Frederic

I will admit I haven't been around the forums as much but that's because I've been successful, It's unfortunately true that the more successful you are with the band the less motivation you have to hang out on internet forums and talk about. But I want to show support for all of you new Bandsters out there. Feel free to send me a message if you have questions. The long and short of it is that I have continued to lose weight at a steady pace by watching my calories and exercising as regularly as possible. I've had no complications from the band of any kind yet.

Grand Island has an active support group that meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month. If you'd like more details or just want to discuss what our meetings are like feel free to reply below or send me a message.

I guess for me the test is if you see someone who is watching what they eat and exercising and still struggling with being overweight would you tell them about how WLS helped you?

There is a middle ground between gushing about WLS and keeping it a secret. I only mention my WLS if somebody asks. I have nothing to be ashamed of I worked hard before the surgery and I still work hard after the surgery the difference is my hard work actually generates results now. I just hate the idea of WLS being this thing only whispered about in secret and treated like something to be ashamed of. People don't keep tonsillectomies a secret or kidney stones. I believe WLS should be no different.

This thread really seems to illustrate some key differences in how men and women perceive friendship. I've always been amazed at how differently the genders process these kinds of relationships.

This is my experience as well. The more people hide their WLS the more it seems like something to be ashamed of. If I'd known how common WLS really was I could have benefitted from it over 10yrs ago. Nit to mention situations like this where you're angry (or at least upset) at a friend because they're not commenting on a secret your keeping from them. Have you considered the possibility your frustration is really just a misplaced and unnecessary feeling of guilt? Are you seeking validation of your weight loss because you're having a hard time acknowledging you needed/wanted WLS? I don't know your friend but I can say that everything your feeling is from how you're perceiving things. You have made a major decision and had excellent results. Seeking validation from others is a dark path filled with self doubt. I would encourage you to feel proud of your actual results regardless of anyone else noting them.

I encourage you to ask yourself why this situation bothers you. What does it matter if she notices your weight loss? If you guilt her into complimenting you, will it even mean anything? Does your friendship hinge on your relative appearance?

If you don't trust her enough to tell her you had surgery why do you think you know her motivations at all? I'd suggest she doesn't want to comment on the weight loss because she doesn't want you to think she thought of you as fat before. Whenever someone tells me I look good after the weight I've lost in my head I hear them say "you used to be so fat and ugly you look so much better by comparison." Or maybe your friend thinks you don't want to talk about your weight loss because you haven't mentioned it and she's afraid there's something wrong you don't want to tell her about. Or if you've known each other a really long time maybe she never noticed you gained thew weight. I have friends from childhood I still think of as taller or shorter than me based on elementary school and don't realize their actual height until I'm standing face to face with them. Human perceptions are much more subjective than we'd like to think.

Noisey stomach is common with the lap band. Basically it's just caused by air and fluids in your stomach passing back and forth through the band into the 2 sections of your stomach. Gasses are created as food digests in the lower portion and fluids are collected in the top portion as we eat and create digestive enzymes. The fluids try to flow downward the gasses try to flow up. The noises occur when the try to squeeze past each other through the band.

Regardless of whether your surgeon does the surgery or not if you can't follow the pre-op diet you may not be ready for the post op diet. Even after WLS there is a level of discipline required for it to be successful. Perhaps you aren't ready for this commitment yet. It doesn't mean you won't be someday but perhaps that day hasn't come yet. I hope you can find the motivation to stic with your pre-op diet because you'll need that strength later when going through bandster hell.

As someone who has lost 100lbs I can say on a large frame it isn't as extreme as you'd think. I mean I can wear smaller clothes but they still fit the same way. My before picture compared to my current picture looks more like I lost 25lbs.

I think he's doing well, but that might be because we're approx. the same height, we were approx. the same starting weight, had our same surgeries at approx. the same time, and have lost approx the same amount of weight. Like me he may have chosen the band to reduce the need for cosmetic surgery if successful. When you're losing as much as we have to lose the idea of losing weight slower but steadily has some appeal in and of itself. I doubt I'll ever get out of the obese category on the BMI but there are other metrics to aim for as a large framed man. I wouldn't be surprised if his goal like mine is a 38 inch waist since that's an even better metric for reduced heart risk than BMI.

Hummus is fine in fact it can be a slider food and it's easy to over eat. For me with sushi it depends on what type it is, I don't have any problem with rice but I know some people do. Salads are again a person by person thing I used to enjoy all kinds of salad but now a lot of higher Fiber vegetables (like broccoli and some types of lettuce) can feel very uncomfortable. The only carbs that are "blocked" usually are ones that expand in Water. That's why toast is easier than fresh bread and few people have trouble with chips or crackers. Anything that turns into sticky paste when dropped in water has a good chance of causing a person to get stuck.

I will now share the secret of how I went from never exercising 2 years ago to running 2.2 miles every day. Step 1: go to bed wearing workout clothes and set the alarm 5 minutes earlier. Step 2: every day first thing out of bed: set the timer on my ipod nano for 5 minutes and walk around the house staying in constant motion until the time is up. 5 days later set the alarm for 1 minute earlier. Step 3: every day first thing out of bed: set the timer on my ipod nano for 6 minutes and walk around the house staying in constant motion until the time is up. 6 days later set the alarm for 1 minute earlier Step 4: every day first thing out of bed: set the timer on my ipod nano for 7 minutes and walk around the house staying in constant motion until the time is up. 7 days later set the alarm for 1 minute earlier Step 4: every day first thing out of bed: set the timer on my ipod nano for 8 minutes and walk around the house staying in constant motion until the time is up. then just keep doing this when you get to 20 minutes if the weather is nice walk out the door and away from your house for 10 minutes then walk back. When you get to 25 minutes. Try walking while listening to each odd numbered song and try picking up the pace for every other song When you hit 30 minutes. try running during every other song. The key is to build a manageable habit. that you can incorporate into your routine. The more you do it the more natural it becomes. For decades I would fall into the trap of "by the time I get changed to go work out or go to the gym I won't have time to work out so why even bother". Now on the other hand I don't feel as good on a day that I don't work out. I cannot emphasize enough how important I believe "focusing on your habits" is the most important part of weight loss.