell you that with my surgery in CO, I had bad scars - with the revision he gave me, I am practically scar-less yet the wounds were just as big. I have been impressed so far with Dr Alanis.

LOOOOOOOOOL - I just LOVE THAT - Kwando to hold off the guys that will want to RAVISH your HOT body next summer!!! You just made my morning. Interestingly enough, I just signed up for Tae Kwondo on Saturday - I start as soon as my uniform gets in - They had to SPECIAL ORDER MY UNIFORM!!! SIGH But I wasnt mad....

I bought a new type of Cereal yesterday - Kashi GOLEAN Crunch - Honey Almond Flax - It actually tastes GREAT and has 9g of Protein. Since I am in my new "measure everything" phase, I actually measured out half a CUP and added a quarter cup of non-fat milk (I use the Horizon organic brand since it tastes really rich for non-fat milk - tastes like 2% in my estimation.) Well, you can imagine that the 1/2 cup of cereal looked SOOO LITTLE in the bowl - but i challenged myself to eat that first then add more if I was still hungry. Well, LO AND BEHOLD!!! I was SATISFIED with the 1/2 cup. Not full, but satisfied. I am LOVING THIS MEASURING OF food. FELLOW STRUGGLERS - Are you Measuring your food???? What are YOUR success tips??

OMG - I came through on the goal to measure everything I eat. About 45 mins ago I had half a cup of basmati rice and 1 cup of ground beef sauce. I AM SO FULL - STUFFED is really the word and I still feel like I want to BURST. I OVERATE and unfortunately, I have not reached the stage where I can push food away - if it is on my plate, I finish it - even if I am stuffed. I have now figured out the wisdom in measuring our meals. When we measure our meals we can effectively define what we need to eat to be satisfied and not STUFFED like I was. Now I know that for such a meal, I need to limit the quantity to half a cup of rice and half a cup of ground beef. HERE I WAS THINKING THAT THE REASON I HAD FAILED WAS BECAUSE MY BAND DID NOT WORK - The fact that one and a half cups of food left me OVER STUFFED makes me realize that the past year and a half, was my failing the band, not the band failing me. Fellow strugglers - How was your day??????

Hi SD Chick, First and foremost - WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME!!!!!! You have no idea how excited I am that you have joined us. Thank you so much for sharing your story. Like you, I have failed my band and made some bad choices. What is even bigger is that many times, I have been embarrased to see the friends I told I was getting the band - Because, while they dont say it, I always imagine, that they are thinking it - thinking - why are you still so big after getting weight loss surgery??? Yesterday, I had an epiphany (*sp.) I have a brother who is an alcoholic and I have always wondered why he just CANT STOP - Yesterday, as I was about to get into bed, I realized that I am an alcoholic too - but my addiction is food, not ALCOHOL. ANd I had tremendous sympathy for my brother - If I cannot say "no" to food, how can I expect his journey with alcohol to be easy??? SD CHICK - We have made the first step - we have acknowledged our failures to date and recommitted to being successful. Please stick with me, and the group, and let us get there. IDEAS: a) Talk to your surgeon - sounds like some things are happening and you would feel more comfortable and be able to committ much better, just by speaking to your surgeon. THis way, you can focus on what to do right, rather than what is going wrong. I doubt that your band has slipped - because surgeons usually put a flap over the band, it is becoming a much rarer situation. Also, you would be in TREMENDOUS PAIN if your band slipped. Identify the true reasons behind the lack of success, to allow complete focus on them. For example, mine are - eating around the band, eating the wrong foods, not knowing when to say no, head hunger. c) You want to lose 50lbs in the next one-year - this is an amazing goal that we can accomplish. I think we need to set some mini-goals for you, for the month of december. Small goals that you can accomplish and will get the scale moving in the right direction. What are your mini-goals for December??? ANY OTHER IDEAS FROM THE GROUP???

Hi Everyone!!! I was banded in March of 2007. Havent had a lot of success to date because I have been eating around my band, but I have been recommitted the last couple of weeks and the weight has started dropping again. Hope you don't mind me CRASHING into the group and being a regular!!!!

Thanksgiving turned out okay. I actually stayed withion the 1500 calories but there was also a LOT of head hunger!!!! Fellow Strugglers - I was reading other posts on LBT and ran across Fitday.com - this is a calories tracker, weight loss tracker, etc. I used it yesterday, put in my weight loss goals, etc. I LOVE IT!!! You should definitely try it if you are looking for a tool to help keep your food intake on track. Mizpeppy - How was thanksgiving? Were you able to stay on goal to eat a little of everything??? Today I did something courageous!! I signed up for TAE-KWON-DO - I start on Tuesday - I will have to let you know how that goes. As any FYI, they had to order a SPECIAL uniform for just for me - Surprisingly, I wasnt insulted!!!!!!! I'm adding ONE MORE GOAL for today: - Measure all the food (that is not pre-packaged) prior to consuming. That is, measure my Cereal and milk rather than assuming the quantity, etc - Stay within 1500 Calories - Write down everything I eat on FitDay!!! What are your mini goals, fellow strugglers???

Hi Beth, I am SOOOO Glad to hear the fill went well!!! and hopefully you have some good restriction that will help with the quantity restriction. I dont have good restriction right now hence I can eat as much as I can, so I am working, fighting daily to keep my calories in place. I just had port revision and once I heal, I hope to get a fill and more restriction. But I definitely am getting full with 2 cups of food which to me, is still good because on my pre-band days, I could eat a 12 oz steak (always medium-well) with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob or veggies and wipe the plate CLEAN!!! :grouphug: Let me know how it goes this thanksgiving with the Snacks and if you are able to stick to the goal of a little of everything. I havent had to face the food demons yet as we havent had dinner yet - I will keep you posted!!! GOAL for today - To write everything I eat down even if I didnt do as well - have to write the good and the bad and to stay within 1500 calories. LapBanders - What Multivitamins do you take and where do you get them from???? Thanks for joining me Beth - we can do this. Any other strugglers out there??? :grouphug:

11-26-08 - Today is my first day blogging. Today is one day in the week that is the beginning of a journey towards success for me. I know it will be marked by many failures, which I will describe openly and honestly. When I go through LBT, I see the stories of many who were banded after me, that have lost a significant amount of weight. I cannot help but be proud of them, and to be honest, a little jealous. I was banded on 3/13/2007. I have had mild success - banded at 299lbs and currently at 254lbs (as of last saturday when i weighed myself.) The reason? I have learned to eat around my band. My goal for this week: Eat within 1500 calories Write down everything I eat. Today I went to PF Changs - YUMM!! and I stayed within the 1500 calories because I limited my calorie intake earlier in the day, and I went online to pull their nutritional content...wuhuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Tomorrow is the next day, Excercise - I am thinking about Tae Kwon Do - Does anyone do this???