sistaqueen

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Well, this is day four of my 5 day get back on track commitment. So far, so good, everything has been going really well this week. I chose to do my pre op diet for these five days of two protein shakes and a sensible dinner. I have had my moments this week with having to talk myself out of eating something that I know I shouldn't. The support I've been getting here has been terrific, I feel like when I write my post, that gives me a level of accountability. 

The gym is becoming my new friend, I really look forward to going and I am trying to add as many days as I can. This journey is indeed a very interesting one. I don't quite have restriction yet, but I am managing. I went for my 3 month post op check up today and all is well, I have lost a total of 60lbs!!!!!! this includes my preop weight loss as well, I am very happy about that. I am going to try and wait for a little while before I go in and get another fill. Well, this is my latest update and I will try to post more often, I am also going to get soe new pictures soon. Take care and Happy Losing!

Okay, here it is. I have finally made a decision to get myself back on track, my eating habits lately have totally been out of control and Thanksgiving didn't help matters either. On Sunday, I am going to go back to my 2 protein shakes a day with a sensible meal, protein & vegetable only with no in between snacking( the plan I followed before surgery) , for about a week to see if this will help me to get refocused. I haven't weighed myself in quite sometime so I am not sure what is happening on the scale, the only thing I have been consistent in is going to the gym. I am planning to continue my gym routine and to try to increase the time of my workouts as well as the days.
I hear it all the time about this tool and how you really have to work hard to maintain any level of success you acheive, I just don't know what is going on with me lately and how I have gotten so far off track. I guess I really need to look at it this way, that is what the beauty is about the lapband, that when we get into slumps like I have, I can pick myself up and get started again. As far as the second fill, I really don't think that I have reached that "sweet spot" yet, but I am going to try to wait it out before I go in for another fill. This is a journey that has the good, bad and the ugly, but I am determined to make this work for me. I will be successful!!!!
 I am so glad that I am able to jot down my thoughts and where I am in this process to be able to help those coming behind me for them to see this is not as easy as some would like to think, but, I do know that as I continue to pursue God then I know that all things will be possible for me. I am asking that you keep me in your prayers as I endeavor to conquer this lifelong sturggle with this weight and for all of us that are either just beginning this journey as well as those of us who have been doing this for a minute. 
I will keep you posted to let you know of my progress. Just as the line in my signature says , the race is not given to the swift nor the strong, but to those who endure until the end! I am in it to win it,  in Jesus' Name! Amen, Amen, Amen!!!!!

Hello Everyone,
 I haven't been posting much lately on here, but I want to keep updating my page as much as possible. Well, I went in today for my second fill, I didn't get much restriction at all from the first one, my surgeon usually takes out the saline and put more in. I am on liquids for the next 48 hours, and he filled my band with 5cc's of saline! Wow, I'm not sure how this is going to work, but I pray that I get more restriction than what I had, I have been eating so much here lately, in addittion to eating the wrong things. It seems that my sweet tooth came back and I have been eating cake, pie, & ice cream (Turkey Hill Carb IQ), so as you can see, I really need to get back on track. The only thing that has been consistent is the fact that I am still going to the gym, I'm not sure if I have lost or gained any weight because I haven't weighed myself since the last time, but I will soon so I can track what I am doing or not doing with the weight loss.

I have another wedding on Friday, so that has been keeping me pretty busy. I went to buy some clothes, just a few things to hold me over, my other ones were falling off. I am now wearing an 18/20 from a 26/28, so that is very exciting. I just wanted to check in and give you an update on my journey. I will keep you posted to let you know how I do with this fill. Talk to you all soon!

Since I have posted anything to my profile. I have been so busy working on another wedding for 11/16. This wedding isn't as big as the one I did in September, but it is still a lot of work. 
I am having some difficulty with staying focused and eating the right foods and my portions. I have been going to the gym at least three days a week, so that is helping me out. I have already had my first fill a little over two weeks ago and I am starting to feel like I did before I had the first fill. I called my surgeons office today about coming in for another fill, and the Nurse Coordinator gave me a little bit of a hard time, but in the end it was all ok. My surgeon gives about 3 cc's on each fill, but that was too tight for me and he took out 1 cc, he told me if I felt like I needed to have another one to call him so I did. I was really concerned because I was able to eat a large amount of food on Sunday. Well, I go back in for another fill on Monday, Nov. 12th, so I will se how much restriction I will have after that.

Other than that all is well with me, I have reached my first weight loss goal of 50 lbs., and working towards my next goal to weigh 250, which I am 18 lbs. away. So that is my update for now. Be back soon!

Well, I had my first fill on Friday, and I must admit, I was very nervous because I really didn't know what to expect. See, I have read so many posts about different people and their experience with getting fills, but ,then I realized that every persons experience is different, because our bodies are different. That is something that I am learning on this journey, is that this is MY journey and I cannot expect my experience to be just like someone else. I know that there will be similarities, but we are unique individuals. The word of God is very clear about comparing ourselves with ourselves. I can't look at someone elses weight loss and use that as a measuring tool for where I should or should not be. I cannot allow that to dictate to me whether I am successful or not. This is just one of those light bulb moments for me, I have to determine my course of action and stay on the path to that. I know tha God would not have allowed me the opportunity to have this surgery just to fail! I do know that I must keep God at the center of everything that I do and that includes this weight loss journey. I share my experiences, not so others can compare themselves to me or vice versa, but so that we can all see that we have this struggle and to let others know that there is someone who understands what they are going through. Our families love us, but they really can't relate to what it is that we are experiencing unless they had the surgery and in many cases they have not, so I post my thoughts and feelings here to help others.

Now, getting back to my fill. I was very nervous as I have previously stated. Dr. Katz was late and that made me evne more nervous sitting there all that time thinking about what was going to happen. He finally came, and he talked me through the whole process and just told me to relax. So, I finally allowed myself to relax just a  little and he began the process of numbing the area, that wasn't bad at all, just a very little tiny pinch. He filled my band with 3 cc's of saline, then they had me drink that wonderful tasting liquid called barium (LOL), and it felt like it was just sitting in my chest, so he took out 1 cc and boy did that make a world of difference, I was able to swallow and everything went down the way that it should. Oh, BTW, he does the first fill under fluoroscope (sp). I think that I like the fact that he can see what is going on right then and there, and I am going to request that all of my fills be done under fluoro. All in all my first fill experience was a good one and as of today I feel pretty good, I do understand that  it could take up to two weeks before I know if I have good restriction or not, so until then, I will get back on track with eating the right things and tracking my food intake again.

This weight loss is definitely a journey, and I know with any journey, there will be high's and lows, so my advice to those that may read this that are either considering or just beginning their journey's to be prepared for the high's and lows and take a firm stand that they are in this for the long haul! It amazes me how easy it is to slip back into those old eating patterns and  behaviors, but with God all things are possible!!!!!!

Well, I figured that I would come here and post my thoughts. To me, posting here gives me a sense of accountability. I went away this past weekend and I ate things that I should not have eaten, I thought to myself that I would just get back on track today, well, that didn't really happen. Today, I was still eating things that I should not be eating, I rwalized that I have this thing for potatoes, I like french fires, mashed and so on and so on. I have been eating a lot of bread lately, I am so nervous about getting on the scale because I know that I have not been doing well lately, even though I started at the gym last week. I called my surgeons office today to come in and get my first fill on Friday. So, I am going to get my fill and start over again on tomorrow eating my chicken & fish again. I am definitely going to beat this and be successful with this journey, I just look at this as being a minor setback, but again, I will dust myself off and start all over again. So far, I have not had any problems with any foods that I have eaten, bread, sugar or anything else, but I will see what happens after Friday's fill. Well that's it for now.

I went to the gym today!!! I am so excited that I finally got myself together to go to the gym. I stayed there for about an hour and it felt good getting back into the swing of things. I haven't been to the gym in almost 2 years! 
As of today, I don't know how much weight I have/have not lost because I still didn't get that scale, but I will because I want to be able to track my progress. I put on a pair of pants yesterday that was size 20, and they had room in them! I am really grateful for this opportunity for this new life with the band. I didn't call my doctors office yet to come in for a fill, I am going to Maine this weekend and didn't want to have any complications from the fill, so I will wait until next week to try and get in for an appointment. Well, that is my update for now, and I will be sure to kkep you all posted.

since I posted anything on here. Well, the wedding was this past Friday night and everything was just simply beautiful! Now, I can breathe again for a minute, I have been asked to do another wedding for November 18th, this one is much smaller and won't be as much work, thank God!

Now, on to how I'm doing in this journey. I haven't weighed myself since my last doctor's appt.,but I do think that I am going to go out and purchase a scale this weekend. I would like to be able to monitor my weight at home to see if I am progressing or not.  My eating patterns have been totally off lately, mainly due to the wedding, I was running around so much that I really didn't have time to get in much food, let alone all of my protein. Saturday, was pretty interesting for me, I felt like I wanted to eat some "bad " food and I did! I had a couple BK french fries and half of a jr. whopper, then later that day, I ate a piece of my husbands chicken cheesesteak stromboli, then later on I had some tortilla chips, and a piece of a plain Auntie Annie's pretzel. I don't know what all of that was about.

Sunday, I had my Salmon platter from the wedding, I ate the Salmon, and a few of the carrots and about a forkful of the potatoes. I ate some more tortilla chips and I can't remember what else. I really do think that I need to go in for a fill because I am really beginning to see a pattern of behaviors that I don't want to have again, my apetite is starting to increase and I am choosing some of the wrong things to eat. To top all of this off, I ate a whole slice of carrot cake yesterday w/o even thinking about it, I just ate it and afterwards realized, what did I just do! This is a very real struggle to not view food the same way I did before surgery. I guess this is how it is going to be for the rest of my life and I have to learn how to make the right food choices so that I don't find myself back at the place where I started.

I think for me I need to have a clear plan to follow for eating, but I have heard so many say, this is not suppose to be a diet, and to watch your portions and all of that. But, I think I need  to have a "diet" mentality right now, until I am strong enough to resist those things that I should not be eating. I am really going to need God's help in this thing, because I know that I cannot make it in my own strength! I want so much to be successful, and I will be, In Jesus' name. I need to start some type of exercise plan, but really didn't want to spend the money to join a gym right now. My husband's job that he has worked for about the last 20 yrs. will be closing by the end of December and I didn't want to add another bill, but I know that I must do something.. 

I will continue to watch my apetite for the rest of this week and if I am still noticing those bad habits, then I will call on Monday to get set up for a fill. I will keep you all posted.

Hello everyone,
I went in today for my four week post op visit and all went well. I lost about another 5 lbs. and my surgein was really pleased with my progress, even though the numbers on the scale didn't reflect a huge weight loss, my other numbers were what they were happy with, the doc said that I lost about 17lbs. of fat!!!! and I gained some muscle and those are the numbers they say they are interested in. I am very pleased with that, also today they upgraded me to the final food stage, I am going to have to be really careful from this point on and watch my food intake. I forgot to ask them the amount of calories I should be consuming in a day and the carbs and everything, but I will call them back tomorrow. They are going to leave it up to me to determine when I might need a fill, so I will just watch for those signs of hunger and the amount of food I eat, and I'll see when it is time to go in for one. I feel really good, and I am so excited about what lies ahead on this journey, I am going to join a gym soon, just trying to wait for some extra money, but I know I am going to have to get right on this exercise thing real soon. Well, that is it for now, and I will keep you all posted. Until next time.

Well, I just got off the phone with the nurse at my surgeons office. I am being upgraded today to stage 4 phase of the eating plan. In order for me to be upgraded to the next stage, I have to put a call in to the medical coordinator and discuss how I have tolerated the foods and everything from that week. Well, the first question she asked is what type of foods did I eat and I was feeling a little proud of myself and went to my fitday.com site and began to read her the things I ate this past week, and boy, did I mess up big time!!!! I was NOT suppose to have chicken at all on this phase! That was all I was eating, chicken this and chicken that!!!! I was sooooo very surprised when she said, that wasn't on the list, I really thought I read chicken on the list! Then I told her about the cream of chicken, cheese & brocoli soup, and come to find out, I wasn't suppose to have that either! She said they were loaded with fat! She wasn't to concerned about the chicken because I did puree it, but the soup was a definite no no!

Needless to say, I am feeling really bad right now. I was trying to be so very careful to make sure that I was following the rules, and to know that I blew it doesn't make me happy right now. I am really grateful to God that I was able to tolerate those things and not get sick from it. I don't know how this is going to affect my weight loss, because of the high fat and I guess I really wasn't suppose to be having the light mayo last week either.  Well, I can't dwell here to long, I just have to dust myself off and start afresh this week and really, really pay attention to what is on my list (which I thought I did before), but I know it will al be okay.

I just really want to do what I am suppose to do and allow this tool be just that, a tool to help me acheive my weight loss goals. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!  I am more than a conquerer!