Who'sThere

It is on this board, and the word Poll is in the name. I would gladly give you better directions if I knew how!

What a great thread idea! My name is Amy, and I live in a rural town in East Tennessee. I'm a 31 year old English teacher (4th and 5th grades) and unfortunately, those are my only children. My husband and I have been married for 10 years, have done the whole fertility thing, have suffered one miscarraige, and still have no children. We do have four "furry babies" that we love very much. Two are mixed breeds from the Humane Society. The other two are Jack Russell "Terrors," but we can't help but love them anyway. I, too, have PCOS. I wasn't overweight until I started puberty, but I have been ever since. I was even the captain of my high school cheerleading squad (worked out like a crazy lady) and was still overweight! (I'm 5'3" and weighed over 165.) In 2003 I lost 100 pounds on LA Weightloss. Unfortunately, I did this way too fast (7.5 months). As a result, I nearly died from extremely low blood pressure. I also gained all the weight (plus ten pounds) back just as quickly as I lost it. I started this process last June and have been jumping through all the required hoops ever since. My paperwork was finally submitted to insurance yesterday and was approved in the same day! (I suppose there are perks to being an underpaid teacher afterall...good insurance!) I could not be more excited to get this journey underway! My first goal is really to get to what my gyn. calls my body's happy weight, 220. That is still obese, though. My next goal will be to be under 200 pounds. If I could get to my high school weight of 165, I would be thrilled. Any loss beyond that would be just icing on the cake. (Okay...maybe that's a bad metaphor.) Anway, I'm anxious to get to know y'all so we can support each other in our new lives! Best wishes to all! ~Amy~

Hey Jewels or Freedom Fighters, whichever we may be! What are y'all planning in terms of exercise regimes? The goal in my ticker is a mini-goal; I do eventually want to be a normal weight. I'm only 5'3", so I have a lot to lose, and taking it in smaller chunks seems more managable to me. I figure that if I do get down to 130-140 I will have some serious skin problems. SO, I want to do all I can to keep as toned as possible. My plan is to do the Couch to 5K thing; however, it will take me longer than 2 months for sure. I bought a second-hand treadmill today, and I did all I could. That was only ten minutes, but I did get two sets of the jogging in. DH cheered me on and was very proud of me. Besides that, I bought some hand weights to help with my arms, one of those band things (not sure what to do with it yet but hubbs says he'll show me), and a power ring thingy to work on my inner thighs. From my techincal descriptions of my new "toys," I'm sure you can tell I'm quite the fitness buff. LOL! So, I thought I'd see if y'all had suggestions, plans, etc. that you would like to share. ~Amy~

Hey, everyone! Don't forget to go to the poll and vote for our official name!

Well, at my appointment on Monday, the lady who files insurance said that it would be Friday (today) before transcription was back and my file could be submitted to insurance for approval. She told me that UHC is usually pretty quick, anywhere from 10 minutes to three days. I was hoping to find out something next week. Well, guess what?!? I got a call today (same day paperwork was submitted) at around 1, and I'm approved! My surgery will be July 7, and I couldn't be more excited!!!

Congratulations!

Cute! I'll have to remember that one!

My paperwork was submitted AND approved today! YIPEE!!! July 7 must be a popular date. It's now my date, too! Don't forget to go to the July 2009 board and post your date there, too. Juniper is compiling a list of all the different July folks and their dates.

I think that no matter what, one's true personality always shines through. Some people who are heavy mask their true inner ugliness with false sweetness to win people over. When they lose weight, they feel they can let their true selves out. However, people who really knew them before teh weightloss knew it was in there all along and aren't terribly surprised. (I know someone like this.) Conversely, if someone is truly a kind person all the while, I don't think losing weight will make that person turn into someone uglier than they really are. People like that will still be the same kind people after weight loss. (I also know someone like that.) Here's where it can get confusing. When folks lose weight, often their self-esteem improves. When this happens, people will usually want to take better care of themselves. For instance, they might wear more make-up, cuter clothes, etc. Sometimes this can be mistaken for vanity. However, do we think those vain who have alwasy been thin and have always taken pride in their appearance? Likely not. To me it boils down to this. We are who we are. Losing weight won't change who we are inside. If we don't like what we become when we become thin, maybe we need to look to what was inside all along. I hope that I find myself to be as good a person later as I feel I am now, if not a better person for the lessons learned.

Thanks to both of you. I can't afford a personal trainer, but I hope that I can find some good routines at home or from the hubbs. He used to do be quite the fitness buff! Also, the PE teacher I work with might be able to help me out. He works part time at a fitness place, and I'm sure he'd be very willing to help me. If I get any good tips, I'll gladly pass them along.

July 7 here, too! I just got word today. My insurance was really quick as it hadn't even been submitted yesterday! YIPEE! I am doin' the happy dance!!!:thumbdown:

And one more thing...I've always wished to have smaller ones that would stand up. I've been at least a D since middle school. Even then, my boobs weren't perky! I would love to have nice little ones that didn't demand a bra but would instead stand at attention all by themselves. Fellas, doesn't that sound better? Haven't you heard that more than a handful is a waste anyway? LOL!

I'm actually hoping to lose some boobies! I wear a DDD usually but there is one style of bra I can get in a DD. I have lost 100 pounds before (found it though) and didn't lose any in my cup size, only the band size. If these don't shrink a little, I'll probably get a reduction when I get down to a healthy weight and maintain it. I have worn a bra since third grade, and while DH likes them, he will just have to find something else to play with!

So, for those of you whose symptoms have improved, to which end of the spectrum did you tend to fall? I tend to have diarrhea episodes far more often that the constipation side. Should I expect that to improve?

When you say you were banded on 1/6/09 do you mean June 1 or January 6? (I surely hope you mean June 1 if you are still on liquid.) As for the will power, one of the cutest quotes I've seen on here is something like "My will power is fine; it's my won't power that needs help." I understand how tempting it must be to eat while still on liquids. I will have to do a preop liquid diet, so I did a trial run the other day, and I thought I would die! Good luck on your journey! If you were strong enough to do all the things required before surgery, you are certainly strong enough to do well now! You can do it!!!:cursing:

Right now, my number one struggle is trying to get my head around the pre-op diet I will have to do. I did a one day trial run on Sunday, and let me tell you, it was horrible! My surgeon requires a low calorie, low carb liquid diet for 10-14 days. With no restriction, it was VERY difficult to eat nothing solid. While I really like sweets, I can basically do without them. My surgeon stresses the no snacking rule, and I think I can handle that. My main problem is that I am a meat and potatoes kind of gal, and I eat way too much! I am confident that once bandster hell is over and I actually have restriction, the band will really help me. However, this preop thing is going to be really tough!

Hey, Bobbie. From what I've read, the preop diet varies greatly from one surgeon to the next. If you don't even go in for pre-op stuff until 5 days before, you will have a short, if at alll, pre-op period. My surgeon recommends a 14 day (but requires 10 day) low card liquid diet. The purpose is to shrink the liver. The liver is, according to him, the first place one loses weight. Shrinking the liver reduces the risk for certain complications such as bleeding as a fatty liver is very fragile, and the surgeon must work around the liver to attach the band. If I were you, I would simply call my surgeon's office and inquire about his or her pre-op diet requirements. At least that way, you will know what to expect for the holiday! Good luck! ~Amy~

HILARIOUS! Some people really do know everything, don't they?

Great question! I have IBS, and I have wondered what effect the band might have.

Raleighlap, I'm jealous! You have really gotten the ball rolling! It has taken me nearly a year to jump through all the hoops. :cursing: Good luck to all! I can't wait until this time next year when we can all talk about all the weight we have lost and all the other things we have gained!:sad:

Okay, well, disregard my previous messages (all dozen or so...lol)! It appears there is a poll in another section on what to call ourselves. So far July Jewels is ahead. Go vote!!!! I took the graphic out of my signature all together until we officially win the vote. (Don't want to jinx it, I guess.)

Okay...there is now a poll for chosing our name. Go vote, everyone!

Taking a vote...good idea...and very democratic!:cursing:

Well, I played around and got mine to post in my signature, but I do think we should all have the same one. Eviebell, can you put a link in or tell us how to get yours and I'll change mine. However, do y'all like the idea of having the year in or not? I'm assuming there was probably a July group last year. Do you want to set ourselves apart that way, or do you thing just the name is sufficient? Just ideas...:cursing:

Well, that didn't work, but I see that someone has already made one. That's good! How do we put that in our signature?