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Danna, I will have to talk to DH about that. Some support on his end would help. Not that he's being negative, but he's not being overlly enthusiastic either. He has been very appreciative of the figure that has been returning. Maybe Aunt Flo has a little to do with my negativity. She needs to leave and maybe stay away for a few months. And maybe once she leaves I can get back to weight loss. Thanks for the suggestion...I'm taking it under advisement.

This is a great question...do we tell or not. I understand everyone who has written here and feel the same way as you all. I have told my husband (of course), my kids, my dad, sister and 3 close friends. My husband, kids, dad (I was very surprised by his support) and ONE friend were supportive. My sister and 2 other friends were not negative, but not supportive either. One of my friends asked me if I am going to tell people. I thought about it for a few days and told her that if people ask me how I lost the weight, that I would be honest, but that I don't plan on announcing it to the world. I AM NOT ashamed, but just careful. We all need to remember....Obesity is a disease, not a personal flaw. Hugs!

My PCP is super supportive, said she would do whatever she needed to to get me through the process. Her brother had gastric bypass and she believes that part of obesity is related to genes and not just lifestyle. My FORMER doctor, when I asked her about the surgery, said that she didn't believe in obesity, didn't believe in weight loss meds, and said that gastric bypass was a cop out. I hope your doctor is receptive to you getting WLS

I had the same exact doubts and it took a while for me to make my final decision. I toyed with thoughts of WLS in one form or another for 2 years before I did it. Now, I have no doubts. I was able to lose all of my excess weight by banding. The band really took care of my hunger problem completely - I still had to work on my head with emotional/impulsive eating and exercise. However, without banding I know I could not obtain long term success. I only wish I could go back and talk to myself when I was so doubtful and worried if I was just finding a very costly way to fail myself yet again. I think if you are really ready to commit to a new lifestyle, then you will have success. The statistics speak for themselves as far as how likely it is for the average person to lose and keep off weight post banding or by more traditional means. Banding is what you make of it, it can definitely by the tool you need for success as long as you are willing to work for it.

Thank you to all the those with advice! I am doing a lot of soul searching, and talking with those who know me best. I am starting an excercise class at a local church next week. It's cheap and close by. A friend and I have commited to going 2-3 times a week. She needs to loose quiet a bit too, hopefully a cohort will help me stay motivated. I have always been good at getting one thing going good. As in I exercise really well, but eat bad, or eat right, but am not active enough etc. If I can get into a habit of exercising, then get my food right too....I think thats where the band will help me. If all the puzzle pieces would fall into place, I truly think the weight would come off pretty easily. It has before, then I fall off the wagon, and gain it back. plus some! Again, thank you, good luck to you all too! Jodi

I can't believe how much weight I've lost and its only been 2 weeks! Although I haven't had much of an appetite I'm finally able to consume about half the amount of my daily protein. Looking forward to not feeling humiliated in a pair of shorts this summer.

I didn't have to take a laxative prior to surgery (seems pretty common) so it was about 7 days for me and then I took something. During that time one of the bariatric NPs called to check in on me. She asked if I had been able to go yet, and said not to worry about it as there wasn't a whole lot in there anyway. Constipation is a bad issue for me with weight loss, even prior to surgery. None of my doctors seem to take it very seriously. I've had one say "Well the results justify theside affect right?". I told them that it depended on the day.

Hi I wasn't banded on the 20th - but a few days after you all on the 26th. I am also going back to work tomorrow (I actually went in today for a few hours to check the mail, etc.) AND, I also am getting skinny ankles! (I'm not sure I'd really say skinny yet, but they are getting there!) I've been on Clear Liquids for the last week and have been doing OK. I've been having a clear liquid Protein drink - no fat, no carbs, and 40 grams of protein - so I really haven't been hungry (I'm amazed). But, I am having only 3-400 calories a day and am getting worried about "starvation" mode. I see the doctor on Wednesday for post op (that will be 1 week, 1 day) and was going to wait until I see him before I start full liquids. I can't wait for the mushy phase though. I think anything will be delicious! I know I've lost some weight already - even if it's primarily Water weight. And I know that this will be slow. But I must say, there's the emotional part of me that feels like I should have lost 100 pounds by now - with how little I've been eating! Good luck to all of you (us) who are going back to work tomorrow. Mary

Working out after surgery has been quite a struggle. For the first few weeks I started out with the bike, then added the treadmill. Slowly I added in my arm band and small weights. As of tonight I added in crunches! It was an amazing feeling to be able to do 50 crunches and not struggle! 4 months ago my stomach would have been in the way and prevented me from accomplishing this. I am soo happy I decided to have my sleeve surgery. It's an amazing feeling being able to see my life change for the better day by day!

BCBS SC does not cover any type of weight loss surgery. They have an explicit exclusion in all their policies regarding it. Even if your doctor writes them a letter stating that the surgery is necessary, which they will do automatically, they will not cover it. BCBS of Texas and SC are the only two BC states that won't cover it from what I understand. So if you're planning to do it, you'll be self-pay. I have BCBS SC and I just had surgery on 6/4 which I had to pay for out of pocket. The options that my surgeons' office had weren't really options so to speak. They gave me contact names at some banks to look into private lending (home equity loan, personal loan, etc.). I ended paying out of my savings. Maybe your doc's office will offer some type of financing but that wasn't the case for me. I had to paid in full before they would schedule me for surgery. Good luck.

:blush:Ok i was truly thinking about being banded until i saw more information on the sleeve and i am thinking that may be more of the one for me. anyways, to the insurance! i dont have insurance right now, but i will on 8/1 BCBS of South Carolina. i am not sure that the insurance is going to cover the procedure so i am needing some advice. should i look into weight loss surgery as soon as the insurance kicks in or wait some months? also, if i cant get approved by the insurance and need to do self pay, what are the options out there. if i go with the lapband i am going to use dr wade barker here in tx but if i get the sleeve i am going to use Dr. Guillermo Alvarez in mexico....please ANY advice will help me...:biggrin:

:nervous Good Morning! This is my first post. I went to my first appt at the Norton Bariatric Center this past Thursday. I watched a video, had my vital stats and weight checked, saw the nutritionist, and saw psychologist. I guess I passed that one (whew! :mad: )because now I am waiting to be scheduled to meet with the surgeon. He then will dictate a letter to my insurance company (UHC)and I'll wait to see if I'm approved for the surgery. I'm not anticipating that they will turn me down, but I know that they can hold it for 30 days before giving a decision. It has been such a slow process, and I'm ready NOW!! I guess I had better learn to be patient. I'm almost 43 years old, been heavy since I was 9, and I also know the weight won't come off over night. Well that's my story in a nutshell. I looking forward to having some folks to help me along on my journey, and maybe help some others along the way. Thanks for taking the time to read this long winded post.:clap2:

Hi! So I received the RNY gastric bypass on September 23, and just got home out the the hospital yesterday. 11 days in the hospital. I'm in a crazy amount of pain and it's really hard to do simple things like getting out of bed and going to the bathroom. My surgery journey isn't at all what I had planned. What happened was after the first surgery, on the 23, I was throwing up, weak, and other gross things. The doctors checked on me every few minutes because they were worried they were going to lose me. So they rushed me to a different hospital for surgery number 2 to fix the problem found in the c t scan. They said I was born with an abnormally shapened stomach and it has always been larger, and that the weight gain my entire life hasn't been my fault and it was a medical issue! If I hadn't of gotten the surgery they said my stomach would have crushed my spleen. So the second surgery gave me a Omega Loop to help alter routing of my insides. So many things are horrible and went wrong, and I'm really starting to think this was the wrong thing for me. I'm eighteen, and this has been an abnormally amount of anxiety in my life. I have to drop out of classes this semester and quit my job to focus complete on healing. I just needed to share my story so far and look for some encouragement. Also, I'm hungry, is that normal? I'm worried that this didn't work. I eat my puréed food plan me always feel hunger after and like I can eat more. Advice?

I have a couple ideas. First of all what is it about the shakes that grosses you out? If it is the wateriness I would suggest using less water, some of my shakes taste great with only 4 oz. of water and others I do 6 oz. that seems to be less watery and a little thicker. Or is it the flavor? I am adding sugar free espresso syrups to mine for a change, think not just chocolate but chocolate caramel. They still aren't wonderful, but it does improve them. Another idea is add a little extra sweetener, some think it takes better that way. And last but not least my favorite is to add 4 oz of hot water and 1 oz. of cold to Vanilla protein then I add a little nutmeg and a sprinkle of cinnimon.... Yum .... almost like a chai tea without the tea. Hope this helps, if not I am sure the nutritionist at your weight loss center will have some ideas.:confused:

I hope it will be downhill weight wise for you! It will be hard work but you can do it if you are committed to change your lifestyle!

The Antijared has some loose skin there but nothing too awful. He's done well. But frankly, there isn't much you can do. Take care of your skin, keep it healthy and hydrated.....yeah, that might help a little, but it's no guarantee. How much weight you have to lose, age, genetics....they are the contributing factors and you can't control those things. And resistance training....well, if you build muscle to replace the fat, that will help fill out the space vacated by fat loss, but no one is ever going to be able to build enough muscle to replace all of the lost fat. That's just a fact. So again, it just depends on the elasticity of the individual. And not to burst bubbles, but you can do toning exercises till the cows come home....your muscles will thank you, but it doesn't affect your skin. Skin cannot be made to shrink by working the muscles underneath. And someone can say they did X bicep curls and didn't get bat wings....but that doesn't mean the curls had anything to do with it. Sorry to be pessimistic, but just trying to keep it real. Be healthy, lose the weight, live a long life...the skin is an annoyance, but it's better than the fat.

Perhaps I'm confused but if today's weight is 188 and your pre-op weight was 229, that's a loss of 41 lbs. July 30th was six weeks post-op so you lost 6.83 lbs per week. It don't get much better than that. Congratulations! Well done! Celebrate your success and keep doing exactly what you're doing. You may be having a bit of a stall. Natural part of the weight loss process and it will pass. Patience and realistic expectations are absolutely crucial. Stay focused on following the protocol, stay active, and stay away from the scales for at least a week, two would be even better. Absolutely no reason to be discouraged.

No, not really. I got the lapband in 4/09 and had it removed 4/13. I had my band filled a 5 most the time I had it. In my experience Bandster hell is when you eat and the food sits on top of your port or gets stuck making you feel like you are choking and often have to vomit the food in your esophagus back out so u can breathe. This happened to me whenever I ate white meat chicken, and most bread. I quickly learned the foods to avoid. Also, it got so uncomfortable sitting and sleeping with my band. I did loose weight but It was too uncomfortable for me to live with. I am scheduled for my gastric sleeve surgery on 6/5, I wish u much luck with your band!

Yes. Your band is not filled so the opening(stoma) is wide open. food passes through easily so there's no restriction or stimulation to the vagus nerve. This phase is just like before having the band. For me, until my 3rd fill, I was hungry just like before band but I found I could eat less and feel satisfied for an hour or two. I just ate healthy foods so I didn't gain weight. Until you get your band adjusted so you feel satisfied for hours, it's just another diet. Good luck.

That title might be an obscure reference, but fans of THE WHO will get it... Got on the scale this morning and saw the number: 252. Though My surgery date was June 11th I actually started this journey back in October 2013 with my first official weigh-in with my surgeon when I was 354. Officially hit the 100 lbs. lost mark... I'm not much for "selfies" but maybe I'll post some before/after soon. Just extremely happy and proud of myself, which has never been an easy thing for for me to say or admit. Thanks for the forum to share these feelings and not be judged. VERY important to start light exercise once you feel well enough; I'm walking 1.5 - 2 miles a day and lifting light free weights each morning, which takes only about an hour or so of time, and I'm sure its what helped be break that wall I hit a few weeks back.

Good questions -- see my answers below: * Do any of you still track in maintenance? Yes, I do. I reached my goal (150 pounds) nearly a year ago. As soon as I could, I ate 1700 cals/day (you can't jump from 1200 to 1700 overnight, as you probably know). And I STILL lost, albeit slowly, another 15 pounds. I'm now maintaining at 135 pounds. And about a month ago I went up to 1800 calories. I don't always make it though. * If so, how do you force yourself to eat enough calories? Well, as I said -- slowly. I raised calories by adding (mostly) more carbs. I still eat a lot of Protein (80 - 110 grams) and more oil. I cook more now, and sometimes add in extra olive oil when cooking. I now eat butter sometimes. I occasionally even eat things like biscuits, granola bars, ice cream, Pasta. But I choose one of these things only daily -- and usually not every day. Nonetheless, about the only thing you can do to get in calories is overcome your new habit of avoiding higher calorie and higher carb foods. * What tips / tricks do you have for getting in extra calories. See above. Also, healthy crackers that contain protein, Fiber, seeds, multiple grains (NOT wheat thins ), full-fat cheese, healthy breads. More treats -- although recently I had to cut out dark chocolate, which had become a daily *need*, not an occasional treat. * Did you struggle to disassociate tracking from "weight loss mode"? Oh, yeah. But you know what ... eventually, I did make the transition. Here's the deal: When you get thinner than you've been in a long time (40 years, in my case) you think you're too thin. And then, over months of time looking at yourself and dressing yourself, you realize you're actually not too thin; you're just NORMAL-SIZED. At least, that's been my reaction. Remember -- we're only 18 months post-op. I'm more focused now on learning how to eat healthy than I am on losing more weight or even trying to gain more weight. I really believe @@CowgirlJane and others who are longer post-op than I am who say that it gets easier to regain as time goes along. I'm no longer afraid of getting too skinny, since I'm not losing anymore. But I'm still a bit nervous about gaining 15 pounds again. And I don't want to. I really don't want to. Because NOW that I'm comfortable at this weight, I would like to remain here if I can. BTW, I'm not exercising nearly as much as you are. So ... milkshakes? Also, remember, you don't have to eat exactly the same number of calories every single day. Splurge a few days a week.

You and I are a little different in that you are burning more calories than me during the day and if I remember correctly you are also good about doing weight training work, which I hate because I'm lazy, ha. Do any of you still track in maintenance? Yes, I use MyFitnessPal everyday. I saw today that I hit 165 days without forgetting to login. I stopped tracking for awhile last summer and while I didn't gain weight immediately when I did start gaining a few pounds as soon as I went back to tracking I was right back at maintenance. It makes me feel like I'm more in control. As an example, this morning I woke up about 0.8 heavier than yesterday, which is still within my normal fluctuation range but I only had like 800 calories yesterday. Of course, 230 of it was because I decided to try a Pasta steamer, which not only made me sick but also cost me a little bit of temporary weight. I have had pasta less than 5 times since surgery so I knew I'd be heavier this morning, but because I had everything in MyFitnessPal, I'm not worried about it because I can see that I was well within all of my set goals and actually quite a bit under compared to my usual calories. If so, how do you force yourself to eat enough calories? Yeah, usually I don't have a problem with calories. If I go over 1800 I gain weight, around 1400-1700 I'm fine, and I think the few days a week where I'm just not interested in eating and I get about 800-1200 calories are probably what makes up for the higher calorie days. I know that there are days where I eat more than I should, so I don't worry about the lower calorie days when I don't feel like food. What tips/tricks do you have for getting in extra calories? Ohhh no problems, haha. Did you struggle to disassociate tracking from "weight loss mode"? Yes, very much. I don't wear my fitbit anymore because I'm not as concerned about hitting steps. Also, to be fair as long as I stay a little bit in weight-loss mode, I don't have to worry as much about gaining. When I was losing I was obsessive about tracking everything, however if I halfheartedly attempt to lose weight, the result is that I maintain, which works out for me. I guess in that sense I never really totally moved out of weight loss mode.

I have been overweight all my life too. I remembered seeing a site years ago that would show you what you might look like at a different weight so I did a search. I think this is the same site, but I haven't delved into it much yet. I thought maybe I could get a glimpse foreshadowing that which is to come. (sorry, too many scrooge commercials lately have a bad influence on me). Thought I would try it just so I would know who to look for in the store windows... http://www4.weightmirror.com/weightmirror/index.php?id=

Hi all I have not posted in quiet some time... busy... you know... but I am at 9 months and I thought I'd give an update. for all the challenges that this type of surgery can present (in my case pretty minor, a little extra skin, frustration over slow weight loss etc.) I would absolutly, hands down do it again. I was so scared at first. I remember I started crying in the elevator on the way up to surgery... just overwhelmed with the idea of permanantly altering my body. The people on this forum did soooo much to help me stay sane before and after. My biggest challenge has been that I am a slow looser. I "only" had 57 lbs to loose, so I expected to be at goal pretty fast. I think there were two months when I lost more than 10 lbs, but other than that its been pretty slow (relatively speaking, I could have never achieved this without surgery). A couple of months ago I was diagnosed with hypothyridism and have since started on meds. Although I feel better, I still only lost 2 lbs this month. I have 8 to go. It may take me 4 months to get there... but I guess I'll get there. Before surgery I was a binger. I would go on a super restrictive diet until I couldn't stand it... then binge on everything I could get my hands on. Yesterday, after doing my monthly weight in and discovering I had only lost 2lbs I slipped back into "bing" mode and had about 5 chips with queso and two Peanut Butter Cookies. The cookies make me kind of sick (I think I have a little dumping syndrome, which is probably for the best). That was all I was able to eat for the rest of the day. Granted... not the best way to deal with frustration (I'm really working on finding better coping skills and thats the first "binge" since surgery) but, if I'm going to binge 500 calories is a lot better than 5000 (not and exageration). If your considering surgery... don't let this put you off....most of you will loose much faster and if you do happen to be a slow looser, its a little frustrating, but eventually the weight comes off (I was considered low bmi pre-surgery, I think most people with higher bmi's loose at a much quicker pace). Although I am so happy about loosing the weight... I am most pleased with the psychological changes that have taken place. I have a sense of being satisfied most of the time now. Its not that I feel restricted to "only" eating small amounts of food, its that small amounts of food are emensly satisfying, much more so than huge amounts of food used to be. It's allowed me to let go of that constant focus on what I will eat next... what diet I will go on next etc. I feel like I can just live now. Bottom line.... I would do it again in an instant!!!!! I hope you are all doing well on your journey thanks for reading stacey