Cazzy

I agree with B-52 and Xavier

I am 7cc in a 14 cc band, i eat around 3 oz protein and a good portion of 2 green veg, i dont get hungry in between meals as the veg and protein last me around 4 hours. I lost around 14lbs a month with eating around 1000 calories a day and exercising every day, including cycling around 6 miles a day. Its been hard work to keep exercising but i have to otherwise i just dont lose weight .

i bought an exercise bike

The realism about your goal comes from the work you are willing to do to get to where u want to be, not from some other persons opinion. I love proving people like that guy wrong ! I am the biggest loser at the hospital i had my sugery in, thats my realism

Might be just a general lack of essential Vitamins and minerals, u are already doing what u should it sounds lke, i would maybe get some Iron in from spinach and dark green veg etc. Iron directly affects our blood and that can be responsible for feeling tired and listless .. all 0 fat milk products like skimmed milk, cottage cheese and yoghurt have good Protein - calorie balances maybe add a snack or 2 during the day to top up on your Proteins. I would try the iron first tho as green veg doesnt hold many calories at all Just as a foot note, sometimes we are tired because we are doing a lot more than we used to !

lol shirley great name for a club !!

I think we need a special club for all of us who carry this 'battle scar' around with us, as u can imagine with the amount of weight i have lost i am carrying another persons skin with me, i dislike it intensly but i would rather loose skin than it be filled again. The things that annoy is my legs, i hate my legs, my tummy i can hide but omg legs look awful, so i wont go swimming and i wont wear shorts thank god for spandex lol but i accept that it was a side effect. What gets me most tho is my face, when i was heavy the round face made me look younger, now i see a thin face, with lines showing and i feel old i know i am getting old, but facially i never felt it before, sigh but as the scales reduce my happiness comes from within, i know the skin is surface deep but its not as important as what i feel inside so i will sort it out gradually as and when i can afford it but till i can i do what i can to live with it

What a nightmare for you, mrsa is so hard to get rid of, is your doctor recommending taking the port out ? Might be an idea to try and see where the infection came from .. i.e at home, or you or the hosptial, it will be hard to clear it up if u are still exposed to it. MRSA is rampant here in the UK, so i was swabbed down for samples on the pre-op visit before i got anywhere near being operated on. Make sure u shower using one of the anti-bacterial/anti-virus scrubs that they use in hospital. It should eventually be got rid of by dilligence and drugs. Speak to your doctor about whether the port will need to removed or moved etc. I wish you luck with it ...

Thanks

My BMI was 68 when i asked for band surgery, i was told i would have to get down to 60 bmi before they felt safe to operate. I did 600 calories for over 2 months and got down to a bmi if 61, was operated on fine and had no problems since. Never touched a protein shake, just good old fresh healthy food and no fat to shrink my liver.. worked fine You might have to travel further away to get a doctor to accept your bmi level if not just lose the 20lbs if u can .. good luck...

I would think that being a chef will help you a great deal if you have a lapband fitted. Think of all those great recipes you can invent for your different stages of recovery .

I used prune juice post surgery and continue to eat a few prunes daily, i prefer take natural remedies if possible, prune juice worked fine for me

First port of call is your doctor and do it soon unlikely band has slipped but only they can tell you ! good luck ..

It sounds like u are eating very similar to me, and exercising. Are u doing any strength training ? I do a lot of cycling too around 6 miles a day but what burns the fat is doing strength training after u get your heart rate up. plateau's can last weeks sometimes months, the less u need to lose the harder it is to shift the weight, I know i am slowing down now too. keep plugging away at it and dont give up just keep going, maybe change diet only a little change tho, it sounds like u are eating enough Protein, maybe try changing a meal for a shake, plateau's are when your body is just maintaining its self u need to shock it into gear again Another fill will give u a little more restriction hopefully too !

My port is sutured to my breast bone so it rarely moves .. so i am told, but no port problems as yet !

Being English i love my cups of tea, but i also have around 2 cups of coffee a day too, all made with skimmed milk, it gives u protein from the milk, can stave off a little hunger pang till meal time and is very few calories. I certainly wouldnt give it up unless there were medical contra-indications for drinking it

It must be really hard coping with depression and trying to keep up with the bandwagon life and i do feel for you all and hope you all do better with help and support. What i want to emphasise is that, if anyone of us starts gaining weight, whatever the reason, get back to the doctor and tell them. The reason why most of us are overweight is that we hid our feelings, hid ourselves away, were afraid of being judged, afraid to ask for help when we need it. You have to stop falling into pattens of behaviour that led you to be overweight and use the band as a means to start changing your life. Dieting alone will give u a temporary weight loss but it wont last, seeking help and support when things arent working out will help sustain you on the right road. It like having a car thats going wrong , do u take it to the garage before the car gets worse and possibly much more to repair, or just leave it, keep driving and hope that nasty noise you hear is gonna just disappear.. you do know the right answer Surgeons and doctors see people struggling all the time, mostly its our own insecurities that make us think they will be disappointed, annoyed, judgemental. Give them a chance to earn their fees and prove their worth and go to them and ask for the help u need, just dont leave it so long that u undo all the good work u have done ..

The largest incision you have is the port site, its in different places on all of us, but it does feel hard to the touch, contact your surgeon if u are worried or if its red and hot to the touch, or is oozing fluid/infection. If not it sounds normal so dont worry

Did you get the liquid form of metformin for post op ? as these pills cannot be crushed !

I believe what you are feeling is your body detoxing all the bad food from years of overeating. Protien is one of things that our bodies cannot store and it is why its essential that we keep a daily intake going, most other nutrients our bodies have stores of and will use them in times when we arent eating. None of us were/are any where near starving, the time post op is the time when our bodies are adjusting to surgery and new eating methods. Its not great to feel tired and listless etc, but this will pass, im sure many of us didnt feel great post - op. Discussion with the doctor is the best way forward if you are worried, all we can do here to help is share our experiences Good luck i am sure u will feel a little more energised soon.

I was 57 when i was banded and on the same amount of metformin as u are. Post - op my sugar was high too and thats because we generate sugar when when dont eat, as much as we do when we do eat.. like after we have been asleep all night and not eating, u are getting glucose dumps from your liver as it thinks u are hungry/starving, of course you arent but your liver is used to a lot more food in your system so u need to retrain it . Give it time and patience, make sure u drink what u can and still follow the low sugar and carb diets whether u are on liquids or mushies, when the weight starts coming down so will your sugar levels From 2000mg a day metformin i am now completely off them, i still dont have sugar or high carbs as i am used to eating like this. I am sure things wiill work out but pls discuss things with your doctor/nutritionist too. Good luck !

Best way to do it and come to an informed decision

Too true patty

Your welcome

Guess i beat the averages you have been quoted to me if you have the right mind set and are prepared to put the work in then it 'should' work for you and how hard u work and restrictions you place on yourself will help you beat those averages too. I know the averages sound a little low to you but to me this was a decision for the rest of my life , if it took 2 or 3 yrs to lose all the weight that i needed too i was prepared to do it. I researched the band and bypass and was much happier with the complications that could arise from a band than what can happen with a bypass. Do your homework and reach an informed decision based on all the factors, how fast you lose the weight is pretty low on the list really, how long have u been overweight compared to maybe taking 2 years to lose it, if i only had 100 lbs to lose it would have taken me 6 months so it can be done faster Good luck and do what you need to do that will give you the best outcome in the long term !