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Hi all.  Some of you may remember me from a few years back.  I was banded in May of 2010 and did very well, losing a total of 98 pounds.  I have kept 51 of those pounds off.  It most certainly has been a chaotic couple of years.  My dad died, a few years later, my mom died and I was responsible for settling all the things associated with that.  My husband and I bought my family home and did lots of upgrades and changes (ourselves!) and shortly after that, I  started getting 1-3x a year, atrial fibrillation events which were unresolved except for electrocardioversion. I stopped exercising, had the band unfilled because of over restriction due to scar tissue and just fell off the path. 

For the past 2 years, I have been in and out of A. Fib- 3 months at a time.  It is exhausting and nearly impossible to exercise with all the meds that slow the heart down.  I went in for a cardiac RF Ablation 2 weeks ago, (6 hour surgery) felt good for 2 days, then wham- went back into A. Fib.  Two days after the surgery, I decided I needed to get my butt in gear and lose what I had gained and get back into a better fitness level.  Decreased carbs to a very low level, lots of water, swimming, walking and eating 900 calories or less and I have lost 14.5 pounds.  (I know this wont last- the first few are the easiest!) 

So I am returning to what I know worked.  Logging in all my calories (Yeah! fitday.com) posting occasionally for some degree of accountability and, of course exercising the best I can.  So, here's to a new start.  Any encouragement would be great.  Hope to talk with some of you regularly.

Blessings!

Susan

Hi Susan,

Welcome Back  We are so sorry to hear all you have been through with your health issues and my deepest condolences for the lost of your parents   

You have already taken the hardest step by saying enough is enough and now I want to get back on track.  Here are some steps I hope will help you. They helped me... 

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery?  How many meetings, classes and such did we attend?  We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success.  And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods.  Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains and fruits.

Journaling

Get back to journaling.  This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life.  Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating.  It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband.  It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food.  Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker.  Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself.  Make them realistic and small.  Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat?, calories, and sugar. Important, vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan).

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea?  I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass.  So I was either pushing to be diabetic or get cancer.  I found once I started carrying a bottle of water around 24/7 (yes had one at my bedside) I lost the cravings for the sugar and I KNOW those artificial sweeteners are not good for me. Look I am old and if you add up all the artificial sweeteners I have consumed I am sure I am at the rat in the lab getting cancer threshold.

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what, I kept moving.  If I could not go to the gym I would walk. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back.  So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV.  Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group.

Keep me posted on how you are doing.

I also developed Afib when I had my band as have others I've seen online. The vagus nerve that is affected by the band also has some control in the heart area so there is speculation that the band may cause some heart issues too. Depends on where the pressure is on the vegus nerve and where scar tissue may be forming. I had my band removed for other reasons but still have to take my Afib medication so don't know if it was the band that started it or not. So far I've managed to not only keep off what little weight I had lost but I also lost another 75 lbs because I was too tired from the afib to do anything but sleep most of the time. Then all of a sudden I stopped losing and am staying at my goal weight of 150. At one point I had to add food so I wouldn't lose so fast. How ironic is that??! Might be worth keeping in mind tho, that the band has been found to cause many issues we wouldn't think of.

Hi Susan,

We could be twins, I was banded in March of 2010. I lost 100 pounds and have gained about half of it back. I have been up and down and all around on the scale, haha. I take drugs to slow my heart down too and it really does make it difficult to maintain your energy and stay motivated with exercise. I know from my personal experience that exercise is important, but not as important as diet when it comes to reaching my goal. I'm really trying to get back on track, so I thought I might try logging back in here for some inspiration. I joined weigh****chers and am trying to make it through the holidays without any more damage. I'm thankful I haven't gained everything back, but I know what a slippery slope I'm on. Good luck, I'll be rooting for you!

T