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Welcome to Banster HELL!!! Dont worry it will get better after a few fills (maybe more) when you reach restriction the weight will come off...

This topic is SO ON TIME for me.. but my problem is a bit different. Has anybody out there had THIS problem??? I can't tell my HUSBAND. He is very terrified of doctors and surgeries, and already considers me a hypochondriac (which I am not). He will be totally against this, and think I have gone insane, having my stomach cut out. But, as some of you point out, you have to let somebody know something, and it's pretty hard to hide this from someone that you live with... so I DO think that I can tell him I have decided to have a Lap 'Band. He knows what they are, he's heard me talk about them, and we have discussed other people who have had them. He hates that idea too, but he could live with it, although he won't like it. My question is: Do you think I can pass off a VSG as being "only a lap band?" Are the recoveries fairly similar? He has a major ICK factor going, so won't ask to see my port or anything like that... but if he has this idea that I can have this surgery reversed, and that it is safe and minor, it is going to be much easier for me to deal with than trying to tell him the truth. I feel terrible about excluding him from what's really going on, but honestly.. .it's MY body, MY health, and MY decision. I would love to hear how any of you may have handled having a spouse who is dead set against weight loss surgery, and what your coping strategy was. Thank you, all!

Holey Moley that is alot of things to do!! I didn't have to do anything other than all the doc visits. I don't understand the need for "2 yr weight history that detailed 40+ bmi, documented weight loss attempts, documented physical activity and food journaling" Why can't we just send them pictures of ourself overweight 2 years ago and todayk still overweight. Do they ask pregnant women to prove that they are ready to have a kid? psych visits, can you take care of your baby visits, 2 year proof that you are "fit" to be a mommy? I'm so glad my insurance doesn't make me do this, but I just don't see the reason for other insurance companies to demand it!! Ok, stepping off my soap box now.

And by the way - I love what Von said about tossing the scale. Fact is, if you eat the diet the doc gave us and get as active as your life can bear - the weight will come off and the number just don't matter. Living long, well is the goal. And this step takes us all closer to that.

:thumbup::ohmy: I went over the weekend to some stores in search of spring clothing until I reach my goal weight I wanted to refresh my wardrobe..I hate these plus size clothing anymore..Its more incentive for me to stay on the right path... Fashion Bug Gitano jeans dont feel right..they are huge in the thigh area...I carry most of my weight in my stomach.. Marshalls Have brands I never heard of and they have apple bottoms jeans that look terrible TJ Maxx nevermind.... The Galleria @ Crystal Run Middletown NY All of the clothing stores..aeropostale..gap..hollister..aerie and others dont carry plus size... I hate walking in the food court and the chinese place is handing out samples..ugh...sorry I had to vent!!!!

How exciting. I am still waiting for my surgery date. Someone from the surgery center should be calling sometime soon (I hope). I just had my EGD and ultrasound done on Friday 1/16 which for me is the last step since I've already jumped through all of the other hoops. I am so glad to hear that you are doing well and feel better from the weight loss already. New's like this is so inspiring. I can't wait to go shopping for new clothes one day either.

Hello everyone. It's great to find this website. I was banded on July 6, 2009 so I am nearly 1.5 years post surgery. So far, it has been good in that I have lost now 94.5 pounds with about 60 more left to lose so I have absolutely no regrets about this. What I struggle with is looking at what is yet undone/unachieved and wondering if I have the emotional & physical stamina to keep on doing what I need to do to get the rest of the weight off vs to I just give in and accept this current weight as "good enough". Has anyone else found themselves in this place and if so, what did you do?

Hi there, After having followed the site for some time, I am posting here for the first time to get some advise! Height - 4'11 HW - 222 Current Weight - 215 My surgeon has given me both options - Sleeve OR Bypass! I don't have any GERD issue or anything that may tilt the balance on one or the other. So can I please get some advise so I can make up my mind on what to choose?! I have PCOS and I want to lose about 100 pounds for my PCOS related side effects to come to a good halt. So maximum weight loss or as much as I can is definitely a key for me. Hence I was thinking *Bypass*, but then I have also followed some posters here and they have lost the same amount with Sleeve too! I would preferred Sleeve too because of little less side effects in future. But then I also don't want to get Sleeved and then not lose the desired weight, having to regret the decision not to have picked Bypass. I have also read how average weight loss is more or less similar to both in the 5 yr study, so why do some pick *Bypass* over *Sleeve*?! Any advise would be great so I don't pendulum on the options and pick one of the two!

I keep trying to calm my mind, but I can't. I think part of the reason is that I have always been bigger than others and eventually I found myself being obese. So to have this surgery which will help me get this weight off and become a normal weight again is mind boggling. But I am excited to start this next chapter of my life.

LOL, these are funny! My neighbor across the street is a bit grumpy and he never looks up nor says hello, even when you say hi to him. A few weeks back he whipped his head around, walked toward the front of his house as if to cross the street and yells out "you've lost a ton of weight, you look great!" I had to crack up right there. I could barely say thank you! He never says a peep nor appears to notice anything but dang, he saw this!!! AND yelled it out. My husband and I laughed and laughed when I told him. Now we joke back and forth pretending to yell accross the house "you look great!" :-)

Wow. You are doing great with your weight loss. Thank you for the help.

I was given the ok for cardio when I went for my post op check up at 9 days post op and told to wait like 2 or 3 more weeks to start with the weight machines. Every doc is different though

So, with fitness, I need to develop new habits. My whole life, I've been a fairly cerebral guy, and I've never been one for sports or fitness. My career -- as a computer programmer -- is both mentally and financially rewarding, but it is very sedentary. Being the guy who was usually "picked last for the team" (due to obesity; by nature I have the build of a football player, but since I'm so sedentary, my body was always soft and unformed) I never cared much for organized sports. So, I'm facing a fairly large hill to climb trying to change a lifetime of sedentary habits into one of good habits. I have a few weapons in my arsenal that I'm going to try to use, however. I have always had problems with depression and anxiety. Most of these stem from poor sleep (when I sleep well, I have NO problems, but I almost never sleep well due to sleep apnea!) and too much caffeine (which, again, I abuse due to being tired all the time). One thing I've discovered in the last ten years or so is that nothing will calm me down and "level out" and improve my mood like some hard cardio work will. So I'm hoping to use this to combat the inevitable post-surgery blues. Boredom. Let's face it, I get bored easily, and I have often tended to eat out of boredom. I won't be able to do this (as much) after surgery, and I'm going to need something to replace eating with. I'm hoping that I can replace eating with exercise to entertain myself. One problem is that I find traditional gym-style exercise very, very boring. Weightlifting is okay (because you can try different machines, and different weights) but machine cardio is the most boring thing on earth. So hopefully, I'll be able to find some entertaining ways to keep moving and keep fit. I've always enjoyed martial arts, but since my 20's I've been too heavy to really get into it; I'm hoping to take it back up. At almost 40 I will probably be the oldest one in the class, but what the hey, it's good for me. Understanding how habits work for me. I've realized that it's really hard to quit a bad habit, and almost as hard to start a new habit out of the blue. From what I know about myself, what works best is substituting one habit for another, worse habit. I'm hoping to use this to learn how to substitute healthy fitness habits for older, unhealthy, sedentary habits. I would LOVE to hear any advice people have on these topics. I really, really, really have to make fitness and exercise a habit now, and make it lifelong. I'm not just doing the sleeve to lose the fat; I want to really make a turnaround in my whole body health and learn how to stop being my body's enemy, and start seeing it as my friend, my vessel, and my ally.

Yup. food is an addiction like any other addiction. That's why I hate the attitude of those not addicted who say, oh just shut your pie hole and you'll lose the weight. OK then, just stop drinking and you'll be OK, or just stop shooting up and you'll be OK. Our addiction is the hardest one to overcome. You can stop drinking, you can stop drugs, you can stop gambling. You can't stop eating. Every day, every moment, we are faced with our addiction and forced to make a choice as to whether or not to give in to that addiction. I'm so proud of everyone on this forum and even those who are not. Kudos to all the people who struggle daily to get healthier and overcome this addiction.

I am posting this merely as an educational tool. Not to persuade you to keep or change your decision. Normal BMI is considered 18.5- 24.9. Docs will say 22 is your ideal, 24 min goal. I've also posted the other BMI categories below. Per your goal weight, you would be a BMI of 28.4= overweight. Now with that being said, all the numbers don't matter (weight nor BMI) as much as what your weight looks like on YOUR frame. Just keep this in mind as you near goal. For some of us (uh hum ME lol) who have never been thin at any point in their life, it is very difficult to determine what is ideal. Anything under 200 was once a goal of mine. But I am now 150-155 range BMI 23.6-24.3 and can still see room for improvement. I think of this whole process as a river... it's fluid and everchanging. Set lots of goals but understand that setting an end goal may not actually be your goal at all you may reach goal earlier or need to make a new goal to go further Cheers and good luck BMI Categories: Underweight = <18.5 Normal weight = 18.5–24.9 Overweight = 25–29.9 Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater The BMI Tables

I've been overweight my entire life. Done the merry-go-round of yo-yo dieting. And I struggled with bulimia starting at the age of 13. 4 months before my 20th birthday, I sought out counseling for my eating disorder, and came clean to my husband and my family. After months of counseling I realized my body wasn't getting any healthier, and the warped mindset I had/have from my years of distorted eating were making it impossible for me to adopt a healthy eating style, all I would do is diet for a couple of weeks and fall back into old habits. On top of all of that my husband and I had been trying to conceive since we got married (2 years ago) and were having no luck.( I am thankful now that I wasn't able to conceive because my mind was not in the right place.) Anyways I had gone to talk to my OB/GYN about our difficulty conceiving and she assured me that it was because of my weight, and that is how I got put on the pathway in February of this year. On August 26th 2011 my life was forever changed. This year I celebrated my 21st Birthday (Nov 18th) 53lbs lighter than I was on my last bday. My sleeve has given me so much. It's helped me (well that and counseling) to realize that I don't need food to comfort me and the detrimental cycle of binging and purging is absolutely worthless. I feel good about being able to nourish my body. Something I have never seen in what I eat. I eat food for it's nutritional value to my body, not because I have a hole inside that I am trying to fill. This was my first Thanksgiving where I was truly able to enjoy the company of my loved ones and not be focused on having to empty out my stomach so I can fill it again 3 more times. I'm no longer self conscious about eating in front of others, and I just feel like the whole world has opened to me. I never would have been to this point without the support of my husband either. I'm not saying that the sleeve "cured" my bulimia, because I still hear that nasty little voice in the back of my head on occasion (particularly lately since my weight loss progress has slowed a bit). But I am saying that it has given me the self restraint to not give into my defeatist alter ego. I will forever be grateful that I was given this chance, because for the first time in the last 8 years I have been able to live my life without fear of food. And that to me is absolutely priceless. Sorry for the book lol.

Hi, I have been off the pill for approximately 9 years and do not use any birth control as such except hubby uses condoms, if you can call that birth control? I don't believe it should affect your weight loss if you go off but remember it will take time to get out your system. With the sleeve, and losing weight, your body will adjust and because of the high level if Proteins you probably will become more fertile. I recommend following your surgeons recommendations. Mine told me I should not fall pregnant for at least a year to get the best outcome from my sleeve... Hard but we are doing as told .... 8 months to go lol Best of luck !

This is NOT true. Sleeve people can lose just as much excess weight as Rny'ers. I was sleeved 2 years 3 months ago and lost 130lbs. This is a fallacy that needs to stop. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I am currently doing my 6 month medically supervised diet. I had my first check-in with my doctor on 8/13/13. I gained two pounds. Ugh! This 6 month diet is an insurance requirement. My question is: what is my insurance company expecting from me during this diet? Do they want to see that I can stick to a diet and lose weight to prove that I can handle the post-op diet, or are they just confirming that I cannot lose weight on a diet? My diet consists of 1800 calories a day and I'm not even coming close to that. I've also been walking/running on a regular basis. Please advise on what the insurance company wants to see. Thanks!

@@bobbyswife Thanks! I'd have to lose a LOT of weight to get to that point, so that's not a problem hah!

Hi everyone...i have my sleeve surgery date set for feb 4th..and i was wondering how much weight everyone lost during this time period? Im terrified that i won't lose enough for the surgery. So far i have lost 11 pounds and its hard..i hope im not this hungry in the weeks after surgery! Definitely feeling nervous but also excited for this journey to start

I started to type this in response to another post...Then stopped. I did not want that OP to feel I was criticizing her/him. I read post here everyday from people seeking "Self Control" and "You can do it", etc, etc. So I started this post, and this is in reference to ME, and MY experiences only! And also to the Lap band...don't know what other WLS's are like. Can only speak about myself and my Lap band. You're looking for self control....????? For myself, I have absolutely no self control...I could eat all day, non stop...an empty pit... That is what made me "Morbidly Obese" and was affecting my health...killing me to be specific. So, as a last resort, I had WLS, specifically Lap Band... Through restriction (as people like to refer it to), that is where I found my self control...it's the band, not me... I tried loosing weight over the past 30+ years, and failed miserably at every attempt. I had NO self control. If I did, I would not be Obese!!! And I was not Obese, then I would not have needed WLS and I would not be sitting here typing this right now. Last summer, I was feeling pretty good about myself, having been 100% successful for 3 years, and went in and asked to have 1/2 cc taken out. Dr. and staff said I was doing excellent, why mess with something if it's not broken? But they did it, because I asked them to...call it an experiment. BIG MISTAKE! The self control I thought I had, disappeared !!!...I started to eat more, a lot more with less control... It took that little to tip the cart...that perfect balance...the old ways began to swiftly come back.... I went back and had that 1/2 cc put back in ASAP! The people there had a good chuckle at my expense saying "I told you so" So yes, call it an experiment, and now I am certain...IT IS The Band! and Not Me! Without the band, I loose self control with food and eating....the band is where my control comes from. There was a post, where the OP said they had good restriction, the band was working, yet they had no self control and could not stop eating........I'm sorry. But in my experience anyway, it can't go both ways...if you have no self control, then the band is not working...or you never had surgery.... Least that is the way it is for me. Ever since then, when I read various posts about this and that problem, issue, I want to scream..."Why are you talking that way...., you did have WLS didn't you?" Yet I read posts and the discussion could easily have been cut and pasted from any weight loss site, and not that where people had surgery.... It's early, maybe I'm being nit-pickey....but like I said n the beginning as a disclaimer, , this is how I feel about My surgery....this is why I had surgery....and that's my focus when I come to this site..... WLS, specifically Lap band, has done for me what I could never have done on my own....

They're just being parents, it's what they do....I would, in a non-rant moment, say something like 'I know you guys are worried, and I appreciate that, but I'm an adult and I've made my decision. I am nervous and scared and would appreciate you supporting me in this'. If that doesn't work then I'd use the 'if you don't have anything once to say then don't say anything at all' line Likely....they mean well....they're probably just scared . GOOD LUCK!!!! HW 312, pre-op (lap-band) 294, pre-op (RNY) 255, surgery date 2/11/13, goal weight 154, current weight 221.6

You might be able to use light wrist weights while on the tredmill, just a thought. I walk with 3pds in each hand, and 5 pds on each leg. I also have a weight belt. I used to use 5 pd hand weights, too difficult when I bring the puppy with me for power walks. Hope this helps.