gowalking

I'm a couple of pounds away from being under 200 for the first time in years. I should reach that goal next week or the following. I still have a long way to go..I'd like to lose another 50 lbs. but the thought of getting on the scale at my primary doctor's office and not setting the weight at 200 or even 250 (which I had to do before being banded) truly makes me smile.

Welcome Andrew. Good luck with your journey towards surgery. I was also concerned about complications...we all are I'm sure. I can only speak for myself in that the procedure went well and I recovered fairly quickly with no issues and life is back to normal for the most part. I mean everything is different food wise, but my life has not been impacted negatively. I'm sure you'll do well and will find the lapband a great help.
I've only been banded for 5 months so I can't say yet about not slipping back into old habits and regainig the weight. I've seem plenty of posts like that but for me, I've been following the rules and have been successful so far.
I also lost alot of weight some years ago and am concerned about keeping it off but I hope that this time will be different. The band is doing it's job for me...I'm satisfied on less food...but still have to be aware of everything I eat and have to make choices not to eat unhealthy foods or too much food at basically every meal. I have to remind myself all the time that I am not physically hungry...I'm just head hungry. Most of the time it works and when it doesn't, I try to minimize the damage by making better food choices..

congrats on being approved. one suggestion...don't fixate on goal weights or the timeframe to achieve them. you only set yourself up for failure if you don't reach those goals. you're being very aggressive....nearly 100 lbs in 9 months. not everyone loses that quickly. I'm not trying to rain on your parade..I'm just saying to look at shorter term goals and go from there. welcome to this site and again congrats on starting your journey.

Out of the 300's I'm 299.8!

I'm just one of those lucky few who are in the green zone without fills. Now..that doesn't mean I don't get hungry. I do. But I can usually go from meal to meal without getting ravenous and I track everything I eat. I stay at around 1,000 calories a day and so far, it's worked for me. I have alot to lose so even down 63 lbs. so far, I need to lose at least 100 lbs total. So...I went from morbidly obese to a regular fat person. But, at least this regular fat person can fit into seats that were tough to get into before, and I don't see the panic in people's eyes that I used to see when I got on the bus or subway. I knew they were hoping I wouldn't try to sit next to them...and I didn't blame them. I'm starting to feel normal again and that's a wonderful feeling.

I'm just one of those lucky few who are in the green zone without fills. Now..that doesn't mean I don't get hungry. I do. But I can usually go from meal to meal without getting ravenous and I track everything I eat. I stay at around 1,000 calories a day and so far, it's worked for me. I have alot to lose so even down 63 lbs. so far, I need to lose at least 100 lbs total. So...I went from morbidly obese to a regular fat person. But, at least this regular fat person can fit into seats that were tough to get into before, and I don't see the panic in people's eyes that I used to see when I got on the bus or subway. I knew they were hoping I wouldn't try to sit next to them...and I didn't blame them. I'm starting to feel normal again and that's a wonderful feeling.

Feel better ladies. BTW, that was my nickname as a little girl...Lizzytish. It brings a smile to my face to see another Lizzytish out there.

so glad to see you posting again. hope you are doing well and feeling better Missy

I'm just one of those lucky few who are in the green zone without fills. Now..that doesn't mean I don't get hungry. I do. But I can usually go from meal to meal without getting ravenous and I track everything I eat. I stay at around 1,000 calories a day and so far, it's worked for me. I have alot to lose so even down 63 lbs. so far, I need to lose at least 100 lbs total. So...I went from morbidly obese to a regular fat person. But, at least this regular fat person can fit into seats that were tough to get into before, and I don't see the panic in people's eyes that I used to see when I got on the bus or subway. I knew they were hoping I wouldn't try to sit next to them...and I didn't blame them. I'm starting to feel normal again and that's a wonderful feeling.

I'm just one of those lucky few who are in the green zone without fills. Now..that doesn't mean I don't get hungry. I do. But I can usually go from meal to meal without getting ravenous and I track everything I eat. I stay at around 1,000 calories a day and so far, it's worked for me. I have alot to lose so even down 63 lbs. so far, I need to lose at least 100 lbs total. So...I went from morbidly obese to a regular fat person. But, at least this regular fat person can fit into seats that were tough to get into before, and I don't see the panic in people's eyes that I used to see when I got on the bus or subway. I knew they were hoping I wouldn't try to sit next to them...and I didn't blame them. I'm starting to feel normal again and that's a wonderful feeling.

You are absolutely right Jackie. Having said that though...it doesn't change the fact that I ate like crazy for three months. Some of it was frustration. I was supposed to be banded in October but Sandy flooded the hospital and they didn't re-open until January. So..I rationalized and said to myself that I had another three months to eat to my heart's content.
But...and this is a big but....I was totally compliant on the pre-surgical diet (I did not want to wake up and find out my liver didn't shrink enough and not be banded) and I've been completely compliant post-surgery and the weight thank goodness is coming off at a spectacular rate. I still have alot to go and I'm still a fat woman...just not morbidly obese...which is a great thing.
I know you're playing devil's advocate but I'd bet that there are more who did what I did than those who became compliant weeks or months before surgery. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying I suspect that's what alot of bandsters did.

You betcha!! I ate like there was no tomorrow. Some people start to change their intake way before the surgery but I wasn't one one them. Here's the good news....once I was banded, I followed the rules and was lucky enough to not need any fills and five months out, I am down 63 1/2 lbs. So...don't sweat it regardless of what you do these last couple of months.
Yes...you should be more aware of what you are eating prior to the surgery, but if you don't....well...you don't.
Good luck!

faaaantastic!!

faaaantastic!!

I'm also looking to lose around 100 lbs. 120 would be fantastic actually. No one really noticed the weight loss until I dropped around 40 lbs. so don't worry if at 28 lbs. down, no one is noticing. They will...believe me, they will. I'm now down 63 1/2 lbs. and folks are noticing...but like I said...it takes a while plus your old clothes will hide the weight loss. Wait until you are wearing new and smaller sizes.

I think 28 pounds is fantastic. If you've been stalking the boards (like I did) then you've surely noticed that people lose at very different rates...so much of it is your own body chemistry. And if you are doing all the right things then eventually the weight will come off.
As for the eating. I'm 6 weeks post op and also can eat pretty much whatever I want and don't have to chew to mush very often. I'm trying to practice doing it anyway, but it doesnt' always happen. Again, from reading the boards I hear that most don't find that restriction green zone until 5-6 fills in. (I'm a newbie so anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)
I'm also impatient for "more" to happen faster and then I remember the thought that it took me 10 years to get to this size. If I can drop half of what I want to lose in a year I'm doing AWESOME.

I have lost 23 pounds since May 23rd !!! Yay!!!!

If you are at the regular food stage, there are tons of places to eat out... as long as you stay with fish, chicken or even beef in your small portion and stay away from Pasta, rice and bread you will do fine. I have eaten at Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, Ruby Tuesdays and Red Robins since being banded and I did fine... My husband can eat anything and everything , he never gains weight in fact his Dr wants him to gain so I just have to ignore what he eats and not worry about him.. You can do it...You may have to remind him that you are getting healthier and happier and I am sure he will be supportive.

Here was my take on that. 2 years ago I was saying the same thing...and I vowed I'd do it myself. Fast forward to February when my world caved in and that pre-diabetic status changed to Type 2 diagnosed. It was like that switch in my brain occured and i realized that I was KILLING myself because I thought WLS was the easy way out and I was obviously NOT disciplined enough to do it all on my own too.
So I sat down with a good friend and had a good cry and then she said, "Why is it such a big deal if you have help in this area?" And the more we talked about it the more I realized that my weight affected so many other areas of my life that if I didn't ask for help and get this under control they would all eventually go the direction of my health. The more I read the more I realized that my thought process making this some kind of magical "easy way out" was way off. You have to work at this. I can eat whatever I want. I can eat chips, icecream, candy...hotdogs, fries, burgers. Anything. The band can take months and many fills to be really effective in food management and even then I can stretch it back out and stop it from being all that effective. I can sit on my butt and not exercise too. I can do all the same things that took me to 270 pounds in the first place.
So maybe the stars aligned for me and it was that turning point...who knows...but what the band has done for me is make me better prepared to mentally lose weight. I think about everything that goes in my mouth now. I make concious decisions to choose Protein then veggies then fruit. I still make mistakes, but even if the band is only ever a mental help for me it will be worth it. I'm 21 pounds less...and 21 pounds closer to being healthy than I was 6 weeks ago.
There is no cop out in that.

Doesn't matter how old you are...She can and always will bother you because she is obviously a very insecure person and sees you as an easy target. Just live a good life and that will be your revenge.
It's easy to stay away from toxic people except when they are family. You should tell her thanks but no thanks for the clothes she offered you and instead ask her why she feels so threatened by you because it's obvious she is. Good idea for you not to invite her back.

LOL!!! BTW, Dr. Ren-Fielding was my surgeon.

Doesn't matter how old you are...She can and always will bother you because she is obviously a very insecure person and sees you as an easy target. Just live a good life and that will be your revenge.
It's easy to stay away from toxic people except when they are family. You should tell her thanks but no thanks for the clothes she offered you and instead ask her why she feels so threatened by you because it's obvious she is. Good idea for you not to invite her back.

I am so excited. I actually like getting on the scale now. I'm looking good in my clothes. I am so happy with what I have done so far. My surgery was feb 5 of 2013 and I am looking forward to each day.

Doesn't matter how old you are...She can and always will bother you because she is obviously a very insecure person and sees you as an easy target. Just live a good life and that will be your revenge.
It's easy to stay away from toxic people except when they are family. You should tell her thanks but no thanks for the clothes she offered you and instead ask her why she feels so threatened by you because it's obvious she is. Good idea for you not to invite her back.

You are absolutely right Jackie. Having said that though...it doesn't change the fact that I ate like crazy for three months. Some of it was frustration. I was supposed to be banded in October but Sandy flooded the hospital and they didn't re-open until January. So..I rationalized and said to myself that I had another three months to eat to my heart's content.
But...and this is a big but....I was totally compliant on the pre-surgical diet (I did not want to wake up and find out my liver didn't shrink enough and not be banded) and I've been completely compliant post-surgery and the weight thank goodness is coming off at a spectacular rate. I still have alot to go and I'm still a fat woman...just not morbidly obese...which is a great thing.
I know you're playing devil's advocate but I'd bet that there are more who did what I did than those who became compliant weeks or months before surgery. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying I suspect that's what alot of bandsters did.