LeighaMason

I had surgery on a Tuesday and went to work that Thursday. I cant begin to describe how happy I am that I got the band. By the way, I tell everyone and I have only had 2 negative reactions. One person tried to talk me out of having the surgery, she was banded and had gained weight. But I knew her eating habits so I ignored her. Well guess what, after I was banded and started having success she started living the band life and now she has lost most of her weight as well, 3 years after her band was placed. One other person has been judgmental about it and she is no longer in my life. Good riddance. The majority of the people I know are so excited for me, they want updates and encourage me a lot.

This is just my unprofessional opinion but I think getting too tight too soon leads to problems. I think the band needs to settle in its place before we start filling it. Plus with each fill I had to learn to be more compliant of the eating rules. I had my first fill at 8 weeks and then waited at least 3 weeks between each one. I get tighter about 10 days after a fill. I would talk to my Dr and see, but once again he may be basing his fill schedule on what he thinks brings the best success in the long run, which is what we should be concerned with as well.

Anne= I woke up in the middle of the night thinking you were having surgery tomorrow (well I guess its today now) instead of July and that I forgot to tell you good luck. Dottie-- I'm glad to hear about the water class, I bet you will love it. Crystl-- Flirting with other men? What are we going to do with you?

I can eat everything except bread, pasta, and bananas. I eat all types of meat including chicken, steak and pork. I eat eggs and all types of veggies. I eat rice slowly. I only get stuck from eating too fast so I am somewhat loose. But I am not hungry between meals, well I eat every 3 or 4 hours so I don't really have time to be hungry.

You know what? Now that you have a working band to go with your dieting skills I bet your going to do great!

Shammah--Happy Anniversary! Sandy-- We are glad your here. Jacki-- Congrats on the 10's, BTW what is a Wawa? Dottie-- You can always put the puzzle back in the box, leaving big chunks together and go back to it later if you feel like it. Oh and I get your chat messages on FB but when I try and reply it says you are offline!:thumbup: Yesterday when I was running there was a dead monkey beside the road. Y'all are saved from a picture since I was not suppose to stop. That is probably the strangest thing I have ever seen while running. NSV alert! My thighs no longer touch when I am standing with my feet at shoulder width. I was at least 23 the last time that happened. :biggrin::waytogo::biggrin: My husband congratulated me on my thriftiness yesterday. (I am still not sure this is a complement.) He said "Way to go on getting a two-fer on your surgery!" So when I asked what he meant he said "A lap band and a breast reduction! Anyone want to borrow a smartass for a while?

The smaller you are, the less calories it takes to run your body. So for every pound you lose you have to cut your calories back some. As an example when I started this at 195 my daily use was 1962 (just to sit, no exercise) now its 1648. So to get the same results I have to eat 300 less or burn 300 more or some combo thereof.

The good news is bad things happen in 3's so your done! I hope you get to feeling better soon.

If you journal on fitday.com or livestrong.com or loseit.com they will total your calories for you. Not everyone has to count calories but it helps me. I stay around 800-1000 a day but I am going to start eating 1200 on the day before I run so that I will have extra energy for those days. But you have to find what works for you. I suggest journaling for a week and see what you are really doing and then tweaking it from there. I found that once I started journaling, I would eat something and then put it in the computer and go "Holy crap! I had no idea that was so bad! I'm not eating that again!" So one thing at a time I cleaned up my eating. I also plan my meals, I am going to eat 3 meals and 2 Snacks today. So there is no room for grazing. I eat every 3 hours anyway so I dont get hungry, and since I know what I am going to eat its easy to exclude what isnt on the list. Breakfast:Greek yogurt Snack: EAS shake Lunch: Taco Snack: cheese stick Dinner: chicken thigh and veggies I hope this helps

I wrestled one more pound away from my body this week! It gave a good fight but I won! 10 more to go.

Jo- I had read your post on page 2 but I didn't think you were advocating flouting your Dr's advice. To me it sounds like y'all work together to meet your individual needs. Which I think is a wonderful thing.

I tried to run W7D1 today, its a 25 min. run and I stopped running at 23 min and walked the rest of the 5K, this is the first time I couldn't finish a run. Last Friday I ran the full 25 min and today I couldn't, so I looked back at my food log on Thursday I ate 1192 cal with 98 carbs but yesterday I only ate 857 calories with 52 carbs. I am going to run again on Tuesday and so tomorrow I am going to try and eat 1200 calories with plenty of complex carbs and see if that helps.

Cindy-- Yep, 165 pounds lost in 2 years, you definitely qualify! Jachut-- Thanks for your imput as well.

Bread, Pasta and bananas! My advice, if you are very hungry, drink a Protein shake and wait 10 min so you have the self control to eat slow. Works for me.....

Marcy, I am going to ask the ever present question, Are you journaling your food? Studies show people who journal lose twice as much and keep it off better.

2 pounds is not slowly! Thats 104 a year! Good job!

I'm still waiting to hear from that successful long term bandster who doesn't think its important to follow their Dr's rules. We have heard from a few newly banded ones but not anyone who has had their band over a year and is at or near goal, someone who doesn't consider themselves slow losers. I wonder why?

I wish there was a "like" button on LBT, cause I like this.

"That my BMI qualified me for weight loss surgery, not my pocket book." Julie, I just wanted to say way to go on making a decision to lose the weight now. I "only" had 65 pounds to lose, for 16 frickin years! I don't care if its 65 or 165 being obese sucks! Don't feel bad about getting help. I have 10 pounds to go and couldnt be happier. And I was self pay too. Best $10K I ever spent! Just for reference, I tell everyone about my lap band. But I am also 40 years old and I don't give a flip what people think anymore. Do what is right for you.... Leigha

Here is a link to my blog of what I eat. What I eat... - LAP-BAND Good luck.

Call now before it gets too bad, I had to have a slight unfill(.1) one time after a fill, it was 10 days later! But just .1 helped so much! The longer you wait, the more they are going to need to take out because of dehydration. Keep me updated!

I don't mind, I was banded 10/20/09, its been 33 weeks. I have lost a total of 55 pounds for an average of 1.66 pounds a week. My average was over 2 pounds a week but when I got down to the last 15 it really slowed down and now I am losing about .67 a week but I am happy about that because I think the last 10 or 15 are the "oldest" fat cells and they are going to be the hardest to get rid of. I am having to burn them off, one at a time, if I had not upped my exercise I would be on a "plateau". The diet only goes so far. I was also self pay and so far I paid $185.45 a pound to lose this weight. When I am at goal it will be $156.92. :frown: Worth every dollar!

Not have real food again? Really? I eat better food than 90% of the people I know. Tonight I am having a steak on the grill with a baked potato with butter, cheese and sour cream. Yes, I admit, its only a 2 oz steak but I am going to savor it by taking small bites and chewing well, and my potato is just a new potato and is small but its still good. Tell your friend that food doesn't have to be overwhelming in portions to be good. ETA: When you only eat 2 oz of steak at a time you can afford to buy the best ones in town!

Beautiful!