MamaMichelle

Thanks for all the replies, I have been lurking and it so great to see so many people still working hard to keep the weight off. I thought I should post a quick update- I am 24weeks today and have gained about 8lbs with a small 1.1cc fill in a 4 cc band. Baby is healthy and growing great, even measuring a little ahead of her due date! For some reason over the last 2 weeks I've been Pb'ing and having a hard time keeping food down, after talking to the doctor I found out that because I have always had problems with allergies and have recently developed pregnancy congestion basically my nose is draining snot down my throat into my stomach all day which is irritating my band and causing tightness. Over the weekend I couldn't keep anything thicker than tomato soup down so I went in today and had all the fill removed. Luckily my belly is still pretty small and my port is pretty high so there wasn't much risk in getting unfilled this late in the game for me... I am of course worried about being totally unfilled for the first time since being banded and since I've got 3.5 months till this little one is due I know that I have to keep eating healthy and not give into the temptation of things like rolls, pasta and burgers since I am now technically able to eat them (never could before with the band without getting sick). I'm not so worried about gaining the weight- I know I need to for the baby's health- it is more about starting down that slippery road of eating all the supersized portions (and junk) that caused me to need a lap band in the first place! For example I just ate a medium sized ceasar salad and because I don't feel that familiar "fullness" I want to go back to the fridge and get another entire helping- but I must resist- I am not hungry- I just like to eat. Grrr Guess we will see what happens! Here's a belly pic from last weekend (24 weeks preggo) Hope everyone has a great week!

Well howdy again bandsters, it's been at least 1.5 years since I've checked in here...bad me I know but after reaching my goal of losing 100lbs in my first year of being banded so many great life changes came to me I haven't been online much. Just in browsing it seems like so many of my fellow 2008 bandsters are still here and doing Amazing which is so great to see!! An update on me, my wonderful husband and I are expecting a baby in July!! So I thought I'd stop in, pick up some Optifast for those tight mornings and see what kind of info is out there about the band and being preggo! Looks like a few of you have recently had babies so I would love to hear any tips or issues you came across... My band is pretty loose right now so I think I will be fine all through the pregnancy and I am happy to say that after 11 weeks, I have only gained 1 lb from my starting weight of 154!! I'll include a pic from New years for those veterans who know me well and want an update!! Guess that's all for now, I will be sure to check back on a more regular basis!!

I know it has been forever since I have posted... Like so many others I was so gung-ho prior to banding and during the major part of my weight loss that I was reading and posting all of the time... I started my journey at 247lbs at a size 22 and now I am 145lbs and a size 6. After losing 90lb in 11months I hit a plateau and a lot of personal turmoil (divorce) and have spent most of 2009 trying to lose those last 10 lbs, we actually more since I gained about 8lbs after having some of my fill taken out (for a total of 2.0ccs). I got back on the wagon around Aug of this year, had more fill added (for a total of 2.4ccs) and finally managed to get to my goal weight in mid-October. For some reason over the past 2weeks I have been extra tight Pbing at least once a day. Bad Michelle I know but just ignored it thinking it was stress or that time of the month (2 things that cause me to tighten up) well for the past 24hrs I haven't been able to even keep water down, I have a fill appointment first thing in the morning not sure if my fill doctor will take out all of my fill (I hope not as without a good fill I KNOW that I will start gaining again) or maybe just enough so I am not PBing and can get rehydrated! All and all I couldn't be happier with my band, I have met a great new guy who told me today that he would rather me be 215lbs than to see me throwing up water which makes me feel good but I know I don't want to go back to that place ever again. The worse part for me is the loose skin, I haven't been going to the gym like I was before and I can say that I can really tell that the skin looks better when I am working out than when I am not! So I guess that's all for now, I will update you guys on how things go tomorrow with the unfill...

Congrats on all your progress, can you believe it has been a year? I too am stuck on those last 10lbs but I really haven't been trying too hard lately... My body has settled here and right now I'm not worrying about that and I don't think you should either... YOU LOOK GREAT!!

Congrats sweetie!! I can't wait to see the results..

I think I mentioned that on Jan 16th I went back to the OCC so that my mom could be banded... (she is doing great by the way down 30lbs since christmas which includes weight lost on her preop) anyways I saw Dr. Ortiz and he was so impressed with my progress he asked me to do an interview with him for his series of You Tube videos. I am pretty private about being banded (I didn't even tell my mom till 8 months after getting the band when she knew I wouldn't have been able to lose the weight on my own since so many other attempts always failed) but I decided to do the video anyway- I figured that if seeing my results would help anyone choose to take the steps to better their health by getting the band then it was worth being up front about it! So the link is below... I look terrible, the lighting is too bright and I had only had like 4hrs of sleep before getting on the plane for my mom's surgery but here you go:

I think it is probably all a personal opinion, basically in clothes I feel that I look great... But when I look at myself naked it's kind of icky, now for me I never lost the weight I put on when I had my son 6 years ago (I gained about 70lbs) so I was only overweight for those 6 years but it's possible that this is what I would have looked like if I had lost that weight right after he was born (but I seriously doubt it). I guess if I was still married my husband (who has only known me as overweight) would have had zero qualms about the loose skin and hanging breasts but now that I am dating and potentially will be nude for the first time with someone who doesn't know I was ever fat I do feel more self concious and am leaning towards getting a body lift and breast lift! So it is going to be a personal choice that only you can make when you reach (or get close to) your goal!

Glad things went so well, I think I will be doing a consult at Cosmed when my mom goes back for her 1st fill in late Feb! Let us know what you decide!!

Just had my 4 month checkin with my trainer and thought I'd post the results: Total Weight (on 9/10/08): 172 Total Weight (on 1/10/09): 157 For a total of 15lbs lost and 11 inches all over my body in the 4months of working with her!! Total Lean Mass (9/10): 134 lbs Total Lean Mass (1/10): 132 lbs (Lean Mass= Muscles, Bones, Organs and Water. An adult woman should have 90 to 110lbs of lean mass if inactive, more if she works out) Total Fat Mass (9/10): 38 lbs Total Fat Mass (1/10): 28 lbs (Fat Mass= pounds of fat you are currently carrying) Total Body Fat Percentage (9/10): 22% Total Body Fat Percentage (1/10): 17% (A reccomended body fat range for general fitness is 20%-30% for women, athletic fitness can be enhanced by by maintaining lower body fat levels about 17%-25%... Health can be compromised if a woman's body fat % drops under 14%. She is supposed to email me the before and after pictures that she took so I will post those when she gets them to me!! Overall I am happy that I have been able to work with her and have seen some great results!! Here are the "AFTER" working with her pics, still waiting on the befores...

I will be doing the total body lift with Dr. Hurwitz in Pittsburgh because he seems to be the best of the best when it comes to this type of procedure... From his website http://www.hurwitzcenter.com Superior Skill in Body Contouring Body contouring requires a plastic surgeon to determine which combination of procedures will best enhance the body. Dr. Hurwitz practices primarily in Pittsburgh, but also has offices in Brandywine (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania and Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, California to serve patients nationwide. He is not only fluent in existing procedures and techniques, but he also has a well-earned reputation for innovation in the field. Dr. Hurwitz has been a consistent leader in developing newer and better techniques that open up new possibilities in what can be achieved through plastic surgery. He created the Total Body Lift, a procedure in which multiple techniques, including abdominoplasty, liposuction, breast lift, thighplasty, and brachioplasty are combined and customized to treat the entire body in as few stages as possible. This extraordinary development marked a new era in body contouring surgery, forever raising the bar of excellence for surgeons worldwide. Dr. Hurwitz has helped thousands of patients reshape their bodies in a way that many believed was not possible. By opening new offices across the United States, Dr. Hurwitz will have the opportunity to transform even more lives through his revolutionary vision for body contouring surgery. According to the last email I exchanged with his coordinator they can do an internet consult: The internet consultation. We use the website to provide an initial consultation and evaluate your candidacy for surgery. This service is for international and non -local patients who desire this life changing surgery. Please use the forms provided on the website to submit your candidacy form and submit photos through the website. There is a $100 fee for this service. If Dr. Hurwitz thinks you will be a good candidate, we will contact you with an estimated price for your procedure. Each patient is different and the price can vary widely from patient to patient. If you are not a good candidate your fee will be refunded. As for recovery they said they have home care nurses that can stay with you at your hotel or because having a medical bed helps so much after the TT they can suggest a aftercare nurses center that has 24care for others recovering from surgery.

Hey all, my wonderful mom is being banded on Jan 16th... we are flying in that morning, having her tests and such done that morning and her band put in that afternoon! She has done some research but I guess seeing me lose 90lbs in 2008 was motivation enough for her to want to get banded too... so I hope to meet some of you guys and that you can help support her as she starts her journey!! So if you are having surgery or a fill on the 16th look for us!!

Always happy to help, been going through som personal stuff here on my end as well but can do whatever is needed!

Hey everyone, Thank you so much for your very sweet comments! I have been out of town for the weekend in Hawaii so I haven't been able to check in and see everyone's sweet and supportive comments! I did step on the scale this morning and I was down another 2lbs, usually I would gain 4-5 lbs on vacation but with a well adjusted band I actually lost weight!! Hip hip horay!!

And here are pics from yesterday (me at 160lbs in a size 6) Only 13lbs to go before I get to my goal of losing 100lbs in 2008!!

I bought this size 6 dress on June 14th when I was a size 12 and my goal was to get into it by my birthday so I missed that deadline by 3 weeks though I perhaps could have fit into it then but I honestly forgot about it... lol Here's a link to that first post: http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?showtopic=6775 and the pics from when I first purchased it:

Thanks for the compliments, first I'll offer up a post from July that contained my best bandster tips, here it is: Throughtout my journey I have often gotten questions about my success and what kind of tips I can offter to other bandsters, while I am by no means any sort of expert (and I still have a long ways to go before I reach my goal) so I can only offer my advice about what has worked for me, and what is still working for me… I hope it can help others!!! I pre-plan everything I will eat for the day, I don’t write it down in advance but by the time breakfast rolls around I know what I will be eating for the rest of the day… maybe it’s from my past life of eating a meal and already thinking about the next meal, lol. I also keep bad foods out of my house so I’m not tempted into thinking about indulging. I do have a hubby and son and I don’t want them to be denied the things they want to eat, so I make sure that some of the “bad” things they like are things I don’t like (oatmeal cookies, BBQ potato chips etc) they may not be their total favorites but they understand it’s a way for them to enjoy what they like while still doing what’s best for me and my diet. I do try to write down my calories and water for the day, I have used sparkpeople.com and fitday.com but lately I have been using my new phone that has a calorie counting program. If I know I will be going out to dinner, or if I am in the mood for a dessert one night I shave off a few calories here and there throughout the day to keep my daily total around 1,000-1,200. I also make sure that every meal has 20-30 grams of protein because my daily protien goal is 70-90 grams, I use unflavored protien powder in things like my slimfast shake, soup or even my salad dressing to help me reach those numbers! I am one of those who is more than happy to eat the same things everyday, this used to mean cheeseburgers for lunch and pizza for dinner. Now that my band doesn’t allow many of those bad foods anymore I find my diet consisting of pretty much the same things daily: a shake for breakfast (about 200 cal), a salad with chicken or soup w/ protien powder for lunch (about 350 cal) and some sort of chicken or beef with veggies for dinner (about 500 cal). Yes some people may consider this kind of eating “boring” but for me I am eating the things I REALLY enjoy everyday (yes I do actually like my daily protien shake) and I am still able to lose weight so it is something that works for me! I like pre-packaging meals/snacks a few days in advance, this means I’ll grill 3 chicken breasts on Sunday and then divide them up in mini containers (my fave are the Gladware Mini Rounds, each one holds 1/2 CUP or 4 OZ, perfect bandster size and only cost $3 for 8 Containers & Lids). This makes me less likely to overeat because things are pre-measured for me and it’s easier to control calories because I know the exact amount I am eating. I even make batch of either sugar free mousse or sugar free jello each week and divide them up for a portion and calorie controled snack (1/2 cup equals about 80 cal). I do indulge in 1 or 2 snacks per day ONLY if I am hungry. Some doctors say 3 meals a day with no snacks and others say 5 mini meals per day is best, I think you need to find out what works for you. Because I limit the food I eat during my meals (keeping to bandster sized portions) there are times that I feel that twinge of hunger a few hours after I have eaten so instead of going hungry till my scheduled meal time (and risk overeating at that meal) I will have a snack. Usually something small and pre-measured like SF jello, SF canned peaches or some applesauce, whatever it is I make sure it less than 100 cal so that even if it’s more of a craving than hunger it can’t do too much harm to my diet. If I am being honest there has only been about a total of 3 weeks total where I have had “good” restriction, but I am determined not to fail with this band so even when I don’t feel restriction, I eat as if I do have restriction. In my opinion this is one of the major attitudes one must have in order to be sucessful with the band, it’s very easy to use the excuse “I have no restriction” to eat as one did before being banded. George Washington Carver said “Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses” so I choose to not use my little restriction as an excuse to make poor choices. This means stopping eating after about 3/4 cup of food (approx 20 bites the size of a pencil eraser) I find that when I stop after that much even if I “think” I am still hungry the hunger is gone (though I don’t feel that magical feeling of fullness) and it stays away for a few hours. Of course there are times if I am really enjoying something I might eat more but usually I wrap it up or get it to go so I can enjoy it all over again the next day. I think the time I spend on the forum is very important to my success. I find reading the struggles and success stories that people post on the forum help me understand and explore my own experience with the band. I try to post helpful things to others or just encouragement when someone needs it because we all have had those good days and bad days. Many of you have said that I am an ispiration to you which is very hard for me to imagine but that is very flattering, for me posting my pictures and stats publically gives me an acountability because if I know others are watching my progress it helps me want to be more successful! In September I got a small fill that has kept me pretty tight as well as started working with a trainer, in those 2 months I have lost 12lbs. This is the diet I have been pretty much sticking to for these past 2 months (around 1,200-1,500 calories, 90-100grams of protein per day and 100-150 grams of carbs): 9am- An optifast shake for breakfast (yes I am one of the few that LOVE them, as long as l can add some sugar free vanilla syrup) 11am- 1/2 cup of blended brown rice (I have to pre-mix soy sauce and rice in a blender till it is paste-like in substance and eat it pretty slowly 1pm- Another optifast shake 4pm- 1/2 cup of blended brown rice (this helps up my energy before my workout) I will also usually have one of those protein shots after my workout because my trainer says it helps repair and rebuild the muscles I have just worked after the gym! 7-8pm- Whatever the family is having for dinner, steak, salmon, fast food all of course in a small portion Again I allow myself "treats" when I feel like it, maybe a child size soda once a week or a reese's peanut butter cup at the movies, nothing that I don't burn off in the gym.. Hope this helps!

I wasn't really planning on dressing up for Halloween, when my hubby and I do dress up it's usually in matching themed costumes (Barney and Betty, Tarzan and Jane, etc) but we've been so busy that we didn't get costumes this year. Then today my hubby came home with a Darth Maul (from Star Wars) mask and I didn't want to be the only one not dressed up so I grabbed a dress and some boots from my closet threw on some eyeliner and put a flower in my hair and I was a "hippie"... Here are the pics: My costume: Our family: Again but with Brady in his mask: Russell and I the night before Halloween going to dinner: Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

UPDATE!!! Caitlin is down 70lbs since her surgery in Feb... There's a video clip here: http://kdka.com/entertainment/Guiding.Ligh...y.2.839920.html 'GL' Actress Sheds Pounds After Lap Band Surgery Reporting Brenda Waters PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― During the last few months, viewers of the CBS soap opera Guiding Light may have noticed one of the characters melting away right before their eyes. Caitlin Van Zandt who plays the role of Ashlee Wolfe recently lost more than 70 pounds. She was a plus size actress who never had trouble landing roles, but she knew she could look and feel better. More than a year ago, at the age of 22, Van Zandt weighed more than 200 pounds and suffered from high cholesterol, asthma and low self-esteem. Van Zandt was in town recently to talk about some changes she had made. She lost the weight in seven months. "I never let my physical appearance stop me from following my dream which was to act, to entertain people, to bring enlightenment or enjoyment to people, but I was never comfortable in my skin," said Van Zandt. Nor was she happy. She says she tried all the popular diets, went to the gym and worked out with a trainer. She would lose 20 pounds and then gain it all back plus more. Then she did some research and so read about weight loss surgeries. She decided to go with the lap band procedure, which she had done in February. Her goal is to lose 100 pounds. "I am not worried when I go into wardrobe and pick up my costume that it is not going to fit, because there days when the jeans would be too tight and I would leave unbuttoned and go down and do my scene," said Van Zandt. "I just know that those awkward things will never happen again." The producer of Guiding Light, Ellen Wheeler, was supportive and even worked the weight loss into the plot of the soap. Caitlin says initially viewers were outraged, fearing that she had been forced to shed the pounds. Then, she started traveling across the country with her surgeon, Doctor George Fielding. Caitlin had the procedure done at the NYU Medical Center. "So what we do, we do this through laparoscopic surgery where we put a telescope in and make tiny little holes," said Dr. Fielding. "I work my way around the back of the stomach and I wrap this band around like so and lock it into place and what it does it makes this new upper part of the stomach about the size of a golf ball. So the food hits that and stretches and you get full." Doctor Fielding had the surgery himself nine years ago and lost 120 pounds. He calls it minimally invasive, which means patients can go home the same day. The lap band remains in your stomach for life if you choose. If not, it can be removed when you have reached your desired weight but Doctor Fielding warns that most people gain weight. Van Zandt says she plans to keep hers in place. "I am so much, more happy," she said. "So much more relaxed, so much more proud of who I am."

As always you look great Misty! Congrats on your progress, you've done so well already I know you will get to that goal!!

I didn't make it to page 2 to see that Jann had posted a link to a similar post about the 5 day pouch test, same thing though... LisaL just posted something similar too in Stormy's post about going back to basics, I think it is something we all need to remember!!

I think this is what Anita was talking about: This is the 5 day pouch test link: http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?showtopic=5262 This is about Weight Loss Plateaus: http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?showtopic=5868

Cut up all your bites the size of the eraser on a pencil, just like you used to have to do for your son when he was about 2 years old... Yes it takes some time, but better for it to be a pain in the butt to cut up your food instead of a pain in your gut when you're PB'ing because the bites are too big...

Here's a sample: You look amazing as always and the new "girls" look great!

Here's an hour-by-hour recap of my banding experience from my blog- http://mamamichellelv.wordpress.com/2008/0...-very-detailed/ hopefully that helps, it was a breeze!!

Loving all the update pics tonight!! You look AWESOME BABE!! Mindy Before 276 lbs After (in progress) 215lbs * Mindy in the middle* just Mindy