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Hi All. Low BMI here. Anyone else?



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Hi all. My name is Shawnee and I'm what is considered a low BMI candidate for the surgery. I'm 5'4" and 185 pounds. My doctor has agreed to do it and is actually submitting a study on Low BMI banding this month. Because my BMI is 32 my insurance company would not cover the surgery so I'm paying outta pocket and it's not cheap. I know that I probably wont see the dramatic and immediate results that some heavier people experience, but I want to make sure I optimize my loss and do it right.

I'm hoping others can give me advice, tips, pitfalls that I should avoid, etc.

I'm having the surgery this monday December 6th and noon in Beverly Hills. I'm excited and nervous at the same time

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Hi Shawnee,

I was banded at a BMI of 35 and despite being of a low-ish BMI, my weight loss was pretty steady and consistent. I didn't expect for my loss to be any slower than anyone else's so worked hard (food-wise and exercise-wise) to ensure that I lost between 7 - 10lbs a month.

You have the advantage over someone with a much higher BMI in that starting on exercise will likely not be as hard on your body, esp your joints. So my suggestion would be to get to a routine of exercising as soon as you are able, and make sure you up the intensity of your work-out as you get fitter. Other than that, eat well, get your fills regularly and follow the rules. :)

Good luck with your surgery!

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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