Livingthe Dream

Hi guys

I'm in Canada and thinking about getting a band.

I'm 61 years old, 6'3", 295 lbs, BMI about 37.

They have local clinics that do them but its about $16,000.

I'm really reluctant to spend all my savings, but if its going to save my life, I will.

I am an addictive type, having recovered from the typical addictions from the 60's and now battling my current addiction : food.< /p>

The local clinic wants me to have a BMI of at least 35. But, I'm planning on going back to the gym and working out to improve my fitness, so that if I DO go into surgery I'll be better able to recover.

So, my dilemma is, do I work out, possibly lose just enough weight to take my BMI too low to qualify, or do I get the surgery and workout after?

Thanks

Hey Canada, I am 6'3 and weighed 289 pounds at my heaviest. I was a self pay with zero support from insurance. I chose Lap Band Surgery in Denver Colorado | Lap Band Surgeon in Denver | Gastric Band Surgery Denver | Bariatric Surgery

as my choice for lapband. The total cost was 9,950.00 and that was it. I wasn't mailed bills or overdue notices and I wasn't harassed to pay anything else. I schedule the surgery, had a phone conversation with Dr. Kirshenbaum and then flew to Colorado, handed Natalie my Visa card and said lets knock it out. I have had 3 fills and hit my goal weight In about 5 months. I have had zero complications and have gone from 289 down to 211 today. My lowest has been 198 and I am trying to fine tune where I want to be at. You can search out my name on this web site and see my pics and our stats are about the same. I am 35 years old with a torn ACL and loved the food as well. My advice is to not exercise right now but to go hit the streets. Yes, hit the street and find a softball league you can join for 60+ and older. Go to the bowling alley and get on a weekly league. You need to make sure that you have things lined up to do once you get the band and recover. Take all measurements right now and get body fat measurements. Realize that you will lose inches and not weight and vice versus. Make sure you have your stats down so it is reassuring when your stomach shrinks but not the weight.

If you cant do those activities then find a walking club or hike. How long has anyone ever gone to a Gym? I have a membership at the YMCA and I barely go. You have to find something fun because a treadmill and ipod only work for a few long term.

It depends

100+ pounds is possible if you stay active and focus more on your exercise and less on the amount of Fluid in the band. If you are a overweight computer nerd that loves food and movies and only goes out at night then you can expect about 50% weight lose from what you were hoping for.

If you are an ex athlete that has let their self go (thats me) after marriage and kids and a desk job then the weight will fly off. I lost 85 pounds playing basketball and volleyball and never stepped on a treadmill. My activity level has always been high but so was the calorie intake. Burn 3800 calories a day (bodybugg) and then eat 5000 calories.

Its not impossible to hit goal but it helps to have fun doing something active.

I started my lapband journey in Dec 2007 and have lost close to 80 pounds. I am a male that weighed 284 and this morning I am back around 215 with what feels like no fill. Anyway my latest discovery is that I am not losing the weight around the belly at the same speed that I am losing weight/muscles elsewhere. It never dawned on me that I could still have flab around the belly after hitting my goal weight. My point is that if I continue to lose weight and get a flat belly I will have no arms or legs. Lol

My wife who is in much better shape has started using P90X which is a 90 day fitness program. Those night owls out there have surely seen the info commercials that run in the early morning hours. I have decided that once I get my fill on July 15th I will start that regimen. It is for people that are in great shape and want to get ripped. I am not that guy but if I shoot for the moon and miss I still land amongst the stars. I really want to look at my belly and say it is loose skin and it can not be fixed but I haven’t really tried to build muscle. I play Vball and Basketball 2 or 3 times a week but never weight trained. We will see how it works out. I will do this for 90 days then I promise that I will be happy with the outcome regardless. I have to let this go and move on with life regardless. The end of 90 days will be a vacation cruise and really close to my 1 year mark. Here goes nothing.

I have never followed the no drinking rule. I have always felt that the band should help me be a normal person and not drinking during a meal is not normal. I understand the benefits but when I had a good fill the fluids would fill me up faster so I drank less for that reason. I wanted the Protein so I would cut back. Nothing against those that follows that advice I just didn't find it feasible.

I hit goal weight last month and then the band started to tighten. It was weird that a fill that lasted 3 months all of sudden became to tight to manage. I had a choice to go back to Dr. No Fluoro or reach out to a new doctor. I decided a new doctor was in order because I wanted to be more exact and not go off how I feel. Most would not consider a tight band as a complication but I sure do. I don't have time to guess at how I feel as people watch me sip Water.< /p>

My insurance would not cover me because I was 85 pounds overweight and not 100 pounds. I told my doctor to give me 30 days and I will hit that number no problem. Once I started looking at the numbers I realized that I could earn the needed 10k for the surgery faster than my insurance company was going to help me. I say go the insurance route but in the back of your mind keep the idea of paying cash for your dream. Dr. K in Colorado charged me 10 k for everything and he is one of the best out there. Insurance is not the end all be all they are just one option. You said you had 4 months till you know for sure so delivering pizza's at night (or something) could be your solution. I am now sporting a 36 inch waist and at 35 years old matching my US Navy measurements when I was 26. I saved up the 10k then charged my Disney Visa card for it, paid it off and now going on a cruise after losing 80 pounds. You can do it don't let red tape stop you.

So what I have learned from this is to not advise people on life altering decisions when you don't have a clue as to what you are talking about. I was just doing my usual chatting and didn't read all the post before commenting. I feel just horrible for those kids and even angrier at the outcome of her surgery. How did this happen and is the infection not a direct cause by the surgery itself? I didn't know this lady and never once responded to a posting of hers till today and I feel terrible. You could tell the dad did not want to create a huge uproar on this site and tried to stay objective but I know it still hurts to go back and read her words and her thoughts.

I research and found the link from her husband. I stopped reading the minute I confirmed it to be true because I know the decision was weighing heavy on her mind.

Oh my god, Someone please tell me that is not the case. I think I am going to be sick.

Well I am a dad but I can tell you honestly that living with my Mom for 16 years was a primary reason for me getting this surgery. I looked at her constant struggle with weight and realized that I better do something. I paid for my surgery myself and went from a 44 waist to a 35 inch waist and feeling great. It saddens me that my mom who is now 55 years old is going back to weight watchers for another round of counseling and over priced food. I told my Mom that as a gift I would get her the surgery and she wouldn't do it.

The short answer is do it and the make sure your kids don't follow your poor example of bad eating( I am assuming here). Make sure now that when you hit 60 years old your still not in the same boat you are in now. Don't let you kids walk that struggle with you for the next 20 years.

Make sure you are not over looking your salt intake. Sodium will give you those one pound weight losses even though you are running negative calorie numbers each day. If your chart is jumping up and down then you might be bloated with Water weight which will give you -1 type numbers for the week.

imdone.bmp

Well I had my surgery in December and I am really close to goal. I found out recently that Dr. K can do tummy tucks if requested. I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with DR K and a Tummy Tuck. He did my lap band and was Awesome so I know he is good just wanting some feedback. Thanks

It really helps to get opinions from people that never knew me at the heavier weight. I feel much better now that I know that what I feel inside is right on course. You guys have all made great points and I am taking action on them. The weightlifting is next so maybe that bigger upper body will offset the bottom part just a little. I am not going to have a Tummy Tuck because I am taking the family on a cruise since they have supported me since December in my adventure and they deserve a reward for all the no show nights when dad was out working out. I have already dialed it back a little and have stopped focusing so much on myself. If my appearance stays this way forever then this surgery would be the best investment I have ever made.

AS far as my wife goes she is still in shock. I am down close to 80 pounds from my heaviest and she is still stunned. I have always been super active playing sports 3 nights a week at a minimum. Once I got the band I didn't change my routine I just ate a LOT less. I would burn 3500 calories a day and would eat 5000 in fast food. Now I cant stand fast food because of a bad experience with a hamburger bun that wouldn't go down day one of solids. I dont count carbs and calories any more just Protein and Water.

Here is a pic today with a 38 inch waist. I can still grab two big hands worth of fat on my stomach and maybe that is just skin. I sure hope not but that could be the case. I am Soooooo happy that I got this surgery but spending 10k out of pocket I don't plan on stopping till I hit my limit. Right now I am feeling great and still slowly losing. I just wish I knew how it would turn out and whether I should keep going. I think people are just reacting to the speed of the loss and not that I am "too skinny" I think you can tell by my pic that I am still eating well.

Last night sitting at the computer I "allowed" myself SIX Peanut Butter cups followed immediately by FIVE Oreos and a glass of milk.

I have highlighted what I felt was your primary mistake. Stop having a "relationship" with food and if you eat some junk food so what, it doesn't take away the strides you have made and it doesn't define who you are. Everyone has those weak moments just concentrate on the "buffer". The buffer is that calorie negative where you have a bigger deficiency that your binge. I play volleyball 3 nights a week and always grab a snickers bar on the way home. I don't care because that is "normal" and I have the points in the bank to eat that.

Your battle/enemy is not food. Your battle is (maybe) with a sedimentary lifestyle? You want to eat that food go ahead just do it before your midnight jog through your neighborhood. Strap some chem lights to your feet, shut off that computer and rebuild that buffer.

Hello Guys,

My stats are as follows. I am a male who weights 207 pounds and I am 6'3 in height. I have reached the point where I look real skinny in clothes but not good naked (to be blunt).. and my colleagues and family are starting to worry that I am taking it to far. I think they feel this way because it has been a drastic change and they are not use to it yet. The people that are really shocked are the ones that haven't seen me in a while (8 weeks) and tell my wife that they "didn't even recognize me". I am very excited about the changes I see but I am not where I want to be. Here are my thoughts.

1. I still have a 39 inch waist which is still large enough to put me in the higher risk for heart disease. Mens health magazine states that men with waist size larger that 36 inches are at a considerably higher risk. The sad think is that I can wear and 34 inch waist in jeans so Levi is really an inaccurate seamstress.

2. One of my primary goals as vain as it sounds was 6 pack abs are at least really close. I have no doubt that I can hit the body fat % but am concerned that the rest of my body will be to scrappy.

3. The ideal weight scientifically speaking is 180-195 so I should be safe to keep moving along.

Everyone is making great points and I agree that Water can come in different forms. I will say that the only time I really crave water is after a hard work out. I don't want a fruity cocktail after a 3 hour basketball game. One thing that I miss is the ability to really chug water down. I don't enjoy sipping it and usually forget that it is even around. I am trying hard to remember to eat let alone carry water around with me. I do drink water while eating and always have.

Give yourself 2 weeks then you will be posting the board and asking how long you have to wait before getting active. Congrats and I am glad to see you have made the plunge.

Had surgery on Dec 18th and have lost 77 pounds so far. I have about 10 more to go and then I am done.

I am shooting for a 34 waist and 36 length on my jeans and have nothing hanging over the top. (Muffin top) I am ready to have no spare flab at all.

I don't know how close to goal you are, but in all honesty, unless you're pretty close, I wouldn't worry about that just yet. It's likely that your weight loss will slow as you get closer to your goal weight.

No worries!

Agree, I should hit goal in the next 45-60 days assuming 200 pounds is the goal mark. What your goal should be is a whole separate issue for me as well. I am a little relieved to see that Salsa has the same concerns. The last thing I want to do is get on this website and complain that I am to skinny. If you look at the before and after pictures thread you can see that I am not bone skinny yet and that there is still weight to lose. My guess is I have 20 pounds of weight left and then the muffin belly will be gone. Now I could be surprised and my head lose the weight or my feet get smaller but right now the belly seems to be the last village to conquer.

I know the ultimate answer is go get unfilled which I would do if needed. I guess I am trying to gauge how likely that is going to be for me. I have always assumed that my fills would be based on no results but at the rate I am going I will have dropped 80 pounds in 6 months. My calculations show that I will be 200 pounds (Male) on a 6'3 frame and under 20% body fat. I know it is not a terrible ordeal to be in but it is in the back of my head that I start to look survivor show skinny in the next couple of months. Is there anyone that has hit this level of weight.

I would love to show my face but since I have a high profile job with a bunch of geek computer people I can only imagine the fun things they could do with my picture. I have also not told anyone at my work that I have gotten it done and when they ask I say low carb. If I knew for a fact back in December it would have worked for me I would have been more vocal but since I was an out of pocket LBer I didn't want to take that chance and look like a fool. The only time it bothers me to "lie" or keep my personal life personal is when an obese friend ask me how I did it. I feel bad because this surgery has been so wonderful for me and I want to give him the advice.

I was concerned with the cost going to Colorado every time I needed a fill. That was my biggest concern by far because I could not afford to make 7 or 8 trips to Colorado at 200 bucks a pop. My first fill I lost 10 pounds in 4 weeks. The second fill (current to date) I have lost 50 freaking pounds and am about to hit goal. I know everyone is different but Dr. K really does try to get you to the sweet spot safely.

I feel good coming back now and posting my pictures. I feel like I have come full circle and the risk was worth the reward. My plan is to have ribs and abs by July. I am 6'3 and started out at 280 and just hit 217 this morning.