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Thinking of you, Shammah! Karen, yay!! See, I mentioned you and Zumba, and you Zumba'ed back into the thread! Woot! I went shopping with a friend yesterday. Did you know I am a size 1? Ha! Chicos has a very odd form of sizing. But I got 4 new pair of pants and 3 sweaters. How fun! Got rid of 3 pair of pants in the closet. It is odd to be wearing clothes out rather than growing out of them! Found a great sale at Banana Republic, 40% off their clearance stuff. Got a pair of Cords for $9.00. Too bad I could not find more! Stacie---did the headaches coincide with the new BCPs? Migraines can be hormone related. I had a doctor take me off birth control pills completed trying to get my migraines under control. Turns out mine are not hormone related at all, but I am just curious about the timing of it for you. I was put on a medicine called Topamax in September 2009. It is an anti-seizure drug, but has worked miracles for my migraines. It is also one of the few preventive medicines that does not cause weight gain. I used to go through Imitrex (maximum of 9 per month) like it was candy, and when I took them they did not stop the migraine like the were supposed to. I'd run out about half-way through the month. Now one 9-pill bottle lasts me about 3 or 4 months. Ok, gotta get back to work!

I take Zoloft for clinical depression and anxiety. I took it for years before surgery and am still taking it. I also take birth control pills(yes even at 50) or I will have trouble with cysts. I have lost weight maybe slower than others but I am 50. if you do not mind what antidepressant are you on? Some can cause weight gain. I gained 40 lbs. on Paxil over a 4 month period. It takes at least a month up to 6 weeks for them to kick in and you really feel a difference. You might also consider this. if you are an emotional eater and food was your friend and now it is not there to comfort you . . . it can make you feel crazy, looking for something to make you feel like you do when you can eat for comfort. I do not know you so you may not be an emotional eater but if you are that might be your problem and if you are stressed and depressed it is a tough road to go down without food. If you think that is you go see a therapist and learn some coping skills. That is what I have to rely on. Cheri

Got an e-mail from Kaye Bailey who is the nurse practitioner whoo works with bariatric patients and who developed the 5 day pouch test. I have found a lot of her information very helpful and when I read this I thought it might help some of you. If you want to read more you can click on the link "5 day pouch test" below and you'll find her site. I hope it's okay to re-post it --- it's such good information. <P done13="5">Three Keys to Lasting Weight Loss Surgery Success Nearly a quarter-million people in the United States will undergo weight loss surgery this year to arrest their morbid obesity and lose weight. In spite of the drastic nature of gastric surgeries not all patients will reach a healthy weight and some may eventually regain weight they lost initially with surgery. 5 Day Pouch Test Store By Kaye Bailey Nearly a quarter-million people in the United States will undergo weight loss surgery this year to arrest their morbid obesity and lose weight. In spite of the drastic nature of gastric surgeries not all patients will reach a healthy weight and some may eventually regain weight they lost initially with surgery. Obesity is not a simple cosmetic problem of excess body weight than can be corrected with surgery. It is a metabolic disorder where the body stores an abnormal amount of body fat. Bariatric surgeries help arrest the disease by reducing the amount of calories a person may eat and some surgeries reduce the amount of nutrients the body absorbs and stores as fat. The surgery does not remove the disease but with patient compliance weight is lost and obesity can be put in remission. Chances for healthy weight loss and weight maintenance with surgery can improve with patient commitment to recovery. Patients must accept that the burden of treatment for their disease obesity is with them. Bariatric counselors tell patients the surgery is only a tool and it is up to the patient to use it correctly. This applies to all procedures including gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, and adjustable gastric banding (lap-band). There are three pro-active things patients can do to use their tool wisely: Use the Tool Wisely. Lifestyle: Accept that bariatric surgery brings with it an entirely different lifestyle that you must adopt for the rest of your life. Unlike conventional diets there is no finish line: surgery requires an almost religious-like lifestyle change. Patients must follow a high Protein, low carbohydrate diet every day for the rest of their life in order to lose weight and maintain that weight loss. Patients will need to avoid simple carbohydrates including sugary snack foods and fried food. Snacking, when allowed, must be mindful including lean protein and low-glycemic fruits and vegetables. liquid restrictions mean no beverages before or after meals and no drinking with meals: this helps the surgical pouch work correctly. Patients learn and accept that some things will make them sick, smells will affect them differently, and sometimes they will feel emotionally blue because of the irreversible restrictions of surgery. We have this life-changing surgery with all its restrictions and then return to the very environment in which we became obese: of course we suffer feelings of sadness at times. Support: As with other life-changing disease, patients seeking treatment and recovery from morbid obesity with surgery benefit from support. While no one can understand another persons exact journey we can certainly share the collective experience of obesity, life long dieting and weight gain, and finally the somber decision to undergo treatment with surgery. While patients are likely to cluster to support groups both live and online before surgery and in the first year following surgery, there is a tendency to drift away from support groups as time passes. Evidence suggests, however, that solid support relationships are a key in sustaining personal efforts for health, weight control and wellness with bariatric surgery. Activity: The inclusion of physical activity as part of lifestyle change with surgery will make a difference in the long term successful weight management of bariatric patients. Early post-operative patients are directed to get 150 minutes of exercise a week, that is about 20 minutes a day. Patients who do this and more will successfully manage their weight loss and weight maintenance. Patients who regain weight often admit they never really got around to including physical activity in their new lifestyle. Studies indicate exercise need not be strenuous or exhausting. Physical activity simply must move us beyond the normal motion required of daily life. Weight loss surgery patients tend to idolize their surgeons and bariatric teams crediting them with restoring their health. But long after the surgical wounds have healed and the routine checkups are simply annual office visits it is up to the patient to own their surgical tool and manage it in a way that keeps their disease in remission. Janet, glad to hear from you -- sorry about the computer problems - it's hard without it. Apples, yes, go buy one of the readers and let me know which one you decided to buy - I'm interested in them also - I just know for sure you want to be sure to get one that you can download books from anywhere (like Amazon) -- some of the ones sold at the bookstores are limited to buying only books from them (or so I've heard). Glad you're having a good time - lol I wouldn't go back to the winter either after spending time away -- that's why I don't plan to go until I don't have to come back. Gotta run -- ultrasounds went well this a.m. Hoping to hear results today. Love your new pic LauraK-- you look fabulous!!! Love you all. Linda

Stacey, I have no experience with birth control pills, but I've seen some other threads where people talked about weight gain as a result. Three pounds though...that sounds like maybe Water weight (wishful thinking, am I? ). Nah...we'll call it good thoughts. Are you logging your food into something like fitday.com? Is it possible that you have some hidden calories there? Just thinking out loud. .

I had my sleeve done two weeks ago and lost 13 pounds in the first week. I weight myself today and I have put on 2 pounds, so it's an 11 pound loss in two weeks. I'm sure it's either water weight or a stall but I'm just wondering if that's something fairly typical this early on?

I don't think you are snarky. I do not eat bread, pasta, crackers, cookies, cake etc....almost anything that contains flour. I don't tolerate gluten well. I basically eat meat and veggies and occasionally fruit. I do eat candy occasionally. I do not eat alot of slider foods, I guess potato chips would be my one downfall. Those won't be in the house after I have surgery! I wish I knew why I have gained to this weight...wouldn't we all! hahaha When I was a child I was chubby and by the time I graduated HS I weighed 205. I lost alot of weight with a Weight Watcher's type plan at age 19 and stayed in the 103-135 range for years. I had gained up to 230 and now weigh about 215 after cutting out the gluten foods. I have sleep apnea, and take 3 blood pressure meds. After my youngest son was born I gradually started to gain. When I started driving a school bus it increased. I'm sitting ALOT and I think that's part of the problem. I watch almost every new driver start puttin on the pounds after driving a while. It's a stressful tiring job, so in the evenings I'm too tired to exercise...thus the weight gain...which causes me to be more tired....etc, etc, etc. Three drivers had the DS surgery and about 5 have had RNY. I'm 58 years old and that is part of it too, I'm sure. My surgeon told me that he thinks the sleeve will work great for me and had (unknown to me) set my goal at 140....after my last appointment he changed it to 130. When I told him I was worried about not being a volume eater, he kind of snickered and smiled and looked at my husband and said, "she IS a worrier"! He said he was sure I would do fine as the volume I could consume after surgery would be very small. He did say that the surgery can be ruined by stretching the sleeve and with no malabsorbtion to fall back on, those who stretch the sleeve will probably not be successful.

Good morning, I wanted to take time to update everyone on my progress thus far and to share a bit of my experience following my surgery. I attempted to post this a few days after my surgery and forgot to save as I went along and lost everything. This time, I've learned. I'll start with the day before surgery. My boyfriend had been off work for the past three weeks and had to return to work on the 3rd, so I knew in advance that he would not be able to take me to the hospital that morning. I thought I had secured a ride to the hospital with one of the members of the support group I'm in but after not hearing from him I had to be pissed and mess up my chi (smile) or make other arrangements. I secured a car service to drive me to the hospital. I woke up on the 3rd in a good place, mentally and spiritually. I was overly concerned with what I was about to do, because for almost a year I had been preparing and prayparing for this time. Upon arrival at the hospital, I went through the admittance procedures. I was informed that they needed a urine sample (code for pregnancy test) and to draw blood (I hate needles). Once I completed those procedures I went to the waiting room. Within 20 minutes I was called to the back. I have to tell you I had the nicest surgical prep nurse ever. Her name is Bella and she took time to explain things to me as she went along which helped calm my nerves. Bella even mentioned the fact that I was a "pleasant patient to work with". At weigh-in I was 232lbs. This showed a 5 pound weight gain since my last pre-op visit with my doctor. I asked Bella if I could remove my shoes and the other extra clothes I had on. She re-weighed me and just by removing those items I weighed 229 1/2. I know weight can fluctuate a few pounds given the time of day etc, so I didn't worry so much about the extra two pounds. Once I got changed into my hospital gown, the doctors and technicians entering my room seemed unending. When Dr. Forrester arrived he asked me, "What are we here for today"? to which I replied, "to change my life". IV intact, I was ready to be wheeled into the operating room. I remember praying for myself and for my surgical team. Once I was inside the operating room, all I remember hearing was "sweetie, take two deep breaths" and that's all she wrote. When I woke up I was in recovery and my boyfriend was standing beside my bed talking with the doctor. I had no concept of time. Later I learned I had been in recovery since approximately 12:15 P.M. because my fluid levels were low and they were trying to get them stabilized. Once this happened I was ready to go to my room, but then I had to wait until they got it together as other bariatric patients were discharged and they had to wait for a room to be cleaned. I finally made it to my room about 9:30 P.M. and I was exhausted. I went to sleep and around 12:30, the nurse came in and told me I needed to walk a bit. I didn't complain and although I would have much rather slept, I got up and walked with her as instructed. At this point, I still have in the catheter and loved it. Not having to get up to go the bathroom was wonderful. I cannot say this is the case the next day when they removed my portable potty. I could not stop going to the bathroom. I knew it was because of the amount of fluids I got in recovery. A few times I almost had an accident, but was able to make it. Just had to time it right. Day one following surgery is when they bought me chicken broth, an 8 oz bottle of water, jello, and crystal light. I managed to take a few sips of the chicken broth, a few bites of jello and maybe one sip of water. I did keep the water on my tray and promised myself I 'd get to it later in the day. Lunch came with the same foods with the exception of beef broth instead of chicken. Didn't even attempt to sip any of that (not a big eater of beef or pork anymore). My visit by the doctor went well. He looked at my incisions ad said things looked good and that I would be discharged on Wednesday. The next day I was excited to get up and go home. When the covering doctor came in to remove my port, he asked why I had so many bottles of water (3 1/2) on my stand. I told him the water hurts to drink. He said if I did not drink the water I might not be able to go home, so start to sip I did. I managed to drink 16 1/2 oz of the 24 I needed to drink. I put the last bottle in my bag and took it home promising myself I would drink it later. That was January 5, 2011. I can say that while setting here typing I just downed my first 16 oz of water this morning and I feel great. In a few days I will graduate to soft foods and will see how that goes. I am so happy with the way things have progressed. For anyone that has not had the surgery, I know you may be second guessing yourself about the decision to take such drastic measures to make a change, but for me, it's worth it. Since my surgery, I have not had any pain medication (thank you) and I learned the more I chew and sip the easier it is to get foods down. If you have not already done so buy some sugar free popsicles. They helped me greatly. As you embark up on this journey know that you are not alone. In loss and love Theresa

I've actually done some studying on this. Regardless of gastric surgery or not soda's even diet soda can lead to weight gain indirectly. The super sweet taste awakens the desire for sweets. And MAY lead to other indulgences. The sweet taste can over power your taste buds and make otherwise perfectly normal sweet tasting things to be less sweet, which MAY lead to adding sweetener and may loop around and make cause #1 more plausible. CAFFEINE can be a diuretic and cause you to dump more Water than you take in, which MAY lead to further soda intake - etc. If you're not getting enough water anyhow it may actually cause dehydration. While a can once in a while may be a treat the fact may be that since you already have needed surgical help to loose weight you may not be strong willed enough and allow something as "innocent" as a sweet diet soda to put you back into the bad eating habits that caused your obesity in the first place. WATER is the best liquid. Personally, I still have a tough time choking down tap water but I force myself to stay hydrated. Personally I don't want a (former) favorite treat to lead me back down a wrong path. WARNING: IANAD - the opinions and theories expressed here are my own.

:focus: I said in my first entry I would post about my second marriage and how some of the things that we went through contributed to my depression and my weight gain. So here I go. As I said in my first entry, I met my husband via the internet. We met in a social chat room. A friend of mine wanted to have penpals to write her via snail mail and I put an advertisement (for lack of a better word) on this social chat room for her. This was way back before everyone had a computer (or 3) in their homes. My husband is one of the people who responded to my advert, and I put him in touch with my friend. While he was writing her, I also wrote to him wanting to have a penpal. So, when my friend received letters from him, she allowed me to read them and started to really like him. We became friends. And as I said before, it grew from there. We set our first meeting for March 1995. He was flying to Oklahoma to meet me in person. He stayed at my apartment with me and my daughter. We had a fantastic time although we both became sick towards the end. We then set a new date for a meeting in May 1995 where I was flying up to visit him in Canada. It was a big deal for me as I had never been on an airplane before and never been out of the USA before. I flew into Seattle and he drove down from Vancouver to pick me up. We had a nice drive back to Vancouver and we stayed the night with his parents. We continued our visit and I left to come home. We talked and wrote and missed each other for another 7 months before we saw each other again. He flew back to Oklahoma to spend Christmas with me and my family. My birthdate is on New Years eve and that is when he proposed to me. On my birthday 4 seconds to midnight. I was so sad when he had to go back home. But we made arrangements for me to then drive up to Canada in April 1996 and begin our lives together and that is what we did. On Sept 7, 1996 we were married and then the fun began. My daughter was then 10 years old. At first she liked my husband. They got along quite well, and did things together. Then the hormones hit. And well, lets just say things went down hill quickly. We were dealing with many challenges, here is a list of the things we had to contend with in the first 7 years of marriage: 1. becoming a resident in Canada - cost $3000 2. husband father dying 3. daughter acting out as a teenage, drinking, staying out all night, and getting pregnant at the age of 13 then hiding an abortion from me (which is legal in Canada). 4. husband learning he had a brain tumor and needed surgery 5. my mother dying 6. me learning I had Endometrial cancer and needed surgery 7. daughter moving out of the house at age 16 (legal in Canada) We had quite a time in those 7 years. And most people, it would have pulled them apart and broke their marriage. Luckily, my husband and I were brought closer. We have been able to develop a great communication between us and can talk out anything. But as you can see, I went through quite a lot of emotional ups and downs, and when you are already depressed, it causes you to go deeper into it. I went to visit my family doctor one day and I could not tell you why I was there. Before she could ask me anything I burst into tears, told her I wished I was dead because I just could not take all this stress and unhappiness. She recognized what I was going through, chemical depression, and immediately placed me on anti-depressants. I was on them for 18 months while my brain chemicals realigned themselves. Although I was no longer technically depressed I was still eating to help hide the pain. And I gained up to 302. That is when things started to scare me. That is when I began looking at options. I began going to therapy, I began looking at WLS, I began taking seminars for WLS, and l learned that I can do it. I have the support of my husband and my God. I know I can do it. Well, that is my story. From now on I am going to write only about what is going on with my WL journey and the feelings, apprehensions, joys, highs and low I experience. S

Some surgeons require you to lose prior to surgery to show commitment to the program. Sometimes it is the insurance company making the demand. My surgeon's rule was that once I began the two week preop diet, if I gained weight my surgery would be canceled. A weight gain would prove that I did not follow his orders.

Where to begin.....After being thin my whole life,1 pregnancy at 20 (lots of complications as well as quit smoking) and I spent most of my 20's over 200lbs. Pregnancy #2 at 30 (which was great and no weight gain on top of what I already had)and now I am into my late 30's and really didn't want to wait for health problems to arise from being obese any longer. Diabetes and heart problems are VERY prominent in my family history. After many years and countless hours in the gym with and without personal trainers,injuries have always held me back from achieving my goal weight. The RnY was out of the question for me, due to the malabsorbtion issue and I know how important vitamins play a role in our bodies. I know a lot of people who have had RnY done, and with great results, but not for me! Then one day in Sept 2010 my husband came home with news about a WLS that 2 of our clients had successfully had, that didn't involve rerouting or malabsorbtion. The VSG was introduced to me and I feverishly researched it! I had my first orientation classes in Oct with Kaiser South San Francisco as well as my appt with a surgeon. I decided this was for me! So in November I had an appointment with my surgeon who was going to set me up for surgery Dec 3, 2010. Talk about fast!!! I decide to wait until January because not only is Dec 3 my youngest daughters' birthday, but we had a huge vacation schedule for 2 weeks in Florida over Christmas vacation and I wanted to be able to enjoy every minute of it with my children, as this was their first visit to Florida. I wish you could of seen the look on my Doctors' face when I told him that December wasn't going to work for me so lets shoot for January (most people want sooner not later). So January 24, 2010 is my surgery date! I am so excited to be starting this new chapter in my life,and excited to know that my health is going to be here to stay ( God willing), but of course as the date gets closer, other emotions are on the rise. I want to thank all of those before me for all the information that you have posted so that people can make informed decisions about their health. By the way, I have told EVERYONE that is in and who enters my life, about my WLS! I refuse to hide behind the shame of obesity any longer!!! ALL of my friends and family support my decision, as most have seen first hand my struggles and blood sweat and tears in the gym. God Bless!

Medical Policy Subject:Surgery for Clinically Severe Obesity Policy #: SURG.00024Current Effective Date: 11/18/2010Status:RevisedLast Review Date: 11/18/2010 Description/ScopeClinically severe obesity is a result of persistent and uncontrollable weight gain that constitutes a present or potential threat to life. There are a variety of surgical procedures intended for the treatment of clinically severe obesity. This document addresses those procedures. Position StatementMedically Necessary: Gastric bypass and gastric restrictive procedures with a Roux-en-Y procedure up to 150 cm, laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (for example, the Lap-Band® System or the REALIZE™ Adjustable Gastric Band), vertical banded gastroplasty, biliopancreatic bypass with duodenal switch, and sleeve gastrectomy (open or laparoscopic) are considered medically necessary for the treatment of clinically severe obesity for selected adults (18 years and older) who meet ALL the following criteria: BMI of 40 or greater, or BMI of 35 or greater with an obesity-related co-morbid condition including, but not limited to:diabetes mellitus; or cardiovascular disease; or hypertension; or life threatening cardio-pulmonary problems, (e.g., severe sleep apnea, Pickwickian syndrome, obesity related cardiomyopathy); AND [*]The individual must have actively participated in non-surgical methods of weight reduction; these efforts must be fully appraised by the physician requesting authorization for surgery; AND[*]The physician requesting authorization for the surgery must confirm the following: The individual's psychiatric profile is such that the candidate is able to understand, tolerate and comply with all phases of care and is committed to long-term follow-up requirements; and The candidate's post-operative expectations have been addressed; and The individual has undergone a preoperative medical consultation and is felt to be an acceptable surgical candidate; and The individual has undergone a preoperative mental health assessment and is felt to be an acceptable candidate; and The individual has received a thorough explanation of the risks, benefits, and uncertainties of the procedure; and The candidate's treatment plan includes pre- and post-operative dietary evaluations and nutritional counseling; and The candidate's treatment plan includes counseling regarding exercise, psychological issues and the availability of supportive resources when needed. <br clear="all">

Hey Bugwitch! Congrats on booking your surgery! I was just sleeved with Dr. Aceves a week ago today. My experience was excellent. Every detail is taken care of for you, all you have to do is pack and get on the plane. I've already lost 11.5 lbs. in just a week (I never even came close to that kind of weight loss ever before on any other diet!) and with the sleeve I am hunger free and so happy I did this for myself. I noticed you are still debating sleeve vs. lap band. I just have one story to share with you. One of the ladies that was having surgery the same day as me was getting a sleeve after a failed lap band. She had 3 perfect years with her lap band and then starting having horrible problems, and had to have it removed. She gained 30 lbs. very fast after the band was removed, and so decided to have the sleeve to get her weight back under control. I have to say I have seen/heard similar stories many times since I started researching weight loss surgery; I don't think it is that uncommon. Obviously you have to make the best choice for yourself, but if you are paying for surgery and are watching pennies, just think about what MIGHT go wrong if you have the lap band ... could you afford to pay for surgery if there are complications with it (port flipping, band erosion, can't get the fills right, etc.) or to have it removed, and deal with the weight gain that seems to accompany most people with the removal? The scary thing about VSG is it's permanent, but that's also the good thing too. You don't have to worry about fills, or band problems, or anything like that. I wish you all the best and you are in excellent hands with Dr. Aceves and his team regardless of which procedure you choose. I know many other people here on VSG will say the same. March will be here before you know it! If I have any advice at all for you as a pre-op it is get used to a high Protein, low carb diet. That is what you are going to be on for the rest of the year -- really, the rest of your life. If you follow South Beach or some other type of hi-pro/lo-carb diet, you will also lose a decent amount of weight so by the time you are ready to be sleeved you will be in an optimal position for success. I wish you all the best! Yay for you!!!!

So true!! I want to point out the hi-lited too. Since I had the band AND the sleeve I think I can guage that different surgeries can be cheated *but* in different ways. I know Tiffy knows this as well... You really can cheat the band quite easily and yes, the drinking while AND shortly after eating your meals is a huge one. It washes the food in your pouch right straight into your big stomach!! But for the sleeve... this is not possible. The contents you just consumed are already in your stomach. When I do choose to sip during eating (which is not all the time), I have not gotten any hungrier any faster. I do still wait at least 30 minutes after finishing - but - like Tiffy its mostly due out of habit from being banded nearly 3 years. With the sleeve though, it's true - grazing I could see being one of the biggest culprits in weight gain. That and drinking a lot of high calorie/sugar drinks or snacking on a lot of sugary things. My stomach is way too small to be able to gain on sipping during my meals and drinking right after. Especially since I rarely feel true hunger anymore anyway (this could be different for those who do still feel hunger a lot though! - however rare...). The "no drinking rule" just really doesn't fly with *this* particular surgery, IMPO.

"my nutritionist said it is the number 1 reason for re-weight gain after weight-loss surgery." I would love to see some research to back this up.

All the IV fluids they give you also cause weight gain. Don't sweat it! It'll be gone in no time.

Why can't you have alcohol. I am only 12 weeks banded but I have had alcohol twice (a friend's birthday party and New Years Eve) with no problems. You just have to be accountable for the calories and make choices about what you are willing to do (either accept the weight gain or work it off). No whining if you don't lose weight the week you chose to drink alcohol.

I really like this topic! But then again I never really thought about "why" I was fat! I was always a chubby kid, chubby teen (I was the "fat" cheerleader). But really it all started to get out of control when I got pregnant with my daughter at the age 18. I was in my first year of community college, finally getting fit down to 135. Then found out I was pregnant and the cravings were crazy, I lived at taco bell! (could be why my daughter LOVES tacos). Anyways, I gained about 50 lbs (I was now at 185-190) with my daughter! Crazy, I know! But I was even on birth control when I got pregnant with her! After my daughter was born I had gone on the birth control SHOT! Well...I knew I would gain weight but did not expect another 30-40 lb weight gain. Now with a new baby, I was also working crazy hours and not much time for work outs. Followed Weight Watchers off and on..lose 20 lbs, hit a block, get frustrated and give up....try again...and the same thing. 5 years later I was told to come off the Birth control shot and try the patch because it could cause infertility if used for long periods of time. Yeah I tried the patch and GUESS WHAT!!!! I got pregnant with my son. LOL...I was fertile mertyle. My son is now soon to be 6 years and I am married and comfortable with my life, and just kept gaining weight! I have a desk job now and eat out alot. I am also idagnosed with Depression. My whole family (the women on my mother's side) are ALL over weight. My father is over weight and a few members of his family! My father also had a major inpact on the emotional issues I have with myself that I was never good enough. But that is a WHOLE other topic...but is also part of why I am Fat!!! I am just glad that with all the medical problems that run in my family on both sides (heart attacks (at young ages 40-50's), strokes my father had 3 stroke before the age of 40, My aunt had a stroke in her early 30's....high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, cholestrol problems, blood clots, asthma, and so much more...) I am just glad I decided to take care of the problem before it got so much more out of control. Take care,

Congratulations to you!! You have done so great! I hope your really enjoy everyday of your life. I agree with you about the medications, some can cause weight gain or slower weight lose people should be aware of that. Great job!!! Cheri

I was 5 months with no weight loss then 7lbs in three days. Sometimes if you eat too much protein it will cause no weight loss or weight gain. I think our bodies are just adjusting to all the things we never did so they want to be rebels at times and say no. However I think Im back on track with losing again. Hope I dont get stuck again for a long time.

Wow, in reading the replies there ARE a lot of different times. My Doc / Bariatric Center said it was 15 and 30. They said for gastric bypass it was 30 and 30. I would just go with your doctors recommendation though. I would take it seriously though, because my nutritionist said it is the number 1 reason for re-weight gain after weight-loss surgery. Best of luck!

Usually most insurance companies will accept wt loss histories from Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, etc. I know my plan accepts them. Just call and ask them. They'll tell you. Or sometimes you can access the actual policy online. I can w/Carefirst BC/BS. But again, if you call and ask them, they will tell you what the policy says. And I'm w/you regarding the weight gain from pregnancy. I can't wait to get my band back!! I wish you the best.

I have lost weight, gained it back, lost it again, gained it back etc many times. WHen I was skinny I would find some of the best clothes and I always refused to throw them away. Even when I got to my low weight when I could wear those clothes and they still didn't fit I kept them. Now I am at a lower weight then when the clothes used to fit me and now they are too big. It makes me feel great to look at myself in those clothes and remember all the frustration I used to feel towards them because now I love them so much more because they are now too big. I would keep the those clothes and have them as motivation. Then when you are too small for the clothes you can have a good laugh at all the anger you had towards them

These entries ROCK!! I was so happy reading everyone's post. Im NOT THE ONLY 1, lol. I will be banded in a couple of weeks. I was diagnosed with having a thyroid diease which resulted in me gaining 100 pounds. I have been through iodine radiation in order to stop an overactive thyroid, but now its underactive, hence the weight gain. But before all of that we were trying and crying. So then my thyroid was pinned as the problem, then it was my weight. So now since Ive started the banding journey, I have also seen a fert specialist. We learned that I'm fine, the radiation didnt scramble my eggs :-), I do have to get some weight off, hence the band. But we did find out that my hubby has a rare birth defect. He was born without vas deferens. The cause is unknown. Sometimes they link it to cystic fibrosis, but he doesnt have that. So our process is a little bit intense. So Im excited about being banded. That's our first step to being parents, and living a healthy lifestyle. Since he has no vas defernes, the dr has to surgically remove his sperm. Then its an IVF procedure. I thought they could just inject me with a turkey baster, lol, but his sperm does not swim, the tail becomes attached as it is moved through the vas defernes (wow right?). So I have to be put on meds to over ovulate, and both surgical procedures, my egg extraction, and his sperm extraction has to be performed at the same time. Then they have to "make us a test tube baby" (the exact words of the fert dr.) Whew, alot huh? So, thats our story. Im excited and a little overwhelmed. I dont know how all of this is going to go. Still a little nervous, but good nervous, about the banding.