Nevgal

I would like to propose a moratorium on the word “only”. As in I “only” lost … pounds. Remember pre-band when you were gaining during the holidays, as in I “only” ate 12 Cookies and a ham and I “only” gained 10 pounds. Every pound lost is cause for celebration. Everyone will lose at their own pace so don’t compare yourself to others and embrace every victory however small. Staying the same weight is still a victory during the eating season. Say it proudly. “I lost … pounds”. That’s the “only” thing I have to say today. Merry Christmas everyone. I’m sitting in a blizzard and loving it.

I think you already answered your own question. If you are limiting your calories and each finger food has at least 100 calories then you could eat 6 and that's all for your day. Sounds like you shoud stick with your routine eating and pick one great finger food to eat. Then walk away and mingle. It will be easier to do this when you have restriction but practice makes perfect. Good luck.

Why is there an ad for Mt. Zion over my post????? Not cool. I am not a band advertiser. I hate the new site. Just saying.

12 hours post-op. Sipping a lovely beef broth. Taking my Percocet elixer every 4 hours. It's best to stay on top of pain as previously stated. Ask for Zofran for nausea, it is the best anti-nausea med on the planet. I had a small hiatal hernia repair (unknown to me) and woke up with 10/10 pain in my chest and left shoulder. That lasted about 3 hours, nothing semed to help but reassurance from the nurse that I wasn't dying. Now I'm uncomfortable 4/10 pain on Percocet so not too bad. It helps to have someone help you our of a chair, bed etc cuz it hurts a lot to pull with your belly muscles. As I posted a few days ago: Visualizing a safe and comfortable recovery in the hands of a caring doctor and curses really does help recovery. You can even visualize liking broth and jello (kind of works). Good Luck to all my November bandits. Visualizing successfull weight loss at this very minute.

That is a tough one. I am being banded 6 days before Thanksgiving so will be on full liqiuds. I told the fam that we are having a simple dinner at home, no friends, no outside relatives, etc. I don't think I could deal with all the 'splaining if we ate with other people. Good luck with your Mom. I guess Mom's just need to feed ya and feed ya and feed ya. Hmmmm Maybe that's why we end up with bands. lol

For everyone having surgery; Try to visualize yourself having a safe surgery, easy recovery, little pain, no nausea and no hunger. There is real power in visualization. I'll keep you in my thoughts.

I'm with you. My surgery is Nov. 11 at 10:30 am. I'll keep you in my thoughts.

I have Cigna and they cover weight loss surgery of course the employers sometimes set the parameters for what will be covered. I agree about calling with the CPT code and get a definitive answer and ask the surgeon's staff for help. Good luck. Maybe this is just a minor road block.

Funny, neither one of us can read, soccermom 24 from Nevga. Lol

Hey soccermom24: I'll be with you on the 11th. I'm a little scared but I'm more scared of staying fat. Best wishes to you. I'll look for your posts.

Cigna approved my surgery today so I'm good to go. Now I'm nervous. I thought they would deny me so I was excited but didn't think it would really happen. Anyone else feel like they will be the first and only Lapband failure? I'm ready but since I can never stay on a diet I keep thinking that I will fail.....again. The best part... I don't have to cook Thanksgiving Dinner for everyone. I plan to make an excuse like, I had my gallbladder out last week and can't eat a bite. AKA Find someone else to make the feast. And I don't have to clean up either, I'll be too tired from the "gallbladder surgery". So many white lies. So refreshing to say that I'm over my famliy's eat till you're stuffed traditions. Ok, I'm officially scared.

I have a surgery date, November 12. I'm surprisingly not scared. I am struggling with who to tell. The best advice so far has been, "you can't untell someone", so I'm telling my husband, closest sister and probably my twenty year old sons. I was wondering about the comments we all hear about WLS. It's a cope out. It's the easy way out, blah, blah, blah. But I realize that I have never taken the easy path in my life. I have taken the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference. In my life I am successful because I use the tools available to me to succeed, I ask for help when I need it and I never forget where I came from. The Lapband journey is another example of using these behaviors for success.

Just playing with my signature.

Oh yeah November 12th. Got my insurance approval letter today and the surgery is ON. I actually thought that they would deny me. My BMI is just 35. The funny thing is that my surgeon's office said not to lose weight pre-op and I lost 6 pounds. Go figure. Why didn't someone tell me NOT to lose weight sooner and I wouldn't be obese. Very funny. Good luck to all November bandsters. We need a fun name. Never fat again Novembers? Nice to be thin again Novembers. Bandalistas Novembers (no idea what that means). Best wishes for everyone in November and Let's Gitter Done.

Wow, Is that a waist I see? You go girl. Looks like that liver shrinking jazz is true. Congrats and glad you are feeling well enought to shop.

It's official. My surgery is scheduled on November 12. I took 10 days off work. Still struggling with the white lies and ommisions around my surgery. I keep remembering wise lapband talk advice. "you can't untell". I went to my first meeting with the surgeon on 8/23/10. I weighed 232 and today at the gym I weighed 224 before any official pre-op diet. Oh yay, I am so ready. I increased my work outs to 5 days a week. Swimming 2 days, cycling 2 days and walking 1-2 days. My secret fantasy is to do a triathalon before I turn 50 next year. I think I can do everything but the running now. Guess I'll check out Couch to 5 K. I'm surprisingly not scare and I feel really prepared thanks to this site and several BOOB blogs. For purposes of full disclosure, I will never use a smiley face in my posts, especially the animated ones. They remeind me of clowns and do I have issues with clowns. That's another post. LOL

I jumped on the scale today. Really? Down 4 pounds since I saw the nutritionist and PCP. I'm good at losing but have trouble keeping off. I hope I don't lose too much and drop my BMI and can't have surgery. I know you guys get my messed up thinking. I'm so motivated to get the LAP-BAND® so I have a fall back plan on the diet days that I forget I'm dieting. PBing and slimeing will be a good deterrent. I'm a little nervous about my psych eval. I'm not crazy but I'm not sure I want anyone exploring my head either. Anyone finished with pysch? How did it go? What do they do? Yummy can of tuna for lunch. Getting my protein in.

Hi Nancy I am seeing my surgeon on Sept. 23 and I'm pretty sure I will have to follow a supervised diet for 6 months with Cigna also. I'm so excited about the band but the 6 month wait is a time to try on the small portions and protein shakes. I feel very motivated after seeing the nutritionist and doing my online research here. I'll check in after my appointment and look for your posts over the next few months. Hang in there and jump through all the hoops.