One Year Bandiversary!

Today is my one year bandiversary!!! I really, really can not believe that it has been one year. The time has flown by!!

If you have followed my journey then you already know I completely made my choice to get lapband surgery purely for health reasons. Wearing smaller clothes and seeing collar bones has really just been a bonus.

I was sick. I was way more sick than I even wanted to admit to. My blood pressure had landed me in ICU, I was no longer able to go up even one flight of steps with having severe heart spasms, and I dreaded getting out of the bed every single day.

What a difference a year makes! I wish I could say I was off all blood pressure meds, but I am not. I do, however, feel a million times better. I can walk up numerous flights of stairs and not even think about it. I have more energy than I ever thought I would again.

The bonus....I have lost 73 pounds and I wear a size 10 jeans. I wish I could tell you how close I am to a "goal weight", but the truth is, I never set a goal weight. A number on the scale was never my goal....feeling better was. And that, I have accomplished.

Within this past year I have never done any type of formal or structured exercise. I certainly don't recommend this to anyone. I am quite sure I would even feel better if I had exercised. My hypertension specialist would never clear me for exercise. Although I have not been cleared for exercise, that doesn't mean I sit around all the time. I am moving all the time. I even get my students up and moving every chance I get.

Do you want to know what and how much I eat??? Of course you do....and if not, too bad...I'm telling you any way :)

Most of the time I eat what I want...just not a lot of it. I can not eat scrambled eggs. I keep trying about every month or so, but most times they sit there like a heavy brick for what feels like hours. I don't eat a lot of bread, but I do still eat it at times (like in Chicago when I had that awesome pizza!). I eat slow and I never drink while I am eating. I still eat chocolate every day, but instead of  King sized Snickers (or two), it's only a bite size Snickers. I eat a lot of chicken....so much so that I think I may grow feathers soon. I don't measure my food as much as I did for the first 7 or 8 months, but I would say that I rarely eat more 1-1 1/2 cups of food at a time.

I have had 2 fills since being banded. I don't really remember how much is in my band....I would have to look up an old post to the last time I got a fill (which was some time back in February if ya really want to go back and look it up). I think it is some where around 5 cc's.

I will leave you with some before and after pics. I had to REALLY, REALLY search for the before pics because I simply wouldn't let people take my picture for more than year. Here they are...


Then....

 

 

 

 

 

 



Now (well maybe not right now...but from June-September)