Hi to all you lovelies out there.

I realised that I have not talked about my actual progress in terms of weight loss at all so far in these blogs. I get a bit frustrated when I look at blogs of those fantastically inspirational people who have done really well over a long period of time but I can't figure how they got there. It'd be nice to compare where I'm at with where they were at when they were in my shoes to give myself encouragement that I'm doing ok. So, from today, at the end of my blog is a chart showing weight loss over time (like a ticker, it does update as I add more data on a weekly or fortnightly basis but you will be able to tell what my weight was at any time - ups, downs, everything).

Saw my surgeon on Wednesday (6 days post-op) and he said I was ready to make the transition to soft foods and then to regular food. YEAY!! Over the last two days I have transitioned very quickly to eating pretty much anything though I take it slow and chew thorougly. Have you seen the episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy and Ethel go on the diet where they are told to chew everything 50 times before they swallow? - I feel like them! Once I'm sure I'm not having any problems with the first few bites, I proceed with eating till my pouch feels full. I'm also starting each meal with one or two glasses of water so that I don't feel thirsty in the middle of the meal or very soon after it. So far, haven't struck any problems. It is FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC to be finished with those crappy shakes!! I also have to say that I am totally RAPT with being able to eat anything but finding that smaller amounts fill me up! I so want to eat like a french woman (a little of bit of all of life's good things) AND feel satisfied at the same time. I also love that the amount of food that gets eaten in a sitting is not "abnormally" small. I want to live like a normal person. I love that I can still go out to restaurants but I won't be the one clearing my plate and then checking out left overs on other plates. I'll just be one of the ones with left overs!

The surgeon was adamant that as I found I could tolerate the less slippery foods, I should cut back on the slippery stuff until I'm just eating proper food - no more shakes, juices, etc - no liquid calories. Last night I cooked up some fabulous Aussie prawns (shrimp) with zucchini in an italian sauce base and it all went down ok.

I asked the surgeon about how I should deal with two things: (i) with feeling full (because I can feel that my pouch is full) but my head still wanting more; and (ii) with feeling full (because I can feel that my pouch is full) but having my big stomach rumbling 'cause it isn't full. He said both of things would pass and reminded me that a rumbling stomach is not necessarily a hungry stomach. From what he was saying, I figure there comes a time where a synchronicity is reached between my pouch feeling full and ME feeling full. I don't know if others feel this distinction between my pouch being full and ME being full (maybe the latter is just head hunger) but I was very glad to hear him give me this reassurance. I have read somewhere that at some time in the first few weeks following banding there is a re-setting of the point in the brain at which the banded person feels full (Wish I could remember where I saw this!). I'd love to hear from other bandsters as to whether they experienced firstly the distinction between their pouch feeling full and them being satisfied and secondly, if the two came together for them at some point.

Also, on Wednesday, Lisa (who is now 3 weeks post-op and doing superbly) saw the nutritionist. I went along for the ride. She said some stuff that really helped us so I thought I would share. I have posted this elsewhere but I wanted to keep this somewhere I could look back at it so it is also going in this blog.

Lisa has been saying she wants a fill asap as she feels she is eating way more than she THOUGHT she should and she is not dropping weight like she was on the pre-op diet. Lisa keeps saying she has no restriction but in actual fact she is eating a lot less at meal times than we did before.

The nutritionist asked what she meant by not losing enough weight and Lisa said well the scales haven't changed for the last 4 days! When asked how much weight she has lost since surgery 3 weeks ago, she answered about 8-10lb. The nutritionist told us to put the scales out of reach and to only weigh ourselves once every week or, even better, once every two weeks. She also said it was unreasonable to be expecting to never be hungry or to be eating extremely small amounts of food.

The nutritionist said that the sort of weight loss experienced on the pre-op diet was not what she should be aiming for with the lap band as it was not good for her in the long term and was stressful on the body and didn't give the body enough time to make adjustments. If she kept up that weight loss she was told she could expect to lose hair, and that she was likely to see more "sagginess" around her body than she would if she lost weight more slowly. She told Lisa that she should revise her expectations about what constitutes a reasonable and healthy weight loss. She recommended that weight loss be no more than 1-2lb per week (0.5-1kg).

We were amazed (I was delighted!!) at how much food she recommended we should consume in a day. It added up to around 1200-1400 cals/day. What she recommended was pretty much in line with the typical Weight Watchers program but snacking between meals is not encouraged. Also, she emphasised the need to drink before meals and then not drink after meals for 1-2 hours (for 2 reasons - potential of overstretching the pouch and potential for washing things through the band faster than is desirable).

She pretty much reinforced what this dude, Dr Vuong, says HERE. Essentially, the message is you may stop losing weight if you restrict your caloric intake too far. So that you don't have to follow the link, she essentially told us that when caloric intake drops down to around 1100-1200 calories per day, human metabolism will slow down.

When humans had to scavenge for food that was not always readily available, bodies became very efficient at storing energy in the form of fat to tide them through times when they might not be able to eat much for a few days. When food became scarce, metabolism would slow down in order to conserve energy, at least until food became plentiful again. Typically bodies go into this energy-conserving mode when caloric intake is dropped to around 1100-1200 calories per day.

Since a Lap-Band can take a person down to around this amount, bodies may want to go into "starvation" mode. Our job is to keep this from happening by doing two things:

• Making sure you are eating enough (1200 cals/day for the 5'7 - 5'8 average woman - cals/day varies depending on how tall you are, how active you are and is more for males) and getting the best nutrition you can. This means eating real food, avoiding empty calories, preparing fresh meals so that your body gets all of the micronutrients and building blocks it needs to perform its normal daily chemical reactions and functions.
  
• Exercising. This keeps your metabolism going.
  

In terms of when is the right time to get filled, she said if you are eating so that you are satisfied most of the time (ideally getting hungry just before meal times) and you are still losing 1-2lb per week - you DO NOT need a fill yet. If you're eating but do not feel satisfied most of the time, are finding you need to snack to get you through between meals, and your weight loss drops to less than 1lb per week, then it is time to schedule a fill.

Everything this nutritionist said made sense and I intend doing as she suggests. I am just starting to realise and hope that living with a lap band is not about being on a punishing diet but instead living like 'normal' people (who are satisfied with less and therefore don't overeat) out there. Right now, I am sooo happy I have made this decision. I just pray that the reality is the same as the theory explained and outlined above. At the moment, it feels that way. I hope it lasts. Again, would love to hear from the long-term bandsters out there as to whether this has been their experience.

Love to you all.

Lili

My Weight Chart:

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I always love how educational your blogs are...I always learn something new! The graph is a great idea! Keep it up! -BG

Lovey, your blogs are sensational!! This has answered so many question marks I have had in my head. I re-read our book during the week (seminar book) - not enough answers. Think you may need to write a book for everyone. Lou