Sajijoma

@@Katy Walton a trainer is awesome especially in the beginning to help start a routine and hold you accountable, and help to make sure you are working all your areas and not just your fav spots(I'm guilty of doing exercises because I like them and not doing the ones I hate). You can do it, you just have to believe in yourself! I'm not trying to down you, I think you are doing a GREAT thing, but I remember when I was in my early 20's looking into gastric bypass at the advice of my doctor, but I wasn't ready to do everything that is involved for long term success. I didn't want to make those hard changes and I didn't have any support behind me to cheer me on when I needed it. I thought I'd have surgery, exercise for maybe a year and then go back to my "normal" life. When someone told me that if I didn't make the change for life I was going to fail, I bailed. I don't want people to make that same mistake I did. Embrace the changes as they come and be happy later on. I can't get back my list years unfortunately.

A lot of people have already said it, but I'll just parrot that and say Do Your Research! You are the one who has to live with your body and you need to know what wls will and will not do. It is not a miracle cure. It takes a lot of effort and work and if you can't exercise NOW because of your schedule, where are you going to find the time after surgery to do it? Surgery isn't a cure, it's just a tool to help you out, more so in the beginning but somewhat forever. If you don't do it properly, you could possibly have gone through major surgery, changed the way your body functions FOR LIFE, and still end up overweight because you didn't change your life to support a healthier lifestyle. I'm working right now to make me the best me I can and lose as much weight on my own and incorporate as much exercise as I can NOW before wls so that I can maximize my benefits and get myself into a routine that hopefully will stick for life so I can keep the weight off. If that's not your mindset, it's not going to work long term and you'll be back where you are right now in a few years. I don't want to discourage you, but I want you to fully understand what you are doing and make that commitment to yourself to see it through from start to forever because there is not a "finish" there's lower maintenance but never a finish. You can never say ah I reached my goal so now I'm going back to my old lifestyle and my fav foods that got me to this point. It just won't work.

I've noticed that some surgeons require sleep studies and stuff and was wondering what all exactly did your surgeon require before surgery? Does everyone have to get the upper GI thing and stomach biopsies or is that based on medical problems they suspect? I'd love to get as much of this stuff done as I can while I'm still finishing up my 90 days if I can, so I don't have to wait longer than I'd like to between being approved and the actual date picking, but I don't want to go finding problems I don't know about already prior to surgery if I don't have to either. Like as far as I know at this moment I do not have diabetes so if a diabetes test is not required, I don't want to go out of my way to have one and get stuck on a meter and a diabetic diet plan on top of all of this too should it turn up I did have diabetes. Does that make sense? What if anything do you all recommend that I should do now that is like a 99% guarantee that I'll have to get done prior to surgery that I could be knocking out of the way right now?

Have you tried using a body pillow to prop you on your side? I am a total tummy sleeper as well, but when I was pregnant my doctors always kept reminding me not to sleep on my stomachZ the only way I could manage to not fully sleep on my stomach even at the end was to use a body pillow and roll into it for support. It worked though. I actually plan on taking my body pillow with me to the hospital when I have surgery for the extra support and comfort.

Congratulations! I hope when I get to submit that they are that fast with mine!

I have Aetna as well and I don't think just gaining 15lbs will qualify you. They want a minimum of 2 yrs worth of medical records showing a recorded weight and BMI over 40. I'm pretty sure just gaining 15lbs won't help you unless you plan to hang on to it and go to the doctor for the next say 6 months or so before starting the process even. I'd talk to your PCP. They could do a thorough work up and maybe find you some comorbidities. I understand that even something like stress urinary incontinence can count as a comorbidity so, it's worth a try to do that instead of putting on more weight to struggle with.

@ don't be so hard on yourself sweetie! I've done that with my protein shakes too! I think I went on for about a YEAR before I actually noticed it said 2 scoops! I had one brand that was just 1 scoop so I just ASSumed that all of them were the same basically. Don't beat yourself up over it. It's a small tiny mistake and you've corrected it and undoubtably feel a lot better now that you have!

My psych eval was rescheduled to this coming week, so I don't know how the process goes exactly, but I do know it's just 1 visit for an hour so it can't be THAT much stuff. My surgeon's office is a center of excellence so there is a psych in the office, along with a NUT. They said we could choose others, but these are his preferred because they know what the process involves and how to get you want you need to be successful and get through the insurance hoops.

I have a book I'd like to recommend to anyone who would like to read it. It's called the Gabriel Method by Jon Gabriel. First off, I can tell you first hand, that it's not a solution to everyone's weight problems otherwise I'd be thin right now, but what I can tell you is that in his book he makes some good points about obesity, nutritional starvation, mental starvation, using food as a protective barrier in the case of abuse victims etc and it's a good resource to add to your arsenal. I don't think we can have too many weapons against our weight. I really don't. To over simplify things the basic premise is that people are obese because their bodies are starving for the correct nutrition, they have suffered mental/physical abuse, or they are stuck in a miserable life that is making them unhappy or an ugly combo of all 3. To solve the nutritional side he recommends every meal consist of quality easily assimilable Proteins, omega-3's, and live uncooked fruits and veg. And to not deprive oneself of anything they desire in the beginning. There's also recommendations on how to feel safe after suffering abuse including a nighttime hypnosis type thing, and recommendations or inspiration to just go out and change your life to make yourself happy. I couldn't help but notice he was unhappy in his old job so he went into business making money off of people like us to solve his problem, but it really does have some good info in there and some lessons to take away from the whole thing. I have followed the Gabriel Method for several years in the past, and in the beginning, I did lose a massive amount of weight following everything, but as I got pregnant over and over and my doctors took me off of things like the whole gram of Omega 3 supplements, told me the digestives could be harmful and to stop them, and changed around things etc, and the weight began to stick back on and with a vengeance so it's not something to quit if you start. It's not a diet to conform to, but things you can work into your already going routines. I'm having a Reread of the book now during pre surgery, as most of what is involved also applies well to life post wls, so I thought I'd share for anyone who cares to pick up a copy. In the back there's actually a testamonial from Kaliah Ali talking about how she started using this method about a month prior to getting her lap band and believes it helped her lose weight in addition to the band alone. When I bought it at Amazon years ago, I paid like $11 and I know a lot of libraries own a copy or two as well. But just wanted to throw that out there. I know a lot of nutritionists and dietitians haven't ever seemed to hear about the Gabriel Method, so it's not likely that they would recommend it to their patients to read. But just wanted to pass it along I case anyone wants to read along with me.

You can buy them online at Kingsizedirect.com, but I have to warn you, they do what I call "therapeutic sizing" meaning they usually size it up so a 2x fits like a 3x everywhere else etc. so make sure you are aware of that when ordering.

@@BeautyInProgress I'm so very sorry to hear about your dad. My dad is in the same boat basically and a few months ago, we nearly lost him to a massive stroke when he took a nap without his CPAP on. I haven't gone to Mexico myself, but I did have a former neighbor and friend who went down for a Lap band and she said it was quite affordable. She went in like 2006 I think. They travelled down to the border basically and there was someone there to pick them up and take them to the hotel where they stayed. There was a guide who was responsible for getting them anything they needed really. Then she had the surgery and her husband was allowed to watch while it was done even and then she recovered at the hotel for a few days and they drove them back to the border. She had no complaints at all and said she would do it again.

I'm pre op. I've got about 45 days til we submit to insurance for approval. Looking at a late Oct. time frame probably.

Congratulations and good luck!

First of all, I am so sorry for your loss and that you are going through a tough time. Good for you for not being "too proud" to get some help! I'm sorry you guys didn't have better food being offered to you. I know, I am guilty of this too, of going through the pantry to donate to our local church and picking either things I'm not a big fan of, or all the unhealthy sweet "treats" thinking that I was being nice because "they probably don't get much of these" type mentality. Next time I donate, I'm going to do better. Thanks for reminding me that nutrition is important in donations too!

Congratulations! I don't think I was 125 since like 4th grade maybe! I can't imagine how good it feels to reach that goal! So glad for you!

I can't really get to a pool. We have one about aisle away at the Rec center but I can't take my children and go there and by the time my husband gets home it's closed so whatever I do I have to be able to do at home and with kids all about. That's why walking is great. They are starting to enjoy our "forced death marches" as my oldest calls them. LOL I let my body tell me how far we make it on the walks, but I also make goal posts to aim for. Like the first week, I aim at 3 houses down(we are tuna packed tight in our subdivision). Each day I aimed a little farther. Until I just realized wow, I made it that far and I'm still alive! LOL I have to adjust my times to walk though since school has started and the neighborhood bus driver keeps trying to kidnap my kids(we homeschool)! Haha

I can't speak for everyone, but having been severely overweight most of my childhood and adult life, I would have LOVED to have to opportunity and support to do this back then. Yes, it's a life time of change, but when I was 17, I was definitely more capable of coping with those changes than I was in my twenties when I went running in the other direction in fear. Had I had an emotionally supportive family to help me through and cheer me on, I could have done it then and be a lot healthier and happier than I am right now. Obviously, you cannot just go have WLS without the proper steps anyway, so maybe guide her through the process. Go to a seminar, go see the psych, talk to the NUT and see if maybe this is the right thing for her right now or if she isn't emotionally ready, she'll at least know what it fully involves when she is.

I've seen it used on the show Fat Doctor in the UK for patients who needed to drop weight to be able to qualify for surgery. It did seem to help them in the short run, but I can't see this being a viable option for losing weight long term. In the end, how is this any different than Liposene or konjack root "belly fillers". They work great short term in filling the belly, but for me at least, the moment I quit them I gained every pouf back and they got married and had a few children along the way! ???? I think it just won't ever work as anything substantial other than a guided weight loss to move on towards something more permanent.

I thought about telling people, but I do like my business to be my business and not the subject of chats without me being present and my family are the kind who torments me with food anyways and tries to derail progress so it's probably for the best that they don't know otherwise they would do their best to try to ruin it for me. So, I've only told my husband(obviously), our 7 kids just so they are comfortable with all the new changes that are happening with mommy and so they don't worry about me dying of some disease, my best friend since I was a kid, and then my college room mate who also had the surgery and is a year out and doing fabulous! I think that's enough people. Everyone else can speculate all they want, but I don't have to give them any info to use. I mean, I am working my butt off(literally) trying to lose weight and get in the best shape even pre operation, so the fact that I'm putting in a lot of work exercising and eating a high protein, low carb diet is already yielding me some results so who's to say I didn't lose it all on my own without surgery. They can't prove anything! as a doctor though, you do have a unique opportunity to reach out to patients who could benefit from surgery and who might be afraid. It's easier to know someone who had it and survived and looks great vs no real knowledge of how things will be after. I'd say if you've got a couple of patients who could benefit from this, maybe in confidence you could tell them your own experience and they can learn from your example if that's something they are ready to pursue. I have to be honest, if my college room mate hadn't had it and looks so healthy and happy, I'm not sure I would be going through it, because it does scare the crap out of me when I think about how it's done, but I see that she survived and isn't just telling me beautiful lies to lure me in, so I know I can do this too!

Thanks everyone! I was so proud of myself I wanted to scream it from the rafters(but all I could do was sign it for the first 20 mins LOL) today was a little better still a gasp and cough, but I was a little faster. My knees aren't too happy with me though. Tonight they basically screamed at me to not go for the night time walk. I took an Epsom salt soak instead and hope to get going again tomorrow morning.

1999 is the default date. I haven't had my surgery yet. Probably be Oct.

So I've been REALLY putting in a good fight to lose weight going into surgery and to change my old habits NOW so that it's not so foreign afterwards. In June, I could barely walk across my house without having to sit down. 2 weeks ago, I nearly died going around the block and yesterday, I walked 2 miles! Seriously my heart was pounding out of my chest and I was coughing like a 50yr smoker when I got home(if home counts as the front lawn and my fat ass laying on it like a fish pulled out of a lake LOL), but I was so proud! I walked 2 miles!!!! At this rate I wonder if I can get to light jogging even before my surgery(I wish!)

My surgeon recommends everyone getting the bypass have their gall bladder out because the risk of stones is so high after surgery and it saves having a follow up operation in the next year to remove it. I've already had mine out so for me, I'm ahead of the game.

Try a different brand of protein shake or maybe mixing it with ice to make it more like a milkshake instead of flavored milk.

I've been using whole foods 365 protein powder for years but I recently tried the Pure protein shakes and they are kinda gross. It's like pudding flavored with Splenda with an extra shot of mucus thrown in. I'm NOT a fan! I'm still looking for one that meets my needs and tastes great/has good consistency. There are some sample packs at bariatricpantry.com that I'm thinking about ordering and trying.