Mrs Husker

Grace, This is something that I fear. I haven’t been sick since banding last March. But I would try Mary’s advice and try sucking on popsicles and ice chips. Good luck and hope you feel better soon

When I started this journey, I thought MO people where like 500 lbs or greater. Little did I realize that at 5’ even, 235 lbs, my BMI was 45. Now that I am down 45 lbs, I am still at 34. I have to get to the 150’s before I am considered just overweight. 28 more lbs to go. But it wasn’t my BMI that got me really going on getting the band. It was the day my doctors office called to let me know that I was diabetic and had to go on meds. I curled up in bed and cried thinking “how could you do this to yourself?” I was a pathetic mess. I already had problems with my kidneys and knew then and there that something had to be done.

WOW! It looks like everyone is doing great. Way to go Texas, Whitepants and Jeni. I am thinking about a fill in Feb. I don’t eat a lot but I am not staying full. We will see. It could just be the weather and that I am letting head hunger get to me. Juli-Sound like you had a fun trip. We are trying to plan something for this summer, but no one can decide what we want to do or where we want to go. My dh want to take two week and just drive. My dd wants Disney. My ds doesn’t care and I want to either go gold panning, diamond mining or gem hunting. I love treasure hunting trips. Whitepants-I have moments where I want the band to do all the work. Then I realize that it’s not going to. It just seems so hard at times. I know that I need to exercise and watch what I eat and I try to do just that. Then I will have a night (or two) where I just do want to do it. It’s like before banding, when I would get tired of dieting and exercising. Then I remember what a very wise woman told me “YOU HAD SURGERY!!!” That usually will get me up off my butt and back on track. Thanks once again Juli.

I tried to quit pre-op, but also started again post-op. Soaplover-I have a scrip for the Chantix also but haven’t started it yet. Have you had any side effect using it?

You can do it Peggy!! We will be hear to cheer you on!

Whitepants-I didn't do the stages with sparkpeople. I might go back and start thou. The 179 didn't stick around and when it left it took another 1/2 lb with it, so 178.5!! I know that the scale shouldn't be my only motivation, but damn, when it moves I want to do more in the way of exercising. I am hoping by my b-day to be able to wear size 14 all day long. They fit now but are too tight. I only have one pair of 16 and I am getting tired of washing them all the time. Kyethra-I know what you mean about the sagging skin. I don't have a full lenght mirrow in my house, so if I want to know what I look like I have to stand on the side of the tub and use the one over the sink. Decided to check myself out and all I can say is "yuck"! My butt and thighs are the worst. They look like lumpy dough.

My oldest "baby" is 18, he better not make me a grandma any time soon. My other baby is my 12 yo dd. She would love a baby in the house. All the grandbabies are beautiful. You are some lucky women.

Wow, don't check in for a few days and we have grown!! These last few days have been tough. I haven't been making the best band choices. I also haven't exercised since Thur night. Well, back on the "band wagon" first thing in tomorrow. I have the meals for tomorrow planned out and also wrote down when I will exercise. I find that having it in writing makes it easier. I also am on of those people who feel like they have done something it you can check it off a list.

Congrats Kristin!! Now the fun begins. What does your doctor require before surgery? I had to have all types of test and had to see the dietician (sp). They set it up so I had it all done in one day. That was nice but it sure did make for one long day. As for work, I would wait until you had your date. This way you will know what days you are going to need to take off. At first the only person I told at work was my boss. I thought about telling him that I was going to have my gallbladder out, but decided that 1) I don't lie well, 2) I was going to need to take time off for fills and other appts, so I just told him the truth. I had my surgery done on a Wed and was back to work by Monday. Some people needed longer, some shorter time off from work. The time is going to fly by and then you will be on the "band wagon". Congrats again.

I had my surgery March 07 and at that time I had lost 12 lbs. So since surgery I am down 43 lbs, but from Jan 07 I am down 55 lbs. So 10 more days, I will be thinking about you and hope that your recovery is as great as mine was. I can not stress enough how important walking is. Get up and move as much as you can. The first time I got out of bed after surgery, I could only get to the bathroom door and back, but before the night was out, I was walking slow laps up and down the hall in the hospital. Then when I got home, I would walk around the block every few hours. Walking and Gas-X strip, along with my heating pad, kept the pain at bay. The only time I used the pain meds when I got home was the first two night just to help me sleep. Also, hot tea was a God send. Just remember that for the first month or so after surgery is for healing. Don't worry if the scale is not moving, that will come when you start your fills. Once again, best of luck and keep us posted. We are here for you.

P.S. It's flipping cold in Nebraska also.

Sounds like everyone is doing great. I think I am going in for a small fill in Feb. I have been off work since Wed afternoon and don't return until Tue. Ihave not been making the greatest choices food wise and I haven't exercised since Thur night. I will start again tomorrow. I did see 179 on the scale but I don't think it's going to stick around until Monday which I call my official weigh in day. We will see. I haven't seen 179 in over 11 years.

Bonniep, Nothing in this life is easy or a guarantee. Not even the band. The key to having success with the band is knowing before hand that you are going to have to make some changes. It IS a tool and if you don’t work with it, it will not work for you. There are sooooo many people that have had great success with the band on the board, but they made the choice to work with the band. You are going to have to watch what you eat and you are going to have to exercise. The band will not do that for you. Your success is going to depend on you and your commitment to changing you eating and exercising habits. You can succeed. You can do this. Good luck and remember that we are here for you. Traceyslp1, To help you track what you are eating and your exercise, you might want to consider signing up for sparkpeople.com or fitday.com (I use sparkpeople). It is an easy way to see just what you are doing and where you need improvements. Like yesterday, I thought I was doing ok with my calories, but when I logged it in at sparkpeople, I was over my goal for the day. It is easy to do, but logging what you eat helps you keep track and will keep you mindfull of what you are doing. Recommit to yourself and you can do it.

I just wanted to share this with you guys. This weekend, my husband told my that my "ass was really getting smaller". So I asked him if he liked it, his reply was "Oh yeah!" So I said "What, you didn’t like it when it was larger?" Backpedal, Backpedal, stammer, stammer, stammer. I starting laughing and had to reach up and give him a hug and a kiss and told him thank you for the compliment. He looks down at me and says, with love mind you, "You’re such a b***h". Needless to say, I started laughing again. I love it when I can make my 6' 2", 240 lb, former bad boy biker husband stammer. And needless to say, I felt really good that he noticed my smaller ass.

I think that most of us went though with doubts about having surgery. I almost cx mine I was soo scared. But trust me, it can be the best thing you do for YOURSELF. I love not have to hear my knees snap/crackle/pop everytime I walk up the stairs. I love that I don't have to take diabetic meds anymore. My back doesn't hurt by the middle of the day. I have even come to love walking my mile every morning, and I hated to exercise.

Just checking in. Janine- Because of my son, a police car can not drive by my house without me breaking out into a sweat. My 18 yr ds used to get into a lot of trouble. He has changed in the past 1 – 1 ½. I just hope it sticks. He will be going about 1 hour away for college this April and I am praying that everything is going to be alright. My beautiful 12 yo dd is very shy and has almost no friends and it makes me want to cry. She is 5’ 1 and 95 lbs soaking wet, so weight has nothing to do with it. I have tried everything I can think of to get her to invite other girls over, or ask if someone would like to go to a movie/skating/Pizza Machine, anything, but she is sooo shy. I hope that she outgrows it. And my dh has put on weight since my surgery. I have tried to talk to him about it, but he denies that he has. I am just going to keep reassuring his ego that he is still my one and only and hope that helps. But if he even thought of bring crap food into the house right now, he knows I better not see it or it’s in the trash. I don’t mind ice cream because I have never been gluttonous with that, but chips, crackers, candy, forget about it. It’s not going to happen. But then again, I can get very bitchy. I love Sparkpeople.com. I am on it all the time. I have even figured out how to add all the exercises that I want to do and have it scheduled till the end of the month. I even look forward to doing the strength training exercises. I love being able to see how many calories (goal is set between 1000-1200, norm is around 950) and seeing how many calories burned walking on my treadmill is. I try to read several of the articles everyday. Yes, I am addicted. Now tomorrow I might be singing a different tune. I weigh myself every Monday. Keep your fingers crossed that I have finally got the scale going downwards again. Been sitting at 183 forever. Guess I better get back to work. Have a great week everyone.

I'm with ya coolgirl, I will join you on the 10 lbs by 2/14. At work I am trying to form a team to join N-Lighten Nebraska. It runs from Feb 1 to May 1 and you team logs in point for activities and nutrition. At the end the top three teams will get medals. Including myself, we only have 4 people signed up (one guy doesn't work for our division, but he wanted to join anyway). Granted, there are only 5 full timers here, but am hoping for husbands/wives/s.o. to sign up also so we can have a team of 10.

I forgot to add BariatricChoice has some great tasting Protein oatmeal. We had it at our last support group meeting and the maple brown sugar was great. 15 gr of protein with only 8 carbs and between 90-110 cals. Bariatric Breakfast Bars, Hot Oatmeal, Cereals, pancakes & Omelettes

Meinda The liquid diet can be a tough one. I just made sure to have lots and lots of sf jello/popcycles and protein shakes. I made the mistake of just buying the GNC brand and I hatted it. I now get my protein from vitalady.com or unjury.com. Vitalady.com has sample pack so you can try different ones. FYI, I hate the strawberry iso pur.

Welcome Jbrown. I know what you mean about starting to panicing. I think we all went through it. You are going to be fine. Just follow the dr orders and this is going to change your life/health.

Tammyj, 11 lbs to goal, you have to post before and after photos. You rock!!

My dh has always known. He is the one that has a problem telling me his weight. He is 6' 2" and I say about 250, he lies and say between 230-240. There was a time when I was more them him (I'm 5' even) and he knew it then also.

jmcambra-It's going to take me forever to get to one hour. I started with 10 min and will increase by 5 every week and see what happens. Tonight it's .25 miles on the treadmill, weights and the ab slide. I might try and do 100 steps on the stepper. I did my mile this morning when I got to work, but hope to get in one more before I go home. Well, this last fill seems to be working. I am getting full on about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of food. I still want to eat more, but I am full so I stop. That is just something I need to work on. Sparkpeople. com is a blessing. I have been tracking my food and exercise everyday since I started Jan 2. I love it. I am still trying to learn my way around it, but I think I am addicted to it. My computer is in my exercise room so it is convenient to track my exercise and to find different ones on spark. But since I have been tracking what I eat, I am averaging only between 800-900 cals per day. That is the reason I started sparkpeople, I knew I wasn't getting enough some days and too many on other. I have a goal of 1000-1200. Twice I was 1100. I still haven't gotten in my 64 oz of Water per day, but I am not giving up. Tonight is Girls Night out. My 12 yo daughter and I will be going to dinner and then we are taking a class at Adventure in Art. The class is also call Girls Night Out. We are going to learn to make pendants out of glass. This is going to be fun. It is only $20 for the first pendant and $10 for each additional one. Knowing my daughter, she will make 3 or 4, but I think it's money well spent just to have some mom and daughter time away from the guys at home. Really looking forward to tonight. She was so excited about it yesterday that she got her chores for today done last night. I seem to be a "chatter box" of late. Sorry, just really bored at work and love "chatting" with the people here.

LMAO!! Thanks

The scale sound great, more info please. Elliptical crosstrainer are the devil!! 10 min and I wanted to die!! I had to talk myself through the last 3. Thank goodness no one was in the room or they would have thought I was nuts. Just taking a small break before I do 100 steps on the steppers, oh boy!!