gentylwind

Small portions. Protein first. Avoiding slider foods. Weigh often. Shop often (watch the sizes slip downward). GET YOUR FILLS. Enjoy life, keep the faith but recognize this is largely up to YOU.

One year as of this past Saturday. Down 62 pounds, wearing a size 14 petite in pants, a size 10 or 12 in dresses, look and feel fantastic and no regrets. It wasn't easy and still isn't. Girl loves to eat. :biggrin: But the band helps me keep it in perspective. Its been a slow loss, my skin is recovering nicely and I feel great. Getting married next month in a street size 12 wedding dress. My all time highest I was a size 28, so it feels pretty svelt to me. I am thankful I had my surgery. If I ever have complications from the band I will revise to a sleeve or RYGB, no question about it.

I have had a beer or two. Didn't hurt, didn't have any bad effects, but yes, I did have to drink it s-l-o-w.

Took me 7 fills to get good restriction. Its a whole different ballgame now both in terms of my satisfaction with my food and in terms of the change in my body. Its too too early for you to be ready to throw in the towel. The most important thing you can do now is continue your follow ups!

I do these approvals for a living for a local bariatric surgeon. From the time of submission of all of your data the insurance company is allowed 30 days to respond. The type of insurance you have may or may not have anything to do with how long it takes to get the approval back. Whether or not they are short handed, whether or not they got enough info, the qualify of the info they got and many other factors play in to how long it takes. If you are submitting in May you will likely have surgery in June. You will still need pre-op work up and your two week pre-surgery diet and of course the doctor's own surgery schedule will play a part as well in how soon you can get it done. Congratulations on coming so far!

Average rate of loss is 10% of your total body weight at the six month mark. Most of you are on target. I have had moments of struggling too since being banded. It was in my case completely due to my own poor choices. Are you drinking alcohol? Tracking what you eat? Cutting out refined foods? Exercising? If you can't honestly answer the above questions as they ought to be answered, then you have some work to do still. There ARE, however, people for whom the band is not effective. Everyone who feels discouraged by lack of loss needs to be talking to their surgeon.

I am doing well...I have reached my sweet spot and eating the way we are meant to is MUCH easier now. I was up and down for about seven weeks while losing my job, but found a new one and am now the insurance coordinator for a very reputable bariatric surgeon, in a great, supportive environment and tracking every bite on MyDailyPlate.com. The scale is moving and I am trying to get out and exercise more than I had been...hard with FT work, school and two kiddos to keep up with. I am happy with my progress so far. I attended a wedding this past weekend and wore my first BCBG dress and felt amazing and beautiful.

I tell them I bought a tape worm on the Internet. That tends to shut them up.

Once you reach good restriction it all gets very different. I have trouble with stress eating too. My most recent fill last week (my sixth) finally put me to that point they talk about when I can only eat 4-6 oz of food at a sitting and that it keeps me satisfied for four or more hours if I don't drink for an hour afterward. I had started to doubt that would ever really happen for me, bouncing up and down the same five pounds. Keep going on your follow ups and pursuing support through group meetings, here if it helps and make sure to get in some exercise. Even a 20 minute walk per day will elevate your ability to deal with the stress and sorrow of your spouse being gone. You can do this. Follow ups and support are vital for you right now.

Hi all. Got laid off from my job last week. That lead to some pretty bad food choices. I am still pretty tight but have gained a few pounds. Good thing is if I straighten up what I am doing those pounds will come off in a day or two. Other good news is that I already have a new job, this time working for a bariatric surgeon, if you can believe that. I would think that will help me to stay on target since I will be at the seminars and helping people get insurance approval for their surgery. I'll give the MMD Challenge some thought and get back with you with my goals. I seem to have one good week surrounded by two not as good weeks....I lose a big chunk, then maintain for a while, then lose another big chunk. I am ready to be under 200 lbs and to get into nice airy pretty sundresses for spring.

You so very rock! You should feel very proud of yourself. You have done so much in such a short amount of time. Good for you!

Are you drinking any alcohol at all around the times you get this pain, within a half hour to an hour before?