Bandista

I'm with Pink Dahlia on the pants -- that was and is my best indicator. And I think my loss was at that 1-2 pounds a week as well. I started at 252 and am fluctuating between 178-182 these days. Hope to lose another chunk but I'm very happy where I am now -- toned and strong. Walking has been great for me. I had to fake it at first but now I really do love exercise. Believe me, if that can happen to me it can happen to anyone! Good luck with all. It will all happen, no rush. It's a lifestyle, not a diet. Choose well, listen to your body, hydrate and exercise. My "rule" for myself is. It to eat when I'm not hungry but to be sure to eat when I am hungry. Never thought I'd make friends with my appetite but I have. The links below in my signature have helped me a lot -- the videos and Dr. simpson's site.

My date was November 5th -- but 2013, so I will be two years out. It has been wonderful. So happy with my choice and with my current state of health. Good luck with all!

Hi there, the links in my signature below really helped me understand how the band works and how to work the band; maybe they will help you, too. Congratulations on having the surgery behind you. This is an exciting time. I'm actually still really excited and it's been almost two years for me -- wonderful getting my life back. I'm having so much fun and did not realize how much I had been hiding out before, embarrassed about my weight and generally discouraged. Not anymore! Good luck with all that is ahead. Keep those appointments and keep listening in to your body.......

Hi there, I can't imagine that weight loss would do anything but help you open up and sustain even more, but of course I'm not expert. Many of us had all sorts of little anxieties popping up as the date drew near for such a life-changing experience. Choosing yourself and your healthy future is such a powerful thing. I'm so happy to have the appetite monster off of my back and to be able to use al that energy in other ways. Here's to creativity, expression and joy.

@@shawneedragon it sounds as though you're at a place of real honesty about your addiction to alchol and the effect that has had on your life. That is a starting point to turn it all around. I hope you're able to find the resources you need -- whether that is therapy, a psychiatrist to help with the medication issues so you are not self-medicating, AA meetings -- whatever it takes. Know that you are worthy and deserving of all good things. You can do this. Recovery is hard work and it's something that has to be dealt with every single day, but, as they say, it's one day at a time. Here you are. That's a great first step. Good luck with all. Eating disorder is so dificult to address because, of course, one has to eat -- unlike drug addiction, smoking or alcohol. Take good care of yourself!

Congratulations on such a big turn-around -- what a great thing to have that acknowledgement from your doctor. I think it's really important for surgeons in non-bariatric fields to understand as much as possible about the positive results which can be achieved through WLS. The whole goal weight thing seems like a guesing game to me. When I started out at 252 I had a goal weight of 148 for a total loss of just over a hundred pounds. As I have dropped sizes I realize that would be way too thin for me. I like my curves. I know I'm not finished losing weight because I still have a little jelly belly. But like you I am wearing size tens, which seems like an absolute miracle to me. I guess we will know when we get there? Meanwhile, enjoy the process....

@@wced good luck with all -- your medical professionals are there for you and want you to succeed! The links below in my signature really helped me understand how the band works and how to work the band. Maybe watching those videos will help you, too. There are times in life when it feels like the Cosmic Clock isn't lining up -- well, it's lining up for you now. This is the time, you are doing it -- choosing yourself and your healthy future first and foremost. We have to put ourselves at the top of the list. Every one else benefits when we do that but it's not easy. Keep choosing yourself every day.

Hi there, way to go -- you look happy and strong. I am almost two years banded and still have a chunk to lose, but I am feeling very healthy. I walk mostly for exercise but winter is coming and I look forward to making friends with our Bowflex machine again. It misses me, all lonely in the basement.

Hi there, my surgeon doesn't share the amount of fill so I don't have that info (he says patients obsess), but I can tell you that I am some one who needed several fills to get to the green zone. I have also had a couple of small unfills in-between -- for me it's a nuancing process. As I've lost weight I've had a return of appetite and needed an adjustment. The links below in my signature are sources that help me understand how the band works -- it's all about dimming the appetite so we can make good choices. It doesn't keep us from eating naughty foods -- we have to do that ourselves. Being in the green zone enables that power over food for me -- I love having that appetite monster off of my back! Make sure your doctor is your partner in the process -- keep all your appointments. Best wishes!

The CPAP is love/hate -- on my list of goals for weight loss surgery, ditching my machine is listed twice, lol. However it has given me years of sleep I would not otherwise have had. I still use my machine but if I don't have it I can sleep now -- went out of the country and forgot it but was fine. I'm still using it, though, as I sleep so much more deeply with it, plus I want to do another study just to be sure. I have a last chunk of weight to lose first. Meanwhile, my neck is not fat anymore and I have collarbones. That must make a big difference to breathing obstruction. Good luck with all! I am 54......

@@carla1869 way to go choosing yourself and your healthy future! Great to have the surgery over with -- all that anticipation is nerve-wracking and now you're in the healing phase. It's all so exciting but also an inward time -- learning to eat in a new way, listening for signals -- adjusting to a new lifestyle is so different from all the dieting we did before. I did not tell very many people about my surgery but as I dropped weight I've had to contend with comments and I agree, it's awkward. As for the goal weight, I didn't know how to pick either. I'm 5'6.5" -- can't put 1/2 inches in the height on the ticker so I use 5'7" as I used to be that (I'm in my mid-fifties, shrinking!). I thought I'd go for 148 and never let myself go over 150 but now I realize that would be way too thin for me. I am wearing size 10 pants -- down from a 20. I recommend paying attention to your jeans and how your clothes start to fall off of you rather than the number on the scale. Good luck with all! Keep your appointments -- it's all about the follow-up.

@@Tryn2live1979 I can't comment on the insurance process as they are all different but I just want to say congratulations on choosing your healthy future -- it will all be worth it. I started my process in June 2013 and had my surgery in November so it was five months. I knew what I wanted and this felt like the longest wait in the world. In hindsight, though, it gave me time to get ready. I went to a therapist and worked on my triggers, and it was good to have that extra support. Also I upped my exercise. Good luck with all -- don't be afraid to call your insurance company to get all the info you need. I must have called five times to verify everything.

@@BandedDiva10 way to go getting yourself back on track. The process of getting to the right fill should help a lot -- we need our appetites dimmed in order to lose weight. The links below in my signature help me when I need a reminder or to get my head back in the game -- O'brien's Golden Rukes of Lapband and Dr. Simpson's site. Also some people use the Five Day Pouch Test (not sure why it's called that but you can Google it under that name) -- basically a liquid diet. Once in a while I do a juice fast and that helps me. Keep working with your doctor -- let them know you are ready to do this thing. You can do it! And you'll have so much fun with your kids and be healthy for them and for you -- but to get there you have to choose yourself first. Time to Diva up!

Hi there, just catching up -- Just Watch Me you are doing beautifully. Think of all you have accomplished in this last year and how your life has turned around. You made that happen, launching your beautiful daughters, Italy, choosing WLS, all the exercising....amazing to consider in such a short timeframe. This divorce on the other hand is such a long and exhausting process but it is happening. You are stalwart and mighty. Try to stay in the moment and don't let him get to you.

Hi Liz, good luck with all -- you are in my thoughts. Do you like Miso? Several kinds available (NYC, what am I thinking, I bet there are twenty+ within twenty minutes!).

May as well confess here that I danced in Old Montreal with a street person who was desperate to get people dancing to a Peruvian group playing in the square.....it was great! My vacations, mini and otherwise, no longer center around food. Yes, we ate, but for me it is not the focus, at all....thanks Band.

So happy for you, Liz! What fun your are having with your new guy. And Lisa, what a feat (ha, now I'm doing it) for you to be able to walk like that, all those steps. Sounds like the memorial is very poignant. Every time I'm in DC I want to visit the Holocaust Museum and then can't do it. We have a beautiful morning here. I've got some work to do but later plan to do a little transplanting out in the garden. It's apple season and we have SO many. We have a cider press and have been making cider like crazy, which is a lot of fun for kids. Every one goes home with jars and jars of the stuff. It's a bit sweet for me and I am still careful with calories -- better for me to have a whole fruit. I've also been making apple compotes. Many jars in the freezer. This weekend we are heading up to Montreal and I'm excited about clothing options -- imagine that! Whole new spin on the wardrobe since losing weight. It's fun getting out the fall and winter things from last year. I have a great pair of boots, some short skirts and really fun tights. Looking forward to hearing lots of music, walking the city and enjoying yummy food.

Weight Loss Surgery changed my life so dramatically -- way to go choosing yourself and your health first. Sometimes with all the other people in our lives it's hard to make it up to the top of the list, but of course every one benefits when we finally do that. I don't think I realized how much I had been hiding out in my life. Now I am really showing up and it's wonderful. You will find a lot of support on this site. Even though people have different kinds of surgeries it is basically all the same -- choosing a new path, following our doctors' instructions to the letter and learning how to live with our new bodies. Best wishes to you!

Oh, just a thought -- one thing I wasn't prepared for was constipation. I'm inclined in that direction anyway, but even without taking pain meds this was something I had to address on day four or so. Boy did I feel better after that. Was surprised that in all the pre-surgery appointments, etc. this never was covered. I guess it has to do with the anesthesia shutting down the system. Just putting it out there! Enjoy your popsicles.......

@@Swanie74 yippee, so happy for you -- worst is over and you're on your way. Take good care of yourself and heal up quickly. Sending best wishes!

You guys are going to do beautifully -- I was so nervous. 52 years old and had never been an overnight patient in a hospital before. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I'd rather go through the whole thing again than go to the dentist and I don't even have any cavities (but perhaps some dental anxiety, lol). Yes, there's discomfort healing up but it's not that bad. I have arthritis so maybe I'm used to pain. I filled my pain med prescription but did not need it. Gas pumped Into the abdominal cavity for the surgery is an issue for all and the best thing is all the walking you can do.....I started prior to surgery to walk off nerves and that was good, gave me a program to literally step right into after surgery. Impress those nurses, grab the pole and do your hallway laps. You'll be amazed.

The band was my only choice and I'm so grateful to have it -- it really changed my life. Even though I'm not at goal yet, I have a nice waistline and a good-looking figure -- loving every minute of health and fitness. Okay, not every minute. Im sitting here anticipating a four o'clock date to walk at a gorgeous lake on an autumn day with two friends who I love and, get this, old brain chatter is thinking up ways to squirm out of it! Not going to happen. Having the appetite monster off my back is amazing and allows me to take on the other nonsense. I'm showing up for myself and living my life fully. You, too, hurray!

Hi there, so happy for you. I am not on a diet and have just the one rule for myself: to eat when I'm hungry and not eat if I'm not hungry. The first is more difficult than the latter because I was such a restricter in my former life. All that head chatter. Like you, sometimes this puts me late in the day for nourishment and for me this can set up evening grazing (particularly because unlike you I have not given up alcohol, which I know slows my progress, sigh). Happy Onederland and size 14, yippee. Isn't it fun? Oh the clothes I was missing all those years!

@@thegingerwithaband congratulations on this new chapter -- sorry your post got buried which sometimes hale s when there's a lot of activity. Way to go choosing yourself and your healthy future. Hope you're feeling good and those incisions are healing up. I can't even see mine now. Best wishes!

Hi there -- I am not very tech-savvy so won't chime in on that but just wanted to say welcome. Way to go showing up for your healthy future. I love my band and feel so good now instead of embarrassed and uncomfortable with my weight. I haven't reached goal yet but I'm getting there and meanwhile just so happy. Best wishes to you!