weigh****chers

I am back at walking on the treadmill had a busy week last week and things have slowed down a little. I am thinking seriosly about joining WW in hopes of loosing the 20lbs before they will give me a surgery date. To tell you all the truth I am really mad at the WLS about enforcing this weight loss thing. I just feel I am fighting every step of the way to get to surgery. When I first looked into this it scared me to death but the more I learned the more I knew this was the only answer left for me. Still smoke free but during stressful events start thinking about smoking end up grazing but not on CHEESE IT'S LOL trying rice cakes and things like that till the urge leaves me. So my main concern is will WW have a scale that can weigh me. If anyone knows please let me know so I can stop stressing over this I am to ashamed to call and ask. Annie

It is easy to lose weight, it is the keeping it off that is the problem. You can do it. Anyone who is obese has lost weight before. What I did is do the things I would have to do after surgery anyway. I got rid of sodas, caffeine, starch, sugar, and ate mostly meat and veggies... usually chicken. I also started drinking atleast one protein shake sometimes 2 a day before surgery. Withing a few weeks I had lost 20 lbs. You just have to put your mind to it. WW is good and helpful, but they focus on losing a half pound a week. Yep. However, ofcourse initially you will lose more than that, and if you do WW I recommend you eat a lot less points than they tell you, since they gear towards slow weight loss. Just think, take a few weeks to get it off, then you'll be done. You are worth it!

It is very difficult to find a place with what I call a "big girl scale". I know in my area the WW's didn't have one. I have a friend who LOVES WW. Her starting weight was 120lbs and in 12 short weeks she was at 112lbs. She was thrilled. I would not be... I agree that it can be done... I lost 55lbs on my pre-op plan... Basically I cut out ALL SODA not even diet... nothing carbonated.. I drink WATER and tons of it and I do crave it now and I always hated it before!! I also drink 100% fruit juice.. BUT I water it down. It basically flavors my water sometimes. I watch my salt intake since we hold fluid so easily. Absolutely NO FAST FOOD... that was hard... I eat mostly meat and veggies. Several small meals a day helps too. Having string cheese or a banana helps out a lot. All Natural Peanut Butter.. NO margarine... no carby snacks.. nothing fried... It sounds hard but once you begin reading labels and counting calories.. I think you'll see that you don't want the garbagey food anymore. And because I am human... I do from time to time eat a handful of M&M's. I also make sure there's no junk in the house for those weak moments.. I bought a hot air popper and sometimes I have popcorn and it seems like the biggest treat. Just some ideas.. this can be done. Don't give up!! You can do it!!!

Not that I would recommend it but.....this morning I had some dental work done and I am on a self imposed liquid diet now since I can't manage to chew anything at the moment. Man, if I am lucky maybe I can stick with it....just kidding. Have you tried hoodia. I take two capsules with my am slim fast shake and two capsules with lunch and so on. At the moment I am maintaining with out a grumbly tummy. I wish that some one would have asked those bushmen a long time ago about what they were nibbling on. I bought mine at a health food store and there are a few places online to purchase it also. It might be some thing worth looking into to help out.

One of the surgeons in my bariatric group cancelled my surgery because I gained 8lbs in 2 1/2 months that included Thanksgiving and Christmas. He insisted that I lose weight if I wanted to have my lap band surgery and gave me a month to do it. He said he hoped I lost at least 15lbs. At the end of 4 weeks, I was back in the office (with another surgeon, thank goodness!) and had lost 20lbs. For me, it was literally a life and death, last chance, situation. When I left the office, the first time, in tears of course, that same day, I joined WW. Mostly because I knew that WW had scales that could weigh my 400+lbs. I stopped all eating out, no more restaurants, no more fast food. Absolutely no soda, diet or otherwise, juice, or other high calorie liquids. I did follow the WW point model, but generally ended each day with less than my allotted points. Generally, my daily meals consisted of 1 packet regular instant oatmeal and 1 packet WW flavored oatmeal for breakfast. Usually a can of Progresso Minestrone soup (only 4 points for the whole can) for lunch, and for dinner, all the salad I wanted, with garbonzo and kidney beans, 1 hard boiled egg, and cucumbers (with fat free or lo cal dressing) along with a grilled chicken breast. Throughout the day, I loaded up on water. I won't lie, it was difficult in the beginning, but as time went by, my body and stomach got used to the smaller portions. Also, it really helped knowing that there was an end in sight, that I only had to do this for 4 weeks until I got my tool to help me. My surgeon was very pleased at my weight loss and said it really helped as far as shrinking the liver and giving him easier access to my stomach. I did have a weekend in between my approval and my actual surgery day and planned on enjoying a feast Friday and Saturday (Sunday I had to start my liquid fast). You know what? I couldn't do it. I wanted to eat alot, but my stomach had really shrunk alot during that month and I couldn't eat nearly as much as I thought I could. Honestly, that strict diet I put myself on really helped me mentally in the early weeks right after surgery because I really didn't miss food, nor was I hungry for the first month after surgery (unusual for a band patient to go so long without hunger while still waiting for that first fill at 6 weeks time). I don't know how capable you are to do exercise, but I joined Curves when I weighed 395lbs. I was worried that their machines wouldn't hold me, but they sure did, and everyone was so supportive. Good luck! Mercy