Krystal

Anyone in St. Louis. I am in South County. (3min from the mall) I am looking for some people in my area. I am 24. I was banded in June 05. I had no success due to my own fault. Anyone around me? How was your success? My Dr was Dr. Wagner.

I had always been big...all through school..always size 16+....senior year 2001 i was a good size 22....2003 i was a size 24 and by 2005 i was a size 32......I was always made fun of.....i gained almost 100 pounds in 3 years from being on the depo shot(birth control)so i got off of that...... and then getting pregnant. By 2005 I was at my worst. I walked into the Dr's office thinking I was only 360 back in April of 2005. When I got on the scale it read 380...I almost died. I cried in his office because I was so ashamed. Ashamed over 20lbs!!!! I had researched the band and felt because I had a daughter it would be the safest surgery for me. I am only 24 and was 22 at the time. I thought this was going to be the FIX.....the thing to change my life. I thought that there was no way anyone or anything could stop me from losing weight after I had surgery. I went through all the tests....and got all the required medical paperwork and convinced some family members to pitch in for my surgery. I set the date and started my pre-op diet! From that point on I should have known I was going to be a mess. I was supposed to be on a liquid diet for 2 weeks because my liver needed to shrink for surgery. So i ate everything they told me to for the first 3 days and BAM....the feeling set in.....I WANTED AN ULTIMATE CHEESEBURGER FROM JACK N THE BOX AND I WANTED IT NOW! I couldn't get it off my mind....i was thinking about it allllllll day.....i went to bed thinking about it...and the next morning i went and got one. I figured...what could ONE double cheese burger with double cheese and mayo possibly do......well...it did nothing to the surgery process but it really broke the frame of mind. Before the 2 weeks was up i had eatin 2 not one but TWO ultimate cheeseburgers and a few chicken nuggets. Why? Why couldn't I just do the PRE SURGERY diet? June 8th 2005------So surgery day came....and went.....all went well no complications.....i was on soft food in the beginning and I started to eat Eggs for breakfast....but my eggs HAD to have cheese and butter in them....HELLO!!! What was I thinking.....I remember getting my first fill and at this point I had almost lost 40lbs. 20pre-op and 20 post-op. It was amazing....... About 3 months out(2 months after my 1st fill) I started to become familiar with my band and how much I could and could not eat. I realized that when i would eat too much, i drank a little bit, and it would make the food pass and then i would feel sooooo much better. I never exercised...keep in mind...(maybe got into the pool like 10 times the whole summer) and i was preparing for my wedding which was September 17th 2005. I was so stressed because my weightloss had pretty much STOPPED......I was craving foods like never before and started to eat and drink at the same time...BIG MISTAKE......i was eating at least double what I should have. So I went and had ANOTHER fill. This slowed me down...but still I was not losing ANY weight. I remember eating my first fried chicken after my fill and like trying to manipulate my band into letting me eat more by taking one bite and then drinking....it was the worst thing in the world i could have EVER done. A year after my band was put in I was only 20lbs total lost (which means i gained 20 back) and I was so angry...I promised myself I was going to try and fix things and make it better....So much had happened that year....2006....we bought a house, my husbands dad died of cancer, my husband was leaving for weeks at a time for work...and i was home ALONE with my daughter. I had no energy to keep the house clean(and i still dont) but i would sit and mope.....and EAT.....I would make excuses to people who asked me WHY i hadn't lost any weight. I told them all that it was a slow process and that i had lost 40 pounds(lied to them). This year, Jan 2007...I was just sitting at dinner with my husband and looked down and noticed i had a 12oz strip steak, baked potato loaded....and mashed potatos loaded on my plate. I ate all of it. my band was NOT going to stop me. I also ate bread before that.......and drank sweat tea.... in Feb07 I was online playing around and saw an ad for a weightloss show. Primetime...suppose to be JUST like the Biggest Loser....I thought...hmmmm I'll just fill out the app for shits and giggles.....well they responded and wanted me to send them a tape....so i did. Then in march they had me get my band completely UNFILLED and then flew me out to LA and put me through med tests and interviews,THEY BOUGHT ME 2 PLANE SEATS because i was too big to fit in the plane chairs on my own....pretty sad huh,(cant say much more because they made me sign all kinds of disclosures) They told me it was a show that will be on ABC and told me i would be away from my family for 10 weeks. I thought....this is the chance i have been waiting for. They made me think i was going....for weeks after the interview I was getting called and asked follow up questions and told i was in the top 4....then on March 31 i was called and told the network did not choose me. I was DEVISTATED.............like someone should have just shot me right there. I was so upset...i cried the whole way home(we were out to eat of course) and my husband looked at me and said...why dont you just do it on your own? Ummmmm DUH right...? So about a week went by and I had done a real examination of what i have done wrong and how i have basically cheated myself out of my life! On Easter i saw my family and noticed how no one said i looked good anymore...that's because i didnt.....i looked worse...heavy as can be....and that night i sent an email to my family and decide that enough is enough. Im exercising daily...NO EXCUSES...i posted before/after pictures on my walls in my house of other people who have had the band. I put sayings all over the house saying "whats ur excuse now" and i told my husband that enough is enough. So we decided to start our weightloss exercise on the 9th.....on the 10th I went and had my band RE-filled and since the 10th I have lost 10lbs......unbelievable huh!!! So hopefully all this will inspire SOMEONE before it happens to them. Let my "GAIN" be your "LOSS". Good luck everyone! Krystal

It's been two years and i have lost maybe 10lbs total. Why? People ask....I WILL TELL YOU HOW IT HAPPENED FOR ME.... The moral of the story is not to tell you NOT to get the band...but to tell you that this is no FIX and don't expect overnight weight loss....YOU HAVE TO PUT EFFORT into it. This is important....people like me assumed the BAND would fix everything and the motivation would just fall into place...this is soooo untrue..... I had always been big...all through school..always size 16+....senior year 2001 i was a good size 22....2003 i was a size 24 and by 2005 i was a size 32......I was always made fun of.....i gained almost 100 pounds in 3 years from being on the depo shot(birth control)so i got off of that...... and then getting pregnant. By 2005 I was at my worst. I walked into the Dr's office thinking I was only 360 back in April of 2005. When I got on the scale it read 380...I almost died. I cried in his office because I was so ashamed. Ashamed over 20lbs!!!! I had researched the band and felt because I had a daughter it would be the safest surgery for me. I am only 24 and was 22 at the time. I thought this was going to be the FIX.....the thing to change my life. I thought that there was no way anyone or anything could stop me from losing weight after I had surgery. I went through all the tests....and got all the required medical paperwork and convinced some family members to pitch in for my surgery. I set the date and started my pre-op diet! From that point on I should have known I was going to be a mess. I was supposed to be on a liquid diet for 2 weeks because my liver needed to shrink for surgery. So i ate everything they told me to for the first 3 days and BAM....the feeling set in.....I WANTED AN ULTIMATE CHEESEBURGER FROM JACK N THE BOX AND I WANTED IT NOW! I couldn't get it off my mind....i was thinking about it allllllll day.....i went to bed thinking about it...and the next morning i went and got one. I figured...what could ONE double cheese burger with double cheese and mayo possibly do......well...it did nothing to the surgery process but it really broke the frame of mind. Before the 2 weeks was up i had eatin 2 not one but TWO ultimate cheeseburgers and a few chicken nuggets. Why? Why couldn't I just do the PRE SURGERY diet? June 8th 2005------So surgery day came....and went.....all went well no complications.....i was on soft food in the beginning and I started to eat eggs for Breakfast....but my eggs HAD to have cheese and butter in them....HELLO!!! What was I thinking.....I remember getting my first fill and at this point I had almost lost 40lbs. 20pre-op and 20 post-op. It was amazing....... About 3 months out(2 months after my 1st fill) I started to become familiar with my band and how much I could and could not eat. I realized that when i would eat too much, i drank a little bit, and it would make the food pass and then i would feel sooooo much better. I never exercised...keep in mind...(maybe got into the pool like 10 times the whole summer) and i was preparing for my wedding which was September 17th 2005. I was so stressed because my weightloss had pretty much STOPPED......I was craving foods like never before and started to eat and drink at the same time...BIG MISTAKE......i was eating at least double what I should have. So I went and had ANOTHER fill. This slowed me down...but still I was not losing ANY weight. I remember eating my first fried chicken after my fill and like trying to manipulate my band into letting me eat more by taking one bite and then drinking....it was the worst thing in the world i could have EVER done. A year after my band was put in I was only 20lbs total lost (which means i gained 20 back) and I was so angry...I promised myself I was going to try and fix things and make it better....So much had happened that year....2006....we bought a house, my husbands dad died of cancer, my husband was leaving for weeks at a time for work...and i was home ALONE with my daughter. I had no energy to keep the house clean(and i still dont) but i would sit and mope.....and EAT.....I would make excuses to people who asked me WHY i hadn't lost any weight. I told them all that it was a slow process and that i had lost 40 pounds(lied to them). This year, Jan 2007...I was just sitting at dinner with my husband and looked down and noticed i had a 12oz strip steak, baked potato loaded....and mashed potatos loaded on my plate. I ate all of it. my band was NOT going to stop me. I also ate bread before that.......and drank sweat tea.... in Feb07 I was online playing around and saw an ad for a weightloss show. Primetime...suppose to be JUST like the Biggest Loser....I thought...hmmmm I'll just fill out the app for shits and giggles.....well they responded and wanted me to send them a tape....so i did. Then in march they had me get my band completely UNFILLED and then flew me out to LA and put me through med tests and interviews,THEY BOUGHT ME 2 PLANE SEATS because i was too big to fit in the plane chairs on my own....pretty sad huh,(cant say much more because they made me sign all kinds of disclosures) They told me it was a show that will be on ABC and told me i would be away from my family for 10 weeks. I thought....this is the chance i have been waiting for. They made me think i was going....for weeks after the interview I was getting called and asked follow up questions and told i was in the top 4....then on March 31 i was called and told the network did not choose me. I was DEVISTATED.............like someone should have just shot me right there. I was so upset...i cried the whole way home(we were out to eat of course) and my husband looked at me and said...why dont you just do it on your own? Ummmmm DUH right...? So about a week went by and I had done a real examination of what i have done wrong and how i have basically cheated myself out of my life! On Easter i saw my family and noticed how no one said i looked good anymore...that's because i didnt.....i looked worse...heavy as can be....and that night i sent an email to my family and decide that enough is enough. Im exercising daily...NO EXCUSES...i posted before/after pictures on my walls in my house of other people who have had the band. I put sayings all over the house saying "whats ur excuse now" and i told my husband that enough is enough. So we decided to start our weightloss exercise on the 9th.....on the 10th I went and had my band RE-filled and since the 10th I have lost 10lbs......unbelievable huh!!! :clap2: So hopefully all this will inspire SOMEONE before it happens to them. Let my "GAIN" be your "LOSS". Good luck everyone! Krystal

I have lost another 6 pounds..ive been doing really well...not overdoing it at all. Seems like everytime i get on lapband site it is lagging and takes forever for me to go from page to page....i just checked in today and its ten times better....so i will come back and start typin more! I miss all of you! How is everyone doing?

ok so i went today and got a fill......im at 7.4ccs lets see what it does....

Ok so im here I have been just really busy this weekend and I am going to be busy all week. I have tried to fill my days up with things to do.... I am going tomorrow to get a fill AGAIN....its once a month. I am going to ask the Dr for all my fill reports so i can keep track. It seems I still have NO restriction. My husband is going with the Dr tomorrow to tell him he needs to seriously add a lil more so i can get a decent fill. I live 5 min from the Dr so if its too much he can take some out. Im frustruated really! The way it looks to me, my Dr is doing the same thing to another patient and we have been going to the Dr at the same time......she brought up the fact that she thinks he is filling us too little because everytime we come back we have to fork out more and more money.... UGH I dont want to do too much to cause a problem...but come on! OK enough venting for tonight...... ill talk to you all soon.....Good Night!

So I was thinking about my statement about how hard it is to lose weight. I was thinking more on it and it occurred to me that BEING FAT IS HARDER than ANYTHING Can you fit in a bathroom stall with no problems? Wipe much?(for you bigger girls...you know what i mean) Can you fit at a booth comfortably? I cant. Can you buy clothes at ANY store in the mall? I cant. Can you take an entire day outing and ENJOY it? I cant. I can be out on my feet for like 3-4 hours and im DONE....ready to pass out. Does the thought of 95 degree weather totally freak you out? It does me! Does your kids beg you to do things that are physically impossible for a big person my size? Mine does. Now that I look into this...being fat is JUST as hard as losing weight. We just train our minds to except it. Well im done with that. Im not excepting it anymore!!!

Thank you!!! That page is a work in progress. Its just a for fun thing. I plan on journaling my weightloss in the blog section soon. I just need to get a little more organized over here.

So I was thinking about my statement about how hard it is to lose weight. I was thinking more on it and it occurred to me that BEING FAT IS HARDER than ANYTHING Can you fit in a bathroom stall with no problems? Wipe much?(for you bigger girls...you know what i mean) Can you fit at a booth comfortably? I cant. Can you buy clothes at ANY store in the mall? I cant. Can you take an entire day outing and ENJOY it? I cant. I can be out on my feet for like 3-4 hours and im DONE....ready to pass out. Does the thought of 95 degree weather totally freak you out? It does me! Does your kids beg you to do things that are physically impossible for a big person my size? Mine does. Now that I look into this...being fat is JUST as hard as losing weight. We just train our minds to except it. Well im done with that. Im not excepting it anymore!!!

Im here today!!! Gosh...do you ever have the feeling about exercise when you say to yourself... I JUST DONT WANT TO!!!! and then you dont... Thats what i been doing and i need to kick that habbit....this weightloss thing is soooo hard....

:(Im here, I have been kind of in hiding for the past 3 weeks. We have been really busy as a family and my husband went out of town for a week. Well while he was out of town for a week i ended up playing the "single mom" role and fell off of the exercise wagon for a bit. I realized how quick, if you give up for a day,....how a day turns into a week, and a week turns into weeks. It's kind of interesting how last night I was watching an episode called BIG MEDICINE on TLC. I realized what I originally started this post for.....so I would have strength to keep going. It seems not posting ONE day has started the ever famous trickle effect. I was crying last night, and called my husband while he was at work and ask him why he was so "lax" about everything. I mean for 3 weeks he was bustin my butt and on my tail about working out and eating good....and it was working. But all of the sudden it was like i was back to the old. :faint:About a week ago I told him on the phone i was craving some chips and dip. So he says "want me to pick some up on the way home" and i didnt turn it down. Why? He made it seem like it was ok....i knew it wasnt. But he wasnt there to tell me it wasnt. He enables me and i dont think he even realizes it. He is my rock and I am not sure how I wouldnt get through any of this without him. His strength in this is a BIG DEAL. I told him he needs to buckle down on me again and that i dont want to be like this forever. I asked him how much does he love me? He says "more than you'll ever know" I told him back.....well...."give me some tough love":help: I truly am lucky to have a husband. Someone who is there for me. I could be in a worse possition. It's crazy how I received a message this morning from this post when i was struggling last night with this situation. Every day i recover from a struggle i become a little bit stronger. I think I needed a RE-evaluation of why im still here and why God has put me here with a beautiful family. He has given me EVERYTHING I could ever want EXCEPT the body I want. That he is making me work for. And it isnt going to be easy. I think I am seeing and noticing how i allow myself to give up because giving up is easier. I am throwing a birthday party for my daughter in 30 days. Its a POOL PARTY.......I actually had to ask family members to make sure they rbought a swimsuit so they could be in the pool with chloe. (im not getting in that pool in front of ALL the family) It's pretty sad that something so simple is now so drawn out in my head. Next year I am going to throw her a pool party AND IM going to be the one swimmin with her!:clap2: NO ONE ever said this was going to be easy, but before surgery I think I THOUGHT it was going to be some kind of easy fix! Im going to watch my calories again and Im NOT going to have any more JUNK in this house. I think a lot of my problem is that I dont have full restriction yet. I have another Dr's appt June 5th. Hopefully i can get to a "sweet" spot soon.... Ok im off of here for now....but I WILL BE BACK.....im going to go face my life here...... THANK YOU ALL WHO ACTUALLY CARE. IT MEANS A LOT.

I had a fill in April and now a month later May 8th I had another fill. He only put a small amount in. Heres my problem.... I did the liquids thing and mushies and all that fun stuff.......today I had some Pasta...i was thinking...this will get stuck but i just eat a small amount...well it never got stuck.......so i ended eating more than i should have. Then i was giving my daughter a SOMOAS GS Cookie and I ate FIVE of them(i know i shouldnt have).......and i had NO restriction....WEIRD..... So i was thinking just now how odd it was not to have any restriction...and its making me really nervous. I thought...well im going to test myself...i did the ultimate....i ate 2 pieces of bread dry by themselves......no drinking or anything NO RESTRICTION......i have 6.8cc's in a 10cc band....and im nervous as hell.......did my band slip? what has happened... I havn't had ANY restriction since the Dr added to my band. I may not have eaton good today but thats not my problem...it was mainly tests to see if there was ANY restriction... Any ideas? What this could be?:cry

I really hope you guys are right. I am faced daily with the possibility of something going wrong. Maybe being able to eat all the wrong foods today has scared me. I have been really good in the past month but eating those foods and it not doing anything scares me. I need another fill......but my Dr makes me wait 4 weeks inbetween....grrrr

I understand that....but even before this fill i wasnt THAT UNrestricted....its like he took some out, not put some in....thats why im freakin out

Sorry I've been really busy. This past week has been really bad because I haven't worked out. I went to my Dr. Today and had a fill. Im at 6.8cc now. Haven't lost anything more than what Ive already reported....so its back to the treadmill. I kept up with my journaling and then slowly stopped. I was doing better when I was journaling because I was actually recording my success. Ill get back on it...tomorrow i am going to start my exercise again. Im making some concious efforts to eat less cals and make smarter decisions. Hopefully all will go well. We will see. Ill be checking in tomorrow im sure. Im making my own journaling section on my webpage www.krystalballard.com and if any of you would like to comment then come check it out.

I am creating my own webpage and i will have a section for the lapband... is there a banner i can post onto my site for this page? If so where can i find it? Thanks!

I went into a GNC and was talking to a guy about protein and he says I should DEFINITELY be having a high protein diet. I keep going back and forth with this. Dr. says to get it through food. Friends say through food. Some bandsters say have a shake too…and Dr. and Hubby says NO SHAKE. The guy who worked at GNC is a personal trainer and says he suggests a high protein diet to all his clients. He says “What harm can a protein shake do you?” True right? I drink a cholcolate Isopure that has 110 cal per serving and 25g of protein. Should I or shouldn’t I. I keep getting a lot of mixed reviews on this but then I keep coming back to what the Dr. said about it. I dunno. I just want to lose some weight. I’m working my but off but getting a very slow response. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Yea unjury told me i needed like 82grams.....sheesh.....

Ive been distant lately....a lot of things clouding my judgement. I will journal tonight. I am also creating my own webpage....not done with it yet but i will be keeping my journal on there as well. It will be www.krystalballard.com i am struggling right now. Im at my hardest point. I have made mistakes the past 2 days...why do I do that? Why cant i stay on track......ugh ill finish this later...im going to the park with my daughter...maybe she will change my spirits

Im trying this tonight...ive heard from 3 diff people that this is AWESOME... anyone tried this....YUM? I'll let you know how it comes out... Potato Lasagna Recipe Rating: Prep Time: 15 min Total Time: 1 hr 15 min Makes: 4 servings Nutrition Information Ratings and comments You may also enjoy function swapRecipeImage(src){document.images['_ctl0__ctl0__ctl0_ctlRecipeDisplayModuleContainer__ctl3_imgRecipe'].src='images/recipe_images/' + src;} 1 lb. potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced 1/2 lb. lean ground beef 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 jar (14 oz.) spaghetti sauce 3/4 cup POLLY-O FREE Natural Nonfat Ricotta cheese 1/4 cup KRAFT Reduced Fat Parmesan Style Grated Topping 2 egg whites 1/2 cup shredded POLLY-O Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling Water for 5 minutes; drain. Meanwhile, brown meat with onion in large nonstick skillet, stirring occasionally. Drain, if necessary. Add spaghetti sauce to skillet. MIX ricotta cheese, grated topping and egg whites until well blended. Spoon half of the meat mixture into 8-inch square baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with half of the potatoes; top with layers of the ricotta cheese mixture, remaining potatoes and remaining meat mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil. BAKE 50 minutes. Remove foil. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. NUTRITION INFORMATION Nutrition Bonus: Potatoes take the place of Pasta in this great-tasting low calorie meal. As a bonus, the potatoes and spaghetti sauce team up to provide a good source of Vitamin C, and the cheeses provide a good source of Calcium. Diet Exchange: 3 Starch,3 Meat (L) Nutrition (per serving)Calories 390 Total fat 12 g Saturated fat 5 g Cholesterol 50 mg Sodium 850 mg Carbohydrate 42 g Dietary Fiber 4 g Sugars 5 g Protein 30 g Vitamin A 20 %DV Vitamin C 40 %DV Calcium 45 %DV Iron 15 %DV

Amen.....to each their own

I've been talking to MANY people......nurses....Dr's, weightlifters....from what i gather that is a common denominator from MOST of them... Protein is ok as long as you dont do more than about 25g per serving. Your body can not digest much more. The couple of weight lifters say to lose weight and build muscle for beginners they always suggested around 60-80g a day. More serious weightlifters who have been weightlifting for years take in 1.5 grams of protein PER pound that they weigh. One of my friends is a professional weightlifter. He has done it all. I had about an hour conversation with him on the phone with him today. MOST of his best friends are personal trainers. He is currently working for a competition and is taking in about 260grams of protein a day. OBVIOUSLY we would never have a need for that much protein. He also drinks 12oz of Water ON THE HOUR...... Point being...there is a huge difference between weightlifting and losing weight and trying to build the muscle some of us NEVER had to begin with. Dr's are NOT personal trainers. They tell you what they know or what they have heard works best. But things are different for everyone. Some dr's say this others say that. Its all on the person and what their goal is. I think out of all the people ive seen ACTUAL before and after pictures MOST of them who have lost LOTS of weight were on some sort of protein shake. Look and bodyforlife.com for example....almost all of the people who are under the losing fat section were on myloplex (sp). This again is just my take on it...i have been doing ALOT of research as for as what really works....not what Dr's say. Not ALL dr's are right...they all have their own opinions. Amen....whew!:clap2:

This post was intended to show people a diff way to make lasagna without the noodles.... I know im not the only potato lover in the group. I think what it boils down to is that EVERYONE has their OWN idea of what will work for them. I dont know what works for me unless i try it. What i do know is that, if i dont eat SOMETHING that satisfies my cravings of what most of us big people call "big/fattening" food then regardless of my band or not i feel like i have not eaten anything and then eventually that will eat at me all day until i binge eat.....its safer for me to have one meal a day that has SOME of the foods i crave involved wether it be cheese or potato....in small quanities it will not hurt me. It would hurt me however, if i starved myself from my cravings and then finally gave into it and gorged myself as much as i could..... Im not on a diet....im on a life change. It is not reality to assume I will not eat things that are a little fattening or has some carbs in it. Thats just my take on things.

Good to hear from you. I think life is all about hard times. If we didnt have these problems or make mistakes we wouldnt be human right? It's the fact that we recognize when we make the mistakes....YOU have the motivation IN you it just has to be pushed out..... I think by comming here and letting us know it is DEFINATELY a good thing. In all rehab places...ADMITTING is the first step...right? Im here if you need me. I will help motivate ya....I have been working my butt off...trying my best to control my portions AND i been working out daily. Im not losing anything. Thats discouraging to me. It makes me sad. Seems like my almost 3 weeks of work has done nothing for me. (Except hurt me feet) we will stick together and get through the hard times. Im certainly not real religous but some said something to me one time that makes sense.... GOD DOESN'T GIVE US ANYTHING WE CANT HANDLE.:clap2: I believe that....and i use that saying everyday when something hard comes my way.

Things are going ok. I been kind of down lately because my scale is not moving......i been busint my butt on the treadmill and watching my food intake...but i STILL havnt lost much at all.... Check out my Journal...i been keeping some longs of my food and exercise on there. I dont know what im doing wrong. I am not fully restricted yet so maybe thats whats causing problems.