Cingulus

I just start my pre-op yesterday. My doctor allows 1 chicken breast or cooked egg whites per day. So far so good.

Thanks for the kind words. I am reallly excited about this.

I have spoke to a friend who is banded and does MMA. He said the only real problem is if takes a direct shot to port. Otherwise, no problems after a normal recovery time.

First is to get banded no matter what on Jan 27th, I have been putting it off for work for the last 8 months. Stick to cardio...I love weights so that is not a problem. Drop 100 LBS in 2010. (Yeah, I know i should not be so agressive, but I have to in my mind.)

Yeah, Break out the Kevlar :biggrin:

Hi TaraJim, I am not advertising my WLS, nor will I hide it if asked. I am sure I will get some flame mail for this. However, my observatoin is that for the most part, it is much more difficult for women than men when it comes to talking about WLS. I don't know what the ratio of men to women is on the LBT, but is feels skewed towards women. I have also found that when I tell my guy freinds they look at me and shrug, say good luck and that is about the end of the conversatoin. I have observed that the women are much more judgemental and in many cases meaner to each other. They poke and prod at the subject with other women. Regarding the gym, I agee that you just have to ingore folks and go do your thing. However, of the women in my life, few of them have the confidence level to do that, even when they know intellectually they have to go to the gym to get where they want, they often don't want to, until they are very close to their goals. WLS is never easy, but I do think guys have a much easier time getting support and endure less vocalized critisim than women do, overall, through the process based on my observatoins. Shaun

TN Girl, I will probably give you a different take than most folks. A bit of tough love. First, you are doing this for yourself and going to a gym will help you benchmark progress. Make sure you keep a log of your workouts so you have proof of what your are doing good or bad, but data will be your friend and help you know you are doing the right things. Your don't have to share it with any one, but it lets you be honest with yourself. 1. If possible, hire a trainer it will be a huge bonus and help teach you the right ways to work out. If you hire a trainer, make sure you tell them the things you like to do and have them incorporate those things into you workout plan. Also be willing to listen to them. 2.Second, consider looking into the womens health website Fitness: Exercises & Fitness Training from Women's Health Magazine and download the workout plans to an ipod/phone. 3. This is a process, you will go through many levels of workout before you reach your goals. This is why that data from the log is so vital. It helps keep things balanced when you have bad days and we all do. 4. Talk to people at the gym who look like your goal, watch what they do. Train to be what you want to become. basketball players trainer different from contestants on "Dance With the Stars." or from Olympic skiers. Most of them work hard to get to and keep their bodies. You may run into a few jerks, but you will find most like to share what they do. 5. It is going to be tough and somewhat intimidating to jump into the gym if you have never been. I won't try to kid, you it will mean having some resolve, but the fact that you are doing the band is a bigger tougher thing than the gym. if you can do that, you can conquer the gym. 6. Finally, the only important thing is that you are doing positive things for your body and that your are honest about what you are doing and how hard you are working. I hope this helps :thumbup: Shaun

Congrats Bobbie. It is so good to hear you winning the battle. I hope to soon replicate your success in 2010. Shaun

Nature's Best Shaun

I do weights with constant cardio on the same day and do 2 days of high intensity interval training on the off days

Yeah we are everywhere :thumbup:

It is odd that so many people amongst our family and friends have such visceral reactions to the concept of WLS. So folks will never get it and all you can do is tell them you love them, you understand this bothers them and then proceed with your chosen course. It is an argument you can’t win since many people are forming their opinions from watching Oprah or from the Discovery Channel or based on fear for you or themselves. We all know the WLS is not easy and most of us have made dozens of attempts at diet/exercise so if that had worked we would be done. A number of people have point to the biggest loser as an example of how it can work; I also remind them that these people quit their jobs and have full time trainers, nutritionist and cooks supporting them. I applaud their efforts and results, but that is not an option for me, and I suspect, many people here. The difficulty/choice/method to tell people seems to be a recurring theme on this board. Just try to remember that others will not always understand and that is OK. In the end you have to live in your body, make it the one you want and forgive those who don’t understand.

Dr. Oliak in Brea. $16,600

Tai-Chi is great, and if you can swing it classes are much better than videos. It can help with balance and flexibility, but it is not much of a workout.

Hey, I am going in on Jan 27th. I just did my update appointment last week. Good to hear from you also. Shaun

Dr Oliak is $16,600 all with fills and visits for one year.

If it is a placebo, it is a damn good one. I can tell you that it helps provide focus and if that is all it does It still helps.

1.What is your current and goal weight? 350/197 2.What is your surgery date? 1/27/10 3.What is your age? 44 4.Where do you live? Orange Country CA 5.Where are you having surgery? Orange Hospital 6.Who is your Doctor?? Dr. Oliak 7.Insurance or self-pay? Self pay 8.What was you "deciding factor" for having this surgery? It is affecting my life and career to an unacceptable level. I know conventional wisdom states that this should be about health and other higher purposes. However, I must say that it is mostly vanity and business.

We all know that the proper expectations with the band is to take things slow…have no weight loss expectations before the first fill and then expect slow, constant weight loss when we hit the “sweet spot.” My reaction to this sensible and well support council is a defiant NO! I am fully aware that this is a long term process, but I intend to accelerate it along as quickly as possible. I am not going to go through this process and personal costs (I am self pay) and not fight this battle as hard as I can with every weapon at my disposal. I am only speaking for myself, but I will not accept that I have to wait months to make progress after surgery. If I can make through almost 3 months of pre-op dieting then, I can make it through “Bandster Hell” bring on the devil, I will vanquish him with faith, determination and a single minded purpose. Yes, these are big words from a guy who has failed in the past, but I cannot and will not fail this time. I know it is easy for me to say this as a pre-op bandster…who has not been sitting up at midnight drinking broth that is not helping the hunger. However, we all know this measure of hellish circumstances is temporary and the empirical evidence supports that it can be overcome and this phase of the bandster cycle and have the success we all seek and need in our lives. OK off my self help soap box :w00t: