JulieNYC

You might want to check out the Program for Surgical Weightloss at NYU... NYU Thin For Life

When I got to a size 14P, I spent a FORTUNE just because I could shop anywhere. I mean a fortune -- like $3K in about 2 weeks. It was out of control. Then, I lost about 15 lbs and all my clothes are too big again. It's a nice problem to have, but now I'm trying to be more conservative with my purchases as I'd like to drop at least 2 more dress sizes before it's all said and done with. It's Old Navy and Target shopping for me until I get to goal. Then I'm going to spend another fortune and I won't feel bad about it for a single second!

Good to hear from you Amourette. Chase those boys and make 'em cry, ok? Wink. I had a GREAT run this morning with my friend Bob. 4 miles, 42 minutes, feeling refreshed and ready for the day (and the weekend, woohoo!). Tomorrow I'm going on a run with my friend Jonna (I'm really liking this running with friends thing, in case you hadn't picked up on that!), then Sunday is the 5 mile fathers' day race to cure prostate cancer. So, lots of running on the agenda this weekend. I read an article in the NYT yesterday about running classes to make sure you have the best possible form to avoid injury. I'm going to look into that.

I used to fight with my nutritionist (the one through my surgeon) about this -- I thought it was low too. She convinced me that as long as I met my nutritional goals, which was 45 grams of protein, 5 fruits and veggies, that I had "plenty in storage" and should eat as low cal as possible to burn the most energy (i.e. fat) as quickly as possible. She really thinks 800 cals/day is sufficient for someone my size. She doesn't believe in the concept of starvation mode (I'm sure you know, it's quite controversial in the nutrition community). So I fought it for a while, then gave in and did things her way. And, I lost as quickly as one could expect, so -- for my body at least -- she was right. I think everyone's body is different and you have to do what feels right for you. I've only rarely been physically hungry while banded, though as my running miles increase, I'm prepared for this to change....

Pacomomma, How are you feeling after your 5/21 panniculectomy?

Yes, my port scar used to be above my belly button about half way between my ribcage and my belly button. It moved down about 5 or 6 inches. Now I want a low profile port but I don't want the added scar so I'm not sure what I'll do. I should have had it put in when I had the TT but I was chicken. My uncle's actually a bariatric surgeon and offered to do it while I was under, but I just didn't want to mess with it -- mostly meaning my fill level. I wound up needing an unfill later anyway, so in retrospect, I'd have had it done. Live and learn. Dad was fine with doing the TT 30 lbs before goal -- actually it was more like 50 lbs before goal because he cut off 12 lbs, I've lost a little more since then and sitting here today I'm 30 lbs from goal. His view was that for patients who are paying and are going for a one shot deal, wait to goal to get the best results. For me, I knew I'd be having revisions anyway at some point. Plus I really wanted the pannus off right then. I was really, really sick of it, even if it meant having a looser end result. For my DAD (as opposed to my surgeon), I think he thinks I'm going to have children anyway and he'll be doing it all over again anyway, so a few more lbs lost isn't causing another surgery. Of course, I'm not at all sure I'm going to have kids, but I think that's his view. It was better for MY butt/thighs to be done at goal -- that's not the case for everyone. My stomach was pretty much done and just hanging skin even 20 lbs ago. But, my thighs still carry a lot of fat. That's where most of my remaining 30 lbs is. It's like how many surgeons will do a BL with 30 lbs to go but want you to be within 15 for the TT. Most women lose in the upper body first. Hips and thighs are the last to slim on many, me included. The thighplasty doesn't do the inner thighs at all. That'll be done in a separate surgery, if I decide to do it. I definitely need it cosmetically, but it doesn't really affect clothes like the outer thighs do. I'm a clothes horse, so I care more about that than I do about looking perfect naked. It's a good thing because I'll never be a swimsuit model.... Nite.

Well, I ate crap today. Seriously -- like no nutritional value to what I ate. My trainer will beat it out of me tonight, so it's probably not a big deal weight wise, but I just can't seem to get ahead of the food deamon! Grrrr.

Argon, Take a look at the first picture on page 11. I had pulled down the side of my underwear so you could see the incision in that one. It's no big deal at all. I thought it would be much worse.

If it didn't work for me, my plan was (1) figure out if the problem was medical or psychological and, (2) if it was medical, then I would have converted to the bypass. I hoped not to have to reroute my organs, but I was to the point that I would have if I couldn't get off at least most of the weight. Thankfully, the band is a great tool and it doesn't come to that for most. Good luck with your journey.

Your location may be a contributing factor. I'm in NYC where everything is expensive. My pre-op psych consult was $275, I think.I think the nutritionist was $150, but I really don't recall. The surgical consult was covered by insurance, but there were plenty of fees that weren't. I don't think it's a scam -- but it does seem like a lot of $$ if you're not sure you want to proceed. Since it's an all-inclusive fee, does it make sense to ask if there are refunds on a portion of the $$ if you meet with the surgeon and decide not to see the psych or the nutritionist? Overall, I'd pay it. The band is awesome and it sounds like you have a lot of faith in your practice group.

OK Karey, it's a deal. You'll send me a treat from Utah when I get to 163 -- that's the number where I'm no longer clinically obese, so it's my next milestone. What I eat. Well, recently, it's been not so great. I'm at a new job and we order in a lot both for lunch and dinner. I've had a few more potato chip/sandwich type lunches than I'd like recently. BUT, all that is behind me. Potato chips and sandwiches will be served at law firms long after I'm at goal, so I can have them then. For now, I'm going to really buckle down and lose the last 38 lbs to obtain a normal BMI on or before September 9th, which is the day I run my half-marathon. Now, I'm aware that's an aggressive goal -- 12 lbs a month is hard to do when it's the last pounds, but I'm going to do it. The eating plan that I followed for most of my WL journey served me well, so I've gone back to it. Basically, I track calories closely and I track protein loosely. My nutritionist says to eat 800-1000 cals and 45-50 g of protein for my meager height (5'2). Here's what that looks like on a given day: Breakfast: 1/2 C cottage cheese mixed with 1/2 cup fiber one cereal and a handfull of berries. This is super yummy and keeps me full for hours (like from 10 to 3). Snack if I feel like it: cup-a-soup with 1/2 c cottage cheese and another 1/2 c berries. Lunch: morningstar soy chicken patty with 3/4 cup veggies (today it was frozen green giant cauli in low cal cheese sauce) Dinner: 1/2 c tuna salad on whole grain crackers and a frozen yogurt. Total cals -- 850. Total protein - 67. Total fiber -- 32. That would be a perfect day. If I stumbled (i.e. found free Skittles that jumped into my mouth) I might forego dinner, or at least the frozen yogurt. My cals would stll be about 900 but my protein would drop to about 50.

It's not your fault your surgeon has a conservative fill policy, but if it were me, I'd challenge him on it. My research revealed no medical reason for a fill policy like that -- only a financial incentive for the medical practice (fills aren't lucrative where surgery is, so fewer fills allows for more surgery and less follow-up care). My opinion is that your frustration with the band directly relates to your doctor's fill policy. So, I'd either try to change it, or change the fill doctor (or supplement it). Or, if you really can't do those, at least recognize that your band isn't failing you -- you've just got to let a little time pass to get to the fill level you need to make it kick into gear. I don't know where you're located, but in many areas there are fill centers where you can pay à la carte for fills, independent of where you had your surgery. Financials permitting, you might look into that. It seems to me that most people find restriction on about fill 3. Your options are to wait 12 weeks or to find another source for fills. Either way, you're going to get there in terms of the band working for you, just hang in there!

One pound of lead and one pound of feathers weigh the same as well (wink). The point is the "fluffy" part -- i.e. that one pound of muscle takes up less space than one pound of fat. So you can physiclly get smaller without the number on the scale changing just by gaining muscle and losing fat. Make sense? (Surely thinking about this builds brain muscles and burns fat, right?)

Argon, Yes, together, it essentially equals a LBL. The only issue was timing. I was eligible for the TT and breasts once I got under 200, but I needed to lose 30 more before getting the best result for the buttocks and thighs. I thought it might take me another year to lose those 30 and I didn't want to wait -- the pannus was really in my way. For me, it was the right call. I had some time off work due to a change in jobs and knowing that I could have the TT/BL if I could get <200 before April was a real motivator for me. Of course, it didn't take me long to lose the additional 30 and now I'm itching to have the thighs done too, but I still wouldn't go back and do things differently. Yes, most would just wait and do an LBL all at once. For me it would have still been 2 surgeries because Dad believes an extensive LBL like what I would have needed and a BL is too much surgery at once, so the breasts would have been separate irrespective.

Eye of the Tiger We Used to Be Friends Suddenly I See Wild Boys We Got the Beat Maniac I Wanna Be Sedated There was a thread like this in the exercise forum several months ago that you might want to search for. I'm with you though -- the more traffic on this the better. New songs to workout to really make a difference to me!

Go Tracy, go Tracy, GO GO GO Tracy....

Purple, You're going to do great with the band! I'm sure a million people have told you this, but just remember not to be too hard on yourself until you start getting your fills. It's really hard to go through band surgery and be forced to just kind of hang out week after week until you can get your fills. Alas, we all had to go through that. I guess what I'm saying is getting the band is just the first step. It may not "work" until several months in, but it WILL work. Hang in there.

Well, I had a great run today. Really great. I walked 3 miles to the gym then got on the treadmill and did an easy 3 miles at an 11 min base pace with 6 90 second intervals at a 9 min pace. That really energized me. I'd read somewhere that speed training like that burns more calories and keeps your "afterburn" going longer, so I thought I'd test it out for a few workouts and see if I feel a difference. I'll keep you posted. Boo, to answer your question, Betty is a delight and was exactly what I expected in person. I'd met people in person whom I only knew online before, so it didn't seem strange to me. Betty, if you sensed awkwardness from me, it might have been because I felt so bad for Alan having to listen to all of our band talk and I was awkwardly trying to talk about other things with him! Poor guy for having to listen to the band this, the band that....Anyway, I'm glad you finally made it home, I enjoyed meeting you and I hope to see you again soon. I wonder where Eficka and Amourette are this month? Nite all.

It's still there for me. I hope to get to Chickie's place someday, but I'm still struggling to get there. The voices are not as loud or as frequent as they were a year ago, or 6 months ago, but they do still pop up from time to time.

I can see mine after my PS and I wish I'd had it changed out when I had my TT. I had the chance to and I didn't take it. In hindsight, it was the wrong choice. I was worried about messing with my fill level, which would happen as they have to take the fill out when they change the port. I'd read that even if they put the fill right back in, it's never exactly the same and that scared me. Now though, I wish I'd had it done because I'm probably going to have it done in a separate procedure because it's really bothering me and it's visible to the eye both naked and if I have on a tighter t-shirt (most people don't see it but I do). Plus I hit it a lot and it's just bothersome. It even bothers me when someone hugs me. I think everyone's anatomy is different so it's hard to say if yours will bother you or not. For what it's worth, I wish I'd changed mine out during my TT.

Karey, I did hit a major plateau. Until last week, my weight hadn't changed at all since about 2 weeks after my PS -- i.e. 6 weeks or so. It was 100% my "fault" in that I really was eating whatever I wanted. My band and exercise were helping me to maintain, but I wasn't putting any effort into losing. As you know, once we're smaller, it takes real effort to lose. Anyway, yes, I do exercise quite a bit. I don't do long sessions, but I do exercise most every day -- usually about 40 minutes, 5-6 times a week. And about 3 or 4 times a week, my exercise is a 4 mile run, which burns a lot of cals. When I'm not running, I meet with my strength trainer once a week and then I do something else once or twice a week, like the bike or the elliptical machine. How do you do with challenges Karey? I am motivated by them. Let's try this: You're at 182. I'll send you a present from NYC (ooh, I wonder what it'll be....) once you've consistently maintained 175 or less for 5 days. By that point, you'll only have 25 lbs to GOAL. What you do think?

My Dad came up to visit last weekend and to do kind of a post-op exam to make sure everything was healing as expected. There were a couple of small places where scabs kept forming instead of the suture line completely healing and, as it turns out, in both places there was a stitch that he'd missed when he clipped the rest of them. Now that those are clipped, both places have healed over perfectly. Yea! His view was that the tummy came out wonderfully but that he was surprised how much more weight I've lost out of the breasts. I've lost about 20 lbs since my surgery. He's right on that, in that I was a D and now I'm a middle of the road C. He said to add a silicone implant later will be simple if it comes to that. He also said there's a good chance my body will naturally rebuild some breast tissue after I have the thighplasty. Apparently massive WL patients who undergo total body lifts (whether in one procedure or multiple) often gain breast tissue. The thought is that since the fat cells from the stomach, hips and thighs have been removed, the body gains weight more easily in the breasts and some patients see a cup size or more in increase in post-op year one. May I be so lucky.... As for the next surgery, we're doing a thighplasty and arm lift in December. He said, medically, he could do it today. Unfortuantely, I can't get 3 weeks off until December. Plus, it'll be an easier surgery if he doesn't have to do much lipo, so I'm to try and lose 30 lbs between now and then. Either way, I'll be at goal in December, which is cool. If I'm successful at losing that last chunk of weight, he thinks he'll do both the thighs and the arms on the same day. If I can't lose much more on my own, he'll do the thighs with lipo on one day, then a week later go back and do the arms. The arms don't have to be done under general anesthesia, so he can do them in his office OR once the big healing on the thighs is behind me. For those of you who are new to the thighplasty, it's essentially a continuation of the circumferential abdominoplasty. This time, instead of undermining above the incision (to cut out the tummy and side rolls) he'll undermine below the incision to lift the outer thigh and buttocks. It's still only an incision that goes around your middle like a low slung belt. All this time, I thought the incisions went around the top of each leg, like pulling up each leg of imaginary pantyhose -- that's not the case -- it's more like pulling up the waistband of the pantyhose instead of the individual legs, if that makes sense. I asked him if I could get away without having the arms done through strength training. He said my arms were just too far gone and he thinks I'd really be happier with an arm lift. I thought that was going to be the case but was actually kind of relieved to have that knowledge and to not be expecting miracles.

My BMI was 68 when I was banded. I was not interested in the bypass as a first course of surgical action. I'm not saying that I'm anti-bypass -- if the band hadn't worked for me (or if, God forbid, I ever lose my band), I might have had it. That said, I don't think for someone in their 30s who wants to have a child (like you and, maybe, me), any doctor should be pushing you into the bypass. The band lets you absorb the nutrition you need to carry a child to term. My view is a doctor who puts weight limits on the band might not really believe in the band, which is a red flag on that practice for me. My advice is to continue your research. You need a practice that fully supports your long term goals. Follow up care with the band is paramount. There's no medical reason to go bypass with BMI>60 that I know of unless you've got a pressing co-morbidity that could take your life if you don't lose the first chunk with incredible speed (something like uncontrolled BP). Don't give up on the band. Find the right doctor.

Katie, I didn't lose at all between going on solid foods and my third fill, then all at once the weight started coming off. Hopefully, your second fill will be the magic one, but if it isn't, don't be discouraged. You're going to get there. And with your phenomenal attitude about exercise, you're sure to be dropping like crazy in no time!

Dawn, You're being hard on yourself when, really, you've done something great. 1:18 is a perfectly respectable time and walking gets you to the finish line just as running does. You finished. You completed a race that was over 6 miles long. Fourteen months ago you weighed nearly 200 lbs more than you do now. As hard as the race was, just look at what you've accomplished! I bet the heat got to you. I have days like that too, definitely. Some days are good runs and some days aren't. I think the best solution might be to go on and sign up for another one. Did you get a medal? They gave out medals at my race. I love it. I almost wore it to the office today. Wink.