Lindsay

sounds like you're right on track & in the right mind set for success!

LOVE IT!! Let me know how it goes!!! And pictures would be a bonus!!

Yeah ... my boyfriend (who went with me to TJ) was less than encouraging. When he saw the clinic, though, he had a very different opinion of the process. He was very confident I'd be fine, and really enjoyed his visit, which is kinda funny. My bestfriend, who's a critical care nurse, was NOT happy to hear I was going to TJ for surgery! She was very hesitant, as she'd heard a million nightmare stories regarding International surgeries .... But now, she's a little more open minded. Sometimes you just gotta go with your gut. And not let what other people sway you ..

Hope this helps a bit!

Ok - so I'll be the blunt one in this thread. This is a huge misconception for many new banders - that you'll lose weight after you get the band. We see this a million times over, 'I got banded 6 months ago - why aren't I losing weight?!' The fact remains the same: you need to eat LESS & move MORE to lose weight. It's the same for those who aren't banded. My questions: - are you food tracking? what are you EATING? What are you REALLY eating? For many of us, the band is a tool, that's forced us to take full control over our diets & focus on the REAL issue, which is very often emotional over-eating. - are you exercising daily? I recently posted a study, stating that a very minimum of 60 min a day, is needed just to maintain. It's not magic, unfortunately. You still need to watch every single thing you put in your mouth, and exercise very regularly. Otherwise, you won't see any results with the land band.

I've always kept extreme details of my workouts. This was in my past life, when I was completely over board with everything I did. But journaling kept me focused & on track. And knowing I was motivation for others out in cyber-land kept me really motivated and excited to keep going. I keep a w/o journal, but it's all written down - i'd just have to transcribe everything after i get back from the gym, which was never a big deal. I'm on the computer anyways ... But I'm thinking about starting a blog again. I was wondering if this might be motivation to those in the lap band community, who forget how crucial and important working out is, and diet. I'm finally seeing real results from the hard work I'm putting in every. single. day. Not binging is my real challenge. Especially after 10pm. That's when I fight the fake-hunger, as I call it.

Let's see a few days of your diet & exercise?

^^i agree with you on that one -- I do truly believe that diet is more like 75% of your weight loss results.

i agree! leave well enough alone UNFILLS suck.

HAHAHA! Yes, LisaLaw and myself can really get into it, but it never explodes to get out of hand in my opinion We both just love having the last word AND, we're both very opinionated. i never try and attack anyone. It's more of 'here's the research i found. read it. and hopefully you'll learn something'. I just think people are too quick to assume, or guess. When, in reality, the facts are out there, you just have to do some digging to find it!

aww!

I misunderstood! I thought you meant you were GOING to have the surgery .. not that you'd already had it!

170lbs. I go completely off track on the weekends, and then keep losing the same 2-3lbs that i 'gain' over the weekends. This weekend, I'm staying on track. No free meal. No cheat this or that. I always go completely over board and lose all control. sigh/

Do I have to use the protein drinks or can I eat protein bars? No. Shakes Only. Bars = sugar cal's. That's how they make them taste semi-good Just try and keep things simple and clean. Try and find a protein powder that contains Caseinate. IT will keep your fuller, longer. This is my favourite brand, and always have jugs on this in different flavours in my cupboard. What amount of protein should I consume a day? Typically, I would aim for 1g per 1lb of body weight. ie. 150g protein if you weigh 150lbs -however, I know that on the pre-op, you're doing a calorie restriction diet, and I wouldn't go over 1200cal/day. With that being said, 1g protein = 4cal. Does it matter the amount of fat in the bars/shakes? No. But I would stay with the more 'clean' choices. Because you're really starting out with this, just aim for your total caloric intake being UNDER 1200 for a day. What about beverages? Coffee, Diet Soda, Water--are all these acceptable? Yes. Coffee - if you have cream, make sure you count your fat. Enjoy your diet pop while you can. Post-op, you'll be off of them for 6 months! What amount LF or FF yogurt or cottage cheese? No. I would stear away from all diary during your pre-op diet. Few other tips: I suggest you start a free account on MyPlate - it's a fantastic way of food tracking, and it's a good habit to get into, as once you have your surgery, it will be a very valuable key to your success. Start exercising, DAILY, for at least 45 minutes ... slowly increase your time. The purpose of the pre-op diet is to decrease the size of your liver, making getting around it for surgery easier. Start food tracking NOW. This will ensure your long term success. After surgery, you will have little/no restriction for the first few months (to allow your body to heal). Beginning new healthy habits will help with this transition of the 'new you', even without restriction, you can have some major weight loss success! (I wasn't one of them, as I wasn't dedicated enough at that point!)

PAMMIE, there's no reason that if you start really working out smart, you won't need that lipo! You'd be surprised if you knew what the human body was really capable with a bit of real dedication, clean diet and weight training! i've seen some AMAZING before/afters ... You can be the next one!

The recommended half an hour of exercise a day may not be enough to stop weight gain. According to a US study of 34,000 women, an hour a day of moderate exercise is needed to fight the flab. Overweight women need to diet as well as exercise, a Harvard team reports in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The UK government advises adults to exercise for at least half an hour five or more days a week. While 30 minutes exercise is recommended for health reasons, people need to exercise for longer to avoid weight gain , Professor Paul Gately, Leeds Metropolitan University. The US study followed 34,000 middle-aged women over 13 years. The women completed regular questionnaires about the amount of time they spent on physical activity. They were classified into three groups: those who did the equivalent of less than two and a half hours of moderate exercise a week, between two and a half hours and seven hours a week, and more than seven hours a week. The average age of the women was 54, and the average weight gain was 2.6 kg over the 13 year period. The high exercise group gained significantly less weight than the rest. But there was no difference in weight gain between the two lower exercise groups. The only group who didn't gain weight during the study were normal weight women who exercised for an hour or more a day. Too late Among the women who were normal weight at the start, the more they exercised, the less weight they gained. But among those who were already overweight at the start there was no relation between exercise and weight gain. The authors say clear guidelines on the amount of physical activity for the prevention of weight gain are essential. They draw two conclusions: "Firstly once overweight, it may be too late because physical activity - at least, at levels carried out by study participants - was not associated with less weight gain. "Second, sustaining high levels of physical activity (60 minutes a day) is needed to successfully maintain normal BMI and prevent weight gain." This level of activity is higher than the minimum that the UK government recommends. Spare tyre A Department of Health spokesperson said: "The Chief Medical Officer recommends that adults do 30 minutes of physical activity at least five times a week. Children need 60 minutes of activity every day. "As part of the Change4Life movement, adults are being encouraged to make simple changes, such as eating more fruit and veg, cutting down on fatty foods and being more active, in their diet and lifestyle which will help them lead longer, healthier lives — and lose that unwanted spare tyre." But Professor Paul Gately, who runs Carnegie Weight Management Programme at Leeds Metropolitan University, said the government recommendation is the amount of exercise needed to reduce risk of ill health. He said more exercise was needed to avoid weight gain, and an hour a day was in line with findings of previous research. He said: "While 30 minutes exercise is recommended for health reasons, people need to exercise for longer to avoid weight gain." He added that the International Obesity Task Force report in 2004 concluded that people who are overweight have to do more exercise to maintain their weight, up to 90 minutes a day. [Source]

Fat cells have the ability to GROW and then shrink right down to practically nothing. Cells store energy in the form of fat. The more energy stored the larger the cell. The extra calories not used by your body is stored in these fat cells, which is what makes grow in size. They get much much smaller, as you lose weight. Liposuction can reduce the NUMBER of cells in the body and thus make you thinner. Beware though because liposuction removes cells and as the other cells get fatter they become even harder to extract the energy from. This means the diet and exercise will be less efficient in the future.

Remember = muscle holds water. The more muscle (lean body mass) you have, the more you can fluctuate in weight, depending on how depleted you are. As an example, After a very challenging leg workout, I can see an INCREASE on the scale of 4-6lbs. While after a 30-45 minute HIIT cardio session, I can go DOWN 2-3lbs, depending on how much WATER i've lost during my w/o. Women especially, hold more water, and are naturally prone to it, which is why the scale can go up so drastically, and back down within a day or two. When you step on the scale, your weight reflects the combined total of both your lean body weight (muscle, bone, organs, fluids) and body fat weight. Two people with identical body weights do not have the same body composition; they could, indeed, have entirely different body types. For example a 170-pound female might have 60 pounds of body fat and 110 pounds of lean body mass. A healthier, more muscular female might only have 25 pounds of body fat and 145 pounds of lean body mass. Even though these two individuals weigh the same, one is in much better shape than the other, and by looking at the two, you'd never know they weigh the same amount. Using the scale to measure your progress gives you no information about the body composition (fat vs. muscle) changes that are actually occurring. The scale may show that you've lost seven pounds, but it can't tell you that half of the weight was muscle and water, not fat. Similarly, people become discouraged when they haven't lost any weight, even though they have actually lost pounds of fat and replaced them with pounds of firm, fat-burning muscle. Developing healthier eating and physical activity habits will most likely result in a loss of body fat even though the scale may indicate that you weigh the same. Learn to use other methods of determining body composition and pay more attention to improvements in how you feel, in your self-esteem, and in your physical appearance.

i just wasn't sure if this post was a joke or not! i'm often not surprised when i read certain threads, but this one ... really threw me for a loop! and the occ they tell you before you get the band, if you want to be successful, diet & exercise. not, "we'll give you this band, and you can eat less of whatever you want, and sit on your ass and you'll lose all the weight you want!" **and of course, i only mean the best intentions with my comments - i'm not here to (intentionally) offend anyone

It's probably true that if we're having difficulties drinking water, we're too tight, but I have the same problem. I can't take in nearly that much liquid - I've just had to adjust it ... I used to drink a lot of water during my workouts, but I've just had to stop it, or I'm taking a chance of it coming back up while I'm laying down on a weight bench! I'm not sure why, but I haven't been as thirsty either.

Everyday, I walk a minimum of an hour, dog walking. As a dog walker, this is something that's concrete in my schedule. My other 'activity' is at the gym: monday - upperbody tuesday - 30 min cardio (see sunday for details) wednesday - lower body thursday - 30 min cardio friday - upperbody saturday - 30 min cardio sunday - 30 min cardio, usually treadmill, 3.0-3.5mph, incline set at 6.0 Then rotate for the next week.