ragdollx19

God has his own ways. Better to get pregnant before getting it than to get pregnant a few months into your journey I guess. Congratts on your newest baby, we will be here when you are ready!

I see all of these posts about how much we should eat but not so many on how much we shouldnt. I have just been eating until I am full and not beyond that. Depending on the food it may be a whole hamburger patty and a few bites of beans or it may be half a chicken breast. How much should we eat? I am no good at oz. measurements so give me the easy way please?

I make sure I have had plenty to drink before my meal also. I tend to be a lot less thirsty while eating and immediately after when I do this. The other thing is I only get Water when going out to eat, sometimes I will have just enough to wet my mouth but no more than that. It takes some getting used to but you can do it, and will notice you stay full longer if you do.

Metal- And here I am wishing I couldnt eat that slice of pizza so I could lose more! No really even with my fills I find I can pretty much eat anything I want, I just eat less and chew it well. I did have pizza this weekend but it was only one piece instead of the 3 or 4 I would have had before. Good luck! I dont know how you can keep it a secret from people, I wouldve been terrible at that! Kudos to you!

Ahhh yes I think the whole "cfred" thing must have thrown me off! Not that it takes much these days

Just out of curiousity, why would you get a lap band but not "want" a fill? I think I am missing something. Is that like getting a car but refusing to put gas in it after the free tank is gone? Is getting fills bad???

My doctor said children's vitamins. I prefer the gummy bear ones as I cant stand the chalky taste of chewables.

In the last week I have had several people who didnt even know I had the surgery comment on my weight loss. It makes me feel good to have people notice on their own!

I got pics too and it grosses me out. My friends and family enjoyed seeing them though. . . does that make them stranger than me???

Sandra, If youre able to drink fluids okay I dont think I would be overly concerned about it yet. If it continues tomorrow I would call my surgeon just to be sure though. I would say you dont need a fill as long as you continue to lose. Thats what I am going to go with anyway. My scale quit being nice to me the last couple of days... hence the feelings of guilt over excercise I guess. People who dont know I got a lap band are coming up to me and noticing my weight loss now which is really nice. I am the same way with my band. Some days I can eat bread some I cant. Some days I can eat steak fine, others no way. My band has mood swings I think :mad:

Thanks guys! I needed a kick in the pants I guess. I am going to go tonight with or without my darling supportive but suddenly very lazy husband :mad: I think I will write up a work out schedule that way I have a "plan" of what activity I am going to do ahead of time. You guys rock! Losing- I spent some time on your website lastnight and loved it! You are doing fabulous with your weight loss. I have been taking my pics in the same clothes too. You are a huge inspiration to those of us who are just starting out on this journey. Keep up the great work! Marsden was a sweety! Did you ever go to one of their support group meetings at AIGB ?

I posted this on the excercise forum but I think I get as much help on our thread! Struggling - How do you do it!?!?! How do you all make exercise a part of your life? Every day at work I say I am going to go home tonight pick the kids up and go to the gym. Every day I pick the kids up, feed them dinner and then lounge around the house. After the sun goes down a few days a week I go riding my bicycle around the neighborhood. I am really struggling with making exercise a part of my day. My spouse is a work out fanatic but he can work out at work or on his way home occasionally and I cannot. I keep begging him to take me to the gym because I know if he were to go with me I would absolutley go. I should be able to do this on my own though and its aggrivating that I dont follow through. Working out in the morning is NOT an option at all. I have two small children who cannot be left in bed sleeping and my spouse goes to work VERY early in the morning. And I have to pick up my children before heading to the gym. How do you all do it?

I have federal bcbs and was also concerned about having the surgery done without a "pre-approval" which they claim not to give. My bmi was 42 with no co-morbids. My surgeon submitted my current weight info as well as a medical history which required no documentation other than the info I gave them at my consult. My paperwork was sent to them on a Thursday and was approved by Monday. They did send me a letter stating it was a covered procedure on my plan and pre-authorized my date of surgery. They paid both my hospital and surgeons bills and I came out owing a total of $200.00 BCBS Federal is fabulous! I did have a little snag with the hospital billing department just before surgery where they thought I was going to owe $2k but I proved them wrong by calling my insurance and having them give me the benefits and then had the hospital call them back. Congratts on your insurance and good luck with surgery. I had my surgery a month after my initial phone call to my surgeon!

As others have said you can still eat and drink but you adapt. I no longer enjoy carbonated beverages even though my surgeon said I could have them if I wanted. I can still enjoy wine or mixed drinks when I want to. Its funny that you should mention wings though, that is one of the few things that I cannot tolerate even without the skin. I still enjoy going out to dinner with friends and the only thing that has changed is I get either one small item or I take home food that lasts 2 more meals!

Its different for every doctor and insurance company. Some insurance companies require 6 month diets, some doctors require you to see a psych dr some dont. That is a great question to ask your surgeons office. I have federal bcbs it was only about a month from my first phone call to my surgery. I am very thankful to God for this quick turn around after seeing what so many others have had to go through to get approval. Good luck!

Sheila, I got 1.5 cc, then 1 cc, then .2 cc. This last fill really made a big difference in the fight against hunger. Now when I eat something I actually stay full,unless its oatmeal or pasta. A lot of doctors have different theories on fills. I think if I had a little tiny tiny bit more restriction I would feel perfect but I dont want to mess with something that is working. So as long as the weight loss continues I will go with this. When do you get another fill? Thanks for the compliment and good luck!

I use flickr all i had to do was find the http link for mine and then use the mountain icon. Read the link I posted above and see if that helps?

Best: Self Esteem increases due each pound lost Worst: Learning how my band works so we dont have any more arguments.

Try this... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/how-attach-picture-post-17595/

Are your pics uploaded to something like flickr or photobucket or something?

201!?!?! Woo Hoo!! I cant wait to be there too. Melissa, I am sure you did fine at the interview. Everyone is nervous at them, they expect that!

After my 2nd fill I began having episodes of sliming when I ate bread or a piece of meat was not chewed well enough, most everything else was fine. I had a 3rd small fill on Monday morning and now feel like I slime a lot! No PB at all, just slime. Which I dont have to tell anyone else is embarrassing if you are in public when this happens. I have been chewing my food extremely well and not eating bread or bad foods. This has happened to me and almost any meats I eat, including 1/2 of a small hamburger patty. I believe as with the rest of my fills after about 2 weeks they loosen a little. After having one of these episodes I have to stop eating and then try again in half an hour because a lot of the time it happens after only 2 or 3 bites and I am still hungry. I almost dread having to choose something to eat because I want and crave meat but am afraid to eat it! I refuse to just eat soft foods though. Am I doing something wrong or is this something I have to learn to adapt to?

Thinatlast... I can go to a restraunt and eat a normal meal just fine. After my 3rd fill I really had to learn how to eat with my band though. The first two months I thought oh this is great I can still eat without chewing so much or I can eat in a hurry. Now I have learned I must just eat slowly but can basically eat anything in a smaller portion. It just takes some time to get used to is all. Once you get the hang of what your body is telling you it is smooth sailing.

I have BCBS Texas Federal and had a bmi of 42, 40 seems to be the magic cut off with no comorbids. My paperwork was submited on a thursday and I was approved by monday or tuesday. Your physicians office should be able to help you out with all of this. When do you go for your first appointment?

I have had several sliming episodes during the process of learning what I can eat. Only one that was even close to what you described though! Some days I dont dare look at bread or other things, other days I can eat it no problem. I have stopped focusing so much on what my band reacts to (unless I had a horrible experience with a food) and eat very small bites of whatever food it is I am wanting. Yesterday I had some bread at an italian place with no issues at all. I just eat really slowly and look for signs that this may not work before it gets me to the sick point of no return. As far as the weight loss goes I guess I dont need to tell you if you eat like crap all the time youre going to get crap results. I have found if I eat pasta, especially lasagna I can eat a ton of it no problem! My solution is not to order that kind of food or to get something with meat and a small amount of pasta as a side. The band alone will not give us results, you have to want to work with it which I have found is a stuggle until you finally concede to it. Good luck! I am so sorry you had to go through that in public at that! What a horrible feeling! I think any of us would have been upset about that.