Kentucky Girl

I can't wait to get started. I really want to get this done a.s.a.p. and not be embarrassed to go out with my husband on New Years Eve!

I just completed my 6 month insurance required waiting period and everything has been submitted to my insurance for approval. I will be getting my cardiac clearance letter next week. After my insurance approves, all that is left for me to do is go to my doctor and select a surgery date. If everything goes well, I should have surgery by November. I am not nervous because I want this so bad. I NEED to lose about 150 lbs. I am overall pretty healthy with the exception of arthritis in both knees. I am a very picky eater. I do not eat any type of seafood. I eat very few vegetables and fruits. I eat meat but I can live without it. My biggest problem is SUGAR. From what I understand about this surgery, I will eventually be able to eat pretty much anything but in very small amounts and to make wiser food choices altogether. I want to be that person that someday can have a bite of pie and be satisfied rather than eating 2 or 3 pieces. Is there anyone out there with a eating history like mine that has had this surgery and been successful? How long after surgery (days, weeks, months, years) is a person able to eat normal foods? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks for the input. Since posting yesterday I got my insurance approval letter in the mail last night so I hope to have my surgery some time in November. My current weight is 340 so I have a large amount to lose.

My name is Melissa and I am 42 years old. I have been married for almost 21 years and have a 19 year old daughter. I have been overweight the majority of my life, like everyone else, losing some, then gaining back more. I'm not looking to be a supermodel, I just want to be able to wear clothes that don't come from the plus size section. I have no major health issues to speak of but my weight is taking its toll on my knees and back. I hope to have surgery before the holidays so that I can start working on my skinny bucket list next summer!

So here I am in my 5th month of the 6 month insurance required supervised diet. I haven't lost a pound. I have to admit that I really haven't tried. Don't get me wrong, once my motivation kicks in, I can lose on my own. I lost 75 pounds 2 years ago but have gained it all back. I am not pigging out either. I just figured that my surgery will come soon enough and from then on my eating will drastically change. I have always exercised religiously, but lately, with arthritis in both knees, I hurt too much to even walk. Am I the only one that is lacking motivation right now?

I know exactly what your talking about. They tell us to lose during the supervised diet but not to lose too much. What is too much? I wouldn't even be on the website if I could do it on my own right?

So, last Friday I had a routine checkup and cleaning scheduled at the dentist. I went to the dentist as usual and straddled the chair to get in it. As the girl begins to raise the chair up and lay it down electronically to clean my teech, it begins to snap, crackle and pop. It has never done this before! I laid there terrified that I have just broken this very expensive chair. I panic that when she is finished, she will not be able to raise me back up. How embarrassing! I'm sure that the chair doesn't usually make these noises. Only when a 340 lb. person is sitting in it! Surprisingly, the chair raised up just fine with no noises this time but I had scooted down in the chair trying to take the majority of my weight off of the back before she moved it. Had I broken their chair, I wonder if they would have tried to charge me for it?

I have a few things to get off of my chest today not to mention the 150 lbs. that I need to lose. As I sit here at my window seat desk, I can see my reflection staring back at me. It disgusts me to see the rolls of fat as I sit crunched in this office chair. My uniform shirts seem to shrink even though I wash them in cold water and hang them to dry. I have my fan blowing on my face because it is hot, (105-108 heat index today) but I would rather put a jacket on to cover up the rolls of fat because I don't want anyone seeing them. Like people can't look at me with or without a jacket and tell that I am morbidly obese right? Anyway, I just want to sneeze, blink or click my heals together and the weight be gone. I failed to mention that another thing that I am constantly worrying about while I sit in my chair at work. There are offic chairs for normal size people and office chairs for fat people. So who wants to seriously go to the office supply purchasing agent and say "I need a fat persons chair"? Not me. One day while sitting here I heard a loud pop. I instantly jumped out of my chair and examined it. Everything looked fine so I gently sat my large ass on the edge of the chair unsure of what had just happened. Suddenly, a loud noise that sounded like a gun shot went off drawing everyones attention to me ( I sit in a cube with 7 other people and none of them are FAT! I jumped up out of the chair and the spring mechanism had broken, stripped, gave out or just decided that it couldn't take my fat ass anymore . Oh yeah, I forgot to add that this chair was only 9 months old. So, daily I hold my breath and hope that it doesn't happen again before I can get this weight off. I am sure that no one else has ever had anything like this happen to them, RIGHT? : )

AGAIN, I sit here at work on the edge of my chair praying that it doesn't break and knock my ass to the floor. I am always getting coupons to Victoria's Secret for free pairs of underwear. Not because I can wear their clothes but because I buy perfume and body products there. I went in last week to use my most recent coupon. I usually give them to someone I know but this time I decided that I would keep them for myself as an incentive to lose the weight. Okay, someday I may be able to wear a large or an extra large, but I don't ever see this ass fitting in a small or medium which is conveniently all that they had left of the free ones. I told my husband that the first thing that I am going to do when I lose enough weight is go to Victoria's Secret and purchase one of their cute push up bras. He already complains that my boobs are sagging to my belly button which is exaggeration but I am sick of wearing the 100% cotton sports bras to flatten everything as much as possible. We should challenge Hugh Heffner to publish an issue of Playboy magazine featuring ladies that have have lost 100 or more pounds. I can't say that if I were even a size 6 that I would have the nerve to do it, but I wonder how many of you would? Just a thought!

Thanks for the support everyone. It helps because my family isn't' supporting me right now.

Thanks MeMe, I have to laugh too because I refuse to cry.

Forgot to add that we bought a 25 foot camper over the weekend. I wonder if it is normal to worry about breaking the steps every time I climb up in the camper or tipping the camper over!

Awesome, you are an inspiration to me. My goal is 150 lb weight loss!

I lost 80 pounds without surgery 2 years ago. I ate very little and exercised 2-3 hours a day. Due to life and work, I got tired of working out and gained it all back but 10 pounds. I don't want to be a victora's secret model, just wear the clothes! : )

Kimberly, I know exactly what you are going through. 1 1/2 years ago my father walked into the ER thinking he had the flu. Apparently he had a heart attack earlier in the week and did not know it. After finding the blockage and stinting it, he was put into an induced coma and died exactly 1 week later from all his organs shutting down except his heart which had been repaired. He was 60 years old and was completely healthy except for type 2 diabetes which he was managing. The difference here is you have the opportunity to talk to your father and tell him everything that you want him to hear while he is still alive even if it is over the telephone. I can only hope that my dad died knowing that I loved him and that he was able to hear the things that I said to him while he laid there in a coma. I will be praying for you and your family.

Thanks for the encouragement Sheila. I have talked with several people that have had lap band and gastric bypass. Although most of them did not keep off the weight, they all agree that I should have no problem because I am very active. I would be so happy to weigh 190 lbs. I am tired of wearing layered clothes to hide my rolls of fat at the office and then I sweat like a cow in heat.

I am in the same situation. Just had my first intake appt yesterday. I had planned on having lapband but due to a surgical procedure that I had done called nissen fundiplication, I am unable to have it. My doctor recommended plication, but it is experimental and insurance doesn't pay for it. It's $11,000. I have chosen the sleeve. I didn't originally like the sound of having my stomach taken out but after reading stories like the ones on here and doing a lot of research, I think it would be best for me. I too, need to lose at least 120-130 pounds but I do workout regularly so I am a "healthy" fat person. Good luck!