Sore!

     My husband & I just bought the EA Active 2 fitness program for our PS3 the other day. Yesterday morning I worked out for it for the first time. I started with the basic 3 week challenge, choosing the easy workout. I'll be working out 4 times a week. I thought I could handle the medium, but figured since it has been so long since I have exercised, I will try to start lightly with the easy level... WOW was that ever smart!

     The workout was only 20 minutes, but I had to skip 2 or 3 of the 22 exercises they assigned me. This could be for one of three reasons: 1. I am just too unfit. 2. I was stupid and didn't put my shoes on and barefoot running, no matter how slight, is not easy on feet bearing 300+ lbs. or 3. The motion detector on some of the exercises wasn't catching my movements so I had to do them several times just to get one through. That was annoying, and hope to figure out why that was. Everything seemed to be connected properly, and it was only a few of the exercises that happened to, so I wonder why that occurred.

This morning I woke up so freaking incredibly sore! My upper legs (the lap area) hurt so bad, literally I am in pain. When I stand up, sit down, or walk it hurts sooo badly. It makes me not want to work out again! I know I need to, and I will tomorrow as scheduled. I'm just praying the soreness goes away by then; if not I don't think I would be able to!

Have any of you used this EA Active 2? What do you think about it? Have you had the sensor problems or soreness afterward? I'm interested to hear about it!

The Double Edged Sword

     Good morning :) It is already a nice steamy 80 degrees here in Houston, and it's only 8:00 in the morning. Gotta love this humidity, right? NOT!

     My insurance (Aenta) is requiring me to do 4 months of medically supervised weight loss, along with 2 visits to a nutritionist - all of which will be done at the True Results center. I have been wondering something over the last few days, and if any of you who stumble upon this have any input, please share! I am wondering whether or not the insurance company actually wants to see me lose weight or not over these next few months. You see, and perhaps it is the obsessiveness in me, my thoughts are this whole thing is a double-edged sword. If I lose weight over the next four months, then I worry that they will decline me reasoning that I have been able to lose weight on my own over the last few months and don't need the Lap Band. On the flip side, I worry that if I don't lose weight, they will decline me reasoning that I won't be able to stick to the new Lap Band lifestyle and changes and therefore should not get one. What do I do?? The thing is, like most Bandsters, I can lose weight for a couple of weeks or months... but I cannot keep it off. Every single time I have dieted or "changed my lifestyle" over the last decade, I have gained back all weight lost and then some. My first time dieting I was 249 lbs. I joined Weight Watchers and got down to 180 lbs in about 7 or so months. Then I gained it all back, plus more. Today I am around 308-ish lbs. Sometimes I use this as my rationale not to diet - I tell my self if I diet, I'll lose but then end up gaining even more back so I really shouldn't diet. How sick is that?

     I need this Lap Band. I really, really need it. I know in my heart of hearts that it is going to make all the difference in the world, that it's going to save my life. After all, this truly is a matter of life and death. I want to grow old with my husband and watch my three children grow up. I want to be active with my children now, while they are still so young and actually want me to do things with them. I need that restriction that Lap Band offers. They say you won't want to eat, you won't even think of eating - I need that!

    So, what do I do? I certainly don't want to gain weight over the next few months. Of course it would be awesome to kick start my loss... but will it cost me my Band? I know I could lose some weight before the surgery, but I won't be able to keep it off. 10+ years and thousands of dollars have showed me that. I wish I had the money to pay cash if I get declined, then I wouldn't (hopefully) worry about it so much. I have been searching the internet for answers to this question, and it seems like the opinions are divided.

And so it begins...

     My journey of life as a Lap-Band recipient is just beginning. I made the long overdue, 1st important step a week ago today. I was fed up with failing yet another weight loss attempt and decided right then and there I was getting weight loss surgery, regardless of the cost. You see, I have wanted weight loss surgery (WLS) for quite some time now, but never really thought I could afford it and have heard horror stories of how many hoops one had to jump through in order to get their insurance to cover it. It really discouraged me, thinking that I'd never get approved.

     So, I googled WLS and looked at a couple of sites. I thought of getting a gastric bypass at first, as the rapid weight loss is really appealing to me, however the re-routing of my digestive system really freaked me out, and being a stay at home mother to 3 small children, I can't afford to recoup as long as a bypass would require. That led me to choose gastric banding. I found True Results Lap Band Center, and browsed around on the site for a while. They had a little form to fill out to have them check to see if your insurance has coverage on this procedure, so I filled it out. The next day, Wednesday, I got a call from a pleasant sounding woman named Judy saying that she received my request and would be contacting my insurance provider (I have Aetna). Thursday afternoon she called again saying that they do cover it and set me up to come in bright and early the next morning for a one-on-one consultation.

     When I got the the TR center the next morning, I was very nervous. I almost chickened out of going, but thankfully I walked through their doors. I checked in with the receptionist, filled out some papers, and to my utter surprise, hadn't waited more than 3 minutes before they called me back to the office! They took my blood pressure, weighed me, and sat me in a room to wait for my patient advocate. Patient advocates are awesome, as they have had the Lap Band surgery done and are success stories. When my PA came in, Rachel, she was very nice. She told me I had really good coverage, explained what the coverage was and what the requirements are from the insurance company. I need to have 4 months of a medically supervised weight loss plan and 2 nutrition appointments. TR also needs me to have a full blood work up, an EKG, a PFT, and a psychological exam (I have a history of depression). I told her okay, lets go for it. She left to get a Nurse Practitioner - I wish I remembered her name, she was absolutely amazing - to give me my physical and "road map" to surgery. I was told that this appointment counted as my first of the four WL visits - yay!

     After I was done seeing the NP, I was sent out to schedule my 2nd appointment (June 22nd). This morning I was called by a lady who will be handling my insurance stuff for TR. She will be the one who gathers all the required documentation and submits it to Aetna. She said it can take 2 - 3 weeks from submission to get an approval. I am estimating my surgery to be around mid-September - right in time for my 31st birthday!

     I hope I haven't bored any one who stopped by to read my blog. I hope to meet lots of other "Bandsters" to share this journey with, I would love to hear all of your experiences and advice and will be more than happy to relay mine as I move forward with this process. I am just so so so excited and cannot wait for my surgery. I hope these next 4 months fly by!