debbiek1

jazzy--congratulations!! 2008 is going to be a lot of fun for you!! you are going to be feeling and looking so much better than you did in 2007.

Sue--BCBS is being Scrooge. BAH-HUMBUG dont let them dampen your christmas spirit. May you and your husband have a merry christmas and a very happy new year did they say why they rejected you? was it your BMI? If so look on the bright side--apparantly you arent as fat as you think you are!! But fight for it. it may take a while longer but remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease. i havent lost any weight in weeks and plan on eating up a storm for the next couple days. but i go get an adjustment on thursday.

this is interesting. my dr said no popcorn and i have not had any since being banded. i love popcorn. my BF and i used to eat it all the time. i will try some this weekend and see how it goes.

i havent eaten any broccoli, pineapple or celery since having the surgery. but i have been tempted to eat some well cooked broccoli. i think if you eat it raw it could be a problem but if you cook it till it is limp i bet it would be okay. i have eaten some raisins. they are one of my favorite foods. i put them in my oatmeal, so they are soft and mushy. but i have also eaten a handful uncooked on occasion and have no problem. i have not tried popcorn--another of my favorite foods. Havent had any marshmallows. have eaten bread on occasion--but mix it with other foods. have not had steak. but i am going to try and eat some prime rib over the weekend. i am planning on eating it along with mashed potatoes. i figure if i dont eat too much of it and chew it real good and intersperse it with mashed potatoes that it should go down. i really have not had a problem with anything going down if i mix it with other foods. i can see where if i ate a great big piece of steak all alone that it could be a problem. Angie--i hope your news today was good hope every one has a merry christmas. talk to you all later.

Angie--my prayers are with you and your husband. The best Christmas present for you will be clean results. Did everyone spend the day inside like i did? Actually, it was kind of nice to stay in and get a some cleaning done. one thing i did was plug my treadmill in. it hasnt been turned on in two years. I didnt get on it--but at least i got it plugged in and it still works!!! i havent gotten any exercise for a couple months. the time just flies. that may be one of the reasons my weight loss has slowed.

hello, niki--welcome. when i went to have my initial lab work done at mt carmel the lab technician pulled up her shirt and showed me her port! maybe she used her husbands insurance--dont know. but if not, then mt carmels health plan should cover the band. that is just plain wrong what that insurance company did to you last year!!!! have you gone to some of the insurance help forums on this site? but hopefully, this year will be different. also it would seem like such a waste of time for them to make you go thru all that psych eval and other testing again. you are so young--you cant have much wrong with you. IMO you are making the right decision. you could diet and beat yourself up for the next 20 years trying to lose and keep that weight off and end up only being 350 pounds. believe me i know. when i was 30 i probably weighed 195-200. at 57 i topped out at 300. that was 20 years of postponing my life until i lost weight. you know--"i'll do that after i lose weight" or "i'll wear that when..." sometimes i would lose it but only to gain back more. you will enjoy doing a lot more with those kids after you slim down. and THank God for those Love Goggles!!! everyone should have a pair and a spare!!! first time today during the news, i saw an ad for mt carmels bariatric program. saw dr choban, the nutritionist (she is very pretty and thin) and the nurse.

cant remember what i said about alzheimer patients. i do have a tendency to babble on. but no i am not a nurse. unfortunately, i work for the post office. i was scheduled to see dr choban tomorrow, but they called and cancelled. i was kind of looking forward to getting another adjustment. i havent lost any weight lately. been stuck at 233 forever. good luck on your stress test. you will do fine.

Angie--i turned a co-worker on to that Just Plus store. She loved it, too. that place is great. you talk about big feet??? how about a size 12???? whenever a see a size 12 i buy it. so i have a ton of shoes but there seems to be something wrong with every pair. my feet still give me problems. can barely stand anything touching the backs of my heels. but cant wear backless shoes to work. thus the problem. but now, they arent swelling like they were. so that is a big plus.

i bet if i had collected all the hair i lost it would weigh a half a pound. do you think i should revise my ticker ????

so far no casual observer has said "gee, you are losing your hair" but i know it is lots thinner. i have to wash it every day or it gets real greasy and today i must have lost at least a 50 more hairs. one of these days i am going to collect them all up and actually count them. maybe it will be reassuring. maybe it just looks like a hundred hairs. my D-I-L asked what i want for christmas. i told her a wig. she thinks i am kidding but i'm not.

down 67.5 pounds

i think i qualified as both snacker and volume eater. i find i think less about food and so i snack less.

i agree with sue. i remember seeing the nutritionist but it was pretty uneventful because i dont recall much about it. nothing to worry about that is for sure. just another palm to grease on the lapband journey. i bought a cute size 14 coat at the thrift store today. it doesnt exactly fit but it is my favorite color--rusty orange. i havent worn a 14 anything since i was 14!!!! i just got to lose about 10 pounds of bellyfat and it will fit. i have been stuck at the same weight for couple weeks. gotta get on the stick here.

hi, heather. i went to your loser chronicles and saw your pictures. how tall are you? because for 283 you dont look that bad. you are cute now--just imagine what you will look like by spring--vvvaavoom!!!! good luck your surgery is right around the corner.

i ventured into a wig shop today for the first time in my life. was still in enough denial that i did not try any on. but i did see some i liked. they really werent very expensive. i was surprised. but eventually it is going to come to that. who knows maybe i will like wearing a wig and having different styles.

no, sugar is not a problem. that is one reason i would never get a GB because they cant eat sugar ever again. i want to lose weight but i didnt want to face a life without ever being able to eat a cookie or piece of cake again!!! the beauty of the band is that i dont want to or feel compelled to eat the whole darn cake!! it is just so much easier to say "no, i dont need that" and not feel deprived. the band helps me eat like that skinny girl at the office and not like the "clean up" woman i always was.

it is quite painful for me to look at that "before" picture. but i am glad it was taken. I just look like i am in so much pain. and i was. everything hurt and doing anything was tiring and an effort. i cant wait to see what i look like in another 50 pounds.

oh, so the fashion show has been moved to april. that is good because i usually take vacation time in april. so i may be able to go. since i work nights i cant get to most of them i wonder what kind of venue polaris has for a fashion show. i wonder if they have an auditorium or will it be out on the floor of the mall. forgive me i am chatty--just got up and full of caffeine right now!! how did the healthy eating class go? did you learn anything you didnt already know? i think giving a seminar on healthy eating to a room of fat people is like preaching to the choir. most of us already know everything there is to know about healthy eating--we have already read every diet book that comes out--we could probably write our own book on healthy eating. Unfortunately, we either eat too much healthy food or eat the healthy food and then follow it up with a half a gallon of ice cream!!!

i dont know if i can do this or not but i am going to try and post some pictures. i should call the before one "the beast" . I still have a way to go but i do look a lot better.

special k--that is what this forum is for--to talk and share. someone reading this may find that information very useful in making their decision as to which surgeon to choose. i agree with you about the GB vs the lapband. i wouldnt get the GB because i dont want my insides permanently rearranged. a friend suggested that several years ago and i would not even consider it. but as soon as i heard about the lapband i decided that was for me.

everyone seems to staying "on course". ath this point that is all you can do--just dont give up and follow up on all your paperwork. and keep going to all those darn appointments and classes. TM--my mom always said that whoever said "it is so nice to have a man around the house" was either single or crazy!! so i know what you mean. I am down to 233 now and looking pretty good. One of the guys at work told me i look like a movie star!!! and yesterday at least 4 people stopped me and told me how good i looked. so that right there is worth any cost or test or hoop i had to jump thru!! does anyone know if mt carmel has a 2008 calender for those monthly meetings. the reason i am want to know is that last january they had a fashion show. it was so inspiring to see people that had lost weight and were up there on the runway. they showed "before" pictures on the screen. some of them just made me cry for happy. if they have one this year i would like to go again.

i did a search for "testosterone in women" and one website said that one of the symptoms of too much is baldness and facial hair. i have noticed that whereas before i used to have one hair on my chin and now i have 5 or 6. so who knows. aesthesia, protein, hormones? the only consolation is that is usually stops.

how about testosterone? for some reason, i have always thought i had more testosterone than most woman. dont get me wrong, i am not masculine. but just from different things like my sex drive and my menstrual cycle headaches. but maybe if i do have stored up testosterone and it is being released now---then maybe i am getting "male pattern baldness" especially now since i am menopausal and dont have any estrogen. i have had tests done for thyroid levels and estrogen levels but never testosterone levels. i wonder if that is ever checked on a woman? it is a long shot, but i am like you--i would like to know.

but on Atkins you only eat protein. so how can that be it? my hair is still coming out but i havent gotten any bald spots yet. no one has noticed my hair but they have noticed my weight. i am taking biotin. and try to eat more protein and drink protein powder but am probably not getting enough. and how come a teenage that lives on diet pepsi and cheese crackers still have a healthy head of hair? i eat very healthy and am losing mine. i am starting to believe it is because of all the hormones being released from the fat. fat does store a lot of hormones.

i had a nice thanksgiving weekend. i gained a pound and a half--but i dont change my ticker when i go up. only when i go down! this is a bad time of year to be dieting. but at least we got one holiday under our belts!