All Good Things Must Come To An End – My Journey To Health And My Best Life Continues
Sandi's Banded Living
by sandi
4y ago
I have had to make some hard decisions in my 71 years on this planet.  And this one was no easier. Back in 2009 I began a website for folks who were thinking about Lap Band Surgery, had already had Lap Band Surgery, or were just curious about Lap Band Surgery. The website included blogs (which were weekly articles written by myself and my business partner at the time), news, discussion boards and recipes which we featured in our weekly newsletters sent to you via email.   After a few years my business partner went her way and I continued with the website, the weekly articles, recipes, and new ..read more
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Reflecting Back Before Weight Loss Surgery – 15 Years and Counting
Sandi's Banded Living
by sandi
4y ago
As I stood in the shower at the gym after my swim this morning, I noticed all of the space around me.  It was easy to move, bend down, wash my back and everything else.  Then I remembered.  Fifteen years ago, at 424 pounds my body reached all the way across the shower and I had to be careful not to hit the walls, bending down was impossible as was reaching my entire body to wash.  In public restrooms I used the handicap stall because I barely squeezed into the regular stalls.  In the pool I couldn’t share a lane with anyone because I took up the entire lane no matter how small I tried to make ..read more
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It’s About So Much More Than The Number On The Scale – Long Term Success After Weight Loss Surgery
Sandi's Banded Living
by sandi
4y ago
I woke up this morning, used the bathroom, hopped on the scale and looked down.  What the *^$@#$% was my out loud comment.  The scale was up half a pound from yesterday.  I started to get into that nasty head space, asking myself why I bother to journal my food, work my butt off (literally) at the gym, drink all my water, etc, etc, etc.  Why am I bothering to be a good weight loss surgery patient when the scale doesn’t seem to want to cooperate with me. Then I had a cup of tea, calmed down and started thinking rationally.  OK, let’s look at the last couple of weeks.  I got back from vacation ..read more
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Fifteen Years Post-Op Weight Loss Surgery And I Still Food Journal for Long Term Success
Sandi's Banded Living
by sandi
4y ago
I had a whirlwind July flying to Las Vegas, then home, then New York, then Connecticut then back home, to turn around and drive to Palm Springs.  It was wonderful.  Vegas was work, the rest was enjoying visiting with friends and family.  This vacation included lots of evenings of cocktails with dinner (1, or rarely 2), tastes of homemade deliciousness from the kitchens of my friends who are both gourmet cooks, and the worst offender was the Italian cookies while I was in New York.  My nephew took us to a great, local Italian bakery to pick up dessert to bring over to his brother’s house and ..read more
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New Kittens Are a Non-Scale Victory – Long Term Success After Weight Loss Surgery
Sandi's Banded Living
by sandi
4y ago
We lost our 18-year-old cat peacefully in her sleep about 8 weeks ago.  I totally miss having a fur baby in my lap in the evenings when I watch TV.  Since I was on the road most of July we didn’t even think about a new cat until we were home and our laundry was done.  Then it was my husband’s birthday.  Yes, he’s a Leo and we’ve always had cats.  I asked him if he wanted to go to the shelter and to PetSmart to look at kittens up for adoption and he said no, it was too soon.  I let it go for a day and then I asked him if we could just go to the shelter and find out the terms of adoption and go ..read more
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Keeping My Fitness Routine Is Still Difficult – Long Term Success After Weight Loss Surgery
Sandi's Banded Living
by sandi
4y ago
I was thinking about what I wanted to share with you all today and as I got up to get my water bottle my knees and hips made it very clear.  I have a non-negotiable fitness schedule.  It is at least 30 minutes 5 times per week.  Typically, I get at least 210 minutes of fitness on purpose in the gym weekly.  The month of July has been a crazy one for me.  I spent a few days in Las Vegas on business, (one day more than planned due to cancellation of my flight home), 7 days on the east coast in New York and Connecticut, and 4 days in Palm Springs/Palm Desert.  I was on the road traveling for pre ..read more
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Take The Time To Stop And Smell The Roses For Long Term WLS Success – Revisited
Sandi's Banded Living
by sandi
4y ago
As I left the gym this morning I was thinking about how much better I felt after my workout then before I went in.  Then I looked at the sky which was grey with the heavy morning marine layer.  Ugh… I need sunshine.  Then I looked at the cars in the parking lot.  Ninety percent of them were gray, black, dark blue or dirty white.  And then there was my Caribbean blue Mini.  I smiled.  I didn’t have sunshine, but I had bright, shiny Caribbean Blue. As I approached my car I realized that when I began this journey over 14 years ago I would not have begun to fit behind the steering wheel of a ..read more
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Is It Really Hunger OR Am I Just Tired?
Sandi's Banded Living
by sandi
4y ago
Fifteen years after weight loss surgery and today I find myself hungry. I stop, apply HALTS and realize I am tired. I had a bad night of insomnia last night. I can make a snack of lunch meat, cheese or jerky to get me through, or give in to my carb cravings. The first thing I do when this happens is try to figure out what is going on with me. First I review my food choices over the past few days. Have I been getting enough protein? Have I added too many artificial sweeteners or processed carbs to my food choices? Because I keep a daily food journal I can review the days before to see if I ate ..read more
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Three Simple Steps – How To Love Yourself
Sandi's Banded Living
by sandi
4y ago
Whether it’s in one on one coaching, leading a support group, or working with weight loss surgery patients at a retreat or meeting, the most common theme as to why we self-sabotage our weight loss surgery journeys was “I don’t deserve it”, “I am unworthy of it” and statements to that effect.  “It” being whatever we saw as our ultimate vision of who we wanted to be.   I hear this time and time again throughout the weight loss surgery community as well as in every other area of life.  To me, the big secret is learning to love and believe in ME first, in my ability to do it – whatever it may b ..read more
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So, What Is The Connection Between My Cat Dying and Weight Loss Surgery?
Sandi's Banded Living
by sandi
4y ago
My 18-year-old cat Sushi passed away Sunday night.  She went peacefully, after spending a typical cat day eating, sleeping, and getting petted.  It appears that her heart just quit.  I am sad, I miss her very much. When I get up in the morning there is nobody waiting outside my bedroom door to greet me with her meow, race me down the stairs, and pace back and forth in front of her food bowl.  In the evening when I finally sit down to catch some TV there is no warm fuzzy baby cuddling in my lap, pressing on my arm and shoving her head under my hand so I will pet her.  It hurts.  I cried. I am ..read more
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