Dana36

It sounds like the chicken got stuck in your stoma. You are probably still very swollen from your surgery. I wasn't allowed mushies for 3 weeks. Do you feel okay now? Are you still in any pain? If not, I'd go back on liquids for a couple of days. And remember, mushy food needs to be like baby food consistency so that it passes through the band without hurting you!!

I'm doing much better this month! I may up my challenge, I'm already half way to goal. 17.5 miles.

Honestly, to me, it doesn't look like you are eating enough. I agree, you need to find a nutritionist and another dr!

I use the tools on the lapband site. They are all user friendly, and then all of your information is one one place, like your weight history, exercise log, food log, etc..

I am just beginning the lap band process, and called my insurance company, Cigna POS yesterday for some clarification on my requirements. The website says that you need 24 months of medical history of obesity, the person on the phone said that it was 5 years of medical history that I would need. So, can I assume that is changing? I do have 5 years, but for one year, one of the my weigh ins had a BMI of less than 40. I talked to him about that, and he said that if the other weigh ins were over 40, that it would be okay because it would still show a cycle of morbid obesity. Also, I talked to him about the 6 month monitoring. My scenario is this: I went to the Dr in January, March, and April. Do I need to start my 6 month count in January (even though I missed Feb), or do I need to start it in March. He said to go ahead and start it for March. He said missing one month is not going to be held against me because of the long term obesity. Does this sound right? Or was I just talking with someone that was leading me in the wrong direction?? Thanks!

I was allowed it from day one.

Not eating while drinking was very hard for me to get used to. My dr told me that i had to wait 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours after eating to be able to drink. When I first started, I would simply not pour myself a glass of anything. I would eat, and then set an alarm (or tell my husband if I was home with him) for 1 & 1/2 hours. I would do anything and everything to keep distracted during that time. Then when the alarm went off(or my husband told me it was time), I would drink all I wanted. After a couple of weeks of that, my body became very used to it. I can now tell by the way my body feels that it is time to drink. And for those of us who are overweight, we have spend a life time "washing down" more food than we needed, so this is a habit that we need to break. You will feel full longer, and for a while, until you are used to it, you might be a little uncomfortable.

I have been using the Leslie Sansone walk away the pounds DVDs. (there is a free workout on youtube that i started with). Her two mile walks take 30 minutes. It takes exactly that long for my dinner to get finished in the oven. So, I've been coming in and popping my fish in the oven, walking two miles, and then having supper.

I'm going to try for 30 again this month.

That's awful! Can you ask them to numb you before putting in the needle??

Let it come up. I've tried to hold it in while at work, and my mouth would just fill with slime. It has to come out.

I submitted: 6 months of weigh ins, discussions about nutrition and exercise and BMI from my PCP 5 years of medicals from my gyno showing a 5 year history of obesity. Letter of medical necessity from my pcp. Letter of recommendation for surgery from the surgeon. Proof of attending a nutrition class. Clearance by a mental health provider. As far as out of pocket. My surgery was covered 100% through Cigna. I had to pay my office and Rx copays, $98 for 2 nutrition classes and the mental health provider ($98 total for all three), and that was it. The actual surgery and hospital were covered completely.

You are just going to have to know that we have all been there and you are going to have to use WILL POWER. Remember, you stomach is stitched around the band. By eating the foods that are not recommended by your dr, you are causing your stomach to move and work to digest the food. That is causing all of your stitches to be pulled and can result in the band slipping. OP, your body is still healing, and because you aren't getting a lot of calories right now, it is holding on to every ounce of fat possible. Once you are done healing and eating correctly, you will start losing weight. Just be patient!

I was wondering about that.. I guess I'll get a good girdle to help hold everything in place.

I am just now toying with the idea of starting to run.. I like the idea of the couch to 5k. I had my surgery in September and am down almost 50 pounds at this point. I currently weight 240.. I'm curious as to what weight others were when they started running.

Jacqui, thanks so much for all the information. I did find some podcasts for the couch to 5k. They say to do it three days a week, just like you did.. so that I will do. Right now, I'm just waiting for my new MP3 player to be delivered so that I can download the podcasts and get started. Up to this point, I've been doing the Leslie Sansone walk at home videos, they give me a pretty good workout themselves.. but I feel that i need a little bit more. I've added Yoga and Kettlebells lately. The Yoga feels good, but the kettlebells kick my ass. Cutest, I lost 15 pounds on the pre op diet, and then another 10 pounds the week after surgery.. so right from the top, there was 25 pounds gone. The last 25 have taken 2 full months to get off. I am very careful with what I eat. I always eat my Protein first, at every meal (unless I'm having a Fiber rich breakfast). I also really watched my portions, even before i had a fill. I'm not going to lie and say that it has been easy.. but it has been easier with the band than before. I also do not allow any slider foods in my house, no chips, candies, Cookies, etc.. I am 100% a food addict and if they are here, I will binge on them.

I eat the Fiber One Honey Clusters. I mix 1/2 cup of it with carbmaster yogurt each morning. I get 14.5 grams of protein and 7.5 grams of fiber. That seems to help keep me regular.

I will be flying in January across country.. I know we can't take liquids unless they are bought after the check point, but what about snacks like cheese?? Can you take those through security?

I actually use the one on the lapband.com site. It is user friendly, and lets me enter a lot of my own nutritional values for myself. They have a lot of really good tools on the site to use.

Deekel, I see this a lot of those of us that struggle with our weight.. we put everyone and everything before ourselves. We take care of everything else before we take care of ourselves. Just let your friends know that you are not going to exchange gifts this year, that you and your husband are planning a very quiet, intimate holiday at home. And then celebrate with your husband, enjoy YOUR christmas and your new health!!!

I was fairly secretive about the surgery until after it was over. Before I went in, only a very small handful of people at work knew about it. I did tell my husband, daughter, mother and brother. They were super supportive. The coworkers were supportive. When I came back to work, we had a large office meeting and everyone was asking me why I had been out. I just told everyone right then what I had done. I was surprised that there were two women in the office who were considering the surgery and had a lot of questions. I made the decision to tell everyone on my terms. Let them know straight from me, and then there is no reason for rumors or whispering behind backs.

UGH, I've only got 12 miles in this month so far. Hopefully I can play catch up over the thanksgiving holiday.

I had to give them a 5 year history of obesity (my BMI was over 40). I used my annual gyno visits for that. I also had to have the psychological clearance, a nutrition class, and a letter from my pcp (again, I used my gyno's office since they are a full clinic who does all of my care).

I touched my toes today!!!! I have not been able to bend over (while standing up) and touch my toes in YEARS!!!:wink2:

My dr said for me to take in a minimum of 64 ounces of Fluid a day. He counts decaf tea as fluids. Water makes me nauseous. Here is what I get in each day: 12 ounces of decaf coffee before Breakfast 20 ounce mug of decaf tea between breakfast and lunch (I start drinking 1 and 1/2 hour after my meal) 20 ounce mug of decaf tea between lunch and supper 20 ounce mug of decaf tea after supper, before bed. Today was a long day, so I make another 12 ounces of decaf coffee when I got home.