Kaydotrn

mmmm...margaritas! haha Steph. I am happy you are finding things that work for you. Variety is the spice of life, right? Take care.

Thanks for the welcome! I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was nice. I feel like I had a great holiday that focused on friends and family and less on gorging myself! I did not have that Last supper mentality at all. I am amazed these past weeks that I have stuck to a reasonable healthy eating plan. I can think of the hundreds of last suppers I had on Sunday nights before my new Monday "diet". I truly believe that is behind me now. YAY!

((((Nathalie)))) I am so happy to hear about yor moment of truth with your Dad! He sounds like a pretty great guy. I empathize with the feelings about your Mom and sister. I have a similair situation in that my mom is a size 2/4 and always has been. She has never understood where she got the "big" daughter. It has been hard for my entire life. She loves me and we are like best friends but I know she is embarassed of my size. I had been a normal kid but in her eyes I was fat and she started me on diets around puberty. She would drop me off at Diet Workshop or Weight Watchers at 13 years old to sit with a bunch of "old" women (my age now:) ) talk about cottage cheese and starving. Diets in those days were not about healthy balanced eating. It was deprivation! I think what happened then set me up for a lifetime of yo yo dieting which has led me to where I am today. I have taken responsibility for the food I put in my mouth...but I know that the root of all this food evil is from my childhood. I am sure this is not a new story for many of us. I am so excited to finally be the positive physical role model for my kids. I have been so concious of my pre-puberty daughter and trying to help her not have the body issues I had. She is a normal average size (looking back I was too) and she has such a great self esteem. She is aware of the importance of healthy foods to make her body grow and brain stay strong, exercise for the point of feeling good...all these things I never learned. I am proud that I have broken a potentially nasty cycle. Now I look forward to doing it for myself too! I am sorry I took off on this tangent..I just shared some of your feelings Nathalie and had to share.

I am amazed at all of you doing liquid diets. I enderstand the Doctor's orders of course..it just seems so tough without having the notion that there is a band in there that needs healing. I am prepared to do liquids after surgery and I know in my head I need to for healing reasons, but I wonder how well I would do at liquids before. It seems so tortuous. I guess we should be able to do anything for a couple of weeks. My doctor is thinking about implementing liquids pre-surgery but as of yet, he has not. I have been on WW for about a month, since one of my consultations and have lost the required 10 pounds and am hoping to lose another 8 to 10 before surgery. I am following his 30 minutes of exercise a day rule and 5 of the days I am doing at least 45 to 60 minutes of cardio. But the liquids thing I think would push me over the edge. Maybe I just have the wrong attitude. I wish you all the best of luck and success. Hang in there! I am sure you will do great. ~Kay

Hi Ariel, yes, I am from Boston too. I have not told anyone about the surgery except my husband, sister, mom and 1 of my kids. I would love to chat privately. Send me a message if you would like! ~kay

Sweethot-sorry to hear about your delay. Hope all your loan stuff gets squared away. I swear I posted on this thread before but maybe it was a different December bandster thread (maybe I am losing my mind:D ). I am scheduled for BIDMC on December 18th. I will be doing my pre-op December 11th. No diet to follow except for the day before but I have been reluctantly following weight watchers and have lost about 11 pounds. I was pretty freaked out that my liver was considered "enlarged and fatty" so I have been watching what I am eating and working out almost everyday. I am still in disbelief that I am having surgery so I am not sure if reality has set in yet. I think I want to still believe that i can do this by myself. Reality is that my health is deteriorating and I don't have the time to give it another try on my own. Anyway..glad to hear from you all. I look forward to talking more. ~Kay

Hi everyone, I have been lurking on this board and wanted to say hello. I am scheduled for surgery in a few weeks with Dr. Schneider. I am excited and nervous. I look forward to getting to know you all over the course of this. You all seem so supportive of one another. A little about me...I am 36, a mom of 2, and back in school. I am glad to get the opportunity to have the surgery while I am on my break to have the recoup time. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. ~Kay

Sorry to repost, but I think more banded people are in this forum.. Thanks for your patience! >> Hi all, I have been lurking here for months. I have gone through the pre-screening, psych, and u/s for surgery and meet with the surgeon to get my date tomorrow. Were any of you not 100% sure you wanted this? I am doing WW right now for the billionth time to try to get myself healthier before I go under and now I am thinking, can I do this on my own? I don't know why this would be any different since i can usually lose 40 of my 100 excess pounds and then gain it back. It is easy to be motivated in the beginning. I am just thinking I cannot waste another year of my life yo-yo dieting. I have to do this once and for all and the band may bethe only way I will succeed. I am just curious if those of you who were getting banded had any doubts or were gung-ho fromt he beginning? Thanks. ~Kay <!-- / message -->

I think it is really dependent on the practice you are going through. I went to my first Info session at the end of September. Two weeks later I had my first consultation appt with blood work, then there was a cancellation a week later and I got an appt with the psychologist, then a few weeks later the nutritionist. Then end of October I had my abdominal U/S. Last week I got the appt with the surgeon and I now had a date set for Dec. 18th. This is actually considered fast with the program. I lucked out on the cancellation to squeeze in. I think it is generally four months or so where I am. I saw the stack of applications from one week and it was HUGE. ~K

Hi all, I have been lurking here for months. I have gone through the pre-screening, psych, and u/s for surgery and meet with the surgeon to get my date tomorrow. Were any of you not 100% sure you wanted this? I am doing WW right now for the billionth time to try to get myself healthier before I go under and now I am thinking, can I do this on my own? I don't know why this would be any different since i can usually lose 40 of my 100 excess pounds and then gain it back. It is easy to be motivated in the beginning. I am just thinking I cannot waste another year of my life yo-yo dieting. I have to do this once and for all and the band may bethe only way I will succeed. I am just curious if those of you who were getting banded had any doubts or were gung-ho fromt he beginning? Thanks. ~Kay

Lori, I have been feeling the same. Feeling like a failure that I cannot do this on my own. Deep down I know it is not because I am lazy or gluttonous. I just can't look at my condition as a chronic disease even though I am being told that it is. Since I finally sat my 10 year old daughter down and told her what I am doing, I am now really excited and much more confident in my decision. I know I am in good hands and that this is the start of a new life. But there is that tiny little nagging negativity that is saying "are you crazy? just exercise more and eat less"...can it really be that simple?:phanvan ~Kay

Beversman, I hope your family comes around. It would be best for them to be supportive. Hang in there. You can do this!!!! I got my date today and I will be banded December 18th! I am still in shock. I was at school tonight and could not even call and tell my husband. I will tell him tomorrow. He is supportive as is my mom and sister. Aside from them, I have only told a friend who also had this done. I have not told my kids but am conflicted on telling my 10 year old (the younger one won't know the difference). I am keeping it a secret from most and I am not sure how to tell her...any advice?

Thanks for all of your replies. I got my surgery date today and am no feeling like this is more real. I think I felt like it was still jsut being researched. I understand what I am doing and I am looking forward to starting a new life.

Thanks so much for your replies. I was at my surgeon's appt today and I booked my surgery. I am feeling more certain this is the right think for me to do. I was blessed to bump into a woman having her follow up appt (1yr) and she was amazing to listen too. So happy with her decision. I think part of me cannot actually imagine me losing weight for real (more than toe 40 or so pounds I habe yo-yo'd for years! ~Kay

Congrats on the job! :clap2: I hope you love it! ~Kay

Hi, I am enjoying this thread. I am pre-op (going to surgeon tomorrow to hopefully get my date) and I have been thinking about the McD's thing. I have not had it for probably 2 months and had really cut down over the last 6 months or so. I was having that sick thought of :"what if I never have another burger again?" and wondering if I should try to dqueeze one in before surgery. I think I will pass but it is definitely something I considered. I have been following WW and trying to cut down onthe eating before the surgery so I will not have such a huge shock but it is tough! Anyone else have those pre-surgery cravings and did you give in??? I have 2 restaurant gift cards that I feel like I have to use up now since they will be such a waste after (is that nuts?). ~Kay