SkyeBlu

So I realize that I am 2 years post banding but this weekend it dawned on me my banding is not a part-time gig. I know that my learning curve is a bit handicapped because of the events over the past 2 years and I am just now having the time to evaluate and deal with the changes I need to make...granted this is just an excuse again but I can see how I got a bit lost. I can't take week-ends off or a "band-vacation" I have to make this a full-time life-time commitment. This is the real deal! I know the band is reversable but the whole idea is lifestyle changes for the good! I have total control of how I do or don't work with my band, glad i'm finally getting the jist of how amazing this tool really is! I went back and read "The Sucess Habits of Weight-Loss Surgery Patients" By Colleen Cook and she talks about how for Obese people that food is our "drug" that it is a lifetime addiction that we need to deal with. I FINALLY had my "addicts" enlightenment.... This is the moment where you don't just say "yeah yeah I have a problem" but you say..."I am changing the problem from here on out every day of my life". My brother was a heroin addict and knew for years he had a problem but wasn't ready to say NO then one day he woke up and said NO MORE, through a series of steps he got clean and stays clean. He has been sober for almost a decade but says there is not a morning that doesn't go by where he doesn't wake up and think about drugs...he just has to remind himself of where he is. I finally had my day where I woke up and said NO MORE, I realized I had a problem with food, thus the banding, but didn't really think about the processes I would have to go through mentally to say NO to food and the damage it was doing to my body. Step by step day by day I am making the mental changes to accept my addiction to food and I know that I am my worst enemy and my best friend I just need to respect myself. I am reminding myself each morning of how far I have come. Rehab no matter what the addiction is not an easy thing...glad I have a support system!

This is a bit long but I need to put it in print..... I have been lurking in the shadows reading every post on band complications and all the stuff that can and does go wrong. The reason for this is that I have not lost a pound in almost a year and for the last 6 months I have had this funky at times horrible pain in my stomach, I get raging headaches and I feel like general crud 90% of the time. I kept thinking what is wrong with my band why isn't it working. Then the other day I had an epiphany....ok it was really a reflection on a conversation with Dr. Billy, but it got me back on track....he said that the band is just a tool, it isn't a magic bullet, but just a simple tool that I can choose to use or not. So I sat down and really thought about my pain, my lack of weight loss and my feeling of overall icky. Here is what I came up with...I'm not using my tool right. My issue isn't with my band but in my head. Bummer!! So here is what I have to work on..... I have plenty of restiction but eat until I am FULL thus giving myself a tummy ache because i'm eating myself sick...fortunately for the restriction I can't eat tons or I would be back where I was when I started this venture. So back to measuring my portions, using my small plate and fork I go. Also, knowing when I am "almost" full. I'm not chewing as well as I should...bad bad me! I'm allergic to wheat and corn so "um hello" the nachos, sandwiches and pizza need to stop effective immediately. buh bye headaches! Soda... I was drinking Diet Pepsi heard it was bad so moved to regular Coke....Sad but true this has been my path Alcohol...margaritas are my true weekness....i'm going to limit myself to one a week on Sundays when we bbq. Visiting lapband talk....I stopped...it's like not talking to that good friend that helps keep you on track....stop smacking me upside the head..I am back and yes I will listen! I am putting myself on a quasi-first month diet...back to soft foods, lots of protien shakes and the like and i'm going to give my tummy a few weeks to heal from the mess I am sure I made of it. And for the record I started 2 days ago and have already lost 2 lbs and feel so much better! Whatever my excuse is work, stress, family issues etc....I lost track of the whole point and reverted back to my old ways. I am just thankfull I realized it before I made myself sick! Thanks for listening and hopefully I stop "struggling" and move forward!

Not sure what my malfuntion is but wow I am not motivated to do much of anything! I have so much to do before I leave for Phoenix in the morning and it's just not happening. I even have the munchies supper bad. What am I so stressed out about? GEEZE :cursing: I actually really want to go for a walk but it is so bloody hot here all the sudden. I don't mind the heat when I have an adaptation period but it went from the mid 60's to the 90's in a matter of a week! Here I am whining about waling and my poor hubby has to be melting in all of his gear. I need to get a grip. It should cool off in a few hours I will have to go pound some pavement then! :biggrin:

Not sure what my malfuntion is but wow I am not motivated to do much of anything! I have so much to do before I leave for Phoenix in the morning and it's just not happening. I even have the munchies supper bad. What am I so stressed out about? GEEZE :tt1: I actually really want to go for a walk but it is so bloody hot here all the sudden. I don't mind the heat when I have an adaptation period but it went from the mid 60's to the 90's in a matter of a week! Here I am whining about waling and my poor hubby has to be melting in all of his gear. I need to get a grip. It should cool off in a few hours I will have to go pound some pavement then! :cool:

Today I was walking and decided on a goal for myself.....I can't cut my hair until I reach 140. This is a biggie for me becuase I'm not into much girlie stuff but I love love love my short sassy hair. It is super easy for me to do and I know that if I have to "do" my hair every single day it will keep me on track from straying. Just a few weeks of dealing with my out of control mop and I will be moving and groving my a$$ extra hard to get the mop off my head!! I even told my kids and made a sign for my cork board to remind me every day why I am doing this.

Kat...Take a deep cleansing breath! You are doing an awesome job just by realizing that you need the help! I was banded Feb 10 ,2006 on March 19, 2006 my husband was diagnosed with Cancer....my stress level hit mach 9!! The things that kept me going were these.... I kept reminding myself that life is real, things happen and sometimes those things are messy and ugly. All we can do is move forward and eating everything that isn't bolted down is not going to make it all better. If I felt like losing my mind (aka...eating everything in sight) I would do one of the following... walk around the block real quick drink a bunch of Water allow myself a small snack that was ok (100 calorie pack etc) if I was hungry turn up some music that made me want to dance turn on some music that made me mellow Put a pillow over my face and scream as loud as I could Find those things that you can do that don't involve icky foods. Also stick to your guns! I learned from personal experience that one "this cookie won't matter" leads to two...then three...see a pattern here? Your doing great keep up the great work and don't let the jerks get you down!!

Today I was walking and decided on a goal for myself.....I can't cut my hair until I reach 140. This is a biggie for me becuase I'm not into much girlie stuff but I love love love my short sassy hair. It is super easy for me to do and I know that if I have to "do" my hair every single day it will keep me on track from straying. Just a few weeks of dealing with my out of control mop and I will be moving and groving my a$$ extra hard to get the mop off my head!! I even told my kids and made a sign for my cork board to remind me every day why I am doing this.

You are in for a bit of a ride when it comes to the world of Cancer. Please remember to eat well and treat your body well! I can reccomend some great books that range from diet to just good motivation if you would like just e-mail me. cessairskye@yahoo.com I personally have not battled Cancer but have delt with it very closely in the past years with parents, grandparents and most recently a very aggressive case of colon cancer with my husband. Skye

What did the doctor say after your trip there?

Ummm....I'm going to say NO GO on smoking at all!! Reason #1 and most important...THE MUNCHIES ARE BAD after you have been banded! It defeats the entire process you are going through. I don't mean to sound harsh but thinking this way is going to be one of the things you HAVE to change to make your band successfull. There is a reason they have legalized smoking in some areas for cancer patients...it makes them eat. Just say no to the green stuff!

With my renewed attitude towards my band and my journey I have been really attacking some issues and various things in my life. Durring this process I pulled out old photos of myself some from 20 years ago when I was in High school and some from less than 5 years ago when I was at my all time high of 218 lbs. I was only a bit overweight in my late teens but you can see the extra 10-15 in the pictures. I decided to up the ante in my weight loss journey and put my goal weight to 125'sh from the 140'ish it was at. This barely puts me in the healthy BMI class (i'm 5 foot nothing) at 24.4 but am not scared of heading towards that number for the first time in probably 20 years. Soooo...to solidify my goal I went into my profile and changed my ticker and goals...after it was posted I read the numbers. When I reach goal I will have lost 93lbs. The enormity of that number left me feeling as if I had been socked in the stomach. For my height that is an entire another whole person that I have been tugging and trudgeing along with in life. I also recognized the other numbers....I have lost 57 lbs....and only have 36 lbs left to go. I am almost dumbfounded at the impact those number are having on me at this moment. I want to cheer for my success and cry for my letting myself get to where I was. It freaks me out that I can honestly think about wearing sleak sexy clothing that I used to envy. I no longer have an excuse. What a head trip my past has played on me. I feel free of many demons and for some reason it terrifies me. Is it because I now am willing to accept full responsiblity for my life and my actions where as before I didn't and would blame on anything I could?

Hello to my fellow Reno'ites :thumbs_up: I was banded by Dr. Billy in Truckee and still go see him there for fills and check-ups. If you end up going to see him he is an excelent bariatric doctor he has been doing lap-bands longer than most docs on the west coast and even trained most of the docs at Western Surgical on the technique. His staff is super sweet and supportive too! One warning, he is very very no nonsense! Has a great bedside manner to him but doesn't sugarcoat anything. Dr. Sasse...that man has a very special place in my heart and always will! He preformed my husbands emergency apendectomy then had to be the one to tell us it was actually an agressive form of cancer and did his hemi-colectomy 2 days later. He is a phenominal surgeon and has the most amazing bedside manner I have ever encountered in my life. My mom calls him "Dr. Howser" because he looks 12 :party: hehe Nice to see some local faces on here :frown:

They just like to jump on any behavior that is not considered "normal" (what ever the hell normal is). They sensationalize the fact that she is being "cozy" with her new bff but they make little mention about the fact that she is mellowing out a bit, maybe if she can just be "herself" for once she won't have to act out like the constant obnoxious party child that she normal does.

You say that you are good in the am and the afternoon...Take a look at when you are hungry in the eveing, is it when you are sitting down to watch tv, is this a time you would normally munch and munch? A big one for me was bordom or stress eating simply because I could. I realized most of the time I wasn't really hungry but had the munchies from years of habit. There are time you can be honestly hungry though (I know I do get that way) to test if I am munchie hungry or in need of sustinance I drink a bunch of Water if that doesn't do it then I am hungry and I have a small treat/meal like a yogurt, a really yummy chocolate protien shake, or 1/2 of one of my favorite Protein bars etc. Also, if you are genuinely getting hungry quicker on some nights and not others look at what you ate, I know some foods go through me quicker and I crash if I inadvertanly ate too much carbs. There is so much to learn it is amazing! And by the way....AWESOME on the 22lbs lost!!! :thumbs_up: If you keep up that pace you could be down over 100lbs by your bandaversary! Keep up the great work!

Don't freak out :cool: your body is going through so many changes right now it will change day to day until you get a good groove going. As Amanda says, listen to your doctor and stick with the program he lined up for you. Water weight counts for alot too, weather, high and low pressure systems etc can make you fluxuate a pound or two. Keep on track it sounds like you are doing great....20lbs WOW that is a great start to the new skinnier you!

With my renewed attitude towards my band and my journey I have been really attacking some issues and various things in my life. Durring this process I pulled out old photos of myself some from 20 years ago when I was in High school and some from less than 5 years ago when I was at my all time high of 218 lbs. I was only a bit overweight in my late teens but you can see the extra 10-15 in the pictures. I decided to up the ante in my weight loss journey and put my goal weight to 125'sh from the 140'ish it was at. This barely puts me in the healthy BMI class (i'm 5 foot nothing) at 24.4 but am not scared of heading towards that number for the first time in probably 20 years. Soooo...to solidify my goal I went into my profile and changed my ticker and goals...after it was posted I read the numbers. When I reach goal I will have lost 93lbs. The enormity of that number left me feeling as if I had been socked in the stomach. For my height that is an entire another whole person that I have been tugging and trudgeing along with in life. I also recognized the other numbers....I have lost 57 lbs....and only have 36 lbs left to go. I am almost dumbfounded at the impact those number are having on me at this moment. I want to cheer for my success and cry for my letting myself get to where I was. It freaks me out that I can honestly think about wearing sleak sexy clothing that I used to envy. I no longer have an excuse. What a head trip my past has played on me. I feel free of many demons and for some reason it terrifies me. Is it because I now am willing to accept full responsiblity for my life and my actions where as before I didn't and would blame on anything I could?

This is a hard one....working that many hours alone drags our bodies down then add in hunger it can be a recipie for disaster. Something that I found saves me is having a small snack on the trip home. Something small like a portion of a power bar, some beef Jerky a few small chunks of cheese. Enogh to kill the "I want to gnaw your face off hunger" so that when I walk in the door i'm not overdoing it becuase I just want food. That way I am able to be more objective about what I eat. Then, on long work days I personally don't exercise most of the time, what I do is stretch....I may just lay on the floor and relax stretch and not get crazy others I end up in a full on yoga routine. The stretching helps calm me down and get me back on me/home mode. Good luck!

So I realize that I am 2 years post banding but this weekend it dawned on me my banding is not a part-time gig. I know that my learning curve is a bit handicapped because of the events over the past 2 years and I am just now having the time to evaluate and deal with the changes I need to make...granted this is just an excuse again but I can see how I got a bit lost. I can't take week-ends off or a "band-vacation" I have to make this a full-time life-time commitment. This is the real deal! I know the band is reversable but the whole idea is lifestyle changes for the good! I have total control of how I do or don't work with my band, glad i'm finally getting the jist of how amazing this tool really is! I went back and read "The Sucess Habits of Weight-Loss Surgery Patients" By Colleen Cook and she talks about how for Obese people that food is our "drug" that it is a lifetime addiction that we need to deal with. I FINALLY had my "addicts" enlightenment.... This is the moment where you don't just say "yeah yeah I have a problem" but you say..."I am changing the problem from here on out every day of my life". My brother was a heroin addict and knew for years he had a problem but wasn't ready to say NO then one day he woke up and said NO MORE, through a series of steps he got clean and stays clean. He has been sober for almost a decade but says there is not a morning that doesn't go by where he doesn't wake up and think about drugs...he just has to remind himself of where he is. I finally had my day where I woke up and said NO MORE, I realized I had a problem with food, thus the banding, but didn't really think about the processes I would have to go through mentally to say NO to food and the damage it was doing to my body. Step by step day by day I am making the mental changes to accept my addiction to food and I know that I am my worst enemy and my best friend I just need to respect myself. I am reminding myself each morning of how far I have come. Rehab no matter what the addiction is not an easy thing...glad I have a support system!

I am having one of those weeks where I just don't want to talk to anyone or be social and I deffinately don't want to put on make-up do my hair and get foofied up....I really want to just hide, put on my grubbies and work in my yard (I did this yesterday and it was heaven) unfortunately I had 2 seperate networking events today and have one tomorrow as well as a luncheon. No hiding for me :thumbup: The second event was fine enough ok ok I had a decent time but when I was done I wanted to go home and be LEFT ALONE I pull up in front of the house and 2 of my new neighbors kids as well as the 3 from next door to them were sitting in my driveway, as soon as I get out of the truck I get a barrage of "why is there a cop in there, whats wrong with you guys?", "you have a cop in your house", "Why does a cop always go in that garage?" (fyi...hubby is a city police officer) and so on...THEN mom and dad decide to come over and want to chat...and so does the guy next to them...ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME?!?!:thumbup: The people around us have said nay more than Hi with a friendly wave for years (we like to keep to ourselves after some bad neighbor experiences years back) and these idiots move in and all the sudden I have to play susie smiles....I don't think so...Homie don't play that! I just want to be left to my quiet self! Hubby and I decided it was best for all parties involved (including our kids) to get mom out and away, so we went to dinner and stayed out until everyone was inside and down for the day! GADS! On a GREAT note...at the second networking event, the theme was "chocolate" AND I didn't eat one single tiny piece!! I knew I was stressed and made sure I didn't go near it so I didn't emotionally eat! :tt2:

I am having one of those weeks where I just don't want to talk to anyone or be social and I deffinately don't want to put on make-up do my hair and get foofied up....I really want to just hide, put on my grubbies and work in my yard (I did this yesterday and it was heaven) unfortunately I had 2 seperate networking events today and have one tomorrow as well as a luncheon. No hiding for me :mad: The second event was fine enough ok ok I had a decent time but when I was done I wanted to go home and be LEFT ALONE I pull up in front of the house and 2 of my new neighbors kids as well as the 3 from next door to them were sitting in my driveway, as soon as I get out of the truck I get a barrage of "why is there a cop in there, whats wrong with you guys?", "you have a cop in your house", "Why does a cop always go in that garage?" (fyi...hubby is a city police officer) and so on...THEN mom and dad decide to come over and want to chat...and so does the guy next to them...ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME?!?!:crying: The people around us have said nay more than Hi with a friendly wave for years (we like to keep to ourselves after some bad neighbor experiences years back) and these idiots move in and all the sudden I have to play susie smiles....I don't think so...Homie don't play that! I just want to be left to my quiet self! Hubby and I decided it was best for all parties involved (including our kids) to get mom out and away, so we went to dinner and stayed out until everyone was inside and down for the day! GADS! On a GREAT note...at the second networking event, the theme was "chocolate" AND I didn't eat one single tiny piece!! I knew I was stressed and made sure I didn't go near it so I didn't emotionally eat! :thumbup: