insubordination

I remember hearing about this about 8 years ago. Surely it can't be true.

ETA (I only get smiley icons when I try to edit). Toni, we do have different dates after all. Mine was pushed back to June 6 because of work and finance issues. However, will be with you in spirit. PS Calendar Girl, can you change my banding date from May 28 to June 6?

I was 99% perfect on the pre-op diet in the first two weeks and I have 11 days to go . However, during the last three days, things have gone downhill. It's a combination of the PMS Monster, being tired all the time, overwork and emotional eating. However, the main reason is that I found out that my liver is normal size (from an ultrasound), so I'm using it as an excuse. Next week, I'm at a fully-catered interstate business conference which I'm a little concerned about. I guess I will have to just pretend I'm sick and leave the room every meal-time. Pretty hard to do for days on end. I will have to do some soul-searching today and re-commit. I'll do it, I'm sure. I was as good as gold last weekend. Anyway, I'm not going to beat myself up for having two normal veg meals and a little chocolate. I can recover from that. Still, I don't recommend to anyone to give in and break the pre-op diet. It hasn't been worth it. What's been great about this process is the pre-op testing. I found out that I have a lil (genetic) problem with a heart valve which means I'll have to go into ICU. I also found out that I'm borderline diabetic, so I'm glad I'll be sorting that out before I had any major damage. I'm self-pay too but not exactly as in Australia we can use our Superannuation (I think it's called pension or retirement money in the USA). Normally you can't get it out until you're 60 but I guess they agreed that I'll be dead before then so I got to access it for this op. I could have paid for private health insurance (anyone can get it here) but you have to be in it for a year and I couldn't take another year at this weight. I have only told my mother, one of my brothers (and his wife) and my grandmother. They have all been super-supportive. I'm not going to bother with my Dad as he's never had a weight problem and is a Herbalife distributor (good grief!). He doesn't live anywhere near me anyone, so will be none the wiser. ToniTeach, we are band buddies! Congrats on your date Brokergirl. It will be worth the money. I'm really excited too. In fact, I'm much more excited than I am scared. Becks - a journal is a great idea. I think I might write one too. Let's all do a big protein powder shake toast to counting down the days to our op. Cheers! PS Probably shouldn't have said 'toast', should I?

If it makes you feel any better, it will be June in Australia and New Zealand at the time you get your op.

I love hearing about your jobs. I'm lucky that I usually only teach in the mornings, so will have time for lunch. However, I know what it's like. I find I enjoy teaching much more now that I'm not doing it every second of the day. The desk job part of my role is a lot easier but less interesting. People don't understand how hard full-time teaching is, do they? I'm currently organising relief teachers for myself. I'm selfishly taking time off during the term for my op. I just can't wait any longer!

Thanks for the welcome. Can't wait to get to know you all via this thread. Ange123, I need to lose half my body weight too. It's a big daunting isn't? Honestly, I'd be overwhelmingly happy losing a quarter of it at this stage. However, I'm after a good start having lost 5 kilos in 13 days of the pre-op diet. I was kind of hoping for more but then I realised it was a great result. Another two weeks to go! Great to hear about your first fill Lisa. I'm hoping mine will work like that. I've been exercising too but mainly on the weekend (did 2 hrs/bushwalking on both Sat and Sun). I'd like to make a suggestion, maybe we should call this the Antipodean thread next time around? There might not be enough Kiwis to sustain a separate thread.

You can take the ? off my June 6 date on the graph because I'm ready to roll on that day. I'm not at all disappointed that I have to wait another week ('cept for the liquid diet thing) because I need to get things organised a bit better at work and at home. Hi to everyone who welcomed me/commented. What a month we're all going to have! I'm hoping the early Junesters will give advice to the rest of us. You are the pioneers. The not drinking with meals thing is my #1 concern too. I only ever drink water but I gulp down a huge bottle of the stuff with every meal. I'm determined to do this right but that's certainly going to be a hurdle for me (takes a huge gulp of water).

Oooh how lovely. I adore all animals but haven't had a pet since my dog died a year ago *sniff* Their names are fantastic. Your description sounds like something from a children's book.

I'm on day 13. It didn't get easier for me until day 7. Then the physical protestations (is that a word?) stopped for the most part. Not the psychological ones though. I live alone so was able to get rid of all tempting foods. It must be extra hard to have your family around you eating as normal. I have 'slipped' twice. A cake mini-binge last Wednesday (I had to fast all day and went crazy in the evening) and I had 3 spoons of oats this morning (now I'm grinning). However, I will get straight back on the wagon. I might be a June bandster. My op is booked on May 28th but I'm not sure if the money will come through by then, so June 6th is more likely.

I'm Veronica from Sydney. Will be banded on 28th May or 6th June (depending on how quickly my super fund will deposit the money, I'm APRA approved). I hope it's sooner rather than later as I'm on the Optifast stage and am finding it extremely difficult.

I'm an adult ESL teacher in Australia. Only teach 10 hours/week now because I'm the coordinator too. Am getting banded in a week, so will have to take the week off.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll find plenty of recipes online with those ingredients. I want a deer!

Congrats Zannie on your vastly improved results. It's truly impressive. Welcome Janelle...I bet your dogs are gorgeous. I'm a newbie here too. Good luck with your medical issues. I am happy today too as I have arranged the money for my op. Woohoo! One less hurdle. MaryumC, let us know if you're improving yet. I know I'm in for a rough ride with this op. I just have to remember that the pain will be temporary. The most pain I've ever been in is having my wisdom teeth cut out. That was about more than I could bear.*don'twanttodwellonpaintoomuch*

There's a lot of soy scare-mongering by the dairy industry. Asians have been eating it for centuries. However, I don't think excessive intake is a good idea. 1-3 serves a week is plenty in my opinion. Thank you so much Baltic for the suggestion of the pea Protein powder. I ordered a huge container and was afraid it would be gross but it has a mild inoffensive taste and is such a relief to have after the awful artificially vanilla sweetened powders I have been having. Now increasing my protein is no problem at all. No carbs either! I added some to the vegie Soup after it had cooled in my bowl and it blended in beautifully and made it wonderfully creamy and thick. I'm glad I found it this early on. It doesn't have added Vitamins but I have fresh wheatgrass juice and/or a multi to compensate. Betsy-Jane, it's a tough one if you don't like Beans (Have you tried all beans? Red beans, black beans, Broad Beans, kidney beans, lima beans, aduki beans, mung beans, garbanzos, red lentils, green lentils, brown lentils?) as they form the basis of many vegan meals. Have you tried falafel or hummus? I think the processed stuff is gross and unhealthy too and never eat it. What about tofu, tempeh, all nuts and nut butters (peanut, almond, hazelnut etc.) Seeds like sunflower can be blended with vegies into an awesome spread...ditto tahini. Split peas, seitan, gluten, Red clover sprouts, cress sprouts, radish sprouts, mung/adzuki bean sprouts or other protein rich sprouts. Seaweed, kelp The best idea would be adding high-protein grains (Quinoa is a complete protein). Quinoa, amaranth, wild rice, hulled millet, oats etc.) Vegan cooking is amazing when you get the hang of it. Good luck!

I followed the post-op diet strictly for six days and almost had a car accident due to my vision blacking out. I also made many mistakes at work, was forgetful and couldn't muster up the energy to do anything other than work. There were also changes in my personality and conversation. I finally crashed and burned and make some cakes deliberately after my ultrasound showed that my liver/other organs weren't enlarged. I then ate the cake but tried not to swallow any and spat (spit) it back in a bowl. I was disgusted with myself but happy that I had some cake. This is a typical pattern of mine when I starve myself. I know it's immature and weak but it happened. I thought I would go the pre-op three weeks without difficulty as I'm normally quite determined. I called the dietician the next day and told her about my problems. She allowed me two 70g servings/day of complex carbs. This soothed my desperation a lot and made me feel human again. I'm a bit worried that I'm not ready for a band if I self-sabotaged like that. No one seems to mention eating disorders much.

I've tried stevia on a couple of occasions and it made me sick to the stomach, produced disgusting gas and I couldn't wait to get it out of my system. It's such a shame I have this reaction. I was hoping it would be the perfect solution to my sweet tooth.

<p>I would love to have a copy. Its insubordination at gmail dot com </p> <p> </p> <p>I don't think I'm sensitive to grains (bar quinoa, which gives me a stomach ache), apart from the fact that they make me fat! However, it can't hurt to try lower carb since that's what lap band surgeons recommend.</p>

<p>My doctor told me not to eat too much soy as it impedes the absorption of iodine, which let to the development of my several thyroid lumps. I only have soy occasionally. The condition is very rare I think. I was just having too much soy (by trying to go high protein) and not enough iodine. The LadyBird rice protein is crap with artificial vitamins. I would much prefer something natural like Vega but it's prohibitively expensive to order online and it's not available in my country. Still, it's better than the whey/soy protein isolate alternatives. </p> <p> </p> <p>People must laugh and laugh when I talk about healthy food, nutrients and artificial sweeteners/additives and the like. I can't say I blame them because obviously, my weight has always been a huge problem. I eat 95% good food, just thrice the amountnecessary. That's why I'm hoping the band will help restrict the quantity I can eat.</p> ETA: After a quick search, I found some pea protein powder which wasn't too expensive. I ordered 1kg. I'll see how it goes. Thanks for the tip.

You too! I have 3 weeks to go. Vegans have a lot of experiencing finding food alternatives, so we'll be fine. It's funny but I got the feeling that the surgeon didn't really believe I was a vegan and that's why he wasn't taking my refusal to go with the whey Protein shakes seriously. I mean look at the ingredients list - it's frightening. Maybe I should have lied and told him I was a strict 7th Dayer/Hindu or allergic to milk instead. This low-carb diet is killing me though.

Yay, this pre-op vegans thanks you. I will arm myself with it to my first dietician's appointment. A lot of people in the medical industry don't understand this stuff. My surgeon said that it was fine to do this vegan but that I must go on the dairy protein shakes pre-op. I showed him my alternative brand and he wasn't happy but agreed.

Ooh, I'm a long-term vegan too. Surprised there are other fat vegans. I thought it was just me. I'm on the pre-op diet and as I don't want to eat soy (thyroid issue), I found a rice-protein powder made by Ladybird. It's inexpensive and has the same number of carbs/calories/vitamins/minerals as everyone else is taking. I've never tried Vega because it's very expensive but I much prefer its natural ingredients to synthetic stuff.

This is my first post. I'm Veronica from Sydney, Australia and am getting banded on June 6. I've never told anyone this but my BMI was 51 when I had my first surgeon's visit last week (The funny thing was, I was pleased because a couple of year ago, it was 55.5). After 5 days on the pre-op diet it's now just under 50. I don't know how to maintain this diet for 3 more weeks but I'll take it one day at a time and think of my liver. I'm so happy to find this thread because I often think that I'm the fattest person in the world and that no one understands how difficult life is when you're this big. Reading through the posts has been such a relief.