Bjornsyouruncle

I hope everything goes well, and congratulations.

Macropsia, can you talk to your dietitian and maybe work out a diet plan that you think you wouldn't hate? Maybe there's another way that would be more effective for you than the 1600 calories?

That was quick, this is much easier to find!

Atkins has always worked really well for me, but the first day or two I have a headache as I go through sugar withdrawal.

Florida Girl, congratulations on all the weight you've lost so far. I bet your surgeon is really pleased with your progress! I'm trying to be philosophical about the six months. I'm hoping that by starting the changes I'll need after surgery now, that they'll be second nature by the time I actually have surgery.

I just had mine on June 5th. It was kind of in 2 parts where the first part was asking about my history, childhood, etc. The second part was more about the band, what my expectations were, screening questions to see if I was an emotional eater, what had I already done that the doctor had asked me, if I was familiar with the lifestyle changes and possible complications, etc.

Congratulations

The psych evaluation is out of network for me, but I'm going to submit the papers to my insurance to get reimbursed.

Hey Sarah. So have you been banded yet?

You can google BMI calculator to figure it out for yourself, but based on the weights I've looked at for my BMI at 5'3" I would say you're probably around 36 or 37. Do you qualify? No one can tell you except your insurance company. Your card should have a number on it that you can call to verify benefits. Call the number and ask them what their requirements are. They can give you specifics about BMI and co-morbidity requirements. Even someone with the same insurance can't tell you for certain since your employer may choose to exclude some benefits (like weight loss surgery) in exchange for cheaper policies.

If your insurance doesn't require a waiting period, start contacting surgeon's offices. Some are scheduling months in advance and you'll need to go ahead and meet their requirements (psych eval, nutritional counseling, etc) before surgery. Good luck.

I'll be doing this for another 5 months 3 weeks, so I know most folks are farther along than I am. How much longer do you guys have to go?

I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Take a little time to get over your disappointment and talk to your husband. It could be that he feels like it was canceled for a reason and now he's hesitant to push forward with it.

I've low carbed a lot to control my PCOS, so I'm pretty comfortable following the regime. I don't tend to eat a lot of processed foods because I have 2 small children and I like for them to have homemade meals, so I used fitday.com to enter in my ingredients and used the nutritional information they supplied. My menu from yesterday is: Breakfast: 2 egg mushroom omelet: 196 calories, 6 carbs, 14 grams Protein Snack: 3 large strawberries and 3 slices of starfruit: 19 calories, 5 carbs Lunch: 4 shish kebabs (8 ounces of steak, 1/2 cup sliced summer squash, 1/2 cup zucchini, 1/2 of sliced mushrooms, a little bit of onion): 452 calories, 8 carbs, 65 grams protein Dinner: Homemade Thai inspired lettuce cups (6, using Boston lettuce, 1.25 cups ground beef cooked with diced straw mushrooms, baby corn, and peanut sauce (chicken stock, soy sauce, natural Peanut Butter with no added sugar, chili, ginger, and other spices): 653 calories, 4 carbs, 39 grams protein. Dessert: 1/2 cup Plain yogurt, sweetened with Splenda: 75 calories, 6 carbs, 4 grams protein Daily totals: 1395 calories, 29 carbs (6 of which are fiber), and 122 grams protein. Tuna salad is also really good in lettuce cups, especially if you sprinkle some seeds on it for crunch. I like to use pumpkin seeds.

Congratulations on having a date!

So this is me from last Wednesday, May 28,2008. I'm 5'3" and at the time my weight in the picture is 272. Hopefully it has gone down some but I'm trying to go a week without weighing myself since I tend to jump on the scale several times a day and that's not good behavior! Anyway, I'm wearing scrubs since I'd just gotten home from work (I work for a pathologist's group processing surgical specimens), so excuse the extremely bright red pants.

So this is me from last Wednesday, May 28,2008. I'm 5'3" and at the time my weight in the picture is 272. Hopefully it has gone down some but I'm trying to go a week without weighing myself since I tend to jump on the scale several times a day and that's not good behavior! Anyway, I'm wearing scrubs since I'd just gotten home from work (I work for a pathologist's group processing surgical specimens), so excuse the extremely bright red pants.

From what I've read it may take several fills before you have proper restriction. Good luck getting it sorted out though!

What a change! Congratulations and good luck getting to goal!

I'm 27 in Columbia, SC but I haven't been banded yet! I'm just starting out on the 6 month diet...

Congratulations on your weight loss!

You're starting the right way, you're finding out information, figuring out if it is right for you and taking your time.

I've been making a conscious effort the past few days to force myself to chew my food thoroughly. I want the things I am supposed to do after surgery to be second nature by the time they're necessary. I apparently do not chew very well! Ugh, I have to work on that. It really slows down my pace when I'm eating, which is good. It gives me time to feel full. I also need to keep the hydration levels up. That's important and I shouldn't overlook it. Meanwhile, the low carbohydrate diet is going very well. I'm comfortable on Atkins, it works really well with my body chemistry and it works for me. Of course...sustaining it long term? That's the hard part.

I've been making a conscious effort the past few days to force myself to chew my food thoroughly. I want the things I am supposed to do after surgery to be second nature by the time they're necessary. I apparently do not chew very well! Ugh, I have to work on that. It really slows down my pace when I'm eating, which is good. It gives me time to feel full. I also need to keep the hydration levels up. That's important and I shouldn't overlook it. Meanwhile, the low carbohydrate diet is going very well. I'm comfortable on Atkins, it works really well with my body chemistry and it works for me. Of course...sustaining it long term? That's the hard part.

That's such a pretty picture! What a neat idea to use firelight.