SpecialK

Hi to all my Buckeye bandster buddies -- I haven't been online in awhile - still going through some stressful crap in my personal family life and the new job I have is involving quite a bit of overtime but I like what I'm doing and the people I work with. I have been overindulging in sweets over the holidays and junk food so I'm coming clean with the need to turn a new leaf for the new year. Hope to hear how the rest of you are doing out there. Its tough keeping going every day. I now realize how thrilling that fast weight loss was for motivation versus slow and steady wins the race. I am joining a WW class at work on January 13 and I'm committed to 10 weeks and hoping to nail a good 10 lbs in that time!

Hi to all my Shrinking Shamrocks -- I haven't been online in awhile - still going through some stressful crap in my personal family life and the new job I have is involving quite a bit of overtime but I like what I'm doing and the people I work with. I have been overindulging in sweets over the holidays and junk food so I'm coming clean with the need to turn a new leaf for the new year. Hope to hear how the rest of you are doing out there. Its tough keeping going every day. I now realize how thrilling that fast weight loss was for motivation versus slow and steady wins the race. I am joining a WW class at work on January 13 and I'm committed to 10 weeks and hoping to nail a good 10 lbs in that time!

Thanks Christine and Chubby Checker for answering back. I do have great friends here locally that are tremendous support and I do have a good counselor I see. My mother died when I was 5 years old and my Dad remarried 3 more times, the last to the wicked stepmother figure you see in the Cinderella story. Anyway, she was so abusive that I eventually was taken out of my home and sent to live with an aunt and uncle as my foster parents. The aunt is the sister of my stepmother - what a crazy family but I have made it work for more than 40 years which my counselor says is a tremendous credit to me. I believe in God and believe He has brought me through and will continue to be with me until this is resolved. She has done this thing of not talking for periods of time in the past but not as bad as she is doing this year. Yes, family stress is part of the reason I became an overeater -- stuffing my face to make me feel better. She doesn't even comprehend that she is causing pain - or maybe she does - but the holidays are a stressful time for someone single and someone who struggles with weight and eating so I have to be extra diligent at this time of year not to gain weight. I did have a good day yesterday -- Positive - worked out on my lunch time, ate a healthy salad for lunch, healthy turkey chili and a Protein shake for an evening snack so I am doing good as I start the day. Thanks for being out there and listening as I am sure those of us who struggle with eating understand emotional eating.

Where are my Shamrock friends? I am still trying but I'm finding that I make some bad choices when I eat and that is discouraging to me. Really frustrated with my foster mom - she is 83 years old and has been pretty mean to me since I lost my job in June - she was convinced I did something to deserve to be laid off - what the heck! then when I let them know I had found a new job - she agreed to finally meet me after 2 months of not speaking - then that day I had to deliver some bad news that I can't afford certain things in life now and needed her support on that -- so again, not speaking to me again. Here it is with Thanksgiving coming up and she isn't speaking so I'm not sure what I'm doing for the holiday dinner. I did go ahead and make plans to get together with a cousin and her son/grandsons the next day on Friday but this is so frustrating to me that family can be such an emotional problem-- and that I revert to food for comfort. Ugh! Keep me in your prayers and good thoughts. How are others doing? I hope being quiet here on this board means you are doing okay.

I admit it - I'm struggling - the emotional ups and downs in my life right now are driving me to make some bad food choices. I did better this past weekend but the scale is totally stuck at the level I'm at with fluctuating up and down 5 lbs when I need to get losing and keep going further down. I'm trying...its just getting harder.

Hi CJ! Congrats on getting your lapband. I had mine done about 3-4pm on an afternoon and I was being released from the hospital by about 12noon-1pm the next day. Definitely within 24 hours I'd say is the max you'll be in the hospital. Stay in touch how you are going. Send me a Private Message here if you'd like to ask other questions off line.

I must be getting back into 'band eating' -- eat a small amount and get full then a few hours later - suddenly realize I am really hungry and I need protein now! Yesterday I was doing heavy duty yard work so I was probably burning off every calorie I had eaten so I was after a protein shake later in the day - putting chocolate protein powder into morning coffee to give myself a protein jumpstart to the day and sometimes making a strawberry protein shake using skim milk, vanilla/strawberry protein powder, Crystal Lite Strawberry drink single packet, ice cubes, frozen strawberries, and some Splenda -- makes a big strawberry shake to sip on slowly and its not that many calories.

Way to go Jamie! I too used to login and check the lapband board daily and sometimes multiple times a day when I was first going through this and now I've fallen back from getting a daily dose of help from those who understand. I promise to try to stay in touch on here more often. The scale was down 2 lbs from where I thought I was so I think the dedication I put in this week is helping. Let's keep going! I also feel a responsibility to make the lapband work for me because so many people never heard of a lapband including my primary care doctor and my family when I decided to go thru this instead of gastric bypass. I don't want to fail for fear it will scare others off a valuable tool option they could consider.

How are the Mt Carmel lapband folks doing out there? I've had a slow period but lost a couple pounds here recently. I just keep working at it every day and encourage all of you to do the same.

Hi Shamrocks! Its been quiet on the board here but I am still giving it a try every day and still hope to stay committed for the rest of my life. Been bouncing up and down at the same level too long. I miss getting to buy new smaller size clothes every so often. Sadly, the things from last winter (like Feb of this year) still fit -- that is good and bad -- good that I haven't gained weight back (Yea!) but bad that this last 40 lbs I need to lose are very stubborn. I've been giving it some thought on why I am stuck and it is likely because I think I'm cute and healthy where I am...I really had "getting healthy" as my primary goal and "getting thin" to find my desire to date and have other relationships as a secondary goal. I am getting ready to schedule an appointment to be retested on my need for a CPAP machine. I think it will show I no longer need that. So, no high bloods pressure, cholesterol or diabetes, dramatically less knee and hip pain, etc. adds up to me meeting my primary "get healthy" goal. I know I'll be even more healthy if I get this last 40 lbs off but I guess I know with what I've lost I'm not at risk to drop dead from my morbid obesity where I was at 300+ lbs. On the 'getting cute' front -- I did get brave enough to contact someone I was working with at my former job that I thought might be interested and he waited weeks to respond to my email -- really hurt my ego that I misjudged whether he was available/interested...this is the kind of stuff that has driven me crazy in the past...to eating things.... where I took a chance to put myself out there for a relationship and was put down again. Well, I felt like I was handling things okay, wasn't freaked out, and yet the motivation to 'get cute' to get a man, was gone. So, I'm back to the motivation to be only based on 'get healthy' or 'get to buy cute clothes in smaller sizes' as my motivators. I can't tell you how wonderful it is that people who knew me for years as overweight continue to remain stunned at how much different, better, I look now, and that I'm keeping it going almost 3 years after starting this journey. They are each day becoming convinced that I am in this for life. Okay, I'm going to buy me something in a smaller size and keep trying that sucker on every day until I get into it! Maybe doing something just to please me alone, will kick my butt into gear. Hope you're all hanging in there friends. This board was such support for me in the early months and its where I still think I can unload my thoughts and fears and find someone who understands where my family and friends who don't struggle with weight, can't say much to help.

Heather -- you are not alone. I am stuck at -140 lbs off and keep bouncing up and down at the same number and I have at least 40 more to lose. Do you want to start getting together over coffee weekly -- kind of a WW buddy like approach. I could meet on a Monday or Tuesday evening at that Paneras near Maxtown? I need to buckle down and use my DailyPlate to track what I'm doing. I have restriction but I'm bored with my eating and I slip up to try something easier to eat or something sweet. I do not want to ever go back to where I was. I also believe I have this tool and will use it. Give me a call. SpecialK

Thin2bme - yep ice cream has been a weakness for me too - hoping with it getting cooler that it will be less tempting for me than in the summer. Loving my new job and that emotional eating stress has abated but to be honest, there is always something emotional pulling on us and tugging us back toward old eating habits. I have plenty of restriction now - 1/2 of an apple and I have to stop, small bowl of Cereal and I'm full, etc. I can still eat a big salad - I guess the lettuce and things lose alot of volume when you chew well. I am still hoping to get the scale moving down so I can finally see the 199 number on my scale by the new year or maybe by my birthday January 29. I will just keep working it because I am not going back to where I was. I had to renew my passport this month and it was shocking to see the difference between my passport photo from 1999 versus now!

Are there any Mt. Carmel folks out there on this board anymore? I keep bouncing up and down at the same 3 lbs or so and I have plenty of restriction. Need to get moving more. Loving my new job so at least that stress factor is gone since I am an emotional eater -- always was -- and lapband helps but doesn't eliminate those temptations to soothe emotions with foods that go down easy.

Everything went great. I had really pretty minimal pain and all my incisions were healed pretty nicely in 6 weeks. I am going for a follow up with my surgeon in October (6 months out) to ask her about a possible lump I have in one breast near the vertical incision line where it intersects with the horizontal incision line. I think she will tell me it is just scar tissue and I'm hoping it will soften or resolve on its own. If not, then I feel confident she'll handle it. It is wonderful now buying a size L T-shirt when I go out somewhere instead of the 3XL I used to buy before lapband and even the XL or 1X I was buying before my BR.

Welcome to the lapband journey. I went to my first orientation meeting in October and by the end of December had finished jumping through all the hoops of clearances that both the bariatric program and/or my insurance required from me. I had a documented history of the weight with my doctor and weight watcher books showing I had been doing that for 6 months faithfully. Once they got the insurance submission in, it was back in about 2 weeks. Then it took 6 weeks to get on the surgery schedule. I had my surgery on March 17 and I've never regretted it. Still need to lose about another 60 lbs but its going slowly now. Mostly due to my own stubborness at wanting to eat 'easy' foods when I want comfort - even though I know better. The key for me is to keep trying and remember I never want to go back to where I was 140 lbs ago! Best wishes.

Jack sure has some good wisdom things here but I also know that it took me 50 years to get all my bad habits down pat and now with 2.5 yrs post banding practice, I do good alot of the time and still seek food comfort other times. Its a commitment to work it one day at a time for me. And ask for help, seek out support groups you can attend, get couseling for what is "eating" at you, and stay committed.

Congratulations. I should do something like this as its been 2.5 yrs now for me and -140 lbs and with another 60 lbs to go, I tend to pick at my flaws and lack of fast progress now as compared to remembering the original me picture!

I don't know where Rootstown Ohio is from Columbus but the Ohio State University and Mt. Carmel West Hospitals both have excellent bariatric programs and would treat you in an emergency. Closer to Cincinnati is Dr. Curry so those are two options I can help offer. Best wishes.

I am planning to go to the next Mt Carmel Support Group meeting. It is a commitment to drive there and back but I do feel positive energy from the get together with those who understand what I am going through as I keep trying on this weight loss journey. September 14 at 6:00 pm. at Mt Carmel West - Auditorium which is in the basement off from the cafeteria.

Next get together is this Saturday, same location, same time but September 11. I hope to see some friends there.

I got my job! I start Monday September 13. Looking forward to this new chapter in life. I had lost 4 lbs in the 6 weeks since my first fill appt in forever and he wanted me to have lost more than that but understood with emotional eating with being out of a job, that losing anything was a victory. I'm sitting tight at this level of restriction now and going to give it a 6 week test with less personal stress and see if I need a further tweak. Happy Fall!

Last week's two interviews with the CIO's (Sr. VPs) of the same company I am hoping for getting a job went really well and the one guy from the parent company ended the phone interview with saying outright he was going to recommend I be hired. I relaxed and enjoyed last week after that feeling it is going to happen. This Monday the HR manager called for my references and I think that only takes a day at worst to contact a couple people via cell phone or email so I'm hoping today will be the day I get my job offer! I'll be doing some traveling to NY and Minnesota for this job (flying into LaGuardia airport) so I'll give a shout out if I get to your cities! I also tried something new yesterday that I saw in Women's World magazine while on vacation. It is called the Duke University Rice Diet. - Just tried it for 1 day - very boring and restrictive and not something you can live with for long I can assure you. The first day is a total detox day - meals of 2/3 cup brown rice (I did Jasmine rice) and 2 pieces of fruit for each of the three meals for the day. Allowed decaf coffee and skim milk as needed. Drink Water of course. So here is my results, the dang scale was down 2 lbs or more this a.m. -- what gives! Its a virtually Sodium Free diet except for what was in the skim milk! But my WLS doc would be not happy - way too low on Protein. I realize I need to supplement with Protein shakes to get at least 60g of protein in. The rice is incredibly filling plus the fruit is also filling. I could only do 1/3 c rice for Breakfast and 1/4 apple - I'm tighter in the morning. and then I did 2/3c rice with skim milk, cinnamon, and 1 tsp sugar for a sweet version, then did the 2/3 c rice and orange for dinner. I can't get the 6 pieces of fruit in they recommend so I probably should be spreading the fruit out as morning, afternoon and evening Snacks. I'll give the other days meals a try and see how it goes. It is really just a pretty strict vegetarian low sodium diet. Turns out the article said that they have found Salt kicks our hunger in gear as does Sugar. Anyway, its an interesting experiment just to get me really disciplined again to measuring food, tracking carefully, etc. Hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend. I know I will if this job offer comes thru. Another interview at 2pm -4pm today with another company as my backup plan!

Hi there. Welcome and let me offer to be a support buddy - send me a Private Message when you want any specific advice. I'm 54, live in a more rural area and am a quilter also but I do have access to a major city and support and it makes a difference. Stay in touch with your surgeon and keep working it a day at a time. One statement someone made to me is "just because you can eat still a certain food or quantity, doesn't mean its right. Are you committed to what you did?" boy that hit home and I realized self discipline was still going to be a part of my life for the rest of my life but the tool in my lapband helps big time. Hang in there! You will be successful if you stay committed. I've lost 140 lbs and the last 60 lbs is coming off very slowly but I am not going back - EVER!

Hi there to my supportive lapband buddies! Yes, the phone interviews this week while I have been in Arizona visiting family have gone great. I am very hopeful that I am going to get a job offer shortly after getting home Sept 1. I am finding my restriction level is still in place but when I see my lapband surgeon on Tues after Labor Day I am thinking I will ask for a tiny fill increase to help me with what I eat staying with me longer. It seems like my pouch size is obvious to me by the volume I can eat at one sitting, but then if I eat a very small portion then I am hungry maybe 2 or 3 hours later looking for something to eat. In my early lapband restriction days, I literally almost would have to remind myself to eat as I could go for hours without being hungry. I'll see what he says but I plan to keep in touch with my surgeon and also with my counselor for food eating for stress help and guidance until I get this last 60 lbs off. Not giving up! Never going back to where I was 140 lbs ago! Also, it was wonderful flying on the airplane on a very long flight from Atlanta to Phoenix sitting in the Middle Seat and being comfortable and having easily 4-5 inches of seat belt to spare! Praise God and thank God for my lapband! Take it a day at a time folks cause that is the only way I find to make it work.

Hi everyone. I'm in Arizona with my sister who sorry to say lost her election to be the county's constable but she came in a very respectable 2nd place and beat the other 2 men candidates handily. She's hurting alot emotionally and I am being her support just as she has been mine over the years. I feel so blessed to have my sisters and brothers since I am single. Sillypuddy -- I am at the Pataskala area lots of times and I'd be willing to set up something off line to meet you occasionally for support. I will send you a Private Message with contact info. I will be back in OH after Aug 31. My last fill adjustment of .4 cc to take me up to a total of 10.4 cc has fluctuated on definitely giving me more restriction at times but then I still find myself getting hungry and wanting more food if I do stop and limit my initial portion. I have my next follow up on Sept 7 Tuesday and will see what he says/does. Maybe a tiny fill will help. I have had a little acid reflux but I have to tell you I think its more due to stress than lapband and eating and hoping if I get back on a job and working schedule, that it will be fine. Nothing really to complain about.