PJ384

From all I have read you need to follow what your Doctor has set up for you to do and not try to freelance it.The bubbling and grumbling your having is most like leftover gass from when they inflated your abdomen for the banding and it will work its self out. You have come this far now is no time to start tripping up, you can do this have faith in yourself it has gotten you this far and will carry you through Friday is not that far away when you consider where you were and how far you have come

I agree my surgery is Aug 31st so my pre op diet starts officially on Monday but I decided to start it this week so as of Monday I have been on the protein shakes and lots of water the water helps keep me feeling full and as I have been told over and over most of the time when you think your hungry you really just thirsty so I have a large 101.4 fld ounce bottle of arrowhead water on my desk and I have a homemade straw I made for myself with a regular straw and some aquarium air line hose I bought at wal mart at first I got a lot of teasing and stares when I would put the line in the corner of my mouth and be busy filling out reports on my computer but after about a week nobody cared anymore and and now nobody pays any attention to it and I manage to drink the whole bottle before 3pm which is my goal to be done before I head for home I think the hardest part for me will be not drinking with meals as I was raised drinking with my meals and it will be a tough habit to break. I plan to go to the grocery this weekend and stock up on broth and sugar free jello I bought two large container of Body Fortress Protein powder and have been drinking that I wish I had paid more attention to the flavor label and not bought the Chocolate Peanut Butter when I meant to buy the plain Chocolate flavor but it has been o.k. I tried the Vanilla shake this morning and I really liked it I make it with water and add about 6 ice cubes to give it a frothy milkshake consistancy.So Iam hoping that on Monday when I start on it hardcore I will already be used to it enough that it will not be that hard to stick to it and be successful on it.

My Surgery is August 31st so Iam just ahead of you but not by much.I have been looking for others here who have surgery about the same time to group and support each other will let you know how it goes for me and will be thinking of you on Sept 8th and wishing you the very best.

I don't start mine till the 15 but I have been working towards it already I do a protein shake for breakfast and one for dinner and eat a normal lunch so Iam hoping that by monday I will not miss the solid food so much when I start doing broth or a shake for lunch also I think the trick will be mixing it up if your tummy is complaining give it something else like the broth or some jello Jello may be good because it have some body to it and will give your tummy something to do for a while Iam going shopping this weekend and stocking up on Broth and Jello and skim milk for my shakes .And yes do try the activities thing keep yourself busy now is a good time to tackle that closet you never wanted to clean out or learn a new hobby like knitting Iam going to organize my home office that should keep me busy all week beside going to work I keep a gallon bottle of water on my desk all day with a straw in it and I challenge myself to have it all drank by the time I get off at 3pm and that keeps my tummy full as well But I know water is boring after a while so if you need distraction you can come here and type or get in the chat rooms and talk to people who are going through the same things you are. Wishing you all the best of luck and hoping to see us all fit and thin in 2012 PJ384

I was told to try muscle milk light also or the ProX portein powder they sell at Wal Mart I was also told by the nutritionist the only realy for not doing slimfast or boost is they do not have enough protien in them so I asked what of I added a scoop or two of the protein powder to them and drank it that way and she said she saw no reason why that would not be fine so Iam going to buy some of the new boost low sugar ones and add the portein powder to it and see how I like it Iam just not sure about doing it with slimfast because Iam not sure how much sugar is in slimfast I heard it was a lot.

I told 2 co- workers I was considering having it done and they did not react well to it they insisted I should not do this and that I just needed to try harder to lose weight, if I tried any harder I would weight twice as much as I do now it is all that trying that has gotten me where Iam today all the tries and fails and the endless cycle of brow beating and self recrimination so I never brought it up again and will just let them think I have forgotten about it. I have not told anybody else but my Daughter my Son and my Husband and they are all very supportive of me doing this and that is all I care about let the rest of the world think whatever they like. I really feel with the help of all the wonderful people I have found here and all the good information on this site and with my family behind me I will do just fine.

did you go to your primary care doctor and ask for copies of your medical visits over the past 2 or 3 years? I had to do this and it was extra hard because my primary care doctor had in fact died so time before and I had to go back to every doctor I had ever seen in the last 5 years and ask for any records they might have on me that showed my weight and the date it was recorded so take a moment and think back on every doctor you ever have seen for any reason in the past few years then call them and ask for copies of all your visits to them that have a date and your weight recorded on them but do not give up it is the insurance companys job to keep expenses down and so they will use every reason no matter how weak to deny you so make sure you know exactly what they require your surgeon should be able to tell you exactly what you have to have documented to get approved then make sure you have it in spades if they want 2 years give them 3 or 4 if they ask for one doctors letter get 2 or 3 and I believe you will be successful.

OMG it was as if you wrote down exactly what I was thinking and feeling Iam getting my Band the 31st of Aug and everyone asks if Iam excited about it and No Iam not I do feel resigned to it and I do fear Iam making a mistake and worry I will fail yet again and I hate not being in control,I have always been known as a no nonsense cut through the crap get the job done kind of person and I fear this will expose me I guess as person who has no control over herself and had to resort to a LapBand to get her eating under control and lose the weight. But then I have to mentally slap myself and remind myself the Lapband will not control my weight it will help me learn to control it myself and in that way its no different than any other tool I have ever used to get a job done.I have a sign I made myself hanging above my desk in my office at work it says "We don't make the school excel we make excelling easier for the school" and now I will make a new sign that I will place in my journal that I will keep while on this journey "My LapBand don't make ME lose weight it makes losing weight easier for ME" to remind myself it is only a tool to help me get this job done.Iam not sure you should be excited about the banding surgery but rather you should get excited about living a new life without the weight thats been holding you back and to quote Geneen Roth who wrote Women Food and God "You need to realize you were put on this earth to do more than just lose the same 30lbs a thousand times over".and on a lighter note I will quote Dr Seuss "Oh the places you will go". and I wish you all the best on your journey to the life you were meant to have.

I wish you the very best with your lapband and look forward to following your progress Iam not getting my band till August 31st so it will bee cool to have somebody at about the same point as myself to follow Goodluck!!! Peggy