Mariposa

I just got my letter of approval from the insurance yesterday. I have my educational thing Sept the 2nd. And I hope soon after that I get the lap band. I been on a long haul of trying to get this since Dec 07.. Man its taken forever! Too long in my book. But now that I am approved in all area's I am scared! lol.. I know.. but I have never had a skinny day in my life and now this is real. I am approved and my life is going to change! OMG!! Its really happening?! Some anxiety and being excited all at the same time over this! I cant wait. I have prayed for this many years, since I was a child. Although then it was for vainity, now my weight has become insanity and I believe God finally answered my prayers! :thumbup: Wish me the best! :thumbup: I will keep everyone updated! :thumbup:

Congrats!!!! :thumbup:

My Dr. and many others in the whole program says that you have to take 20-30mins to eat. Now, I never have been a fast eater, nor do I ever inhale my food. Even when I put my fork down and chew my foods 15-20 times each bite and my bites are small, it still doesn't take me 20mins to eat. It takes maybe 10-15 mins for the small amount of food that my dietitian says that I need to eat. Now I haven't even had the lap band yet and it makes me wonder with how lil' I eat now and its takes 10-15 mins to eat, its not going to take me 30 mins to eat even less no matter how well I chew my food?! So I am wondering, for the peeps that have had the lap band, whether you are on solid foods or not, how long does it take you to eat?:thumbup:

I spoke to my dietitian and she said.. if you feel full at 10-15 stop eating!!! She said the point is to be satisfied not full! I agree! :cool:

Another thing, I been doing this for 9 months, they are taking way to long and my back is getting worse. I have bipolar 2 and always been stable for 7 yrs with or with out meds.. some depression but nothing in the last 5 yrs. Well he wanted me on a mood stablizer, okay check, he wanted me to see a psychotherapist, check, The nurse and dietican wanted me to lose 10pds, I lost 16+, the wanted all the other stuff, check check... WTF?? What more do these ppl wants! this is driving me crazy and putting a lot of stress on me.. I have a young Psyciatrist and he is sticking to the books.. i wish i picked someone else. 5th visit 22nd. If he doesnt approve me i will go find someone else!!! This is insane!!! Sorry I am venting, I wish I didnt tell them I was.. but I had to explain my income!! GRRR

I would try wellburtin, abilify thats what i am on.. plus I take a multi vit, Flax seed oil that all helps with moods. Brain function.

Hi, I am very close on getting my lap band. I also have my tubes tied, its been 7 years since my last child. I am remarried, he has no children. I in part regret getting my tubes tied so young. Anyway I would like in the next few years if money allows to have another baby. I kinda hope that I don't have to get surgury to get my tubes untied, but I am sure I will have too. But when I was in the meeting to get the lap band process going, they said, while trying and once you get the GB/ lapband practice extra birth control and they said even if your tubes are tied. So.. I want to know, has anyone after getting the lap band, gotten pregnant even if your tubes are tied? And how was the pregnancy? And how long your tubes were tied when this happened. Thanks :redface:

I know all of the risks.. but i known ppl who gotten pregnant after tubes tied with no probs either.. Whether you have tubes tied or not there is always a risk of anything. Thats life. I am just hoping to get pregnant with out getting my tubes untied and i have to pay $5000 grand for my stupidity of not waiting till i was sure! lol.. And IVF is way to expensive on top of the expense of having kids period! lol I already have 2, so it wont be the end of the world if it doesn't happen. My tubes are just cut and were tied at the end of the tubes. Right after my c-section. My uterus and tubes and ovaries are all healthy, just had an ultra sound last year, due to me having painful ovulation. Anyway I am more curious to how many ppl this has happened to. Of course while I am losing my weight I will take extra care, I want to be thin for a while. Thanks

I wanted to respond to your blog, because my husband isnt fat (yet) lol, but he has GAD/ Panic Disorder and depression. Well we just discovered he is hypoglycemic which resembles GAD/Panic disorder. Ask yourself this, do you crave carbohydrates or sugar or junk food all the time. When you sit and eat, even after eating a good amount of food, still crave maybe something sweet? If you go more then2-4 hours with out food, does it bring on a panic attack? If you say yes and yes and yes.. get your blood sugar checked! You may have hypoglycemia. And if you do.. you must eat 6 small meals a day. 3 decent balanced good meals and 3 snacks.. you can never allow yourself to get hungry. Also, a multi vit, flax seed or fish oil and vit B complex is very important. Anyway I wish you well...

I agree with the above, its the same for gastric bypass, if you dont change the way you eat, and if you are an emotional eater and never addressed why you go to food for comfort, the lapband can only do some much. Just like they said its a tool. You have to get the fills, you have to eat right, maybe allowing 1 day a week for a treat, working out, see a counselor if needed. As for her gas, its probably the food choices. My husband doesn't even have the lap band and eats like how you describe and I pay for what he eats that night :rolleyes2: so certain high fatty food produce more gas, is she drinking beer or soda, that too causes gas! I think a family meeting, discuss how she has failed the lap band, what we in a whole can do to get her on the right track. Ask her how important it is to be healthy and thin or to eat like a pig and be unhealthy? But in your own words! Ignoring this wont help, but if you address it and she doesn't care well its like this, you can bring a horse to water but you cant make them drink. So encourage her, tell her husband to only buy healthy foods, so there is no temptation. Remind her how the gas is annoying the family and how unfair it is for yall! And if so a therapist can help! Good luck!

I have Medicare and U care (Medicaid) And no one told me that I have to be on a 6 months diet, but it takes so long for this process that it doesn't matter really! I was just requested to lose 8-10pds before hand. I started this in late Dec. I just got approved from the psych visit, they will be sending the paper work to the insurance, then I have to see the dietican one more time at the end of June, the psych in early July for a follow up, then I will be seeing the Dr. for the first time sometime in July and then maybe I will have a date for surgury, so I am guessing I will be getting this done in Aug-???? lol.. So, yes and no.. this is a long process and you will be on a diet, learning new things etc. So be prepared for that, but don't give up either, I know once you get banded and lose all the weight it is worth all the head ache in between! Good luck!

I have always known, on average when I ate normal it took me 20-30 mins, I have always chewed my food well, before I even considered the lap band. And I have never finished what was on my plate, plus if I eat too fast I get indigestion. So I guess you can say not an issue. But now I am eating less, I chew my food well, I count it..lol call it ocd, I chew it until its like nothing in my mouth and it still doesn't take me 30 mins, that's why I am curious. Plus, I can tell when I am full before the full feeling, when I am eating and if I have to take a deep breath, then I am full! lol So I guess after I get the lap band, I will have to figure out what is my limit... Now when yall were on liquids did you have to take 20-30min to drink too? Not like I am gulping my drinks.. but what is to fast and what is to slow?:wink2:

If you haven't lost any weight, don't worry, you just had surgury and you may be retaining some fluid (edema), if you haven't seen how the surgury goes, even something simple like this can cause swelling, If I was you, dont weight yourself until its been at least month, tell someone to hide the scale! :thumbup:

I am in the process of getting the lapband i am still in the pre of it all. But I keep forgetting to ask anyone of this, but I was wondering, if getting the lapband will prevent you from riding roller coasters? :confused2:

Hi leslie.. and the other leslie my name is leslie too! and that is really funny! lol.. Anyway thanks so much to everyone who answered! I just saw my psych visit and was approved! Thank God, been doing this since Dec. I want to get this done.. and move on with my life! :thumbup:

I have been since 12/07 trying to get the lapand. I have been to the information meeting, seen the nurse, dietican, therpasit and along that, have lost the 10 pds they wanted me to do, i drink 64 oz of water a day, i work out, I take meds, etc I also have bipolar disordered that i have managed well with out a mood stablizer. But my therapist wants me to be on it, which is fine i will with whatever has the less side effects. I am in therapy and is doing just fine! Well i am doing all of this and its have been 6 months... I have to get a second opinion on a psycho therapist probably, but is it normal to have to jump thru these many hoops, especially when you have been doing well.. just in order to get approved for the lap band? Is this an insurance thing or just the productical? HELP!!! :biggrin:

Who was the therapist you saw? I am trying to get the lapband done my self.. been trying for 6 months now!

I am getting the lap band, my BMI is 39.5 all my life I have been a big girl. I am 5'6 @ 236 pds with a large frame, I would say I hold my weight very well. Anyway I dont have a problem losing weight on a 1000 cal diet, I have a hard time keeping it off once I go back to a normal like eating pattern. I never have binged, over ate or ate when I was full as a matter of fat my skinny husband out eats me and isnt active like me. As a matter of fact that all the women on both sides of my family are overweight, and the ones that aren't have to starve themselves to keep thin! No lie!!! So my rant is this, I am really mad, even after explaining to my dietitian and nurse that I don't over eat, don't binge or glutton myself! I may have not eattan all the correct foods and not worked out an hr a day!!! But they sit there and act as tho I binge eat every day and thats why I am fat! SCREW YOU PEOPLE!! I have a crappy metabolism and been put on a diet since I was 9 yrs old, I been yo yo dieting since then! You think perhaps that has screwed up my metabolism? DAH?! Now on my pre opt diet, I was put on a 1500 cal diet, doesn't work! So now I am on my 1000 cal starvo diet, taking diet pills to reduce my appetite's and working out 1 hr a day plus all the other crap I have to do a day! So I can lose the other 5pds before I get approved for the lapband! I tell ya.. it drives me nuts that they treat me like this! GRRRRRR!!! :eek::sad::Dancing_sorry::wub::Dancing_wub::smile2:

Yea, I know my husband wont do that. I love wine too! I would drink a few glasses a week! When my dietitian said no booze for a yr, I just looked at her cross eyed! You are kidding?! LOL.. I will just have to lie to them and tell them I have been a good girl! lol.. they are the wine police! Please I don't think drinking every once in a while will hurt my results! A year, shoot!!! :drool::teeth_smile:

I would only have a protein shake when you weight train, like after. But that's it. I would drop the protein shake. Don't eat anything 2hrs before bed, if you must have something, have sugar free jello, if you get hungry. The other thing is when people have a plateau, you may just have to switch things up. Are you doing the same exercises that you did when you started this? If so then try something different. Switch it up, the body adapts and will refuse to budge. So try this for at least a week and see if that helps. Drop the protein shake before bed, switch to Jello if you like it. Only have a protein shake after weight training. Switch your aerobics to something else, something you haven't tried yet. Gives you a new challenge. And nothing for 2 hrs before bed. If you don't notice a change then, then I would call your dr. and have them do some blood work make sure your thyroid is working like it should. That thyroid can be a touchy thing! And let us know if that works! :drool:

And by the way, you are the only one that is attacking my idea's.. but that's okay..

Ok dokey.. Attack my views.. thats fine.. I know how I work, and you know how you work..

I am not going to auger about this, nor go back and forth. It seems that some people are missing the point. My point is this. I believe that some people regardless of eating habits good or bad, and have no medical issues that are found. And puts on weight like its nothing, but has to go on a very low cal diet and has to work out very hard in order to keep the weight off, and has a family that is prone to being over weight if not kept in check, genetics do play a role. You just cant simply dismiss genetics. I feel there is many roles that play into someone being over weight. Many roles, not just poor eating habits. Because a skinny person male or female can have poor eating habits and stay thin. That is what I am saying. It's just simply mind boggling that how different people are and for many different reasons put on weight or lose weight! You cant just say, hey its poor eating habits! I don't agree with that entirely! The lap band I am sure will work for me. Simply why I think it will, one I am not an emotional eater, I don't eat past being full. Did I ever say I eat healthy and low cals all the time, no! I did not! The 1-2 slices of pizza I obviously can't even have because it will go straight to my hips! I have come to terms with that.I am not putting all my blame on my genetics, but I believe that genetics play in the role of my struggle to keep weight off! That is what I am saying! I can lose weight, but I have to stay way below 1200 cals and work out 3-6times a week in order to see results! Weight watchers, 1500-2000 cals don't allow me to lose weight in the 1-3pds week, like they promise! So yes my metabolism works, but doesn't work like I would like it too! When I have lost weight and did well at it, was when I was on phen fen and ephedrine (not at the same time) When I would be able to eat very little and then I would drop weight. But once I resumed to eating anything above 1500 cals then the weight steadily creped back on. There is nothing wrong with me that medical science is aware of. I have had countless blood tests, and yes I can lose weight. What I was ranting about in the first place is that I am frustrated with "my body" that my appetite doesn't match on the rate my body burns food. To make clearly I do not eat out everyday (maybe 1-2 times a week) I don't sit in front of the tv and mindlessly eat) I will admit I am a convenient eater, what does that mean, I don't care if its fattening or healthy whatever is easy to make and quick. That was my flaw in my eating habits. I know that! And quiet aware of it. So now all that I buy convenient foods that are healthy. Everyone in my household has to eat what I eat, whether they like it or not! With me, its just coming to terms that I wont be able to ever even once and while indulge anything rich , fattening and good! lol.. I understand yall's advice, and appreciate it, but I know me and getting to know me every well and how my body works. It's like this, nobody gives you an instruction manual on how your unique body works. You have to figure out what works for you!!! And yes area's genetics's, the rate your metabolism burns, activity level, what you eat & drink, medical etc all determines on your body weight and health and of course male verses female! That is what I am saying. I am dropping this, I have no need to defend myself anymore:eek:, and yes I feel in some way I am being attacked. It is hard from someone to read the post and come to a conclusion that well there must be someone wrong with you and the lap band wont work. I have since I have started my 1200 cal diet have lost 6pds! Thats been one week! LOL so lots of fat free sugar free jello, pudding, green tea with splenda, and water! And of course working out! I was just throwing a fit, because I knew the only that would work is a very low cal diet! Its not that I was going on a 5000 cal a day diet to 1200, I was going from 4 small meals a day granted not always healthy meals to 3small meals that are healthy! I was ranting because it sucks, but I have to do it forever! My hearts go out to the ones that are in the same boat as I am! :drool:

what kind of work outs do you do? The body adjusts to work outs and eating, you almost have to keep your body guessing. Especially how you r getting closer to your goal. At least you lost most of it! :blushing:

Just to make a point I am honest. I am active, most of the food I buy is low fat, lite etc, I buy and drink no soda, I do normally drink water or diet green tea have for years. I didn't say I didn't lose weight off of a 1500-2000 cal diet with 15-20mis of yoga 3 x a week. I do, but its like 2 pds a month! Now if i want to lose 1-3pds a week, then I have to go on a 1000-1200 cal diet and live on the FOREVER!!! Then yea I will lose weight and I have to drink water, like mad which I do anyway and when I am at the computer I am on a exercise ball! I can lose weight there is nothing obviously medically wrong with me, its just very very sluggish when I do anything thats not below 1200 cals a day with 1 hr of exercise on top of my already active life style! The thing is.. that 1200 cals I go to bed starving and I mean my stomach is full fledge growling, but I ignore and go to bed. Its really hard to stay on this long term when your appetites doesn't work with what my body burns, get it? Its not that I eat continuously, I don't. I am not saying from time to time that I haven't over indulged I mean on a regular everyday basis that actually prevents someone from being thin. No. Thats why I am getting the lap band. It will finally bring my appetite down to what my body actually burns! And no offense, but almost getting your degree doesn't make you an expert, a good educated guess sure, but no expert. I believe it being Norway or Switzerland they actually discovered a protein in which the body stores fat when it should burn it! HMMM??? :drool: Thanks for your opinion, but I know myself better then you know me! :sneaky: