victorisaac

Banded on 3/26/2010. Weight 405 Ibs.

My story begins on March 26, 2010. I had my lap band surgery. My weight was 405 Ibs at that time. I guess you can say I really had no other choice. I was 27 years old and suffered of high blood pressure and sleep apnea. I had the opportunity to be banded by a great surgeon with a good history. Today I weight 230 Ibs. The lap band was a great tool, but I definitely did a lot to reach my goal.

Concerns:
1. Will this work
2. Excess skin
3. After effects
4. Food

1. Like many people I was concern if this surgery did work I would have excess skin. I had 1 friend and knew of others who had the surgery and they either gain all their weight and some, or only lost 40 to 60 Ibs. I was afraid my situation would be the same. I began to research and found positive stories of success. I surrounded myself with positive energy.

2. Excess skin was a huge concern. If this worked I knew I would have a huge problem of excess skin. I research and found a company called Ardyss. This company sells garments/girdles for males and females. These girdles help lose weight and help with skin restoration. I also found liquid vitamins with this company. I was really excited. Unfortunately, I could only buy from a distributor or become a distributor myself. I did not have any distributor's in my town, so I became a distributor. I do not sale anything, I just became a distributor, so I would be able to buy their products. You can see their products at www.ardysslife.com/victorcardenas.

3. After effects for me became gas pains and unable to burp. I tried Gas X, but did not work for me. I discovered that running helped relief gas. I also discovered "Halls". This are AMAZING! They really do work.

4. Food was a concern because I was not sure what I would be able to eat. I discovered "Green Juice".

Post-Op:
The challenge begins. First, my issue was gas pains and unable to burp. Took a few days of work and tried to focus on everything that my surgeon recommended. After 4 months I've lost 45 Ibs on liquid diet and following my doc's instructions, but then I got "Stuck". (Will write more here in the future)

Stuck:
During these 4 months I had gone back and research a lot. First, I wanted to know how I got to weight 405 Ibs. Did not take long to figure out. I have a desk job, I enjoyed fast food, pizza, and grease Mexican food. Then, I began to research a healthy diet (done this before), but this time it was different. This time I did not want a diet. I wanted a new way of life. I found a crazy man that calls himself "The Life Regenerator" on YouTube. He talked about something called "Green Juice". I watched all of his videos. After doing so, he did not seem so crazy after all. Even though he is not a doctor or any type of expert he had a lot of common sense. Everything he said made sense in my mine.
(Will write more here in the future)

Green Juice:
I got me my first juicer. I began to juice and drink my own green juice. I had to be on a liquid diet after every fill so green juice seem to work perfect with my doc's recommendation. I juiced kale, spinach, beets, lemon, apples, celery, cucumber, and many other veggies. It seem to work. I was no longer "Stuck". I lost another 60 Ibs. Keep in mine I was also walking maybe once or twice per week. I continue to follow "The Life Regenerator" on YouTube because I found a lot of motivation in his videos. The key seem to be motivation. Going back and thinking about my passed I noticed I lacked motivation. And now I was finding it on YouTube by a crazy man who talked about spirituality and green juice.
I was down 105 Ibs and on my way to loosing all the weight I needed to lose to reach my goal. I then got "Stuck" again. The human body has a funny way of adapting. By the way I still ate solid food, but I drank more juice than food for a while. At this point I had 2 issues. I was "Stuck" and the amount of green juice I was drinking was causing gas pains. I was drinking at least a gallon a day. (Will write more here in the future)

Stuck 2:
I was down 105 Ibs and I was stuck again. Not only stuck, but had discovered new issues that surrounded me. My 100 Ibs goal was awesome for me, but created problems for the people around me. Facebook comments were no longer positive. My before and after pictures were looking great, but some people found it annoying. I had to deal with been stuck and negative people surrounding me with comments that hurt and brought me down. (Will write more here in the future)