LiberalInAZ

Hello, I'm currently doing the medically supervised weight loss thing trying to qualify for surgery. My surgeon wants me to eat 80 - 100 g protein and under 50 g carbs. I'm also trying to stay around 1500 calories. Where I am having trouble is managing these requirements during my long days. I get up at 2:30a for work and get off at 1:30p. I also have class m - f that lasts until 9pm. I'm not usually in bed until around 10pm. I'm not sure how to manage my calories during the 19.5 hour days. I usually end up meeting my goals around 4pm and then still have 6 hours left in the day. Even getting to 4pm is hard. I'm usually starving between my scheduled lunch at 7:30am and 4pm. There's not much room in the goals for snacks, and the surgeon advised not to have them at all.

My insurance requires a 3-month medically supervised weight loss program. I started a couple of weeks ago. During my first week I had a small piece of cake one time and I had a hamburger and fries on a different day. I still was under 1500 calories both days, which is well under the 1800 calorie limit the nutritionist gave me. I had my first follow up with the nutritionist and she lectured me quite a bit about the fries and the cake specifically. She insisted that I cut ALL starches. No potatoes at all. No rice. No whole grains. Not even quinoa or farro! I've already lost over 50 pounds on my own just by counting calories. So, I know that cutting starches isn't really necessary to lose weight. It's also annoying, because I am not by any means wealthy. I was told not to ever go under 1200 calories, Do you know how expensive it is getting 1200+ calories with nothing but lean meats, Beans and cottage cheese? I have since had two other days when I ate off the plan. One day I had some pizza and another day I stuck with the no-starch portion of the plan but had more calories than I should have. But I just won't log that stuff if it is going to mean getting lectures even though 90% of the time I am sticking with it and losing plenty of weight.

This. The fake stuff is disgusting. I wish using "Greek" on yogurt labels was regulated somehow. Whipped Greek yogurt? Um, no. That doesn't even make sense. The fake stuff is slimy and weird. I love Fage. I just get a big bucket of the plain and mix my own stuff into it; strawberries, maple syrup, honey, PB2, etc... whatever I'm in the mood for. You can also make it yourself. Just get (or make) regular plain yogurt and put it in a colander lined with cheese cloth. Put the colander over a bowl to catch the whey and let it sit overnight in the fridge. Voila! Greek yogurt.

No. it's not like that. If you can't lose weight on your own you would be in trouble. The surgery provides support by reducing hunger and cravings, but you still have to do all the work and make the lifestyle changes. The surgery also helps break the yo-yo dieting cycle, since it reduced inflammation and hormonal imbalances that can cause weight regain.

The problem with weighing every day is that there are natural fluctuations in water weight that may look like a gain or loss, but aren't really. When I weighed every day, I would gain 3 - 5 pounds during the week leading up to my period, then after my period I would drop 7 - 8 pounds, and then about a day before ovulating my weight would jump 5 - 7 pounds again and drop again a few days later. That's why I think it is best to weight once a month. All of these patterns of gaining and losing water weight even out. Plus, it is nice to see bigger losses on the scale. I was weighing every day for about a year. I like it better seeing a 10 pound loss on the scale once a month than seeing all of that fluctuation.

My plan is to only weigh in the doctor's office. That way everything will be on the same scale and I won't get obsessed with it. I tend to get really scale obsessed. At one point, I was weighing myself 3 times day! Also, they have a really fancy tanita scale that is probably more accurate than mine.

I quit Diet Coke cold turkey about 4 years ago and it was worst than when I quit smoking. I was drinking a 12-pack every day and one day just stopped. I was sick for about two weeks. Including vomiting and nausea for the first week. I couldn't concentrate or stay awake. I was drinking ice tea with plenty of caffeine, so I know the withdraw was from the aspartame and not the caffeine. I have since cut aspartame completely. I used to have heart palpitations all the time and now I hardly ever have them. The great thing about it, though, is that once you stop you will completely lose the taste for it. My parents have terrible Water, so a couple of times when I was at their place I tried drinking a diet soda, because it was all they had to drink, and I could never get past the first sip. It is so disgusting when you're not used to it.

I believe very strongly in everything in moderation. The day I had cake my calorie intake was 1295 calories and my Protein intake was 94 g. The day I had a cheeseburger and fries, I had 1500 calories and 99 g of protein. I've consistently lost the weight I am supposed to. As for why I want the surgery, obesity is a disease state and studies show that bariatric surgery is the only thing that resolves it. It's the only thing that resolves metabolic syndrome, the inflammation and the hormonal imbalances. I want it because I know that I can lose weight counting every calories every day, but I want more support. I understand that it involves a lifestyle change. But having one piece of cake one week should not even be considered cheating. If I were binging on cake or eating it every day, it would be different. But it was literally one piece of cake about 2"x2".

Banner. It's the only place that had a doctor in my network.

My insurance requires a program during which I am not allowed to gain any weight (no requirement even to lose any). They don't require any specific diet regimen. This is all the nutritionist.

I'm so frustrated right now. I found a doctor I liked. His office called Aetna to check my benefits and Aetna gave them the information as in-network. So I went in for the consultation and when I got the claim they were paid as if out of network and I got a bit bill. I have already reached my out of pocket maximum for in network, so that was very surprising. Turns out that the doctor IS in network but he is not an "Aexcel" provider, which means he is treated as if out of network on my plan. Furthermore, Aetna could not even provide me with the name of a doctor on the Aexcel plan who does gastric bypasses.

I had a BodyMedia Fit Link armband, but after three years it started falling apart. The company sold out to Jawbone and they are no longer selling them. Today I got a Fitbit Surge to replace it. It is a lot more comfortable than the armband, but I don't know how accurate it will be. I have a habit of fidgeting with my hair and it is counting it as steps.

FMLA is 12 months OR 1250 hours. If you work full time, the 1250 hours comes quicker.

I had my Gallbladder removed about 3 weeks ago after a gallstone got stuck in the common bile duct and caused acute pancreatitis. The worst part was spending four days in the hospital. I was sore for a few days, but nothing a little tylenol couldn't fix. My diet hasn't changed since then and I haven't had any digestion problems at all.