aromanek

Hello all, I have been pretty obsesed with green smoothies lately. I think they have actually helped me kickstart weight loss since I had slowed down a lot in the past 6 months and I give them a lot of credit for helping me to break the 100lb barrier. I had started a food journal and looked at the past several months of entries and realized that I avoid fresh veggies and fruit since they are hard for me to eat. I was looking online and came across several blogs talking about green smoothies and I have tried a couple recipies out. This morning I had a smoothie with 1 cup baby spinach, 1 cup swis chard, 1 carrot, 1/2 a cucumber, 1/2 cup grapes, a couple grape tomatoes, 1 small orange, 1/2 an apple, 1 scoop of unflavored Protein Powder and a 1/8 cup pistachios. I throw it in my blender and liquify the heck out of it. It takes me most of the morning to drink it, but it is sweet and very refreshing. There are a million ways to make them. I made kale, grape, and apple popsicles and had a treat while doing homework the other day. Another plus is that I can still get my Protein, have raw food, and balance my calorie intake with whole, healthy food. I feel great. I get a lot of my food ideas from LBT so I thought I would share something that I am excited about.

At this point I dont think my day will feel complete without a shake! In the mornings I am much tighter so a shake is the best I can do unless I have a later breakfast. On mornings I go to the gym I use a blender and add fruit and a little skim milk to give me a small calorie boost while I work out hard. On days I take my shake to go, I just use my blender cup.

I came across a cheap ice cream pop mold at the dollar store a couple months ago. Every now and again I make a basic shake with chunky fruit in it and pour it in the mold and have chocolate ice pops with bananas.

I absolutely love Morning Star burgers. Since I was banded steak and pork chops are mostly a no go for me. Hamburgers are fine, but I have really been working on cutting back on meat. I had tried a bunch of brands of veggie burgers and nearly all of them tasted like wood shavings, but the morning star brans are very, very good. I usually get them once a month at costco where thay have a big bag for a reasonable price. They are so good I have been able to get my whole family to eat them. The whole line of morningstar products are great, in my opinion. The Breakfast sausage patties are damn good! I use their meatless crumbles meal starters in things like mini quiches for Snacks on the go and I also add it in homemade chili. I have found them to be easy to eat. I have never had any trouble getting them to go down.

Since getting banded, I actually make a weekly pot of chili myself in a dutch oven. Thay way I can pack it full of veggies and only add fresh ingredients. I then portion it out into containers and freeze for later meals throughout the week. I have found it is cheaper and less of a hit to my calorie budget if I make it myself.

I was on insulin and metformin pre op and now I am lucky enough to be off all my meds. It took about 3 months, but I havent taken a pill or a shot in a very long time.

After lapband and lasik I hardly recognize myself in pictures!

In a heartbeat. I am about 120 lbs down from my heaviest and 85 of that due to the band and I have gone from a 54-56 inch waist to a 38-40. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 26 and now at 30, I am free of all my meds and insulin. I no longer have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. I was taking up to 5 pills and 3 shots of insulin a day. I am at a point where my goal weight is in sight and I couldn't feel better. I think I had read a post above that someone was having frustrations with the changes that come along with the band. To that I can say that measuring food and remembering to chew and take small bites is so worth it since the alternative would be me still eating 5 (or more) double cheeseburgers from the dollar menu at one time and feeling like a complete failure. I was actually thinking the other day while clothes shopping (at a regular store since I don't have to go to the big boy store anymore) that I couldn't remember the last time I got tired from just walking around. Or being drenched in sweat from just moving around, or feeling self conscious about my weight on a date, or being embarrassed about needing a seatbelt extender on a flight, or feeling uncomfortable in my own skin.... the list goes on and on, but I think you get the point. NSVs are now a part of my life and FAR outweigh any frustrations or changes caused by my band. During the clothes shopping trip that I mentioned above, I tried on a large size shirt. When it actually fit, I literally had to sit down in the fitting room and collect myself I was so happy. I was 10 the last time I fit into anything in the large size. The band has helped me take control of something that was pretty much killing me. In 2008 when I was admitted to the hospital after I collapsed at work, the doctor told me that I was diabetic and not only that, but I had severe diabetic ketoacidosis too. I had no idea I was diabetic and thought I just had the flu. It was so bad that the team of doctors figured that my organs were hours away from shutting down. I was going to leave work early and go home to take a nap. If that had happened the doctors thought I might not have woken up. I remember being hooked up to every machine imaginable and then being told it was a good idea if I saw someone to help me put my affairs in order "just in case". I was in the hospital for 9 days and they were THE scariest days of my life. It was a more extreme wakeup call than most people get, but I honestly don't think I could have come this far without my band. I feel lucky to have been given the opportunity to have it. I consider it the best gift I have ever given myself.

Last week I sepnt the day in the mountains which is something I would have never been able to do before. I am losing much slower than before, but I couldn't be happier.

I am going in for my 3rd fill on Monday, but I am not looking forward to a day of liquids. I am hoping that my doctor is much more agressive this time around. I only have 2.6cc in my band since I have been losing preety steadily, but in the past month I have only lost around 8 lbs. On the positive side it is giving my body a chance to catch up with the loss. I am very releived that my skin seems to me shrinking nicely. Also, the couple days after the fill serve as a nice reality check time for food since you have to progress slowly back to solids. I would have to say that this has been such a positive experience overall. I nolonger have to take any diabetes meds, I feel health for once and I feel great about myself. I am going broke replaceing my whole wordrobe each month, but if that is the only downside then this is all worthwhile.

I went to the gym last night and got on the treadmill. When I was entering in my age/weight it hit me that I have lost so much weight. I havent been back to the gym since before the band and before I was entering weights between 340 and 315. To put in 247 was an awesome feeling. I was actually amazed at how easy it was to run now and how nice it was not to get so overheated and sweaty. That was truely an eye opening event.

For me, being open about my surgery was the best option. I did make it clear that it isn't a big issue and if people have questions then I am happy to talk about it. I work with some great people, but I also work with some of the nosiest gossips ever. I think that by being open and owning my surgery publicly they don’t have much to say. Set boundaries and reinforce that it is a decision that you made for your reasons and other people's opinions are not welcome, but questions are. I have had a few men here in my office who are heavy talk to me about it because they never considered it as an option for them. You never know, you might be able to help someone else out.

I keep a bag of Bariatric Advantage protien powder in my desk at work and I use cold water from the water cooler and shake it up in my GNC Blender Bottle. GNC BLENDER BOTTLE I think that works best for me since I dont like the way blenders make the powdered sakes frothy. The bottles come with a whisk ball that really mixes everything all together well. If you go this way you can still carry everything in powder form and just add water and you wont have to make anything ahead of time.

I have learned that leftovers are my new best friend. Igrew up with the thought that the plate had to be empty at the end of the mealand now leaving food on my plate is just fine.I learned at home eating off of small plates and using small forks and spoonsare actually kind of fun. I also learned that fills can take time to do their magic. After my first fillI didn't notice any difference and then a week or so later I felt like I had toretrain myself to eat and I had to experiment with foods that I had no problemgetting down before. I have learned (and this is a big one for me) that having a band isn't aboutsaying, "I shouldn't eat that", it is more about "I can indulgein this because I.....," followed by went to the gym and burned xxx ofcalories, or I went on a hike, or I have enough in my calorie budget. I feellike I finally have balance in what I am eating and I don't sit in front of theTV and watch the Biggest Loser while eating a whole pizza anymore. I learned that I have become so eager to weigh myself that I actually have tomake myself wait. I think that I became so wrapped up in themovement of the scale I obsessed a little. Now I am on it every Sunday morning.If it doesn't move as much as I would like I don't beat myself up, I assesswhat my workouts and eating have been like and I adapt accordingly. Before the band, I thought I knew everything there was to know about dietingsince I had been on one every day of my teen and adult life. I learned that I actuallyknew very little. Getting the band has encouraged me to be more mindful of the quality of food and what it is made of and not just blindly eating because a book or a fad diet tells me to.

I have been doing spinning and aerobics classes. Some ofthe classes they have at my local gym are rough and are a great workout. Iwould also check with your insurance to see if they have a reimbursementclause. My insurance will reimburse me up to 40% of my monthly membership feeup to $400 a year. It never hurts to save some money!

I was banded on March 10th and I am getting my first fill tomorrow. I am excited I made it through the first month. The past four weeks have been hard, but I am now 47 lbs down (pre op plus this last month) so I guess it has been pretty successful. I am bummed about having to go back on all liquids tomorrow and then mushies the day after. I used to love soup, but just the thought of it now makes me cringe.

My doctor explained to me that it is actually very normal to weigh more after surgery because the body is healing and may hold on to Water as a healing mechanism. You also were filled with gas and saline which, as my nurse explained to me, adds to the weight a little bit as well. As long as you are following your doctor's orders I wouldn't worry too much about the scale for the first 4-6 weeks since your body is healing.

I posted this in the other before/after thread, but I was so damn proud if it I had to post it here too. This is the first thread I found when I joinded LBT and I have been wanting to be able to add my progress here as well. Looking at the before, after, and progress pictures really helped motivate and support me while I was trying to get the band.