I'm here to help...

[cathychatts 1]

I am so very impressed, Janet! I will have to admit that the idea of actually being able to do this is just now beginning to sink in!

Your success really encourages me! I am loosing at a steady rate and beginning to notice the change in my clothes! I have gone from an 18 to a 14w in pants. I can wear some of my 16 petite but most are still tight around the waist. I am very short, 5'1.5" but have a muscular frame. My goal is 130 and you make me believe that I can reach it!

I have had some troubles with my kidneys and bladder again, and they suspect it may be kidney stones. I have been taking an antibiotic and lasix and that has improved the Fluid rention greatly! So I have been dropping lbs again! 20lbs lost since surgery on June 6.

Take care everyone! Long2bthin: you will be in my prayers tomorrow at you gb surgery!

Cathy

Edited August 7, 2008 by cathychatts

[pj_txlady 0]

Congratulations Janet !! Wow. you have done so well. You look fabulous !!! Will send you my after pictures next summer. :thumbup:

Pj

[Great2BThin 5]

Cathy, thanks for the prayers tomorrow I will take all I can get!

I'm freaking out a little this morning about surgery, I keep looking at the clock and thinking, 'at this time tomorrow, I'll be in surgery, or recovery or whatever dependent on the time'.

I was so frustrated this morning, I weighed myself, I wanted one more pound so bad to make an even 50 and I got my pound and one more, I gained 2!! WRONG DIRECTION!! this too shall pass and who knows what it is, I've been a good little lapbander.

I was very pleased last night, I went to my small group (through church) and no one there knows about my surgery nor has anyone noticed my weight loss. Then suddenly last night it was like they all noticed, I got more wow's and you look great's, and well it just swelled my head a little (maybe that's where the 2 lbs are!). It felt good to finally have it be noticeable.

Janet, congrats on the normal BMI, I know I was thrilled to be no longer morbidly obese and just obese. My next goal is to be just overweight, then normal!

[JoannMarie 0]

Long2bThin, good wishes for your surgery tomorrow. I'm going to be away from LBTalk for a couple of days beginning early tomorrow morning. I hope when I return I see an early message from you telling us all about how well everything went. You will be feeling so much better, and your continued weight loss will make you feel better yet. You are sooo on your way!

[IndioGirl55 32]

Janet - Congrats! We are so lucky to have a mentor like you... inspiring!

Kathy

PS. Just found out I have a conference in Palm Desert in December. That's close to you isn't it? Maybe we can connect in person!

Thanks Kathy !!!

Yes Palm Desert is close to me - I live in Indio - The Coachella Valley is about 35 miles from Cochella to Palm Springs is and in between those 2 cities are Coachella, Indio, Bermuda Dunes (which is where I actually work) Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City & Palm Springs

I would love to meet up... I will p.m. you my #'s and let me know what dates...

I am so very impressed, Janet! I will have to admit that the idea of actually being able to do this is just now beginning to sink in!

Your success really encourages me! I am loosing at a steady rate and beginning to notice the change in my clothes! I have gone from an 18 to a 14w in pants. I can wear some of my 16 petite but most are still tight around the waist. I am very short, 5'1.5" but have a muscular frame. My goal is 130 and you make me believe that I can reach it!

I have had some troubles with my kidneys and bladder again, and they suspect it may be kidney stones. I have been taking an antibiotic and lasix and that has improved the Fluid rention greatly! So I have been dropping lbs again! 20lbs lost since surgery on June 6.

Take care everyone! Long2bthin: you will be in my prayers tomorrow at you gb surgery!

Cathy

Cathy - You are doing great and yes you can make it !!! Hugs on the kidney stone issue - I hear that's painful... And yes it isn't always the number on the scale that's going to show the lost in weight some weeks it will be the clothes are loser and you have gone down another size..

Keep up the good work..

Congratulations Janet !! Wow. you have done so well. You look fabulous !!! Will send you my after pictures next summer. :thumbup:

Pj

Thanks PJ - Yes we will be waiting for those pictures...

Lori - Hugs and Prayers for your surgery tomorrow...

[JoannMarie 0]

Update: I have my sleep study scheduled for next Saturday (16th). I don't have any signs or symptoms of sleep apnea, but the surgeon requires the study if you are a Medicare patient. Apparently it is not a MC requirement but one of the guidelines and the surgeon likes to make sure all the t's are crossed and i's dotted. I am good with that. My consultation appointment is for Sept. 3 and I should receive a date at that time if all goes well. I am hoping for an October date. DH and I are planning a trip to Korea at Christmastime to spend holidays with DD and her family (Army folks). I would like to be well established with all the new processes before I go on such a long flight to foreign shores. (something to discuss with doc at my consultation!)

[Charlene K 1]

Janet.........YOU LOOK FABULOUS! You give all of us hope. Thanks for sharing.

[IndioGirl55 32]

Update: I have my sleep study scheduled for next Saturday (16th). I don't have any signs or symptoms of sleep apnea, but the surgeon requires the study if you are a Medicare patient. Apparently it is not a MC requirement but one of the guidelines and the surgeon likes to make sure all the t's are crossed and i's dotted. I am good with that. My consultation appointment is for Sept. 3 and I should receive a date at that time if all goes well. I am hoping for an October date. DH and I are planning a trip to Korea at Christmastime to spend holidays with DD and her family (Army folks). I would like to be well established with all the new processes before I go on such a long flight to foreign shores. (something to discuss with doc at my consultation!)

JoannMarie - Ithink all doc's make you do a sleep study - I had mild sleep apnea - I never stopped breathing but my breathing got real shallow when I was in a deep sleep - I am a cynic and I think that they said I had it so that it would be another reason for the insurance not to deny me the surgery... My bmi was over 40 with the high blood pressure and with the added comorbity of sleep apena they couldn't deny me.. Again I can be a real cynic at time

I had no problems with my band and I have flown a couple times now.. and I understand you wanting to be comfortable and use to your band before jaunting off overseas.

Janet.........YOU LOOK FABULOUS! You give all of us hope. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Charlene - now I have to learn how to maintain - I am going to need to up my calories in order not to keep losing and that in it's self is a little scary. It's like giving an alcohlic a drink - giving a food addict more food to eat..

Lori - agin hugs and prays for tomorrow you will do fine..

[mtnman428 1]

Great job and you look awesome!!!!

[kidder136 1]

With that being said - if any of you are or do struggle come and let me know - I'm here to help in those times too.. Remember this thread is for all our issues as it's our lives that affected how we ate - happy sad mad etc - we are still going to have these emotions so it you want to talk about those things feel free..

Janet, I was banded in April 2008 and am about ready to throw in the towel. I am hungry all the time and have no motivation to exercise. I need to lose 5# before my doctor will do a fill and am struggling beyond my control. I hate the way I feel and seem to be in a rut. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. I have been reading this thread for a little while now and you are an inspiration. Sorry to sound so negative, just frustrated to no means and don't know what to do.

Gail

[wiredshut 0]

I lost my best friend this week. I don't know why I'm posting this here and I hope it's OK that I am. When I moved to L.A. I met this wonderful woman with a daughter the same age as mine. We quickly became friends and there hasn't been a holiday in 33 years that our families haven't spent together. There hasn't been a day that has gone by that we haven't talked, shared our joys and sadness, given each other advice, gossiped a little and shared our lives. We thought our families would grow old together and that we'd be watching our grandchildren and someday our greatgrandchildren - together. Our husbands were friends, too. She died this week, after a long illness and a great deal of pain. My heart has an emptiness in it that I can't even begin to explain.

Judy, my friend, was rooting me on, encouraging me to have the surgery and applauding me when I did. She was one of the few friends in my life who felt this way. Ironically and on a much more mundane note, I've only lost 1 pound this week and I'm wondering why that is the case, since I'm still on liquids and Protein drinks and am eating so few calories a day. My sadness has kept me from moving too much, but somehow I feel I should have lost more in the almost 3 weeks since surgery. Judy asked me everyday how I was doing, even from her hospital bed. So much running around inside my head and heart. Thanks for letting me share my pain here.

Love,

Ellen

[mtnman428 1]

Ellen, I'm so sorry for your loss. I cried just reading it. I'll keep you and your friend in my thoughts and prayers.

[IndioGirl55 32]

Janet, I was banded in April 2008 and am about ready to throw in the towel. I am hungry all the time and have no motivation to exercise. I need to lose 5# before my doctor will do a fill and am struggling beyond my control. I hate the way I feel and seem to be in a rut. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. I have been reading this thread for a little while now and you are an inspiration. Sorry to sound so negative, just frustrated to no means and don't know what to do.

Gail

Gail - I am sorry that you are struggling... But don't throw in the towel !!

#1 Do you have any restriction at all ???

#2 What are you eating? Are you keeping a food diary?

#3 Exercise - Ya that's a tough one - I was a total slug bug prior to being banded at 250 it's hard.

Here are some suggestions - thoughts on what you can do to get back on track. Please know that I do give tough band love - but the operative word is love :ohmy:

Starting today - track your food intake on dailyplate.com or fitday.com or keep a little notebook in your purse and write down everything you put in your mouth. If you don't have a food scale I would suggest getting one.

As obese pple we don't know what a true serving size is - we think a pint of ice cream and some days a whole half gallon as 1 serving - do you know that a pint of ice cream is 4 servings.. Weigh and measure your food - this is a learning tool to help you understand what a real serving size is and how many calories are in that serving..

I know that pple say that they didn't get banded to diet - weight or measure their food but we have to use this as a learning tool (imho) you don't have to do this for a lifetime but you need to do it until you have learned a healthy eating style.

The word diet means what you eat not starving yourself - that's why I say take the word diet out of your vocabulary replace it with Healthy Eating - Diets don't work cuz when you go off them you go back to eating normal and that's what got us fat in the first place.. This is truly a lifetime lifestyle change in the way we eat and look at food all together.

I am a weight watcher girl - I do eat carbs but limit them - Eat your hard Proteins 1st then veggies and carb/starches if any room. Eat healthy low fat - sugar free - plan your 3 meals and 2 healthy Snacks (I am attaching a sample menu) Keep your calories between 800 - 1200 max - vary them daily - one day 800 - next 1000 etc.

As you have heard 1000 times beefer the band is only a tool - they have banded your tummy and not your brain - and the majority of our problems lie in our heads.. The band doesn't make your food choices or exercise for you - all that is up to you - so that's why I say that 75% of the work is up to you and that once you have proper restriction the band will do the other 25% in controlling your portions.

You have to make up your mind to do this - take one day at a time - food is our drug of choice and this isn't easy even with the band as we still find ourselves looking for food when we are stress bored mad sad whatever. We have use food to soothe and comfort us and when that's gone we are in a panic..

When you find yourself struggling - go clean the bathroom - clean out your sock drawer - come here and talk - if I'm not here there at the moment you need help - there are plenty of others who are and would be willing to help you.. Post talk about it - but you gotta learn to not give in to it - sometime you Will succeed and other times you might not - but when you do fall down - grab those bootstraps and pull yourself back up and keep moving forward - this is a learning process.. You can't change the past so don't fret over it - all you can do is learn from your past mistakes and move forward..

Ok on to exercise - I hated it - truly hated it - but I knew that for me exercise was key in me losing weight - our bodies weren't made to sit on our butts all day and night - they were built to move.

I don't know if you have access to a gym or have any equipment at home and as i write this forget where you live (weather wise) forgive me I am old But you just gotta do it as the commercial says. I still to this day try and talk myself out of going to the gym - this morning was a perfect example of that - but I just don't let that little devil on my left shoulder win, cuz I know he is lying to me - remember devil likes to disguise himself as an angel but he's lying to you..

I started out slow - 30 minute mile and each week increased my speed and distant.. In March I got a trainer and started with weights - if you can afford it I would highly suggest getting one.. You are paying for it you will show up and the more muscle you have the more calories you burn.

Also once you get into the routine of exercise you will find that it makes you feel better mentally and physically.. Some would now call me a gym rat... Like today - I have the day off and my usual exercise days are Mon/Tue/Wed & Sat mornings - but since I have a day off - I went to the gym this morning - I don't sleep in - I get up and go and I feel so much better.

If you have kids - take them for a walk or go ride bikes - then need the exercise - go out side and play with them - move thats all it takes - get some exercise videos - dancing ones - make it fun - if you make it a chore you won't do it.

So thats why I say start out slow and work your way into a good routine - as the weight comes off exercise does get easier. But you gotta do it - fine something you enjoy - I know that's hard to imagine but I got an ipod loaded in with songs and hit the treadmill - that 1 hour is my time and I just jam to my tunes and before you know it the time you allotted for exercise is gone.

You have to make time for you - you are worth it - you dh & kids will survive without you for 30 min or 1 hr a few times a week.

Losing weight is losing our barrier against the world and it's hard sometimes as we aren't ready to deal with our issues.

Quit making excuses as to why you can't do it - you can do it - quit making yourself a victim - ya I still get hungry - I don't find that my band takes away my hunger - but I can say that what I will consider hunger isn't really physical hunger but head hunger and even a yr out I still struggle with this. I will eat be full and still want to eat.. But now I know this - and I work with it

Being a hungry isn't going to kill you but being obese is. Being hungry is our bodies going thru withdrawals - it's use to being fed 24/7 - high fat high sugar foods super size portions.

You can do this - just take it one day at a time - it's doable - Quit standing in your own way - if you think you can't do something then you won't - but if you think you can you will do it.

You will find it very empowering when you make that good food choice or go out and walk for 30 minutes - It's empowering to fight and win the battle with that little devil on your shoulder telling you this is too hard you can't do.

I just want you to listen to that little angel on your right shoulder who is whispering in your ear you can do this - you will do this - and if you don't want to listen to that little angel - then think of me sitting right next to that little angel but I'm not whispering I am yelling in your ear - You can do this I have faith in you :smile2:..

[IndioGirl55 32]

I lost my best friend this week. I don't know why I'm posting this here and I hope it's OK that I am. When I moved to L.A. I met this wonderful woman with a daughter the same age as mine. We quickly became friends and there hasn't been a holiday in 33 years that our families haven't spent together. There hasn't been a day that has gone by that we haven't talked, shared our joys and sadness, given each other advice, gossiped a little and shared our lives. We thought our families would grow old together and that we'd be watching our grandchildren and someday our greatgrandchildren - together. Our husbands were friends, too. She died this week, after a long illness and a great deal of pain. My heart has an emptiness in it that I can't even begin to explain.

Judy, my friend, was rooting me on, encouraging me to have the surgery and applauding me when I did. She was one of the few friends in my life who felt this way. Ironically and on a much more mundane note, I've only lost 1 pound this week and I'm wondering why that is the case, since I'm still on liquids and Protein drinks and am eating so few calories a day. My sadness has kept me from moving too much, but somehow I feel I should have lost more in the almost 3 weeks since surgery. Judy asked me everyday how I was doing, even from her hospital bed. So much running around inside my head and heart. Thanks for letting me share my pain here. Love, Ellen

Oh Ellen Hugs - Yes this is the place for you to share your pain - we are here for you!!!

I am so sorry for your loss - Hugs - I know how hard it is to lose someone your love.. I too lost one of my bff about 9 months after I lost both my parents. Also the pain in watching a person you love have a long painful struggle before they go.

Words are inadequate in expressing our sorrow and I wish that I could take away the hurt and pain - just know that I am giving you a cyber hug since I can't do it in person and I know that when you think of your friend Judy - those memories will make you smile and yes sometimes cry but know that she only wanted the best for you and wouldn't want to to morn forever - she wants you to be happy and healthy...

Hugs & Love Janet

[bochs 0]

Ellen, so sorry about your bf. I know how painful it is to loose someone that you are close to. Time will heal your pain and its okay to grieve. This is a good place to come and talk.

Long, I hope your surgery went well. I was saying a prayer for you to be okay and we will hear from you soon.

Indio, CONGRATULATIONS :tt2: on your normal BMI. I can't imagine what this is like. You have worked very hard and you deserved everything coming your way. Plus, you are a very good mentor to all of us. I hope to be in your shoes some day and be a good mentor. The last few days for me have been kind of off. Last night I had 4 two inch square of pizza. I am hungry and I can't help myself. Next Tuesday, I go to Dr. so I hope he gives me fill this time because I am truly hungry now. Its like the band isn't there. I am trying really hard to be careful on food. On Wednesday I weighed and I stayed the same as last week:confused2:. Thats the first time I did not loose since surgery. I have upped my walking to two times around the park now every other day so am getting in extra miles now. thats hard for me, especially because its so hot. I am sitting here hungry right now and for lunch I had cheese sticks and a medium salad. I am afraid I am going to have trouble when I get filled because I can not quit taking big bites of food and I cant quit guzzling or eating fast. That is the hardest part for me I think that is harder that exercise:cursing: See ya later, Beckyo