TxArcher

I find that spicy foods cause me to gulp a bit, because I tend to swallow my food un-chewed since the "heat" tends to get to me before I can chew properly. Maybe your irritating the band with un-chewed bits of food.

Name............Lbs Lost........% of wgt lost.......BMI QatarPhil...........55......................19%................32.2 (39.6) Foofy...............43....................15.5%.................37.2 Sades...............41.8...................18.2%..............34.3 Shalee04...........66.....................26.6.................30.3 Bandpal.............88.11..................30.%...............32.4(47 ) Skinny_Jill..........50.....................22.5%..............32.7 Stephanie..........60.....................26%.................27.1 Hollyberries........113.....................31%.................36.2 linda.................52......................23%.................29.9 5 Abbisgood..........53.....................23%.................?? want2lose..........89.6...................31%................31.4 kandiceb............63.....................26%................27.6 Momto1plus1......72.2...................26.8%..............30.9 MollyBrown.........36.....................12.5%..............36.5 TxArcher............102...................25.50%.........52.8 to 39.3 Cindyg...............50.....................20%.................36.5 Close.................50.....................20%.................33.1 Tmusicmaker123..73.....................19%.................60.1 to 48.7 plump_princess....57.....................22%.................36 Mariegabrieleee....73.....................24%.................51.3 to 39.1 gabeekeeper.......101.....................30% ..................40.2 stranger138........47......................20.43%.................32.4 hortgal..............40......................18.5%..............33.8 Robin_Bird............90.....................29.5%................32.7 Staysee..............70.....................20%................48.4 Hajohnson1..........49.8....................18.2%..............39.8 lindseyann2u........70......................?%.................? Cherlita...............44.......................20%...............65 to 57.5 BandChick64..........94.5.....................31.5%.............33.2 tyman311..............61.....................31%...............41 to 28 (so far) BarbBee................74......................24%.................38 Huskerette............54..(i gained)..........22%...............30.5 Firebolt.................45.....................19%..................3 3.5 Total.................2,008.21 That is ONE TON

Name..........Start........Current.........Goal...... To Go CindyG...........204...........202...........184........18 TxArcher.........299...........298...........280........18 Hollyberries.....253...........245...........238.........7 Momto1plus1......203...........197...........185........12 Lindata..........176.5.........176.5.........160........16.5 Sades............194...........187...........185.........2 Mariegabrieleee..235...........232...........215........17 Skinny Jill......167...........167...........157........10 Foofy............233...........230.5.........220........10.5 Kuchiegrl........251...........251...........235........16 Peaches11........203...........203...........183........20 Huskerette.......180...........180...........165........15 Shalee04.........182...........182...........170........12 Ok... the scale FINALLY started moving again and I can post a loss... one pound, but hey, I will take what I can get right now after that PLATEAU FROM HELL!!!!! I think this move has been pretty stressfully on me and I was resorting to some sweet food to "carry me through" what a bunch of B.S.!!! I have broken the sweet tooth once again and am focusing on the basics again! Watch out Cindy... here I come... I am on your heels!

Well, I have this Trek 21 speed bike on my back porch. I see it every time I go out there! I keep hearing this little voice from it. "Ride me and see what happens to that gut" it says! I have not ridden since early days of college. I know i CAN ride, but just feel awkward, to say the least! That is probably my "fat-brain" talking. I think I will air up the tires and oil that chain and hop on... Hey, what do I have to lose?... another 90 pounds of FAT... Thats what! Anybody else with me on this?

Ok... So now I am up to a 2 month old horse and a rack of baby back ribs! Wow a 2 month old horse!!! Sheez:rolleyes2:

Just giving this poll a nudge to the top!

Yep... I had been on the 5 pound roller coaster for about a month. Down, up, down, up... UGGH! The scale has finally started to move down again and this morning it read 298! I have pretty much cut out ALL sweets that are not protein loaded, i.e. my protein ricotta cheese desert I posted in the Nymph's recipe thread. I remember hitting a plateau about a month post-op. My clothes were still getting smaller but no weight change. Well this was just the PLATEAU FROM HELL! Maybe I am on my way back down now? Training camp... that is something I never did. Geez, I gotta figure out how I am going to watch my beloved Boyz this year. We try to go without TV as much as possible. I guess I will be sitting my patooty down at a sports bar somewhere. Good thing they don't play Carolina this year! I don't think I would be liked too much here.:biggrin:

Just the other day, I was working on replacing electrical plugs and switches in my new house. I was on the floor working on a plug and my wife walks in and just stares at me... "What?" I said. "Look at you" she said. "Look at what?", "You--Your sitting cross-leged!" I had not even realized I was sitting that way. I just got tired of squatting and kneeling... Sure is nice seeing other things changing, even though the scale is being stubborn.

I just came up with this one the other day. 1/2 carton of Ricotta cheese 5 packets splenda 1 scoop of Protein powder (i use nectar, chocolate) Mix all together and you have a low carb. HIGH protein snack! About 40-45 grams protein from my calculations! Nice, yummy, sweet, creamy, etc.

Ok... I know this is probably Taboo as hell, but I am going to ask it anyway! Has anybody resorted to Self-Fills instead of paying some damned money hungry doc $1,000 to do it? I only ask because I moved away from my clinic and the doc here wants almost a grand to stick me with a darned needle and squirt in some salty water! If anybody has done this, how did you get your Huber needles? Prescription, black market (just kidding)?

Ok... I know this is probably Taboo as hell, but I am going to ask it anyway! Has anybody resorted to Self-Fills instead of paying some damned money hungry doc $1,000 to do it? I only ask because I moved away from my clinic and the doc here wants almost a grand to stick me with a darned needle and squirt in some salty water! If anybody has done this, how did you get your Huber needles? Prescription, black market (just kidding)?

A hero??? Never thought of myself as a hero...Thanks!

I have an apt. with my N.P. at work this afternoon. Everybody keep your fingers crossed that she will be open to the idea of preforming my fills. I have a conference call scheduled with the "head nurse" of my old clinic. FINGERS CROSSED!!!!

I went into a Good Will store yesterday on my lunch break. There on the shelves were some 38x32 Levi SilverTabs. My size 40x32's were a bit loose. I tried them on and they fit like a glove! SilverTabs run a bit big in their sizes, but... I wore them in High School and EARLY college. Once I got above a 40 waist, I couldn't find them in my size. These are my "Hands-Down" favorite jeans in the world because they are soooo roomy! I am wearing them NOW! It sure feels good to be wearing the same size jeans now, at 30 that I wore the day I graduated High School! Now if my GUT would just catch up with my waist!

I am proud to say that for the first time since High School, I have put on a size 38x32 SilverTab jeans! I love SilverTabs because they are so roomy!!!

Ha... Next we will have battery changes instead of fills! I guess there will be Band Mechanics instead of doctors. "Welp, lets look under the hood. Oh yeah, there's your problem... You have a dead battery." Sorry, I couldn't resist! Yeah the $800 plus fills are absolutely highway robbery! believe me... since getting this news, I have had second thoughts on the band. I know it was the right choice for me, but it ticks me off to think there ARE actually people that HAVE to pay that much as a self-pay.

Gee wiz does the bad news ever stop! I got in tough with my "new" doctor's office yesterday. (we will see if I ever make it to an appointment with him) I talked to his billing person. She told me that self pay fills are $340:eek: On top of that, he does fills under x-ray at the hospital, so the hospital gets to charge me too! Their "fair-share" is $520!:tongue_smilie::eek: $860 for a stinkin' fill! Highway robbery! I think I will try talking to my N.P. here at work to see if she is comfortable doing a palpation adjustment. That wouldn't cost me a penny!

See, this is just the thing. According to the terms of my insurance at the time of services. (I have the papers here on my desk) They state: Failure to notify CIGNA---------Does not Apply Precertification----------------Does not Apply Outpatient Precertification-----NO (means they don't need it) I jumped though all the hoops they required and they are going on and on with different letters (about 1 a week) with new reasons that they can not cover my surgery. Most of these are bogus and when we confront them they say "Oh... well then just let us review your case and we should settle payments within a few weeks". Well, then here comes another letter with another reason the next week! I have talked EXTENSIVELY with the insurance coordinator at my clinic and she said she is 100% sure that everything was done correctly with my case because they have had other CIGNA cases come through since my Sx and they have had no problem with their cases. Honestly... I was in COBRA on my insurance when I had the Sx and I COBRAed just for this purpose! My surgery was on November 28th and My policy ended on November 30th. I have a sneaking suspicion that since I no longer pay them premiums each month as an active policy holder, they no longer feel obligated to pay out this claim. Never mind the fact that I was a policy holder when I had the surgery! Getting off my soap-box now!

Yeah... I will try to make wiser choices. Afterall, I am probably just beating myself up a little bit. I eat at least one meal a day as a salad. (I have this crazy hankerin' for Greek salads) Cigna has this room full of monkeys. Really... I have seen them...:thumbup: They all have two stamps... one stamp is a "reject" and the other is an "accept". These monkeys just go crazy stamping claims. Afterall--- they work for bananas. No health benefits to pay... Ok. I am done mocking them. They are making up new excuses each week why they can not pay out. We are on excuse 20 or so now. I think i remember somewhere that there is a law firm that takes care of bariatric patients. Something like obesityhelp.com????? I am about to look into this.

It has taken since April to get hooked up with this Dr. He is the only option I have unless I want to go to fill center usa in Charlotte, NC. I guess I can wait it out...

So I have been pretty down lately about my perspective with my band. I have not been eating the "best" foods. Some sweets here and there. Most days, I can eat too much. Some days I am tight, but it never lasts long. I think this move to SC has messed with my head. I was ROCKIN in Texas, but now I have come to a screeching halt. To top it all off... I have been trying to get hooked up with a new surgeon here in UPstate, SC to follow me. Today it finally happened. My old Surgeon's office got in touch with them and Dr. Bour accepted me. That is good news, I know. The bad news is that I can't be seen 'till Aug. 8th and there is not an opportunity for a fill until September 8th! That is a LONG time from my last fill in APRIL:eek: I guess I just need to suck it up and stay the course 'till I can get another fill and make my daily choices to eat healthy and not too much! I am just venting... Oh yeah... I am STILL fighting Cigna for payment on my surgery! They are pulling any excuse out of their "you know whats" to keep from paying! Anybody have any suggestions? I am furious with Cigna at this point!:confused::mad::sleep::mad::eek::mad::mad::drool::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

:thumbs_up: Straws are off limits... I never use them. My surgeon told me that as long as that band is on my stomach, I can NEVER use straws. Just doing what the doc ordered... You can try some papaya enzymes. They are little chewable tablets from the health food store. They will help with the upset feeling in your stomach. Hope your feeling better every day!

Congratulations!!! Who did your surgery? I am still trying to get hooked up with a surgeon here in Greenville to do fills and such. I would lay off the gingerale... that carbonation will make your stomach hurt worse that it already is! I will be 7 mo. postop on Saturday and have lost over 100 pounds! Take things slow and easy and do EXACTLY what the doc says to do and you will do great. Craig

Thanks for the encouragement. I am more proud of the blood pressure than I am of loosing 100 pounds!

Oh yeah, I dropped another pant size. Now a 40"x32" jeans. Still gotta buy the relaxed, or loose fit. But I had to do that when I was in high school too!