255 lbs to lose. Can it be done?

Ginny1

Absolutely Amazing!!!! 299 lbs - that is wonderful!!!! I agree with everything you said - I am hoping to be in your shoes 18months from now! thanks for the encouragement!

hopefulmom25

Wow Ogre! 299 lbs in 19 months. That's amazing! You have given me such inspiration. Thank you. :)

__________________
Banded 6/11/08 by Dr.Woodman

jena

I have a little less than 200# to lose. I get banded on May 8 and this thread is truly an inspiration. Thanks everyone for sharing.

I'm so sure I'm going to lose it, I'm already saving for my plastic surgery!

__________________

favorite

sure you can. its the people that have 20 pounds to lose that can't lose it.

__________________
banded 10/15/07


highest ever/surgery/current/1st goal
350's/314/244/175

derbygirl

I agree with others that it can be done, but it is probably going to be difficult.

I started at 440 and am currently at 318. For the past few months I've been gaining rather than losing. I've learned how to "eat around the band" and I do because, of course, the band does not fix any psychological reasons that you have for being overweight.

All of the weight I lost was within the first year, and now I struggle to lose just like I did before the band.

__________________

ogre

Congrats on what you've accomplished derbygirl... don't let it go for naught! So you took a break... NO PROBLEM! Now get back to the program. As you say, it won't be easy. It was never going to be EASY... just a little push to help you along. You've proven that you CAN do it... now prove that you can slip off for a while, and do it again!

The band does NOT fix your psychological or emotional 'weaknesses'... I think you fixed a few of your own when you decided to take this step; now make it pay off!! It'll take work... it'll take YOU to make your life what you want it to be -- and then YOU will get the credit. I hate even telling people that I have a Lap Band, because then they will think (as some lapbanders think at the beginning) that the Lap Band took the weight off while I sat idly by, watching the fat fall off: I didn't lose the weight, the Lap Band did it for me. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and the fact that you've been through it shows that you know the truth of it also.

So celebrate what you've done... and make it last. Stop "eating around the band" and remember why you did this. When you 'beat the band', you beat yourself. The struggle continues... it will even after you reach your goal... but you'll have something to show for it, and a clear memory of what life was like before you dropped the pounds. You're still on track derby... I think you are gonna make it all the way!!!
Good Luck!

__________________

derbygirl

I appreciate the pep talk, Ogre. Can you give us some tips on what you eat (calories, protein and carb intake), how often you work out and such?

I think, however, that my point was possibly hidden in my first response. The original post asked, "Can it be done?" Well, of course. Truth is...I'm sure you're strong enough that you could do it without the band if you really wanted to. We all could have. But just know that whatever has held you back on previous diets will eventually going to show its ugly head again....Lap Band or not.

I believe that our journey as supersize bandsters is MUCH MORE difficult than the average plus-size person. Mainly because it takes most of us longer to achieve our goal weight.

I see loads of people in my surgeon's office who had about 100 pounds to lose and they did it in a about year. Kudos to them. I can tell you from experience that after you lose 100, 125, 150 pounds and you're sitting in your surgeon's office and someone asks you if you've you are there for your first consultation versus a fill...it wears on your nerves no matter how good you feel about your accomplishment.

Ogre is an exception. He has done tremendously well. It's sort of like one those Jenny Craig commercials where in small print it says, "Results not typical." Anyone would has to lose 255 pounds (this includes ME) needs to understand they may not reach their goal in a year, 2 years, 5 years...or else there is a mighty good chance depression will set in.

I do not say any of this to discourage you. I just wish that it had been said to me up front. I know you're not expecting this to be easy, but are you expecting it to be hard? Because it is going to be. Those first 50, 75 pounds may fly off during the first few months, but that is probably going to slow significantly thereafter. Be prepared for that...that's just how it goes for many of us.

Last but not least, the goal of anyone considering Lap Band should be better health and more confidence. If you feel like you HAVE to reach a certain number on the scale, you might be setting yourself up for an emotional fall.

I hope I don't sound jaded. I think Lap Band is great and I'm glad I had the surgery. I sold my house to pay for the surgery because my insurance wouldn't pay for it. It has been worth it even though I am not thin by anyone's standards. But I actually kind of wish I'd gone with a bypass. I don't know how many people you'll find who will agree with me since this is a Lap Band board. I'm expecting tomatoes to be thrown at me any second.

__________________

jena

Derbygirl,

I appreciate your honesty. I've got a little less than 200 pounds to lose. I'm due to be banded on May 8.

I've done so well on my pre-op diet, losing 20 pounds in 4 weeks, that it's hard to explain to people why I still want the band. Today, I wish I was already banded. Today, the beginning of my 5th week, I'm sooooo ready for my diet to be over. I've lost that drive. I think if I had the band now it would help me get over this hump. *sigh*

__________________

jjsmiles

I haven't read the entire thread, so I may be saying what has already been said. For me the band is really helpful in that it stops me from being hungry between meals and helps me to manage my portions- in fact, I am usually not physically hungry at all. I still have head hunger, but because I don't really have the physical sensation of hunger, I find it very manageable.

This is entirely different from my previous experiences. I would do very well on a diet, would lose weight, but once I gave in and had some food that wasn't part of my diet, I would completely give up and eat ravenously and uncontrollably. For example, I used to do very well on atkins, but as soon as I had some carbs, I would be like a crack addict and couldn't get enough carbs, throwing me into a cycle of gaining weight, feeling bad about my failure and eating even more because it made me feel better for the moment I was chewing and swallowing (or it at least made me numb).

I firmly believe, at least for me in my experience, that my success in this journey so far (in my 10th month now) is because I made the conscious decision that no food is bad or forbidden, and I need to start eating the way I plan to eat for the rest of my life (i.e not to cut out carbs or to only drink my meals - not realistic or doable for me forever).

I journal everything I eat, what I do for exercise and when I eat cookies, cake and pizza, I do it planfully and purposefully and account for my choices. This is the first time I have consciously done all of this and it has really worked for me (who would have thought that planning to eat cookies would be a weight management tool )! It is ok to eat all the above foods on occasion and in moderation. Thin people eat this food all the time, they just somehow know what is a portion and when to stop! By setting myself to be a normal person (not a fat person on a diet) in my eating, I think the sky is the limit in how much I can lose. It is all about my choice and my attitude!

__________________









Highest Known 409 (in the late 90's) / 350 ish (most of the 2000's)/ June 07 322 (new me decision date)/ Sept. 25 07 (surgery) 279/
C 181 / G 180 (for now )

ginaballerina

I was told you can't get banded until your BMI is under 50. Is that true?

jjsmiles

Who told you that? If it was your wlc, then yes it is true, although I wasn't held to that BMI for my surgery (I was a 55 at the start of the process, around 50 at the time of surgery, but the surgeon didn't know that until I weighed in about 30 minutes before surgery).

The issue with a BMI over 50 is the concern of complications due to high BMI. On the other hand, usually the Lap Band has way fewer complications associated than gastric bypass, and is considered a safer surgery.

I wouldn't go by anything else than what your wlc tells you. I would hate to find out that I based my decisions on what somebody told me and then later finding out it wasn't true. If it is true for you, then you can develop a plan of attack to get to 50.

__________________









Highest Known 409 (in the late 90's) / 350 ish (most of the 2000's)/ June 07 322 (new me decision date)/ Sept. 25 07 (surgery) 279/
C 181 / G 180 (for now )

ogre

WOW derby... I can hardly agree with you more!
Sorry if I came off like a cheerleader... but it seemed like you had enough success AND failure to know what had to be done. And you know that the Lap Band is a very little help. Though as JJ demonstrates it affects all of us in different ways. I'm not sure if I ever had actual physical hunger before or after the banding. I ate for emotional and social reasons... and the band does nothing to address that. I don't really see how JJ feels less hungry between meals... the band controls stomach access not volume. But JJ gets to the point that we are all different and I still believe that the key to our success (when there is some) is the decision to DO SOMETHING ABOUT OUR WEIGHT. The surgery is just the first step. The bypass provides much more physical assistance but as JJ said, has a much higher risk level. The Lap Band is safer but provides less deterrant and lower weight loss on average. But in both cases, we have made the decision to lose the weight at any cost. If we can get past the point where we expect the surgery itself to solve our problem, then we can succeed.

You are correct derby: " I'm sure you're strong enough that you could do it without the band if you really wanted to. We all could have. But just know that whatever has held you back on previous diets will eventually going to show its ugly head again....Lap Band or not."
In most ways I have done it myself... and in most ways I COULD have done the same thing without the band --- but I never would have!!!
Agreeing to let the docs carve me up (I was slated for bypass right up to the very last moment in the operating room) set my mind in concrete that I would make this work one way or another. I knew the stats were against me, BIG time! But the surgery was my last 'out'... if I can't make it work, then I stay fat and immobile till the end of my days. So I made it work! The doctors, the scalpels, the protein powder... NONE of that will lose your weight. YOU will... or YOU won't won't. So the Lap Band didn't lose the weight for me, or even help much, but having it done forced me to do what I never would have otherwise. I stick to the diet... as much as I can. I exercise... as much as I can. Believe me it isn't much in either case... but as long as I don't stop TRYING I seem to do okay overall.

I went on a 800 calorie, 80g protein (min), 25g fat diet. I did what exercise I could, which in the beginning was pitifully little (stretch bands mostly) but it all adds up... do what you can when you can!

If there is a secret for ME, it's the journaling... JJ was right on there. I would actually give MORE credit to my food journal than the Lap Band itself! Knowing what I ate day-by-day made a HUGE difference. Nobody has ever seen my journal (3 books now!!) but except for rare occasions, I put everything in there... even the days when I go way over. I only cheat myself when I cheat on the journal. We have trained ourselves to hide the amount of food we eat -- from OURSELF! Don't fall for the trap of thinking "this day was a blow-out... there's no sense writing all this stuff down... I'll start over tomorrow". It's a pain having to constantly look everything up... but DO IT! My only exceptions are on days or even a week once, when I decide IN ADVANCE not to do counts. I have to admit I get as much pleasure from not writing it all down as I do from eating what I want. Even on those days I try to keep it reasonable. But I expect to journal my food for the rest of my life... because I can't be trusted when it comes to FOOD! I know that now for sure!

I hope it all works out derby... no tomatoes for you!! You are very astute... just take what you learned and use it to win this battle!
Sorry this turned into such a long ramble!

__________________

jjsmiles

thanks Ogre. I really thought that it was common to not experience hunger with the lap band. Maybe its all in my mind, but I am o.k. with that, after all head hunger is all in my mind too. Whatever works!

__________________









Highest Known 409 (in the late 90's) / 350 ish (most of the 2000's)/ June 07 322 (new me decision date)/ Sept. 25 07 (surgery) 279/
C 181 / G 180 (for now )

JoannaG

Hi there!! Thanks so much for posting this question, I too have 200+ to lose. i have just been approved for my surgery and currently waiting to get scheduled for a date. It has been really comforting to read your replies and hear your success stories!!!

Thanks Again Guys!!

smileyk

I have 200+ to lose and am struggling, does anyone have a blog or thread or anything to help with daily menu's ?? Any help is appreciated