Wanted to share my results

[SandyM 1,956]

Congratulations for makinng a success of it. You are a true inspiration.

[naenaern777 345]

You look amazing!!!!! Thank you for sharing you are such an inspiration!!

[princessheather 114]

Thanks so much everyone! I needed some positive comments. As some of you may know not everyone is willing to give credit when credit is due. Some close loved ones recently told me I was trying to show off and make people feel bad every time I talked about health and fitness or checked into my gym and worked out. But thats not it at all...I am just still amazed I have come this far and want to share my accomplishments and motivate others. I've worked by tail off to get to this level of health and I am never going back!!!!! You can do it too!!!!

[alc1071 43]

Wow, you look amazing! What an inspiration to us all. Congratulations on the new, healthier, you!!

[HHHappy 225]

YOU DESERVE to show off!!!

[Blondiee 278]

Uuuuhhhhmazing!

Your radiant smile says it all.

[chasingadream 1,311]

What a transformation….but your beautiful smile radiates through in every one of those beautiful pictures!!

Congrats on getting yourself to such an incredible place…what an accomplishment…and you should definitely share it with others…you have obviously worked hard!

Good for you….what an inspiration!!

[jamilyne 102668 1,207]

Princess - if I looked like that - I'd be showing it off too! You are an inspiration - to show me that I can do it too! You've succeeded and it gives us all hope whose struggling trying to rid these pounds! I love love seeing success photos! You can "show off" right here!

[prettyandbrwn 40]

Congrats, all of your hard work has paid off

[catnapper 34]

seeing how much healthier u are obviously makes it difficult to understand how anyone wouldn't want to share in this major triumph of successful weight loss. You look absolutely amazing!

Another tool for weight loss besides your lovely pics would be talking to others who are still a long way from reaching wt loss goal....what hv u to say about any tips u found along the way that worked for u,any daily routines,exercise regimen,etc?? Thanks

[theard 5]

Stunning!!! You look amazing!

I'm officially a believer!!!!

[CBT 450]

Smokin' sporty!!!

[2biglamb 65]

You look absolutely stunning!!

[princessheather 114]

Ok sorry if this sounds rambling but I wanted to kind of give my background for those wondering since a couple people emailed me too. Feel free to ask me more as I was just typing what I could think of:

So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second year I decided I had to do it and get informed. I read these bariatric pal boards and searched for the secrets to everyone's success. The answer? No big secret, actual real exercise and counting your calories! I got a little cruiser bike and actually rode it 15 miles a day 7 days a week starting the day I bought it. I had always wanted a bike like that and said if I got one i would use it. That day I also started counting my calories religiously...right down to a stick of gum. I stuck with 1200 calories for the first year and then actually had to up my Protein calories once I started doing even more exercise. When it got too cold I tried zumba and fell in love with it and did it 7 days a week. Then I upgraded to twice a day zumba for several months. Then I did the Insanity program and zumba every day for 3 months. I slowly but surely lost steadily that whole time. The majority of my calories was always Protein. 90 grams at least. And when my weight was stuck and I exercised more, i upped it to 120 grams of protein and lost even more. With that amount of protein i felt full, and there was only enough calories left for my veggies, then fruit the sometimes some carb foods. My band is a realize band and if i remember correclty it is at 10.2 in an 11cc band. I almost have to have the darn thing closed shut to feel any real restriction. I havn't had a fill in a year. (acutally i had it to 10.7 for a almost a year until this january when i started randomly having really bad night reflux so decided to just get a tiny bit out). I made little goals as I went along.. If I had a trip planned, I would say, ok I just have to lose 10 more pounds by then. Or I just want to weigh what I was when I graduated college, and the what I weighed when I first got married, and then I just wanted to be smaller than my husband ( that was an awesome day the day the scale said I weighed less than him!). And the it was I wanted to be what i was when I was 21, and then the ultimate was what i was when I was in my teens!

As for extra skin, yes i look dang good in tight workout clothes but naked is an entirely different story. I will be very honest here and many people here can relate. I struggle daily with my body image. While I may look tiny and muscle packed with clothes on ( I'm at 19% body fat), without clothes my skin is soooo wrinkled. My upper arms are super bad and I am pretty self conscious about them. I wore tank tops last year but vowed not to this summer as i swear all i thought about was people staring at the saggy skin. My upper and lower stomach and pubic region have a huge amount of extra skin that gets in the way when i exercise. I can actually hear it flapping about when I workout dang it! My chest is completely non existent, just flaps of skin which will require a lift and augmentation. My inner thighs and butt are the least saggy out of everything but will require a lift if I really want the complete packed. The good news about some of this is my legs and butt have actually gotten better with working out once I added weight training. I was so overweight for almost 15 years and so i just don't have time (or age) on my side for my skin to shrink back. My goal is to concentrate on reducing my body fat just a little more and have my arms, chest and tummy done this fall as a reward for keeping my weight off for a significant amount of time.

The best advice is to get very informed and have a plan. Don't kid yourself, real exercise and a diet plan is the key to success with the band. Exercise is my best friend now. I actually want to be a personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Many people have asked me how I did it and I have to say I was sick of being what I was.

You can do this!!!!!

[Meintraining 104]

Wow, you are such an inspiration. Thank you for sharing that.