lapband78

Christmas! My favorite time of the year where I can eat as much as I want of great food and lots and lots of candy. Everything is allowed!
 
Hmmm no anymore! This is my first Christmas after the lapband and it's been different than the Christmases of the past.
 
Here in Iceland, Christmas is a 13 day celebration. You can just imagine all the food involved in that celebration!!
Main Christmas meal with my family was Beef Wellington. OMG it was so good but I ate so little and the slices were so thick that I had to throw half of it in the trash. I felt so bad throwing such a good food out. We had so much left over that I didn't even feel right keeping it for later eating.
Also we are big on smoked meat. We have both smoked lamb and then smoked ham (ham for new years) and I just had a little amount. I can tell you that I have NOT failed my band. I am so happy yay
 
This is the first Christmas in probably my entire adult life that I haven't felt sick because I ate too much. I was being so careful. But we do have appetizers and deserts ugh those are my worst enemies! I decided to enjoy Christmas and have a little of everything and I do mean little. Trust me I've been very careful of not over eating. I never felt this "ohh I'm full" feeling this Christmas.
 
But eating little doesn't mean the calorie intake hasn't risen. But we have to live, we have to enjoy.
 
And let's talk about that a little.
 
I asked if I could eat some pop corn at a movie trip. I got the response that it's high in carbs and we should not do recreational eating.
Ok ok, I totally get that. But I go to the movies literally once a year! I don't enjoy going to the movies so on special occasions I do go if someone asks me. And yes that's once a year.
A small bag of popcorn (not American size), and I mean a small size, this one time will not do any harm, seriously. What it can do though is that you could begin to crave it and eat it more regularly at home, now that's bad. But a small bag, not even a 0.5l Coke bottle fits in it, will not do harm.
I had some and well IF and I say IF I have some again, it will be as a meal because that little bag made me full. And also some of it got stuck and I didn't feel that at all until I drank water. So I don't know even if I want it again.
 
I've done LOTs of diets, I've done really well but I have always given up! Why? because the restrictions were always so high. NEVER eat candy, NEVER eat cakes, NEVER eat any sweets, NEVER this and NEVER that.
Sure it works for some people but we all go through our own paths in this fight. Don't judge if someone decides to NEVER have something or if someone allows them selves to have a little on special occasions. What ever works best for us.
 
Like my doctor says, we are humans, we have to be nice to us once in a while, or else we will not manage. And once in a while does not mean every week, it means like once a month or on special occasions.
 
So, I might not loose weight this Christmas but I'm totally fine with that. I've accomplished so much this Christmas, I've won many victories (throwing out left overs) and my Christmas is so much better now than before. I love it and I feel good
 
After Christmas, I'm going to work harder on my goal. I have set a goal for April when I'm going to renew my clothes and I'm going to make it

Something great happened to me the other day at a theme park. Something that most "normal" people never even consider when they are out for the day enjoying the rides and fun. But it happened to me..... NOTHING! Yes!! Hooray!! NOTHING happened when I rode the rides!
 
What? Some may wonder. But they've never faced the embarrassment of not fitting on an amusement park ride and having to pretend you're getting off because you're just afraid to ride the roller coaster. They've never known the shame of having the ride staff try with all their might to close the bar over their big stomach and fail. They've never been squeezed into a ride so tight that they ended up with bruises on their sides. They've never had to worry the whole time they were in line if one of these awful situations awaited them at the front, or try to choose carefully the rides they were most likely to fit into.
 
Having faced all of that in the past, I am so happy to say that it didn't even cross my mind at the theme park this Sunday!! I easily got onto and fit every ride! Even rides that in the past were tight or painful, didn't even feel snug. What a joy! Small victory indeed! Just not having to wonder or worry or think about it was a wonderful thing. I felt so normal. And my heart went out to the others I saw who were bigger, and who I know from experience were having to deal with this humiliation and fear instead of having fun with their friends and families.
 
There are a lot of little things the "normal" sized folks never have to think about or even consider, and I'm glad for them. And now I don't ever have to think about this one again either. :D :D

The past week has been a HUGE test for me.
 
I don't eat candy often, about 3 times a year. Christmas, Easter and then on one family trip every summer.
 
I just came back from the family trip.
 
Before the trip, I went shopping for food. I bought some candy, but only like 5% of what I usually buy. I also prepared egg muffins (egg, bacon, ham, veggies) for breakfast.
I can tell you that the trip wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I ate VERY little candy. I came home with almost all of it. That's the first time!! I did have Ice cream twice.
 
But food was more difficult. There was always BBQ, every night, with baked potatoes, veggies and meat. Then there was some snacking through out the day, something I haven't done since getting banded. The last day was specially bad. We had some cake, Dorritos, Dip (cream cheese, salsa).
Wow she's bad you might think, but I did have a taste of it all but didn't eat a lot.
 
AND it was my birthday 5 days ago. I bought a cake, because you have to have a cake when it's your birthday! But I didn't even bring it out!! I didn't feel like having a cake. But I brought it out the day after. I also brought some other sweets to have at my birthday but they all came back home with me.
 
Now the result of the test. I should have done less snacking. I can eat more now than after my first fill so I ate bigger portions than I'm used to. I don't think I failed though but I've learned a lot through this week.
 
I went on the scale when I came back home. I hadn't gained any weight but I hadn't lost any weight either. I have a lot of edema, something I haven't had a lot of since the surgery.
 
Now it's back to work, eat 3 portions a day. No snacking. I have my second fill on Monday. I'm a bit stressed since the first fill was very uncomfortable.
 
I have a few questions for my doctor:
 
Dr. O'Brien says you can drink with food.. what will my doctor say
What happens if I eat a thin crust pizza (I'm craving it)
Can I try some pasta?
What about toasted bread?
 
I'm noticing now that my diet was based on bread! And after 2 months of not eating bread, I'm feeling so much better. No stomach pains like before. So I will NEVER go back to my past bread diet. But 1 slice of pizza... grrr I want.
 
Edit: Today Friday is my step on the scale day and I am so surprised but I did loose 1 kg this week or 2,2 pounds. I am so surprised that I turned backwards on the scale, and forwards and I would have stood on my hands if I could.
This means I have lost a total of 8 kg or 17,6 pounds since I got the lap band So happy

This site has been my refuge. Anytime I have a question, or a doubt, or feel discouraged... it helps!
Tonight, (because it seems everyone keeps track by weeks) I looked at the calendar and realized I'm only 2 weeks out! Time seems to move very slowly, but it made me realize how impatient I've been; and that I need to slow down and appreciate how well I feel only 2 weeks post-op!
 
I've been focusing on the things I've lost, the things I can't do... rather than on how great I feel already, just not consuming fast-food 24/7
 
I miss the temporary comfort it always provided, but I sure don't miss the sluggish, low blood-sugar haze I stayed in. I don't miss spending all the money it took to buy one more carb-loaded feast to get me through the next exhausted shift. (I work nights) I was killing myself, and I had stopped caring in many ways.
 
Two weeks: and my incisions are healing nicely, I've lost 21 pounds total, and already I feel a difference in the way I'm able to get around. It was a struggle before just to manage personal hygiene and getting dressed. I was literally to the point that I would break a sweat getting dressed and just cry because I felt hopeless to improve things. Then surgery became a possibility, and gave me new hope.
 
It has been a struggle to get the fluids and protein in, but I haven't been sick yet, only some mild indigestion. I think I balked at first; because I imagined surgery meant being able to not have to think about food so much. Let's be honest, I'm lazy. But it's a different kind of planning, and once I develop a routine I know it will get better. I have to watch myself with my negative-thinking-habits, but I'm excited about the future and to witness the journey of so many others as well.
 
Ami

I am now 7 weeks 2 days postop. Before surgery I had a mini goal in mind: I wanted to lose the weight of my granddaughter. At the time she weighed 45 pounds (she's 6). I did not give myself a time limit because,, frankly, I was not sure how fast or slow the weight would come off this time.
 
After the dreaded "three week stall," which, appropriately, lasted almost 3 weeks, I was not sure I would EVER reach this goal. I was wrong. I am now 45 pounds down. WOOT!
 
Unfortunately, my granddaughter hit a growth spurt these past few months and she now weighs 49 pounds. Still, MY goal has been reached. I expect to lose another 4 pounds in the next week or 2 so then I will feel another small victory.
 
Next actual mini goal: I want to weigh less than my husband, who is 220 pounds. I am within 5 pounds of what I weighed when we got married 10 years ago, so YAY! All these NSVs are what is keeping me motivated right now, and that is a wonderful feeling. Success is not always measured by the scale but for those times that it is, I am a happy loser!

Hey there!
I'm a 24 years-old Brazilian girl and I'm obese. I'm here to try changing this last part of my self-definition.
It's interesting how it is impossible to define yourself properly. What are the characteristics that make me who I am? Will losing weight redefine how I see myself or who I think I am?
When I was 7, I started having psychiatric issues, such as depression and food addiction, which triggered my weighting problems. Other few psychiatric diagnoses joined this list in the following years, trapping me in a cycle of psychological and physical problems. I have never been able to dissociate mental and physical health in my life. When ever I had a change in one of this parts of life, the other would follow.
Next month I am undergoing a Sleeve Gastrectomy. My aim is to lose weight and brake this cycle (and keep I broken). I know it won't be easy, but if it was easy, we wouldn't need such a drastic action, right?
It's blog is just so I can express myself and organize (or not) my thoughts.
Warning: You might find some posts in Brazilian Portuguese throughout the blog, sorry if you can't understand it, I will probably be too pissed of to write in any other language.
Well, feel free to invade my mind.