HeatherinCA

I think it depends on your insurance company.. I don't know though. Yea like Spoilitmom said, if you just want it removed... i doubt that will be covered.

Congrats Mandy! You look great!

Depends on exercise and your body shape. I weigh 252 pounds and I wear a size 18 pants.. I've lost about 2-3 sizes on the top and bottom at 46 pounds down. I saw someone post just now they wear a size 22 pants and weigh 200 lbs.. so who knows!

Just make sure your meals are as protein rich as possible that will keep you full. Or things like Oatmeal fill me up good. Hunger will be there until you are filled to a good spot. (some people call this bandster hell) For me, a few weeks after my fill (I got 5.5ccs), my hunger was gone almost completely. Try to focus on other things also remember you are used to eating SO much food, that it's hard to feel satisfied on the small amounts. You will likely always have the capacity to eat whatever... you just have to control it and watch the calories. Yes, I can't eat nearly as much as I did before, but I can get a pretty good amount down if I I chose to.

I set my DVR. I saw the commercial the other day. I feel like I could eat less food, and still not be hungry, but there is no way my mind would be satisfied with 4 tablespoons of food. That's what I ate on the liquid diet haha... maybe that is what they meant?

I was banded 12/13 and i've lost 46 pounds. That's including the the 15 or so I lost on the pre-op diet. It's going pretty well. I agree it's hard to stay committed, but I do good most of the time. I could probably be better though.

Some people have trouble with bread.. so it might ball up on you, especially since you aren't fully healed. I'm sure a bite or two would be fine. Maybe do some ice cream instead get a low-cal or something?

How much is "not much weight loss?" You should be losing 1-2lbs a week. Are you following your 900-1200 calorie a day diet and exercising? If not, you can't blame the band... gotta blame yourself. The band does it job, of making you less hungry, you have to do yours. You may not necessarily feel super full, and it will never stop what you put in your mouth, it is up to you to make those decisions.

I'm guessing not... I think you have to be well over that if you don't have co-morbides. My BMI was 46 when I was approved (I was 5'7, 298).. i have no co-morbidies. I tried a few years ago and they wouldn't approve me. I was about 250 then... I guess they don't see the benefits if it's not going to "cure" something.

Self Pay should be like 13-20k I'd think, we were looking into that before I changed insurance companies... not sure about all the other fees. (anesthesiology and stuff) Insurance after discounts and stuff don't end up paying the full amount I don't think. I ended up paying about $3000 out of pocket with insurance

I get some from bread, also I take fiber gummies.. or some type of fiber.

Yep, that was mine 7 days shakes, 10 days puree, 10 days soft food, then day 28 was real food. There is no benefit to staying on shakes longer, it's terribly hard! Also it's good to get your body back on normal foods and on a normal diet.

Yea, mine has started to fall out. Not too worried, just worried about my shower drain haha So really nothing can be done? hmm

The fills take about a month to become fully effective. I'm the same way, my hunger is gone. That means it worked! haha. When you are filled the band presses on something in your body, so the hunger hormone isn't released into the body.

I eat sugar.. you shouldn't because its bad for your and will ruin your diet. You feel sick and have terrible gas pains if you over eat quite a bit.. You physically WONT eat SO much that you will explode your band, you just won't have that desire.

Are you working out? Are you eating 1200 calories or less a day? If you don't know you have to record it in a food journal. It's not going to do that work for you . It's very easy to overeat, or eat the wrong things and not lose weight and just break even.

Still working on not taking comfort in food, but I mean I still eat, so it's not that bad, and like you said if I want something I can treat myself occasionally! I don't feel deprived.

I'm a little over 3 months out... I eat a fairly normal diet, I just eat less. It's about 1200 calories a day. A typical day for me is: Breakfast 2 eggs & a whole wheat english muffin or 1 slice of toast or bacon or oatmeal lunch about 1/2 cup chicken salad (or some type of protein) and crackers dinner 4 turkey meatballs with some marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Then usually a snack somewhere in there, maybe a small oatmeal or some nuts. For me, it's pretty easy. After my first fill, my hunger is gone. Which is great, you certainly think about food less when you aren't hungry. (that was the main reason all the other diets failed for me, i was starving!) I'd say just remember the band won't stop you from eating. Only you can make the decision of what goes in your mouth. Also average weight loss is 1-2lbs a week, so don't expect some crazy miracle diet (you usually get a nice jump start from the liquid diet, but then it slows). I know everyone hates this term, but the band is a tool. It AIDS in your weight loss, but it won't do it for you.

Yes it can. The band helps me eat less, and my hunger level is virtually zero (after my fill), but it doesn't stop me from eating. I can still eat because I want food. I can eat between meals, I can "drink" calories, I can eat candy... I can easily fit in food that is bad for me...there are plenty of ways to eat around your band. It's still all about the choices you make. I feel like my desire to eat is much less, since my hunger is gone. It's really hard to binge when you aren't hungry. Some days I go into my kitchen to eat something for a snack, and I just can't because I physically am not hungry at all. I would think all overweight people are overeaters... it's hard to change your habits. But, with the band there is physically only so much food that can fit at one time. So that is SOME help, but you still have to control what you chose to eat. For example, the other day I had a Lean Cuisine pizza for dinner (which is quite small), then i wanted a bowl of Cereal so I had it right after, and I felt like CRAP for a few hours, full of gas, and my tummy hurt. That was my lesson to not overeat! There are band support groups, maybe you could do that? Trust me the days of eating 5 slices of pizza and 2 large sodas and 5 breadsticks are over. There is physically no way you can even eat that! I could eat that much in 3 days haha.

I still burp all the time! I could win a contest haha. It's mostly fine, but if I eat too much it gets really bad! Ugh, lesson has been learned.

I feel like now that I have all the steps down i think about it less so it's easier. I can still eat anything, I just eat less! I mean I know what to order at restaurants, and what to eat at home, and how much food... I like that I don't have to be 100% perfect on my diet everyday and I still am losing. It doesn't really feel like a diet... I like that. But, the last couple of weeks it's gotten a little harder, I think I've been getting carried away with the food, I'm struggling a bit with eating right (I tend to add in that one extra thing I shouldn't have), and I'm really slacking on exercise! But now I know to kick my own butt.

My first fill was 5.5ccs. I don't have any problems eating any type of food, But the fill killed my hunger. I could probably go all day without eating if I had to. If your doctor has a fluoroscope machine he can measure how much you need in your band. It saves time, trust me one fill is better than 10. It's not exactly about restriction... after a while you start to be less hungry, and desire food less, and are full longer. But remember you have to control what goes in, it won't stop you. That's the hard part.

Yea your body naturally constricts while it's healing. You are just hungry cause you are on liquids, it gets better on soft foods . Then you get your fill after about 6 weeks, then the fill, eventually will press on a nerve or something that prevents the hunger chemical from coming out. So you can eat a small meal and be satisfied for 5 hours.

I felt physically better after about 4 or 5 days.. but remember you are not eating anything or are on clear liquids, so your energy isn't 100%. You might still also have pain moving and stretching which I assume you'd need to as a massage therapist. I'd say a week and a half to two weeks is probably good.

1. You don't lose much weight when you are healing, which is the first 6 weeks, since your body is kind of in shock from not eating, and surgery and all that. 2. Hunger goes away after the fills, that is their purpose. 3. Average weight loss is 1-2lbs a week, on about a 1200 calorie diet, that is what's healthy. Some people lose more if they are extremely heavy and it comes off faster, or if they push their diet and exercise to the max. For me some weeks it's 1lb, some weeks it's 2-2.5, depends how good i am on my diet. It's still easy to cheat and go off track.