JaimeSTL

Sears has a nationwide BCBS PPO (Empire) that pays for WLS. My husband is a full time employee with Sears in St. Louis and they paid 80% on my surgery.

I feel like I was led to this. I've told other people that, too. I had a weight related incident during a routine surgery a year ago. When I went in for my follow up, my ob/gyn sat me down and talked to me about the Lap Band. Before that, I'd researched gastric bypass and wasn't comfortable with it, but I had never heard of the Lap Band. I figured there was no way my insurance would pay for it--they won't even cover birth control. The next day, I called the insurance company and a very nice representative sent me to their website for all of the information and surprise! they covered it at 80%. The very next week, there was a seminar with the surgeon my gyn had recommended. I went to it and felt very comfortable with him right away. I usually don't like doctors at all, but something about him made me like him. I saw him a month later, went through the pre-op testing, and everything was sent to insurance in late January. I was approved the same day insurance received my information. When I got my letter, the date on it was the same date I was hoping for. I had a couple of snags in the process, one with my gyn being out of the country for a couple of weeks when I needed a letter from him for insurance, and then when my relief person at work quit a week before my surgery date. I've also had an incredibly easy post-op experience and the band has truly been the answer to my prayers. Nothing else ever worked--I could diet and never lose more than 5-10 lbs before it stopped and I'd gain even more. I was ALWAYS hungry. It seemed like my body didn't know how to be full. Now I'm 7 months out and have lost a little over 100 lbs. I'm very happy this I made this decision.

I've now lost a newborn calf, an average housecat, and an average human brain.

Thanks RSG. I ordered this today. I'm excited. I've wanted to do Yoga for awhile but I didn't think I'd be able to. It was marked down to 6.99 too!

Thanks for all of the snack ideas! I love cheese, always keep low fat cheddar and string cheese in the house. I didn't think about rice cakes. I'll have to pick some up when I go shopping this weekend. I've been eating a lot of pretzels and 100 cal popcorn. Crunchy Snacks are my downfall so it helps me avoid chips. We got some good news about my husband yesterday, but we're still not sure exactly what is going on. He has been having a deterioration in his cognitive functioning for a few years now. He was diagnosed with ADHD but we're not sure if that's it or not. Then during the last two weeks, he starting having headaches, dizzy spells, and some other weird symptoms, so his neurologist sent him for an MRI. I was really freaking out, worried that he had a brain tumor. The MRI came back negative, thank God. I'm waiting to hear back from his neuro now, so we can figure out the next step. I'm still worried, but at least we've ruled out the most serious problem.

I need a fill so badly. I'm really struggling right now. I'm hungry all the time and having a lot of stress due to some health issues my husband is having so I know I'm making crappy choices. I won't have a fill until 10/13 and can't get in earlier so I have to manage until then. Any ideas on low calorie filling Snacks that aren't veggies? I have a hard time getting veggies down (plus I'm not a big fan of most).

I eat a Smart Ones almost everyday for lunch. They are the perfect size portion and some are pretty good. I've tried a few that are just yuck. I also really like the Lean Cuisine pizzas, though I don't eat much of the crust. It's a nice taste of pizza, which I love. They are so easy to just grab and take to work or even heat up quickly at home. I'm always busy so I need some convenience.

Yay! Congrats Melanie!! The 10 lbs between 90-100 really put up a fight for me. I didn't think I'd ever get there.

I didn't get to watch the entire thing, but from what I saw, I thought that McCain evaded most of the questions and I didn't see what the commentators meant about "strong debater." He sounded like an echo of Bush in 2000 and 2004.

Thanks everybody! I wanted to add a couple of pictures. The red shirt is Christmas 07, the blue shirt was taken tonight (-104 lbs).

Ezma, I really doubt it is a 5 lb fat gain. It is probably water retention. If you've been eating badly, chances are you are taking in a lot of sodium. Try to increase your water intake a lot for the next few days and see if you can get rid of it.

Anna, you look great! Keep it up!

Thanks everyone! I am so happy. I never imagined I'd make it this far, this fast. :thumbup:

I had surgery on Feb 28, so I'm just shy of 7 months post-op. I've lost 101 lbs. I just checked and it has been 29 weeks since my surgery, so that's an average of about 3.5 lbs per week, though my recent average is about 2 lbs a week. I say as long as you feel good, are getting adequate nutrition, and not starving yourself, you're fine. I've had a couple of people tell me that I'm losing too fast and I just laugh. I feel better than I have felt in years, I'm healthy, I'm active, I'm well-nourished. I didn't set out to lose this much weight this quickly, but I'm happy that I have.

That's awesome, Crystal! You look great!

Congrats!! Size 10! I'm jealous.

I'm 10 days shy of 7 months post-op. Surgery date was 2/28/08.

I don't like welfare abuse, but if paying for abuse means children eat, I'm okay with that. Let's face it--these people who are getting food stamps and medicaid while driving Escalades and carrying Coach purses are going to still drive Escalades and carry Coach purses while their children starve and suffer. If they'll abuse the welfare system, it isn't likely they'll step up and care for their children otherwise. Plus, when you tighten the system, you are going to leave out a lot of people who don't abuse it but have no other way to make it. I'm also okay with paying more taxes if need be, probably because I have been there and needed help for a few months when my husband lost his job and I had just delivered a premature baby with a 1 yr old at home. We work hard now, but we also worked hard then. Of course, I'm just a tree-hugging hippie liberal.

As of this morning, I am down 100 lbs exactly!! :crying: I'm so happy! Saturday is my birthday, so this was a nice little present from the scale to me. :wink2:

The other night we were hanging out with some friends and I decided to have a drink. I picked up some Mike's Light Hard Lemonade. Mmm, yummy! One bottle has 98 calories. I rarely drink--that was the first time in probably a year--so I was a little buzzed after just one. It is lightly carbonated, but it didn't really bother me. It just felt kind of weird after not having carbonation for so long.

I haven't had any protein drinks since my post-op diet was over. Once I was able to get in enough protein through solid food, I stopped drinking them. They were just disgusting and gave me awful stomach cramping. I manage to get in about 70-80 grams of protein per day (sometimes even more) while staying around 1200 calories.

I took/take pictures of myself in clothes, bra/underwear, and naked every month. The bra/underwear and naked pictures are only seen by me (and my husband). I have shared the bra/underwear pictures with one close friend, but I would never post them on my blog. I do wish that I'd picked something to wear that was more form fitting in my pictures, especially at the beginning. I usually just take the pictures for my blog in whatever I happen to be wearing that day, which can make it hard to tell how much weight I've really lost, especially since most of my clothes are baggy.

Tap, I don't want to feed your nut addiction, but I found 100 calorie almond packs at Walgreens. I, too, love almonds. I bought a large container and weighed out servings and bagged them so I wouldn't eat too many at a time. The 100 cal packs are perfect too. I've been on a mission to find all the low-cal, small serving versions of my favorite things so I can eat them and not feel guilty. I have a problem with large packages--I just can't stop. I know this, so I just don't buy them.

Don't count yourself out because you're a woman. I am 6 1/2 months post-op and I've lost 98 lbs. It is definitely possible if you stick to the plan. Eat2Live, congrats!