isaviolinist

Congrats!! Joining a gym was key for me as far as committing to exercise. Since I'm paying, I might as well go. Now I belong to a regular gym, cross training class (we pay for a certain number of classes per month) and a spinning class (I pay for 8 classes at a time). I love the variety - it keeps it really interesting and most importantly, it keeps me going. I feel so much better now that I'm working out and my body is definitely changing (I actually am starting to have a shape). Good luck with your first gym membership and don't be nervous!

I think I gained about 10 pounds (maybe slightly less), but it was from the IV fluids and I lost it in 3 days or so. I stayed overnight in the hospital.

I don't eat breakfast. I eat lunch around noon. I usually have some kind of small snack sometime in the afternoon (like 2 samples at the market or something similar) and then dinner between 6-8PM. I don't usually think about food or feel hungry during the day. The evening is a different story however. I am a compulsive eater, and my eating at night generally has nothing to do with hunger. I decided to go to therapy for it as I was tired of my Compulsive eating running my life. Re: weighing - I weigh all of my Protein on a food scale. Depending on what the veggie is, I either weigh it or measure it. Carbs I usually weigh. If its something out of a box/can/container/package etc and its not a one serving item (like Cereal, ice cream, cheese etc) I weigh it (I look at the serving size - 30g for example - and if that's what I want to eat I just weigh out 30g). I would be lost without my food scale.

I average about 900-950 calories a day (sometime a little over 1000 and sometimes a little under 900). I burn between 850-1400 calories a day at the gym (6-7 days a week). I've lost 60 pounds in the last 5.5 months (over 10 pounds a month, consistently). But thats what works for me, and we're all different. Some people will get extremely slow and sluggish (your metabolism begins to slow down) if they eat less than 1000 calories a day. Despite the feel-good opinion on LBT that its not about calories in vs out, it is. If you have a slower metabolism, you may only be burning 1500-1700 calories a day (without any exercise, that's probably about where I'd be). So if you eat 1200 calories a day with a slow metabolism that only burns 1500-1700 a day, you'll have a 2100-3500 calorie deficit a week (which is 1 pound or less a week). If your metabolism can't function at under 1000 calories per day (you'll know if this is the case...you'll just want to sleep all the time), you body may adjust itself so you're not burning more than 1000 calories day (which of course would lead to hardly any weightloss...if you're eating 900 calories a day and only burning 1000, thats 100 calorie deficit per day and about 3000 calorie deficit per month, which is just shy of 1 pound per month). Anyways, just figure out what works for you and your body, and then do that. And if your body changes and requires something different, revamp your strategy to accomodate.

I don't generally eat frozen food (but I LOVE to cook, and do so almost every night), but on the occasion that I do, I go for the organic frozen options with no genetically modified ingredients. Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers, etc all contain GMO ingredients and a whole bunch of other chemicals and crap that is SO bad for you (above and beyond things like sodium content). If you do a frozen meal now and again, go for the organic ones.

Sometimes I also get tired of working so hard at this. I'm learning that it usually works out better when I have what I want to have and dont beat myself up about it, and then just get right back to things the next day (or the second half of the day...whatever the case may be). Often, I would have that kind of attitude towards myself and food that Im just messing up and sabotaging all my hard work which would usually lead to more bingeing/comfort eating, long periods of not working at this, weight gain etc. So now, even when I eat compulsively, I try REALLY hard to cut myself some slack and think about it logically - i.e. if I have a day where I eat 2000 calories due to a "snack" or a compuslive eating episode, I STILL have burned more than I've consumed. Sometimes the scale says otherwise (the scale is such a poor indicator of day to day weight gain and loss...in a day, one's weight could fluctutate up and down 5 pounds), especially when I've snacked on carbs which tend to cause Fluid retention. But logically I know that I won't gain all my weight back, or even a pound of weight back, just by eating some ice cream. Its hard to get my emotions to catch up to my logical thinking, but the more I work on it, the easier it is. But don't beat yourself up about anything - it will just lead to more frustration and no progress (easier said than done, I know). Its not a race and there is no time limit to your weight loss. Its just an ongoing, lifestyle change.

I just clicked on New Content and this post that I JUST posted is not listed. Perfect example.

I'm unfortunately still having issues with the New Content page as well as My Content. When I click on New Content, I usually get a maximum of 5 new posts (there are others listed but they're not new). So for example: if I log on at 10PM on Monday night, and then log on at noon on Tuesday, there will be about 5 new posts since 10 PM Friday night. I know that's not the case because if I click on the homepage, I can see the most recent posts in each category, and most of them are within the last few minutes and NONE of them are listed in the new content area. Additionally, I get emails that people have just replied to a topic I have subscribed to. I log on immediately and click on New Content and the post is not listed in the new posts despite having been posted in in the last 2 minutes. I then go to My Content to access the thread via my threads I have posted in, and its not there (only some of the threads I've posted in are there). Then I do a search for the thread and it doesn't come up. The only way to access the thread is by clicking on the link in my email (which sucks if I've deleted the email assuming I could acces the thread via My Content and New Content). I'm getting tired and bored of reading the same 4 threads everyday (as that's all I can access). If LBT decides to pick 4-5 threads to update for me in new content that I'm not interested in, its just pointless to log in. Is there any hope for any of these issues actually getting fully resolved?

Charming in for the Premier Protein Shake from Costco. I love the taste - I drink one every morning. And the nutrition facts are great. If your doc doesn't require any particular shake, that's a great one to go with I think.

That's awesome that he was promoting non-GMO and organic. Buying locally is also a really good thing to do, as it reduces the amount of miles your food travels to get the supermarket, thus reducing your carbon foot print. Anyways, even if you don't eat a completely Veg diet, its great to buy organic, high quality ingredients (including meats and fish).

Its starting to help me (I've only been seeing this therapist for about a month, but I love her). Its definitely starting to help me think about things I haven't really thought about before, like the origins of my relationship with food, how binge eating "makes sense" for me (meaning how I use it to try and resolve something that is going on within me). I've also become more aware of the authentic me vs. the binge eater in me and also the other side of me that says I need to restrict what I'm eating completely (which undoubtedly leads to binge eating). Its been helpful so far and I'm looking forward to not feeling like I need to use bingeing as a means of coping. My therapist deals with eating disorder specifically and she runs a division of her eating disorder clinic that only deals with Binge Eating Disorder. This is the BED part of her clinic: http://www.stopcompulsiveeating.com/ and this is the main page for her eating disorder program: http://www.center4ed.org/ Its been helpful to see someone who is specifically focused on eating disorders. For me, the only REAL way that I will ever get a handle on my eating is to improve my mindset and relationship with food. The band has helped me tremendously in getting healthy, but nothing, not even the band, can help me with the head part.

I believe the Cybex Arc Trainer (which I love and swear by) has a weight limit of 400 pounds, so you may be able to get away with that. All of the Planet Fitness' that Ive gone to have the Cybex Arc Trainer. And I believe some of the Precor treadmills have a 500 pound weight limit (although it might be specific models so check on that). You could also just do some walking at a track (indoor if you live where its cold) or even walk laps around the mall. Whenever I feel like walking in the winter (I walk everyday when its warmer, so I start missing it in the winter) I go to the mall. I get to do laps around and get exercise while also doing some shopping too

Hey Everyone - Today I'm at 196.4. I'm glad for a loss, but this weekend was pretty bad as far as eating (totally ate WAY too much of all the wrong things), so I'm not surprised that I only lost .6 of a pound. Oh well. Hoping for a bigger loss next week in order to make my January goal of 193.6. So... isaviolinist Weight: 196.4

I basically agree with you. I LOVE my protein shakes, and sometimes I crave them (especially if I want something sweet at night). But I also advocate for a balanced diet. There are many people on LBT who like to label certain foods as "bad". But I don't think there are bad foods. Food (of any kind) becomes bad when its eaten in complete excess. I maintain a healthy and balanced diet including protein, fat and carbs (yep, even the "bad" ones...Im not giving up ice cream any time soon) and exercise tons and lose weight fairly rapidly doing so. When I was first banded, I cut out all the "bad" foods. And then I broke down (as it was like being on a diet) and went nuts with them and regained 50 pounds (which I have since lost plus more, eating a balanced diet and exercising). What I have been doing, instead of cutting out certain food groups, is going to therapy for my binge eating disorder in order to get my head on straight regarding food. That way, I'll be able to have some cookies in the house or ice cream in my freezer, yet I won't feel the compulsive need to eat everything in one sitting.

I'm a 'pescatarian'. I usually don't say that word because my family makes fun of it (not the diet, just the word). I stopped eat pork, red meat and poultry, long before my band but I'm so glad that I did. That, coupled with eating organic/non-GMO/environmentally sustainable/natural, etc. food, makes feel extremely energetic and just generally healthy. My fiance loves meat as does my family (and his family) but I could never imagine eating it again. And I very easily get in MORE than enough Protein everyday. Sometimes I wonder if its too much (on occasion its over 90 or 100 g a day).

I just got a Polar F11 heart rate monitor which tells me how many calories I've burned during a workout session. I do body composition assessments every 6 weeks at one of the places where I work out and they can also tell me how many calories I burn per day based on various data points.

I was in a similar situation as you (although you're better off at one year than I was). I had lost about 80 pounds initially. And then at my one year, I had probably gained about 30 back (I eventually gained almost 50 back). So at my one year I had really only lost 50 pounds or so. In September (and 50 pounds later), I picked myself back up and got back on track. I've since lost all that I had regained plus more. If I can do this, you can too!! Start tomorrow with baby steps. Track your food or go work out for 30 minutes. If you can't do everything all at once, its fine. Just take baby steps and get yourself back on track 1 step at a time!

I cross train (in a class) 3-4 times a week, use the elliptical and arc trainer 3-4 times a week, and sometimes do a spinning class. When its warm outside, I walk 2-3 miles everyday too. Can't wait for spring - I'm really missing my walks. One of the best parts of my day.

I had a HORRIBLE stomach virus over New Years and I can attest to the fact that you can vomit with the band. It doesn't feel any different than pre-band but it just sucks. I've also had food poisoning twice with my band and threw up a lot both those times. So yep, vomiting is totally possible, unfortunately.

I don't really believe in starvation mode (and I especially don't believe in it for those of us that are overweight or obese). If you are burning more than you're consuming you will lose weight (a lot of people on LBT disagree with that scientific principal...I'm sure someone is going to voice their opinion about calories in vs calories out any minute ('opinion' being the operative word)....but its science...its just the way things work). How many calories do you consume a day? What is your exercise like? I eat between 800-1000 calories a day. I'm pretty short and somedays (aside from exercise during which I usually burn anywhere from 800-1300 calories a day which gives me the extra weight loss boost that I want) I only burn 1400-1500 calories. I lose anywhere between 1.5-5 pound a week (with an average over many weeks of about 2.8-3 pounds per week). But I log my food pretty anally and I exercise religiously (you don't need to exercise in order to lose weight, but if you do, the weight will come off faster as you're burning many more calories a day than you would without it, and I find that my body looks better with exercise. I'm starting to have a waist, the top of me is pretty narrow, etc). As far as your trainer, she doesn't sound very supportive. I turn in food logs to my trainer every week. He understands that I deal with compulsive eating issues (which I'm in therapy for) and he just wants to help me. And he especially wants to see my logs when they're not as great as they could've been. He's obviously not a therapist, but he wants to support me however he can. So maybe seek out a different trainer. Also, have you changed the balance of macro nutrients in your diet since your unfill? Were you eating no-carbs prior to being unfilled and now have gone back to carbs? I'm not a carb-free bandster (or anything-free...I just eat a balanced diet including Protein, carbs and fat), but if you recently started eating carbs, you may be retaining Fluid (carbs do that). Also, if its only been a week since your weight started going up, I wouldnt worry too much about it. In a period of 7 days, my weight can fluctuate up and down 6-7 pounds. That's what makes scale weight tricky - its not really the entire picture. So if its been 4 months and you're steadily gaining weight, that would be something to look into. But if the scale has gone up a pound or two in the past 7 days, thats pretty normal (especially if you have adjusted your diet differently).

It varies from person to person. Some people have trouble with lettuce, others are fine with it. Personally, I could eat 5 cups of lettuce and it wouldnt effect me in the least. Its true that there isn't really Protein in salads (or lettuce to be exact), but at 6-8 calories a cup, I love it and definitely choose it. And there are always ways to make salad more interesting and protein-packed. Here is a cabbage salad recipe from my blog: http://violinistwithaband.blogspot.com/2010/11/recipe-guilt-free-cabbage-salad-and.html And when I just want something quick, a salad with avocado, carrots, some cheddar and some tuna is a great meal and super healthy. Just measure out your dressings and dip instead of pouring the dressing on top.

Depending upon your insurance, you may need to do a 6 month supervised diet but if your BMI is 50, you won't have a problem if your ins covers WLS. The bariatric surgeon's office can help you. Just make sure you choose a reputable surgeon with an organized and responsive office staff.

Hey everyone, my blog is in my signature I also love following blogs. Its a great way to support one another!

I haven't found any studies that suggest that water aids in weight loss (its something that I'm interested in so I'm always looking for some evidence, one way or the other) but it does help with general bodily functions. And it especially helps BMs, as sometimes that can be a problem for banded folks. I don't think water will help you lose weight, but it will certainly help maintain general health. And its especially important to stay extra hydrated if you're working out a lot.

The above poster is correct. I'm constantly trying to figure out how to lose inches around my lower abs and hips (I'm also pear shaped). Unfortunately, the fat comes off where it wants to, regardless of how you exercise. But if you just continue to exercise it will come off. Since September (which isn't when I was banded, but when I started working out like crazy), I've lost 8 inches around my abdomen, 7.5 inches around my waist and 9.5 inches around my hips. So it does happen. I still have a belly but its reducing. I have about 45-50 pounds to go, and I imagine my stomach will be pretty much gone by then (excess skin is another issue however).