kh99900

I wrote to a bariatric surgeon online, and he told me that as long as I felt there was a chance of losing the weight without surgery, I should try to. He encouraged me to go to the seminar and get all the info as well. He also said that insurance will most likely require me to do a 6-month diet before the surgery, so my plan of signing up for the surgery etc but trying to diet beforehand on my own fits right in. So I am going to try to emulate the lap band diet, including the 2-week liquid diet plan that most people do pre-surgery. I'm going to start tomorrow. Not really looking forward to dieting, but I am very much looking forward to knowing that the lifestyle change is starting. I suspect that in the end I will need the surgery (if I haven't done it in 17 years, can I do it now?), but I am very glad that I will be at least starting and not wasting this resolve. I have been listening to some self-help tapes for a while now and one of the things the guy says is that in order to make a change, you have to get some leverage on yourself. You have to make it impossible to go one more day in the old ways. So that is it. I am not able to go one more day 135lbs overweight. Granted, this is going to take a while, but I am starting my journey tomorrow! thanks to all of you who have helped me with info about your diets and surgeries. I really appreciate it. I will be sticking around on this board to let you know how it's going! Kathleen

Wow, I guess I am not the only one! :thumbup: I am having a rough time doing this, so I had to modify it and eat more solid food. I am having up to 4 shakes per day (low carb ones) and then I eat a low carb bar at least once and maybe twice if I feel like I need it. I have also had a salad each day with some Protein on it. I think this is actually not so much the lap band diet but the same diet my nutritionist put me on, with a couple more shakes and fewer carbs, although not that many fewer. :frown: The thing that has been rough for me is that I am completely fatigued. I feel terrible. My energy level just drops and I am suffering with a terrible headache. I suspect that I got candida again from eating bread and sweets. I had it a few years ago and had to do a very low carb diet with supplements to get rid of it. So I am starting those supplements again to see if they help, because this is miserable. I don't think it's the lower calories that are getting me, it's the reduction in carbs. While the candida dies, it makes you feel like crap for a while. So lots of Water and taking good bacteria and no bread or sweets. Although the last two days I tried to ease the pain by eating some carbs...did not help. The first day I lost 2.2 lbs and then yesterday gained 1 back, most likely because of the extra food I ate. Oh well, it will all come off eventually!

Thanks for the good wishes. I suspect I am going to need the surgery, but I feel good about giving it one last try. And since I have to give it a good try for the insurance coverage anyway, it all fits together. I think it is going to be very hard, but I am determined to change. I can't live one more day like this, without hope.

Since I have to wait until October 7 for my seminar, I thought I would mentally prepare myself for whatever is coming through this process. And I have read about this liquid diet that they put you on pre-op...is it like Medifast? Or something else that I am not familiar with? I remember a friend used to do something called Cambridge diet that was liquid as well. Please let me know what pre-op diet your doctor put you on and for how long...was it unlimited liquids or specific amounts? And what brand? I just want to be mentally prepared for whatever might come my way on this journey. I always do better in coping if I feel like I know what to expect. I should mention that I have never done a liquid diet in my life, so the idea stresses me out a bit. The closest I've come is the prep that you do for a colonoscopy, and that was only for one day. Besides which, it wasn't really a diet, it was prep for the procedure. Also, I have two small children and the idea of chasing them while on a liquid diet is a bit scary. Thanks in advance! Kathleen

Thanks everyone for giving their opinions. Reading your answers really helped. I guess what I am planning to do is to make one more attempt to lose this weight by myself, at the same time as going through the process for the lap band. that way, if I feel like I am just not going to be able to do it with diet alone, I will already be headed down that road. If I feel like I can do it alone, then I can always say that I have changed my mind and not continue. I guess what this means is that I just cannot continue to be overweight any more. I'm completely sick of it. I've been overweight now for 17 years. That's just way too long. I was never overweight until I went on birth control pills at age 29...by the time I was 30 I had gained 70 lbs and it just kept inching up after that. I'm done with living like this. Now I just have to learn to live without the foods that I love. That's the hard part. Thank you again everyone! I may continue to post here as I go down this path...since it will be both paths at once, for at least a while! Kathleen

My endocrinologist is after me to do lap band surgery. He won't put me on metformin for insulin resistance but surgery with general anesthesia is okay??? This confuses me a bit, but I am looking into it. So I've been reading up on it and I am signed up for a seminar on October 7. I have some questions that I hope you folks can answer. Because as I am reading all about Lap Band, the surgery, the dieting, all these things...it seems way way harder than even the hardest diet I've ever been on. Granted, I never seem to be able to stay on a diet that actually helps me lose weight (they are always so severe and hard to maintain) so this is why I am now asking this question. I am 46, done having children, and have 130 lbs to lose. I currently weigh 285 and am 5'10. This puts me at a BMI of almost 41. I see that a 40 BMI seems to be the lower industry standard cutoff for surgery. although certain doctors/clinics take it lower. I saw a clinic's website in Dallas that takes people as low as 27, which seemed very low to me. So I started thinking. Obviously I know I can lose 20 lbs. So that would lower my BMI and then I wouldn't qualify for the surgery any more. So then what? Another question: how long does this process take? It seems there is a lot involved and I seem to be getting the impression that it takes months from starting this process until you actually get the surgery?? And then you still actually have to lose the weight. Wouldn't it be faster just to buckle down and lose the weight without the surgery (if you can). But obviously I haven't done that yet and that's why I'm looking into this. So my third question: it seems like the way you have to eat post-op is extremely restrictive. Not only do you have to eat diet food, but you also have to avoid all KINDS of foods that you would normally be able to eat on a diet. So why is this better than just dieting? As you can tell, I am very conflicted about this idea. I am reading that it helps people, but why? If you have the resolve to actually go through surgery to lose weight, wouldn't that same resolve be exactly what you need to be on a diet for months and months? Question #4: I read on a site that if you are a sweets person, Lap Band probably will not help you. I love sweets. Will I fail at this if I do the surgery because of my love of sweets? Question #5: I am reading that people are on some kind of a liquid diet pre-op....what is that about? How long does that go on? Sorry I have so many questions...I have read a lot and have not seen any answers to these questions. Also: I am asking all these questions sincerely and really want to know the answers. I am not being at all critical of lap band surgery...I just want to figure out WHY people get it, what makes it helpful, and if I myself should really have it as well. Thanks so much for your help.