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Hiya SanDiego, :wink5: I could have written your post! Thanks so much for posting that. I signed on today looking for something to make be get of my arse too! I am about 80 lbs. down, have the same amout to lose as you. I keep gaining and losing the same 5 lbs. I started journaling again on Sunday. I'm trying to go back to basics. Maybe we should start a thread and get others to join in so we can track each other. I think I need a fill also. The last 1/3 is the hardest to lose. Reaching the end of the rainbow, do you think we will ever get there?

this is my advice , from my experience... weight resistance training is the key , 1 hour 3x a week 2 body parts each session , mild cardio 20 to 30 min increments.. logging food keeping macros 30/30/40 fat, carbs, protein.. cutting good carbs out does not work , keep food clean but have small cheats.. cals 1200 I use fitness pal and works great .. as far as trainer find one who is well rounded with their clients , one that has , all different shape , sizes , ages etc... those trainers are the best , ask clients of potential trainer how they like them , if they keep their interest in you and is not looking around the gym while you are doing an exercise , pick a trainer that is going to teach you strength exercises so that when you are not with them can go and do on your own , down load an app that shows you exercises for each muscle so you can do on off days with trainer , do not need a trainer for 3 days 1 or 2 and learn to train on own.... " DO NOT WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE IN GYM THINK" you are there to improve yourself and if someone is watching most likely interested in weight movement your doing... trainers are not dietitians , if friend is training for a show , you do not want that diet , that is just a diet for an event , not long term , I am assuming much like myself getting the sleeve is to stop us from doing stupid yo yo diets for quick fixes , the sleeve was the fix now we have to use it to help us long term ... see your dietian for food advice , see a trainer for lean strong muscles that eat the fat cells like little pac man .. resistance training helps us look healthy and trim , without it weightless patients look like their wearing a skin suit when they lose all the weight . I have lost 80 lbs and have very very little sagging skin .. proof is in the pudding , long term weight resistance and clean eating .

I have worked with several trainers over the years. Some of them went to high school and then got certifications. Others went to college and then pursued the certifications. Prices vary but the more education the trainer has meant the more I've paid. My current trainer has extensive training including physical therapy. When I first met him he offered nutritional support but I told him no thank you as I was already working on my pre op plan. I basically started on the protein focused plan modeled off the post op (for life) plans the NUT gave me. I'm his first WLS client but he has worked with clients who have had other surgeries etc... I took 7 weeks off after surgery before I went back to see him. We've had three weeks back together so far and he has been very responsive. I get tired more quickly than pre op. He adjusts my weights or reps accordingly. We're doing some abs and back work as I have found post surgery they were weaker...i get tired and sore standing. He mixes cardio in with weights. We do a lot of staggered stance work (biceps/triceps, shoulder press) as well as trx. We use the rope machines and the ladder (painted on floor and we do different footwork patterns) to mix in the cardio in our workouts. He also has me pushing and pulling the sled with 125lbs added on. I've lost 82lbs total from my HW. I had him support me when I tried to pick up the 80 lb barbell. OMG. It was so heavy and almost impossible to move...picked it up and put it right back. I was carrying around all that weight all the time! Sent from my SM-G920V using BariatricPal mobile app

Congratulations on the 2 kiddo's. That is awesome for you!!! You lost quite a bit of weight! You sound like me. I had put on a lot though....about 100 lbs. In January, I drank Bariatric Advantage Meal Replacements 3 times daily the entire month. It worked. My restriction is back and I am full with about 3 oz. protein. Get back on the train and get a hold of the regain. You need to lose about 40 lbs. it looks like. YOU"VE GOT THIS!!! Please do it now so your 40 doesn't become 100. Joy

Having not lost weight for nearly two weeks after surgery, I was starting to stress even thought I had heard of the three week stall. I then read this article and discussed it with my husband who's a meat science who confirmed its accuracy. A breath of relief and kept doing what I was supposed to and weight started dropping quickly again. Thought I'd share if someone else was experience and wondering what was going on. Here's the link: The article I read

Mariasha- can you give me your surgeons information? NYC isnt TOO far.. Especially if you know he will. How do you know he will do my surgery? Elcee- I'm sure you as well as all other overweight individuals know that I have tried those things you stated and if I could commit to those things I would not be here doing surgery research. My bmi is 29-32 now I've been way higher before and tend to Yo-Yo so I'm not sure that surgery is a change for my body completely or my mind also! I'm quite positive that surgery is going to be a life changing experience and give me the ability to make the changes i need too. I'm also at high risk of developing 3 of the co morabilities due to family history and have been told many times if I don't lose a significant amount of weight then it's almost inevitably!

If you cannot tell by now, I use this blog as a way to vent, blow off steam, get things off my chest or to just share my story in general. Well today it is to vent. I have spent the past two days getting the run around trying to get the insurance thing settled, and I haven't even went to my consultation yet!!! Geesh! Ok, let me backtrack a bit. Early in the year I started thinking about WLS and I contacted my then insurance provider to get all the information about coverage. At that time I had to do 12 consecutive months of medically supervised diet /exercise before I would be considered. I started that in March. I went to see my GP to document it. I joined the YMCA to use their pool for exercise. ( as water therapy is my best bet at this time with the weight/ arthritis) Then my leg issues flared up and I was unable to continue. During the time I was dealing with my leg my employer switched insurance providers. As of June 1st I have been on Anthem Blue Cross. So when I got past the hospitals and bed rest and returned to life, I started thinking strongly about the surgery again. ( Given a poor prognosis on my leg with few treatment options, weight loss is one of the few positive things I can do for it.) So I contacted my new insurance carrier to find out IF our plan covered WLS and what the requirements were for it. My company actually added bariatric surgery as a benefit. ( the original Blue Cross package plan did not cover ) When I was quoted the qualifications I was sure to find out about any mandatory time frame of supervised diet, which to my surprise there was not. All I have to do is provide a list of things I have tried and the results. ( Seems obvious to me the results but...lol) Once I had this information I proceeded to get a referral to a bariatric doctor from my GP, went to the mandatory seminar and just started to get my ducks in a row in general. Then Friday I get a message there is a problem with my insurance. I found out yesterday that , when Dayton Bariatrics contacted Anthem about my coverage, they were told my policy excluded WLS. What happened was whoever took the call only looked at the basic policy, they did not check out the non standard benefits clause. So I made a call to my insurance to get it squared away, then called back the doctor's office to let them know. Last night I found a message on my VM saying that the claims rep for the practice was extremely back logged and did not have time to call my insurance back. Therefore they asked ME to get a statement from Anthem saying that WLS was covered for me, and a list of their requirements for approval. Really??? I have to say this left me feeling a little bewildered. Seems like that is not my place to do this, that the office should handle it. But maybe I am being over sensitive. Anyway, I called my provider back today to make the request. I had to sit on hold upwards of 10 minutes as she collected the information. Then the customer service rep comes back on the line to say she cannot find the requirements list, but can verify I am covered. What the heck???? When I had called before the girl had no problem finding and listing the requirements for me. So the rep puts me back on hold as she calls the doctor's office to verify to them I am covered. Another 5-10 minutes pass and she gets back on the line to say the office still needs the requirement listing, but she will have to search for it. She didn't want me to have to be on hold any longer, but she assured me she would get that information over to them today. Now being somewhat pessimistic I have a feeling this is NOT the last time I will be hearing about this!!!! I rather expect she will not provide said list and I will have to jump through hoops yet again. It is a good thing I am a strong believer that this is what I need to do, because this run around would be enough to put anyone off!

Hello Everyone! I am so excited to finally have begun my journey! I looked into banding about 3 years ago, and vowed that someday I would do it for me, for my health. BUT I didn't see a way that I could do this unless we had insurance. Two years ago, we got the insurance, but unfortunately my then 13 year old daughter was diagnosed with brain stem cancer, so obviously and rightly so, all of our financial and emotional resources went to helping our daughter. This year, I finally took the plunge and started the process. I started in June 2010, and things proceeded slowly, but finally got approval from insurance and the timing was finally right considering my daughters condition. I had surgery Dec. 9th! I am so thrilled that I took the plunge. I had a few jitters, but kept repeating the words that I read in my approval letter from insurance..."this surgery is medically necessary." I'm SO GLAD I did it! Including the weight that I dropped on pre-op diet and this week alone, I am down 30 lbs. I never would have imagined ME losing that much weight. All I've known is gain, gain, gain. It is so fun seeing the scale go THE OTHER WAY!!! The thing I'm battling right now is I did catch a cold/virus. I've got a red,raw throat and have been coughing like crazy. My port sight is SO sore anyway, but then add the coughing to it and I just have felt rotten. I called the doc office today and they told me to stay with consistent doses of my pain med as it also has a cough suppressant in it. Thankfully that has helped considerably. I have learned a lot just reading posts and replies from people. I think this will definitely help make this journey easier! BTW...how do you get the weight trackers into your sig line?? Thanks! Hairdoerbren

Wow, that sounds horrific, sorry you experienced this. Complications from ANY weight loss surgery whether it be band, bypass, sleeve or ds can be horrible. Also, they can get very expensive too, again sorry this happened to you.

Whether or not you are in a serious relationship, Valentine’s Day means candy is everywhere. If he or she has not gotten the message that candy is not part of your weight loss surgery diet, your significant other may give you a box of chocolate truffles to Celebrate your relationship. That box of chocolates may be the least of your worries before and on Valentine’s Day. Your workplace might have candies out in the reception area and staff breakroom, and your friends and coworkers might pass around valentines with candies inside or a few batches of beautifully decorated cupcakes and Cookies. All those temptations can get to you, so how do you cope?

WOW, fastforward 9 months. I am up to 159lbs. That's a 14lb gain in 9 months. That's not good. I refuse to get up to 160lbs. I looked back at my last entry and can't believe I was griping about being 145lbs. I'd be happy to be that weight right now. But you know what, looking back at my past entries, I realize that I was able to eat a lot even back then. Here I was thinking that I have worked myself up to consuming almost pre-band amounts, but looking back at my other entries, I realize that the amounts are the same. I realize that the only thing that has changed is the amount of exercise I am doing, the weighing in, and the amount of break days I am allowing myself. Back then, I allowed myself to break for one meal once a week. Now I am breaking for every meal during the weekend. Not good. So, my goals are to track my food, weigh in once a week, and only break once a week. I can do it. I've been wallowing in self defeat for quite a while. It's not doing me any good but making me miserable. I did it once and I can do it again. It's all up to me know. I refuse to hit 160!!!!!

The health club is having an eight week challange for excersize and weight loss. I signed up. Me, standing in line to be measured with all the health club folks (who all seemed to be in good shape...) I found out that I am 88 lbs of just fat. Yuk. It will be hard to get moving, but I need to do this.

Don't let anyone who hasn't done the research that all of us undergoing this surgery have done, deter you. The surgery was the best decision I ever made about my weight loss. I had 60 pounds to lose, and even tho I am losing very slowly, the weight is coming off and I am NOT, yes I said NOT, re-gaining it.

I was sleeved on Aug 29 I lost 7 pounds on pre op diet but when I got home I gained 15 Has this happened to any of you I did well after surgery but I look and feel bloated Any advic

Txgirl36: I was sleeved by the same doctor, same hospital, same day & I gained 10 pounds. No worries, they pumped us full of IV fluids with sodium in it. It will come off for sure. I have removed my scale & will wait for my post-op visit next week.

I'm looking for local banders in the Milwaukee, WI area? I would like to associate myself around postive, motivating individuals whom I can relate to not only regarind weight loss but life overall. Please response if your in the milwaukee area and would a banding sister....

I know the feeling, I cheated everyday for example I had a bowl of Soup that had a little bit of veggies in it. I had a V8 I had some salad, also coleslaw, no sugar no bread, I have lost about 12 lbs so I am doing my job as far as weight loss goes. It isn't even that I am hungry I just can't stand this taste in my mouth. So try and focus on the positive and what you can have. I know it is very hard. Good luck Kathy

Babbs has the best advice..... follow that. My surgeon said "if you do 80% of what I tell you to do, you'll be successful". And, know what your triggers are.....and avoid at all costs. This isn't a magic pill for weight loss, you have to do the work. My trigger (my crack cocaine) is sugar. If I eat one piece of chocolate, one cookie or one bite of cake, I'll eat the whole entire thing and want more the next day.... the sleeve hasn't changed that. I can have the occasional (maybe once a month?) piece of bread or potato............that I can control and it doesn't make me crave more. But chocolate or any type of sweet? I know I can't handle it, so I avoid it at all costs. It would be very easy to slip back into old habits. And make sure your head is right. I felt that losing the weight would solve all of my problems. I have a wonderful life "except that I'm fat". I have lost the weight and should have worked on my "head" the entire time, along with my body.

Well, I didnt feel like I slept much, its odd having someone watch over you when you are sleeping and monitoring your every move! Odd thing was, every nurse I came in contact with so far in my journey are so envious of my decision to have WLS and ask me a million questions. I tell them to log on to LAPBANDTALK and all their answers are right there! A lot of people at my work are also getting lapband. It seems like this is the "NEW WAVE" of weight loss. I hope I can be a positive example ! I am trying to document my whole process before and after in order to get the info out there on what to expect.. Be well and good luck!

That's exactly what it is like for me, only I am not prepared to try for "good" restriction. Due to being more able to stop easily when I've had sufficient, I've almost lost all my weight and see no need to go tighter to the point where I cant eat bread or other foods. I think long term, the more variety I can eat, the healthier my diet will be. I just think the lap band, to work effectively takes a very large dose of sensible management on the part of the user. I too can eat past satisfied, but I definitely cannot eat what I used to. In a year I've only once or twice eaten just too much and I've felt very uncomfortable and sick afterwards - not something I want to repeat. Some behaviours are just impossible, I simply cannot get down a McDonalds meal in 10 minutes in the car anymore, and that's a good thing.

I had a TT at 200 lbs and it was the best thing I ever did. I had lost 150+ lbs at that point and made a conscious choice (with my reconstructive surgeon) to go ahead with the "major ressection" at that point, knowing full well that I may require a "tweak" later, if I lost substantially more weight. I did, but when I had my lateral thighs done at goal, I got a big of residual improvement in my lower stomach and now I don't need a "tweak" after all. From personal experience, I disagree that TT must occur at goal or within 20 lbs from goal. I do think that's best with MOST patients, because of the financial impact. But I do think there are circumstances where it is justified. I don't know that I'd have run my marathon (training for which took me to goal) with the pannus. And I know I wouldn't be as far along with the psychological progress of adapting to my new body image if I'd waited. There are plusses and minuses. In my opinion, it is not as simple as paying for what you want from one type of surgeon versus another (though I'm sure there's truth to the fact that there's always someone out there who will take your money and give you what you want, even if it's not the right thing for you or your body). There are careful considerations all around.

I am booked for a full tummy tuck, lipo and breast lift/augmentation in Feb 08, I booked with a man who is widely considered to be one of the world top major weightloss reconstructive surgeons , his name is Jean Fracois Pascal and he has pioneered many different body lift procedure techniques. He lectures all over the US and shares his techniques with other surgeons. Here is a link to his web Docteur PASCAL - LYON - FRANCE At the same time that I booked a good friend of mine who isnt banded and has a BMI of around 33 booked in also.While he told me to get within a stone of goal ( BMI 23) he was quite happy to carry out the procedure on her as her weight has been stable for a while now and she has a huge apron of skin left from her 3 kids. I dont think it is what size you are that is the key with these surgeons, it is whether your weight is stable. As someone who has a band you are much more likely to go on to lose more weight which can have a negative effect on your results. For what it is worth he said that another stone weight loss would not have a negative effect, as long as I exercised as well he said it would just improve the results. Hope this helps.

I am glad I am not the only one wondering about this sort of thing. I just found out I was was pregnant the other day, but I have been eating a lot these past couple of weeks (I am almost six weeks) and I was worried I would need a fill so I don't gain. But according to my new what to expect, the morning sickness doesn't hit until around week six. So we will see.

It's a myth that it's ok to eat more while you are pregnant or that you need to eat more. According to research you should only be consuming 300-500 more calories when you are pregnant. It really all depends on you BMI. Coming from someone who gained wayyyyy to much during her first pregnant (over 50lbs to be exact) be congnicent of what you eat and the effects of what you eat. You'll pay for it later. You should be drinking for two not eating for two. Your water consumption should increase your calorie should only increase slightly.