sandman27959

Hey Jacki. Good luck with your journey! D.

For the time or two I've had acid reflux since getting my band, I've just used an over-the-counter treatment like you get at Walgreens. I find the liquid type pretty much takes care of it in one dose. I've also chewed a Tums or two to give it the one-two punch. It hasn't happened often, but it's no fun when it does. Glad you're getting it taken care of tomorrow. Hang in there. D.

Pardon my ignorance, but does the microwave not pop the popcorn after two minutes? D.

If you go back to the gym too soon you're going to do more damage than good. Walking for 6 weeks or whatever your doctor recommends is the way to go. They're doing surgery on you and you should give it time to heal so there are no complications. Complications can get nasty. D.

Hey! Congratulations to you! My computer was doing the same thing, but I found that if I go to a page other than the home page I can log in. Hope this helps. D.

One little screw-up isn't going to do anything as long as you keep it at that and don't let it derail your efforts. Just don't do it again. Use it as a learning experience to learn about what triggers your eating behavior. That's my two cents... D.

There's also a great website called myfitnesspal.com. You can track all of your food, exercise, and weight all in one place and it's free. When setting it up, it will give you some default recommendations for nutrition. I customized them to agree with what my doctor recommended. It's a valuable tool for me. D.

Sounds like your mind is catching up to your body. Congratulations. Enjoy that realization. D.

I'd get it straight from the horses mouth and call the insurance company. My doctors office also had an insurance coordinator who handled all the paperwork for me. Yours may have one too, and they may be a good resource for specific questions. Don't get discouraged. Just because mine worked like that doesn't mean yours is going to. D.

Hey there! I'm sure you can find something different. If you do a Google search for "bariatric vitamins" you'll find some good online vendors of special Vitamins and mineral supplements compounded especially for bariatric patients. I had some calcium citrate that was so good it was like eating a piece of lemon candy. Of course it COULD be that you're a big freak, but I'm not getting that from your initial post. D.

I'm a state employee and have BCBS NC. I was in pretty much the same boat with being barely "overweight enough", but as I understand it the insurance company contacted my primary care doctor who was able to show that my BMI had been over 40 for an extended period - the last 2 years I think. This was enough to get me approved. I don't remember mine having a 10% clause, but that was a few years ago. I do remember having to articulate past failed attempts to lose weight, so you might have a few of those on the tip of your tongue. This probably doesn't help a lot, but I thought I'd give it a shot. D.

What an honor! You must be a great example of everything they want their practice to represent if they asked you to do this, so that should give you a great deal of confidence right off the bat. I do quite a bit of public speaking for a living, and I find that just being yourself is the best way to handle it. Whether you realize it or not, your story is sad, funny, adventurous, poignant, and inspirational just standing alone as it's own story. (That's why your doc asked you.) Just get up there and be as truthful as you feel comfortable being, and you'll touch a nerve in those people because you've been exactly where they are now. It's all about human connection. At the risk of sounding trite, I'd speak as long as I had something meaningful or important to you to say. As a last resort (and my own personal bailout if I'm having a day where the words aren't flowing) take questions. You're the expert in your own experience. Nobody knows more about your journey than you do. You'll do great. These people are genuinely interested in your life-changing decision because they're trying to make one for themselves.

Hey welcome! Like Jeff said, the band isn't magic, so you'll still have to do the work. It will however allow you to level the playing field of hunger so you have a fighting chance at success. Before my band I would have never been able to eat as little food as I do now and feel like I could survive without starving. What the band did for me was take away the craving hunger between small meals, and teach me how little food I actually need to live a healthy life. Because I was always hungry, I felt like I NEEDED all that food. My advice to start immediately would be to cut out one unhealthy thing from your diet. Just one to start with. If you start really small, it won't be hard to keep up with it and turn it into a habit. Pick something that is really bad for you that you shouldn't be eating any way. After you've been successful with that, pick something else to cut out. D.

Wow. You look amazing, and a better screen name I have not seen. Love it. Congratulations.

I may be an extreme case, but I take one minute between bites of food and allow each bite to pass through my band. So at "60 seconds" I take a small bite, chew thoroughly, swallow, wait for the timer to count down to zero. At zero, I take another bite and repeat. It's exactly like waiting for the sand in your timer to finish. The only difference is that this timer keeps resetting for how ever long you tell it to. I have an app for my iPod called "Interval Timer." It was free from the Apple app store. You can also buy a dedicated interval timer from most sporting goods stores or online. Runners use it to switch between periods of high intensity and low intensity - like run, walk, run, walk. PM me if it isn't clear. Hope this helps. D.