csandeen

I had my band put in on Dec. 2005 an I went from 265 lbs to 193. Let me give you a little bit of realness in what to expect. #1 follow the diet they give you save yourself pain and misery and don't cheat. Getting blocked is the most horrible feeling in the world and it happens quick. Chew your food to a liquid always. Exercise will help you shed pounds faster and you will feel so much better, I totally reccomend exercise as soon as you feel up to it and don't stop, don't let you talk your self out of going for this or that reason just do it! My lowest weight was 179 and I looked terible, the more weight I lost the more cellulite I gained. now I am only 33 and I thought most of my skin would shring with me but it hasn't so be prepared gravity and cellulite are your enemy. You will miss eating so bad sometimes but don't worry you will be able to start being normal again after awhile 3 small meals a day with really most foods. STAY AWAY FROM RICE and PASTA THEY ARE YOUR ENEMY. If you experience any pain when you eat and you throw up your food see your docter. I just had my band removed Thurday April 23rd 2008, I had a slippage. My Xray showed everything was peachy but I had bee getting fill then pain and vomitting so I would get fluid removed and this was going on for months so finally after they removed all of the fluid and the pain and vomitting continued they did a scope of my stomach, fun. My stomach looked like it was inverted and nothing was getting through, lets just put it this way I lost 17 pounds in less than a month so my band has been out for a couple days now. I feel so much better and I am optimistic about my future we'll see.

I had my surgery in December of 2005 I am about 90 pounds lighter from a whopping 265 pounds:clap2:. If I told you this has been an easy battle that would be a lie:eyebrows:. Changing 32 years of :hungry: bad eating habits :hungry: in 2 years is impossible. You still get the urges to eat and you will push the limits garunteed. This desire to lose the weight has to be real :help: for you, so real that you fight each and every day to push those urges away and you follow the plan. The first few months for me were probably the easiest to stick to:whoo: because I was so scared of "the unknown" foreign object in my body. I probably lived off liquids and really runny food for a long, long time:(. As time passed I began to eat a little more and a little more and pushed the limits to the max. I have had atleast 4 blockages :omg:and let me tell you that is the most miserable experience. I went 4 days without food and water finally my body just was feeling, well, like I was dying I guess is a good way to explain it. I had so much acid reflux, couldn't keep nothing down not even my medication:sick. I take blood thinners because I had a Pulmonary Embolism emfark when I was 23 apparently I have a blood clotting disorder called Protein S difficiency (you clot for no specific reason) and I will die in my early thirties if I do not take my medication (I am 32) according to my doctor:)So you know that's important to me..lol.. I broke down and went in and had the Fluid removed "my doctor was not happy with me at all:angry" I got a talking to. What you can eat all depends upon how tight your band is and what you can tolerate. I can't really eat bread anymore and I after awhile you lose interest in it, we have the natural ability to adapt to our enviroments. By that I mean you go so long without eating a double cheeseburger off the dollar menu at Mc Donalds by the time you decide to try it, they taste gross. I like fresh food now and I love good salmon, yummy! I also discovered that eating can be a fun experience. Tell me how many times you have ever gotten done eating a supersized value meal, large drink and fries with a bowl of ice cream and felt really good and went out for a jog? Never, never, never. I can do that now and it feels so good. Now, the surgery is an aid in our weight loss struggle it helps you but won't actually drive us to the gym. That is something we must do on our own and exercising can be hard when you are not used to it. When it comes to exercise start off for longevity 30 minutes a day every day. I do not care what anyone tells you do not stop going!!!If you are a "fat" person (and we all are at somepoint in time or we wouldn't be in this situation) if you give yourself a break you will talk yourself into anotherone and you will quit going..you must be consistant...Now I am not saying you have you do hard core erobics every night but a brisk 30 minute walk will do, just to keep the pattern going on those "tired nights". Exercise is an essential part to loosing the weight and keeping it off..I promise you it will get easier and then it will get tough and then easy and back and forth for us probably forever. Obesity is just a side effect to the problems we suffer from in our hearts and minds. We need to fix whats wrong inside of our souls and discover self worth. Remember, we were not born fat and I know as well as anybody when I feel hurt food never turned me away or made me cry, infact I smile, it taste good. You and I desearve to be happy and loosing weight is a great place to start!! Happy feels so good..I am happy, I am glad I decided to change my life. Please stick with it!!