My Tricks

At NYU two days ago, I sat in the waiting room with a group of women who were at various stages of the process.  Several of them were also celebrating their one year anniversaries of banded life.  Of these women, most had lost between 45 and 60 lbs.  That is in line with what Allergan says is to be expected from the lapband right?  1-3 lbs per week? 

So of course, they wanted to know how I lost 126 lbs and got to goal weight in one year.  And me too... why was my average weekly weight loss consistently around the top of this range?  2.54 lbs per week for 52 weeks straight.  Why?  Is it luck?  Body chemistry?  Physiology?  Who the heck knows...

Here's some of my thoughts after this discussion at NYU:

1.  I exercise.
2.  I keep my band pretty tight.
3.  I eat only protein.
4.  I don't snack EVER - and I don't eat breakfast.  I eat twice a day.
5.  I only allow myself to eat for 20 minutes - I don't pick a portion and then keep at it until it is gone.
6.  I don't diet or count.  I don't allow myself to obsess about food.
7.  Stayed the course even when things seemed to stall.

But seriously, others probably can make the same list.  I have no idea why I was so successful.  Singular determination?  I would like to say that, but I am not sure that is completely true.  It was funny though yesterday because if you talk long enough, you can start to hear the ways we self-sabotage.  "Nachos go down."  "I can eat an 8 ounce steak if I take my time."  "I can't eat salad, but I can eat cookies."  We were all addicts.  For most of us, that's how we got here.  And addictions take time.  But maybe we need to realize that it is something that we need to work on ourselves, while the band does the rest.  Get inside of our own heads, understand how we work, how we think - and then grab hold of the reins and create the life we want to have (with the help of our little band friend).