lisacaron

Hi Liz I did see all the responses and I'm looking forward to a Spring meeting. When I am in the office tomorrow I will reach out to our NYC office and see if we can space.

This is why we took so many photos...I just found it comical when I actually went back through them. Only 1 out of 4-6 was a decent shot. Caught talking Good shot Caught napping? Oh darn they are closing gotta go:)

Thanks for posting these Liz! Glad we got a photo of Tracy in there! Love the idea of local chapters count is in.

I love it!!

These are my favorite duds. I get "dressed up" everyday for work. Today for a good friends baby shower and now home in my comfy clothes and slippers ready to relax!!!!

Love it Mamma!!! The two of you are beauties!!!!

Of course Liz post away!!! Sorry i didn't respond right away I was driving home still We stopped at Hooters for some dinner and then hit the road again. I had the pulled pork sandwich minus the bread and pretty much everything else.

It was awesome meeting you and Alex. Ken and I had a great time at the coffee bean!!! So happy they were open and right next door to the cafe. It all worked out:) Here are a couple of photos from the day!!

Not exactly a selfie...but still lots of fun

How about Bandanas? Sorry I had to...

Great photo's! You look amazing, and I love hearing that you feel amazing too!

Very powerful message CG. You look great, we are very proud of you!!!

Sounds like some great plans! I think everywhere has been colder then normal this winter. I have to say though I would take those 30's and 40's over some of the really cold days we have had here of 6 and 9 and defiantly over all the ice and snow we have been having. I really have cabin fever. I'm always inside something somewhere and the cold weather hurts to breathe sometimes. I was having a vision of your backyard oasis as I was reading your post, I can't wait for some lovely warm days where things want to grow!! I might even plant something and get my hands dirty!

Lately I have to be honest I am not dealing with stress very well. I seem to be a bogged down by it and that's not really like me. Having people to talk to and a place to share and vent my frustration helps. I will go for a walk, sit and meditate and focus on my breathing (ever notice it's harder to breath through gritted teeth?) I'll listen to some music and get up and dance around, or just sit and relax to some classical music. If it's late I'll put on a funny movie my husband and I can laugh together or I'll read a good book. When my mind is troubled by something I've been chewing on in my brain I will read a book that "teaches" me something so my thoughts shift away from the issue and refocus on the new topic that I am trying to understand and learn. Doing this often helps give me perspective on the issue and allows me to think about it from a new vantage point and usually that resolve it. Make no mistake stress is a killer! If your not dealing with it in a healthy way, and if your just not dealing with it and hoping it will go away.

It's not a bad thing to run to the doctor if you have concerns especially since you had not seen one in a while. Now that you know you don't have an issue, take a nice deep breath and get back on the bandwagon. By that I mean start eating band friendly foods, and following your doctors advice. Everyone is different, what your friend went through does not mean that will be your experience. If you need guidance on nutrition give your nut a call and schedule some time to sit down and discuss what your eating vs. what you should be eating. Don't eat to the max. capacity of your band or your stomach. Look for the soft stops and stop. After a while you will get used to it and you will find your not hungry. You can always eat more food later if you are hungry, think of it like that and when you hit a soft stop...stop eating and see how you feel in a bit. You may just find your good and you don't need to eat anymore. If your very stressed out, it never hurts to talk to reach out and talk to someone. I know when I am stressed I don't want to eat anything at all.

For me it's less about stress eating, as when I am stressed I don't want to eat anything. My band cinches and I couldn't eat anything even if I tried. My problem is the emotional salve that food used to bring me. My life is chaotic almost all the time, I have healthy boundaries to keep the chaos in check though they don't always stop the invaders I am always on the go helping this one and that one. I take in the stray's and rescue animals and do all that fun stuff. It's the disconnection that I am seeking...and that alone time. It's hard to come by, sometimes I have to hide the bathroom to read, and there is always someone banging on the door. I used to hide away and eat myself into feeling better. Since being banded I haven't felt the need to do that but once, and I learned that lesson fast enough that this will no longer work for me. So, now when I need to disconnect I still will lock myself away in my bedroom or my office. Sometimes I'll put on a favorite movie and watch that till I'm laughing, or I'll meditate and put on some relaxing music. When the frustration levels are equal to the need to disconnect from the world (and this where I would be driven to want to sugar and Snacks in the past) I'll head to my office where I keep all our exercise equipment and blast some tunes and do a longer work out. When the weather is nice I like to disappear to the ecology site near my house and walk the track a few times or to the beach even if it's a bit cold and walk till my spirit feels lighter. There is nothing like the vastness of the ocean to show me how small my issues really are in comparison. If I am stuck at work, and I'm having a rough day I will put some tunes on my computer sometimes soothing sometimes a bit more moving and yeah I'll sing and thank goodness my co-workers don't mind much I won't be on the Voice or American Idol in this life time I just can't wait till the weather here breaks....I think we are all getting cabin fever! There really is nothing like fresh air and warm breezes to make me feel great!

Hi Nina, You are 100% normal! Most people have fears before any major operation, and before any major change in their lives. That is what this surgery will be for you if you choose to go forward with it. Lapband or any other Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) requires 100% commitment from you. It's not an easy fix, it is a tool to help you better guide yourself into a healthy weight and more importantly to a healthy life style. There are some who are unfortunate and experience complications from surgery at no fault of their own. This can happen with any surgery, for any number of reasons. It is the risk we take when we need to have any surgical procedure. That said there are also some that do not comply with their doctors orders and do not follow the protocols as outlined for them by their healthcare and surgical teams and there for fail and create further complications that did not necessarily have to happen. Often these are the very people you will hear from and who will post comments about how this surgery failed them. Keep an open mind when you read comments as you never can tell where someone is coming from. My best advice to you is to go back to your bariatric surgeon or surgical group and have a one to one talk with them about your concerns. They will be able to tell you what their success rate is of compliant patients who have done well with the band and/or other WLS as well as the rate of complications they have seen in their patients who had complications and what type of complications they had. If you are confidant in your Dr. and you feel that you are ready to make this life change and be 100% compliant with your surgery and your Dr nothing anyone has to say especially if they have not had surgery will enough to cause you any irrational fear. I wish you all the best, as you get closer to your date.

Cheryl you are on point here. When you are going through something the last thing you might be doing is thinking about your weight loss or your band. It can and it does happen. We are human and not infallible, but we are able to learn something from everything we do. I think that is more what Gowalking is trying to encourage here, for us to have a place that's safe to share our bit of hell with another and maybe to confess to those who can understand us without judgement when we have transgressed against ourselves. No one wants to have to learn lessons the hard way, but sometimes that is the only way we learn. I have learned this very poignant lesson not only by making mistakes myself but also by watching my very own hearts (my children) fall and fail and struggle as they become men, not just in the number of their years. While knowing that it is my duty as their mother and someone who loves them unconditionally to let them. No matter how much it might tear my heart apart. To love them is to let them grow...let them learn...let them go...and let them live their lives.

Your expressing yourself very well Nicki. Baby stepping it is what I do too when I'm not quite sure where I want to go. I don't want to stop moving all together, so instead I'll take those more cautious smaller baby steps and keep it moving. I am very happy to have my band, it helps me to better understand things in relation to food about myself that I may have been told before but just didn't understand how it applied to me as well as I do today.

I totally agree with you! I have been having a very stressful couple of weeks....I'm a very lucky gal in many aspects of life and then there are somethings that can just send you spiraling and are out of your control. If you knew me well you would know that some (like my kids) like to call me a control freak. This is not exactly the case, though I do like a certain order and organization to my life. It helps me to deal with the catastrophes that life throws my way all too often. That said this weekend, I learned something about myself that has truly amazed me. I have been plugging along since I was banded, following the rules, getting my fills, going to the gym as often as I can. Encouraging those around me who are banded and even those who are not to eat better make better choices, to try and move more and keep motivated. (former cheerleader yeah that's me!) Problem is that I am very good, too good with my poker face. My private world can be rocking and hanging off the edge of cliff and I will still be doing what needs doing. Professional problem solver yup that's me, and so my inbox is never empty and my desk always has someone at it and my phone always rings and there is always a problem that needs solving. I love it, it is who I am....but sometimes it gets to me. Sometimes I am sad...and I want to withdraw and hide. I used to hide with some Snacks and eat them to soothe my pain. I found out this weekend that this no longer works for me, but I didn't know until I tried it. All this time since being banded I have not fallen into my "emotional" eating like that. Where I took the goodies and hid myself away to medicate my feelings. This Monday I did just that and you know...it made me sick to my stomach. Not from guilt but literally sick to my stomach! It didn't do what it used to do for me...and now I felt even worse and wanted to throw up. It was my husband who intervened my pity party and calmly said to me, why don't you hit the treadmill and walk it out. I was pissed off at him in that moment, I felt like he was judging me for falling apart. The rock who is so strong for everyone else...there she is in the bottom of a Cheetos bag. but...no he wasn't mocking me or judging me, he was trying to help me and he was right. I felt better after walking it out, putting on some headphones listening to some relaxing music and just walking till I felt calmer and more at peace with myself again. I'm still dealing with the affects of this latest catastrophe and there is always lots and lots of work to do...in the paying world and in all other area's of my life, and today I can tell you from experience that I know it's not food that's going to help me decompress any longer. I need to move, and moving through it is what is helping me...and hey it's helping my body and my health too!

Hi Joy, as B-52 stated it could be a umbilical hernia. If it's bothering you then you should defiantly ask your surgeon to take a look. They are fairly easy to fix and it will help you feel better. Over the years I have had several abdominal surgeries that went through the belly button and created a weakness there and it was easy for the surgeon to fix when he did my hyster surgery and now it's not so sensitive.

So Usrr I am just curious...are you self pay or insurance covered for surgery?

You probably have not messed anything up, but stick to your Dr.'s orders. In the mush phase food should be blended and really soft. Things like lettuce can often cause hangups in the stoma for some, so wait on that until your doc tells you it's OK to start eating it again. I was very hungry right after surgery and it was hard to stay on point with the post-op diet but you want to heal and you want your insides to have the chance to heal. Eating things that are solid too soon even though they pass through and you don't feel that they "hurt" you make the esophagus, stomach and intestines work harder then they should be right now while the focus is on healing. There are many good yummy foods that you can mush up and enjoy for now, one of my favorites and still a winner when I have a fill is to get a chilli from Wendy's or make my own Turkey chilli is even better, but I will throw that in the blender for a few seconds and it's like a thick pasty soup. It's so filling and delicious. You could even do that with the Taco salad your hubby made for you, minus the stringy lettuce