Second thoughts pre opt

[flowers 0]

I envy your ability to walk that much. It's something I want back.

:smile:Keep in touch!

I actually started trying to walk more than a month ago, and had to use band aides and such double on my heels and lay off a day and work back up to where I am now for outside walking. My heels arent up to walking twice a day yet, even though physically I could do it.

I also have about 15 of Leslie Sansone's Walk Away The Pounds (WATP) tapes and DVDs. She has some very beginner walking tapes and only 4 basic moves but she keeps you interested. I started with her 2 mile tapes and if I get tired, can stop the tape and finish it later. She has some easier 1 mile tapes where the pace is a little too slow to suit me, but if you can walk at all, she is a good place to start. Just do 5 or 10 minutes at a time. Or maybe when you are able, just start like I did walking around your building, then around a few, and just keep expanding.

You are ahead of me dieting and Im further along getting in shape?? Maybe we can pull each other along.

[got2gethealthy 0]

it was taking forever to get approved and i thought it wasnt going to be for me, my husband was the greatest support and kept saying i could do it myself. obviously that wasnt true as i failed more than i succeeded. I am a carb addict too,leaning towards breads and sweets. I had to decide if carbs and sweets were going to rule my life forever and then get bigger because of it, or take control and to something positive for myself. My first diet i ever tried was one i went on with my mom at 10 years old. When my mom passed, we were heavy and miserable because of it. I decided that mom and i are doing this together, and i will succeed for her as much as for me. No more diet of the month , no more special foods just healthy food for my body and happy that the journey has begun.

[flowers 0]

it was taking forever to get approved and i thought it wasnt going to be for me, my husband was the greatest support and kept saying i could do it myself. obviously that wasnt true as i failed more than i succeeded. I am a carb addict too,leaning towards breads and sweets.

Im glad someone else can admit carbs are their weakness, unlike a few prior posters who seem to think its a cop out answer. I know they are my weakness.

I hope all of us have the strength to really stick to our diets and lose this weight at a good steady pace.

I dont want to be like this for the rest of my life either. Lets all just link arms and be strong and hopefully that thread about the failure rate on lapbands wouldnt apply to us.

[orea15 0]

I've been a member of a great lap band list, smartbandsters at Yahoo groups, for nearly a year now. There are far more successes there, than failures, and I have learned a lot about how to do this successfully. Yes, there have been some slippages, pouches stretched out, etc. But even then, the person involved doesn't seem to regret getting the band. They just want to get it fixed and get back to the business of losing.

Flowers, I wish it was that easy to get walking again. I have arthritis and need a cane to get around because my hip will unexpectedly give out. I'm doing better than I was 40 or 50 pounds ago, but I can't stand or walk for more than a few minutes at a time. But I've set my sights on being able to walk anywhere, any time, any amount, like I used to, and I WILL get there! I'm determined.

But for now I need to start by pedaling my little exercise thingy and building up my endurance.

Orea

[Northwest_Nance 0]

II have arthritis and need a cane to get around because my hip will unexpectedly give out. I'm doing better than I was 40 or 50 pounds ago, but I can't stand or walk for more than a few minutes at a time. But I've set my sights on being able to walk anywhere, any time, any amount, like I used to, and I WILL get there! I'm determined

Orea, I am in a similar situation. I have a tear to the labrum of the hip, and arthritis. The surgeon said I have almost no cushion left between the ball and joint of my hip. I need hip replacement surgery but he doesn't want to put me through that until I lose weight, which is how I ended up at weight loss surgery. In mid-May at the time of my surgery I was walking with a cane and couldn't walk very far either. After just losing 30 pounds, and walking as best I can, and working out with the Wii Fit as best I can... I am already walking without my cane and people are commenting on how much better I'm walking! I still have pain.... it's not quite as bad as it was before but that's all relative, it's still very painful.... but I'm really hopeful that with every few pounds that I lose, the pain will diminish some. It won't go away completely until surgery but if it reaches a level I can live with.... and sleep with.... I'll be so grateful.

I just wanted you to know that there is hope... keep up the good work and hopefully your pain and walking will get better too!

[orea15 0]

Nance, thank so much for your encouragement. It gives me a lot of hope and motivation. :sad_smile:

Orea

[flowers 0]

As far as the walking, the walking tapes I suggested, you just stand in place and pick up your feet and step to the side and two other steps, you are not actually walking anywhere, and she suggests that you hand onto a chair if you are unstable.

I just came from a weight loss seminar and they said they dont think the lap band is for me. Not if Im not eating large portions, I snack and graze all day. The band wouldnt really provide any help for that.

They suggested the gastic sleeve, which is more expensive and more drastic surgery.

I told them what Iv been saying on here, that I dont eat large meals and unlike the folks here who think just writing down what I eat is going to help, they dont see the lapband as helping in my case.

The lady I sat next to has had her lapband for 3 years and getting it removed and doing gastric bypass. The person running the seminar had her lapband removed 3 months ago because of reflux, severe enough that the doctor had to remove her lapband and she said well she needs something so they did the gastic sleeve.

On top of that good news, the fill doctor mentioned in a post "I think my fill doctor damaged my port" on here I had been thinking of using, they confirmed "multiple" cases where he has pulled out ports they had to do surgery on again.

If I was having second thoughts before, now Im really discouraged. Third thoughts anyone?? I bought diet food and ready to start on my own. Will consider the gastric sleeve, not sure if I want to do that or not, pretty radical.

[orea15 0]

I guess it really depends on whether you are willing to stop grazing. If you stop eating so much between meals, you'll have a better appetite at mealtime.

When the band is properly adjusted, you will need to eat a meal of about 3 oz. lean Protein, and 1/2 cup of veggies or fruit, and this will keep you satisfied for 3-4 hours. You will learn to look not for a sense of fullness like we are used to, but instead a sense of satisfaction. It's important with either the band or bypass that you keep your eating and drinking periods well separated. That's one important reason why grazing won't work for either method. You need to have plenty of time to sip sip sip your fluids so you don't get dehydrated.

The band won't do it all for you, but it will dim your appetite so you have a chance to make better food choices. If this drive to eat is so strong you can't or won't cut back on the between meal grazing, you may benefit from talking it over with a therapist to find out why.

I wish you all the best no matter what you decide.

Hugs,

Orea

[flowers 0]

All I know is Im pretty much in tears tonight. Iv just been round and round with my mom who keeps going back to she just doesnt understand why folks dont just lose the weight on their own, why have any weight loss surgery.

Sure, I could cut back for a while and not graze between meals, I have tons of will power, or I couldnt have stuck with the low gi diet and lost the 80 lbs..... its the forever I know I wouldnt keep on a diet and watch the snacking forever.

Im just being honest, I know I wouldnt eat only lean meats and veggies forever and not eat all the junk food. I bought some fish to cook tonight and they filled it with rice??? huh?? I couldnt even force myself to eat enough to fill up on. Im going to try and lose weight on my own.

But that takes us to the next problem. My BMI now is 38. and if I lose 15 lbs or 25 or whatever, then I wouldnt qualify for any kind of surgery. Thats why I wanted to wait to start my diet with the surgery. Once my BMI is below that 35 level, it will be pretty hard to qualify. I dont really have any of the co-mobidity problems other than the insulin and maybe high cholesterol on the charts.

Im really feeling down and upset tonight.

[flowers 0]

My Dad cant make himself eat enough and we had to put him on a feeding pump to supplement what he can eat. My Dad was "teasing" my mom about putting her on it too, she cant eat enough and doesnt weigh 100 lbs, skin and bones. So talking to either of them about how hard it is to lose 100 lbs and keep it off, they will never get it.

I really dont have anyone I can talk to, so maybe thats whould Im talking out loud here. I am starting to diet, but I know if I knock off a quick 20 lbs, then I cant have any weight loss surgery. They would do it.

My mom says you dont see your cousin doing anything this radical, who is much bigger than I am. She joined a gym. I said yea, and her hubby had to have his hip and knee replaced because of his weight, how is that better??

Im really frustrated. I know I can lose but its the keeping off. I lose it and regain it and weight more than the last time. I want to find a solution that will work. I know I cant stay away from sweets forever and junk food. Im just being honest. I know what Im eating wrong, writing it down wouldnt help, I self aware of the wrong foods. I can stop for a while, but not forever. As they said today in the seminar, ice cream will slide right down that lap band. No resistance.

[orea15 0]

I'm sorry your mom is so insensitive. Do your best to ignore her. {{{Hugs}}}

Is it possible that you might find you like being slimmer so much that you would be willing to keep the good habits indefinitely? (It's better for your teeth if you don't eat often, too!)

There are no guarantees in this or in much of life. All we can do is make the best decision possible and do our best to make it work. I certainly wouldn't pursue this or any other procedure until I was fairly sure I was ready and willing to do whatever it takes to be successful.

It's a big decision. To be quite honest, the enormity of it all is scaring me, too. But I'm at a place where I have to do something or life just won't be fun, or I'll die too soon. So, I'm ready to do my best and I fervently hope it will be good enough.

So sorry your are having a rough time of it.

Orea

[snowbird 2]

flowers, I am like you. I never ate large meals (or at least I didn't think they were way out of line, although now I could never eat that much at once.) I was, and am, a snacker. My husband was the huge meal eater. Strangely enough, I am more successful so far with the band than he is. I still snack, but I will not buy the high calorie stuff and bring it home. Sometimes I just have to have ice cream, so I go out and get a one scoop ice cream cone. But a half gallon in the freezer? No. If I really have the munchies and find myself continuously snacking, I eat something not entirely band friendly that will make me uncomfortable--not to the point of puking, but just of feeling slightly ill. Such foods are rice cakes, peanuts, high Fiber Cereal, lunch meat, whatever works to stop the senseless snacking.

What I'm trying to say is what you have seen here time and time again: the band is a tool, not an instant cure. You need to have some understanding of how the band works and how you react to it, and to think and figure out a way to make it work for you. Eating less at meals certainly helps: my three meals probably total about 750-800 calories a day. I eat another 400 calories a day in Snacks. It's useless for people to say "you aren't supposed to snack with a band." We all know that we aren't supposed to snack with OR without a band, and generally we would lose weight if we didn't snack. I can't do that. Call me weak, call me lazy, call me noncompliant with band rules, but I don't seem to be able to do that. Yet I am successful with my band.

By the way, the sleeve sounds like a good alternative to me. I haven't had any problems with my band and I don't like the idea of radical surgery, but the band doesn't work for some people. It's a hard decision, but you will have to evaluate both surgeries and decide what will be best for you. I wish you success in whatever you decide.

[flowers 0]

I think Iv backed out of the July 8th lapband and giving it some thought.

When I WAS working and had insurance, they were like your BMI is in the 30s, not high enough for insurance to pay for it. Its like they need you to gain enough weight to get approval.

I do know I will lose some on my own and even being self pay will be back in that no man's land where a doctor wouldnt do the surgery.

Im hoping for inspiration to hit me what to do and which surgery I need for myself. Im drinking some special K Protein Water which is supposed to help you feel less hungry and it actually does help more than I expected.

thanks everyone and Im glad so many are successfull with the band. The lady giving the seminar didnt help me when she said the stats are with the band you will lose about 50% of what you need to lose to get to a BMI of 24.5, is that ok with you and something you can live with? It obviously helps, but not as much as other weight loss surgery does. Im not keen on more radical surgery either though.

[U_go_gurl68 0]

flowers,

Hi my new friend. What happened to make you change your mind so quickly? when we were exchanging messages earlier, you were so excited.

I don't want you to jump into anything you are not ready for, but don't let other people's opinion stand in the way of something you really want. I will be around to encourage you, no matter what you decide. No one in my family wants me getting the surgery either, but I have also tried just about everything and had great results too, but like you, it didn't stay off. Not only that, but the older I get, the harder it is to get it off. Everytime I have tried to get back on a program I tried before, it just won't work again, no matter how hard I try.

I have made up my mind that yo-yo dieting is not for me. Plus, it is better to be fat than to yo-yo diet. That is very hard on the heart.

I have so many issues related to food, but I am not going to let them kill me. I am an emotional eater. I have binged and purged. I have exercised to death only to end up eating again, because I think I am hungry, when I was probably just needing some Water. I have tried so many different things and nothing provides me with lasting results.

You are worth doing anything it takes to be happy and healthy. Don't listen to those that tell you otherwise. I am so sorry your parents aren't being supportive. As I mentioned to you before, my fiance is not either. But he will come around, when he sees how happy I am and so will your family. No matter what you decide, I am here for you. Give me a call sometime.

I will still let you know how my appt goes.

[kizzie 1]

Until this year I thought I wasn't an overeater too.. until I really, I mean REALLY.. looked at the quantities I was eating.. I wouldn't eat huge meals either but the amount I ate in between meals caused me to gain weight.. I would eat when I was hungry..and I would eat when I was bored.. sad, happy.. all of the above!.. for me the band has given me something new to focus on.. I am willing and eager to try to change my unhealthy 'grazing' habits.. and eat three meals a day.. Currently (one week post op).. I am not hungry and haven't wanted to graze.. psychologically, for me, I have this new tool/friend to take care of and I don't want to blow it with my old habits..and hopefully I will enjoy the meals I do have more because I am not snacking and of course enjoy my new body and new clothes..

think about lifestyle changes and talk with your doctor about your concerns...

good luck to you..