heartfire

Don't have any words of wisdom as I'm not banded, just started the process but I did want to say CONGRATULATIONS!

65togo Just thought I'd jump in. I'm in central CA but my mom lives in the Sac area. She had GBS through UCD with Dr. Ali and loved him. I don't know how he is with LBS but she was thrilled with her experience with him and his staff. Thought I'd let you know. Best wishes in your journey!

Thanks! We have a bread maker that we got as a gift several [MANY] Christmases ago and we hardly ever use it. This will be good. I'm excited!

I'm afraid you're just going to have to tell her that you don't want to discuss it with her anymore. You're also going to have to find support elsewhere [i'm finding this board is great for that]. I've not been banded but am looking into it and just started the process [haven't been to the seminar yet, it's on the 19th]. I stumbled on to the site when looking up the band itself and am so glad I clicked on it. I've been finding great information and am seeing how everyone supports others who have questions or need help. Yes, it would be nice if your friend would be a support for you but if it's not going to happen, then you'll have to look elsewhere and just decide that this is one of those things that you two just don't talk about. It's sort of like my mom and I. I love her to pieces and we can generally talk about everything, and do, except politics. We're polar opposites and I just refuse to discuss it unless it's in a generalized fashion. Sad, but it does happen. Yes, we like the support of others we love and who love us but it doesn't always happen that way. Have you actually sat down with your friend to explain fully, your thoughts, frustrations and sound reasons why your are doing this? Don't know if it would help but then that could be when you say enough, you've given your reasons and you are talking about it anymore. Just a thought. Take care.

Thanks! I grew up on white bread [DH did too] and for our daughter [20mnths old] we're trying to do the whole grains but we have a hard time eating it sometimes [i pull MY crust off, DD eats hers!]. This sounds like a good alternative. Do you use a bread machine for these?

Thanks, Denise. Makes me feel better about losing slowly and excess skin. It's pretty crazy, but growing up, I thought I was fat. I was the smallest in my family and have hips but my perception was obviously skewed. I look back at pictures now and wonder what the heck I was thinking. I'd been "normal" [at least weight-wise :biggrin2:] and didn't even know it. Now I'm almost 40 and for sure am fat! I think in my mind, at this point, I'm ready to do this. I haven't been to the seminar yet [that takes place on the 19th] and I'm not even sure my insurance will cover it and I'll have to travel for everything [Kaiser and they don't do this at the hospital that's only 1hr away, looks like I'll be going a couple of hrs away] but I'm kind of excited right now. We'll see what happens on the 19th! Have a good night.

QUOTE: "I know so many people who had gastric bypass and have gained most of their weight back. They lose weight really fast in the beginning but they don't have to learn new habits the way bandsters do. After the first year, they are all gaining weight back." QUOTE In defense of GBS, those who do take it seriously, need to change their eating habits if they want to keep off the weight. My sister had the surgery about 6 years ago and my mom had it about 4 years ago. Both are doing really well and my sister has had 3 kids since then. On the other hand her husband had the surgery, expected the surgery to do all of the work and he has since gained all of his weight back. So I have seen both sides. The difference in attitude between my mom and sister vs. her husband is drastic. I honestly think the same can and does happen with bandsters as well. I am personally looking into banding for several reasons. First, I don't have as much to lose as my mom and sister. Second, I don't like surgery and don't want something as invasive as GBS. Third, I have a toddler at home and a husband who is a fireman so is gone part of the week. I simply can't be down as long as GBS requires you to be. Fourth, much as I would like to wake up one morning skinny, I really don't want to lose weight too fast. I'm hoping that since I didn't start gaining weight till my 20's that I won't have much loose skin [i graduated high school at about 120lbs, 20 yrs later, I'm about 230lbs.:thumbup:] and by slowly losing the weight, the skin might, just might, tighten up a little as I go [could be too that I've gone back to my fantasy world. I like it there!:biggrin2:] I also don't intend to tell many people if I do go through this, so losing slowly helps with that plan.

I've been thinking about doing some protein shakes {not banded, just started looking into the surgery} and I'm wondering what brands or flavors of the soy protein are good. Do you take any? I understand that your knowledge comes from working at GNC but thought maybe you might know which ones are good. I really don't want to spend the money only to find that I hate it. Thanks for your help in advance.

I'm just starting the process of looking into the surgery so I don't have any experience with what happens after but I will tell you what I'm planning and why. I'm not telling hardly anyone. My mom knows I'm looking into it as she has had GB surgery. My husband knows and I'm planning on telling a good friend of mine partly b/c I'll need her to watch my 20 month old while I'm at the seminar. I don't know that I'm going to tell anyone else, including my sister [who also had GB surgery, I don't want to "hear it" from her husband], in-laws and extended family. I love my in-laws and I'm pretty sure they'd be supportive but I had told my mom-in-law something private a few years ago and specifically asked her to not say anything to anyone and a few weeks later I get an e-mail from her best friend regarding the very topic I'd asked her not to talk about! My other reason for not telling anyone is that I did weight watchers and was pretty open about it and constantly had people asking me how much I'd lost, could I eat that and so on. I felt constantly under the microscope and I don't want to go through that again. From what I'm gathering you can steadily lose a few pounds a week so it's not like GB where you drop 60lbs a month. I plan on saying that I'm just working hard at it and it seems to be paying off. I'm not a recluse but really don't see many people that often so I'm hoping it will be somewhat simple to keep things on basic information only level. One thing that will be hard if I go through this is that we go out to eat often. So often that at a couple of places it's like walking into "Cheers" for us! At one place the waitresses take our daughter [20 mnths] into the kitchen to say hi to the cooks! Of course that is part of the problem, our eating out so much. We are getting better about eating at home more. Anyway, just wanted to jump in and let you know what I was going to do about telling people. Best wishes in your journey.

Hi Kelly. It sounds like your marriage was already having problems. You are very young to have been married. Is your ex the same age? I can't speak from experience for several reasons but I know a lot of people who already had issues in their marriage and when they made a big life change, it either tanked the marriage or forced them to face facts and work on things if they wanted to save the marriage. I read something yesterday on this site from a gentleman who said that if you have demons and have always covered them up by eating, this forces you to now deal with them and he advised counseling if needed. I think he's right. We tend to use food to hide things we don't want to deal with and once you can't eat the way you used to, you have to deal with it another way. Some of the reasons that I can't speak from experience is that I got married at 19 and have now been married 20 years. DH and I have been through a lot but we always communicate about things and we think a lot alike so that helps. I was pretty thin when we got married. I've steadily gained weight over the last 20 years with lots of trying to lose times among the years. DH has always been supportive and tries to help. I've also not been banded. I'm just starting to look into the possibility of it and will be going to a seminar next month. One of the things you said in your post made me really want to reply to you. Your statement about settling when you got married is what caught my eye. Hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20. At the time, you had your reasons for staying and getting married. Now, you are older and making huge changes in your life, it stands to reason that your thoughts then are not the same as now. If your ex was not being supportive and was in fact trying to sabotage your efforts, he sounds very childish and those things were probably only the tip of the iceberg for you two. I wouldn't blame your W/L, it was only the straw that broke the camel's back. [sheesh! I'm just full of cliches today!] I commend you on your W/L and wish you lots of luck and best wishes as you continue your life journey.

Thanks Vicki J! Yes, I noticed too that there seemed to be a lot of Californian's on this thread. I first clicked on just b/c it was a Kaiser thread and wanted to see other thoughts even though it was a different state. Looks like I might be glad I'm in CA for this and not another state. I'm in central CA, near Yosemite. Do you know the other places they are doing the surgery? My doc said they weren't doing it near me but sending patients up north. I figured they weren't doing them at all and maybe sending patients out to Davis or Mercy. Then I find this site and this thread and they are doing them in-house just not in my area. I'm a little worried about all of the traveling. I don't know SF at all and hate driving in the city. DH would come with me but probably wouldn't be able to take off from work. I'm not going to worry about that though til I see what happens with the seminar and how far I decide to take this. My mom and sister [and her husband but he was a failure] have had the bypass surgery. My sister is 5 or 6 years out and my mom is 4 years out. Both did great with it. I don't want anything that invasive and I don't have as much to lose as they did. Also, since my DH is gone for 3 days at a time [he's a fire captain] and we have a 20 month old, I can't be down for too long. Sounds like you've been doing fantastic with your WL journey! Gives me hope. Thanks for your time. Better scoot and get in the shower before the kiddo gets up or I won't get a shower! Have a great day! TTFN!

Just wanted to jump in. First time posting. I have Kaiser and was just at my dr.'s. He said I'd be a good candidate and referred me to the Bariatric surgery seminar coming up next month. Something I've been thinking about doing for awhile. Frustrated with my weight and trying to lose it. Loose a few and comes back, then takes that much more time to lose again. Going to be 40 this summer and have foot problems [that he also referred me to the podiatrist for] as well as migraines and asthma that seems to be getting worse. BP is on the high side but seems to be controlled with a low amount of meds but I know I'm headed in a bad direction if I don't get this weight off. We also have a 20 month old daughter and I want to be around for awhile. I also don't want to be known as the fat mom. We're under my DH's insurance and he works for the state [California] so not sure how this is going to play out. Figured I'd go to the seminar and see what's what. Hope y'all have a good night. TTFN!