Tracith

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I've been waiting and planning, and working hard toward this post everyone!! This morning I finally weighed in at 199.5!! I began this journey at 269.5 in November/07. This is my biggest milestone so far and I must say that I am very happy to be here!
I feel like a whole new person on so many levels. Most importantly, I'm so much healthier! My sleep apnea disappeared after losing only 40 pounds. I'm sure I was pre diabetic and all those symptoms have gone. My knee and feet use to kill me. That pain is no more.
I'm far happier and social. I have this new interest in fashion... I use to tell myself I didn't care.. huh! And I love going to the gym and just taking care of myself in general. Every day I learn something new about myself, and I look forward to whatever life will bring my way.
The goal I set for myself is 100 pounds so I have 30 left to go but now I'm thinking that I may want to take it to another 10, meaning 40 more. We'll see how I feel when the time comes.
For all you newbies out there I have two things to say:
1. Losing weight with the band takes hard work. The band is not a cure, but it's a wonderful tool to work with if you're up for the challenge! Just don't expect it to be easy. Dig your feet in, work hard, and you'll be successful!
2. I love my band. It's definately worth it, every cent, and I'm self pay!

I just cleaned my cpap, packed it up, and tucked it away in its case. What a feeling of freedom!  Will I miss it? NO WAY. My night table lower shelf now is bare and my bedside looks normal. No more machine, ugly hose, and mask hanging around. I am a happy bandster today!
I LOVE my band. YES!!!!!!
Feb 27th - 45 pounds lost

Well, I proved it to myself tonight. Been eating real healthy since banding and doing great (sometimes I may eat too much but NEVER eat sweets). Well, tonight, right after dinner, I allowed myself a tiny treat - one of those huge colored bubble gum balls which are loaded with sugar [simple carbs].
Then, about an hour later, I was STARVING - literally ravishing - like I have never been since banding... and I finally figured out why... It's the rebound effect of eating sugar - What they say, about sugar [simple carbs] causing hunger is true! SO TRUE!!

I couldn't be happier ... Got on the scale this morning and am down another 1/2 pound bringing me to a 30 pound total loss!! When I started this journey, that was my first thought... If I could lose 30 pounds by Christmas wouldn't that be wonderful, and here I am. As a coincidence - I notice on my ticker that I am also just below the 40 mark for my BMI, and just out of the 240's! Life is gooood! I could NEVER have done this without the band.... it's been like ten years since I've lost so much weight. This tool is just the extra boost I needed to make weight loss actually *happen*.

On a sad not though, we have lost our one and only hope of having a fill nurse in our area. (She chickened out after going for her training - I really don't blame her) Looks like we will be driving for a day or flying to Toronto for my fist fill in January. Regardless,  love my band!! Oh, and a HUGE thank you to everyone on this site .... the encouragement here is totally outstanding, I really would never be this far without YOU!!


Banded November 2
When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves. ~ William Arthur Ward

I was stuck and sick not once, but twice today! The second and third time its ever happened to me and it was *ell!

But the kicker is this --- I had a warning the first time that I ignored. I was eating left over chicken stir fry that I had eaten last night for supper and which went down just fine then. BUT, I was talking on the phone, not paying attention, and the pain started a little burp right away, but do you know what I said to myself? -----  "ignore that Tracy, you've got to finish this whole (tiny) plate of food and hurry back to work"!! How could I be so stupid? Why didn't I listen to my band and STOP EATING?? I was in pain for at least 35 minutes, thought I was going to die... honestly.

Then....

I ate a soft supper, one slice of toasted whole grain bread with pb and banana, which went down well... But then, hubby came home with a BBQ chicken and onion rings for him and the kids.   Guess who starts picking away at the onion rings and nibbling on a chicken wing?????????????????? ME!! This total idiot!! On came the pain again, the sliming etc. Lasted for another 20 minutes. Finally threw up again about 3 times and it subsided. I AM SUCH AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!!! Will I ever learn?? What will it take?????????

Now, I'm quite tired. Wonder why?? Being sick like that takes a lot out of you!

This weekend I'm going on a scrapbooking retreat with a bunch of girlfriends - twice a year we rent an entire bed and breakfast (on the ocean) and scrapbook to our hearts content. They cook and serve breakfast but all other meals we make ourselves. We use their kitchen and everyone brings TONS of food so we also eat like crazy.  I had been planning my banding to happen *after* this weekend was over but I had a choice to go early, and I took it, so now I am attending this event 14 days (and feeling great!) post-op.

I'm thankful because.....

I will bring my own food and follow my own eating plan.
I won't be on a feeding frenzy, and will have more energy and time to focus on my dear friends and my own scrapbooking projects.
I won't be tired and groggy from eating too much, nor will I feel like a stuffed pig 24/7
I have already lost 22 pounds.

*Life is Sweet*

WooooHooo ~ I'm sure I'll never be able to say that again on this journey... losing that fast probably isn't all that healthy ~ but what can I say? I ate and drank as much as I possibly could! So 20 pounds total for me now. I'm one happy camper and glad I did this but my week has definately had it's glitches.

First of all, I had a few nights of semi nausea which scared me to death. I thought maybe there was something wrong with me, I was a worry wart, plus I am a huge baby concerning nausea as it gives me tremendous anxiety - I feel like my whole world is falling apart. Whew - glad that's over with.

I've also been depressed off and on, but I know why... I've lost my best friend - FOOD. Also, I think that going off painkillers does a number to your head. And being without my diet pepsi has taken it's toll. OK, enough complaining.

Tomorrow is a new day and I'm going to the GYM for the first time. Going to start out on the treadmill, and maybe do 5 minutes on the elliptical for a total of 30 minutes. Can't wait till I can do some classes and weights but the doc says 4 weeks.

Speaking of doctors - it's so strange having mine so far away. I read other peoples posts and they go for check-ups and follow-ups which makes so much sense. I will never see my doctor again, and I only spoke to him twice, for a total of 6 minutes max! His "dietician" did call me last week, left a message on my machine, but that's it! Can't help saying that he made himself a quick 16K ---- but no regrets on my part, honestly!

Although I'm only on day 9, I started eating scrambelled eggs, and even chewed on the end of a breadstick today - Mainly eating babyfood (fruit), cottage cheese,  oatmeal, and yogurt.

Can't wait to get to the gym....

I can't believe I'm home! We flew out of Toronto this afternoon due to the storm Noel on its way here tonight. We weren't suppose to come home until tomorrow but I called the doc and he said I could fly this early!
Anyway, when we made the decision to come home I was feeling a LOT better than I do now, or did on the way home, it was quite uncomfortable at times, but I made it!

So --- We arrived in TO on Thursday night, staying at the Rennisance Airport. My hubby, Rick is a real sweetheart and he has taken excellent care of me, I am sooo blessed to have him. We left Friday morning for the clinic in Mississisauga, and before I knew it, we were on our way back to the hotel! Of course, I was really scared for a while, especially once I got on the operating table. To make myself feel better I prayed, and thanked god that at least I was here getting a lapband on my own free will, and not undergoing some surgery for a cancer related disease or something else more serious. (not that being obese isn't serious), but you get my point.

Before I knew it I was awake in recovery. My chest felt tight of course, and it hurt to breath deeply but I was prepared for all that.
Don't think I was in recovery for more than an hour or two and it was back to the hotel with my bottle of pain meds. We had a nice relaxing evening, sleeping, reading, and watching tv on and off. It was great! I think one of the reasons I did so well is that I stayed sitting up in bed, even slept sitting up!

So this morning when I woke up I felt great, and just wanted to get home due to the big storm coming, and here we are! I think we were on the last plane they let fly east before the storm hits. It pounding rain and real windy out there now, the worst is yet to come around midnight tonight they say.

Oh, one other thing, when I got home i weighed myself. Big mistake. It looks like I gained 2 lbs! I hope its just the air in my tummy.

I can't believe I typed those words!! I'm really doing this!!
Actually, I can't wait for this hellish 2 week optifast period to end. The shakes get slightly better as time passes but only slightly. Have you ever smelled the breath of a formula-fed baby? Well, thats the way my breath smells, and thats all I can think of as I gulp the drink down. Even though I use an electric hand mixer and ice cubes, it still stinks!!

OK, enough of that. I made my list tonight of things I need to bring. As some of you know, I live in New Brunswick Canada and have to fly to Toronto (2 hour flight) for the surgery and stay in a hotel for 3 nights. Hubby and I leave at noon on Thursday (November 1), the operation is Friday morning(the 2nd), and we fly home Sunday morning.

So far I have lost 11 pounds on this formula concoction, so I'm already feeling better body-wise. Down to 258. Been trying to walk 30 minutes each day, I guess it happens I'd say half the time. Gotta get more serious about that soon, eh? I had one big slip-up eating wise last week but have been totally faithful since then.

I love this site - I come on here and poke around all the time now!! I've also met with 3 other wonderful ladies IRL (in real life) that use this site and just knowing them, and seeing how great they are doing has been a godsend. I hope to keep in touch with them and meet up off and on in the future.