Shoshanna

They don't need to understand. You don't need to defend or explain your motives to them. Put your energy into your journey instead of seeking support where there is only dissent. The first step in not allowing your resolve to be undermined is to make the entire topic off-limits at work. You're on your way down the road to a great improvement in your life and it's silly to let yourself be influenced by people who do not have your best interests at heart. Good luck to you.

I experience a brief wince-worthy moment then it's all over but the bandaid. No lido, no fluro, so far no problems. Dr.Beckstedt has great aim. I don't enjoy the procedure but don't worry about it either.

I actually lost weight while on vacation. It was so hard to find on-the-road food that I can eat that I ended up eating a lot less than usual. I was amazed to realize how much I've always depended upon fast food on a road trip. Giving up all those hamburgers and supersized fries went a long way toward promoting weight loss for me. But even real restaurants often don't have things I can happily eat. One of my favorites is Soup, but if a place offers soup, half the time it is some form of tomato or something chock full of broccoli. Yuck.

Yes, indeed, always something. I got .75 cc removed today and felt immediate relief of discomfort and pressure- and immediate fear of suddenly feeling hungry for the first time in quite a while. I was somewhat comforted to discover it didn't take much to feel full again, but I know I have to be vigilant about eating just because it tastes good or because it soothes my soul. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Started at 5'7", 240 pounds, and snug size twenty-two. Now at 145 and this week I bought a pair of size 9/10 Wrangler Q Baby jeans. AND the size 7/8 fit everywhere but the waist, which gave me a slight muffin top. 7/8. I thought I was dreaming when the 9/10 zipped up!

What a compelling story! Congratulations on your hard-won success.

Banded 3-3-10, down 95 pounds, three pounds BELOW goal. There have been many moments of struggle and discomfort but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'm hoping maintenance will be less challenging, but I'll do whatever I need to do to stay un-fat. Welcome to the club, Belinda.

Hmm. So if I take my current weight and height multiplied by the number of times a day I have sex, I'll get the proper calorie allotment for maintenance?

I achieved goal some time in the last three weeks (been on vacation with no scale). I've been waiting to visit this section until I reached goal. Weight loss can become addictive, can't it, Sandra? Every time I've reached a goal, I've thought "Just five or ten pounds more and then I'll stop." I made higher goals originally because I knew statistically folks lose about half the weight they need to lose and I didn't want to be overly optomistic. Now I am only 3 pounds from my weight in college and 6 pounds from losing an even hundred pounds, so I think, "Why the heck not?" My husband is on my case about being hung up about numbers and losing too much weight, but... it is only 6 more pounds, hmm?

I go to the doc tomorrow to discuss this issue. I need a small unfill because I've had too much restriction for several weeks now and even Water can be hard to get down until evening. With the weather this hot, I can get dehydrated pretty quick if I'm not vigilant about tiny frequent sips... and I am rarely vigilant. While I'd be happy to lose another five pounds I realize I can't keep losing forever and at this restriction maintenance is going to be challenging, if not impossible. I'm just so afraid of getting too much taken out and waking up one morning weighing 240 pounds again. Talk about a nightmare. One of my greatest fears is losing my lapband. It has changed my life and I don't want to ever go back to the old size and shape and accompanying problems.

Good for you!!!!!!

Two years and ten months after I first broached the idea of lapband surgery to my doctor and two years and five months after surgery, I am one pound BELOW my goal of 148. Color me delighted. Now comes the hard part- maintenance. I go see my surgeon for a slight unfill on Thursday and then I find out how the band helps with eating to maintain. Wish me luck.

A newborn calf and an average human brain- hopefully not my own, though I have been accused of having fat between my ears.

My experience has been opposite of yours- the longer I've had the band the fewer my food choices. With my band at its present tightness there is no way I can eat enough to maintain my weight. I'm not looking at a big unfill- maybe a quarter. And if it is too much- well, there's always another fill. My doc's prices are remarkably reasonable compared to some I've heard about.

I've just been wondering what to take on vacation myself. I have a two day drive to get where I'm going and the temptation to indulge in slider foods has been a problem lately. Lucky you to have access to a kitchen. When my children were babies I pureed everything from meat to cauliflower for them. Meat needs a little juice to get it started, but pureed chicken with spices can be really good. I still like my Soups pureed as opposed to having big chunks of meat and vegetables because I like to sip soup from a cup. Pureeing fruit is especially good if you add a little milk for a smoothie.

I found another one yesterday when readjusting my dress form for my new figure. The good news: The dress form at its smallest is too large for me. When I bought this thing, I figured the lowest measurements would still be smaller than I'd ever get. The bad news: I have to buy or make another. Anyone want a form that goes down to 38-30-40 and well into plus sizes from there?

Oh, yeah! The driver's license one is a good one!!!!

Fitting into regular sized Wrangler jeans was a non-scale victory for me- I hated those elastic waist blue denim fakes from the Plus section. The day I wiggled into a pair of size 15 Wranglers I was a happy woman. Now my 11s are loose and I am thinking about (GASP!) springing the dough for a (GASP LOUDER) size 9. Other biggies: my sleep apnea disappeared and I gave up the nightly oxygen. I can slide through the pass gap in the fence instead of having to open the gate. The inside of my upper thighs don't chafe anymore- they don't even touch! I can sit and pull my knees up to my chest without gasping for breath. My wedding ring fits again (actually it is too loose, but close enough!) And the biggest and most recent: my husband took a picture of me and a friend who is a professional dancer and I did not look like a whale next to her! I thought I was half again her size even now, but I'm not. I look normal!

Then there was the babe who got a nice little rosebud tattooed on her left breast. Forty years later, it was a long-stemmed rose.

I had both breast reduction and a tummy tuck many years before being banded. I chose the breast reduction first and it made an amazing difference in my life: for one thing it immediately cured thirty years worth of an aching back! The TT was done in conjunction with other necessary abdominal surgery and I LOOOOOVE the results. I wondered how they'd hold up with radical weight loss and they've done just fine. Wistful thoughts of a brachio cross my mind, but I'll embrace my age and accept the batwings- the surgery looks dreadfully uncomfortable and I'd be as self conscious about the scars as the wings. By the way, be forewarned- TT surgery hurt like the very devil! I'd do it again in a heartbeat, though.

I've lost 88 pounds and it has taken approximately two and a half years. I still have times when devoting myself to the consumption of coconut and mint M&Ms seems the proper thing to do, but the band does help with other foods I used to OD on like bread and potato chips and cookies- I just can't eat them like I used to. The psych eval was interesting and since I didn't have to pay for it, I rather enjoyed the process. Didn't really learn anything I didn't already know: when I asked the doc if I was neurotic or psychotic, she answered, "Neither... but you are unconventional." I was so proud. She did tell me her only concern was that I tended to resist authority and didn't care much for rules and might struggle with following the dietary rules that go along with LBing. And, true enough, I don't follow all the rules, e.g. I never learned to not drink with my meals. That is probably why it took me a couple of years to lose what some folks lose in months, but it was a lifestyle I could live with and it worked in the long run. If you have emotional eating issues, I suggest finding a good counselor and start working through some of those problems now. I saw a counselor every couple of months the first year I was banded and I think it was helpful. Good luck to you.

Talk about your good deed for the day!

Sometimes I am gripped by Born Again Thin Person desires to Spread the Lapband Gospel. Fortunately my mother taught me that it is rude to make personal remarks and I manage to restrain myself. But if someone ASKS me...

Good surprise: I look ten years younger. Bad surprise: fluctuations in band tightness. I thought restriction would be consistent and not too tight one day and pretty good the next.

My doc said as long as I didn't drink the sugared stuff carbonated drinks were okay. I happily drank soda for the first two years of my banding. The one day a few months ago I couldn't drink carbonated soda or water any more. Bummer. But I've learned to live with it.