Cherblues
2009 NYC National LAP-BAND Conference
Jan 22, 2009
2009 – New York City National LAP-BAND Conference
When: March 20-21, 2009
Friday Meet & Greet 6pm-9pm EST
Saturday Conference 8am-5pm EST
Where: The Marriott LaGuardia Airport
102-05 Ditmars Boulevard
East Elmhurst, NY 11369
www.marriott.com/lgaap
Lodging: The Marriott LaGuardia Airport
102-05 Ditmars Boulevard
East Elmhurst, NY 11369
www.marriott.com/lgaap
We have a special rate of $139 for guest rooms at this lovely hotel. Be sure to book early,as the room block will sell out.
Is your band failing you or are you failing your band?
Apr 20, 2008
Okay I’m going to be very real and honest here. I’m going to tell you about my year two band journey. But before I do that, let me tell you about year one. Year one I was very motivated and committed to my band journey. I watched what I ate (too an extent) and workout on a semi regular basis. Semi being the key word here, I was about as committed as I could be at the time. I mean come on, I had surgery and that was supposed to be the end of the road right. No additional commitment on my end, the surgery was going to do everything for me (yeah I know good thought process going into this journey). Now don’t get me wrong I did try to be the best band patient I could, considering I had to give up what I most wanted “FOOD”. I consider my 1st year successful; I lost sixty pounds without a lot of effort on my part. It was great, the weight was coming off, I was discovering a new me. My life in general was going great on all accounts, and then something awful happened. I gave up on my band. I became complacent; I was enjoying my weight loss and the new found me. So here we are now at my year two journey. I basically focused on every aspect of my life except for my weight loss. I didn’t work out for a year, I didn’t visit my surgeon, and I didn’t weigh myself. I completed my certification to become a Certified Life and Wellness Coach, so I could help others taking the same journey I was taking. I put all of my focus into building a business, and I placed my weight loss on the back burner. So basically year two of my band journey can be considered a failure, no weight loss in year how is that possible? I’ll tell you how it’s possible, I was happy with the new me. I liked the new clothes I was wearing, I liked being able to get around and do the things I wanted to do, I was enjoying life like I had never enjoyed life before. So I really don’t consider year two a failure, I consider it a learning experience. I mean “Come on” I didn’t lose one pound in a year’s time, however I didn’t gain one pound in a year’s time either. How many other diets/programs do you know of where you stay stable for that amount of time? My light bulb moment came when I was coaching with my coach (business coach of all coaches). She asked me what my goals were, and where I saw myself in 5 years. What came out of my mouth next was unexpected. I said I wanted to reach my weight loss goal (what do you mean you want to reach your weight loss goal, you’re happy with the new you, you don’t need to do anymore, your fine how you are now) then I proceeded to say I signed up for 120 pound weight loss and I’ve lost 60 of those pounds and now I want the rest to come off. By reaching this goal, I can be an inspiration to others and most importantly I will have accomplished something I set out to complete the first time in my whole life. Being morbidly obese you have a built in excuse as to why you don’t achieve your goals. I’m too fat to exercise, it’s too hard, and you feel defeated before you even start whatever project is you want to work on. Well now I’m not morbidly obese; I don’t have the built in excuse. How can I inspire others to reach goal if I’m not at goal myself? Oh trust me; that one tiny little question opened up a flood gate of emotions, thoughts, and feelings I didn’t even know resided in me. So I really had to take a hard look at myself and re-evaluate my game plan. A plan is exactly what I came up with. I made an appointment to go see my surgeon. When I got there I was weighed and yep sure enough the exact same weight I was from my last visit, fourteen months earlier. Dr. Veninga comes into the room, looks at my chart and too my surprise the last time I saw him was for a un-fill. I haven’t had a fill in over a year, are you kidding me? I was shocked I haven’t had a fill in over a year. So Dr. Veninga asked me what I wanted to do, I said give me a fill and let’s get this band doing what it was designed to do; help me lose weight. That was two months ago and 20 pounds later I can honestly say, “I was failing my band”. I became comfortable with the new me, I lost my focus on my goal, and I just became downright lazy in my weight loss efforts. Now I am working out 6 days a week, eating good healthy food and really reaping the benefits by following my band rules. I know I’m a food addict always have been always will be. By accepting this fact, doesn’t mean I’m a terrible person; it means I’m a realistic person. I follow a food program and workout program 6 days a week and then on Saturday (or whatever day you choose) I give myself a “Free Day” I can eat what I want without guilt or regret. I am a complete believer of everything in moderation, if you deprive yourself of everything you want, you only set yourself up for failure. I’m a complete chocoholic, and now with my plan I know on Saturday’s I can have my chocolate completely guilt free.
So I ask each of you to do what I did and ask yourself the hard question. “Is your band failing you or are you failing your band”? If you’re not following up with your surgeon and getting the support you need. Unfortunately you are not going to see the results you want to see, should see and most of all deserve to see. If you’re not losing a minimum of six pounds a month you might need a fill or a un-fill. Yes you can be too tight and that serves no good purpose, you will not see weight loss being too tight. Keep in touch with surgeon, he/she wants to help you and they can’t help you if they don’t know what is going on.
I wish each one of you a successful, fun filled (no pun intended) band journey.
Test
Nov 07, 2006
