Band Tawk Tuesday

I'll Jump on Cats Bandwagon and do a bit of band talk ...

Banded 1.5 years out - whats life like?

I've currently got about 8.5 cc's in a 10cc band.  I like it tight.  
Whats different....

Then ~ I would spend 95% of my day obsessing about food and what I was going to eat.  I would consume huge portions of food and binge seceretly in my car on candy only to have piles of wrappers as shameful evidence.  Then I would beat myself up in my head and swear I would start over in the morning.  This went on for years.

Now ~ I am in control.  I know that my band has performance anxiety - when I am out to dinner or have to eat in front of others it will slam shut I will get stuck on anything bread realted or noodle or sometimes even soup.  I eat very very slow in public and will often bring my food home and have after dinner or save it for lunch the next day.

Alcohol makes my band loosen up...yep 

I know that when I am stressed and out in public if I start to get stuck I don't bother sliming or trying to get it down - I will go right to the bathroom and bring it up - instantly improving my situation!

As we all know - chips, ice cream, cookies and candy are no match for the band....I try like hell to stay as far away as possible from these evil foods.

Protein Shakes are a girls best friend.

The #1 thing I have learned is that the band is a big safety net.  In the past I would have started a "diet or health kick" lost a bit of wieght and then grown tired of the work and gained back everything when I went back to consuming large amounts of food.  No one can be perfect all the time and there have been times over the past year when I left the path of good habits and just "did me".  Because of the band the damage was minimal  - instead of gaining back 30 pounds...it ended up being around 7-10.  So when I was ready to renew my healthy ways it was doable, not an overwhelming challenge.

I guess what I'm saying is that - I will always be on this journey and there will be times when I am not perfect ...in fact times when the old me comes back - but those times are rare now and I have confidence in my ability to continue to lose the weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle. In fact I no longer have nightmares that I wake up at 241.  I know with 100% certainty that I am never going back.