A story familiar to some...

[Albacheeser 0]

Hi Everyone, I am glad to be here and am looking forward to my lap-band surgery in the near future, if all goes off without a hitch.

I don't know how many of you all can say this but I am one of those people that has been very thin and very fat.

I am a once-thin, male at 46 years of age and am now considered "super-obese" at 375 lbs.

Here is a short synopsis of what happened:

1) Growing up - average size but overweight occasionally.

2) College and Starting out - Healthiest time in my life. After college I worked in the construction field and got down to 160. For me, this weight was actually very thin as I am just over 5'11". For the first time in my life I could do even one-handed chinups like I was a chimpanzee. I never thought I would ever again have a weight problem.

3) Later, I had an office job and then became a software developer and became quite sedantary. My youthful eating habits have never really changed, with an ever present Portion Control problem.

23 years later if my investment portfolio looked anything like a plotted chart of my weight in that time, I'd be the richest man on Earth.

I have clung to reasonably good health, but am now starting to get some of the comorbidities, such sleep apnea and hypertension. I am determined that diabetes will NOT be the next shoe to drop.

So I made the decision to do lapband. My sister had a gastric bypass several years ago and one of my brothers actually had gastric bypass during the experimental stages back in the early 1980's. Both have been basically successful.

Since my sister had the current bypass procedure, we were surprised she did not lose more weight. However, she has a "sweet tooth" and never got "dumping syndrome" so there was no penalty for it. More recently she has begun to lose weight again. I mention this because I am well familiar with the lifestyles changes that are required.

I believe the lap-band will work for me because it is adjustable and because my problem has always been Portion Control and I do NOT have a sweet tooth.

WHAT am I STRUGGLING with now...

Now that I know that the surgery is coming it is difficult to avoid things like pizza because I keep thinking that this is the last time I will ever be able to sit down and pig out on pizza.< /p>

Edited February 9, 2009 by Albacheeser

[twirl 0]

eat your pizza now but follow the doc's pre op directions -

you can still eat pizza but I got over the urge to "pig out" -

I also got over the urge to drink as I eat -- I just got used to it- at first, I wanted to rip this band out but as time goes on it becomes easier - I am going to Ci-Ci's with my family in a few hours and will eat some salad and the tops off a couple of pieces of pizza and I will be fine with that- it is amazing how much more money you will have in your bank account and I always take home a "to go" container - I guess I need to learn how to oder less - right now I am too sky to show them my card about the surgery so I can order from the child's menu ---- and my family and pets enjoy left overs from eating out:blushing: