Spring into March 2010 Bandsters

[cynpatt 2]

Hi Laura,

I am SO sorry that you are still in pain and still having so many problems :cursing: Also sorry to hear that you now have to go through a 3rd surgery. I hope that everything starts looking brighter soon. Keep your spirits up - we are all here sending you our wishes.

Cynthia

[Llyra 3]

I'll keep my fingers crossed that three is indeed a charm for you, Laura.

My news of the week: I got on my horse without using a mounting block. Yes, indeed, my weight is now low enough that I can pull myself into a saddle under my own power. God bless Star, my quarter horse mare- she braces herself and stands like a statue until I'm aboard.

[SVM10 6]

Good luck Laura, hang in there. Your weight loss has been awesome.

[Liftingchic 0]

good luck laura! I am thinking about ya

[NYSparklegirl 1]

Welll....its been six months or slightely more for all of us March Bandsters!!

Hope everyone is doing well and keeping up the good

Changes made in the first 6 months...its now within the next six months that we will be tested daily......routine is getting a little mundane, food a little boring and reinforcers are slowing down.....

Now is the time to beef up the activity level esp now for the winter months of hibernation. lol. Winter foods are comfort foods so start planning now for new healthy recipes. Exercise level should be increasing to keep up with the weight loss and strength and muscle building is essential now more then ever to change that fat loss into muscle.

We are also eating less Protein Shakes and bars....to get us the nutrition we need. We are eating real foods and they should be whole foods.....not processed, less sugar and even less carbs.

Crock pot and slow cookers offers an excellent way to make healthy foods that you can put up in the AM and have ready by PM. There are many sites that have recipes that include, meat, chicken and fish.

Im down to 147 and am fluctuating ack and forth from 147lb--151lb. from 2x to 10/12

Ive begun to add classes from the gym to take as well as training twice weekly. Spin, Step and weights. Hope I can loose the other ten over the winter and then maintain that weight. Am down to BMI of 25. Surgeon is happy....Im thrilled.....however if I dont tighten this stomach im going to feel still fat all over. lol I might have to have that Tummy Tuck after all.

Good luck to all......

Hello All

I hope that everyone is doing well. Laura - I hope that you are feeling better and that you are back on your weightloss journey.

So it is now 7 1/2 months post surgery and it seems like it was just yesterday! Can you all believe that we have been living with our band for over half a year?!?

Life has changed so much. Not only in how much I have lost, but in how I feel. I am down 84 pounds - and am still losing an average of about 2 pounds a week. The weight loss seems to be slowing down a bit, but I am very satisfied with the loss rate either way. I am over half way to goal, but I think that I will now re-evaluate my goal and lower it.

I am an avid walker and just ordered some winter exercise gear. Cold weather and snow will not stop me! I thank my 2 walking buddies all the time - I never would have been this committed without them!

My closet shelves are beginning to empty and I love it!!! Down from a 32 to a 22! Still a long way to go, but I am SO happy!

Let me know how everyone is doing!

Cynthia

Thats amazing!! So happy for you...isnt it a great feeling to be able to toss out all the old clothes and clothes that fit on hangers? You will get to your lower goal even still....just keep up the good hard work!!!

What are you doing besides walking now?? Walking is great. I wish I can walk more but dont have time...did get a foster dog sooo will begin to walk her but when it will get cold....well I dont like cold lol.

My pain from the surgery is great. My pain from the UTI is still intense. I'm going to go to instacare tomorrow if it hasn't lessened.

I finally got ahold of my surgeopn today (a week after the surgery). I'm going to have to go in for a third. I thought he had just moved the port, but he removed in completely. He said he didn't want to move it elsewhere because he didn't want the bacteria from the infection to stay in the port and be moved over. I'm going to see if I can have my third surgery for port replacement right before Thanksgiving (so I don't have to take any more time off).

So you dont have any fill? Laura are you secure with your surgeon? Confident in him is important as well....Im sure this occurs often but I never heard of leaving the incision open to begin with....there must have been a good reason why he doesnt believe in stiching. I just hope you feel better soon and begin to get back to your life and your goals and aspirations arent tainted with this experience.

Good JuJus...sending your way.

keep us posted.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that three is indeed a charm for you, Laura.

My news of the week: I got on my horse without using a mounting block. Yes, indeed, my weight is now low enough that I can pull myself into a saddle under my own power. God bless Star, my quarter horse mare- she braces herself and stands like a statue until I'm aboard.

OMG.. thats fabulous!!! Im so happy. Hope you took lots of pictures!!! She sounds like an amazing horse and in no time youl be jumping into that saddle never mind pulling!

Well...would love to hear from the others who have been popping in and out since March......

Have a great day all

Jodi

[lauragshsu 6]

It's been eight months for us March-ers. How is everyone doing?

I had my third surgery on Tuesday to replace the earlier removed port. This surgery hurt almost as much as the intial one. The dr went back through my belly button, removed some of the "leaking" tissues and sewed it back up. He then cut a new incision about 4.5" up and to the left of my belly button to put the new port in. This new incision site is what is causing all the pain! I also hit my 100lbs gone last weekend! YAY!!!

[Liftingchic 0]

Just wanted to check up on everyone.. How did everyone Christmas go?

I am down a total of 80lbs, Really have been looking the same 5lbs that last month, got off the band wagon during christmas and just started to get back on it the past few days.

[SVM10 6]

I have not been on LBT in a few months. Can't get used to the new format. Things are going slowly for me but okay. Christmas was really hard but I also got back on track. I have 8ccs and think I am about at the sweet spot for now maybe .1 or .2ccs more. I want to have plastic surgery so bad but know I need to lose about 30 more lbs and save up some $$$. I've never been too shy about surgery, $$ was always the obstacle. I hope everybody is doing well.

[Liftingchic 0]

Good to hear from yeah... Christmas was really hard on me as well.. It was hard getting back on the band wagon.. I am closer to my goal of onederland! only 12 lbs to go.. It seems impossible at 302lbs when i started...

I am hoping to get plastic surgery this summer.. Saving the $$ already and hoping to be able to get a loan to cover the rest.. I have worked hard to lose the weight I deserve to have the body i always wanted..

[Carosel2002 0]

HI everyone! I haven't been here in ages...I'm not fond of this format. Took me forever to find The March Bandsters 2010!!

Anywho...I was banded a year ago March 5th. It's been an extremely rough 4 months. In September I had 2cc removed because of constant vomiting. The fear was slippage. My stomach healed and there was no slippage (phew) and by November the doc put .5cc back in. By that time I put on about 5lbs. Not too horrible, because my weight was coming off slowly anyway (I was down about 45lbs since surgery at that time). A couple days before Thanksgiving, my father was diagnosed with 3 brain lesions that were the beginning of a full diagnosis of Stage 4 Lung Cancer....:cryin: He's gone through radiation therapy to get the use of his right side (which was numb and sort of paralyzed from the brain swelling) and to help him finish his thoughts/speak again. He opted for no chemo treatment. He told the chemo doctor " I want a few good weeks." The doctor didn't argue w/him and said he's made the right decision. As of today, my dad is doing extremely well. He's lived longer than predicted so far!! :thumbup:

However there is so much more going on with family concerning dad's disease, that needless to say, I've been EXTREME emotional eating. The holidays were a prime opportunity to keep a snack in my hand/mouth. I gained about 15lbs between snacking and not getting my exercise in. Just too much going on to think of myself. As of my last doctor visit (Feb. 8th, 2011) I have 6.5cc's in my band (still hungry all the time) and went back to the beginning. I'm counting calories, measuring food and getting back on the exercise wagon. Part of me wants to spend every spare moment with my dad because of the little time I have left with him, but I also know that if I'm feeling sick and icky about myself, I'm doing him no good.

All in all, I'm down 31lbs since I started this journey back in October of 2009! Even if I've been playing the yo-yo game lately, that 31lbs hasn't come back :hurray:!!

Love to everyone and miss you all!!

Tina

[lauragshsu 6]

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've been banded. It's been a wild year- three total surgeries, two fills and five unfills. 117lbs lost. Last year at this time, I was 319lbs and morbidly obese. Now I'm just under 202lbs and considered "just" overweight. I'm having my IUD taken out this next week to see if I can regulate (since I have PCOS). I had a hard time conceiving my daughter and am hoping having lost this much weight will help me easily conceive our second child.

[Llyra 3]

I'm also cautiously returning after an absence of several months because it was such a pain to figure out the new format. Glad to see others creeping back a well. Good luck with the baby plans, Laura.

I went down 50 pounds between 3-3-10 and 3-3-11, and am very happy to see the scale moving down again. I had half my thyroid removed in November and began thyroid replacement therapy, which I think may have helped. I am now at 186 instead of 240 and am also "merely" overweight. Can't tell you how thrilled I am with that, but suspect you all can relate. I've tentatively set my goal at 158 in order to drop into the normal weight category, but we'll see what happens in the next year or so. I am so much better off than I was that I didn't even mind (much) the long plateau I hit this fall and winter. It's a journey, after all, and one should occasionally rest on a long journey, hmm?

[RavenClaw779 2]

I'm also a year out(3/9/10) and down 62 pounds from my highest weight - wearing a size 16/18. Still seeing a fat person in the mirror even when others comment on my weight loss success, but proud that despite being diagnosed again with breast cancer, this time I didn't turn to food to stuff down my anger, fear, pain etc. Last time I dealt with the "beast" I was 35 and under 200...chemo(steriods!), job stress, cancer fear pushed me all the way up to 283! Have continued to lose weight at a respectable 1-2 pounds per week(on average) and continue to work through the issues surrounding my eating disorder.

As far as the beast goes - I was again blessed that it was caught early with no lymph node involvement. Since I'm a BRAC1 carrier I had bi-lateral mastectomies and am having the OncotypeDX genetic test to see if I actually need chemo. Expect I will so my doc and I will be discussing the steroid issue - I am putting the weight back on!

Hate the new format!!!

[SVM10 6]

I'm also a year out(3/9/10) and down 62 pounds from my highest weight - wearing a size 16/18. Still seeing a fat person in the mirror even when others comment on my weight loss success, but proud that despite being diagnosed again with breast cancer, this time I didn't turn to food to stuff down my anger, fear, pain etc. Last time I dealt with the "beast" I was 35 and under 200...chemo(steriods!), job stress, cancer fear pushed me all the way up to 283! Have continued to lose weight at a respectable 1-2 pounds per week(on average) and continue to work through the issues surrounding my eating disorder.

As far as the beast goes - I was again blessed that it was caught early with no lymph node involvement. Since I'm a BRAC1 carrier I had bi-lateral mastectomies and am having the OncotypeDX genetic test to see if I actually need chemo. Expect I will so my doc and I will be discussing the steroid issue - I am putting the weight back on!

Hate the new format!!!

Raven, I pray that your health gets better. Your weight loss is great, especially in the midst of everything you have had to deal with. Hang in there, better days are still to come.

[lauragshsu 6]

I might have taken my IUD out too soon! My hubby can't keep his hands off me and is so bad about not using any of the backup method (of course, it's my fault, too, for not insisting he use one). Now I'm feeling nauseous, but tests are coming up negative. Guess we'll wait and see. I really wanted to be at goal and enjoy strutting it on the beach before getting pregnant, but hey, I can always do that another time.