Chronicles from Band Land - a LAP-BAND Blog Review
Posted by Adam Yarbrough on Wed, Dec 09, 2009 @ 10:26 AM
I'm a big believer in using blogs as a weight loss tool. They provide some really good motivators. You can create your own support community of people like you who know how to encourage and support you. You can celebrate your successes with them or ask them for ideas to overcome challenges. Most importantly it provides you with a mechanism to hold you accountable for your own success.
Catherine55 writes Chronicles from Band Land, which logs her LAP-BAND Weight Loss Journey. She has a great sense of humor, shares what seems like ALL of her non-scale 
victories (NSVs), and she uses some interesting photography to highlight her journey.
One of my favorite features about the site is her use of sign photos like mile-markers. For each pound she loses, she finds a number photo to illustrate it. It comes across very charming, and I'm always rooting for her to post a new number photo.
Her non-scale victories are always a relatable slice of life:
In the past, I would have foregone the earlier arrival time to be more comfortable. But I didn't do that this time, and I was completely fine. . and had plenty of room to spare. Major NSV!
For the past many years, there hasn't been a thing in any boutique that I could hope to fit into -- but on a whim, I tried on a dress. And it fit! It totally fit!! (It was too short for my tastes, so I didn't buy it, but it fit!!!) I couldn't believe it. Major NSV!!
With that attitude, how could you not cheer for her?
She also does a good job answering LAP-BAND questions from a patient's perspective, educating people who may happen upon her site.
She has one post from August that features a Q&A about the LAP-BAND Port. She found this great visual to help explain it, and she presents questions that anyone considering the surgery might have and answers it without a lot of medical terminology, so it's very easy to understand.
And even though she is a great spokesperson for the LAP-BAND surgery, with a popular and useful blog, she does have concerns about her privacy.
I believe that she is able to provide a great deal of personal information about herself and her journey, without doing much damage to her privacy. It's clear from her writing that she doesn't like to discuss the band with people in everyday interactions, and a more recent post asks the question: When should LAP-BAND Patients tell their dates?
She does maintain her privacy, though, by keeping her topics primarily to LAP-BAND and weight loss issues and not giving too many specifics in personal stories. I hope that anyone considering beginning his or her own LAP-BAND Blog might read Catherine55's blog to learn a lot of lessons about how to be a successful LAP-BAND Blogger.
And to leave you on a hopeful note, here's one final NSV from Catherine 55:
... I said "That sounds amazing, but I've had so many meals out during the past week . . I've got to be good today and rein it in!" And she said. . . .
wait for it. . . . .
. . . can I get a drum roll, maybe?
. . . . . . . or some end-of-the-earth music?
She said -- and I quote: "But Catherine, you're so fit and thin! You don't need to worry about that!"
WHAT????????? OMG. She thought I was thin. A person who didn't have to worry about calories. What? That is so the opposite of my reality, and I honestly was so blown away that I somehow gave someone that impression. I just couldn't believe that someone thought that about me (and the person who said this is gorgeous and very accomplished. . Harvard Law, outstanding resume, etc.). I'm sure she was flattering me a little, but that it was even in the realm of a thing that could be said with a straight face just stunned me.
Here's to you, Catherine55! You're one of the skinny people now!