Jim1967

I was going to buy but never got around to it. I ended up downloading Runkeeper app to my iPhone which works pretty decent. How is the wake up alarm? Have you tried it? And having sleep Apnea I am curious how the sleep function works. thanks

I had to do the following: My Surgeon requires all patients to lose 5% of their weight during the pre-op stage. This was easy for me as I had to do 6 months anyway due to insurance. 6 month pre-op mandatory diet monitored by my Bariatric Surgeon (Cigna Insurance requirement) 4 visits with Dietician 1 visit with Psychologist Attend minimum 6 Support meetings while pre-op Physical by 3rd party Doctor for final surgical clearance. (insurance requirement) Mandatory Nutrition class for band patients Spent half a day at the hospital for the following tests: Upper GI Abdominal Ultrasound Cardiac Echo EKG Chest X-ray Bloodwork My Wife who just had Surgery this past Monday had to go through the same exact steps as above with exception to the 6 month mandatory diet. We switched to Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts back in January and they had no diet requirements.

Once and sometimes twice a month I will go through the McDonald's drive thru and order myself a vanilla cone. All this hard work I/we deserve to reward ourselves with a treat. Last time I did a major diet on my own (170lbs in 19 months) I went and deprived myself of every food I loved. Once I hit goal and felt comfortable in my skin I not only went back to bad eating, I ended up going way overboard almost making up the lost time eating junk food. I will never again give up foods I enjoy because I have learned long term it will be my downfall. There needs to be a balance.

This past Week or so has indeed been a busy one. Last Saturday (9/14) Kelli and I along with our friends participated in 5K Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness. Walking a 5K is pretty much a breeze for me...or so I thought. I finished no problem but I did learn along the way that walking a 5K on the public streets is not the same as walking a track or a treadmill. I did end up finishing with a pretty decent time of slightly over an hour. We had a great time and it was for a good cause. We were walking in honor of our friends Mom who had passed roughly 8 months ago. We called our team Bosom Buddies and on the back we had his Mom's initials. Almost to the finish line...styling in my pink shirt.. Kelli (knick1016) and I Finish line!! Sunday was busy day as well between Laundry, Grocery shopping day to day stuff. Kelli had band surgery Monday. She got the Realize band. She was in surgery for about an hour and everything went great. As with all patients she stayed over night at the hospital and came home on Tuesday afternoon. She is on the mend but is dealing with the usual gas cramps and fighting some nausea today. I am excited for her as her journey is just beginning and she is inspiring me to keep on keeping on.... I am sure she will post in a day or so if she hasn't already. Her screen name is knick1016

Thank you I am already working on putting together a team for next August to do a Relay for Life walk. That's a big one.

Yea, I have been using photo bucket and then just linking back here. I made a blog entry earlier today and didn't think about re-sizing the photos. I sorta of expected the forum software to auto size them. No biggie either way I am tech savvy enough to work around it I'm....just lazy. LOL

Is there a way to post pics to a gallery and not have it show up on the recent pics section of the home page? Not a big deal really but there are pics I would like to post that are not front page worthy. thanks!

Wow, I guess I should have re sized the pictures. I thought for some reason the forum software would automatically do that. DOH!!

Depriving yourself of things you love could/will just lead to failure in the long run. Band is not a diet and it is not about deprivation. Moderation is the key. Don't beat yourself up too much. Carry on and move forward and you'll be fine

My Wife had surgery this past Monday. I am home with her only because I am able to work from home. Biggest thing to remember is you will most likely be very tired. My Wife is under no real restrictions other than the stage 1 diet and no heavy lifting or working out. She is able to drive as long as she is not on the pain meds. Since they are keeping you over night to monitor you then I would say you would be fine on your own the next but you need to feel confident with that choice. When I had my surgery I was ready to go back to work by day 4.

It's definitely a tough one to overcome. I caught myself last week going after spoonfuls of peanut butter a bit too often. Seems I had a bit of a sweet tooth. I guess there are worse things I could have eaten. O the flip side my interest in food has been in decline for months. I don't even enjoy going out to dinner anymore...

I had quit caffeine cold turkey for about the first year of being banded. Back to having 1 large Dunkin Donuts a day. No issues here aside from the fact that it wires me up and puts me on hyper drive more then ever did before. I guess that's what happens when you finally detox and cleanse your system.

That's just insane. So as it is you make less when on unemployment then you would a job then they charge you even more for medical insurance. System is really ass backwards....

I assume you will be able to file for unemployment? Do they offer insurance in CA with unemployment benefit? Here in MA and NH they used to offer what was called Cobra insurance. It was a little expensive but it was good.

Finding the green zone can be a daunting task. It could take no fills to several fills. I have an 11cc band filled to 9.5cc and it took me 5 months to get there and that was even after an initial 5cc fill. A few times would get a fill and feel like I would have restriction only just have it disappear within days. 11cc Realize Band: 1st fill 5/29/12 5cc 2nd fill 6/12/12 1cc 3rd fill 7/02/12 1cc 4th fill 8/14/12 1cc 5th fill 9/4/12 1cc 6th fill 1/29/13 .5 Until you find that proper zone for you it is going to be all on you to monitor your portions and make good food choices. More importantly you need to remember the band is not about restricting/preventing what you can eat. It is about making you feel satisfied on very little food and have that satisfaction last 4-5 hours. If you have not read Dr Simpsons page I highly recommend it. I have a link below in my signature. Best wishes...

Congratulations!! Also my Wife is being banded on the 16th!!

Congratulations on your success and I got your message loud and clear. Downward trend is the name of the game. I really needed to read this today. Thank you Ralph and best wishes.

Along with food addiction you are also probably battling what is known as Bandster hell. Bandster hell is that period after right after surgery but still do not have any 'restriction'. Unfortunately, it is all on you to eat properly until such time you get the needed fills to a point where your band becomes utilized. I would definitely recommend finding a binge eater support group. It does get better in time and patience can be really tough at times. You have to not beat yourself up too much cause that could end up leading to more overeating. I had a serious food addiction especially junk food. chips, cheez its, ice cream and soda. I had it bad. Now with my band that is properly adjusted my head hunger is gone and I eat three meals and day with no snacking. Sometimes it amazes me how I have become a "recovered binge eater". Hang in there and keep working at it. Remember this is a journey and there is a learning curve and missteps do happen. Forgiveness is very important. Keep up with your appointments and fills and you will see in time it will get better. Best wishes..Jim

Still need help with this?

Yea what Guy says. but seriously, just got to move on and remember just because you have a band it doesn't mean you cannot have those things. Just in moderation or as a treat. Band is not about deprivation but I understand how you feel. I would go to McDonald's drive thru and get an ice cream cone for a buck...eat it and then beat myself up. It's all work in progress and tomorrow is another day!