Bandista

I never considered anything else but the band -- other surgeries way too drastic for me. But that doesn't make it right for everyone. The band requires a lot of followup, which I like as it keeps me accountable. In this first year I see my surgeon 8-11 times. Not all surgeons desire that much patient interaction. I had to get up to 250 to qualify. Hoping to get down to 148 but I have no idea what the right weight for me now will be as it's been a long time. Good luck to you! Whatever you decide, you are doing the most amazing thing in choosing yourself and your healthy future.

Absolutely fantastic! You are amazing -- so shiny and healthy, you're beaming!

Call this in -- put those medical professionals to work!

Very inspiring, thanks! I am considering a personal trainer at some point, gym world, etc. A bit daunting but possible. For now I'm working out at home but would be good to have a pro give me some tips on working certain areas. You look great and I'll bet you feel great, too!

Hi there, congratulations on being on the other side! Walking is absolutely the best -- and windmill arms, etc. If you're in bed (I know, so hard to get into and out of bed, up and down from couch, etc.!) the "happy baby" yoga pose was recommended to me and that really worked. On your back, arms and knees up, roll around a little. And people talk about rolling on to left side for relief. You'll figure it out and feel better shortly. When the incisional pain was hard I compared it to what I hate most in the world, dentistry. Made the banding seem easier. And I was doing it for a reason -- for me, my future, my health. So being full of purpose helped me. Still does! Good luck with all and let us know how you are doing.

Best wishes on this being your green zone fill! I can't eat in the morning either -- I'm just not hungry then anyway. And I've had that gurgling sound from time to time. Take it easy and go slow -- let things settle in and then look for those signs of satiety. For me there is a certain disinterest in whatever I've been eating. I start off thinking it won't be enough food but then I don't need the last few bites as I am, miraculously, satisfied. Yippee! If you're getting a vibe about tuna not being band-friendly for you, I'd follow that intuition. And you can try it again later on and it may be fine. The band can be fickle! But it sure does mean it when it's saying no. Sorry you had that stuck episode. I've had several now -- most recent was eating leftover salad as I was cleaning up after a dinner party. In the old days I'd always pick at the rest of the salad and I just sort of forgot that I can't shovel salad like I used to be able to!

Sending sympathies as I know how painful TMJ can be. I had this some years ago and it didn't come back, thank goodness. Best wishes to you and the five days on liquids will probably be good for other things, too. Sending sympathies as I know how painful TMJ can be. I had this some years ago and it didn't come back, thank goodness. Best wishes to you and the five days on liquids will probably be good for other things, too.

Wow is right......way to go with your new lifestyle!

Working out speeds up my loss, plus the toning is great.

So happy for you, Steph....I will be watching this thread -- good question!

I fill up 32 ounce bottles with water and 1/2 cup aloe juice and a splash of unsweetened cranberry. It's so much better tasting to me than plain water and the aloe is very clearing. I try to drink three of these a day and usually get in two.

Yippee! Sometimes it feels like nothing is happening and then one turn in the mirror and the evidence is all there. We are sculpting even when the scale seems slow to move. Congratulations to you!

Carb cycling came up on another thread -- some people have success with low carb switching out with higher carb day then back to low, etc. I think the body becomes accustomed to something and needs a real change-up -- in exercise as well as diet -- to be prompted into letting go of status quo. Good news we aren't stuck with those big number status quos any longer. Phew! Another idea might be a day or two of shakes or juice fasting. I am still in early days of losing -- six months out soon and nearing my halfway goal. I know it will be harder the closer I am to goal. Hoping the metabolic burn I am introducing now will tide me through. Oh, one more idea and I know this is a little out there -- visualization. I've been picturing the number on the scale -- really picturing it with definition, those clock-radio like lines of the digital scale, how they form a 4, a 2, a zero, etc. So I just keep imagining the number I want to see and I keep counting down all the way to my goal number. A form of self- hypnosis....we tell our bodies what we want? I want 148 so I picture that. So, do you think I'm nuts, lol?!

Great piece!

I think many of us worried that we would be saying goodbye to particular foods, but really it's the relationship with food that is the big change. You will see, and I know it's hard to believe that you, too, will be satisfied on so much less. I worried I'd be the person who it didn't work for, etc. But now nearly six months out it is all working fine. I have been such a restricter in my life that it's important for me to know I can have anything, just a very small amount at appropriate intervals. I am not on a diet.

Get ready to start feeling a million times better! GF is so easy. We keep Udi's bread in the freezer and GF waffles but I don't eat any of that stuff now. I do occasionally use GF flour (right now it's Bob's Red Mill baking mix) to dredge chicken before browning. Makes a very nice sauce with veggies and stock. Rarely eat sweets, but once in a while a GF dessert at a restaurant or something and one bite does it for me. My husband is Celiac and we have a GF household. Our teenager doesn't suffer from not having wheat at home and he has GF friends who are so happy to come here because they can eat well. I don't think any one should be eating wheat at this point. And yes, corn allergies are coming. Wait until that epidemic hits!

Sounds like you're really getting on track. I'm pretty sure exercise is the magic ingredient. Maybe stop weighing yourself every day? I notice a pattern in my loss. I nearly always go up again after getting down to a new number -- it's like I have to fight to keep it. Down three, up one, down two, up three (eeek!), then all of the sudden the lowest number ever on the scale. So I track the weight daily but don't let it get me down if it's going up -- I know that's part of my process. Some people just weigh in weekly so they don't drive themselves crazy. And don't forget to pat yourself in the back for the amazing job you have done so far and keeping off that weight. Now for the next chunk -- we can do it!

Hi there, isn't it great?!! I'm about to celebrate my six months as well. I feel so lucky to have my band. Way to go on the working out, etc. You are doing beautifully!

My only regret is not having done this sooner. I was an excellent dieter but inevitably would go off and regain plus a little more each time. For years and years. It was all so hard all the time, the chatter in my head, the counting and measuring, the hunger. What a joy it is to be out of food jail at last!

Pull up a chair and have what you have -- they miss you, too!

Some people do carb cycling -- I have not tried this but it makes sense the switching out might break a plateau.

I noticed that on MFP, too, and it just seems ridiculous. I am a serious gardener and yes, there's the bending and wheelbarrow filling/emptying, digging, etc. but I never lost a pound gardening. Good for strength, though. Treadmill does it for me for weight loss.

@@Heather CJJ. Hope you're feeling better! The whole digestive thing is so important and I feel like that is never emphasized enough. I had to do the stool softener and magnesium thing around day five. Was out and about and had to race home. Eeek! Every one here is so right about the amazing energy down the road. I can't believe how good I feel now and what I'm able to do. I feel so much younger.

What an amazing outpouring of truth here. I'm so sorry for all of those who suffered abuse or felt the need to disappear -- and of course depression and all of life's overwhelming issues caused so many of us to turn to food for comfort or escape. I became obese almost overnight when I took Prednisone for serious poison ivy -- ended up in the ER on IV steroids before I even knew what was happening. Poison ivy disappeared overnight and I gained fifty pounds in a few weeks. After that my body would not let go and I spiraled my way through every diet there was and just regained each time with a little more added on until I was 100 pounds heavier. Twenty years of that. Humiliation, defeat, increasingly poor health and just not able to budge the weight. Deprivation, restriction then rebound eating. What a carousel.

Hi there, sure know what you mean - I have experienced this four or five times since my surgery and I think I'm finally in the habit of slow slow slow eating. I was such a fast eater it was a hard habit for me to break. Getting stuck sure works as far as behavior modification, that's for sure! I have discovered what foods I'm unable to chew up well enough. For me it's anything rubbery. And cooked beets of all things -- I think in that case it's the slipperiness.