One Year Bandiversary!

I can't believe it will be 1 year since I had my surgery tomorrow.  I wanted to do a big picture and show my changes but I didn't plan that out.
I did get on the scale this morning
Weigh in Wednesday 196
Weign in Friday 192.5
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Total loss 3.5lbs and finally lost what I had gained.


Leaves me close to 80lbs lost for the year.  Not bad.  I had wanted to hit 100lbs loss for the year but I just didn't push myself enough.  I am thrilled to be this low.  In fact if you had asked me this time last year...I didn't fully believe this thing would work.  It kind of seems I was saying that a lot last year but I was actually working it all year....whether the band was helping or not.

I learned a lot about myself this year.
1.  Exercise is not going to be the winning factor in losing.  For me its nutrition.  I can ruin a good workout eating some BAD food.  I can lose weight by just eating right.  I can lose even more weight by eating right and exercise.

2.  Its hard for me to start exercising..but I build up momentum once I start.

3.  Mix up the exercise to keep your body guessing.  I used to love just the treadmill, but I have noticed mixing up with the elliptical has helped challenge me.  I also realized that I will get exercise in whenever I can.  It could be just a 30min walk a couple times a day.

4.  I still don't drink enough water.

5.  Eating without drinking was not as hard a concept as I thought

6.  I still control what i put into my mouth everyday..and I won't lose unless I make a conscious effort to watch what I eat ALL the time.  This band has helped me  a lot recover from some eating frenzies but it really is me that has turned down pizza, cookies, cake and going out to eat more times than I thought I could that has helped me lose the weight.

7.  I did not know I could cook.  I have tried more recipes than I ever thought I would.  I have really tried to cook more and cook more healthy.

8.  I have lost track of the number of fills and unfills I have had.

9.  I believe my fills/unfills cost more than my surgery last year.

10.  I love the thrill of a challenge and did my best weight loss by being in weight loss challenges with my fellow bloggers.

So would I do this again---OF course..in a heartbeat.  I would love for every overweight person I know to get this, but I also know you have to be ready to work when you get this band and not every overweight person I know could walk this journey.

So what do I hope for this second year.....to take off those last 40lbs and make it to goal.  I don't want to become complacent as I have seen many a bander in the 180's  I don't want to stop here.  I really want to be less than 150 if at all possible.  My hubby relates my addiction journey with food a lot to the 12 steps of addiction that he has been following for his alcoholism.  It is kind of scary how really they relate...sometimes I agree with him that food addiction people should have to work the steps because I can see how it would benefit them.
Here are food addicts 12 steps

1. We admitted we were powerless over our food addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable. 

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God. 

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 

7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings. 

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. 

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out. 

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to food addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.