Allieg8tor

At the moment, I'm pretty happy that I followed my doctor guided diet really well. I miss food, but I'm kind of use to the food restrictions already, which is amazing! I'm not struggling near as much as I thought I would, and now, by day three, I really enjoy the protein shakes. The only hard thing is smelling the food all my family is eating, that kinda gets me down a bit, you know? Today I found out that I can have sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles though, so that will be amazing! I'm so excited!! I've finally transitioned into making his a positive experience as much as possible, and finding this website has proved very helpful, I just hope I can find some talkative friends, you know? Well, not everything is about the LAP-Band for me, I can't just focus on that, I need to focus on more social aspects of this journey, like the opportunity to network and meet people who are more than just mentors, but also friends. That's what I'm looking for most in this experience, especially with this website! I'm going to use this as a chance to enjoy my LAP-Band by finding people who I never would've found without it. That way the darker parts don't see so dark, you know? Currently, I'm listening to some uplifiting Beatles' music, because everyone loves and relates to the Beatles! I'm also counting down the days until the first "Gleetlemania" episode! My dad made me a Beatles' fan at a very young age, and I've carried that throughout my life and I just love watching the Beatles be reinvented by other artists and being interpreted in new ways! I might watch "Across the Universe" in preparation too! <3 I'm reflecting on the Beatles piece I did for my dad a couple of years ago. He's been my biggest support throughout the LAP-Band process and I'm really glad that we share things like music and entertainment together. This took me 18 months, but it was totally worth it. It's a mixed media piece.

Thank you.

A lot of you had to go through so much and I guess that's normal? My insurance required 3 months of a doctor guided diet and that was it. In fact, I only followed it for 2 months, adapting myself to the Atkins diet an taking Adipex, and then went in for my third appointment, and was told to turn in my paperwork. Insurance approved me only a few days later. On Tuesday I sign consent forms but I'm already scheduled for surgery on Oct. 2nd. I never had a sleep study or psychological exam or any of that stuff. I met with my doctor once, went through the doctor guided diet program, and will meet with my doctor again before surgery. I'm already on my 3rd day Pre-Op diet, which is 4 Protein shakes a day. Did anybody else have a simpler Pre-Op process or am I just extremely lucky? I'm sorry all of you had to go through so much, but I'm really happy so many of you are so far into your journeys and I'm getting a lot of inspiration from you guys! You've made it through so much that I can make it through this too, you know?

"The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green. I've already read it once, and now I'm reading it to a friend! I'm also reading his book "Looking For Alaska", but I stopped and I'm gonna start reading it again later for my friend, since she likes TFIOS so much!!

Wow! So many of us are October 2nd! We can do this!! Good luck with the Pre-Op diet today, it's day 3 for me and I'm hoping it just gets a little easier today, but if not, at least it will be another day without food gone!

Thank you, Ms. Jamilyne! I don't see why we have to /just/ talk about the LAP-Band, you know? I joined here so I could find friends who are going through similar things, not just a mentor. I've always found that, for me personally, I can better understand something when I'm figuring it out with a friend than when I'm trying to get help from someone who already completely understands it. That's a personal thing, but I know from being a college student that I'm not the only person like that! If you ever want to see more art or just talk or be friends or anything like that, I've got plenty of more bubbly to go around! (Though, not "bubbly" as in carbonation, because I heard that's a no-no after surgery, so it's just all natural personality!

-Look good in cute clothes, shopping spree! (Maybe even design some of my own?) -Take a dancing course, and actually accomplish it instead of struggling to breathe/hurting too much. -Gain back lost flexibility. -Have abs (hey, it could happen! ) -Enjoy walking in NYC next time. -Ride amusement rides I couldn't before. -Be lifted by a lover. -lose the fear of breaking furniture and love my loft bed! -incorporate my weight loss into my art somehow, paint dance? -wear a flattering swimsuit proudly. -buy a cosplay costume, instead of having to make one. -wear a regular sized Halloween costume for a girl. -get complimented on the weight I've lost and actually believe the person. -eliminate my Hidradenitis Suppurativa, or, at the very least, significantly decrease its attacks. -learn to like exercise, and love swimming even more, fear free of watching eyes. -be in a musical, accomplish the dancing numbers, play one of my dream roles. -be hugged by someone who can wrap their arms entirely around me. Many, many more.

I'm October 2nd! I'm a little bit nervous. :/ But I'm also a little bit excited!

I get that for sure. I'm always scared to not follow the doctor's advice too! I'm really happy that God gave me that trait though, because it's the best thing when it comes to these tough moments like the Pre-Op diet! It's all good though, because I know it's important, and I'm scared to mess it up! xP I do think that, whenever I reach that point of no drinking while eating, I'm going to have a bit of trouble. I have a hard time not washing down the food I eat. But I think I can get use to it.

Thank you, Ms. Arlene! I'm really happy your journey is going so well! I've been off and on about going through with this for a little while, but I'm pretty determined. I've already kind of adapted myself to the diet, a little bit, and I'm proud of that and consider it a little victory in and of itself, it can only help! I've already lost 29 pounds! Yay!! I found this forum earlier today when I realized it wouldn't hurt to have some friends going through this too! I don't know anybody going through it where I live currently, and I'd just do better communicating online anyways, as most of my generation might say, you know? I really, really appreciate your post though, and I appreciate this forum! I've already learned lots just browsing!

Hello everyone! I'm Allie! I'm 23 years old, but mentally, I'm more like 7 or 8. and I'm currently scheduled for surgery on October 2, 2013! Well, I'm a little bit terrified of that, and I'm only two days into this liquid diet and it's proving pretty terrible, so I thought that maybe I should try and make friends with some people who may have a few similar interests with me! For the most part, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna tell you very little about my actual surgery in this post, I just want to have someone to relate to in other ways, the band is a give in, right? Okay, so here's a little bit about me, and if you want the short version, I bolded the important things: A tidbit about my surgery and why? I'm kinda unusual, I don't really want to lose weight for any normal reason, though I definitely respect the fact that I should want to lose weight to be healthy and all that, so I'm trying to convince myself of that, the real reason I'm sticking with it though is really only one health problem: Hidradenitis Suppurativa. HS is a skin condition that causes large sores on the body and it's pretty gross and terrible, but mostly PAINFUL! Anyways, one of the solutions to make the attacks less frequent is weight loss, so here I am. Though I am looking at the perks of this too, like a wider selection of clothing options! Yay!! <3 Some of the things I love most in this world... I LOVE Glee! It's my absolute favorite TV show ever. It really is. Blaine Anderson is my favorite character, and, of course, Darren Criss is my favorite actor. I could talk about Glee all day, so if you're a Gleek, we should be friends! <3 Also, Klaine is my favorite pairing in the world and both Chris Colfer and his character, Kurt Hummel, are role models of mine. Other shows that I could talk about all day include: How I Met Your Mother, (Neil Patrick Harris is my everything though, he's amazing.), The Big Bang Theory, LOST, Dark Angel, Hetalia: Axis Powers. Youtube. Or, in particular, several YouTubers! I love the VlogBrothers, John and Hank Green. John's Book, "The Fault In Our Stars", is probably one of the best books I've ever read in my life, I absolutely adore that book even though it makes me cry. Tyler Oakley! He is basically my spirit animal, I identify with him extremely closely. AmazingPhil and Danisnotonfire, Phil Lester and Dan Howell make my life better. They are just so honest and relatable. Musicals. In particular, Glee! (Hehe), RENT, Across the Universe, Moulin Rouge, The Lion King (I and II), Grease, Children of Eden, Sweeney Todd, REPO!: The Genetic Opera, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Camp Rock (I and II), Little Shop of Horrors, Les Miserables... Art. So yeah, I actually got my Associates degree in Art! I love all things art. I paint, I draw, I do it all. I just love, love, LOVE art! Here is a drawing I recently did of the aforementioned Darren Criss! <3 Isn't he gorgeous? Cosplay. There is something about dressing up, you know? Dress up is fun! Here I am cosplaying Blaine Anderson from Glee this past year, I just really, really love getting to pretend I'm someone else for a while: School. I am currently studying History and English at Texas A&M: Texarkana, and I'm thinking of picking up Psychology there as well. I'm also planning to return to Texarkana College, where I received my Associate's in Art, and I hope to pursue Drama and French! American Girl and Build-A-Bear Workshop. Did I mention I'm mentally, like, five or so? Anyways, I'm pretty sure my teddy bear from BABW, Dare-Bear, will be with me as much as possible for cuddles during the harder parts of this journey, you know? After everything is in place and surgery has passed and all that, I'm going to go to American Girl with my best friends Michelle, Stephen, and Ryane! Music. Deadmau5. Jonas Brothers. Darren Criss. The Beatles. Mark Ballas. Panic! At The Disco! Those are quickly, easily, my favorite musicians. But my music appreciation goes much further than this alone! I'm also studying Piano! I haven't played in a while though, I need to get on that, you know? I dream of performing as Mrs. Lovett from "Sweeney Todd" and Eponine in "Les Miserables" , and I love all their songs! Don't even get me started on my appreciation for movie scores. Really, incredible! Speaking of Deadmau5, I cosplayed him in a sculpture I made: CD mau5head, yay! I also painted that watercolour picture featured down there. Yep, this some of my deadmau5 merch! <3 Tumblr. Swimming. Just about the only way I will willingly exercise.. Probably my biggest problem on this journey, you know? Books. Personal favorites include: "The Fault in our Stars" by: John Green, "Struck by Lightning" by: Chris Colfer, "The House on Mango Street" by: Sandra Cisneros, "The Knight of the Cart" by: Chretien de Troyes, "The Hunger Games" by: Suzanne Collins. My family and God. They're gonna get me through this. Well, that's everything. Let's be friends! Come on, after reading all that, you know I'm awesome! Let's encourage each other on this journey, okay? Edit: (I'm just gonna add cool things I've found or something, and this is one of them! Check this out! It's a goal weight bucket list! Share yours with me, okay? We can really encourage and get to know each other this way!!)

I have a shake called "Total Lean" from GNC. It comes in chocolate, strawberry, and Vanilla. I actually like the tastes of all three, so that's good, it's a little variety. My diet is two weeks, four shakes a day, or, on the fourth day, I can start having a small salad in place of one of the shakes if I want to, I don't really like salad though, so I doubt I will. I tried really hard to find a shake that was made with a good artificial sweetener, but I couldn't find one, so I settled for this one. It has Sucralose, but the benefits outweigh the negatives. (No pun intended.) I'm struggling a bit with it too, everyone around me is eating regular food and I just want to eat some too, but I'm just pretending there's a wall between me and all other foods, and I can't reach it for now. xP I hope it works.

October 2nd for me. Two days into this liquid diet and I'm having trouble. I have a shake called Total Lean, and it's awesome tasting and all, but I want food, haven't caved yet, don't think I will, but still... D: I kinda joined for encouragement, I think. Is anyone else having trouble with the liquid diet?