Roll Call

We haven't had a proper roll call in a while. Can we do that again?
We have so many new bandsters joining the boards and I know there are hundreds of lurkers out there. Just say Hi, Let us know where you are in your journey.

I'll start us off.

I'm Tiff-  almost 2 1/2 years post-op.  Down a butt load of weight. Literally. I lost my butt and thank goodness because I was having trouble fitting in my work chair.  I have discovered that I actually like to move on purpose (exercise) some times. Especially when it's in the great outdoors.

Your turn!

Wow Tiff, you look fantastic! Congratulations on your weight loss.

I'm Jen and was banded on 12/28/10.  I have lost 25lbs since my surgery and am loving my band!  I had my first fill on 1/27/11 (4cc's in a 10cc band) but am still not experiencing any restriction.  I have been trying to increase my exercise each week and have started running (well probably more like jogging) again.  My confidence has increased and am a looking forward to where this journey will take me.

I am an occasional posted and a daily lurker.

Congrats on your shiney new band. BTW- I was orginally a Dr. Brown patient. Thats a pretty good office compared to so many others out there. You are lucky to have Metz. He's a pretty sharp cookie!

So with your 4cc's you're not experiencing long satiety than before?

Hi There, Tiff!

These threads are always fun!

I have been an OH Member for almost 4 years now.  I had my band surgery a little over 3 years ago. 

I lose weight quite slowly, but by 18 months I was ALMOST to my goal of losing 110 pounds.  I had lost 105 pounds, but I was having a lot of problems with my band.  My original surgeon is a quack, and well acknowledged quack!!

I had an unfill and had to have surgery to correct the position of my band.  My new and wonderful surgeon, takes great care of me.  He took my fills very slow, so it took me 8 months to get my restriction back after surgery.  During that time I went through enormous amounts of personal stress....so no restriction, and stress equaled a weight gain of 40 pounds for me! 

I will lose that!!
Here are some pics from journey so far....

BEFORE:
ALMOST TO GOAL:
CURRENT: (hiking with my BF)

From cute to glamorous.  You look GREAT!  Congratulations!!

Awe, thanks Lisa!!!

I am a little over 2 months post op and have lost 35.5 pounds as of today :o)  Im down 16 inches .

I have skipped all my fills so far my band is empty the day he put it in me so Im really thankful that I am doing so well without any fills yet .

My goal is to lose about 8 pounds in between doc appts and I I see my doc every 4 to 5 weeks and so far Im down 4.5 pounds since my last appt on Jan 24th .

I love to do Zumba so I do Zumba for a hr on Monday nights and then Curves does the Zumba with the circuit and I do that Tuesday and Thursday Mornings and getting ready to start doing it on Sat mornings also I bowl on Tuesday nights also for some exercise and fun .

My bowling league calls me droopy drawers because Im inbetween sizes lol  Size 22 is just to tight yet well for me to wear in public so need to lose a little more before I can drop a size .

I love my band, Im not deprived of any foods, I can still eat all my favorites but I have learned how to eat them foods in moderation and how often to eat them.

 

Great idea Tiff,

For you -- and all the newbies.... I've just spent the last 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get pictures into a post. Grrahhhh... well at least I learned something new!

First off,  you can probably tell by my screen name that I love beagles. My real name is Trixie. My husband and I have a little beagle that is more spoiled than any dog should be.

In the spring of 2009 I finally "for real" decided to have weight loss surgery. For years I toyed with the idea but never really thought I would go through with it because I figured I could/should be able to lose the weight through dieting and besides surgery seemed so drastic. But mostly I didn't think I deserved the help surgery could give me. I am SO GLAD I got over that and decided to have the surgery. If you had a heart condition that needed surgery, wouldn't you have the surgery? Why should obesity be any different?

I Wanted to Soar, But My Excess Weight Kept Dragging Me Down

Here's what I looked like in July 2009, a month before surgery. This was group shot taken at a baby shower. I was by far the fattest person in the room.  I was so sad and unhappy; wearing a too tight 3x shirt and tight sized 24 pants; nothing else in my closet fit. I don't have many pictures of me at my starting weight because I avoided photo ops like the plague.




Dropping Sizes if FUN!

This is a pretty recent picture; I'm in my very first pair of 18's; the top is a 2x (no matter what size I am; my shirts are always 1-2 sizes larger as most of my excess weight is in my stomach). So exciting. Now I don't automatically feel like the largest person in the room and I have more self confidence. 

Customized Weight Loss

One of the things I appreciate most about  having the band instead of another surgery is that it is customizable. I knew going into this surgery deal that if I had to eat a strict low calorie diet to get the weight off there is no way I would be able to maintain the weight loss. Because as soon as I reached goal I would be at the McDonald's drive through trying to relive the feelings of deprivation. Trust me on this. I just KNOW I would. 

My surgeon, his team and I created a 3 year weight loss plan for me to lose 100lbs.  I've lost 59 pounds as of today -- an average of .75lbs per week. Since surgery I have been eating exactly the way I will be eating in during the maintenance phase. A lot of banded folks don't do this and they are very successful and typically lose a lot more weight in the same amount of time it took me to loose the 59lbs. But I want to do it this way because it gives me the best chance for long term success.

To sum things up, I am absolutely delighted I had surgery!

hijack!! Your doing soo great.. if you think about it some of us lost a good amount of weight the 1 year and not a TON the second (heck I gained) so I think in the long run we will all average the same in 3 years... I'm sort of doing this maintenance phase too where I eat right now how I plan to eat for the rest of my life I'm just ALOT more active..

You look fab-u-less!  I know that's right- Step into the light!  I am so, very, proud of you!