SlimColaGirl

I love pizza and live 1 block from my favorite pizza joint. I haven't had pizza since being banded and don't really miss it all that much. I too find that things I used to love don't taste the same and I'm really glad for it. I can eat bread/dough, but only in tiny quantities since my second fill. It plugs me up, so I stay away for the most part. And it's funny that I now think of an odwalla super protein shake as a sugary treat, like any piece of pie/cake or candy. :-)

THIS PIC WAS TAKEN A YEAR AND A HALF AFTER BANDING, IT'S THE ONLY ONE YOU COULD SEE AT THE TIME. NOW, THAT'S JUST ABOUT GONE. I REALLY HAVE TO HUNT FOR IT. (the other scar is from a TT)

I'm curious as to how old your TT scar is. I will definitely be getting a tummy tuck. Unsure if I'll do it before or after kids, as I'm months away from having a proper consult. :-)

AGAIN MONA, I'M REALLY SORRY TO HEAR THAT IT HAD TO BE REMOVED.

ONCE MY FRIENDS CAME OUT, SHE GAINED ALL HER WEIGHT BACK, FINGERS CROSSED THAT WON'T HAPPEN TO YOUR SISSY, BUT IT'S HARD, REALLY HARD NOW TO SEE MY FRIEND. I LOVE HER TO DEATH BUT I HEAR THE DISAPPOINTMENT WHEN WE TALK. GET TOGETHER ETC. "I COULD HAVE LOST THE WEIGHT IF I WOULD'VE LISTENED"

IT'S JUST HARD

I'm curious Pammie, did your did your sis's band slip because she overate on a regular basis? If not, what was the reason? Curious, and trying to avoid future mistakes myself of course.

I've been banded since Jan 9th and am 30 lbs down. I focused almost solely on my band for two months... posting on forums, starting a blog, creating a youtube channel, and just making sure I was ok with the foods I was eating. Now I'm focusing more on living life. I'm all healed up and the weather is starting to get beautiful. I got back into cycling and love to eat out since I eat a lot less. There's much more energy to go around now. The secret is realizing that you're getting lighter and finding things to do with your new body. Ask yourself what have you always wanted to try. The go try it. You'll discover so many new things about yourself and have a lot of fun in the process. And that's the definition of living life my friend. Good luck! :-D

congrats Greg... keep up the good work! :-D

Well, after all the reading I've been doing, it appears as though lap band erosion really isn't related to drinking while eating and is more often than not, doctor error that causes it. The stitches are either too deep or too many. Alchohol, spicy foods and lots of coffee can contribute also, but the majority of the time it is doctor related.

I am wondering if this is related to the problem she had last when the tubing was wrapped around her intestine. Unfortunately, she has had nothing but trouble with her band. I feel bad for her and hope she doesn't gain back all the weight she lost.

woo, sorry for the sis's bad luck. Even if she wasn't following the rules perfectly, nothing she did could've caused such a bad outcome. hopefully she won't regain the weight back and will continue to be active and positive.

I'm sure many notice, but don't say anything because they're afraid. I lost 60 lbs on a diet before and it was totally noticeable. Only one person said they noticed, and that was after "I" brought it up. :-) You're looking awesome so don't worry about it.

Way to go! That's one of the best feelings in the world! I like to remembers these feelings when I'm feeling down on myself!

Jenelle

awesome, can't wait 'til that happens to me. Losing 10 more pounds should do it! :-D

I have always considered myself very fortunate. I have great friends, and a happy marriage! Being overweight always drug me down. I confided in some

friends about getting the Lap Band. They were all for it, so supportive! Well ever since I got banded I feel as though I have lost them. I have only been banded

for 17 days, and they barely talk to me, One of my friends didn't even call me after surgery, her and I have been friends for 11 years, we were there for

eachother for everything.. I have heard about people losing their friends after being banded, but I never thought this would happen to me. It's

making me very depressed! Why do so called friends have to ruin my happiness? Has anyone else dealt with this? I am just confused, and kinda regretting my

band. I love the weight loss, but I miss my friends, and my life before!

Thanks for reading this!

Sorry to hear that you're regretting your band. Your friends are ruining your happiness for one (or more) of these 3 reasons... worry, jealousy, or disapproval. It all comes down to those.

I told no one but my husband to avoid this. People can surprise you, and I don't need any surprises until I'm at or close to my goal weight. :-) But since you're less than 3 weeks out, give

your friends a bit more time to come around. Also, you're gonna have to put more effort in if you want to keep some of them.

yeah I'm a slow loser as well. 1-2 pounds per week with exercise. I'm at almost 8 weeks post op, haven't had my first fill yet, and have lost 16.5 pounds since getting banded. I expected sorta slow weight loss though, since I was kinda low BMI going into it. That 20-30 lb lost between surgery and first fill is for higher BMI patients.

Congrats on the pregnancy, and from what i hear, lots of women have gotten pregnant with the band - i dont have kids yet and I hope - in a few years - i am one of those women! just think of how quickly you will lose the baby weight!

awesome reply :-)

Congratulations! It's hard to believe we were riding that shuttle across the weird border crossing into TJ almost 2 months ago now!

This is the best thing I have ever done as well even though I am not doing the best with my foods right now and not loosing much but I am getting my 2nd fill on the 5th so thank God for that!

Take care and good luck with the biking!!

woo, oh my gosh that was YOU!!! I had no idea the names of those I rode in the van with. How are you doing? Hope things are going great with you and your husband. I know the weight loss is slow but stick with your plan and it will come off surely enough. I am really enjoying this journey so far, it's almost deliciously excruciating. :-)

woohoo, 21.5 pounds down!!!

Lapband is the best thing I ever did. These past few weeks have been so wonderful. I've decided to enjoy the journey, have as much fun as I can and learn as much as I can. I'm always giving myself WiiFit goals, water per day goals... anything to make the journey more fun. I started cooking low fat dinners with a friend, and the first meal was very successful. I'm so jazzed about cooking quick meals at home now, me and the hubby got a fancy new spice rack for the kitchen. :-) Got a pair of size 16 jeans this past weekend. They're a little tight (I'm between sizes honestly), but they FIT. My husband thinks I look so hot in them. :-P

I really enjoy posting on the forums, updating my blog and video log on you tube. Despite not telling family or friends about my surgery, I've gotten such fantastic support from the online community. It's fun and really helps me as well as others going through this process. I'm losing around 1-1.5 lbs a week and that's a-ok with me. Slow weight loss keeps suspicion about how I'm losing weight off me. Plus I don't have to sacrifice much at those numbers and it gives me time to practice healthy habits.

In April I start official training for a 150 mile, 2 day bicycle event. I expect 2-3 lbs/week losses around that time. My first fill is March 3rd. I feel so blessed to have been able to do this. Hope everyone else is experiencing uber success as well. :-D

I noticed in your stats that you weigh very little to begin with. Your plateau makes a lot of sense, as you're already at a pretty normal BMI. Be patient with yourself. You'll need to do some fine turning if you want to get the last 25 lbs off, and it will be a challenge.

yes happy to see them get smaller. I'd love it and I ended up with a B or C cup. haha I'd donate some of my tits to anyone who wanted them if I could. :-) Thanks for the congrats, I'm happy to be 20 lbs down and feel so much better already. Can't wait to get even lighter. I'm happy with a 1 or 2 lb loss a week. Slow is good for me, long as it comes off. :-)

haha... I just posted a video and blog about it today. I knew one day years ago, when I'd gotten fat to the point that my body would never be the same again. I am starting to research plastic surgery online. Tummy tuck is the first up, but honestly I'd like to have kids before that or the breast reduction/lift. Arm lift and thigh lift are what I'll probly do after goal.

So I'm 20 lbs down now and my breasts are getting smaller. Hallelujah! I can't wait to get down to a C. At my highest weight I was a 46DDD. Right now I'm wearing 44DD and those are getting smaller. There's quite a bit of room left in my current bras. Anyway, just celebrating a nonscale victory. Happy Valentines Day you all! :-D

So I'm officially 18 lbs down today and thought I'd throw some non-scale victories out there. The numbers are important to me, but never as important as what I can do with my new body. Here are just a few of the cool things I've experienced so far...

walking upstairs is easier. I live in a 2nd story apartment and huff and puff just a little less when coming home. Also my knees hurt less when I walk downstairs.

arms now lay against my sides. This is a crazy one. I have HUGE upper arms, like a freakin' 49er linebacker. Alright, maybe an exaggeration but you get my drift. With all the fat between my upper arms, breasts and midsection they never layed flat by my side when I stood up straight. This is now not the case.

My favorite blouses look better on me. I brought this blouse down to mexico with me for my surgery. Turned out I didn't have to wear it becuase I had enough clothes and basically hung around the hotel the entire time. But took it out last week to wear and it looked terrific! This is a shirt I bought when I was 190 lbs, but it didn't look good when I'd gotten back to 235 lbs. Now it looks awesome and I can start wearing it out again!

hubby is all frisky now. He's really noticed the weight come off. He says I have a waist again and it's really sexy. I catch him staring at me sometimes and it's actually kind of freaky, but very cool. I have to get used to it again. :-) He bought me a fantastic bracelet to celebrate 21 days of bandsterville. He's so proud of me for having the courage to do it. Once Aunt Flo goes home, I've got something for him as well. ;-D

My fave pajama pants are helluv loose. They practically fall off of me now. It's just a cool thing I've noticed. :-)

can sit with knee against my chest. I like sitting with my knees against my chest but my stomach has always been too fat. Now that it's going down in size I can do it. I have a long way to go before its completely comfortable though. But happy so far!

Skinny, I've lost 110 lbs. since I was banded in August. I eat less, sleep better, play harder, work out 3-4 times a week instead of sitting on the couch and watching tv, party like a rock star and bang like a porn star. My house is cleaner, projects are actually getting done. Hell yes I'd do it again. My only regret is that I couldn't do it years ago.

OICU812, go head with your bad self! :-D

I'm only 25 days post op and 17.5 lbs, but hell yes I'd do it again too. :-)

thought everyone here would like to see this video. It's quite long, an entire episode, but a good research. These thin people have weirdly the opposite of problems of us destined to be overweight.

Watch and see!

http://www.ninjavideo.net/video/18115

You have had great success. Congratulations! :-D I subscribe to the OCC channel on YouTube so I saw this video as soon as they uploaded it a few days ago. Your story is truly inspirational and you are a great role model for us new bandsters. I am 25 days post op and your story really inspired me. Thanks for changing your mind and doing the video for us.

Slim ~ that is just AWESOME! You are determine and that what makes your journey a success. You've faith and it shows! GREAT job!

So, how long are you going to keep this a secret??

For as long as I can. I'll eventually tell, in a few years. I want the chance to enjoy the journey, acquire new healthy habits and learn to live with the band on my own. Its already been quite the journey even in the last 3 weeks and I can't wait to go even further. I also want to be at goal weight and maintain that for a while before telling anyone important. Then I'll be able to take any ridicule that comes my way, plus answer any questions for the curious. :-)

Major success for me last night! Yesterday made 21 days since my lapband surgery. Me and the hubby planned a celebratory dinner out. Got a little more than I bargained for. Along the way a friend called and wanted to meet up, so I invited her to dinner with us. Her boyfriend and a couple of other friends ended up coming along as well. So there's 6 of us, 4 of them not knowing about my recent lapband surgery. So this turned out to be a "secret" celebratory dinner.

I ordered a tasty sea bass with vegetable side. It was delicious, I ate really slowly and chewed very well. No one mentioned ordering appetizers. I believe everyone but me ordered a drink. At some point someone asked whether I enjoyed my meal because I was eating so slowly. I said I thought it was great, but know I will have to watch out for that in the future. All in all it was a good meal, but I couldn not finish it all. Everyone was too busy talking socializing to notice how little I ate. I didn't ask for a doggy bag so as not to alert everyone that I didn't finish the meal. And it was a very small meal. Later we went to a bar. I ordered cranberry/vodka, but drank very slowly and left the bar with cocktail still left in the glass.

All in all I have to say it was a successful night. I got a delicious meal and KNOW the band is working. Also got through my first big dinner w/ people that don't know I've been banded. No one suspected a thing... as far as I know. Last night was a test and I think I passed with flying colors! :-D Now I know I can do this.

If that weren't enough, I got on the scale and am pound down. I'm now 217.5 lbs. What a day!

I chose a goal weight of 135 lbs. About 8 years ago, I started interviewing personal trainers. One of them had a particularly cute body shape, and wore this cute cut off top to the interview. I asked what her weight was and she said "a lean and strong 135", and so that number has stuck in my head all these years later. I actually have no idea if that is even a realistic goal for me! hehe :-)

But I'm much better on sizes. I'd like to accomplish a size 6 within 3 years. I figure I can get down to a maintainable size 10-12 by end of this year. I'm not sure how long it will take, but I'd eventually like a tight bikini body. I have this dream of yachting in Italy with my husband... he has a buff body from his new kung fu sessions, and I am a brick house size six in a sexy bikini. Even if it only last one summer long, I WILL be a size 6. :-)

HA... thats crazy! I am so sorry you had to see that. It's funny that being called "fat" set them off so violently. But have to say I'm not surprised... getting into a fist fight over some dude exposes insecurities on all sorts of levels. Just my opinion... :-|