needtorecover

Yup, this! I have a lap band and my weight loss rate is much slower than someone who had RNY. For one thing, I'm not 100% restricted yet - probably about halfway there as I can still eat ~2500 calories a day. But that's less than my standard 3500 calorie diet so I consider that to be a win either way. It's enough of a difference that I lose about a pound a week. I'd lose about a pound a week through diet and exercise alone. The only difference (right now) is that I'm not suffering like I did before I had my band placed. Weight loss used to be torture. Now it just kind of happens, which is great! I'm looking forward to increased restriction so I can lose weight even faster but for now 1 pound a week is better than 0 pounds a week, or worse, weight gain! Now if you have RNY, you get the benefits of reduced absorption in addition to restriction and that helps the weight come off faster. So yes, it depends on the type of surgery you have. Regardless of what type it is, you will lose weight and just remember that any loss is good. Don't get discouraged if it's not as fast as you hope While it would be absolutely lovely to get to my goal weight in a couple months it just ain't gonna happen. It took a long time for me to get this fat, and it'll take a long time before I'm normal again.

I was visiting my family from out of town last weekend and my mom said "Wow, I cannot believe how much BETTER you look after losing 30 pounds! It's unbelievable! You look soooooooo good!!" To which I responded: "Geez, did I really look that bad before...?" To which my mother responded: "YES!!!!!" My mom was shocked when I reacted poorly - I think she thought she was complimenting me but what I heard was "You were really a fat slob and looked like a wreck and losing weight will make you the loveable, valuable person you've never been as an obese person." If your own mother thinks of you like that, what on earth does the REST of the world think? Kind of shook my confidence. I've always thought I was reasonably attractive, dress nice, take care of my appearance, always clean and presentable... I've only lost ~30 pounds so far. I cringe to think of what kinds of comments I'm going to get in the future as the weight continues to fall off.

Must've felt good to (likely) be the only one not agonizing over the temptation of the donuts. Pre-WLS me would've grabbed two of them and felt guilty about it later. Now you could set a tray of freshly iced donuts straight from the fryer in front of me and I wouldn't be any more interested in them than I would be a slice of white bread. Pretty amazing since donuts were a trigger food for me. I face the donuts every day, too, because of where I work (at a college dorm with a tray of fresh donuts laid out each morning in the dining hall). I walk right past them and get hard boiled eggs and fruit instead feels good!

Ah, but then they'll compare the amount of carbon dioxide that's produced per pound of fat and compare it to the amount of corn products we needed to consume to STAY fat and I'm willing to bet our personal carbon footprint will reduce our individual contributions to climate change, making us greener citizens! Science

I'm going to Cocoa Beach Florida at the end of May (driving from Indiana with a toddler so I'm a little nervous about how that will go). We're stopping in Georgia to go on the Walking Dead tour and I'm excited! Cocoa Beach has been our family vacation spot for many, many years and it's one of my favorite places ever We're planning a cruise for the winter. Still trying to decide between Royal Caribbean and Carnival for the ship... will spend a couple days in Orlando and take our son to Disney World for the first time so that'll be exciting! Otherwise, I'm just looking forward to warm weather back in the Midwest so I can go hiking, pontoon boating, picnicking, and enjoy the outdoor pool again. Summer is my absolute favorite season.

Congrats, and welcome to the other side! Did they give you a picture of your newly placed lap band? They asked if I wanted one so I said sure. It's kind of neat to look at it. I'm sitting here tugging at my loose clothes thanks to my 30 pound weight loss. It's weird feeling uncomfortable in a shirt and jeans because they're too LOOSE rather than too TIGHT. It'll be the first time in years where I'll try on my previous year's summer clothes and have them be too big for me rather than too small like they normally are! Banded living is wonderful!

Lol love it! Really, the only people who *need* to know about your surgery are your doctors so they can provide whatever treatment you need while taking your new stomach/band/sleeve into consideration. I've been open about it with close friends and family because I didn't want to have to deal with their "How did you lose all that weight?!" questions. I've been quiet about it with friends and family I'm not as close to because I don't want to deal with nosy questions like "Are you sure you should be eating that?" or "Why haven't you lost more weight?" There are the well-meaning people in my life and the nosy/intrusive turds who are better kept in the dark.

I've been more conscious of food porn since WLS. It doesn't "get" me the way it used to. All those fast food commercials, pizza commercials, and conveniently timed e-mails from Grub Hub at 11:45 am don't appeal to me near as much as they used to. I'm guilty of being a cruise buffet fatty lol... I'm going on another cruise in the late fall/early winter. I will not be able to eat as much and that's great - like everyone else here, I'll get my "money's worth" by indulging in the tastiest and most expensive dining options! I'm going to very much enjoy the other amenities anyway! Nothing better than hanging out on the deck overlooking the ocean and reading a good book.

Part of the deal with the lap band is frequent follow-up care. Have you seen your surgeon consistently post-op? It's been said many times before but I'll say it again - WLS is not a cure in and of itself, but it is a tool. A very, very powerful tool but it has to be used correctly for it to work. I'm sorry you're unhappy with your experience. I've been very happy myself seeing as I've lost 30 pounds in 3.5 months. I've still not reached 100% restriction yet but I'm getting there and I'm so glad I did this! I hope you find a way to either revise the surgery or remove your band altogether. I highly recommend seeing your doctor.

@@Cervidae - I've been tested up and down, left and right for PCOS! I had an ultrasound to check out my ovaries but there weren't any cysts. I had my blood tested to check for PCOS and it came back negative. All my doctors assumed I had PCOS because I have all the classic symptoms but nope, I'm good in that regard lol... @@Sajijoma - Wow, sounds like you got the short end of the stick Sorry you go through that. My periods aren't super heavy, but they are very painful and fraught with symptoms. I don't know 100% if I'm done having kids... the deal is I agreed to carry one baby and my partner is carrying the other (I'm a lady married to a lady). If for some reason she's incapable of getting pregnant I need to keep my oven fresh in case I have to bake another bun. I'm HOPING I'm done but I can't say for sure that I am. I didn't know you could get your uterine lining removed. I'll probably do that after baby number 2 is born since we don't want more than 2 kids (if we can help it - there's always the risk of multiples when you use artificial insemination with fertility drugs). I also don't want to remove all the parts because of the hormones. My mom had a full hysterectomy when she was 39 because her period pain was unbearable (must be hereditary because I'm the same way). But her hormones were all out of whack because she lost her ovaries. I don't know if I want to rid myself of the organs but it sure would be nice to kill my period forever! Will probably research BC pills to find something that works for me.

Personally, I'd wait until after having kids to do a tummy tuck (unless loose skin is causing you pain or rashes). My post-partum belly looked like a deflated balloon for a few months after I gave birth. It sorted itself out, but with slender women (which you are now - congratulations!) there's usually a little pooch that doesn't go away. After all you've gone through already I'd wait to get that taken care of so you don't get disappointed later on, you know? If your belly skin is already stretched out from previous obesity, pregnancy won't make it worse. Just my 2 cents - never had surgery but I have been pregnant so... there you go.

Rushing my recovery and not respecting that I had major surgery. I kept reading about how having a lap band placed wasn't a big deal, that you're up and about the next day like nothing happened. I made all these plans to visit friends in Chicago, have another friend stay with us for 3 days, invited my cousin and his wife to visit... I was hanging out with my cousin the day after my surgery thinking everything was dandy. We were playing with my son and I was busy making drinks, serving Snacks, and showing him my recent home renovations. When he and his wife left I felt *horrible.* I got a fever and I had to lay down in bed. I couldn't get up or move the next day. I'd seriously over-did it. I was scared I'd gotten an infection and I stopped being so careless. Cancelled my other social plans and ended up sleeping through New Years Eve. But I had to recover. For anyone considering a lap band: IT IS MAJOR SURGERY. Rest. Don't make plans during the first few weeks of recovery because between the healing and not being able to eat any real food, your energy will be very low.

I was really happy when I went shopping last weekend - bought a few shirts that are a size smaller than I normally get. Just bought a new swimsuit from swimsuitsforall.com. I make sure everything I buy is discounted even if it's not the cutest. I am worried about spending a lot of money on clothes I'll only wear for a couple months. My jeans are starting to hang off my butt a little bit and I have to hike them up if I'm walking around too much. I'm hoping I can stretch these jeans until I'm a size 20 because I have a BUNCH of jeans in my "when I finally lose weight" box. I was only a size 18/20 for a year or so because I gained weight over a 3 year period when I went to grad school stress, you know? Glad I got the degree but I don't recommend stress eaters earn a graduate degree part-time while working full-time. Between the takeout and the wine I consumed to cope with reading, writing, and working all the time I ballooned substantially. But hey, speaking of stress eating, it's the most difficult month of the year for me at work and I haven't binged once. I ate a little chocolate cake thingie on Saturday but once I finished it my stomach hurt from the sugar so I didn't eat any other carbs the rest of the day. That's a pretty big deal for me. Usually I'm like a hog at the trough pushing food down my throat to cope with the stress. Not anymore. My new thing is to either sleep, zone out, or shut down. God willing the weather will improve and I can take a walk or a bike ride. Exercise is a much more productive and effective way to cope with stress but because it's been cold and rainy all I do is sit on my butt and either stare into space, watch TV, or read a book. Better than doing that while shoving chips in my mouth! Thank you, Lap Band!

I looooooooove scallops but only buy them when they're on sale because they are quite $$ I love the way they taste alone (slightly sweet with a hint of ocean). I cook them in butter and lightly salt/pepper.

Congratulations!! What a great feeling I'm looking forward to graduating to regular sizes one day. I have learned that I've bumped down a size, from 3X/24 to 2X/22. Still very much plus-sized but less plus-sized than before, so I'll take it!

Hey, this is where I got ordained I've performed 2 marriages so far, and I have my 3rd scheduled this summer. It's pretty handy to be an ordained minister. Oh, and I've done 1 funeral. Maybe I should buy a robe and a stole! It'll go with my Rev. Lindsay badge I purchased for said weddings. I kind of want a Doctor of Immortality degree. I'll get it framed and hang it under my (actual hard-earned) master's degree. Would be a very impressive credential to my students.

One of my biggest fears prior to having surgery was that I was going to miss food. Food has been a source of comfort and pleasure for me my whole life and I was scared that would be taken away and I would be left feeling empty and not knowing how to deal with it. It wasn't until after I had surgery that I realized how much my appetite tortured me. All I thought about was food. When I could get more, what kind I would get, how much I could eat in one sitting, making sure I had more for later... I was always hungry and that's a very bothersome feeling. Now I'm satisfied with eating so much less, and I think about it less, and I find OTHER things bring me even MORE happiness, comfort, and pleasure than food. I enjoy life more without this vice following me everywhere. The weight is dropping off me without the pain and suffering I normally endured through dieting alone. I do have moments where I get a little disappointed that I can't eat more because it tastes so good and sometimes I just want that distended feeling of a very full tummy (normally when I'm experiencing a lot of stress) but it wasn't like before when I *literally* couldn't stop even if I told myself to. I just stop organically and put the rest away for later. It is scary but I don't know many people who regret having the surgery. Most people say their biggest regret is not doing it sooner Good luck!

@@CowgirlJane - Wow, you have every right to be offended! That's horrible! hair yanking is something 10 year old boys do and even then their parents should teach them that it's disrespectful to manhandle a female against her will. I saw a TV show where women sexually harassed men (the same way they harass us) and sadly it didn't bother them at all. They thought it was funny. I think that's why they just don't get it.

@@OKCPirate I appreciate any man who recognizes and understands our fears and defensiveness. So, thank you! What would really help is if you (or any man) would intervene if you see a woman being harassed. Whether it's an aggressive car salesman cornering her in a dealership, a drunk yelling gross things at her, a man following her, or a cat-caller... just tell him to knock it off. I've been in all those situations and I would have loved it if someone noticed and stood up for me. And studies show men will stop if another man tells him to but will retaliate if his victim speaks up.

Thanks for inviting ladies to chime in! I can attest to being scared all the time. It sucks. Being a woman means you're always wearing a target. Men make me feel unsafe, especially in large groups or when they're obviously drunk. I cross streets to avoid men who are talking loudly or shouting at each other. I'm always scared in parking garages. I'm scared when I walk alone at night. Sometimes I ask for an escort when I leave the grocery store after 11 pm because there are always men hanging out in the parking lot and I don't know what they're going to do to me. I've been grabbed before. I've been cat-called. I've had men get too close and touch me inappropriately. And I'm not even that particularly noticeable, just a plain fat woman but I'm STILL a target. I don't like feeling this way because there are plenty of good, decent men out there. The majority are good, in fact, and I know that. But when a man asks me for help or talks to me when I'm alone and no one else is around I get really uncomfortable and try to back away. Part of it's also the sensationalizing of kidnappings, murders, and domestic violence towards women. You read these horrible stories about men kidnapping girls and women and doing awful things to them. I read stories about boyfriends, uncles, husbands, fathers stomping on babies or beating them to death while the mother helplessly watches. It makes my skin crawl. Then there are the pedophiles. 9.5/10 times they are men. I'm very wary of unknown men around my baby. Maybe not all women feel this way, but I do - I've had some bad experiences that have made me learn to always be defensive. I'm glad I'm raising a little boy so I can send another good man out into society who will make the women in his life feel safe with him.

Morgan killing someone was the only truly good part of this episode. Well, aside from Abraham's classic one-liners. As far as character and plot development, Morgan shooting someone was the really interesting moment, along with the mystery horsemen who turned up immediately after (Hilltop residents maybe?). That was WAY more interesting than the over-hyped Negan reveal and his 30 minutes snore-fest of a speech. I thought the speech was terrifying!! My jaw dropped. Guess it had the effect they were looking for on me but I'm an easy target I kept expecting a riot to break loose but then Negan swung the bat and I shouted "NO!" I do love a good cliff-hanger though. I guess Fear The Walking Dead will have to get me through for now. It's cool to see how it all started but I think the family they used was too dysfunctional. Kind of detracted from the zombie apocalypse. It would have been way more sinister if the family was more likeable.

@@Christinamo7 - I should clarify when I mean "attractive" I don't mean "sexy." I know there are men who think I'm very sexy as a fat woman, especially when I go out in full make-up and wear a low-cut shirt. I mean the general "You're an acceptable person for who you are and your fat doesn't diminish you pretty blue eyes, full curly hair, clear skin, and fabulous style." But again, that is dreamland as many people see fat and they think "sloppy, lazy, glutton, greedy" regardless of how you present yourself otherwise, and that's what I mean by obese people are generally degraded by society. It is unfair but it is what it is. People will probably treat me better when I'm thinner. I'll probably have better career prospects. I'll probably attract more attention and people will probably respect me more. I hate that. I wish people would give me the same chances now at my weight that they will when I'm at my ideal BMI. I'll still be the same person, just in a smaller and healthier package. There's this strong moral bias that favors the slender. It's the one thing I do agree with on the Fat Acceptance movement, and I hope it changes some minds about obese people and their value in our society. @@Threetimesacharm - My mom's struggled with her weight her whole life. She's never been obese but she is overweight and I know she has serious self-esteem issues which is why I try my best to be patient with her when she makes offensive comments. She's said plenty of offensive things in my life about my weight and appearance and it drives me nuts. But all this stems from her own weight and self-esteem issues. She's been "on a diet" my entire life. That sets an incredibly awful precedent for children, I've learned, and my kids will never hear me berate my body or see me starve myself or exercise to exhaustion. I want them to see a happy mom who eats well and moves for pleasure so they follow my example.

My guess is Daryl - I saw a commercial for a spinoff he's starring in and I've heard rumors he's leaving the show. I was emotionally prepared to lose him after the last episode so I'm sort of hoping it was him. But then, he's the consummate survivor so it would suck to see him die, too Either way, I am upset that they're killing off a main character. I've been cheering everyone on since Rick met Morgan! I literally almost threw up when Sophie became a zombie. That was just tragic. On another note, I'm going on The Walking Dead tour in Georgia next month as a pit-stop on our way to Florida! So excited!!! I'm a big fan.

@@KindaFamiliar - No worries On a scale of 1-10 on how offensive I found my mom's comment to be I'd rate it as a 2. I was a little miffed but that's the extent of it. I'm just not looking forward to what other people have to say about my weight loss. You are correct in that some folks love attention, and others hate it. I don't mind benign or supportive comments like saying I look healthier, happier, must feel good, etc. But I get annoyed when folks comment on my appearance. Personally, I do not find obesity unattractive the way many people do. If I could be fat and feel light, energetic, and healthy then I wouldn't mind the pudgy look! I do hate how difficult it is to find nice clothes as a fat lady but that's my primary complaint. I guess I wish people would perceive me as attractive whether I'm fit or fat but that's very far-fetched and I understand that. I will very likely be perceived as attractive when I'm at a normal weight, as many of you are experiencing with your weight loss (male and female alike). I accept that it is inevitable but I will still probably resent it. Just my own personal issue and my anger with society for degrading the obese population.

Interesting topic for us "losers" to read, too! I aspire to become number 3 myself. It's never been my goal to be rail thin with <15% body fat... I want to be healthy AND happy. When I was thin in the past, I was kind of miserable because I subsisted on plain canned tuna, Diet Pepsi, and zero carb bread. I was skinny but my diet was bland and kind of awful. My hope is that I'll be able to just eat like a normal person without wanting to shovel tons of food in my face.