ThinWithin

Our Easter Bunny is having the same line of thought. We planted a garden last year and the kids really enjoyed it, so this year the bunny is bringing seeds and gardening tools for each of the kids. We will do a small easter bunny because our kids are 4 & 7 and I dont want them to go into shock lol but we're also doing kites, bubbles, outside chalk and carrots w/the green fronds still on them. I am so excited about this being a new journey for my babies to embark on too. I think it will be so awesome to feel this shift for my whole family and all of us gettign healthier. The idea that we are breaking the overweight cycle by teaching our children better is amazing! :0)

I have tricare too, it was pretty smooth sailing getting approval. They didn NOT require a 6 month supervised diet which was awesome. :0) good luck to you!

what about a protein shake at lunch time? instead of trying to rush food and getting stuck. Sounds like a miserable way to spend the few precious minutes you do get to eat. :thumbup:

That's where I fall. I can lose weight. I can white knuckle and keep it off but I simply cannot happily live my life white knuckling through every event that has food involved. I am not telling people about the band. I dont want the criticism right now. I need my head to be quiet and my corner to filled w/only those I know will be good cheerleaders. My mom and my husband are it for now and perhaps later I'll add others to the list but I dont want the food police and I dont want the discussion that I feel like will inevitably happen behind my back. I dont consider it "hiding" I think it's making a plan for me to be successful. Somebody here said in another post (dont remember where or who sorry) that we've basically become a society where if you keep things private you are considered a liar. That really resounded with me, I dont need to share everything about my self for the sake of honesty. Honestly some things simply are not anybody elses business. :0) I have to remind myself of that sometimes. Good luck with your decisions!

oh good idea about biotin! and I hadn't thought about mederma either. I am not that worried about the scars as I am only *that* naked in front of my husband lol

that is SO how i feel. looking better is a definate perk but I can't wait to get into bed at night and my hips not ache. my lower back to not be screaming. to not have to toss and turn because my arm fell asleep from sleeping on my side. Ohhhh those are the things i am most looking forward to!

i took some in a pair of undies and a bra last night. wont be sharing them here unless i crop out my head LOL and even then i'm not sure. I will be so glad when I have befores to compare to my afters right? that's the theory? lol

It is so exciting to hear all the energy in everybody's posts. I am hoping for a banding twin too *crossing fingers* My date is 4/21....if not i'll be the straggler and just cling to my 4/20's band buddy's :0)

woohoooo congrats!! I am so excited for you. Welcome to the bunnies!

I think my biggest fear is that by having this surgery to alter my body I am in some way suggesting to my beautiful daughter that there is something wrong with her body. That because people tell her she looks like her momma (we have the same coloring but she is within a healthy weight range) and her momma had surgery because of how she 'looked' that there must be something wrong with her. That alone prevented me for years from even looking into it.

i've not been banded yet (4/21 woohoo) but the reason behind that is the carbonation irritates your pouch. it causes gas and is simply painful from what i've gathered here. I know some doctors say a little every once in a while and some say warm and flat while still others say never ever. I guess it's something you have to weigh and decide if the cost is worth the result. Good luck :0)

I've heard the same about straws, caffeine and carbonation but what is the reasoning behind gum and sunflower seeds? I love me some gum! that will make me truly sad lol

Hi Stephanie, welcome! I am a military spouse as well. I am so eager to start this journey. Are you sharing your banding with people? Glad your husband is back from his deployment! I too have looked into this for a long time. I started years and years ago and it wasn't covered (only bypass was) I was thrilled when I heard that it was starting to be covered finally!!

I totally identify with that. It took me quite a while to come to terms with the fact that I was taking the EASY way out daily. Daily I over ate, daily i ignored my health. I have 2 children and that totally made me NOT want surgery because I wanted to teach them the 'right' way. For better or worse my reality is I dont know better. I cannot teach them what I dont know. I cannot give them what I dont have. I am getting this surgery to GAIN control. to LEARN better. I dont want my babies to be in this spot in 20-30 more years because the cycle just perpetuated itself. In my opinion easy is one donut big mac drive thru at a time. hard is what i'm doing....but that's just my thinking :scared2:

i feel like right now i've enjoyed the ride. but it's been the build up. the cranking along the track and it's been fun but now i'm at the point where the rollercoaster stops at the top before it starts to really fly. you know through the loops and the twists. As I count down the days to my surgery it's sometimes w/butterflies in my stomach because i'm excited and others with a nervous anticipation. I'm excited to learn all those things. what it feels like to slide into a pair of jeans instead of negotiating my way into them. what it feels like to sit on the ground and not know that I'll have to crawl up instead of stand on my own. I am nervous that people who I've known for years will treat me differently and that will lower my opinion of them. I am glad that this place exists that somebody has gone before me to show me the way and then i'll pass it along and help somebody else.

Jessica, I am 5' 8 1/2" and weigh 314 (started at 327) and struggle with some of what you are dealing with. I have never felt badly about my body. I am of the opinion that everybody has 'fat' days and I am no exception but I dont think of myself as less than or unworthy because I am overweight. I have people in my life that never EVER make me feel bad about myself. My panic is that i LIKE what I look like. What if I lose this weight and I dont look like me anymore? I expect extra skin...I'll deal w/that when I get there. I agree w/the concept you dont need to borrow tomorrows troubles. I have to make myself stop wondering about the what if. heck, sometimes i have to keep myself in the very moment I am in because to think ahead a day, a week, a month is just beyond what I'm capable of dealing with. *let me clarify* i dont like that i am fat, i am very happy that by losing weight i will not only be getting healthier but actually getting smaller too. oh crap, i dont think there is any fixing this post unless i just let you all crawl in my head lol hopefully i make some sense if not i thank you for enduring my pointless babbling. :rolleyes2:

Great Job!!! That is awesome! :0)

I *so* have this feeling too. I cannot fathom what it will feel like to not have to reach to the BACK of the rack and hope that size will fit me. We are planning a trip to disney world in december and i am so curious as to what size shirt i will be in by then.

awesome!! how exciting!

woohooo!! I'm right behind you on 4/21! :0) Congrats!!

congrats on your date! we have a board of people being banded in April (my date is the 21st). What sort of information are you looking for? Come join the rest of us Bunnies as we start this journey together! :rolleyes2:

nope, i'm 4/21 maybe i'll get a call soon and they will bump me up woohoo that'd rock!

wow that's awesome! if he's well versed in the procedure i'd say it's a blessing. Hope it all pans out!

omw i am having a grouchy day today because of the SAME thing. I haven't been banded yet and have started to try to eat they way I have read/been told I will following the band. It is a mourning of sorts isn't it? I read a post today about eating until you are not hungry as opposed to eating until you are full. It totally hit me, I have never eaten until I was simply not hungry. I dont even know if I am capable. I mean I KNOW that surely I am capable but omw it requires such thought. such presence when eating. for me it's such a balance between being empowered and sad lol today it's more sad.

My doctor has said he doesnt know if he will require a preop diet or not, that he doesnt think they are needed. I think I might do one on my own accord just to shrink my liver for my peace of mind.