Come out and tell me about your success!!

AMAZING!!!  84lbs in 13 months is truly incredible !  Being a nurse and now living such a healthy lifestyle must make you feel so good.  I teach middle school and my student's have intensive special needs so being able to lift students who are non ambulatory into equipment and wheelchairs was very difficult for me when I was over weight.  Now I feel like I am able to give more to my students.  thank you so much for sharing you're doing so amazing and I can't wait to hear that you have made your goal, Kari

I planned, hosted and absolutely LOVED my H.S. reunion. (I probably wouldn't even had showed up before WLS)
Went snow sledding. (so much fun)
Went skydiving!! (had a blast)
Can sleep on my side, easier. (arms used to go to "sleep")
Can shop in the regular sized clothing section and wear cuter things.
Have more confidence and talk to strangers easier.

Lets see, I feel like a success. I lost 75lbs in just over a year. Though I gained back 11lbs I have relost 5 of those while unfilled and am working hard on getting my goal with only 26lbs to go. Ok so I'm just going to paste my 1 year bandiversary post here since everything I felt then still applies.

The weight loss lap-band has helped me to achieve has made such an amazing difference not just in my health and appearance but in other ways like these:

- I started in a size 20/ 2X and am now a 10/ Medium
- I can exercise without wanting to drop to the floor panting after a mere 10 minutes.
- I can wrap a normal sized towel completely around me.
- I am not embarrassed to be seen in pictures and no longer have to try to hide behind my kids.
- I can cough, sneeze, and exercise with out tinkling
- I no longer have to shop in the big girls department and am too small (gasp) to wear clothes from Lane Bryant
- I am in a far better mood all around.
- My hair has stopped falling out at a rediculous pace from my PCOS related symptoms.
- My periods have returned to normal after 10 years of extreme abnormalities including troubles conceiving and miscarriage.
- I cook and eat far healthier than I did 1 year ago and am far more aware of what is going into my body.
- My feet are smaller (narrower)
- I have gone down one or two ring sizes
- I lost 50 inches all over!

I have no doubt there is more, but I can truly say I have no regrets and couldn't be happier with my decision to have the Lap Band surgery.

Here are my before and after images

I'm 16 month out and have lost 92 lbs.  I went with the band because if I had any trouble it could be reversed,  I am so happy I picked the band it help me to get to goal in less then a year and it has helped me maintain my weight. When I started the process in getting the band. My surgeon  wanted me to have the RNY, he said I wouldn't be happy with the weight lose I would have with the band. I guess that is what made me work that much harder to prove him wrong.  The last time I went to see him he told me not to lose anymore weight.  This was the first time in my life that a Dr. said this to me. 
I love my band and what it has help me achieve. Never in my life would I have thought that I would enjoy exercising and shopping.  Went from a size 20 / 2x. to size 6 / med, I went shopping yesterday and bought a pair of size 4 jeans which as really blown me a way.  Oh and did I mention how much I love my band. 

all excess weoight lost in 15 months (went too thin and had to regain!)

over last three years have settled into the weight which is right for me and, with one blip, have stayed there

people say that  getting thin doesn't necessarily make your life good! I can understand that but for me it has made my life excellent!

Things I have done since losing all my excess weight and which I would never have done before:

abseiling (do you call it rappelling?)
quad biking on 1000 ft high sand dunes
5k races (soon to do a 1/2 marathon)
size 8-10 clothes
wearing bathing costume in public
playing team games with the challenging teenagers I teach
paying chase with my grandhildren
sledding
oh, the list is almost endless!!!

Kate

I lost 100 pounds in just under a year and have kept them off for another year and 1/2.  I never ever ever ever could have done that without the band.  I could have lost a few and then gained back more...

It was such a battle that i couldn't face again on my own.  I love my band - it's not perfect - but I wouldn't trade it for anything!!!

 Hi Karianne!  Very good post.  I love my Band Aid, too.  I lost to goal in a little over a year, and have maintained with small fluctuations for 3 years, even with several major "bumps in the road" in my personal life that would have gotten me off track before I had the band.  Even now, completely unfilled, my band is still doing it's job.  Last night we had steak and asparagus.  I put a "bandster" portion on my salad plate, and thoroughly enjoyed my dinner.  But, before I even finished that small plate of food, I got to that point that I knew I'd had enough, and put the plate aside.  (And my dogs appreciated their morsels!)  I really feel that having the band has re-trained my thought patterns about food portions.  I grew up as a "clean plate kid", and as an adult could always match my husband's eating bite for bite.  I am so glad that I've left that toxic behavior in the past! 

Tami

I love my band and I feel so much healthier.  Off of B/P meds and reflux meds right after surgery.  I'm 20 months out and have lost 112 pounds.  I love exercising and lately I've been trying new healthy foods to add variety to our diet.  My surgeon says I'm at goal, but I would like to lose another 10-20 pounds to get to that "healthy BMI" of 24.9.   If it doesn't happen that's okay, because I feel good and look good with clothes on. hahaha

I went downhill skiing and ice skating this winter and I still have one goal of rock climbing ( at a climbing gym ) to get to the top of the wall.  I did get brave this year and learned how to belay for my DD, who climbs!  I never thought I would be brave enough to put a climbing harness on and have people see me in public.  They are not flattering even on a skinny person, let alone on me.

I met my goal weight at 5 months out, and got my rings on for the first time in many years the same week. I ended up losing 65 pounds which was a bit much. I have had some difficulty learning the maintenance thing because I have never done it before. A 10 pound gain is now going down and that is another reason I love my band, even though I don't have much restriction I can still count on it to help out.

My life is 100% better. I can tie my shoes without my breathing being cut off. I have boobs bigger than my belly. I have an astounding amount of stamina. I am not afraid to try new things. My health is much improved, in fact my life long asthma isn't even being treated anymore, though I retain my meds just in case. My BP is controlled well, my blood sugar is normal, sleep apnea gone 100%, cholesterol good, and I feel great. The only thing that has not been changed very much is my chronic pain from severe arthritis and fibromyalgia. That limits my activity when it is bad. I have more good times than I ever did, but when it is bad (like now) it is very bad. Even at that if I can get relief from meds I prefer to be as active as possible rather than lying on the couch all the time. I cook and eat in a vastly different manner and even when I relapse it is nothing like before, nothing! I know now that I will live to see my grandchildren (ages 2-15) grow and be able to enjoy their children. Now, that is a very good thing.

My signature line says it all.