lapbandgirl4life

So Wednesday is my official weigh day, and I've dropped 12 pounds in one week by sticking to a 1200 calorie diet. It's really been a boost for my confidence. I had a mini goal set to lose 29 pounds by December 8th, but I think even when the weight loss slows down a bit, I'm still going to easily reach that goal. So yes I'm very pleased! I also have my cpap machine now and slept 12 freaking hours! My face hasnt looked this rested in years!

So Wednesday is my official weigh day, and I've dropped 12 pounds in one week by sticking to a 1200 calorie diet. It's really been a boost for my confidence. I had a mini goal set to lose 29 pounds by December 8th, but I think even when the weight loss slows down a bit, I'm still going to easily reach that goal. So yes I'm very pleased! I also have my cpap machine now and slept 12 freaking hours! My face hasnt looked this rested in years!

Thank you for the comment, Amanda, and you're right. I need to do MY best. I had a bit of a heart to heart with her and we cleared the air and tossed around various ideas for support.

I guess part of this life altering beginning also involves evaluating the people I surround myself with and whether or not they are supportive. I read an article not too long ago that if you have fat friends, losing weight is going to be that much more difficult. Well, my best friend is also overweight and like me, she is trying to shed some pounds. The only problem is we are light years apart when it comes to motivation. Sometimes I can't even be around her because she'll start complaining, which I know I'm supposed to be there to support her, but what about supporting me? Usually I feel like my feelings are being dismissed. Who knows. Maybe I'm the baby. But when she tells me that she's eating a cinnamon roll and granola bar for breakfast and in the second breath bitches about not being able to lose weight, I swear, I wanna scream! lol.

I guess part of this life altering beginning also involves evaluating the people I surround myself with and whether or not they are supportive. I read an article not too long ago that if you have fat friends, losing weight is going to be that much more difficult. Well, my best friend is also overweight and like me, she is trying to shed some pounds. The only problem is we are light years apart when it comes to motivation. Sometimes I can't even be around her because she'll start complaining, which I know I'm supposed to be there to support her, but what about supporting me? Usually I feel like my feelings are being dismissed. Who knows. Maybe I'm the baby. But when she tells me that she's eating a cinnamon roll and granola bar for breakfast and in the second breath bitches about not being able to lose weight, I swear, I wanna scream! lol. :cry_smile:

haha. This is crazy, but I'm actually looking forward to the restrictive pre-op and post-op diets. It must be getting close to your surgery date. I can only imagine your excitement! I too have taken pictures, but I don't have the guts to upload them to my computer! So right now they're sitting on my camera where I can review them. Baby steps, right? lol. Anyway, good luck on your surgery and keep us updated on your progress!

Thanks, bemused. I really needed that additional support and word of encouragment. Every little bit counts!

For the last few days I've been keeping stock of every single thing that I eat and when I eat it and how I'm feeling when I do eat it. Needless to say, I didn't restrict myself so I could get a glimpse into my honest eating habits. What I realize now is that I need a freaking hobby! I get the urge to eat for no reason whatsoever. I won't even be hungry and I'll want to gorge on something. My stomach will be full and I'll want to eat just a little bit more. I eat a lot out of boredom. I am totally out of control. Today that changes. I went shopping yesterday and have bought healthier selections and I have a plan. And so far, so good. It's crazy though how when I wake up, the first thing on my mind is FOOD. I had to actually talk to myself this morning to prevent myself from gorging like I normally do when I first get up. I've decided to wait an hour or so. Wake up. Get a clear head, and then eat a sensible breakfast. Eventually I want to incorporate a morning exercise before breakfast, but I will start that next week. So this morning I had 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon and 4 oz of unsweetened grapefruit juice. Lots of protein and very satisfying. It was also a good calorie intake total of 360. My goal is to lose 29 pounds by december 8, which is my surgeon consult. According to my food diary/weight planner, if I stick to right around 1200 cal/day, I can achieve this goal. I nearly forgot. In a couple hours I'm meeting with home health to get fitted for my CPAP. I truly cannot wait. I think I'll feel so much better and have a lot more energy once I start sleeping again.

For the last few days I've been keeping stock of every single thing that I eat and when I eat it and how I'm feeling when I do eat it. Needless to say, I didn't restrict myself so I could get a glimpse into my honest eating habits. What I realize now is that I need a freaking hobby! I get the urge to eat for no reason whatsoever. I won't even be hungry and I'll want to gorge on something. My stomach will be full and I'll want to eat just a little bit more. I eat a lot out of boredom. I am totally out of control. Today that changes. I went shopping yesterday and have bought healthier selections and I have a plan. And so far, so good. It's crazy though how when I wake up, the first thing on my mind is FOOD. I had to actually talk to myself this morning to prevent myself from gorging like I normally do when I first get up. I've decided to wait an hour or so. Wake up. Get a clear head, and then eat a sensible breakfast. Eventually I want to incorporate a morning exercise before breakfast, but I will start that next week. So this morning I had 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon and 4 oz of unsweetened grapefruit juice. Lots of protein and very satisfying. It was also a good calorie intake total of 360. My goal is to lose 29 pounds by december 8, which is my surgeon consult. According to my food diary/weight planner, if I stick to right around 1200 cal/day, I can achieve this goal. :cry_smile: I nearly forgot. In a couple hours I'm meeting with home health to get fitted for my CPAP. I truly cannot wait. I think I'll feel so much better and have a lot more energy once I start sleeping again.

I think many of us can relate to the pain that obesity has caused. For me, it made me self-conscious to the point that I alienated myself from friends, and soon, they just stopped inviting me places and I drifted deeper into my addiction with food. I'm ready to change all that. I am 32 and my entire life sits before me and frankly, I'm beyond fed up with living vicariously through someone else's life. I'm sick and tired of hearing about someone's trip abroad or sky diving adventure. I want to be the one telling those stories, which brings me to the topic of this thread... Here are some of mine. I'll continue adding as I think of them. Jog with my 13 yr old son. GO to disney world with my son. Get certified and go scuba diving. Tandem Sky diving. Try out snowboarding. Travel, travel, travel. Run a marathon. Sing kareoke in front of a crowd full of strangers. Lay in a hammock under the tropical sun. Run with the bulls in Spain. What are your dreams?

Hi everyone, and thanks for creating this forum. I'm one month into my six month supervised diet. Presently my BMI is 63.3. I am 5'4" and weigh in at 369. I'm like a human weeble wobble. :crying: But enough of the self-deprecating humor. It's business time! I have set my goal weight at a lofty 140 pounds. I've had people tell me time and time again, don't aim big, but personally, I don't see the point in holding back. If I'm going to do this, I'm doing it all the way - not half-assed. I am hoping to have surgery at around the first of the year and right now I'm just aiming to get all of the pre-op stuff out of the way. Anyway, this is a great forum. Here's to us!

I have this scale: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/SALTER-9007BK3REF-BLK-GLSS-SCALE/dp/B0018BOMGS/ref=sr_1_23?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1223162059&sr=8-23]Amazon.com: SALTER 9007BK3REF BLK MRR GLSS SCALE: Electronics[/ame] It's reasonably priced and the weight is accurate up to 400lbs. I compare it with the doctor's office and it's always been spot on.

Hi. I'm also relatively new to the forum. My insurance company does require a six month supervised diet, and I'm one month into it. I realize how discouraging it is. I want the band done and I want it done now, but that's just not going to happen so it's best to take advantage of the "pre-surgery" time I have to get my life in order. A six month supervised diet basically consists of going to your doctor or a nutritionist and getting weighed in once a month, or at least that's what my insurance (Blue cross blue shield) told me. During this time I'm also getting all of required pre-op testing done and out of the way. I've had labwork done which reveals not only do I have the beginnings of Diabetes type 2, but I also have hypothroidism. I've been started on medication for both. This is a good thing to have had done because had these things not been checked, it would have been a struggle to lose weight. Since starting on the meds (2 weeks), my carb cravings have been significantly reduced and I've lost 8 pounds without even trying. Of course all of my weight gain cannot be attributed to my imbalance, but the part that is, will be shedded pre-surgery. I also had my sleep study done last week which revealed obstructive sleep apnea. I was have >50 hyponeas within a 15 minute time span. Basically, I am not getting any restful sleep. I'm worn down. I'm tired. My body is exhausted. I expect this week I'll be starting on the CPAP machine which will hopefully restore my body and thus give me ENERGY. So look, in the first month I've already discovered things that I currently have working against me and I'm now working to reverse these things that can sabotage my progress. Quite simply put, had I not done these things and went straight for the band, I would have probably not lost much weight and would have been disappointed. Another thing I am doing in this time is getting my relationship (or addiction) with food under control. I am trying to understand why I eat when I eat, and I'm hoping this too will serve as another map for success. Anyway, dont give up. Let's support eachother through this time, because is six months really that long of a time to wait when the rest of your life is set out before you? Oh, I also want to add, that if you have a fear of complications, which I do, which is why I won't get bypass, think of this time as a way to prep yourself for anesthesia. Any weight you can lose prior to being put under is going to lessen the anxiety you have of surgery. It'll also be easier post-op! Okay. Sorry for the long ramble. :crying:

I've always struggled with commitment. In my head everything was easily accomplished, every goal seemed attainable, but reality told a very different story. Turns out the only thing easy for me to do all these years, was lie to myself. So here I am, ready to come clean, be honest with myself and take control of my life. Food is my drug of choice. It's my addiction. I am not any different from a heroin junkie. They have track marks, I have stretch marks. Bottom line is an addiction is an addiction. I've alienated people. I've sought comfort in food. I've chosen food over people. I chose food over life. But no more. It ends. It has to, or I'm not going to make it and not making it isn't an option for me. I saw my primary physician a couple weeks ago. I broke down in her office and told her that I needed help. I had some lab work done and it revealed that I have developed the early stages of diabetes and hypothyroidism. My thyroid levels were 6 times the level they should be, and consequently, I was prescribed medication for both ailments. Since I had also not been sleeping, I had a sleep study done this week and was told that my apnea was one of the worst the technician had seen. Realizing all of this, taking it all in how much damage I had done to my body at such a young age, was simply put: overwhelming. But rock bottom and all that stuff, right? I've certainly hit it, it seems, and it's time to scratch and claw my way back up. I have an appointment with a dietician on the 22nd, and the initial appointment with the banding surgeon on December 8th. I think I'm making progress in the right direction. Now it's just a matter of getting through all the bureaucratic bullshit. Apparently my insurance covers the procedure, so I'm looking to have the surgery at the beginning of the year. Anyway, in the meantime, I figure I'll use this blog to write down my thoughts and hopefully get a better understanding of my relationship with food since that's going to be critical to my success.

I've always struggled with commitment. In my head everything was easily accomplished, every goal seemed attainable, but reality told a very different story. Turns out the only thing easy for me to do all these years, was lie to myself. So here I am, ready to come clean, be honest with myself and take control of my life. Food is my drug of choice. It's my addiction. I am not any different from a heroin junkie. They have track marks, I have stretch marks. Bottom line is an addiction is an addiction. I've alienated people. I've sought comfort in food. I've chosen food over people. I chose food over life. But no more. It ends. It has to, or I'm not going to make it and not making it isn't an option for me. I saw my primary physician a couple weeks ago. I broke down in her office and told her that I needed help. I had some lab work done and it revealed that I have developed the early stages of diabetes and hypothyroidism. My thyroid levels were 6 times the level they should be, and consequently, I was prescribed medication for both ailments. Since I had also not been sleeping, I had a sleep study done this week and was told that my apnea was one of the worst the technician had seen. Realizing all of this, taking it all in how much damage I had done to my body at such a young age, was simply put: overwhelming. But rock bottom and all that stuff, right? I've certainly hit it, it seems, and it's time to scratch and claw my way back up. I have an appointment with a dietician on the 22nd, and the initial appointment with the banding surgeon on December 8th. I think I'm making progress in the right direction. Now it's just a matter of getting through all the bureaucratic bullshit. Apparently my insurance covers the procedure, so I'm looking to have the surgery at the beginning of the year. Anyway, in the meantime, I figure I'll use this blog to write down my thoughts and hopefully get a better understanding of my relationship with food since that's going to be critical to my success.

Wow! Well done! You should feel so proud! Reward yourself. I'd go get a massage. lol.

Welcome! I'm relatively new here too, and like you, I'm also ready to reclaim my life. I understand having to jump through hoops to get the procedure done. About 3 years ago I was looking to get it done, but my insurance required a 1 year supervised diet, and before the year was up, I had lost my job and my insurance! So here I am now, with a blue cross blue shield coverage and my first appointment with the surgeon is December 8th. I hope to have surgery around the first of the year. It's daunting, all this waiting, but like you said, in the end it'll be worth it! How has your relationship with your friends changed - if at all? It must be hard seeing them having lost all this weight.

Brush your teeth a lot and keep your hands busy.

I live in SW MN, so it's closer for me to cross the border into SD. I'm having mine done with Dr. Peter O'Brien at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls. From what I've researched, he has a lot of experience in banding. Right now it's just a waiting game and I don't have much in the way of patience! Once I made the commitment to surgery, it's like you want it done now. You want your new life to begin immediately. Sorry to sound so sentimental. lol Still feeling okay? How is the pain level? And surgery is just overnight, right?

It's not an easy way out. food for some people (like myself) is as addicting as cigarettes. I should know, I'm an ex-smoker who is going on 1 year without smoking! But let me just say, I couldn't quit smoking on my own either. I needed a tool to help me and I found one that worked. And, while I haven't been banded yet, I am hoping that the band is also the tool I need to begin a healthy new lifestyle. My only advice is to surround yourself with supportive people while you get through the tough times.

Hi Christi! I also live in MN and am just beginning the surgery requirements. I have my sleep study taking place on Tuesday, followed by 5 more months of following a "supervised" diet before insurance will cover. I am aiming to be banded either in December or January. Either case, what a way to end the year/bring in the new one! How was the surgery itself, and how are you coping post-operatively?