cakegirl

All my incisions were much higher than my waist, so slacks shouldn't be a problem for you. The lowest one I've got is about an inch and a half above my belly button. Granted, I'm a girl, so put together a bit differently, but anyway, I had no problem with slacks, jeans, etc.

Hi there, I'm newly banded on the Central Coast of NSW. Just thought I'd say "hi" in case there are other Coasties on here, or in case anyone is wondering if there are any CC surgeons Rebecca

Hi Banded Beauty, yes it was Dr Caska Do you have your band?

Run around for an hour on the beach with my daughter. Perform in a burlesque show.

You don't HAVE to do anything you don't want to do!

I'm so glad your result was that it was benign. You must be so proud of how you dealt with the whole situation!

Jachut, yes, let's blame your old diet... I recently found out I've got polyps in my colon too, so I'm blaming my childhood/adolescence of almost 100% processed rubbish! Cecelia - which country are you in? I've had my Thermomix for 3 years and only got banded last month. It certainly made the liquid-only and the mushy stages VERRRRY easy!

I'm actually able to chug my water. I guess I probably won't be able to after I get a fill?

Also, after the big weight loss in the week after surgery, my weight stayed the same the following week, but since then I've lost about 1kg per week, which is 2.2lbs. And also, about cholesterol, my "good" cholesterol is high and my "bad" cholesterol is low - again, despite my use of butter in just about everything - yes, even since being banded! My doctor used to be surprised by the results - as a fat person with metabolic issues surrounding PCOS, they expected my cholesterol to be all wrong, but instead it was great

I have found that drinking water makes the growling worse, but something with a little more "substance" will settle it down, e.g. a cup of tea with a bit of skim milk in it.

It's pretty similar to how I eat too. We're mostly additive free (flavours, colours, thickeners, preservatives, etc.) Lots of meat, vegetables and fruits. No artifically hydrogenated oils (margarines etc), not artificial sweeteners. Just olive oil and butter. I make my own bread with 5 ingredients (baker's flour, olive oil, salt, yeast, whole wheat grains). I make our Pasta from scratch (flour/egg/olive oil) and knead it in my Thermomix then roll out through a pasta roller. We've started growing our own veggies and herbs (I have a dehydrator to preserve them), and soon will be adding some fruiting trees on our balcony. We aren't 100% strict on it - we do eat out in restaurants and buy the odd sandwich or sushi when out. We still eat dairy products and grains - obviously, with the wheat in my bread, and also oats for porridge, barley in Soups, etc. We occasionally have processed food like chocolate, but it's always high-quality high-cocoa chocolate, not the horrible cheap compound stuff that's around. Anyway, while not technically "paleo", we're pretty natural, and I agree that our family's health is excellent, and our energy levels are great. My energy levels used to be not-so-good due to insulin/glucose instability caused by PCOS. I used to be on metformin, but since getting the band, the combination of the quality food that I'm choosing and the quantity being controlled by the band has meant I don't have to take metformin any more, and my energy levels have remained good!

I don't like the way that low fat and low sugar things add in other stuff. Low fat things often have artificial thickeners in them, which I just won't eat. And the low sugar things have artifical cancer-causing sweeteners, which I also won't eat. So I pretty much have everything that I eat full fat full sugar. I just stick to healthy options so that the few FF/FS things I have don't amount to any weight gain.

I've only been banded one month, but I've settled into a routine of 3 meals and maybe one snack. I have the meals because I'm hungry. If I'm hungry between lunch and dinner, I'll have a snack. (With no guilt, because I'm eating out of hunger, not out of habit or greed ) If I'm hungry a few hours after dinner, I'll have a snack too because I'm NOT going to bed hungry. My weight loss has been fine, particularly when you consider that I haven't had a fill yet. It stopped when I went onto full solids, but it's dropping off again now.

I was never told to avoid straws. In fact, the surgeon told me to use a straw for everything for the first few days, because it would make me sip more than gulp.

I know a couple of people who got it in their late teens, so I don't think early 20s is too early at all! I wish you luck with your journey, whichever route you take.

You look great! Congratulations on your weight loss!

I don't have a card, but I'm practicing being assertive at restaurants. I went to a cafe recently that serves a big bowl of pumpkin soup and two huge pieces of buttered sourdough toast for $8. When I ordered, I said something like "Could I please have the pumpkin soup, but only fill the bowl halfway, and with no toast. I'll pay $4 for it." and they accepted my offer!

Well done!

I'm feeling a bit frustrated right now. I've been weighing in of a Monday morning. I had a 1 week pre-op diet, and in that week I lost 3.6kg. Then first week post-op I lost 3kg. Second post-op week, I lost 0.1kg. Third week post-op, I lost 0.1kg. Now, both those weeks, I weighed myself midweek and was up to 1kg lighter, but then by Monday morning weigh-in, I was back up to only 0.1kg lighter than the previous week. And for reference, 0.1kg is 0.22 of a pound. Less than half a glass of Water. So, pretty much nothing. I don't really understand it. I'm probably eating a quarter of what I used to eat before. No junk food. I went on a couple of power walks this week. How is it possible that I've lost so little weight for two consecutive weeks???

It's true, I'm expecting it to disappear overnight, which is just not going to happen!

Hi GG, Not worried about the raw egg - been drinking smoothies with raw egg in them since I was a little kid, and I've made it to 34 years old safely! Rebecca

Since being banded, food actually tastes better to me now. I haven't really changed *what* I eat, because I ate quite healthily before. I just ate too much before. But for example, the sauce of my chicken curry tasted better than it's ever tasted when I made it the other day! And I just ate less of it.

I don't believe in additives/preservatives/etc. My protein drink has almond meal, oats, an egg, yoghurt, frozen berries and banana, spirulina, almond oil, colloidal minerals and milk in it.

You went to some beautiful spots! I visited Adelaide/Kangaroo Is for the first time in 2007 when pregnant with my daughter - it's a lovely spot! And I've scuba dived the GBR, which was awesome! As for the weight loss, it's slooowly dropping off... I get my first fill on 29 September, so hopefully that makes a difference!

I've heard differing opinions about whether we can have caffeine post-band. What have you been told?