my 100 + lb weight loss = my new toy

ok, here is my official starting weight: 147

I want to get down to 133. That is my magic number.

Off to work I go. Hope everyone has a great day!

great. I want to weigh 147. lol

Connie,
You are limited to eating a little bit of food every day by the size of your stomach. What that tiny bit of food consists of is up to you, for better or worse! If you only eat milkshakes and chocolate, you could defeat the band. Sugar does not cause an adverse reaction, but I don't eat any. I never craved sweets, just ate too many carbs. Potato chips and bread make me feel queazy now, so I don't eat them at all. But I have no problem with lean protein and vegetables!

Mystic,

You are soooo smart to get the weight off after only gaining about 15 pounds or so. I waited until 40, which is a daunting task!!! Let us know how you do with whatever diet you use!! :-)

Bynde: Thanks for the info! One more question: Do you eat about 6 or 7 tiny meals a day? I'm trying to see if I can try this without the band. Thanks!!!

This message was edited Aug 20, 2007 9:36 PM

just got back from boston and glad to see we have new people here. i have another wedding next week and then i go on vacation. its been real hard to not eat too much but i think i am doing o.k. will weight myself this coing thursday before the wedding. LOL will get back to you soon. got some nice whale pictures. i will be psoting my pictures on the real name thread. hpe you get to see some of them.

Connie, no I don't eat more than 3 meals a day. You need to give your little stomach pouch time to empty out. I eat 3 light meals a day, no more!

well i was a bad boy in boston but only gained 2 pounds but it was worth it.
hows is everyone doing??

Doing good. I've driven 6 hours to be at my sister's and help with my son's wedding. I have sewing, altering and more flowers to do. The food choices here make it easy to make good decisions and I expect another good loss when I weigh in at home in 2 weeks. Part of being here is hard. My sister is wearing the clothes I bought and wore 2 years ago before I regained all this weight...

Sis had a gastric bypass in June, and while the weight is coming off, it is coming off more slowly than for most others in this same situation. Anyone who thinks WLS is the "easy way out" should see the dedication and sacrifice it does take. She was on a liquid diet for 2 weeks before the surgery and a couple of weeks after. Then "soft food" for couple of weeks. Protein shakes several times a day and she walks everyday... Don't kid yourself, it still takes discipline.

I expect a GREAT week, lots of work. Some time to see my adult sons and give my Sis some help altering her wardrobe. I hope you all have an enjoyable, healthy one too!
Pat

Absolutely true psych, even with weight loss surgery you need to work at it!

i also heard that if you are not careful your stomach can grow
to the same size it was.

yes i have known 3 people now that have either had it come off or have re stretched their stomaches and are just as big now.

its pretty radical surgery... its great if it works for you but for some the problem doesnt start with what goes in your mouth but why?!!

I went back to school this week (in-service for teachers) and saw a fellow teacher who used to weigh 450 the last time I saw her and now she's at about 170!!!! She said she had a different surgery (can't remember the name....her insurance would NOT pay the 45k for it, and she said it's different in that they removed most of her INTESTINES so that the nutrients just won't get processed...and neither will the calories/ fat, etc.
I hope I'm remembering this correctly.

??? Does anyone from this group know about this? That seems very radical to me, but then I Think she had the other surgery before and her stomach stretched out again. This was a "last ditch" effort, she said, and she was extremely unhappy with life before because of her compulsive eating.

Thanks in advance.
Connie, who is stuck at 169 pounds after losing 10, because she is cheating a bit.

There is a great book out called Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies that does a good job of explaining the different surgeries, the benefits and which one is the best choice in certain circumstances. The lapband is very popular since it is adjustable and there are no mal-absorption problems. It is relatively inexpensive and not very invasive, many patients going back to work within days. Some of the more recent developments have made these surgeries a better choice than in the past.

The old type "stomach stapling" has a very high failure rate due to people not changing some of their old habits and over eating. The over eating stretched this surgerically reduced stomach until the patient either popped staples or stretched it out to bigger again...

A few (let me STRESS FEW) insurance companies have come to recognize the overall financial and health benefits of paying for these surgeries. There have been several news stories on the AP recently that your local newspaper may have also printed.

If anyone is SERIOUSLY interested in learning more about these they can private d-mail me and I'll send you some links and information. My sister has recently had WLS surgery and she researched it extensively before coming to a decision.

I hope you are all making good food choices! Have a great week.
Pat

Removing part of your intestines would be very invasive and risky!

and downright scary.
connie - i think i was that weight when i was born. LOL

i have wedding this evening and a bbq on saturday.
i am gonna be a good boy and try to eat sensibly but sometimes i have no sense at all. LOL

have a great weekend everyone and lets keep up the good work.
looking forwarde to everyones weigh in on sunday.

There are things you CANNOT do after you get a gastric lap band. You CANNOT drink soda, or it will dialate (enlarge)your small pouch. You CANNOT eat bread, ever. You CANNOT eat sugar or sweets, ever! You CANNOT eat tough steaks. You CANNOT overeat until you puke, or might make your band slip. You MUST chew all your food very well. Almost all banding failures are due to no following these simple rules. Some people do well, and then get over-confident and start breaking the rules after a few years. For me, these are really simple rules to follow and well worth the weight loss.

Yes all of the surguries can make the person dump, which I hear you feel very horrible and want to barf, barfing is dangerous too at times I heard fatal, in the old days especially.

Fortunately not fatal! But it can make your band slip if you are violently retching repeatedly.

its called gastric bypass surgery i believe and its a last resort kind of thing. i still hold to the belief that surgery should be the last resort as any surgery is invasive. most people who are medically obese or morbid obese (more than 120kg) are so because of emotional issue, compulsive behaviour and such. tho surgery will make them lose weight it still doesnt deal with the disorder.

just me and my opinion.....

In the old days, My friend who had stapling, was given an emergency set of wire cutters in case she started violently throwing up, it could have ruptured something or, I don`t remember, she was supposed to cut a wire and release something. I was horrified, but who knows, she was a bit off.

Hellnzn11, Your friend probably had her teeth wired together to help her lose weight. Pretty radical way to do it in my opinion. Someone I know had her teeth wired shut but for a different reason and they gave here some wire cutters in case she had to throw up.

Of course ANY surgery should not be taken lightly, or thought of as a substitute for dieting. Some of the different surgeries can now be done laparoscopy style (through 3 small incisions in your tummy) and the recover time is quite short.

your right, i think its a very drastic move and only should be considered when all other options have failed and your life is at risk. it never should be considered as an easy option by any means....

well, since i have lost all this weight i feel very pround to post some pictures of the recent wedding deb and i attended for my neighbors daughter

this is the first time i have ever worn a black shirt to a wedding but deb wanted us in matching black outfits.
this is me first

now deb

both together

last is a family shot

Snazzzzzyyyyyy...great looking family...so nice Herbie that you get to enjoy everyone being together often...thanks for letting us view your photos...

Herbie, you look great and your family is looking good, too.

WowFrank, You and Deb look Wonderful.
Nice family photo- Glad you had a a nice time.

Looking great!

awesome frank!

weighed in last night and lost a pound. happy with that as over the last two weeks i have been ill and unable to excersise.

have a good week.

Herbie: You and Deb are a gorgeous couple!! I'm so proud of you!

good going wonder. how about the rest of you. we are supposed to supporting each other in our weight loss but i don't see too many of us posting our gains and or losses. maybe we got off track with the different surgeries that people have had but i woujld like to keep this for what it is and that is about about weighing in each week and giving each other sujpport. don't be shy about posting pictures cause it gives us encouragement to keep dieting.

how did we do last sunday when we were supposed to weight in??

i confess i gained two and a half pounds because of the rfehersal diner on thursdaym the wedding on friday and then the bbq on saturday. will try to get very strict with myself since i am going on vacaton to ocean city on sept 8th andf i just know i won't be a good boy. LOL

hows about the rest of you.

Lost about 2 lbs. Herbie, but doesn't show...I'm still on track though...cutting way down on pepsi (1 can only over a period of a day), eating salads, fruit...just being a good girl..don't care if it takes months...slowly but surely..right?

I stayed the same last week. It seems to go like a stair step pattern...I hold steady one week and lose the next week, then steady again...etc

Like I mentioned, I'm out of town away from my bathroom scale but I'm making GOOD choices. I went to the store today to buy some shredded brocolli and turkey ham for making salads for my lunch. I'm the one cooking tonight, making stir fry for the family. If I thought I could have a little piece of cake the day of the wedding and not go completely NUTS I would but... I'm better off not going near sweets.

Congratulations to all you slowly plugging along, making good choices AND to those of you that have "a slip up" and get back right back up going again.
Pat

wonderful family photos Herbie! You all look so happy!!

Ok, so....I have gained another pound ;-(

so, I will try, try again.

I need to practice more self control at work. It is hard when I work with 40 other women, actually 39 and one fellow (poor guy!). It is always someone's birthday, anniversary, wedding, baby shower, you name it...WE EAT!!!

Will make it a point to be better at the pot lucks!!! And I will shoot for a loss of two pounds next week. Not much but a start!

-Tia

oh ya, and I forgot to say that I REALLY have to get in shape now because I booked a cruise for week after Thanksgiving...great deal 199$ per person, ALMOST too good to be true but true. So, My BIG goal is to lose 16 pounds by Thanksgiving.

Everyone think good thought for me! :-)

Hey--You ALL!!!!!

PLEASE don't sweat it if you have "gained" a couple of pounds in a week!....Or a weekend.

Sometimes, if you go out--or have something to eat (not normally on your diet)--you will show a few pounds gain. Just go back to your good eating habits and it will level out again. Honest!

Sometimes it seems that if you take a deep breath--you weigh a pound more than the day before. DO NOT freak out over that! Your weight will fluctuate day by day no matter what you do.
SO! You drink a qt. of water.......that probably weighs about 2 lbs. If you have not peed or sweated out a bucket as you work in your garden, walking or excercising--that weight will still be there.

I am NOT in this "Weight Loss" Group-----BUT, I went out last night and pigged out on a dinner. 2 Crab cakes. Baked Potato (with butter and sour cream), desert and a BIG Marguarita ti start out.
I know from experience that, if I weighed myself the next AM, I May have gained 3-4 lbs. Believe me--the body will get rid of that temporary weight gain and you will be back to normal. As long as you do not do this every other day--you will be OK!

SO!!!! Chill! One lb? Two lbs??. Let it be!!!!! It is OK!!!
You "freaking out" over it will do a lot more harm than you realize.

Be forgiving to yourself. It is NO big deal!!!!!

Smile--YOU are beautiful!!!! Eat healthy every day--and if you slide one day or one weekend--just cut some of the calories the next week.

Gita