How is weight loss for people over 50?

[BJean 16]

Well Green I am quite envious that you are getting a little nip and tuck. Like I said, I wish I could see a before and after. I'm looking to you for inspiration. You inspire me in so many other ways, why not that one?

Indio: You're being too hard on yourself. We all have had similar difficulties. Remember we're all overweight people too. You're probably not very different from the rest of us in why and how you have learned to love eating.

I am not sure that very many bandsters go completely without hard times now and again. I've been reading and watching and it seems like almost everyone posts about hitting plateaus and low spots. But that doesn't mean that we aren't successful overall. Is health an issue for you?

Most of us have been able to reduce the number of meds we've been taking. Some of us have been able to avoid becoming diabetic or have been able to take fewer diabetic meds. That has to be enhancing the quality of our lives and probably the longevity. Those are darned important factors to consider. They are inspiration for us to continue to use the band and work toward our goals.

When I started out, I got so disheartened when I read that someone had a slipped or corroded band that it almost scared me out of proceeding with the surgery. Then I realized that those people were actually very few in numbers compared to the number of people who are so happy with the band that they wish they had done it sooner. I am one of those, by the way. So you may want to back away from the scary stories and stick with reading posts of the people who are just now on the road to getting surgery and they'll be much easier for you to relate to.

You'll do fine. Believe me I have had a number of "cleansing" procedures and what I've learned is that when I actually get clean and then fast for a while, I'm no longer starving and craving food. It sounds weird, but it is true for me and others who I have talked to. You may be able to get through the rest of the pre-surgery journey much easier than right now. And if you are still smoking, you might want to share that with your doctor. They need to know exactly what they're dealing with in the OR.

Best wishes for a perfect, successful, wonderful journey to bandland!

[green 6]

I will see what I can do in the way of before and after pix. I just bought a digital camera. Now I have to figure out how to use it and I am very, very blonde. I still haven't figured out how to load music onto my Ipod and I have had the bluddy thing for 2 years! :faint:

[crabcake 0]

I am still smoking at night only - I have 2 in the a.m. and then don't smoke all day and have 4 or 5 at night... I did quit for the 10 days but heck this not eating, not smoking. i just can't do both...

You should ask your PCP about a Chantix prescription. I smoked for 38 years and frequently tried to quit. I'd make it for a few months and then start again. My doctor put me on Chantix in March and I quit smoking St. Paddy's day (3/17). I feel certain it's for good this time. The good thing about it is you can continue to smoke after you start taking it. Once it's built up in your bloodstream, you really don't want a cigarette. I've talked to lots of other people too that have used it and everyone is astonished at the results! You can take it up to 6 months after you quit. Here's the website. Good luck. :clap2:

Chantix

[cathgr8 1]

My face is a lot thinner, and I do look prettier, but I'm very self conscious about the new bags and wrinkles from the weight loss, especially my neck sag. I am going to have Thermage on Saturday. It's a laser type treatment for lines and wrinkles on the face and neck, usually quite expensive, but my freind is a medical esthetician and talked the doctor into letting me do it for free for the before and after shots in her portfolio. I told her WLS patients are a good target market. The improvements can appear gradually over 6 months, so I'll have a series of after shots. It will be interesting to see how it turns out, as the peak improvement should coincide with me reaching my goal weight.

[IndioGirl55 32]

Indio: You're being too hard on yourself. We all have had similar difficulties. Remember we're all overweight people too. You're probably not very different from the rest of us in why and how you have learned to love eating.

Best wishes for a perfect, successful, wonderful journey to bandland!

Thanks BJean...

This is the perfectionist in me I think (if i can't do it 100% then why try at all)... I know I can do it - I think I just make things way to difficult for myself.. I work it all up in my brain and then convince myself I won't or can't do it. I need to just place one food (meant foot - subconscious mind working here ) in front of the other and do it... I am not to worry about the slip - errode etc. Yes I know that there always a few people who have bad complication - but it's not the majority. I just pray I'm not one of them (i know no one wants them:)) I am lucky that the only real health issue I have is high blood pressure and mild sleep apnea but that's it - I just want to be able to do things without being tired all the time. I want to live longer and if i don't get this weight off i am going to die. My heart & lungs are ok - and we hope by colon will be:nervous,

I just want to be healthy and look better too.. I hate this fat tummy that i have developed with menopause.. I am going to the gym and walking for 30 minutes every other day.. Will start working with weights once i am cleared after surgery. Thanks again for all the good words and support - you make me want to cry (happy tears) - here are people who only know me on line (and truely most likely know more about me that some of my friends ) and you all are so supportive and make me look at things in a different light.. I want this band - I am just sick of doctors and waiting :biggrin1:

[IndioGirl55 32]

You should ask your PCP about a Chantix prescription. I smoked for 38 years and frequently tried to quit. I'd make it for a few months and then start again. My doctor put me on Chantix in March and I quit smoking St. Paddy's day (3/17). I feel certain it's for good this time. The good thing about it is you can continue to smoke after you start taking it. Once it's built up in your bloodstream, you really don't want a cigarette. I've talked to lots of other people too that have used it and everyone is astonished at the results! You can take it up to 6 months after you quit. Here's the website. Good luck. :clap2:

Chantix

Yes Crabcake - I am going to do this soon - are you still taking the pill??

[crabcake 0]

Yes Crabcake - I am going to do this soon - are you still taking the pill??

No, I stopped after my prescription ran out (3 months? I think). I had thought I'd extend it, but decided I could manage w/out it. I occasionally have days I wish I were still on it, but these are becoming less. I strongly recommend taking it for the full 6 months though.

Also, I wanted to tell you that I too (surprise!) had high blood pressure and that I am now off 2 of my meds (I was taking 4) and also off the high cholesterol medicine. I was banded May 8th and I've lost about 10% of my total weight. I'm doing better than I was about my eating, but not religious about it and not exercising much at all (I'll admit it...I'm a slug!). I'm sure the quitting smoking helped lower my bp, but I think for the most part it's the band. Once I hit Onderland, my doc said I could quit taking a 3rd pill. Hopefully, that will be w/in the next 2 weeks.

Like you I had always said I couldn't do both at once, but the Chantix made that possible. My surgeon refused to do my surgery unless I quit smoking. Since there's a test they can do for nicotine, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get the band, so I dug my heels in and quit! I'm glad I did. I don't want to be one of those obnoxious reformed smokers, so I won't lecture you. I know how hard it is, just do the best you can!

[IndioGirl55 32]

Crabcake

Thanks !!! I am on the nicorette gum and it helps alot.. I will do the chantix...

[crabcake 0]

Crabcake

Thanks !!! I am on the nicorette gum and it helps alot.. I will do the chantix...

That's good. I had tried the patch several months before I did the chantix, so I had already cut back considerably. Like my husband says...use them all if it helps you quit!

Best of luck. :clap2:

[KtKt 0]

Hi Debi... we sound like a close match. I will be 56 in October... and am just starting out with my "in-take" appointment on Tuesday. Good luck with your other tests.... Sounds like you're in good hands, doing exactly what you need to do to get thru this HEALTHY! Keep posting about your progress... I'll be watching!

katie

[DynamoMini 1]

Hi everyone -

We all see a little of ourselves in these posts. I am you and you are me. Isn't there a song with that lyric - yeah Beatles! Oh those glorious 60s and 70s. I also thought I could do the band "perfectly." The fills help to jar me out of complacency, a BP will do that to anyone. But I am finding other successful things, like going up and down my stairs doesn't seem as difficult as it did. The down side is the neck is looking like a gobbler. I salute you green. I will get my nip and tuck when the weight is off (probably another year and a half) and stablized. I don't trust myself not to regain my weight, as I've done it before.

Just let me get there! Be well and enjoy your weekends! Try to stay cool.

Michelle

[green 6]

Ah, I have had a set back.... Let me explain. I guess that I am now kinda at or around goal. When I was first banded the surgeon's Tanita hi-tech scales, body fat and BMI machine print-out said that my goal was to weigh 155 lbs. At my last weigh-in I weighed 154lbs. My BMI was 24.9. Now the office tells me that I could lose another 10 lbs if I wanted to. I received these results and this advice when I went in for my latest fill 5 or 6 weeks ago.

But since my latest fill I have been suffering from a bad case of acid reflux and my throat and upper esophagus have come to feel like they have been painted with acid. It took me a long time to figure this out. You see, for the past 3 or 4 weeks I have had a sore throat and I was thinking that I was either fighting off a cold or had cancer. I even mentioned it to my doc who attempted to have a look. She wasn't all that successful. I have a terrific gag reflex, dammit! Then I began to develop an annoying little cough. I finally woke up to the fact that my throat hurt worse when I was lying down in bed and then I remembered Carlene's post about her problems with band related acid reflux. As it happens my husband has acid reflux and when it is out of control he has the same annoying little cough. I also took note that my sore throat was worse on the side which I routinely sleep on. In fact this was the Eureka! factor.

And so I finally phoned up yesterday afternoon in order to arrange a defill and I explained that I have a painful case of acid reflux. The fill nurse said that a defill is definitely indicated.

This is my story and I am posting it here because I figure that it may be of interest to the rest of the gang.

I also researched acid reflux. It seems that all my favourite foods and drinks are verboten and that it will help the sufferer if she sleeps with her stomach lower than her esophagus - less chance of backwash, you see. So now I have co-opted most of the pillows on our bed in order that I might sleep in a semi-sitting up position. I also take my nighttime array of meds hours before crawling into bed.

The above story is all about the bad and the ugly. And now I will tell you about the good. My husband and I went out for lunch yesterday to an Italian restaurant which we like. As it happens we haven't been there for awhile and the owner also happened to be on site. While my husband was paying the bill she approached him and said, "your wife has lost a lot of weight." She was clearly interested in how I had lost the weight and at one point asked if I had been ill. He kept quiet about the band but she did tell him that she thought that I looked fabulous. This was a nice compliment coming from a woman who is both elegant and rather icy in her personal manner.

[gailannr 1]

Hi Green,

Quote:

"So now I have co-opted most of the pillows on our bed in order

that I might sleep in a semi-sitting up position."

I just wanted to tell you the best solution my husband and I have found is to cut a 2x4 to fit your bedframe and slip it right between the rails and bottom of box springs. If you already have bed boards, just lay it on top of the top board. This would only be one board and only at the top. If you have a waterbed or air mattress I am not sure you could get this to work. You really don't need a bunch of pillows.

Gail

[make33 2]

Wow, you are an inspiration for me! I'm 60 and hope to be banded within the next two months and was unsure what our (older women) loss rate would be!! And the "not suffering" was a blessing to hear!

Good for you--keep up the great work!

[green 6]

Thanks for the advice, Gailannr.