Mornin' everyone.

[ElectricJoltik]

My name is Kay.

I am about 350lbs, in my mid 20s.

I had a lap-band installed when I was 19, however because we moved and this state doesnt accept health insurance if you didnt have the procedure done in this state, I havent had maintenance on it in about 5 years. My lowest weight that I can remember is 280, however, I remember being about 200lbs as early as age 7.

I am moving soon and I really just want to lose the weight so I can get around better, not feel so tired, and I'm starting to get the early stages of health problems from it. I don't usually join forums but I wanted to speak to experts as I am planning to take action.

Well, not planning. I AM taking action, I just really need some guidance.

Nice to meet you all, whoever reads this.

 

[Guideon]

Hi Kay, Welcome!

Lots of knowledge here on the forum, and even more motivation and support, so you've come to the right place!

 

[Omega]

Welcome to the forum.

I am certainly no expert - but 5 years sounds a long time for there to have been no maintenance on the lap band. Did your doctors give advice on how regular the maintenance would be needed when they inserted it?

We do have a section on the surgical approach to weight loss here. I would post in that section in the hope of meeting someone with similar experiences to yourself.

At 350 pounds you certainly need to lose some weight - so I strongly suggest that you take action now and start eating more healthily and being more active.

I was a big lady and can tell you that the best thing that I ever did was go out and walk... Walking - no matter how slowly - is definitely of benefit to big people. I went out and walked around the block... I did it slowly... I sat on garden walls... but I did it... It took me ages...
The next day I went out and did it again...
I kept doing it every day... As soon as I could I increased the distance a bit...
I didnt care about what speed I did...
It was amazing how my stamina built up.

At the same time I started eating better...
Initially - I didnt eat the chocolate bars that my husband handed me at night (we had a drawer full of chocolate and every night we would take several trips to the drawer and get us both chocolate bars)...
then I stopped getting take-aways
I slowly improved the healthiness of the food that I was eating...

Many of us have a good idea of the fattening things that we eat - we just keep on having them just the same...

I would encourage you to start taking action in this way immediately - even while trying to get things happening with the lap band... There are things that you can do today.

We are the people that put food in our mouths and choose not to exercise - we can make different choices... It is never too late - too big a task - a fat person can choose to be thin by making different choices...

Believe that you can make your weight loss dreams come true.

The following link may help you to settle in.
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/57955-My-advice-to-newcomers

Good luck with your project