willowcat

Some people I told "how much" and with some people (who I thought were just blabber-mouths and only wanted a juicy gossip tidbit to pass around--you know who those people are!) I'd just laugh and say "Oh come on, you know you can't ask a lady her age or her wieght!" That aways made them laugh, but they also never asked me again.

When I'm not too tight, these work for me: very soft pears, cooked apples, applesauce, ripe kiwi, ripe bananas, ripe peaches (blanch the skin off first), ripe strawberries, ripe cantalope. The riper the better and chew, chew, chew. I found that if the fruit wasn't really ripe, I tended to chew it into smaller pieces, but then those pieces were so slippery that they would slide down my throat before they were chewed enough--and then the little chunks would get stuck. I cannot eat mangos--too fiberous--nor grapes or blueberries--the skins just don't get through no matter how much I chew.

You are looking FANTASTIC! Look at those beautiful collar bones!

LOL! I've always had the classic "pear shape" too. When I was in my 20's I would look at my thighs and think that they looked like the thighs of a 40-year old (I even had a "boyfriend" once tell me that I looked good "from the waist up" grrrr!). I hoped that eventually the rest of my body would catch up and everything would "match." Now I'm nearly 50 and I have the thighs of a 70-year old! No matching body parts for me! LOL! I guess that's why when I kept loosing weight and I started really seeing old lady thighs, I just wasn't ready to accept that. Time for gentle acceptance. I'm glad my legs work and are no longer in pain.

Violet, At 24, you're still young enough for everything to snap back--glad you were able to get help at such a young age! I only was able to lose the 112 lbs because I did exercise--a lot. Thanks for posting. Hope your mom finds some serenity or some other solution; ten years is too long to hate your body. Willowcat

Oops--I was trying to quote Party--and something went wrong. Thanks Party for the info on your surgeon. I'm not sure I want all of that surgery, but I'm so glad it has been working out for you! . Congrats on your weight loss! Who knows, I might change my mind about surgery someday, but gaining weight is definitely not the way to handle the old lady thighs.

Here's another site with a different idea. The portions are etched into the bowl and plate--so it looks more like a design (at least it does on the bowl--not so much on the plate though)http://www.360-5.com/Pages/CCWProductDetails.aspx?category=PortionControl&cat=WellnessCatalog&pid=853103003030&002=2128102&004=2429745548&005=189170765&006=10243900748&007=SearchMobile&008=&gclid=CIq15-a6060CFULAKgod3DzklA

I found an interesting site that makes attractive portion control plates that don't really look like anything but a pretty plate. They have designs on them that are different sizes for carb, protirn, and veggies. The person who makes their own pottery could do something similar i think. Pretty as well as functional is important to me. I thought it was a clever idea, but my husband said it just looked like a plate. Exactly! http://www.slimware.com/

Mimi, Thanks so much for posting! Yea for "old lady" thighs (good god, I never thought I'd say THAT!)! Congratulations on your weight loss!

Yes it works. It works because it works with you rather than against you. It lowers the number of calories that you take in--and in the "green zone" you feel satieted on a relatively small amount of food. You still have to control what goes in your mouth though--milkshakes, candy bars, icecream, liquor, sugary drinks all slide past the band without filling you up on anything but calories. If you choose exercise, you use more calories and lose more pounds. Simple math (mostly--except when you eat for any other reason other than being hungry--the band doesn't stop that). My insurance company made me pay half of the cost of surgery--best $9000 I ever spent (ok, the safari in Africa was pretty amazing too)! I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Thanks! I like that it's so visual. Chewing each biteful 30 times works too--when I remember to count that is. It's so hard to learn new habits--my whole family is definitely part of the speed-eating team! Gulp! Gulp! Gulp! haha! I'm going to look online for a chew-timer. Thanks again! Willow

Joan, How do you use the 30 second egg timer? I think my two partial unfills were possibly due more to my chewing habits than to being too tight (though one of the medicines I take may have also been the culprit). Do you set the timer everytime you take a bite? Willow

Maintaining is way harder than losing was! This last year, I had trouble with quite a bit of PBing and have had 2 partial unfills. I've also been less-than-ideal when it comes to exercising. I've gained 10 lbs from my lowest. I was getting all poopie about it, and my husband said that really now, given this current level of fill and current level of exercise that it only makes sense that my weight would go up. He made it sound like a simple math problem that was just a fact--and not a judgement of my character. Does that make sense? You're down 40 lbs right now from your high. That's 40 lbs your feet and knees don't have to deal with anymore. Get some grocery bags and fill them up with heavy stuff until you've got 40 lbs total in them (that would be 8 of the 5lb. bags of sugar!). Walk around carrying those bags--especially up some stairs! Appreciate what you don't have anymore! Go back to your lapband doctor--he's seen it all before--and if he's worth anything he knows it's not his job to judge you, but to help you. Hopefully, that's why he went into bariatric medicine. If he's nasty, that's says more about him than about you--time for a new doctor, too! Numbers suck. Don't get caught up in them. When our self-worth is tied to our weight--or a number on the scale!--then we forget that we're beautiful and deserving. You deserve to get the help you need. Go see your doctor. Talk to yourself lovingly. Hang in there.

I miss connecting with people who were banded with me--it's a tenuous connection, but still a connection. Yesterday was my two-year bandiversary. I remember how scared I was--of the surgery and also of the possibility of failing once again at losing weight. It's been an up and down journey, but I'm happy that I decided to take this trip. It has changed my life. How's it going for the rest of you? Happy bandiversary this month to all of you!

Which direction do you wipe after peeing? I know that you're "supposed to " wipe from front to back, but when I was at my highest weight, honestly, it was a hard enough reach just to wipe my booty--no way could I reach behind and under to wipe from front to back after peeing. After losing a lot of weight, everything shrinks (including the distance between the two places?). Out of habit, I still wipe from back to front. I'm asking this totally weird question because lately I've been having a string of yeast infections--which I almost never have--and I'm beginning to wonder if my wiping habits are to blame. I know there are a lot of possible causes for yeast infections, and if I get one more, I won't treat it over-the-counter but will go to the doctor's. PS. This gives me the skeevies just writing this, but if not here, then where?

That's why my very first time was anal--there was no way I wanted to end up pregnant! My dear husband (who's a bit straight laced) still finds it hard to believe: "You lost your virginity that way?!" BTW: I liked it And...I like it when the doctor has to stick his finger up my bum as part of the yearly exam (he says,"here comes the worst part"--little does he know that I like it! ) My husband is an "only for out, not for in" guy. Bum-mer (wink)

Thank god for the band--it has helped me deal with the physical part of eating less! I still struggle with the mental part of eating less, though. I thought I'd share two resources that have really helped me recently: *Mindful Eating-A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food (by Jan Chozen Bays, MD) *50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food (By Susan Albers, PSY.D.) Good luck.

When I read "in case anyone is interested," I just had to laugh--of course we're all interested! And you look FANTASTIC! Thanks so much for sharing your before and after pics--before I got banded it was pictures like yours that gave me hope that losing a lot of weight really was possible and not just a pipe dream. Congrats!

I've always donated clothes that don't fit--when I was going "up" and now that I've come "down." It's not good for your self-esteem to have clothes around that don't fit. Break with the old and embrace the new.

Thought I would just share something that has really helped me lately. I'd been having lots of trouble being "too tight", and had two partial unfills--still with problems. I realize now that I'm a gulper when it comes to eating. I thought that I was chewing enough (compared to my old ways, I was, but not enough for the band). Then, I was reading a book called Mindful Eating (which I would highly recommend by the way), and the author talked about "Fletcherizing' as a way to be mindful of the food in your mouth. Fletcher lived at the turn of the century (1900) and lost 40 pounds by chewing each mouthful 32 times (I found out later on the internet that he also spit out his food before eating it--he erroneously thought you could get enough "micro nutrients" just from the well-chewed food being in your mouth--no wonder he lost weight--he didn't actually eat!), BUT I tried counting my chews (and swallowing!) and found out that if I did indeed chew each mouthful at least 30 times, that I was no longer getting stuck. I was also able to savor the taste and textures of my food; I was able to dramatically lengthen my meal times; I was able to actually eat less and feel fuller and more satisfied! So "count me in" as a counter! For me, it's given me something tangible to help me follow the band rules of "chew, chew, chew, and chew some more). Also, I'm not afraid of losing my band anymore--whew!

With apologies to Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr for corrupting his incredible words: I have a dream, that today, one day, my three children will be judged by the quality of their character rather than by the size of their bodies. Everyone wants to be valued for who they truly are on the inside (that's one of the reasons I love the movie Shallow Hal--it wasn't just about the girl being fat; it was also about others who were beautiful people on the inside but with "unattractive" outsides--Hal saw them as beautiful too). The people who've shared your photos and also the people at work can't help but look at your outsides and think it's a reflection of who you are--that's all they know; that's our whole society; that's human. Good for you, though, for drawing a line with your manager about her "work on your insides" comment (isn't it funny that the very thing that is someone's own problem is the very thing they see--or think they see--in others?! If SHE had been working on her insides, she would have known better than to say a thing like that to you). People are people. You've got no controll over them--only over yourself and your reaction to them. Decide whether confronting your bosses about their inappropriate comments or ignoring their inappropriate comments feels right to you and act on that from a position of strength. Neither way is "right." Eventually, though, I suspect that you may need to say to these people: "Thank you for your support as I've worked hard to lose so much weight, and now I need to ask that my weight--current and past--not be a topic of discussion at work. Thanks for understanding." And as for FB, well, you learned the hard way that nothing on there is really "private" and only shared with contacts of your choosing. You might want to review your postings on FB--if you don't want the whole world (literally!) to have access to something on your profile, better to delete it.

Trisha, Hi! I haven't been on here in such a LONG time that I didn't know about all of your problems. Getting a new surgeon sounds like it was a smart thing to do for yourself. How has everything gone? Are you rebanded or sleeved now? I'm glad your daughter is having everything go well. Go easy on yourself, though. You didn't ask for your spleen and stomach to adhere to each other! After months of being too tight, I'm mostly unfilled and still getting stuck every now and then. Still, being able to actually EAT again feels so good and is such a relief. I hope all is well with you. Willowcat

Wow! I just noticed your weightloss ticker--awesome! I remember when you were just getting ready to have the band--and it doesn't seem like it was even a year ago--now look at you with just 33 lbs to go! I'd say that's pretty great (even if this "great guy" thread wasn't about you--ha ha!)! Congratulations!

Nice thread! My husband also has been wonderful every step of the way! I am so thankful for him. Whenever I got pouty, worried, scared, upset, doubtful, etc., with the pre-op diet, the surgery, and post banding living, he's always said something to help put me back on track. He's celebrated with me with every pound lost (but in a good way, not like "it's about time you're losing all that weight"--he was happy I was happy!). The only thing he doesn't like is when I've had to pb in front of him--that grosses him out (heck, it grosses me out too!).