Wheetsin

Not sure. I retain fluid, and hence gain weight. If that's what you mean.

If your body needs 2000 calories for daily activities, and you're eating 3000, and exercising off 200, you're not going to lose weight. If your body needs 2000, and you're eating 2000, and exercising off 1000, you're much more likely to see pounds coming off. It's all about manipulating your metabolism to burn more calories than you're consuming. Everyone I know who runs tells me, "I run because I can eat whatever I want." Exact same principle.

We all eat differently. For some meals, I'm really tight, and my portions are tiny. In these cases, I go the extra mile to try and get the few bites to be really nutritious bites. Later in the day when I can eat larger portions, I will relax more on what I eat. To answer your question, I think, I have a mental tab of calories in something. I don't track calories necessarily, but like carbs - I'm just kind of aware of the ballpark figure I'm eating, just because I know what I'm eating. At the same time, I don't measure out my food. I take some, and I eat until I no longer feel hungry. It doesn't matter to me if that takes a cup, 400 calories, or 1 oz.

The Gas-X is a misnomer, for surgical gas. I hate seeing people spend the $ on it when it's just not designed, nor going to, do anything in the body cavity. From the Gas-X website: Gas-X doesn't work outside of your intestinal tract, which is where the gas from surgery is. E.g. you wouldn't take an antacid to help with a burning sensation in your shoulder.

With the new Homeland Security rules about carrying on liquids (no more than can fit into a food storage bag and no more than 3 ounces per item), I am wondering how others in the same situation are handling this? You won't need a Protein supplement during the time it takes for your flight. Even with international flights, it doesn't kill you to wait. Just put some pre-mixed Protein drinks into checked luggage. Yes, checking luggage sucks, but if you need protein, it's worth it. Are there appropriate shakes sold at airport shops? Not really. Sometimes if you can find something organic-based they will offer protein supplements in their smoothies or blended drinks, but you're better off just eating something with protein in it. I suppose I could go with a powder, but I don't think those are as tasty and then instead of carrying just a shake, I have the powder and the mix cup and the bottle of Water. If you're that concerned about not going a few hours withour protein, put some protein water mixes in your carry-on. They're small and aren't against the rules. Or - like I said earlier, don't worry too much about it while you're at the airport. Any city with an airport will have a Wal-Mart or Target, just stop en route from the airport and get some pre-mades. Then you don't have to carry anything. But really, going coast to coast is going to take maybe 6 hours, 7. Give or take depending on the day. It won't hurt you to go without protein for that long. And if it does, just eat something. Does your surgeon REQUIRE you to like drink a Protein Drink every hour or something? Think my physician could write a note for me to show to the security people? I don't think it's necessary, nor am I sure it would make a difference. The only exception I've seen work was medications (e.g. insulin).

Try moving around. Unfortunately there's nothing much you can take that will make much difference, it's largely a waiting game. Perhaps call your surgeon and see if they have any advice. Some people have found relief with heating pads.

Virtually everyone has a pre-op diet of some kind, and 2 weeks is one of the more common durations. But even liquid diets are done differently. Sometimes it's liquid, period. Often it's sugar-free, clear liquids. Did your surgeon not give you a book of liquids that are allowed? I wouldn't take the protein supplements unless your surgeon told you to. Most of the time they're not sugar-free, nor carb-free, nor clear, etc.

I paid a lot to have a bluetooth unit installed in my car. It has been sooo worth every penny.

Ticker, not tickler. One is a board thing, the other is a sexual aid. :tt1:

I've picked up some things at Target, some of their stuff fits, some of it doesn't. Generically I'm wearing an 18, but I'm also just under 6 ft so things for the legs can be a bit tricky. I'm not worried about officewear, my office goes to casual during the summer, plus I work from home most of the time anyway (bathrobe casual - yes!) But I will need some jeans/skirts/capris for summer, when I'm huge. So far the winner is penny's online, but I'd prefer to try things on before I pay for shipping, and the JCPs here don't carry above a 14 in maternity. Like fat people don't have babies.

I have to kind of disagree with Fairy. I WISH things that happened in highschool stop mattering as soon as you graduate, but many people carry the insults, trauma, bad experiences, etc. for their entire lives. I know people who were overweight in highschool, teased non-stop, ridiculed, never could get a date, etc. who STILL into their 40s and 50s carry that burden on their shoulders. There are just SOOO many people out there, who carry scars from highschool and have their highschool experiences STILL defining what they do today, for me to be able to agree wtih the idea that the day you graduate, none of it matters. I'd wager there are a good number on this board who, if honest, would admit to current "today" harsh feelings, hurt feelings, depression, anger, etc. from some event that happened back in highschool. nikki - you're in HS so you know how superficial it is. Just understand that at this point in their lives, that's all the better those people are. It's what they know and value. Perhaps if anything, you could feel empathy for them, since that's all the better they are.

It's very common. Search on terms like plateau, stall... I know I answered a question on this within the last week, as have several others.

Ackphbhth, I had replied, then hit the wrong button, went "back" and lost my response. Let me start off my saying you didn't strike a nerve with me. I think your post is very hypocritical, but it doesn't anger or upset me, you're coming from a place of anger and frustration and jealousy so it's pretty much to be expected. That's something I think you'd find nearly impossible to support. You've been overweight your entire life, I have not, yet my pre-op BMI was probably on par with yours, if not higher. That you've been fat longer than I had doesn't mean we wouldn't have had equal difficulty without the surgery, and it's just not something you can rationally put a value judgment to (e.g. I need it more than you need it). There are people for whom 40 lbs is unbearbale, medically. In other words, people for whom gaining 40 lbs does more damage to their body than me gaining 200+. Even though they have 40 to lose and I had about 210, I couldn't say "I need it more than you" or "I deserve it more than you" because surely they would disagree. Your price quote is on the high end of self-pay costs, roughly twice some of the lower quotes I've seen. Have you considered looking for a price that's easier for you to swallow? I see you talking a lot about the money, but nothing about the skill of your surgeon. Is your surgeon someone you personally selected, hence you're going with them and don't want to try for a lower price? BTW, I'm certainly no fan of welfare, if you frequent RnR you probably know that. But because someone on welfare if wearing designer clothes doesn't mean you should judge them for it. I have friends who ship last season's designer fashions off to Goodwill and the Salvation Army each Spring.

I wore skirts pre-op but only long ones. Had to be at least to mid-calf. On top of being really fat and having gross legs, I'm knock-kneed, which is only exacerbated by having fat thighs. Now I wear skirts, but below the knee. In fact, I wore them most of last summer. I've bcome quite a fan of the knee-length classic cut skirts, with built-in layers. Which, fortunately, you can get in abundance at Kohl's for around $20, and which they normally have an equal abundance of knit cross-tops or empires to go with for equally cheap. Last summer saw me the most feminine I'd been in... about 10 years (wasn't always overweight). I brought out the summer heels and sandals, skirts... Now I just wish the skin on my arms didn't hang so that I could rejoin my long lost friend the sleeveless top...

There was a surgeon at KU (I think - been a while) who, about 2 or 3 years ago, got some bad reviews here. The use of the needle or something like that, nothing about the surgery itself. And I really can't even remember if that was the surgeon. You might want to try running some searches on the surgeon's name or facility and see what you can come up with.

I just hit my 2nd trimester and still have the same fill I did a year ago. Just saw the OB yesterday, and he's not worried about weightloss (very slow, nothing dramatic for me anymore, too far out from surgery) until my 20th week, at which point I'm no longer allowed to lose, and if I do, I will need to get some fill taken out. Of course if I have problems between now and then, I would get an unfill. Around week 8 I had a period of a week or so where I was really tight, but I compensated for it with liquids. He wants to see me gain a total of 20 - 25 lbs, which makes sense when you look at the weight gain distribution.

Is "hey, blah blah blah" bad? Seriously, I'm not sure what that means, but is "blah blah" different from "blah blah" on any other day? It seems like you're mad because you're assuming people who were mad at you will in the future try to be nice to you. Is that what's going on?

Moved to the board questions area. Most people use tickerfactory.com -- I think. Not sure, as you can tell from my signature, I'm not a fan of them so I don't pay too much attention.

That's really a good point, Kat. This goes so far beyond airlines. Everyone wants a rock bottom price, and they want the world for their money. Look at our past threads where Wal-Mart has come up. People want to pay $6 for a shirt, then are upset if it doesn't last long, and they can't find someone to ask questions of, and the cashier is rude. You can only expect so much for $6, gotta stop being cheap or make it yourself if you want more for $6. Here's a diagram I use at work and when I consult, to help people understand why I needd a price that's more than they think, why they can't have it yesterday, etc. I tell people they can pick any two...

TommyO, you know we don't allow name-calling. Nor can we see every post, or sometimes even pages of posts. If you've been called a name, please report it.

I see these "Help!!!!!!!!!!" posts and think someone must be near death. But no, you have a 2 week stall. Sometimes you can't do much to get things going again, weightloss stalls. Typically around weeks 2 - 4, but often much later than that. Stalls go for a week to 4, typically. Think of it as your body readjusting. Our bodies are designed to hold on to fat. They have very strong mechanisms in place for resisting fat loss. Sometimes you can just wait for those to give up a bit. Outside of that, try the generic "maybe stall breakers" - up your Protein, Water, exercise, switch up the foods you're eating if you're sticking to the same ones, etc.

From what you're saying, she's approving you for the surgery, but you're concerned she won't let you have it? Tell her you want to work on a program of behavioral change to get new behaviors in place before the surgery, so that you have that many fewer to worry about post-op, and perhaps have some basis for understanding how to change your behaviors after the fact. Talking to someone and getting past it doesn't often work. An action plan will go much farther.

Hmm, misunderstood that. I don't think I asked anything other than how much for them to not kill me. Jokingly, as a former wannabe anesthesiologist... and it wasn't appreciated. Hopefully you can find some good input.

The AGB (adjustable gastric banding, which includes lap-band) is not the same as what I've heard called "the ring", which is not adjustable. I just posted about this to another thread, I'm sure it's there if you poke around. Everyone who's like over 12, noteably fat, fat for longer than say a year, doesn't have pristine genetics, etc. is going to have problems with sagging skin. The speed of the weightloss has a lot less to do with it than people think. Do you have stretchmarks? If you have stretchmarks, you're probably going to have sagging skin.

Another example of a purely restrictive bariatric procedure is nonadjustable gastric banding. It was first introduced in 1978 by Wilkinson, who applied a 2 cm Marlex mesh round the upper part of the stomach and separated the stomach into a small upper pouch and the rest of the stomach. Eventual pouch dilatation resulted in unsatisfactory weight loss. In 1980, Molina described the gastric segmentation procedure, in which a Dacron vascular graft was placed around the upper stomach. The gastric pouch was smaller than Wilkinson’s procedure. Because the Dacron graft produced adherence of the liver to the band, it was replaced ultimately by PTFE (Gortex®). In 1983, Kuzmak began using a 1 cm Silicone® band to encircle the stomach, creating a 13 mm stoma and a 30-50 mL proximal gastric pouch. This band was later modified to provide adjustability of the band diameter using an inflatable balloon (“Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding”).