SnowWhite760

Adhesive comes off with nail polish remover or Simple Green. I promise! I did a sience experiment on it ages ago!

HI! What a good question! I came here months ago - before I even met a surgeon to feel out the Water and what I was getting into... so KUDOS to you! I am on a pre-op diet - because my doctor requires a 10% loss before he'll operate, and you can't gain any back. His diet is much different than what I would have expected. I do either 3 egg whites, a slice of turkey bacon, and cottage cheese. I should be having an 8 ounce protien shake, but I cleared the above fuller breakfast through the dietician. Salads for lunch or dinner with fat free lo carb dressing, tuna, chicken, salmon, green veggies... and that's about it. Things that helped me stay focused: I found that if I posted notes around the house in placed I'd look for a snack, I'd re-evaluate why I was standing at the fridge or in my pantry. Keep sugar free hard candies in your sweet spots where you go to snack. Or, if you have a chocolate craving, three semi-sweet chocolate chips... melt one at a time in your mouth because your brain only really enjoys the first three bites of anything anyway... it helps and won't blow all your progress. A 9x13 of sugar free Jello in the fridge and a spoon ready to slurp it down with - go grab a bite of that when you need cold and sweet or you've done the habitual 'walking to the fridge to see if anything new is there from 10 minutes ago' bit - that's what I used to do when I was bored. Sugar free popsicles at night are a great treat too. Make sure you're drinking enough water to help fill your stomach. When all else fails, find someone to whine at for a moment.

I cried when I wasn't losing weight for the 10% requirement. I cried and cried in front of Meg. She said she didn't think I would get it off very fast, but I stuck to the diet and made it work and dropped weight really fast. She was surprised and pleased, as was Dr Anderson. (Me too!) Things that helped me stay focused: I found that if I posted notes around the house in placed I'd look for a snack, I'd re-evaluate why I was standing at the fridge or in my pantry. Keep sugar free hard candies in your sweet spots where you go to snack. Or, if you have a chocolate craving, three semi-sweet chocolate chips... melt one at a time in your mouth because your brain only really enjoys the first three bites of anything anyway... it helps and won't blow all your progress. A 9x13 of sugar free Jello in the fridge and a spoon ready to slurp it down with - go grab a bite of that when you need cold and sweet or you've done the habitual 'walking to the fridge to see if anything new is there from 10 minutes ago' bit - that's what I used to do when I was bored. Sugar free popsicles at night are a great treat too. Make sure you're drinking enough Water to help fill your stomach. When all else fails, find someone to whine at for a moment.

Hi! I'm a 27 year old mommy of three, living in Caldwell. I've been on the band-wagon (lol) for a while now. I've got my paperwork in with my insurance and it's a matter of time before I get approved or denied. I'm almost talking myself out of it at this point because I've lost 25 pounds doing the doctor diet/nutritionist diet, but I don't think I can keep pace anymore. Tenatively I'm on the books for October 28, but it could be even sooner depending on when I get my approval back. Dr. Anderson is doing my surgery, and after seeing 3 different seminars, I feel the most comfortable with him. I've done Weight Watchers 2 years on and off, pills, killer workouts, and nothing has been stable my whole life. I think it is important to also look at the emotional side of your weight. That's what I did, anyway. I'm still seeing a counselor because my grandomther told me I was fat and couldn't have seconds when I was 10, which caused me to be an anorexic/bulemic most of my young life. I didn't realize until just weeks ago, that she was the reason for me worrying and being miserable. Now that I've let it go, it helped me let weight go. After having children, I cannot go back to that lifestyle. This is the only thing that I think will really be able to stick with me forever. I don't want to be the embarassing mother at school helping out, or get called fat by kids again... it's terrible what the world is teaching our kids outside our homes. I sometimes feel I'm walking through this alone. And I guess that's okay sometimes. But hello - anyway! I've been on the boards for 6+ months reading everyone's stories and thought that I might have something to bring to the table. :thumbup: I'm not afraid to post anymore, so I hope that I make some friends and can stay a while. :wink_smile:

HI Caryn! I am on the books for either October 28th or October 21, possibly even sooner if my insurance approval comes in. I lost more than what I was supposed to, and I'm okay with that for now. I am committed to staying focused and making this work more than ever before. I went in and saw Meg after trying Weight Watchers for 4 months and gaining on it. She gave me the meal plan, and I stuck to it. I've lost 26 pounds-ish now however, the diet isn't long term, so it's not something I could do the rest of my life. Weight Watchers never worked for me. On my cards I never lost more than 8... in 2 years. It was terrible but partially a blend of bad medications (birth control and antidepressant because of pregnancies 9 months and 10 days apart) and a post-partum body that wouldn't get it's act together - even WITH a personal trainer! FYI - Meg won't schedule you until you lose your weight. I promise. I tried. She wouldn't even get me on the books to see Dr. Anderson until I lost 3/4 of what I was supposed to. But once I really set my mind to it, I got it done and nothing was going to stop me. Realizing that the weight reduction would help shrink my liver and start me on habits I will need for after surgery helped too. Less weight means less risk too. The "torture" diet isn't really that. It's just the first phase of getting skinny!! I know it's miserable. I white-knuckled it the first three days, but I am more than used to it now (7 weeks in) and I'm done with carb cravings pretty much. I am willing to head into Boise and meet up with you and others. I've not heard of support groups happening, but when I talk to Meg on Monday, I'll see and let you know what I hear. From the sounds of it, you and I might be weeks within eachother, possibly even the same day - if all goes well, and can probably offer a lot of support to eachother! If you get yourself wrapped around the idea that you get your weight off that he requires (which I know you can - even though it sucks!) you and I can do it the same day! At least we can whine together and laugh when we're doped up on pain killers!

Thank you TomatoGirl... :wink_smile: I'm feeling a bit better about belonging now...

everyone I know, knows. And people who stumble across my blog know too. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm seeing a great counselor that's really helped me reclaim my life for myself and to really say to heck with the rest of them that don't matter anyway. :wink_smile:

I've got my paperwork in and the doctor set a date out long enough for the insurance to get approval back. I'm set for 10-28 though I could go weeks before had if it happens faster. Maybe even the end of September. (only because I've been on a pre-op diet the whole time!) It's been a long road, but it's good to know that we have people we can do this with!

Congratulations! I hope all goes really well for you!

I've been following your heartbreak and boy am I sorry. I would really encourage you to try to find a counselor who can help you work through your self esteem and self worth issues. We are the ones who tell ourselves the stupid lies we come to believe... sometimes it helps to have someone who's trained to undo that damage, help us be healthier in our minds. I've got a great counselor, and it's helped me immensley. Don't run home just yet, hang in there, and show this loser what you're made of girlfriend!

About Pre-Surgery Diets, my doctor put me on one once I didn't lose any weight with Weight Watchers. It's protien (whey) shake for Breakfast, chicken, salmon or tuna plain for lunch and salad or green veggies for dinner. My doctor mandates that you have 10% of your body weight lost before he'll do surgery, so it's been long going for me. I'm on the UBER small end of the lap-banding spectrum (34.9-35 BMI) and it's hard to lose weight when you've been on diets for ages.... I always had a problem with hunger until I saw my psychiatrist Monday. He wrote me a script for Phentermine to help boost the depression meds... and the stuff works. Finally something has curbed my hunger in a huge way. I mean HUGE. I lost about 11 pounds in 3 weeks on doctors diet... and just started the Phentermine on Tuesday and down another 2.5. Maybe that will help? I dunno. Some insurances don't cover it, but it's worth it... maybe 60.00 for a month supply? I hope this helps!

I'm new to these boards and am just starting paperwork for lap-banding. I don't know how it will go with insurance approvals and what not. I'm a short girl 4'10" and weighed in on first visit at 172 BMI of 35.9. I come from a family of heavyweights. My dad had gastric bypass 5 years ago, and my baby sister is needing some medical surgery for weight loss as she's now tipping scales at about 300 lbs. I was told by a doctor, several times, that the dieting I have been doing the last five years has staved off the 250 pound girl in to the 160-170 pound girl I maintain well. I am afraid if I gain any more weight I'll balloon like my sister did. The 170's and beyond are the death trap for us. I tried weight watchers and it never worked, only when I was down to 800 calories a day did I lose... it was sad. I have a bunch of co-morbs; probably sleep apnea as everyone else in my family has it, pre-diabetic, UBER high cholesterol (genetic - average with a good diet is 206 for me was at 265), pretty severe depression and a bad back that my orthopedic said would get better if I could lose weigh. He said about every pound we lose, it's like 5 lbs off your back... Gosh, wouldn't that be lovely? So questions are... Anyone else here have Railroad health benefit coverage through United Health Care? If the 5 year history is overweight and not obese will I be denied given above co morbs? any clue? Why doesn't insurance cover the dietician, but they cover a sleep study? I was told that the doc I am working with has put through people under 35 bmi before... but the co morbs gotta be bad. I've also gotta find a way to lose my 10% weight as is required by my doc before I can have the surgery.... I am at a loss of how to do that minus diuretics and laxitives... Can anyone help? I would be so grateful....

I'm vegetarian pretty much because my urologist said to be in order to stop kidney stones from forming, but it's not necessary, I'm just hoping that this will all fit together. My doc today said she thinks my insurance will deny me because I am so small and on the very light end of things... but we shall see.

Thanks for the responses. It's nice to have a network like this to rely on for real answers. I'm just afraid of a lot right now, and dying young is one of them... but mostly being denied for my insurance to pay and for my heart not to be able to hold up for surgery. Calorie reduction kind of sucks for me when it comes to losing, I think if I have an okay from the insurance, I'll get on the bandwagon or whatever to get the weight off... for good, but I don't want to yo-y anymore. I've lost a lot of hair, sleep, and respect for myself for not being able to stick to a lifestyle. I did the South Beach diet and did okay, now that I'm a vegetarian and have been for 4 months, it's getting hard to try to tell myself to eat meat again, but I realize I will have to to keep the lifestyle plan with the lap band. *sigh* What a long road, glad to know I don't walk alone....

So far with my doc, it's lose 10% of my weight, no diet... though I will be doing one myself to make sure I am really the ideal candidate.