Introduction

Hi Everyone!! My name is Jess!

I had my lap band surgery 10/18/2010 in Boston, Ma. In Oct. 2009 I weighed 307 I went on a strict diet and in June 2010 I got down to 252. I started the "I can change program" in June which is a 6 month program required by my insurance company to get you ready for the surgery. I was 252 then. I had my lap band surgery 10/18/10 I weight 217 that day. Im now down to 190. I did this all for my son. Im a single mother and he depends on me for everything so I needed to get healthy.It was so hard at first but as I see my progress it gives me so much more energy to keep going. I have followed the rules so far......Im hoping I can stick with them lol! Im scared to try any foods in case I have a bad reaction. I started out by doing 20 mins a day on the treadmill and slowly added the eliptical starting at 3 mins. That was about 8 weeks ago now Im up to 45 mins a day on the eliptical! I work out at least 60 mins a day whether its walking, lifting, dancing or the eliptical.

Jess, you've made amazing progress - and alot of it on your own!
Have you had any fills yet?

Thank you! I just needed to get healthy for my son. Ive had 2 fills the first one was 3cc's and the second was 3cc's. The first fill i had no restriction and hungry all the time but the second one i have restriction and Im eating a cup at each meal so Im finally feeling good!

Congrats on the weight loss, Jess!!  You are doing an awesome job!!  It's one of my short term goals to be able to five minutes on the eliptical.  I get winded so quickly on it.  But I'm working on it! 

Diane

Thanks! I started out doing 3 mins on the eliptical about 8 weeks ago. All I could tolerate was 3 mins but I gradually added a min on a couple times a week and now Im finally up to 45! It took a while but you will get there :) I used to get whinded quickly too I also used to use my inhaler when excercising now I havent needed the inhaler in over a month. I think Im finding it so easy to work out cause I have about an hour after work before my son gets home from school so thats reserved for working out. But I start school again in a couple weeks its going to be more challenging but I have faith we can all do it!!!!

Wow! You're doing fantastic!

I started with eliptical as well. I was really too big to do anything else. I would load entire seasons of Survivor on my iPhone and watch one episode at the gym. For some reason, it was just exciting enough but just brainless enough to keep my mind off of my body. After a couple of months, I switched over to treadmill then finally ventured outside.

What do you do for lifting? Do you do group exercise?

How old is your son? How is he handling the "new mom"? My kids were very strange about it and now refer back to my "fat days" like I wasn't the same person. I guess things do change. For Thanksgiving, the whole family (all six of us) did the Turkey Trot (5 mile run for the older kids, 1K jog for our 6 year old). Then we went home and had our "normal" Thanksgiving but with tons more energy.

Thats great!
Im very lucky because we have a gym in my apartment complex. I do the eliptical for 45 mins then I started off lifting 5 pounds weights now im doing 7 pounds. After Im done that I go to my apartment and do zome Zumba(I bought the dvds) but Im only doing about 20 or 25 mins, its so tiring lol. This prob sounds stupid but I have the Carmen Electra striptease workouts on dvd so I switch off days. At first I felt so stupid doing the striptease workouts but I can feel it in all my muslces when Im done and Im starting to feel a little sexy while I do them haha!

My son is 7 unfortuantly his father is not involved in his life but he loves the fact that Im getting thinner than i was. He told me the other day I was the prettiest mom in the world and i was getting skinny but then went on to tell me even when I was big I was beautiful Hes such a sweetheart. When I got the surgery I just told him i was getting my belly fixed lol but as he noticed me losing weight I sat down and explained to him and he was fine with it. Hes even started doing a little Zumba with me lol!

Thats awesome you do the running as a family! Im sure they love the new mom just the same as they did the old mom :) I think some kids respond to change differently but your doing what you need to do to get healthy for yourself and them and thats all that matters.
I cant wait until I can do things as a family. I havent been on a date or met anyone in over 3 yrs. Some men can be so swallow but I have faith I will find a good man that likes me for me and accepts my son.