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Boy, where to begin. I would start with a all time favorite; matching bras and panties. Fredricks of hollywood is a wonderful store, but everything on the manequinns always look better on them than me :blushing: Then of course, I just want to be able to shop off the rack for a change. I actually hate shopping because everything I like is never in my size. I want to wear some fitted jeans with a fitted top that doesn't have lg rolls busting thru. And of course, I want to wear a gorgeous wedding gown, with all the bells and whistles and take pictures for the first time with a smile in 10 yrs. Mind you, I've been married for 14 yrs., but hate to see myself in those photos. I was 217lbs at the time. Not my dream photo.

I agree. My surgeon doesn't have me taking any B12 accept for what is in my multi. Maybe if my first round of blood work comes back bad they will do something- but I'm excited to see what info there is for sleeve patients in 5-10 years.

In 10 days I will have my surgery and my new chance begins.

So I cleaned out my garage today. Found 4 60Litre tote bins full of clothes that I have purchased over the years that either got too tight or were bought in smaller sizes in hopes that some diet at some time would work. Didn't realize how much clothes I had! So for now I'm going to stick with those. I am going to allow myself a certain $$ amount per month once I reach 199lbs (currently 248). I feel like the clothes I have will fit me until then. I won't be buying a new coat or boots this winter. I have pea coats from 3-4 years ago that we're too snug...but I remember I was about 220lbs when I bought them a few years back. Boots will be my great next year:) I hope to be at goal by next October goal being 130-140 lbs so far I have a size 10 dress I'm hoping will fit me in the spring/summer. My fiancé and I need to get some engagement pics done!!

My surgeon said to expect 15 pounds the first month and then 10 pounds each month after that. I know all surgeons are different. Bit Renee this is a tool not magic. It's a process that we have Togo through. Don't be so hard on your self. 20 pounds is amazing. Really think about that and it's 20 you will never see again. Take it one day at a time. Chin up.

Thank you everyone...I appreciate your responses. Only 10 days to go!! I am praying constantly and know that God paved the path ahead of me. I love that there are so many people that are in so many different places and we can all come together and share w/each other.... may we all be on the loosers bench <3

Good will for me. Right now depending on the brand I am either a size 10 or 12 - although most 12s are loose. Wearing loose pants with my extra lower belly skin does not look so good, so I have to make sure things fit. I really do have to complain about dress designers that make dress based a A or B cups. A 10 fits in the waist, but I need a 14 for my size C bust.

Hello Everyone! I am excited to be posting here...I lurk often but decided to get in here and ask my questions. I was banded 5 1/2 years ago. I was very successful and lost almost 100 lbs in about 10 months. I am sad to say that I am back at my pre-surgery weight today. I had many problems with acid reflux and had most of the saline let out of the band about 4 years ago and the rest is history. After much sadness and thought...I am 100% ready to get back on track and try again. I have an appointment on Tuesday for a fill. I am looking for some tips on how to get back on track. Does anyone have any tips for my fills...it has been so long. Acid reflux tips? Or has anyone been in my boat....lost a bunch, gained it back, then got back on track? Thanks everyone for your support. I am ready to do this!

I'm new to these boards and am just starting paperwork for lap-banding. I don't know how it will go with insurance approvals and what not. I'm a short girl 4'10" and weighed in on first visit at 172 BMI of 35.9. I come from a family of heavyweights. My dad had gastric bypass 5 years ago, and my baby sister is needing some medical surgery for weight loss as she's now tipping scales at about 300 lbs. I was told by a doctor, several times, that the dieting I have been doing the last five years has staved off the 250 pound girl in to the 160-170 pound girl I maintain well. I am afraid if I gain any more weight I'll balloon like my sister did. The 170's and beyond are the death trap for us. I tried weight watchers and it never worked, only when I was down to 800 calories a day did I lose... it was sad. I have a bunch of co-morbs; probably sleep apnea as everyone else in my family has it, pre-diabetic, UBER high cholesterol (genetic - average with a good diet is 206 for me was at 265), pretty severe depression and a bad back that my orthopedic said would get better if I could lose weigh. He said about every pound we lose, it's like 5 lbs off your back... Gosh, wouldn't that be lovely? So questions are... Anyone else here have Railroad health benefit coverage through United Health Care? If the 5 year history is overweight and not obese will I be denied given above co morbs? any clue? Why doesn't insurance cover the dietician, but they cover a sleep study? I was told that the doc I am working with has put through people under 35 bmi before... but the co morbs gotta be bad. I've also gotta find a way to lose my 10% weight as is required by my doc before I can have the surgery.... I am at a loss of how to do that minus diuretics and laxitives... Can anyone help? I would be so grateful....

I had my bypass on 7-7-17 & had a complication that led to a revision on 7-19-17. I have been doing well on my post op program outside of another complication(collapsed lungs).Lately, I been talking more about food that I had in the past(good food&bad food). When I saw a pizza hut commercial I saw the cheese&tomato sauce and it kind of perked me up to where I started discussing with my father how I loved cheese pizza with extra tomato sauce. Then later my dad asked me about oatmeal and honey and I was like oh I love oatmeal&honey and that conversation continued on with me telling him that adding butter to oatmeal & even steel oats are the best. Then I sat back in my recliner and just thought about how great oatmeal is. Then peanut butter & jam came up later in the day and I was like oh yes I love it. This has been the theme in the past 2 days. Im not tempted to have them but it is refreshing to talk about them. Is that weird? Has anyone else liked to talk about food they ate in the past? Im sure its just a phase iamready4this

My pre-op class is scheduled for Nov. 6. My surgery is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 19 at Morristown. Just waiting on letter of necessity from my PCP and then everything will be submitted to insurance for approval.

@@Smye i don't get it either as a "youngun" i was never aware of what/how much i ate i don't think i was conscious that i might have been starting a trend toward eating too much but never fear, my mom was around she started "mentioning" my weight when i was about 14 i wasn't TOO HEAVY, but i needed to loose about 20 lbs it would have been great if i had nipped the weight problem in the bud but it did not happen not from lack of trying as time went by i continued to gain weight here and there i married an "ok" guy when i was 19 years OLD had a wonderful daughter 2 years later his "contribution" to our daughter took him about 5 seconds took me 9 months!!!! 4 years into marriage my now "ex-husband" actually went to my parents "commenting" on his "displeasure" of my weight 8 years after i got married "more" of me got divorced at age 27!!! but i now had gotten rid of about 180 lbs due to divorce!!! got even more depressed food never argued with me 5 year old daughter and i moved in with my parents til i could get my feet on the ground (get a job and save some money) in a couple of years my parents suggested i go to a dating service so self-conscious i was afraid but.... parents REALLY wanted me out of the house but they care for me and trying to help me they paid for me joining a dating service i was afraid but i met my wonderful husband one of the things we had in common we were both over weight we went out to eat allll the time, loved it tom would say sometimes and laugh "i want some popcorn, let's go to the movies" surprise - I continued to gain heaviest weight 235 lbs (I am 5'3) after yo yoing through the years enough was enough i now had health "issues" high blood pressure, diabetes, wore CPAP enough was enough went to dr. proceeded with all the hoops of insurance to have the sleeve hubby was so helpful and supportive pre-op and post-op even took a week off from work to help me out!! turned out it wasn't necessary, but it was great!!! my new life started 12/15/11 (DOS) it took me almost 58 years before i started my journey but i did it!! the rest is sleeve history struggles here and there, still sometimes one year almost to the day after WLS i lost 105 lbs reaching my goal weight of 130 i am maintaining for the past 2.5+ years fluctuate here and there, but life is good i no longer have high blood pressure,diabetes, no more CPAP a HUGE NSV for me happened at about 6 months after WLS i had lost 60 lbs we found out the hard way i was taking too much medicine for my epilepsy (since i weighed less) all is good now - only need 1/2 my dosage - most wonderful thing that happened to me life continues to be great healthy and happy as i've mentioned before "I' am cute as a button!!" I "mentioned" a couple of times to hubby a few months after my goad how it would be great idea if he would loose 100+ lbs i realized very quickly, i was talking like my mother never mentioned it again i would love it if he did loose weight buttttt through thick and "thin" life is good next year my 39 year YOUNG daughter will Celebrate her 20 years of marriage !!! she has given us the 3 cutest grand-kids in the world (present company excluded) but, she had to move out of state 4 years ago, hubbies job her leaving was "ok" but she had the nerve to take our 3 grand-kids with her Ethan (7), Andrew (11), Morgan (14) LOL next year on our 25th wedding anniversary we are cruising to Alaska this is my story, and i'm sticking to it to the few that were brave enough to read this in its entirety you are a better person than I am i think i dozed off a couple of times while i was writing this "short" story i write as much as i talk Oh No!!!! this has been a lot about personal stuff therapeutic for me thanx for listening @@Smye, congrats on loosing 101 lbs you are now in the century club keep up the good work i know you will good luck what was your question again?? kathy

Hi everyone!! So, my biggest delima right now is what proceedure to choose...The sleeve or the bypass? Sorry, this may be long..but here is where the issues come from. My PCP is a former sleeve patient & swears by it. My surgeon will do either proceedure. However, he has concerns about the long term effects from the sleeve. He says it hasnt been out that long (vs the bypass), thus doesnt know the long term effects & results (10+ years, lifetime, etc). He used the example that the lapband had great success rates in the early stages (such as where the sleeve is at), but after about 7-8 years there were a lot of failures & revisions needed. I need to lose at least 90-100lbs. I am worried that the bypass may make me lose too much weight. How does your body regulate and say "okay, this is enough weight off.."? My PCP is totally against the bypass and says I need the sleeve... The surgeon says the bypass will give best results, has the best documented succecss rate over time, etc. ::facepalm:: now what? Who do I listen to? Otherwise, I am on month 3 of the 6 month supervised weight loss / diet.. Psych eval scheduled & sleep study scheduled in the next couple of weeks. Nut visit completed... Everything is ready for an approx surgery in Jan - Feb 2015. Help me decide!

I am going through the same thing. I haven't hit goal yet, but I am close. I had surgery 10 months ago and have lost 139 pounds so far. For the last month or so, I've been letting myself have popcorn and a few bagels. It's such a slippery slope, and it has stopped my weight loss in its tracks. I can't help but wonder if I'm suddenly eating these foods again not because they're my favorite, but because so many people have made such a big deal about my loss (in a positive way) that maybe psychologically I don't like the attention? I have read that people like myself get big to hide behind it. And now that I'm getting attention, I'm uncomfortable with it. I don't know for sure that's the answer, but it's a theory. Even on my wedding day I didn't care to be the center of attention. So I might be onto something.

You could very well be in what is caused perimenopause, although that would be early. It goes on for 10 years before actual menopause. Insomnia can start in perimenopuase. Sometimes doctors will prescribe anti depressants for people who can't sleep. some of them cause people to feel drowsy but you have to be careful cause the side effect for a lot of them is weight gain. if he offers you any antidepressant, look it up online.

Glad to see this posting. For the past 2 weeks, I have had next to no sleep. I did the sleep study before surgery and didnt have "bad" apnea (not bad enough to be a co-morbidity). For years and years, I would fall asleep easily, but wake up at exactly 3am every night. After surgery, I slept great, especially once I started losing weight. I actually slept through the night for the first time in over 10 years! My job is not so stressful (actually our busy time starts at the end of August, ugh) and I'm not waking up worrying about deadlines or anything. Im exhausted all day, yawning constantly and taking Vitamins trying to stay awake. When I lay down, I feel anxious and nervous..thinking about 100 things I need to do over the next days, months..whatever. This is crazy! right now I'm taking a 1/2 pill or maybe 1 pill of the Tylenol Simply Sleep. That puts me out pretty good. I took Lunesta for awhile before surgery, but at $60 a month, I just cant do that. I'm going to try some of the recommendations in this thread to see if it gets any better...I hate this feeling and really hate that my boss sees me yawning non-stop. :biggrin: one question - does anyone else get the anxious/nervous "knot in your stomach" feeling when trying to go to sleep? Its almost like a scared feeling - I about come out of my skin whenever I hear a noise. Thanks. :smile2: going to go take my 1/2 pill now and try to get some sleep...

Beadhead if you would like to know about good fat vs bad fat I would suggest reading. The Perfect 10 diet. It is a great book with great infromation about saturated fats, and other oils. I am sure the fat in the egg is better than the fat in the cheese you put on your eggs. Even if it is low fat.

Hey @@haleytrim I don't mind being the recipe trying guinea pig! I'll be sure to post each recipe I try and my personal review when was your surgery date? I was sleeved on 10/21. Very pleased to meet you

I didnt do so well....I wasnt able to eat much at all. I received a fill last week on 11/19 and i am really feeling restriction. I am up to 6.25cc in my band and i can barely eat anything, I thought about having some taken out but the dr said I am fine. If I am throwing up then we have a problem. I can eat but i guess I just have to get used to eating very small amounts. That was different for me for this thanksgiving. I was only able to eat a bite or two of turkey macoroni and spaghetti. But this is what I asked for and on the positive note I am down 11 pounds in just one week after this last fill.

Hi there, I was wondering if any women out there were on their monthly cycle during the procedure? My surgery is scheduled for May 19, and at that time, I will be on my cycle. My surgeon said it was fine, but I was just wondering what anyone who went through this thought? I'm kind of nervous about it. Thank you!

I really needed to read the exchanges regarding this subject today and I'm so glad I did. It sounds like I am not alone. I had my band implanted on May 20. I had my first fill of 2 cc added to my 10 oz. band on June 27. I don't feel hungry for meals or in-between meals, but I seem to have little to no restriction for eating things that I was hoping for. The thing that is very discouraging is that I have not lost any weight since my fill. I'm still at 261. I seem to be a plateau of some kind. I am grateful for this because I normally go UP and UP with my weight. I have lost 26 pounds so far but I'm anxious to lose more. I've been the same weight for 3 weeks. I have another fill in a few weeks and I hope that will give me more restriction. I want to be restricted because I eat so much less and it scares me. I don't return to the insanity of gaining/losing, etc. Ths concept that the restriction "kicks in" is very interesting to me. My doctor said after my first fill to go on liquids for 24 hours (Soup, Protein drinks) which I did but after the 24 hours passed, I realized I could eat almost anything. I am still on track in many ways (eating good things and exercising) but I wonder if this restriction will kick in soon or I will have to have several fills before the restriction takes effect. I encourage others that are ahead of me to write in their experience regarding this subject of feeling restricted with foods and fills.

that's exactly how I'm doing...my second fill was just the other day 7/10 and last nite and dinner and today at Breakfast, but after waiting I was able to eat ok...I'm thinking I hadn't chewed a bite well enough and had to wait for it to move down...weird, but still I can eat more that I thought I'd be able to. :confused2:

I am getting ready to head to the hospital. Check in time is 8am and surgery is at 10:30 unless someone cancels. I can't believe this day is finally here. Wish me luck!

Even though I just had surgery on Monday, I've already had a non scale victory! When I logged today's weight into my fitness pal, it said because I had lost more than 10 pounds, they had to recalculate my goals. I know my calorie goal was over 1300 (which I thought was a bit much) but now it's down 1240. I'm totally psyched! I'm not logging my food right now because I'm just on full liquids. I'm nowhere close to the amount of calories I should be having, so I don't see the sense in it. I love this app!!

Tonight I had a conversation with my friend (best friend for over 16 years). She was asking me about my weight loss and what I weighed now. As of this morning I am 267, down from 295. She said, "Oh! Three more pounds and I'm going to hate you! I've always been at least 10 pounds lighter than you. If I weigh more than that, I'll hate myself!" WTH? I kind of laughed it off, since I really didn't know what to say. I love her, but that stung. I'm the fat one, right? Uggg. Any one else have this issue with friends? Did the friendships last through the weight loss? Did it help overweight friends to focus on a weight loss plan/get surgery?