AZ Gary

I like the chocolate Muscle Milk light mixed with 4-6oz of coffee.

The positive things will start to snowball. It is almost as addictive as the food was.

Funny, but I know several people that the comment would hold true for.

Chicken seems to also be a tough one for me also. But it seems to be hit or miss on what passes or hangs up.

Almost all the ones I looked at were over 200 calories a bar. Not sure if I would want to expend a sixth of my daily allotment for that.

Since they are becoming available for this season, how many of you are getting flu shots as a preventive measure? I know at work I am around a lot of difference people and also have a couple of trips planned. The thought of getting sick with a stomach bug is something I really don't want to encounter.

Just stay away from gas producing foods or drinks. How long as it been since you were banded?

That should be a well known figure. With True Results it was 9866 and included a full year of follow-up. The plus of self pay if you can afford it is that you are usually on the HOV lane to being banded. No hoops or hurdles of insurance company imposed rules. I figure I am 50 pounds ahead of where I would be if they paid. Not to mention having a lot less stress.

I have the ZIP and love it. It is lower cost than the upper models and if you go to Best Buy they have a two pack you could get for your exercise partner or to have as a spare.

Dr. Stevenson with True Results in Scottsdale I think also has a practice in Tucson. I was originally scheduled with him, but was switched by TR due to some scheduling issues. I did meet with him for the consult and liked him. Also checked him out with the DO Board and nothing on his file to not consider using him.

Look down at the scale and ask yourself, were those foods really my friends? Some you can have again in moderation, but your tastes will change. I know mine did.

The last few times I have been in there, there was no wait at all.

I went through the first couple of months without a stuck episode, but have had a few minor ones since my fill. All due to my own fault of getting distracted while eating and swallowing too fast. Usually within seconds, I think that was dumb on my part because I know it was going to get caught even before it did.

The information provided by it is so much better than what your provider may give you. If anything it will provoke some questions to things they didn't tell you.

^^^^ Guess my signature is rounding up. MFP has me a tiny bit more to go.

Got my fill last week and can really feel it. To the point that I have to be careful what I eat and stretch out the swallowing. Had a few minor stuck periods but was ok. I have learned to make sure to keep any water or drinks out of arms reach. The 60 pound marker is starting to tease me. I set a reward that when I cross the 100 line, I am booking a diving trip to the Caymans. Just for laughs everyone should make a point to visiting the warehouse store and pick up a bad of something that is equivalent to the amount of weight you have lost.

Best advice is learn to love it, because you will be revisiting a version of it many times. After surgery, after fills and for me after a stuck episode when I don't feel like risking normal stuff. Use this time to experiment and find flavors you like.

Tell then you want a second opinion from someone that is medically qualified, not from someone on the approvals team. It is well documented that the average person can fluctuate as much as 5 pounds in a given day. For females that can be even greater depending on time of the month. In Arizona you could have weighed the first time during one of our high heat days in the afternoon and the second time during a cooler period when you may have been better hydrated. That is also not counting the type of clothes you were wearing. I would point out that the percentage difference of your total body weight. Also ask them if they would prefer to handle this in front of the state insurance board which is going to be more costly for them.

I have had 2. The first 15 years ago and it was in a facility with all the wires hooked up. I sear I didn't sleep at all. The second one was at home wearing just the head mask for two nights. The first night it wasn't tight enough and kept falling off, but the second night was a breeze.

I've seen that movie... No thank you. Bad enough when the nurse at my PCP takes extreme joy in pulling off the EKG contact pads.

Making a note to myself to shave over the port area prior to going in for a fill. I swear the NP used a cotton ball and a square of duct tape afterwards. Port being sore was enough, but pulling the bandage off before a shower was the worst.

Don't think of the pre-op diet as a bad thing. I went through it for three weeks. 2 planned and the 3rd was due to the surgery being moved back a week the night before the original date. Think of it as training to get your mind, mouth and stomach in shape for the things to come. After a fill you will need to revert back to it for a few days. Also when you hit a plateau on the scale, nothing like a day or two of shakes to get it moving again. I was not a big fan of it during the pre-op phase, but in hindsight it was worth it.

Cathy. How did it go today?

I was told and confirmed by several staff members that True Results does not start with an empty band at surgery. I had 4.5 at surgery. But that may not be the case for all providers. Seems to be a wide range of what is considered normal and customary.

Same here. Off some meds and others lowered. And that was my PCP's suggestion to lower without me asking.