1 week post op

[carla1869 2]

I am one week post-op and people are already asking me how much weight I have lost so far It is so anoying as they claim to see weight loss already and this is impossible as I have hardly lost anything (more than i have in years though and i am grateful) . I feel like I am under a microscope and everyone is watching me, I hate the pressure.

I just finished doing my tickers and it has just dawned on me how long of a process this is, I really just wanted to be healthier but having to select a goal weight... its all filling me with anxiety really.

did anyone else feel like this?

[Bandista 7,466]

@@carla1869 way to go choosing yourself and your healthy future! Great to have the surgery over with -- all that anticipation is nerve-wracking and now you're in the healing phase. It's all so exciting but also an inward time -- learning to eat in a new way, listening for signals -- adjusting to a new lifestyle is so different from all the dieting we did before. I did not tell very many people about my surgery but as I dropped weight I've had to contend with comments and I agree, it's awkward. As for the goal weight, I didn't know how to pick either. I'm 5'6.5" -- can't put 1/2 inches in the height on the ticker so I use 5'7" as I used to be that (I'm in my mid-fifties, shrinking!). I thought I'd go for 148 and never let myself go over 150 but now I realize that would be way too thin for me. I am wearing size 10 pants -- down from a 20. I recommend paying attention to your jeans and how your clothes start to fall off of you rather than the number on the scale. Good luck with all! Keep your appointments -- it's all about the follow-up.

[carla1869 2]

@@Bandista thank you!

It's so good to know I'm not the only anxious one. Picking the goal weight is mind boggling, I chose something in the middle of my "healthy" bmi but I feel like it is too light as well, I definitely will be paying attention to my clothing sizes instead.

[pat1954 3]

I just got banded on 10-8-2015,,, this is my first week,, having doubts,, issues,, have I made a mistake,, doing this at my age? Would love to hear from others around my age on their experiences,, if it helped them as they hoped thanks Pat

[B-52 7,113]

#1...This is why I never told anyone.

#2...What are you going to do when you reach YOUR goal?

In my experience, this is a life changing event...it changed the way I think about, and eat food. It is something that will remain that way for the rest if my life.

I became Obese because, over time, I was eating way too much of th wrong foods...and I could not control it no matter how many different diets I tried, and over the last 30-40 years I tried them all !!!

So, Weight loss surgery was the only option left for me....the last resort. I did not want to do it or look forward to it, but I had no other opotions and my health was failing because of it.

So, after lap band surgery, and then getting it properly adjusted through a series of fills, (which took months, not days or weeks) my eating and general outlook to food has changed 180 degrees. And just as I slowly gained weight, I then turned it around and slowly began to loose weight...and continued to loose passing any goals I may have set for myself...What could I do to stop it? Get Fluid taken out of the band so I can eat like a fat person again? (this is NOT a diet in my experience)

With the new lifestyle I lost untill everything settled out on it's own....surprisingly a very good body fat %. Never felt better, with so much ebnergy, my health issues have all dissaperared. And as long as the band is there, I will never go back, never gain the weight back.

Everything could not be more PERFECT and can't be any better for someone my height, etc.

So yes, I wish WLS was not the only way, but I have no regrets what so ever! It beats the alternative.

BTW, coming up on 5 years (Jan), and at the 5 year mark I will be 64 years old.

The first few weeks, months, were the toughest part of this process....the band was not doing much, and it took time and some fills to get it working optimally (Green Zone) I even gained weight after the first month and first fill. I was frustrated and felt I wasted my time, yet again.

After that it became easier and easier and eventually there came a point where I don't even think about it anymore. It just is....it's the "New Normal"