jms462001

Unfortunately, no! Options are few. Small businesses suffer greatly offering plans to their employees because the rates are so very high. I go for the best rate I can find for the coverage as I'm sure others do as well. However, the employees may be very pleased with their current coverage. After all, they are only paying 50% of the premium. They won't have any say as to whether their employer drops their group plan for a cheaper government option.

Two Dr's who work together did my surgery. One has the lapband himself and is all about low carb. He tells his patients to eat Protein and only vegetables that grow above the ground while in the weight loss process. The clinic's nut is more for a balanced diet with all natural foods cooked at home, protein first, veggies, then whole grains or fruit if still hungry. I stayed on Atkins about 5 yrs after losing 50 pounds and only got off it after being put on a med that caused extreme carb cravings. And, yes, the weight comes back on quickly. The secret is a happy balance. Low carb will get you to your weight loss goal quicker if you are like most obese people whose bodies do not metabolize carbs well. Protein keeps us full longer and we eat less cals. Once away from carbs for awhile we stop craving sugar and processed foods. I agree that a meat based high fat diet cannot be healthy for life. I hope to get to my goal and incorporate lots of fresh fruits and veggies into my diets along with a small amt of occasional whole grain foods. But I know I have to be very careful with whole grains because for me they can be a big problem. It's the junk America eats that I think everyone has to agree, regardless of what type of diet you think is best for the body, is responsible for all the disease and obesity problems in this country. We are bombarded with it literally everywhere we turn. I don't think anyone is saying that any of the food groups in their untouched form are bad for us!

Oh no, I'd be very upset having to have even a slight surgery done after hyster. I just had one done Davinci Robotic lap method 9/3 for early cancer. I'm sorry this happened to you. My lapband surgeon insisted I have a total unfill before surgery. I am going in to get a fill next week. Hopefully everything is in it's place! I hope they fix yours easily.

Laura, you look great!! You must feel so good about yourself. Did you lose pounds with the excess skin loss? I wonder how much of my excess weight now is fat and how much is the awful flab from loose skin. I guess it can be measured. I just wondered if you saw a difference on the scale. Congratulations on your transformation!!

He also offered a downsized version of his public option which wouldn't be available till 2013 only because he wants to keep the (lowball) 10 year cost to only $900 billion, But the option also is timed to sweep up the millions of Americans who would lose their insurance once their employers realize it's cheaper to "chip in" an 8% payroll tax than to continue to pay insurance premiums. Even if this happens, and again you are taking huge leaps, so what? I support a single payer approach to health insurance anyway. But if an employee would go on a government health option, it might be better and sure would be cheaper and paid for by premiums and the 8% employer payroll tax. I have not read all of this thread; just some of the opposing views. The problem I had with the President's plan was his statement repeatedly that if people were happy with their current coverage they could keep it. I am only a small business owner, but I know my employees would not have that option because I would drop paying 1/2 of their high current premiums in a heart beat for a cheaper program. I would imagine larger business' will do the same.

Hey, I think 70 pounds is a great loss!!! We have both done the same. I am hoping to be well enough to get refilled next week before I gain any back! It's tough laying around at home and being totally unfilled. I want to lose about 15 more. Pathology report came back Fri and all was clear, disease was not invasive so I was elated about that and now ready to resume getting healthy and finishing this journey!! Congrats on reaching 70 pounds. Doesn't it sound like so much more than 69?? LOL

Also, Why do you say you get your protein in with isopure? I have a shake in the morning because my band is always tight. The rest of the day is solid protein. I hope you eat plenty of solid protein? I do tend to eat lots of beans and meat in sauces, tuna salad,etc, but I eat protein first every meal. Isopure is a very thin drink which goes through the band quickly and will not keep you full.

I think you hit it right on when you said in your other post that you thought you ate the soup too soon after something else. This happened to me a couple times after my last "good" fill. I got very sick on a small meal that should have gone down easy. However, I had eaten something else "small" just awhile earlier. We can't eat too our food too close together. We must stick to the 3-4 hrs between meals and continue eating solid foods that do stay with us. This is how we lose the weight with the band. I was a bit too full for a few weeks as well, but would not have had near as many problems had I followed the rules!!

Now is your healing time. You have been on a liquid diet and it is normal to gain some weight when you start on solids, but it's water weight because you do not lose or gain a pound of fat in a day. My dr told me to expect a weight gain between that post op app. and my first fill. Don't stress about it and stay off the scales. The weight WILL come off!!

Congrats! I know you are very excited!! I'm sure we all can relate to your "I never". I know I can and I never want to be in front of that mirror again in that condition!! Best wishes for a good surgery experience and weight loss journey!

It's not bad at all. You will have to stay on liquids for awhile after according to what your Dr orders

You will get used to eat quite quickly like everyone said and it will be habit. It's amazing how quickly it goes away with a total unfill which I now have!!

So why do you have candy in your house?? Of course you are going to resort to your old habits if you don't change your environment. If I allow choc chip cookies or brownies in my house I know I will eat them. But if they are not here, I'm not going to make a trip to the store to buy them.

I was moving along really well and then had to have a total unfill for surgery. I had just met my original goal but want to lose 15 more. I feel that way because I am going to have a heck of a time maintaining for a month laying around and I'm already eating differently although trying to watch it. Have you tried to go on protein shakes for a few days to shake up your body? Are you eating enough? Sometimes changing what you have been doing and mixing it up fools the body into action again. You don't need a fill? You will reach your goal and don't beat yourself up over not reaching a certain number in a yr. It's just a date. So what if you take a few months longer. You'll get there!

It probably should not be eaten early on, but it should be no problem after a couple months. I know many people eat popcorn without a problem.

Chicken is a difficult food for many people. Besides the small bites and chewing well, dark meat goes down better and some sort of sauce or liquid helps it down as well.

You will be hungry until you get a fill. You shouldn't have hurt anything by eating vegetables as they are mostly water, but as you said it bothered your stomach so perhaps you were not ready for what you had. You can always puree your veggies. Unfortunately the body cannot store protein so we have to replenish it daily and they emphasize it because our calorie intake is low and it's difficult to get in the amt we need. But all those grams do not have to come from animal sources. There are great alternatives! I added Peanut Butter to my chocolate Protein drinks to make them taste a bit better.

Call your Dr. Their office should have given you a list of foods and the progression they would like you to follow up to solid food. My clinic has a nutritionist who gave me a list. I had an hr by hr for that first week and they had me drinking something every hr with a rest the 4th hr! I believe I had all the things you listed and was required to try to get in 3 or 4 protein shakes a day. I was very hungry by the 4th day and they let me start cream soups then, but every Dr is different and you need to follow their instructions which of course they should have given to you! Good luck to you. It goes by quickly and you will be eating real food in no time!! Let yourself heal properly as it is so important.

You are amazing and you do have the right attitude and great reasons to be very successful! I bet your family is very proud of you and happy Dad is able to participate so much more in their activities! They will be your greatest supporters.

OMG, I was way behind!! I read through ALL your posts and you have done an amazing job in a short time. Congratulations!! Don't count the lapband out! I would never want to sound discouraging, but like you said this is your first weight loss effort. Most of us have lost and gained countless times. Statistics show that something like 95%+ people do gain weight back. Consider the lapband to maintain after all your hard work getting it off. You are doing too much of a fantastic job to ever gain any back after you reach your goal!!

Good for you!!!!! You will love the Atkins diet once you kick the carb addiction which takes just a short amount of time. You never get hungry and you get to eat lots of great tasting food! You will lose that 100 pounds quickly and have your band in no time and continue that weight loss journey!!

Congratulations!!! The men on this board seem to lose super fast! You won't regret your decision!

For two weeks I had a protein shake in the morning and for lunch and chicken or turkey (until satisfied) for dinner. I didn't get hungry after the first couple days. I know I had a very fatty liver and it was very nice when they did surgery so I guess it worked well!! Some Dr's have a specific diet. This was what the nutritionist suggested for me.

I'm recovering from surgery with lots of time on my hands and thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. I could relate to all the "never agains"! They were all very good. My only regret is not having the opportunity of getting the lap band when I was much younger like many of you are. My advice that came to mind as I read through the posts are as follows: 1. Don't shop too much early on. I wasted so much money. You will go through sizes much too quickly. I wear a size 9/10 now (first time ever in my life) and have gone down about 6 sizes. 2. Don't let yourself get hungry on the post op diet. Eat or drink everything you are allowed as often as needed to stay satisfied and don't expect weight loss during this period. It's a time of healing. 3. Don't expect to lose weight rapidly. You will probably find your weight loss to average 1-3 pounds a week. Don't worry. It adds up quickly!!!!! And, most importantly, stay off the scale. Once a week is enough and your progress will seem much more significant!! 4. Few people's bodies actually reject the band. If you follow the rules, deal with your head hunger, you will be successful. It's work, but then again I found it relatively easy.......and if I can do it at 54 after being obese since I was 12 months old, most anybody can do it!! For those who are worried about what if there are problems, etc. It can be removed and I believe it would be a less expensive surgery, but that's a good question to ask at the seminar. My worry was losing lots of weight and then getting cancer or something. Well, of course that happened 9 months later!! However, it was early and I just had a radical hysterectomy to deal with it. This worry is why I would not consider the more invasive (cutting away) gastric surgeries. The beauty of it was they were able to do a total unfill just before the surgery and I can go back and get filled again after I feel up to it. Gastric Bypass and the others may not have effected my case, but my thoughts were what if I had more advanced cancer and needed lots of nourishment and was losing weight anyway and unable to keep food down?? I'll probably get some arguments why it would not matter, but I would be scared of that. I like the idea of being able to have an unfill at times like this Congratulations to all the newly banded and to all those who will soon be banded!! You will be so happy when you squeeze into those skinny jeans!!

A surgeon who came to one of our support meetings said he often has to do two surgeries when he does tummy tucks for just what you describe. Do you have sort of a line from under the breast to the waist? He said that has to be dealt with differently as you can see it can't be pulled up with the tummy tuck. I have that as well. After all I've been through at this point, I think I'll live with my skin though!!