RedTulips3

Good luck with everything Chiquita. Hope everything works out well for you!

Thanks for stopping in and offering your well wishes to us Jeni! I see you post on the boards and you're a great inspiration! Congratulations on making your Thanksgiving to New Year's Eve weight challenge goal so quickly! Racetrack, Welcome to the Jan 08 board. Glad everything went so quickly for you! By choice I have been doing Atkins since August and will do it up until surgery. You can get the book if you want, but it's not necessary(at least I don't think so). atkins.com will give you most of the info you'll need. If you have any questions after that, feel free to ask me. Congrats on the surgery date! Go over to the http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f112/january-surgery-dates-45858/index3.html thread and add your name to the list.

Wow, you guys are good! I'm liking January Jewels (JJs) too. What a good idea to look in the dictionary! I also like January Jump Starters, which could also be abbreviates JJs. New Year's Resolosers is good too.

Here are the dates that people have posted thus far. Copy and paste this post, and add your name to the surgery date list! If a mistake was made or your date changed, please correct it! Dec 31- Chrisann (honorary member of the Jan 08 bandsters) Jan 1- HAPPY NEW YEARS! Starting the year off right! Jan 2- phowell, Megmarie21 Jan 3-WOWOX7, Woodsy Jan 4- KUgirl Jan 5 Jan 6 Jan 7- CallmeJim, comepickmeup, NukeChik, mamato3 Jan 8 Jan 9 – Redtulips3, FLMan Jan 10- luvsrocks, Hilary, Jen25bl, jtag10_4 Jan 11- brez1015 Jan 12 Jan 13 Jan 14- CoreynVA, acalpn Jan 15 Jan 16 Kathy-CA Jan 17- SJK, Alfie, L.A., lwood Jan 18- RuthE? Jan 19 Jan 20 Jan 21- Jan 22 Jan 23- min Jan 24 Jan 25 Jan 26 Jan 27 Jan 28- Jan 29 Jan 30 - Stephanie/PortuguesePrincess, Amberwaves/Amber Jan 31

Welcome to Jan 08 Brez! It seems to be the trend that each month gives themselves a name. I don't think we made an official one for ourselves. I think I'll start a thread and then we'll make a poll of the suggestions maybe.

All the copying and pasting is getting kinda confusing. Here is what I think is a complete list with whoever posted a surgery date. If you do want to add your name, make sure to copy and paste the MOST RECENT post so everyone can be on the list! Dec 31- Chrisann (honorary member of the Jan 08 bandsters) Jan 1- HAPPY NEW YEARS! Starting the year off right! Jan 2- phowell, Megmarie21 Jan 3-WOWOX7, Woodsy Jan 4- KUgirl Jan 5 Jan 6 Jan 7- CallmeJim, comepickmeup, NukeChik, mamato3 Jan 8 Jan 9 – Redtulips3, FLMan Jan 10- luvsrocks, Hilary, Jen25bl Jan 11 Jan 12 Jan 13 Jan 14- CoreynVA, acalpn Jan 15 Jan 16 Kathy-CA Jan 17- SJK, Alfie Jan 18- RuthE? Jan 19 Jan 20 Jan 21- Jan 22 Jan 23- min Jan 24 Jan 25 Jan 26 Jan 27 Jan 28-Amber/Amberwaves Jan 29 Jan 30 - Stephanie/PortuguesePrincess Jan 31

You don't have to leave us if you don't want Chrisann. Even though you technically aren't in Jan 08, you're on New Year's Eve of 08. You can be an honorary member! I'm going to put you on the list, how's that?

January 17th will be here before you know it! I've had my Jan 9 surgery date since mid august, and let me tell you, I felt like January would NEVER come! Now it's just a little over a month a way and I'm counting down the days! I also watch Biggest Loser! It's so inspiring! I find myself crying at least once during every episode. But don't give away who got kicked off this week! I didn't have time to watch it yet. I Tivo it so I can fast forward all the annoying commercials.

I apologize for the funny symbols in the last post. I tried editing and it got a little weird.

SJK,<br /> Welcome to LBT and the January forum! Congrats on deciding to be banded. I think a lot of us feel somewhat guilty that maybe we can do it ourselves, but then we remember how it's a repeating pattern: Diet>lose weight>gain it back plus more>diet>lose weight>gain back more. Instead of spending money on diets and gimmicks that don't provide lasting results, you're investing your money into something that actually works and will hopefully provide lasting results! You're investing into your health and your life!<br /> <br /> It's great that you're a research maniac, the more you know, the more prepared you will be. Getting banded is such a big decision that needs lots of researching and looking into. Unfortunately, people make such a life altering decision such as this without knowing what to expect. I always say, "it's better to be over-prepared than under-prepared." Let the knowledge make you more confident that you made the right decision as opposed to more nervous.

Here are the dates that people have posted thus far. Copy and paste this post, and add your name to the surgery date list! If a mistake was made or your date changed, please correct it! Jan 1- HAPPY NEW YEARS! Starting the year off right! Jan 2 Jan 3-WOWOX7 Jan 4- KUgirl, stevigene Jan 5 Jan 6 Jan 7- CallmeJim, comepickmeup Jan 8- fat&thrifty(and husband) Jan 9 – Redtulips3, FLMan, SunriseinPA Jan 10- luvsrocks, Hilary Jan 11 Jan 12 Jan 13 Jan 14- CoreynVA, acalpn Jan 15 Jan 16 Jan 17 Jan 18- RuthE? Jan 19 Jan 20 Jan 21- Chrisann Jan 22 Jan 23- min Jan 24 Jan 25 Jan 26 Jan 27 Jan 28 Jan 29 Jan 30 Jan 31

luvsrocks, glad to hear you are less stressed out. Don't be embarrassed, that's what LBT is here for, support. In good times and stressful times. These few weeks are crunch time for me as well. I had the nutrition meeting on fri. Was supposed to have psych eval Friday too, but dr. called to reschedule because of unforeseen issues. So now it's tomorrow (sunday). Tonight (sat.) is my sleep study! Then in two weeks I have pre-admission testing and medical clearance appt. with my PCP and then my final appt. with my surgeon. All of this is happening while I am a full time student with papers, projects and finals coming up. Since I have decided not to tell anyone (as of right now) outside my parents and siblings and none of my friends know, it's been interesting hiding it all from them. That's also adding a tad of stress trying to make sure they don't know what's going on. Even though I could say I have a Dr. appt. on such and such a day, my friends would be somewhat suspicious if I let them know that I have 6 Dr. appointments within a few weeks span. It seems that every doctor has their own protocol for pre-op tests and diets, hospital stay, post-op diet etc. In regards to the diet, I have no pre-op diet (i put myself of low carb to lose weight). All I have to do is stop eating by 9pm(maybe even 12) the night before surgery. Maybe I'll start a thread just for us Jan. bandsters to compare and discuss pre-op requirements.

Ugggh!! It also bothers me when my friends talk about how "fat" they are (translation: size 4) and that they are going on a diet. I'm used to it already because that's how it is, people like to talk about it. It doesn't hurt my self esteem because I learned to accept my body. What bothers me more is their lack of sensitivity that when they talk about such topics that maybe, just maybe it might hurt the real fat person. But they don't know how it feels to be fat.... To answer the question though. I do not usually refer to myself as fat, rather overweight. Yes fat=overweight and overweight=fat, but overweight seems like a gentler word. Even with my own family we don't like to use that word. I have never gotten the pregnant comments but I think that might make me die inside if I did!

UPDATE: Name...........Chall. Start Wt........Current......Chall. Goal...........To Go RedTulips3..........260......................256.5.............250.................6.5

We'll miss you on the January boards! Congrats on becoming a member of the "Merry Losers"!

If I may ask, were obese as a child tifferoni? I agree that the younger you are less likely to have excess skin because skin is more elastic and resiliant when we're young. I think another factor though is how long the person has been overweight. For myself I have been obese since I was 5 and have been 200lbs+ since I was 12 so my skin has been stretched and has stayed stretch for a good amount of time. I am guessing that I will have excess skin, although I would love not to. It's a very different situation if someone gained a lot of weight in the past couple of years than someone who has always been big.

Wow, only Mondays? That's a really small window of time to have to schedule surgery. How will you move it up if she won't be there the two weeks before (ie the 7th and 14th)? And I thought my window of time was small. I'm a full time student so I had to fit it in during my winter vacation. I managed to do it though. I'm hoping there won't be any issues that will delay it, as I will have to wait til the summer most likely to do it. But I'm staying positive and assuming that all will go as planned!

acalpn- congrats on getting your surgery date! I put you on the surgery date list. luvsrocks, All I can say is that I am grateful that the opportunity to do something now is available to me. I'll have to thank my parents for raising me to always have a positive attitude. I am blessed with parents who accept, love, and support me unconditionally. It has made all the difference in my life and I know this journey will be no different.

Thanks a lot luvsrocks, I appreciate the compliment. Congrats on the 10lbs! You earned(or should I say lost?) each and every one! My weight loss is nothing that the Dr. or nutritionist told me to do. When I walked in for my consultation in Aug. I weighed 300lb. and he didn't say I should lose x amount of weight before surgery. I just got all excited for the surgery and knew it would be 5 months to surgery so why waste all that time gaining more weight. I also felt disgusting because I was eating anything and everything. I know I feel great and healthy and get results with Atkins, so thats what I started a week after the consultation and I have been moving full force with it since. I did Atkins seriously one time before, losing about 50lbs, but of course it came back when I went back to eating all the junk. The only reason I'm so dedicated to it is because I know that the band is going to prevent it from coming back. I have my nutritionist meeting on Fri and am eager to discuss things with her. I feel like Atkins was a big behavior modification in that I know that sugar and refined carbs are bad for me, but it's not true modification. and that's the fault with Atkins: it only works if you cut everything out, it takes a long time to get to the point of moderation and some people can't even tolerate any moderation. It will be interesting to discuss transitioning to losing weight with the band than with Atkins. I know if I did WW, the pounds would be coming off a lot slower, but I would rather do Atkins for another month and get as much weight off now so I have less to lose with band.

Thank you for the well wishes. When I scheduled the surgery, there was no sleep study needed. The office called to let me know that the center where I'm having surgery is making it a new requirement as of Jan 1, 2008, so that includes me. Like I said before, I highly doubt that I have sleep apnea, and hopefully this sleep study will confirm my thoughts!

Name...........Chall. Start Wt........Current......Chall. Goal...........To Go RedTulips3..........260......................260.............250....................10

RuthE, My sleep study is next weekend and I also hope I won't have to get a CPAP. I don't think I have sleep apnea, but you never know. CPAPs are covered under insurance, at least mine covers them. As much as I would hate to have one, if I really do have sleep apnea, the quality of my sleep would be much improved because of it and hopefully it will get resolved after losing weight with the band. The fact is that sleep apnea is very dangerous. My father has severe sleep apnea and he would stop breathing at night for up to a minute at a time and he would wake up every morning with headaches, ie. his brain wasn't getting enough oxygen. It was very scary for my mother to hear my father stop breathing and she couldn't sleep because she would wake up to wake him up so he would start breathing again. Now he has a cpap and he can actually sleep well now. Hopefully you'll get your Fri surgery date. My doc only does surgery Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays so I had to pick from those days. Good luck with all your tests this week. I have my nutrition appt. next Friday. Blookwork not til Dec. How are you doing bloodwork so much in advance? They told me I had to do it within 30 days of surgery.

Neil isn't the first contestant to waterload. I think Erik(the winner) from season 4 did it to force his duo partner to use her free pass that would protect her form elimination. He gained weight, thereby pushing them under the yellow line and forcing her to use it to save themselves. Everyone on the show hated that free pass that she had and he played the game well to get rid of it. The only difference was that he waterloaded 3lbs, not 17lbs! It will be interesting to see what Neil does next.

WOWOX7, Congrats on getting a new surgery date! As of right now, I think you are the first Jan 08 surgery! I can imagine how disappointing it is to have gone through so much and then to have it canceled. I think of it this way, obviously the Dr. felt that your health could could compromise the surgery and who knows what could have gone wrong. Now this time it will hopefully be a successful and uneventful surgery!(The way we like it). Now you're only 6 weeks away!!

So I'm pre-band(7 weeks away!!!), but I have been losing weight before surgery(low carb) and would like to share a NSV from that! Speaking of body parts...I have collarbones! Always did, but now they actually sorta stick out! Looking forward to many more NSVs with the band!