Soexcited

Alien....When I was in college I was under my parents insurance as long as I was enrolled in university .... I was 18 when I graduated from high school and after a year off to travel was in school again for 8 years.....so I was 27 when I got off their insurance. Oni is just going from her/his own experience I am sure but for me I could have been 40 and covered as long as I was going to full time university/college.

OK thanks, just wondering due to the school comment. When I was 24 I would have never dreamed of having a surgery without first running it by my parents. Everyone is different I know that, my parents and I have always been super close. My 2 cents....you are young I would tell my parents. Someone in your family needs to know what you have done so if there ever is a complication / problem they know. God forbid you are out (in a coma or something bad .... worse case senario obviously) your parents will be making decisions for you and need to know so they can make the right choices for you.

Hey! You lost 5 more pounds! Congrats!!!

May I ask you a question? How old are you? Just wondering since you are in school and under your parents health plan. Did their insurance pay for your surgery?

I love my ellipticall and think its a much better workout. We paid over $1,000 for ours (got the kind you use at the gym) and it's been the BEST investment ever.

I have had 3 fills bringing me up to 5.5cc's in my 10cc band. I am restricted now for sure, some days I can eat fine and I think I need a tiny bit more and then some days I am so tight I eat soft foods because I am forsed to, even a little peice of turkey meatloaf will get stuck....so for now no more fills for me ....I need to let a bit more time pass.

I totally disagree that our relationships will change because we changed. (sorry Elfie) . I have had the same core group of friends since college (1987) so for over 20 years the same group of friends have watched me go through stuff in my life, they have watched me gain a lot and loose a lot (before the band and after) and they have always been there for me, supported me and been my TRUE good friends. Real friends will support you, try to understand you, help you if you want it and leave you alone when you need that too. My family have always supported me as well ...... good friends and good close family will be around for you, if the relationship changes for the worse just because you loose weight you should take a long hard look at what the relationship really is because it would be my guess that it was not a great relationship to start with. Maybe I feel so strongly about this because I have never had low self worth, I have always had weight problems, but I have also always been a strong confidant woman....My husband now is also very supportive and our love gets stronger by the day, with or without an extra 20 pounds. So maybe examine how YOU truly feel about your relationships, the ones you cherish will last no matter what as long as the other person feels the same way. Relationships are difficult at times, but in my life the bad ones just manage to weed themselves out of my life.

Pre band and pre liquid diet I used to enjoy raw oatmeal (plain ol oats, just not cooked) mixed in with a yogurt, flax seed and oatbran. So this morning I made my ususal mix (just less of it). And slimmed ALL morning and afternoon long. Dont eat raw oatmeal! I couldnt even keep a sip of Water in till just now (it's 3pm and I had Breakfast at 8am so I have been slimming for 7 hours). Just thought I would worn you all. It was a bad morning!

Coffee & milk Greek plain no fat yogurt Iceopure About 4 oz of turkey meat loaf with ketchup (got stuck took about ½ hour to eat it). ¼ my sons peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole grain 2 pretzels & a cup of no fat milk 2 bites of lamb stew 1 brussel sprout got stuck and stopped 1 Popsicle

Congrats on needing new bras! I need them too so I went to JC Pennys and got 2 cheap ones. I'm a bra snob and I hate wearing the cheap stuff but the ones I like are $75 - $85 per bra and dont want to get good ones again till I am down another 30 pounds AT LEAST!

My last fill was 2 weeks ago and I am now at 5.5 in my 10cc band. I weigh in the mornings, before coffee or Water maybe every other day. NEVER in the afternoons or evenings because I could gain 5 pounds in a day...all water etc but still it messes with my mind. I should only weigh once a week but I cant ... it's addictive!

Breakfast: Coffee & milk ¼ cup oatmeal 2 scoop protein shake Lunch: Soup plantation – few leafs spinach 4 broccoli tops 1 bite of my sons frozen yogurt Dinner: 3oz lamb, few bites of mashed potato & 1 Brussels sprout ½ an Atkins bar (100 cal)

Hmmmm maybe you are too tight? How long have you been like this? Is it with every bite of food? How are you doing with liquids? Maybe you should slow down, do some soft stuff. My 3rd fill got me to 5.5 in a 10cc band. The first week was awesome! It seemed perfect now I am loose again...its so wild how everyone is SOOO different.

I think everyone has had this in some way. I take colace EVERY DAY now. If I dont take it I get very constipated and just dont go.....this soon will pass...call your doc, it will get better.

Wow you are almost at goal....CONGRATS!!!! Where in SD do you live? Who banded you? I was banded at UCSD and live just West of the 15 at Rancho Bernardo Rd. Have you connected with any other SD banders?

OK I will chime in, Jojo has a point. It's only been a month and you are doing GREAT! The band is not bypass where you will loose the weight super fast, you know that you did your homework before your surgery. I know I did lots of homework, I think all of us did but those like you and I who are self pay maybe did a bit more. My husband got banded in October and I got banded in November, we paid out of pocket for both. Our bills gathered up over $30,000 so I hear your frustration. We are loosing on the slower side as well but you know what? We are loosing! Slow and steady wins the race! I too have been overweight since pre school ... up and down up and down up and down. Another conversation on this board is "to tell or not to tell" We didn't tell anyone but our parents.....you told (it sounds like) everyone you know, so that's added stress we chose not to have. Now everyone is judging you and looking at you ..... if you don't loose you will feel like you have failed again and again in front of your family and friends. Your co workers in there own crazy skinny brains are trying to help you, that's the only reason they took the pictures. If it helps you explain to them what the band is and that its not a quick fix, maybe that will help you feel better. But don't get so down, you are doing great...hang tight soon you will have restriction and wonder like me "What the hell was I thinking getting this band?" You will eat 5 bites and be full and before you know it another month will have passed and you will have lost more weight...I promise you ... it will be fine.

I cant feel it but touch but I "feel" it every moment since my last fill. I feel the tightness not the band itself.

I have always been fat. I was a fat kid, a fat teen and a fat adult. I too had a few years while I was in college where instead of gaining as a freshman I lost so was a normal weight. It piled up to 310 after that and no matter what my scale tells me I still feel 310. I am 5'8 1/2 and 196 right now.....I feel better than I have in years but I still feel fat. Even if I get to goal now I think I will always feel the same inside.

Hi Whillow, I was banded 11/25/09 and have had 3 fills so far. I am now at 5.5 in a 10cc band and I am finally feeling it. I am real tight in the morning. I seem to loosen up a bit come 1 or 2 and then I will try to have some protein, today I had 3oz of turkey meat loaf and was full. Tonight I felt wide open like I could have eaten a bit ol meal. I didnt but I pushed away feeling like I wanted to eat more, not because I was hungry. It's all very strange....sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing...if I will ever be able to eat more than 3 bites, but then I ran into a banded lady who has lost ALL her weight and then some and now has nothing in her band. She is maintaining without the help of her band...thats where I want to get!

Dont wory I am sure you will be just fine. My pre op diet was 2 weeks of liquids only. 3 shakes a day and stuff like jello & popsicles ... it was horrible! Every night I ate dinner, yup I cheeted every night with things like steamed fish or chicken ... some doctors have no pre op diets at all just a day of fasting before surgery. It's all to reduce the size of your liver....that organ is HUGE and totaly in the way during surgery they have to flip it up and operate under it so they want it as healthy as possible. If the pop corn was your one and only whooops moment I wouldnt sweat it!

Lawerence, isnt that where KU is? My cousins lived there when they went to college. I did get to visit once, very nice place.

So far.... Breakfast: Coffee & 1/2 peice of whole wheat toast with a teaspoon of penut butter. Crystal light! I will drink more liquid today! Lunch: 3oz turkey meatloaf Snack: fat free plain yogurt 90 cal Snack: Homemade lemonade (splenda not sugar to sweeten)

Family is why we moved too, it's the best reason of all. I am an only child as well except my parents are in there 80's, enjoy them as much as possible, time is very short.

Hmmm bantastic meals eh? Please let us know how you like them, are they pricy?

Home with 2 .. where in Kansas are you? I lived in KC Mo for a year way back when...