Bella

GOOD GRIEF!:clap2: I just noticed your weight loss! WONDERFUL! I want to be just like YOU when I grow up!!!

Hi All! Thanks ever so much for your words of encouragment! I am feeling better - though I'm still tearing up ... but this is a GOOD thing for me. I need to let my feelings OUT instead of keeping them bottled up all the time. You know - always the strong one. In my case, I lost pretty much all my family .. just me left these days so I have to tend to myself as best I can .. which is percieves as being pretty good to other people. That's why people think I'm so strong. Maybe it's my fault to have given out that impression ... but it's all about my pride. I can't let people know that I have weaknesses. Yes, I'm working on it. ) Anyway, I don't know WHY I'm even upset though as it seems most of you have had to wait longer than I will. :| I decided on this 3 weeks ago only ... so what am I whining about a 4 month wait for? About the changes ... well, I am the QUEEN of eating healthly. I've been on a million diets so I know how to cut things out of my diet etc... My problem is 'maintaining' the program. I can be a real exercise freak too - another story. My pattern is always the same - you can 'make book' on it. When I get stressed from work etc... I revert back to my pizza eating and Chinese food habits and I don't feel like drinking Water or working out ...so that 6 pounds that took me a month to drop ... will come back in about 7 days. :party: Then I start the cycle all over again ... this is my problem:( That's why I want the band. I WILL do the right thing for several weeks BUT the minute something goes wrong (and it always will) I will want to fall off the wagon. But with the band I will immediately be aware that I cannot have the whole dag gone pizza.. I might be able to have a few bites - but that will be it! In truth a few bites of pizza once a month is reasonable. So yes, I WILL fall ... but unless I just lose my mind and want to risk slippage and vomiting and pain .... I can only slip a LITTLE bit ... before I HAVE to straighten up and fly right. When the hard time passes - I can back to eating right again. This is my pattern ... I'm either ON a diet and IN the process of losing weight or ... I just fell off the wagon and I am IN the overeating stage. There is NO inbetween for me. Actually, the overeating stage only lasts week or two (until my body just feels bad and I have to stop) but I can do sooooo much damage in that week or two! Okay, all. I am feeling better. I will continue to post and watch for your replies. THANKS BUNCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mamanysm - It sounds like your family is quite beautiful ... where it counts. :car:

I know this may seem obvious but I ask because .. I've been on EVERY diet in the world and they always say eat something [low cal] or your body thinks it's starving ... so then your metabolism slows down ... with slows down your weightloss. So if this is true it would seem that eating 3 tiny, tiny meals a day ... would help to SLOW down your weight loss - but here I see you lose lots of weight anyway. I know this sounds simple but can anyone explain this.

No, I don't see any benifit in becoming the topic of conversation around the office either. Weight loss is hard enough without everyone in your buisness.:phanvan I suuuure wish I was were you are right now. Waiting is a killer. I have exactly 2 1/2 months to suffer in this fat suit. Then I'm taking an adventure vacation to Asia for 5 weeks and I return - I go in for surgery and will be off work 2 more weeks:D The only person I HAD to tell was my HR person - but she can't tell anyone. I've been waiting for a return email from her all week - afraid she'll question me.hee hee! Thanks for the heartening posts!

That's good to hear. :nervous My plan (as I'm keeping my surgery a secret) is to avoid eating out with friends the first couple of months. Just until I get to the point where I can have 'normal' food .. just not THAT much food. This way you can live like a normal person. About the protein. Can't you just mixed some protein power into a shake in order to get your protein allowance in for the day. I tried some already. It wasn't bad - I'm trying to think of it as 'medicine' so just take it and get it out of the way. :eek: Thanks for your input. btw - I just got my surgury date a couple of days ago and last night (hee hee!) I had a dream that they called me and told me that - I suddenly had been DENIED! What a nightmare!!!! :confused:

Yes, it's the effects of malabsorption that I can't take. That's permanent. You also have a high risk of malnutrition. :omg: Hummm um these are the things that bother me. I think the band is less-invasive. If it does not work out for me - at least I won't be permanently damaged. I Yes, there's always a risk in surgery - but it's low.

I'm going for the @lapband. :biggrin1: I friend of mine that I hadn't seen in 2 years dropped by to see me and ... I hardly knew her. She always had a pretty face so I knew it was her. INCREDIBLE!!!!! I can't tell you how I felt!!!!! She used to wear a 24 and now she's down to a 4!!!! She had the DS which yes, DID scare the dickens out of me after I visited her surgen! That surgen said I shouldn't bother with lapband because it mostly does not work - but I think he just wanted my money. :phanvan I didn't want the RNY or the DS - too scared! So I backed out of the whole and thought about for a long time. Well, of course, I've tried a zillion diets since then .. and here I am again - still struggling with my lifelong battle. So I found a different surgen and it's GO for the @lapband. What I like about it: -You lose weight much slower ... so it looks like your latest diet is finally working - I would like to avoid the lose skin thing if at all possible and slow weight loss will help in this - loss of hair - losing too fast messes with your hormones so I would like to minimize this if possible - it IS reversable - lower cost - LOWEST COMPLICATIONS ... like no DEATH! About the PB and all the rest I've read ... I'm just gonna have to find my own way like the others. I think it's a small price to pay to finally be free of this 'fat suit' I've been wearing most of my life.:speechles As far as choosing the RNY or DS - THEY have problems with digestion etc as well - so none of the 3 options are a breeze. IF you can get your head around some kind of wls ... of the 3, the @lapband has the LOWEST COMPLICATONS. I'm excited and determined to go through with it! I'm realizing this as I'm writing this text. Good luck!

:cryMy BMI is too low for insurance to pay so I'm self pay as well. I moved to Holland a few years ago and I'm seeing a doctor in Belgium which is just two hours away. Belgium is well known for having the best doctors for the @lapband and it's the most common wls in Europe. The cost? 5750 euros which is maybe 6300 in dollars including insurance in case you have complications etc. I'm putting the whole thing on a credit card! This is an excellent deal! (Correction .. I'm paying for it in cash. I just found out they tack on another 3.5% on to the price if you pay by cc. :cry ) AND ... TODAY I GOT A CONFIRMATION ON MY SURGERY DATE! :clap2: Jan. 23 2007 - can't wait!!!!!

Hi, I live off Laan van Meerdervoort - near the Peace Palace. :clap2: My BMI is not high enough for Dutch insurance to cover it so I am selfpay. I'm using Doctor Dilleman in Brugge, Belgium. They have the best surgens in Belgium. It's cheap at 5700 for everything - can't beat it! I have a package deal so I'm staying in a nearby hotel for a few days after surgery for checkups etc. What's going on with your insurance company?:embarassed: Later!

****************************************** Sorry to hear this. Please keep your chin up! This is exactly why I'm not telling people. They want to 'judge' you when they don't know what you are dealing with. Yes, they will say you're taking the easy way out. So what? Would you rather listen to them and spend the next X years failing on diets? I've tried everything too ... but just recency I've come to accept the fact that ... I cannot do it on my own. :faint: I'm going to tell the HR person at my job (because I need time off work - but she can't tell anyone), and 1 friend that I know would be in my corner. Even though other people might be okay with it - I don't want everyone talking about what I'm eating etc.. I don't need that sort of attention. This is one of the reasons I want the lap-band .. you lose weight slower so it 'looks' like your latest diet ... is finally working. Sometimes when I'm on a diet and everyone knows it - believe it or not ... some people try to get me to eat food anyway ... this is how I fugured out which people really don't wish me well. There are people in life that are jealous of you and it they were to find out - they would try to bad mouth you in an effort to discourage you ... because it you actually DO lose the weight you would really be something. Nope, I won't tell a soul.:heh:

******************************* I guess Tracici's words helped us both. Such simple words but ... they make a difference. I was driving home today thinking of how squashed up my butt feels in the car seat when I stopped for the stop light and watched this woman cross the street. There she was neatly dressed in her jeans with her head held high like she didn't have a care in the world only ... she was about 2 feet tall. Yes, she was a little person. So yes, I thought - I have to thank God for my big butt because I CAN correct that ... but it you are a little person ... you have to find the strength to go through life as God made you. Taking a lesson from this...

******************************* Thanks for the help Ladies. I really appreciate it. Tracici - I just wanted to tell you you words have made such a difference to me. I just burst out crying (I'm crying) right now - because I know you are tell me the absolute truth. The thing is - I never cry - which I think maybe part of my problem. You know we are all fat for a reason -right? Me? I think I've been hurt so much in my life .. that I just shrug things off and repressed it all. Trying to deal with the reality ... Thanks ... :nervous

I'm an American living in Den Haag also. My date is almost firm - Jan 23 2007. I would like to tallk about your experiences!:clap2: Bella!

Hi Ladies, THANKS HEAPS! For your insights! I admire you greatly for this step and I hope to follow in your footsteps!!!! I think you are right ... and I've known this all along ... do the RIGHT thing.. take it off slow and you are right ... you HAVE to develop good eating habits as some of the RNY folks just gained it all back!!!! UNREAL!!!!! About not telling my co-workers???? Ummm The Dutch are funny creatures... I definitely will not tell them. I would never hear the end of it. Support groups will be hard to find for me. I'm American but I moved to Holland 6 years ago .... so I have to really dig around. I plan to have the procedure in Belgium (right next door) so will dig around on that end. Okay - I no doubt will be asking more questions as I have not met with the surgen yet... AGAIN - THANKS!!!!! Bella

Hey all, Yep - can't decide. If I get the Gastric I'll have to deal with maybe major complications, losing it too fast (loose skin) etc BUT it sounds like I WILL lose it. The Lap Band makes more sense .. but I see some people are having trouble losing because of their diet/exercise. I'm afraid I'll be one of those!!! If I'm going go under the knife - I only want to do this once and I want it to work. Any thoughts? Bella

Hi all, GREAT BOARD! This is my question. I'm 5'8" at 247 so my BMI is 36.7 according to the online calculators. Insurance will cover the surgery if I'm 40 or over. BUT I've read that you have to be 100 or more overweight to qualify as well. I think if I were to lose 100 pounds (I feel lightheaded just writing those words:clap2: ) I'd be at 147 which would give me a BMI of 22 which is 'normal'. No, I don't have any health problems (darn it!) I know I should be grateful .. but I just needed some kind of an excuse. My Doctor checked me out last year for something else, and my average blood pressure is 124/74, my resting heartrate is 75, I have the good HDL and low LDL, I bike everywhere and Spin and lots of stuff. I even gave my sister a kidney 15 years ago and my creatin (sp?) level is 98 out of a 100! My Doctor says I'm one of the few really healthy overweight people he's seen. I just put too much flippin food in my mouth.:hungry: So you see .. this is why I'm fixed on my BMI thing. Does the 100 pound thing count for something? I have my first consult tomorrow but I want insurance to cover it.:confused: What do you think? I'm not FAT enough right? Thanks, Bella

Hi Jude, Yep, that's what I thought. I would have to gain another 30 or so to hit 40.:straight Oh well. I've found a place in Belgium and the price is low compared to the States at 4100 euros so I guess I'll be on the 'self pay' band wagon. It's okay - I just need to get this fat off!!!:help: Thanks! Bella

Okay - thanks for the clarification. The reason I used the word 'full' is because the literature that I've read says with the smaller stomach you will be 'full'. So when I'm reading about people being hungry etc.. I'm wondering how that can be if your stomach is tiny and you'll already filled it up. I'm no referring to emotional hunger here. Bella

Hi all, I hope to get banded soon. (PLEASE GOD!!) I liked the diet listed - CERTAINLY a person would lose a lot of weight during the 2 weeks on liquids and 2 weeks on mushies - this is why I don't understand people that say it took them 6 months to start to lose weight.How can this be? Secondly, I think I could do that diet IF I felt full after my meals. Some people here complain they don't fill full though? Can anyone explain this? Isn't feeling full early the main reason for the surgery? Thanks! Bella

Hi all, I cannot WAIT until I get banded so I'll know how it feels to eat a little bit and fill full!

Hi all, I'm new and just found this site. I'm having my first visit to talk about having the lap band. This thread is scaring me .., how can it be that you aren't losing weight! From what I read you CAN't eat the wrong foods because you only have but so much room in your tummy and you NEED the healthy foods like protein and veggies to avoid malnutrient. Can someone clarify for me??? I don't want to breal down and get the real gastric bypass where they cut you etc.. but I want to lose weight. Thanks in advance! Bella