enjoythetime

All the above responses to this post are spot on. It is your decision and your life. There's no wrong decision but make sure it's what YOU want. In my situation I didn't even research any of the other surgeries, in fact I didn't even know what the sleeve was until I went in for the group consultation where all procedures were explained. I'm 5'1 and weighed 289lbs., I'm now almost 1 year post op and am down 142lbs, weighing 147lbs, so I've lost almost 100% of my weight so whatever doctor is telling you that you have too much weight to lose for the band to work is full of shit!!:-) Anyone know matter what your starting weight has just as much of a chance for success with the band as they do anyother procedure. Yes, you will have to work harder, and no it may not melt off as fast as some of the other surgeries but it's the least invasive and most flexible option. Good luck on your decision and just remember this is for YOU!!

Omgosh!!! This is the best NSV, I've seen. Way to go!!!!

I'm so glad you're having such a wonderful trip!!! Please please please will you take and post pics for me of the amalfi coast? I want to go someday but for now I'm living through you;)!!! Thx for the daily recap, so cool!! Have an awesome day tomm!!

@@proudgrammy LOL. That's funny! Thanks so much for your support! You're doing quite well yourself. I love your signature line:-)

@@BandedCandace You've found your motivation girl!! " I want to tell everyone who has doubted me MAINLY my ex to shove it and laugh in their face and say HAHA YES! I can do it!" For me one of the greatest motivators is showing someone who doubts my ability that I can and will and do it!!! In regards to your diet. I know you said that you're switching things up. Can you give us an idea of what you eat and your portions sizes so that maybe we can help? Are you getting enough Protein in every day? Are you getting in all of your Water? I know this sounds odd but depending on what type of excerise you're doing you may not be consuming enough calories so your body is holding onto everything causing the scale to not budge or go up. I'm not sure if it sounds like you need a band adjustment or a calorie adjustment. Working out the way you are could be causing you to consume too little calories will make you feel like you're starving. Just a thought. I'm sure you've evaluated it but just in case I thought I'd throw that out there. As far as everything else goes, remove negative people from your life! They're sucking the joy from you and that will only keep you feelling defeated. Like Lisa said, switch gyms, not because you're hiding from him but because you don't need to put yourself through that, PLUS just think how great it will be when you run into him the next time after not seeing him for a while and dropping xx lbs. and being like yeah, you f&*%ed up:-) (which we already know he did but now it's in his face:-)) You've done a great job and should be VERY proud of your accomplishements. You seem like a very strong person so keep your head up!:-)

@@2muchfun I'm loving this tag thing btw:-) I LOVE to cook, always have and like you said I love the challenge of being able to make healthy substitutions but still make a great dish and no one knows the difference but me. I love to entertain and feed people, but I love it even more now that I'm not feeding them crap:-) "I watch it to see how many recipes I can modify to fit my lifestyle" @@Wendydarling19, I'm a Diners, Drive-In and Dive junky! Love it!!! I know this is going to sound odd but I watch it to see how many recipes I can modify to fit my lifestyle. It's challenging and so instead of doing a crossword puzzle or something this is what I do :-) I love Friday nights, it's the marathon:-) Swerving a little off topic, let me add that your comment is one of the reasons you are so successful. I know for me, it's enabled me to maintain for the last 1.5 years. I'm no chef, but I'm a dang good cook. Watching these recipes and finding creative ways to substitute EVOO for Crisco/veggie oil or use egg beaters in place of whole eggs, and using nutrient rich veggies in place of processed flour, sugar and rice is one of the keys to keeping this lifestyle new and current. Sorry, back to your regularly programmed material

LOVE IT!!! @@HealthyNewMe

@@crystaleffexx and @@figgy2figgy I sent you the recipes as well. Hope this helps!

LOL, or just special Thanks again for your help! I hope you have a wonderful day as well!

@@Wendydarling19, I'm a Diners, Drive-In and Dive junky! Love it!!! I know this is going to sound odd but I watch it to see how many recipes I can modify to fit my lifestyle. It's challenging and so instead of doing a crossword puzzle or something this is what I do :-) I love Friday nights, it's the marathon:-)

OMGosh @@BlueMoon~T!!! It worked, it worked!!! I told you it was a dumb question. I thought it turned blue once you were done typing (like FB) but its not until after you reply....ahaha! Thanks, I'm blonde:-)

@@BlueMoon~T DANG IT!! IT's not working for me...... Does it automatically come up in blue text? Man these things drive me nutty:-) Thanks for your response!!

Hmm. I haven't experience this but the first thing that came to my mind is maybe dry skin Patches? Are you drinking enough fluids? Have you maybe eaten something different to cause an allergic reaction? I'm sure you've already thought of these things just throwing it out there:-) Good luck, I hope you find the cause!

@Cat225. The link TMF provided above his really how I live my new life. I will gladly send you over some additional recipes if you're interested? There is one additional thing I should point out and I know everyone has different views regarding giving credit where credit is due and by that I mean giving credit to yourself. Some believe the band is responsible for 100% for their success and well I disagree. The band can only do it's job if WE'RE doing ours! The band doesn't make the proper food choices for us, WE do! It's been said many times the band doesn't go around your head so it's our responsibility to feed our minds with positivity which for me means recognizing my accomplishments everyday when I make the right food choices. Your mind can be your strongest assest or your worst enemy! If you aren't feeding yourself with positive reinforcement, surrounding yourself with positive people, you will grow tired and negative and give up, so you need to give yourself credit everyday for doing the very best you can to make the proper food choices. When you do that you begin feeling proud of yourself and when you feel proud of yourself you gain power and motivation to continue making the right choices. The band is just a tool not a fix all and yes without it I would fail (obviosuly that's why I got it:-)), but it's only responsible for a part of our success. If you think you can you will, if you recognize and give yourself credit for the food choices you make everyday it helps build that positive mindset which will drive you to success! I'm a very strong minded-(stubborn) person. I remember telling myself I would never have this surgery but when I found this was my last option I told myself this was my LAST option, failure wasn't in my vocabulary. So when I was in bandster hell I would literally do anything and everything to keep myself busy. I didn't allow myself to sit around and think about food and how hungry I was and how miserable I was feeling and how sorry I was for myself that everyone around me was eating cheeseburgers and fries. Did this take away the hunger, NO, but when I would go in to see my doctor after a month and I had lost 20lbs, I no longer cared about all the things I couldn't have , I knew all the things I could have was much more rewarding and greater than that snickers. I hope this makes sense and helps a little! If you have any questions or if I can help in anyway let me know, you can send me a message any time!!:-)

Thanks TMF!! Smiling from ear to ear. Thanks for your encouragement and support!!! YOU ROCK!!!! Enjoy can answer for her own success but I like braggin on her just cuz she's so awesome. There are others here who have found success too. CarolinaGIrl, Gowalking, catfish to name a few. Here's the link to her post about achieving her goal with pictures, recipes and how she did it. Enjoy(pun intended) Thanks everyone! I feel like my appetite is a beast right now! I'm trying so hard to keep full with Protein and limit my carbs, but it's not easy. I've dropped over a dress size, so that is something to be happy about. I still have so much weight to lose. I just want to be under and stay under 300 pounds for good. It sucks to lose 40 pounds and no one notices. My doctor will only fill .5 every 4 weeks, no more than that and not any sooner. I read about bandster hell before I got my band, but now I really understand it! @@enjoythetime, I think you are right about me preparing/expecting to fail. I've been trying to lose weight for so long, and I'm so used to always failing. Can I ask you a question? I saw in your profile that you lost 142 pounds in 1 year. That is amazing! How did you do it? What were/are your meals like? How did you get through this initial hell stage and keep losing weight? http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/305070-i-cant-believe-it-is-this-reallty-happening-for-me/?p=3445432

@@Pinkygirl I sent you a message with some recipes. I hope this helps!!

I understand these things completely, I've dieted most of my life. I was successful at losing a lot of weight several times only for it to come back and then some. Of course I understand that, everyone on here does and no I haven't forgotten what that's like. I also understand that the band is just a plastic ring when its not properly adjusted but the band is JUST a tool!!! It is up to us to make the proper food choices that nurish our bodies, the band doesn't make those choices for us. If you got the band thinking its going to do it all the work for you, you're probably figuring out that's not true! You do have to have willpower, stamina, and the desire to stay the course!!! You have to continue to find things that motivate you to keep you going. If I have a big head because I know and take credit for MY part in my success then so be it. Again the band is just a tool and if you don't do your part, filled or unfilled its useless!!!! The point for me asking these questions was to hopefully help and have people take a step back and realize its not worth going back to old habits once coming so far.

Glad you went back to the Dr. I have days and meals when I'm hugrier than others or that don't stay with me for the 4 hours, but then other days I can't finish my normal serving? I can message you some recipies if you'd like? I do alot of chicken, deli turkey rolled up with cheese wrapped in lettace leaves with okios greek yogurt Jalapeno salsa dip..yumm:-) I make sure I always have alot of easy go to foods on hand at all time so in the event I don't feel like cooking or something last minute comes up I don't have to think about it. I will send you a message later this evening with recipies.

I'm sorry to hear you're both going through this! I have a question, and I hope this doesn't get taken the wrong way but why would you go back to old habitis when you worked so hard to learn and practice new ones? Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should. Just because there isn't any fill or as much fill, shouldn't we still be practicing what we know we should be doing? You've worked so hard and have done such an amazing job!! Keep doing what you need to do. I don't know what it's like but I'm sure you are hungrier but why not practice your good eating habits and if you're still hungry eat extra Protein at each meal or add in an extra protein filled snack? I also would think that a non-band vacation:-) would make it harder to get back into the groove once the fill is back to where it needs to be. You both have shown you have excellent willpower, try to rely on that until your bands are properly adjusted!! Best wishes and much success!

Take a deeep breath:-) You're doing fantastic!! 40lbs. in 5 months is amazing! My doctor always told me that an average 6-8lbs monthly loss was amazing! It's been 5 months since your surgery which means you're averaging an 8lb loss every month which is the highest end of the average. This is all just my opinion but when I read your post, I almost feel like you're trying to prepare yourself for failure so that you wouldn't experience disappointment. Trust me, been there done that, but like you said this is a lifestyle change, not a diet where you do anything and everything to dump as much as you can as fast as you can. Everyone loses at a different rate, and your weight loss rate is great. I'm not sure but are you worrying so much about weight and food that you're dealing with head hunger vs. real hunger and are unable to tell the difference? If you're stressing out alot about it, that will also give you a hungry feeling, so try and relax and listen to your band, not your head:-) Just because the scale isn't moving doesn't mean you're not losing weight, if your clothes are fitting better than you're losing inches vs. lbs. Your body goes through these cycles of lbs lost vs inches lost to keep up with itself so what seems to be a stall on the scale is acutally your body catching up and sheading inches, which to me is a hell of alot more important than the # on the scale! Don't get down on yourself, you're not a failure. If you stay the course and communicate properly with your doctor, follow his or her instructions to the T, eat as healthy and as clean as you can, exercise and get your Protein and Water in, YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT. There really isn't another option. Yes, there will be times when the scale stalls but during those times look for as many non-scale victories (NSV) as you can to keep yourself positive and motivated!! You're going to be just fine!!

Gowalking, I completely understand what you're saying. I work in a small office of about 40 people so I don't get the I don't recognize you on a regular basis, but when I run into someone I haven't seen in a long time, I almost hesitate to say HI because they always look at me strangely for a while and then are like OMgosh I didn't recognize you, you look great, you've lost alot of weight. I get compliments from the girls at work telling me how different I am now that I've lost all this weight, that I'm happier and more full of life and energy. They've been a huge support for me through all of this and I appreciate they can see the difference not only on the outside but on the inside. Today one of my good friends I work with said wow you're so skinny you need to go eat something:-) They always comment saying I have something new to wear everyday now (instead of the same 5 outfits I had when I was large). I actually love it. I've always been a very outspoken, bubbly person but when I was big I lost some of my sparkle and when something didn't go according to plan well it was a little harder for me to get back up because I was so miserable with myself I had a hard time grabbing the positive in every situation. To answer the core of your question, I think we're the same people we've always been, just an enhanced version:-) I still have the same values, morals, ethics and beliefs I've always had that make me me, but I think people can just see it more now because they look at us differently. Have we changed a little through this whole process, I sure hope so! I hope that I'm a better me now then I've ever been, I think that's something we should all strive for everyday; to be better than we were yesterday and when you notice you've progressively gotten better than the day before and the day before that we do change along the way, but for the better. It's not because we're skinny, or normal now it's because we see things differently now, things are more clear, we have more confidence to say and do the things we always wanted to before but were hestitant in fear that we would be judged even more, we're more aware, we had to change our way of thinking about food and with that sparked other changes in thinking. I always felt like people didn't take me seriously when I was big, that they looked at me and only saw a round ball, or the best was always when you would meet someone for the first time and they would say wow, you have such a pretty face....that used to infuriate me!!!!!:-) Embrace the person looking back at you in the mirror because she's the same amazing person she's always been, just in a smaller package:-).

"I plan of using this to turn myself around, starting today. As of today I am starting over. No excuses, no more envy, taking accountability for myself and asking for help. I cannot allow myself to stay where I am because that means I am not moving forward or upward." You got it .......you found your motivation so let this take you or atleast be a jumpstart for your journey!

I'm alomst at a year post-op so you've both been banded a lot longer than me but my motivation comes from the way I feel. There's no greater feeling than waking up every morning fearless. When I was over weight it seemed I lived in constant fear; fear of not being able to fit into anything in my closet, fear of going to the Dr. because I didn't want to see the # on the scale because then I had to try and do something about it, fear I would begin having irreversible health issues, fear that my kids would be embarrased of me when they got older, et.c. Instead now I wake up everyday thankful that weight isn't the first thing on my mind, living life is. I think about what fun things I'm going to exp. with my kiddos today that I wasn't able to do a year ago, wondering what I'm going to wear to work today because everything fits and I have so much to choose from (shopping problems), I love hearing compliments from my husband everyday:-) I will say fear is not always a bad thing at times I find it's what drives me to keep going, that fear of going back to a place I I never want to be again. You both have been very successful and you can pick up and start again! Have either of you thought about going to one of the local support meetings? I would think this would be very motivational and would help you get back on track. Have you visited your doctor lately? Go back to the very basics. There was another lady that posted something similar a few weeks ago and I told her if this were me, I would literally go back to the very beginning starting with the pre-op diet your doctor gave you, then move to the post op diet stages, consult with your doctor, get a fill if you need one and most importantly surround yourself with positive supportive people. You've both come so far and the great news is you're both aware of what you need to do and are asking for advice so that means you still want it and if you want it you will do it! If there's anything I can help with please let me know. Good luck and keep us posted on how you're doing!

I stopped drinkng soda 6 months before my pre-op and haven't had any sense. My doctor told me I had to stay away from the carbination and to be honest I don't miss it and I was a BIGGG soda drinker. As far as alcohol is concerned I'm not a drinker so.....I drink alot of tea throughout the day and it's cafinated, my doctor never said I couldn't have caffenee but every doctor has different guidelines. The reward of not having certain things is far greater than having them:-) Good luck on your decision!

Dang it!!! Betty S, this is what happens when I'm not on here for a few days. I miss good tips, I just had the CCCD one yesterday and the oven thing sounds like a GREAAT idea!! I'll have to try that next time:-)