Donna4545

I've survived the pre-op diet. Insurance is paying. Surgery is in 2 days. I should be really happy but I'm not. I feel really blah. Does anyone else have this? Thoughts?

Juarez is dangerous. Period. Don't wander around, especially at night. If you go straight from hotel to clinic, you should be fine, but this is not the time to go sightseeing downtown. They average 6 murders a day, and innocent people get caught in the crossfire.

I was told 6 weeks for strenuous exercise

I got a box set of Zumba DVDs for after surgery. I looked at them and they look like fun, though I will definitely be starting with the "Beginner" DVD.

Several people have said that when they weren't losing, they upped their protein, and got some more "good" calories in from protein and that jump-started them.

My surgery is in 3 days, and I need to start thinking about the crucial component for taking advantage of the honeymoon period of weight loss--exercise. I am a total exercise wimp. I hate it. I hate it because it hurts my knees, I have bad balance, and I find it mind-numbingly boring. So here's what I've done to ease myself into it. I decided that I wanted something that I could do at home (I live in a cold climate and there's no way I'm driving to Curves in a blizzard). I ordered a DVD set, "The All New Zumba Fitness: Latin Workout Routine" It has 4 DVDs of varyiing difficulty. It's basically "dancercise" to Latin music like samba, tango, macumba etc. I figure this will be less boring that watching some perky aerobicized blonde bouncing around in ways that make my low-impact self cringe. I wanted something I could DO. It looks like I can start the "Beginners" DVD pretty much right after surgery (taking it easy of course) and step it up a bit until I reach the 6 week point, where I am allowed to do strenuous exercise. At 6 weeks, I have another DVD to add in: "Walk at Home" which I plan to do for a half hour every morning. Hopefully by then I'll be a little lighter and it won't hurt so much. It's at that point that I have to start thinking about a gym for arms, etc. But I'm taking this one step at a time and so I'm not going to worry about the gym today. I'll worry about it tomorrow.

Well, that's what a surgeon says. I would say ask yours to be sure. He was pretty adamant about it.

If you're eating less than 800 calories/day you're not losing fat, you're losing muscle.

Keep on pluggin' Lou!

Good luck to everyone this week!

I am going to be sleeved Wednesday but I'm already thinking a year down the road. An old flame who lives out of state just got divorced, and I'm thinking, in a year I won't be embarrassed to see him lol! Until then I'm just going to concentrate on losing weight.

Ok, this is going to sound weird, but it's perfectly honest. I believe in God, but Christians drive me crazy. Most of my friends are atheists or pagans/wiccans. Can I hang out with you guys? :-)

My doctor told me that pcos would reverse itself with weight loss because my hormones would re-balance. (Fat produces estrogen, which throws the other hormones out of whack). I stopped taking my Spirolactone and my BC pills and I actually feel better, and periods are semi-normal. I don't get sleeved until Wednesday, so I'm just expecting things to get better. I was able to lose weight on the pre-op diet, so I know the pcos doesn't make weight loss impossible.

I'm 5'7 and my consultation weight was 331. I get sleeved 7/14/10 (Wednesday). I've got a long way to go. They set an initial goal of 150, but I have small bones and I think 130 is more like it, but we'll see.

BC/BS ND pays for the pannus but if you want the muscles tightened you have to pay for that part of it.

My ins co (BC/BS ND) will pay for the pannus, but skin reduction only--you have to pay for any muscle tightening yourself. They will also pay for breast work if it is congenital--and I have congenital assymetry that I'm not going to do anything about until after I lose the weight, so that takes care of that. I'll get a chin job if I need one (not covered) but that's all.

I will be sleeved by Dr. Brandon Helbling at Mid-Dakota Clinic/St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck, ND. He has done hundred of sleeves with a zero complication rate. The staff are great. Insurance coverage was no problem because he is in a pilot program with BC/BS; I got approval in a week.

The only reason I'm having my surgery in the US is that insurance will pay for a good doctor/hospital. If I was self pay I would seriously consider Mexico. I have a friend who had a lap band in Mexico a year ago and she's lost 100 lbs with no complications. I know it's just one case, but I see so many on the boards that they must be doing something right down there.

I am using DaVinci sugar free syrups that I got online. $4.77 for 750 ml bottle, about 50 flavors to choose from. I got mine from supplementwarehouse.com, which is also a good source for isopure zero carb protein powder.

I'm almost done with my 2 week pre op diet--things got better after Day 6, and now I actually don't mind it at all. I've got 3 more days until surgery, and I'm glad I stuck to the diet.

I had my last meal Friday night at the best restaurant in town, and except for the bread and wine, I stuck to my diet. I had swordfish and asparagus with a mozzarella salad. You can enjoy a last meal without totally "blowing it". Surgery is Wednesday.

Hey--reality check! After your stomach heals, you can still eat what you like, just in small amounts--no food funerals are needed. Kick yourself in the butt and decide you're going to get serious about this surgery. Have two low carb, high protein shakes a day, a salad with homemade dressing for snack, a dinner of 4-6 oz lean meat and a non-starchy vegetable, and 64 oz of water a day. that's what I'm doing, I'm not hungry, and I've lost 11 pounds so far. See my blog for how I got through it. You can do this!

My BMI was 51, and I get sleeved on Wed. No one mentioned me losing faster than low BMI people, but I didn't ask. Then again, I didn't care, lol--weight loss is weight loss!

2 days to go for me too. I leave on tues (the surgeon is 100 miles away) and have surgery on Wed 7/14. I'm taking my laptop with me, lol, so you'll hear all about it (once I'm in the hotel again--Thurs).

Go by carbs period. But net carbs is carbs minus fiber.