ObesityHelp

Post Date 2/22/12 12:56 pm
Topic: RE: Only just the start...let's get real.

My friend, Dee, is truly an inspiration. I lost my mother when I was five. Dee stepped in and helped in so many ways, teaching, guiding and advising. I talk to her every day and tell her almost everything. Her affirmation means a lot to me. My daughter—She is so precious and so tormented about her weight. It was easier when I was heavy too. Now I am not and she is trying deal with it. My husband and I have proceeded with great caution to avoid any tendency toward an eating disorder. She has had thorough work-ups in the medical community to eliminate any obvious metabolic issues that may be the cause. I blame myself for giving her my “fat gene”. She isn’t ready to take any real action, so we just try to lead by gentle example in our food and activity choices. I know it bothers her, especially as we reach the end of the misses clothes rack in sizes. I am sad with her and empathize. I hate that her childhood is plagued by this. Thanks again for getting me thinking…Hugs and peace to you! 

JoAnne

Post Date 2/18/12 4:02 am
Topic: RE: Gee, really?

"Qnexa is a combination of appetite suppressant phentermine and anti-seizure drug topiramate."

I took them both, separately, as weight loss drugs.  My heart thought it might explode on phentermine and I had terrible tingling in my face from the Topamax.  I lost a little weight on both.

At the end of the day, though, I was willing to take the associated risks to lose the weight and would probably do it again.

No worries about birth effects in this camp.

I am already lost in space.

Post Date 2/10/12 8:02 am
Topic: RE: Does Offering Smaller Portions At Restaurants Help People Eat Less?

I agree~

I ordered from the mini menu yesterday at California Kitchen and was so relieved to have it as an option. 

I have come to HATE eating out.  It overwhelms me.  Sometimes I don't order anything and just pick off of the plates of the rest of my family.

Smaller portions are good sense.  I saw salads leaving the kitchen yesterday for people's lunch that would have fed my whole family.  Ridiculous, really. 

There is a nationally known restaurant in Birch Run, MI, previously featured on Diners and Dives, called Tony's.  There is a pound of bacon on one BLT.  I am not entertained by this.  I think gluttony and it upsets me.  No one person should eat that much, even if they can.

We don't eat out that often either--five people is hard on a pocket-book.  But, my husband and I encourage sharing of meals.  We do it.  The kids do it.

Post Date 2/10/12 7:28 am
Topic: RE: What else went away with the weight?

My plantar fasciitis is gone.  So are my migraines, depression, fatty liver, type II diabetes, eczema and weight-bearing related joint pain. 
On the flip-side, I have to watch out for low blood pressure and reactive hypoglycemia.  As well, my muscle recovery after strength training is slower than before.
But I wouldn't trade it...

Post Date 1/6/12 3:16 am
Topic: RE: Blue Cross and Michigan Medicaid

I wrote out a lifetime of weight loss attempts and then referred to my ballooning weight in my medical charts for the last years.  I was also honest in my narrative that I doctor-shopped each time I gained and that I had documentation all over northern Michigan.  I was approved very quickly--started the process in July and had surgery in October.  I don't know about #2, but I can't see where she will need it.  Best wishes!

Post Date 12/15/11 9:59 am
Topic: RE: What DOES WLS cost?

Hmmm...

Time and organization are my tops. 

In order to stay on a healthful track, I plan my dinners two weeks ahead of time.  I have certain things every day, without fail, to keep my protein in check:  Protein coffee and fruited Greek yogurt.  So, those things are always available to me.  I have a list of standby fillers for the rest of my day, food-wise and I most often feel like I am in control.  I generally eat dinner leftovers for lunch.  I log my food daily, in the morning to make sure my nutritional goals are in good shape.
 
This method, however OCD (which I freely acknowledge) protects me somewhat from the vicious cycle of reactive hypoglycemia, a side effect I never counted on, or was even properly informed of.  Bad things can happen if I am not fully aware of when and where my next meal is coming!

I take my vitamins every day, in the same general order, plucking them from the Tupperware container that accompanies me everywhere I go, along with my quart of water, which I make sure to refill at least once.

Rewind 18 months ago and you will see an out of control, brittle diabetic with the first stage of liver disease.  I was obsessive compulsive about everything BUT my health.  Now, I am exceedingly grateful for that trait.

I don't try to achieve perfection, or what is perceived as perfection.  I will eat chocolate covered raisins if they are offered to me, or a cookie, or Frito's...I just don't eat a pound at a time.

I will never be normal.  My surgery precludes that.  However, my mind sight is that I will be as close to normal as possible, never again "dieting", but rather just eating like a healthy-weighted person.

I can't ignore going to the doctor.  I have to make the trips to the lab and the co-pays a priority.  To not abide by this would be stupid for me.  I can balance that cost with the fact I no longer take any prescriptions.  I can add a shopping trip to my doctor's visit.

This was trial by fire for me.  I wasn't prepared; not even close.  I know that was my own blessed fault too.  I have been fortunate to have few complications, but I think that was just the luck of the draw.

Read.  Research.  Investigate.  Communicate.  Network.  Contemplate.  It's your body.  Don't you want the absolute best for it?

Post Date 11/11/11 5:04 am
Topic: RE: Sore Muscles after working out.

The pain is coming from micro tears in all those muscles you are working so hard.  Once I learned that, the day of rest and limiting one's strength training to three days a work makes a lot of sense.  Vary your routine/muscle groups from day to day to maximize the process~
Good for you!

Post Date 11/7/11 8:19 am
Topic: RE: Limiting myself ?

I think habits develop even when we are not expecting them too and the WLS is the avenue for those new habits.
I, like you, am a total control freak.  Knowing that, I decided to use that part of me to its fullest during my first post-surgical year and have developed a routine that works for me--journaling my food, activity and weighing daily.  Most generally, this routine offers me positive reinforcement in the way of controlled calories and lost weight and did just that, without fail, during my 12 months after surgery.  I started the habit when success was likely and the task was not burdensome.
Now, a little over a year later, I feel like I am in a good place--maintaining with some good habits, for me, in place.
I also think the first year is prime time for some mental health help.  It is a time full of significant life changes and is a great opportunity to deal with some head junk. 
Wishing you the best~

Post Date 11/4/11 11:35 am
Topic: RE: please read

What doctor are you using?

Post Date 11/4/11 9:42 am
Topic: RE: please read

Loretta!  Where in Michigan???
You have to KNOW there are much better options out there for you, statewide, that do not involve unwelcoming seminars and doctors' staff that don't mind putting your immune system through the wringer.
You are the customer.  PLEASE pick an office that makes you happy, all the way around, otherwise you might not return and your after-care could suffer...

Post Date 11/3/11 7:52 am
Last Edit: 11/3/11 7:53 am
Topic: RE: XPOST Wednesday B*TCHFest: B*tch ahoy!

Continuing into Thursday…Because I feel like it!  

Hyper-sensitive co-workers: Please shut up and stop thinking everyone is out to get you.  Maybe if you stood up for yourself instead of cowering in the corner in the fetal position, people in authority may treat you with respect.  Leave me out of your ******g matches.  

Halloween candy is of the devil and must be exorcised from around me.  If it were not for my continued mal absorption of calories, I would have gained five pounds due to the damnable stuff.  I have no willpower and I don’t dump and the crap is everywhere.  

My arm hurts like a son of a ***** after my flu shot yesterday.  I didn’t realize how much my previously hefty arms protected me from such discomfort~  

I am saddened by the community’s loss of stellar members to cancer—one just passed and two are in the process.  The whole thing is horrible and makes me melancholy.  

The divorce rate among my peers is also on the rise and shakes me to the core.  Who knows why? Maybe the situations were bad from the start but why so many and why now???  All those poor families…  

I am so tired I can hardly see straight. I just had my labs done and there is no evident reason why I feel like this.  It sucks. I am weary and in turn, lashing out at my loved ones, flying off the handle at the littlest things.  

And ---drum roll, please--- , how can someone call themselves a leader, in a church no less, and conduct themselves in a manipulative and ruthless manner? This person is paid and was educated and trained to lead a congregation like a shepherd leads his flock and yet this person behaves in a manner that is stunningly contrary to that. I will never understand it and will be forever disappointed.  

Vent over. Thank you for this opportunity.  

Post Date 10/30/11 4:18 am
Topic: RE: The Skinny ***** Phenomenon.

A new normal=skinny *****~

After posting yesterday, I told my husband that I was ***** when I was fat, so what's the difference?  Not really...I have ***** potential but I tend to keep it under wraps.

I am a year and a handful of days out and now have a before and after pic you wouldn't believe.  I think I will shrink it to pocket size for whipping out when the occasion is right.  The weird thing is that even those closest to me have forgotten how heavy I really was and need to be reminded.

I have gone from a size 22/24 to a 2/4.  I have lost pounds and pounds but also the comfort zone in which to discuss the process of losing them.  I don't talk about it anymore after a light bulb experience at a family gathering sitting around a table of short, round women, all of whom are dicussing the best crash diets to use to lose weight for a wedding.  I put in my two cents and get the LOOK.  I was out.  Done.  Finished.  I knew where I stood.  Even though I have a lot to offer in terms of experience, they don't want to hear it from the skinny *****

You want to talk about dieting?  I'm likely to change the subject even though I can calculate the caloric value of your lunch in my head.  What a ride!

BTW, this comes from a girl who bought her Calvin Klein jeans in a size 10 in middle school.  I have NEVER been skinny, so adjusting to folks' impression of me as a skinny ***** is a stretch.

Post Date 10/19/11 1:57 pm
Topic: RE: question and need a moderator plz?

You know everyone is going to tell you to forget the lap band! 
OH offers forums that tell you the nuts and bolts as well as people who share the ins and outs.  You really need to check those out. 
For BC/BS of MI, BMI requirements were 35 with two co-morbids; 40 without.