At 27 years old, I looked and felt great. I was smaller than I had ever been (even before having a child).  I weighed 113 lbs and stayed active and took pretty good care of myself.  I started to gain weight, and within 3 months, I was up to 130.  I had no idea what was going on with me.  By the time I turned 29, I was up to 165.  I still had no idea of what was wrong. I was seeing an endocrinologist in Houston (I still see her) and she had me on diet pills and many other things that just were not helping.  My blood pressure was rising, and I had developed diabetes.  Her last resort was Lap Band surgery.  So, in January of 2008, I had the surgery done.  It was supposed to help me lose weight and get my health better because of the diabetes. 
Well, 9 months later I am not happy with any of this.  I now excercise way more than I ever did before.  I walk for 30-40 minutes every morning before work, and then go the gym for 1 hour and 15 minutes every afternoon.  I do this 5-6 days a week.  And still barely any results.  I totally watch what I eat and think I am following all dr's orders correctly.  I am now down to 157.  so, not much weight loss in 9 months, and I am very irriated and discouraged.  Can anyone give me some encouragement, tips, what to do, what not to do.....when am I going to see some positive results?

Hi Jen,
I'm having my Realize Band surgery on Monday, Sept. 29th.  I made some homemade beef broth today and froze it.  I'm starting to freak out a little but mostly am just excited.  I just hope this month goes fast!!!

Hey,

my surgery is on the 15th as well and I started a weird diet Tuesday. I am allowed 3 protein shakes per day ( each meal 3 hours apart) and 2 small meals. I can only have 3oz. of lean protein and 2 cups of salad (thank jesus) and my other meal is a forzen entree < 300 calories but >15 grams of protein.

What type of diet are you on?

Thanks guys, I am keeping the phone by my side and I keep checking my email to see if he wrote me back yet....  Nothing... :-(

As all of you Samurai's know, there is so much emotional and physical preparation.  You go through such a roller coaster ride as your date approaches.  But now I feel like my roller coaster just stopped at the top of the big climb and now I am suspended there. 

Well, chin up right?  It is not the end of the world, the good news is I am healthy, alive, and will eventually get my surgery.  I need to regroup and not get depressed.  I will do my best to keep high spirits and healthy in the coming weeks.

This is a fluke so I do not want to freak any of you out and I will still be watching over this group and keeping positive thoughts for each of you to have a smooth surgery and a speedy recovery!

Truly,

It is really nice to know I will have you all doing the WALK, WALK, WALK, SIP, SIP, SIP with me on the 15th. I won't have a time until the 12th, luckily the hospital is only 15 minutes away from me so I can stay at home until it's time. I was going to say "luckily I can sleep in my own bed until it's time", but we all know we WON'T be getting much sleep on the 14th.

I'll be thinking good thoughts for all of you during our wait.