How are the banded Notorious Novembers???

[jmegirl 2]

Are you getting enough calories each day? Any less than 1000cals per day and your body is not getting the nutrients it needs and goes into starvation mode, at which point it holds onto everything you eat and severely limits weight loss. You have to make sure you get 1000-1300 cals a day.

[ddgalarza 0]

I just don't get it. The scale just will not move for me.:thumbup:

I eat 1/4 of what I use to. Get exercise in daily. Band at 7.2cc so I have good restriction. I can't break 200 for nothing. It has been 2 months banded and I am still at an 8 pound weight loss. :w00t: My DH doesn't get it either, he sees what I eat everyday. Anyone out there have any ideas? Anybody else go thru this? :tt1:

Help I am losing my mind.

you and i are in the same boat and i feel your pain and understand your frustration. I hit 2 months post op yesterday and have only lost 6 pounds since surgery. i am at he gym 5 days a week minimaly. i dont have good restriction but i am really trying to watch what i eat(even bought a body bugg which is helping me learn about how many calories my body burns and also provides a forum for calorie counting). i honestly kdont know what's goin on with me, but i'm going to stay at it. the scale has got to move eventually...right? of course it does

[heather.vasquez 0]

I just don't get it. The scale just will not move for me.:thumbup:

I eat 1/4 of what I use to. Get exercise in daily. Band at 7.2cc so I have good restriction. I can't break 200 for nothing. It has been 2 months banded and I am still at an 8 pound weight loss. :w00t: My DH doesn't get it either, he sees what I eat everyday. Anyone out there have any ideas? Anybody else go thru this? :tt1:

Help I am losing my mind.

I went through this before I got banded:mellow: I met with My dietician with my food journal I log in it on my-caloriecounter.com It detailed protin carbs everything includin what I did for exercise. She looked at it and I wasn't eating enough calories and not enough Protein. I also wasn't eating after I worked out and wasn't drinking enogh Water.< /p>

Do you have access to a dietician?

[razberry*kisses 0]

Hi,

I got my 2nd fill today and hopefully I can lose more weight! However I am happy by losing the 36 pounds I have already lost! :thumbup:

[Juliagoolia 0]

Hello to all my fellow November Banded Friends! I am down almost 45 pounds, and really starting to "get" it! I hope all of you are doing well and staying healthy this Winter! Up here in the Boston area, we have had the worst cold and snow storms! Any other time, I would be packing on the pounds eating my way through the boredom of being indoors for 5 months. I am using the time up at the gym, and having the energy to work extra shifts so I can catch up on the Chri$tma$ damage:)

I love the support this forum offers, keep up the good work all!

Juliagoolia<3

[elysenoland 0]

This is the way all doctors and hospitals who are contracted with a health plan work. They agree to take what the health plan is willing to pay for any given procedure or visit in exchange for being in that health plan's network, thus hopefully generating more revenue by volume of patients who come to see them from noticing that doctor is in network on their plan.

This is also why a health plan pays a lesser percentage (and you a greater one) for an out of network doctor. No matter what, the health plan will shell out more money to an out of network doctor to an in network one. They require you to do the same in hopes you will choose to always stay in network and limit everyone's costs.

The doctor can SAY they charge $17,000 or $80,000...it doesn't matter. The contracted rate is agreed to beforehand and the doctor is not allowed to bill the patient for anything other than what the patient's health plan outlines his or her responsibility to be. The rest gets written off.

This also comes into play ONLY after the patient has met their deductible if they have one. Many plans require the first $2000 or more to come out of the patient's pocket before the plan pays anything at all, in network or out of network. Usually the deductible for out of network is twice the deductible for in network.

Out of network doctors will get paid a percentage of what is "usual and customary" for a procedure. For Lap Band that is probably about $12,000 or so. So the doc gets somewhere around 60% or 50% from the health plan and the rest is up to the patient. But even then, the doctor can ONLY charge Usual and Customary, which is generally decided by Medicare. Anything above that amount has to be written off.

So as an example:

So for an in network doctor it looks like this:

Stated Charge: $20,000

Patient deductible (as an example): $2000

Health plan pays: 80% of CONTRACTED RATE, which is (as an example) $2000

Patient pays : 20% of CONTRACTED RATE plus deductible

Health plan pays: $1600 (which is 80% of $2000, the CONTRACTED RATE that the doctor accepts for being in network)

Patient pays: $2400 (patient deductible plus 20% of the contracted rate)

Doctor collects: $4000 (patient and health insurance payments combined)

Doctor writes off: $16,000 as non-billable due to his contract with the health plan. He is legally required to do this.

For an out of network doctor it looks like this:

Stated charge: $20,000

Usual and Customary Charge: $12,000

Patient's deductible (as an example): $4000

Health plan pays: 50% of Usual and Customary after deductible is met

Patient pays: 50% of Usual and Customary after deductible is met

Insurance payment of 50% of U&C charge after deductible met: $4000

Patient pays deductible plus 50% of U&C charge after deductible met: $8000

Doctor collects $12,000 from patient and insurance combined

Doctor charges patient an additional $8000 to make up the difference OR doctor writes it off if the patient was a good negotiator. He is not legally required to write it off.

See, my doctor is not in network with my insurance company, which is why it surprised me that they were willing to write all of that off.

[WannaBSkinnyB 0]

you and i are in the same boat and i feel your pain and understand your frustration. I hit 2 months post op yesterday and have only lost 6 pounds since surgery. i am at he gym 5 days a week minimaly. i dont have good restriction but i am really trying to watch what i eat(even bought a body bugg which is helping me learn about how many calories my body burns and also provides a forum for calorie counting). i honestly kdont know what's goin on with me, but i'm going to stay at it. the scale has got to move eventually...right? of course it does

I am sorry to hear your not losing either. But glad to know someone out there is struggling like me with this. I just don't get it. I am gonna stay at it also, I just hope the scale starts to move soon. This is getting very frustrating.

[gentylwind 1]

WannaB, make sure you are eating mostly Protein and no simple carbs. Consider having your thyroid checked. Do you have metablic syndrome or PCOS? Both will make it harder to lose.

[janke129 0]

Another thought could be if you are eating the correct foods and exercising more.....muscle weighs more than fat. The weight on the scale is not dropping as quickly as you want, but your body is changing inside and the weight will start to drop.

[chickiedee 0]

good morning, iam a November, but of one year ago surgery. doing good but very disappointed in myself. i have lost wieght, but not as much as i could of. Why, because i did not follow the plan, or a plan to help me lose more. I am here in Cabo San Lucas visiting my son and family and went for a fill and this time iam going to do it. Ism glsd i found this group because i know i need support. I just wanted to add that when i had my surgery, i had no pain and was in hospital just 24 hours. The surgery went very well and Dr Tirado, is not only good as a doctor ,but very good ling and young. FOR THOSE THAT DID IT, WE ARE GOING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN, MY GOAL IS TO SEE 199

LATERS CHICKIEDEE:thumbup:

[ginny two 0]

Got my insurance info today from the surgery. They billed the insurance 16000. Insurance says I'm responsible for $570. All insurance paid was $855, they wrote off the other 14000+. So I called the Drs office, to make sure they weren't going after me for it, and they said no, they had already adjusted my account. How can they do surgeries for 1400 bucks??

WOW! That's really weird. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

[pampeterson 0]

Anyone having port pain. I feel like I am not back to all the activity I want, my port swells like crazy anytime I am over active. I have had one fill surgery was on 11/21 weight loss 35 lbs. I feel good other than the port. The port feels like it is stabbing me when I crunch my stomach.

[elysenoland 0]

Well, I think I may have hit the sweet spot. Fill a week ago, and have lost 7 pounds since, can only eat about 3/4 cup, 3 times a day, and have to force myself to do Breakfast. Woo hooo!!

[heather.vasquez 0]

Well, I think I may have hit the sweet spot. Fill a week ago, and have lost 7 pounds since, can only eat about 3/4 cup, 3 times a day, and have to force myself to do breakfast. Woo hooo!!

WOW How Fantastic..:tt2: (( Big Hugs))I'm still poking along I've had 2 fills... hoping the third will be the sweet spot!!

[gentylwind 1]

Well, I think I may have hit the sweet spot. Fill a week ago, and have lost 7 pounds since, can only eat about 3/4 cup, 3 times a day, and have to force myself to do breakfast. Woo hooo!!

How exciting!

I am closer, no doubt about it. I am not getting hungry between meals anymore. Can still eat a little more than I would like to, but I can eat anything I want. This may be the sweet spot and I just really need now to pay attention to what I am eating. My body is changing and I am able to get into clothes that have not fit for a couple of years. I can't wait to get into the 100s!