Cindy C

Once you move from liquids back to real food your weight loss slows down for a couple weeks. Don't worry, it will pick back up again soon!

I've seen pictures of myself at 2 years old and I was normal sized. By the time I was 3 I was chubby and just kept getting fatter. I was 220 when I got married, 280 with the birth of my first child and over 300 by the time they hit high school. The day my youngest graduated I was 324. My surgery was a week later and I hit Onderland 14 months later. I'm currently 173 and still losing. You can do it too!

LOL!!!! When I read the title, I thought you were considering breast reduction surgery!!! Fear of failure is natural. I'm sure we all experienced it. I know I did. You just have to have faith in yourself and follow your doctor's instructions. (Faith and follow....2 more F's!)

With as shaky as our economy is right now I would find it very difficult to turn my back on 14 grand a year! The new job could also be a stepping stone to bigger and better things. You must have applied for the job for a reason. If it were me, I'd take it!

The elderly are notorious for having constipation problems. I've worked in geriatrics for years and have done this many times with my patients. I've seen it work in as little as 30 minutes. The water is the key. It won't work without it. Diabetic candy is also a good idea!

Still 173.4. No loss this week but no gain either!

Stress can really wreck havoc on you and your body will respond to it. I went almost 2 years only losing about 1 pound a month. I left my highly stressful job in April of this year, lost 6 pounds by May and have continued to lose ever since. I haven't done one thing differently than I had been doing before. I only eliminated the stress. I'm glad you got yours under control. I hope you are able to continue with your weight loss. Good luck.

My doctor did not require a pre-op diet although I took it upon myself to go on one and lost about 15 pounds. My post op diet was 2 weeks of clear liquids followed by 2 weeks of full liquids then gradually added solids. After a fill I am on full liquids for 12-24 hours. I have lost 151 pounds in 3 1/2 years (115 the first year).

Take 2 Tablespoons of Milk of Magnesia and chase it with at least 8-12 ounces of water.

Last night I went out for a drink with my friend who is also banded and has also lost 150 pounds. We saw two 22 year old girls that we both knew so we sat and visited with them. There were 4 men sitting a couple tables away. One of them got up and walked over to our table and said, "I just wanted to tell you that we all agree, you are all absolutely gorgeous!" We thanked him and he went back to his table. The girls were unphased by it but us old broads just looked at each other and grinned!

Thanksgiving is always at my brother's house. He and my sister-in-law are great cooks and it's very hard to not eat myself sick. My solution is I just don't go. I tell them I'll see in December and then I cross the border into Canada where it's not a holiday and I spend the day shopping. I realize that not everyone has the convenience of an international border outside their door but there are other things you can do. Clean and start decorating for Christmas (or Chanukah) or use the opportunity to do some other project you've been putting off. Since my banding, I really enjoy the solitude of Thanksgiving Day and my mother and siblings understand. It also helps that my daughter always spends it with her in-laws and my son is 600 miles away at college and doesn't make the trip home until early December.

Glad it went well for you. A hiatal hernia is when a tear in the diaphragm causes a protrusion in the upper stomach. It's very common and not horribly serious but good you got it fixed!

Have you been drinking through a straw? That sometimes makes me burp!

Non Scale Victory

That's great! Congrats. Those little NSVs really add up!

I've lost weight and regained it so many time I've lost count. Yo-yoing like that is harder on the heart than being obese is. While diet and exercise may be the normal way, losing it and keeping it off is the healthy way. I'd rather be healthy than normal!

You can get a sizer or just put it on a chain and wear it around your neck. Having to wait to put it back on your finger might give you a little added incentive!

Another Michiganian here! I was banded in '08 in Port Huron. Michigan was treating me just fine until the weather shifted. Since my weight loss I freeze all the time. Maybe it's time to move to Tahiti!!!

Hi, Ted. Congrats and good luck on your surgery and journey. I'm not new but I am near you. I live at the East end of 27 mile rd.

The rule with a lapband is nothing bigger than an aspirin. Anything larger should be cut, crushed or in liquid form.

It is absolutely realistic! As for how long it will take, no one can tell you that. Everybody loses at their own speed. It might take you 9 months...it might take you 2 years. It will depend on you. I'm sorry your marriage is failing. Don't let that depress you. That would be counterproductive. Look at it as a new beginning. Maybe when you get yourself on track you and your hubby will reconcile but I firmly believe that if a man can't accept a woman when she's at her worst, he doesn't deserve her when she's at her best. (and visa versa!) While you wait for May, start gradually changing your habits. Start knocking out the bad foods and begin an exercise program. You have 6 months. We all know that drastic changes don't last so go slowly. Cut out one bad food a week and exercise 10 minutes a day. Every week or two cut out another food and add 5 minutes to your exercise. By May you will be so ready for the changes. Good luck to you.

Excellent advice!

I want Frankie!!!!! And I happen to have some 14-16's to get rid of!

173.4 today. Down .4! I'll take it!

100 calorie packs are great but they're soooo expensive! I buy the regular size packages of cookies...crackers...whatever and figure out how many in a 100 calorie serving and put them is zipper bags. It's much cheaper that way!