cammy

dionnem - I was banded at 116.4kg (lost weight before banding between first pic 6 months before banding and 2nd pic which was day before banding) - the weight I like best and can maintain easiest is 56-60 (i'm 60 in that last pic I think) but after food poisoning I hit a low of 51 which is the most disgusting thing (still not as thin as most actresses/models but just grosse for a real person) - thin like that is not pretty or healthy - it took eating a hell of a load of junk and liquid calories (milk milk milk) as well as good nutritious foods (meat & veg) the last month to try and put back on the weight. I have the most amazing metabolism now from working out alot and doing a lot of weight training/muscle building which is what increases your metabolism (metabolism is just how much energy you need to move around; muscle requires more energy than fat just to 'exist' so it's better to have more muscle cause then you can eat more without getting fat - it's also the reason heavier people lose weight faster because just to move or exist they burn so many more calories - and why they say the last few kilos are hardest to lose because to lose them you have to cut your claories back even further or beef up the exericse, both of which by the time your within a few kilos of your goal you can't be bothered doing; your burnt out on losing weight and just so over it already - if you can do it in a year do it becuase motivation really dwindles with each passing year). There are 2 kinds of people - the people who wait for the band to give them enough restriction to lose weight and just keep eating like pre op until that point; and the people that want to lose weight and get healthy so bad they will just start doing the right thing from the get go and hope that when their motivation dwindles the band will be tightened enough by then to be their saftey net and help them through the hard times. I wanted my band for maintence and knew it wasn't going to do all the work... you have to meet it half way. To become MO we all had shot metabolisms or just way outate what we needed to survive.... age is really irrelevant once you have a stretch mark that bit of skin is gone beyond the ability of bouncing back no matter if your 10 or 90 - it's genetics - stretch mark means the elastiscity is gone (hence the need for a tummy tuck and the ripples of skin on my butt! I envy those without stretch marks; personally i'm covered in them. So thankful for play boy for making swim suits to cover up our bits we dont like to show and show off the bits we do want to... I think they are the only brand that really cater to people that have scars or bits to hide and still leave you looking hot. I need to get a photo of my arms - my body didn't bounce back as well as it looks... was just showing that some parts (like legs) tend to do better than other parts (like bellys). I have bat wings covered in stretch marks :mad: I dress to cover them and try to not let them get me down too much. Nobody sees the scarey bits except my man and well; he's seen a lot scarier since he saw me at my biggest! He loves me scars and all. I didn't follow the docs plan or the dieticians plan because, well, it was confusing as, they both contradicted each other and the dietician would even contradict herself and I just wanted to succeed.... so instead I did what the most successful people I knew did. What made sence scientifically.... I mean to 'normal' people watching their calories is inate, they dont need to count them because their bodies 'tell' them and they maintain balance (in essence they count calories too just subconscioulsy and without the help of a program or book).... my body became obese becaues I didn't have that - i was just plain hungry all the time no matter how much I ate. Counting my calories and knowing i could eat whatever I desired but it could only add up to that many calories a day, well that really worked for me. Because it didnt' have the restrictions of a diet say 'no' can't have this or that food... it just capped how much food I could have.... the volume was up to me because low density foods are lots of volume for little calories and high density foods (like chocolate) you only get to have a little bit of for a lot of catories... so trading off things like a choclate bar and a ceaser salad with the low fat dressing insead of a hot meal of Pasta that would add up to the same calories.. you know? You can eat a lot of grilled chicken breast ceaser salad if your light on the dressing and grated parm cheese you get a lot of for not so many calories v's how you eat other types of cheeses. I'd rather have my sugar fix with a salad and some meat than a small bowl of very high calorie for what you get pasta. I still have a small bowl of pesto pasta on occasion but i try to savour every moutful cause it's certinally very very high calorie... I used to eat a lot of pasta pre-banding without realising it was making me fatter and fatter... because a dietian told me it was healthy - it might be healthy in small quantites but not in the size bowls I was eating 2nds and 3rds of. There were only a handful of days during my weight loss where I didn't eat chocolate. I'm not a health food freak but my body is in good health according to the blood tests and physical I get every 6 months post banding. You just have to be determined from the outset no matter which approach to losing you take... be determined and you will succeed. I re-lapsed; i did stuff I shouldn't have (like ate a weeks worth of calories in one night of cheese cake & pav); but I bounced back - didn't lose weight those weeks but I worked out extra hard afterwards to make sure i didn't gain gain gain. Heck I relapsed so much those first few months i'm suprised i ever got under 90 lol - it was the exercise I think that kept my head on my shoulders for the most part and the scales moving in the right direction. Moderation is the key - the reason i relapsed at the start so often was because i'd tell myself (because other people would constantly comment on what i shoudl o rshouldn't be eating) "no you shouldn't have that" instead of allowing myself a little piece - once i came to terms with eating absolutley anything i wanted just making sure it added up I was on the downhill rollercoaster to skinnyville. Those of you who went to the xmas dinner thing know how much food I can put away - scarey isn't it? I don't have a tight band but it works for me because I can eat a lot more now that I have built a fast metabolism... and the thinner you are the MORE food they serve you (wierd, eh?). I swear they gave me the biggest piece of lemon meriangue pie i've seen in my entire life.... horrifingly I ate the whole thing (sans crust; no un necessary fat goes in my body). I'm glad my pics helped motivate you guys - you can all do it!! I'll have to add a current pic to that time line soon. Remeber I was never the skinny girl at school - i was always much bigger than my peers, i'm just like the majority of you. We can all do it

Bronnie I had sarcoidosis so had the respitory function tests also (i went to box hill hospital because it was the quickest to get into for the tests) - it's for our own good (they still do the op but know what extra precautions to take for your saftey whilst under). Don't stress too much! Think positive and good things will come your way

Meredith you are doing great! Seems like you were just banded a few weeks ago and already 20+kg off. Congrats!! Keep posting those progress photos, you'll be a skinny b*tch in no time

<br /> <br /> Banded 19 January 2005 - At Goal December 2005<br /> <br /> Middle Photograph 20kg heavier than end photograph.<br /> <br /> And the gorey side....<br /> <br /> Rashes (please buy neat 3B from your chemist if you get these) my belly turned black as a result and I had it cut off.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This is how my belly looked when i finished losing weight sitting down:<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But my legs/butt wern't so bad, just got a bit of a wrinkley butt now lol (i am wearing undies here, it's not showing everything!! Just wanted to show how well my legs came back, they don't look like they were obese down the thighs, just the butt that kept the obvious signs.... this was 15kg heavier than i am now but it still looks the same just smaller.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> I had a mini tummy tuck in April 2006 to remove the loose tummy skin without any muscle repair. I still have my stretch marks they are just flat now and i'm happy with my result. Most of my clothes are Aussie small or x-small.... I love that I can buy x-small at Supre (although i'm pushing it at 25 still dressing like a teen!).

Sussanah it's hard for all of us to look at pics before because it's not how we felt on the inside (i never felt i looked how i really did - i always thought i was heaps thinner!!). I felt the same way about my befores; you know i've yet to see a banded person not blossom into an absolute beauty - no matter how you feel before hand..... you'll feel a million bucks at 80kg and even more stoaked at 75kg! (i felt a million bucks at 80kg and actually felt attractive for the first time). Take loads of pics - that's what i did and it really helped me see the transformation when I couldn't see it in the mirror.

This is the best ideal weight calculator I think.... it gives you lots of options and stats and most importantly tells you to feel good about yoruself no matter what you weigh - feeling good about yourself helps the weight loss. http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm Most weight loss surgery patients don't get to a BMI of 25 or under so don't fret that - under 30 is still much healthier than over 30. Now those biggest loser Australia season #2 contestants scare me - imagine all the muscle in addition to fat they are burning to lose that much weight (those "i don't care if it's muscle, fat, liquid, blood, pee, poop, organs" just as long as i've lost weight) type people scare the heck out of me. It's just not healthy for that 108kg girl to have lost 7kg in one week - that wasn't 7kg of fat. People step in on shows like big brother, the biggest loser is promoting serious life-threatening and unrealisitc weight loss. Being dissapointed at losing 4kg in one week, my gawd, do these people know what a kilo of fat physically looks like? 1kg a week is fabulous, complaining about 'only' 4kg's a week is scarey and promoting the wrong ideas to people setting up 'im a failure if i dont lose fast liek them' attitudes. Be extatic with a kilo a week!!

Bronnie your toally normal - it's called last supper syndrome - most of us went through it. Just know that you will be able to eat after your surgery, some of everything, just in much smaller portions and chewed much more thoroughly. Have you looked at all the before and afters? They can help with motivatoin. What about a picture of you in your underware? That might motivate you also if you have to look at that every day.

Susannah i'm glad you are feeling good & congrats on getting the band in, tim e went by so quickly didn't it? I had to wear those stockings too but for 3 weeks (and it was this time of the year too, sooo hot to wear those things!) but my MIL had an embolism from her ankle surgery 1 week after my band surgery so I was so glad to wear those things and keep weraing them to prevent it. Totally worth the little bit of discomfort. I couldnt' get them on by myself though (I couldnt' reach that far) - my boyfriend became an expert at it by the end - so thankful for him.

I eat chocolate almost every day - weight loss is about overall calorie consumption, not the specific food. I think because it's a binge-trigger food for a lot of people they just flat out swear off of it.... if I tell myself I can't have something i just want it more and more.... so I just let myself have what I want within calorie limits and it works out just fine. Figure out what works for you and go with that - there is no right or wrong here.

Bronnie I didn't have the swallow before leaving hospital, i only had it a week later as I had complications - they gave me gastrogaffin that made me vomit (instead of barium) - that cleared the complications and I was all good after that. I guess they are trying to save us money?? (which should be our decision) I dont really know, but that was the gist of things said to me. I prefer not to skimp when it comes to my health. Private health don't pay for the xrays but I would have prefered one before i left the hospital - I was annoyed that they didn't check I was okay before sending me home (especially since I wasn't!). She Smiles - It took Epworth 5 months to send the bill for my plastics (on checkout they said I had paid all bills, and i paid a stack at checkout) - they sent an appology letter with it but I was a bit shocked to receive it so late, thought I had paid everything, then bam another $1500 out of pocket :confused:

Meredith - I didn't get a chance to catch up on the whole thread but when I saw you mention your back I had to say get thee to a physio (preferably one that has a podiatrist in the same clinic) that deals with major weight loss!! Your loss seems so similar to how mine went, basically the space between your legs is changing (as your inner thighs decrease) which changes how you stand/walk everything is out of alignment. I left it and ended up with shin splints. Ouch, so painful. The physio I go to has seen 100's bandsters & massive weight loss patients - he treats in conjunction with the podiatrist. I needed physio & orthotics to correct me and get rid of the pain. Thankful for private health insurance picking up most of the bill. I went when I was 75kg... I should have gone when I first noticed massive amounts of pain, more so than normal aches/pains of being overweight, when I was about 90kg. Hope you can get yours sorted too - congrats on the loss!! ps. many people never lose the inner thighs, it's cut them off or live with them forever so this does not affect everybody - i've seen people at my weight that can't buy the size 8/10 pants they need for their waist/hip measurements because they can't get the pants over their thighs. Poor things, I can't imagine the pain of the surgery to cut those off. Oh, and regarding the plastic surgery, do you have stretch marks? That's what the genetics is they speak of.... if you don't have stretch marks in a given area it will most likely shrink back in 1-2 years... once you've got stretch marks surgery is what it takes because the skin has been stretched beyond reason and lost it's elasticity. Those bits that don't have stretch marks - get some bio oil (priceline it's like $14 for a bit bottle 4 month supply or you can pay $29.95 at a plastic surgeon or chemist) and rub it in twice a day every day - that stuff rocks and every plastic surgeon I saw recommended it and it's far cheaper than the rest of the stuff on the market which they all agreed didn't work as well. So there you go! My plastic surgoen gives his patients a bottle (no charge) every time you go to a follow up appointment to encourage us to keep using it as he really believes in it. I have bad stretch marks on my bat wings - i have no stretch marks on the outer arm.... I was going to have the bat wings cut off , left it 3 months longer than i was going to and the 'non stretch mark outer arm' skin shrunk back and the stretch marky flabby skin now takes up more area and you can see it from both sides - ewww!! Now i can't get it all cut off (id still have lots of the stretch mark flab left) because the non -stretch marked skin was too efficient at snapping back grrr... but that does prove to me that it works, just not how i wanted it to. Hopefully there is a silver lining ot every cloud and others can learn from what happened to me. I'll have to post some photos soon so you guys can see what i mean.

Bands are only suitable if food is your poison. If alchol or liquid calories made you obese the band can't do anything to help that - your surgeon would have asked you about alchol consumption at your first consult - did you tell the exact truth about how much and often you really drink? The other person is right - plenty of people go on drinking socially (every weekend) after banding just as they did pre-banding and never get within kooee of a healthy weight or never lose weight at all - I know at least 5 people in real life in that situation all over 1yr out. You have to really watch how much you are actually drinking and think about it like this: 2 glasses of red wine (200mL average home/social size drink) a week will make you gain 1.5kg per year If you have a single 200ml glass of red with dinner every night of the week thats a 5.4kg weight gain each year. If you are a social drinker, especially spirits or beer, your drinking a lot more than that thus you need to assess weather your have a food problem causing your weight problem or an alchol problem causing your weight problem. And don't forget about the high calorie Snacks that go hand in hand with social drinking. People that drink a few glasses a month it really doesn't noticeably impact (only half a kilo a year which isn't that obvious), its when its more than 3 or 4 serves a month that you notice it on the scales and defeat the purpose of having weight loss surgery.

I was never skinny from birth - chubby toddler, overweight in primary school, high school etc. obese in uni, morbidly obese when i started working. The big boned thing is myth for most obese people - and one we need to believe to justify our weight (some, very few, women are actually big boned and of the average height - which is why people say "guess my bones must have shrunk" when they get to a normal weight ) . I feel like a total imposter buying size 8's and 10's (and recently 6's after the food poisoning) - I wonder if strangers can tell i'm secrety fat and covered in stretch marks under my skinny disguise? Unless your really tall and athletic like Jacqui, a size 16 (portmans/sportsgirl) is still overweight or obese for most average 5'4-5'8" gals, it was 10kg overweight for me (a bmi of 29, so borderline obese). My MIL wears 16's from katies and millers type stores etc. and her bmi is 32 (obese) at 5'4". We are so used to most people being overweight that when we see a 16 average height person we dont' even register obese or overweight we register normal... I used to think i looked great in a 16 too - but I wanted good health also not to be borderline obese and at high risk for diabetes, blood pressure problems etc. Bronnie - it took me a little under a year to lose the weight and yeah, it's less than half the weight i started at. Sometimes when I struggle to lift my wriggling 24kg dog I wonder how i used to carry around the equivallent of a few of him on my body every day!! Please nobody getting banded set up negatives now, only postives. If you say your big boned it will be a self fulfilling prophecy.... if you say you can't get down to size 10 or 12 you wont. Just think postive and be happy with whatever comes your way. People who go into this with a lot of "can't"'s and wont's end up sabotaging their own success. Think positve and good things will come your way. The goal is to get healthy and we all can :mad:

Sadly boobs and an itty bitty waist can get you everywhere in this life.... I didn't used to really believe it was really that simple (just liked to pretend those people had it so easy) but i'm there and almost sickend by how differently people treat you.... Especially sales people. The $$$ i spent on reconstruction have more than paid for themselves already - I swear the girls are like a walking discount card.... and of course the "nipples like bullets" you end up with for 6 months after surgery get you a long way too - sad to see those go back to normal Fee hope you get that boob job when you get to your goal - a great reward for all your wl efforts.

Bronnie I can totally understand wanting to get everything done as fast as possible so don't forget to fast the day you see the physician so that you can have the blood tests the same day to get the results faster as they can't schedule anything usually until they have those results. I met my surgeon for the first time on the Wednesday, saw the physician on the Friday and it was a 10am appointment so i hadn't eaten yet (lucky - got tests the same day!) then I saw the dietitian and psychologist both on the Saturday (cancellation appointments, otherwise i would have had to wait 8 weeks to get into see the psychologist).... so less than a week after meeting the surgeon I was back in there with all the test results and booking my surgery. Everything was soooo slow with the first surgeon I saw (and didn't go with) it was painful - i'm not a fan of incompetence it drives me crazy. To be banded by him would have been a 6+ month process. I'm all about efficiency!!

I could always feel my port with ease; it took until my bmi was around 24 before it was clear for the world to see - it was moved during my TT and well hidden again until recently when I dropped more weight and now it sticks out like a tumor/growth and you can see it through summer clothes or fitted winter knits. The first few months it really hurt to lay on, then once the scar was all healed it was fine... now less than half the weight I started i dont have that fat pad to protect it so it hurts when anything is pressing against it (eg. belt/pants etc.). The pillows filled with the tiny tiny styrafoam Beans are comfy to rest against if i want to lay on my left hand side. All docs put the ports in their own prefered location, mine is just under my ribs on the left side. I wish it didn't stick out so far, i can see & feel it's tail also - i gross out family members by giving them a feel. It's a bit freaky. Port pain isn't mentioned a lot but most people get it, especially after they take up exercise that works the muscle the port is sewn onto. There seems to be no rhyme or reason with port pain for me - it just hits me out of the blue whenever it feels like it (2-4 times a month on average, was a lot more frequent the first 6 months). I think knox city shopping centre has some kind of port-pain magnetic force field because i always get port pain when i'm there for no apparant reason.

Ask your sugeon or antethetist about the appetite supressants before surgery - I know they are safe afterwards (i've taken the duromine) but in the few weeks before I wouldn't think so at all. They can intefere with the anasthesia - and being obese is already a risk with anesthesia so I wouldn't think they would want to compound any adverse effects... just find out how many days before surgery you need to stop the medication.... or when you tell the anethetist on the day you might get a rude shock if he sends you packing. Better safe than dead - so check it out with your surgeon asap!!

Bronnie, Be aware that this referred pain from gas is common with lapbanding (and other) lap surgery - so if you've had it before you might have it again. If that pain is too much for you the alternative is an open procedure which has a lot longer recovery & more pain in a different way. Due to the bands placement for some people the refered pain NEVER goes away - it's just caused for a different reason long term - nothing to do with gas (and it is not uncommon, you can read other lap banding boards where the problem affects many many posters).... some get the band out because they can't deal with the constant shoulder pain and others learn to live with it. If you are one of the lucky ones whos tummy is really active and the back of the band bangs on your diaphram when you either over eat or are hungry - diaphram pain is referred to the left shoulder/neck/collarbone - it can be excrutating. No pain killers can touch that referred pain - when they up the dose you fall asleep before the pain goes. I spent last night in agony and tears the pain was sooo bad... it came on for no reason about 7pm - much much worse than it has been in a long time. I'm 2 years out and the pain is not consistant... some months is so horrific i just want to have my band out and other months it's barely noticeable. Last night my partner begged me to let him take me to the hospital and just have it taken out/moved/replaced to see if that will help - i'm scared if I get rid of my band i'll morph back to obese... i'd rather the pain - the physical and psychological toll of being obese is far greater to me overall. I never want to be obese again but I know I have to potential without my band. It's important to be informed about all the complications (i don't think they even consider the pain that some people get long-term a complication - more of a side-effect) because the docs will not tell you unless you ask point blank. They are selling you a product/service package and in general (including all the docs I saw when deciding whcih one i would go with for my band) will tell you the bare minimum they have to to fufill their liability requirements and make the sale. If you ask them specifically if something could occur they have to tell you honestly to fulfill their insurance requirements. Or, as they will put it should you ask, it would take far too long to explain all the possible side effects in a consult so they don't. Which is true, but they could point out the more common ones (vomiting, reflux, pain etc.) or at least provide a detailed print out with stats - though they would be deal-breakers for a lot of people and potentially lose a lot of customers if they freely offered the information. I think the old lines "beauty is pain" and "no pain no gain (or loss in our cause)" are very true.

Susannah - people don't mean it's not a major decision just that it's not an actual "major surgery" from a medical point of view. Lap band isn't considered a major surgery by surgeons unless you have something else seriously wrong with you (co-morbs) or a really high BMI.... the gastric bypass or BPDS are considered the major weight loss type surgeries as it cuts vital parts and the lap band is considered minor and minimally invasive as there are only a few tiny incisions made and no organs are cut/rearranged and most people are back on their feet the next day and right to go back to work within a few days to a week (major surgery usually means it leaves you out of action for a month or longer). Day surgery is common practice around the world for this procedure unless you have a complication. While it's a major thing "to us" to have it done it's nothing compared to a hysterectomy; heart transplant; knee reconstruction - those are considered by surgeons as actual major surgeries due to invasivness and the toll they take on the body. It's still a major decision for most people to have this surgery and we all just have to trust our docs judgement on day or overnight case.... if you choose day and have a complication they don't send you home, they send you to the nearest hospital.

Pain stop is much stronger than panadol (richard at ESV first prescribed pain stop for me Jenny but he doesn't like you having too often because of the calories/alchol in liquid pain killers) - pain stop for children when you take the 30mL dose is equivallent to 2 panadine forte tablets.... so i fyou just have a bit of pain 15mL's of that is going to do a lot more than any amountof panadol will do. For a lot of people panadol doesn't do anything but lower your tempreature; they need the codene in pain stop or panadine forte.

Hi Audree, I'm shocked nobody else has said anything to you about this - are you sure you don't have an insulin problem or something? If you can't lose 32 pounds in 5 months fasting (fasting = not eating or going on a <450cal VLCD) then you wont lose like that with a lap band either. It's not magic all it does is cut down how much you eat, and if you arealdy tried eating so little "fasting" as you mentioned and working out hardcore with trainers and strict diets without losing more than 1lb a month it sounds like there is serioulsy something wrong there. Unless what you are really saying is not that you can't lose weight fasting but that you can't stick to a fasting or any other type of diet - as in you cheat by eating something or a lot of somethings that you wern't suposed to? - is that what you really mean? There are a lot of people who find this stuff out after paying $$$ for a band - get yourself tested first - it could save you a lot of $$$ and heartache if it is something that can only be cured with a pill and not a band. Lower BMI's only seemingly lose slower because their basal metabolic rate is lower than higher BMI's since they don't have an extra 100'lbs to carry around each day (the more overweight you are the more energy it takes to maitain that weight).... once higher BMI's get down into the low 30's they have the same experience; if not more difficult; than those starting out with lower BMI's have. If you put your mind to it, are willing to do anything (don't be one of those people that goes into it saying "I wont do this that and the other" etc.) and you don't have a medical condtion preventing it the 1-2lbs a week is very realistic for any BMI. Remember 1lb is less than half a kilo. Ultimately with the band it comes down to calories which are about your food choices... if you choose to eat moderate-high calorie you lose slow, if you choose to eat low-superlow calorie you lose fast.... it's really very simple! If you don't want to do the math with the band and you are losing slowly it's by choice (and that is perfectly fine! most people are happy to lose slowly instead of counting cals); you can always do the calorie math and speed up your results (unless you have head-hunger or emotional eating issues which makes it hard to keep the cals down unless your really fond of celery when your emotional!). BTW - great idea starting a seperate thread for the lower BMI'ers - the food chocies and portion sizes are a lot different to the higher BMI'ers startin gout. Best wishes for your upcoming surgery Cam.

I measured everything with a gram scale and recorded it in my food diary - it is the only accurate way to count calories if that is what you are trying to do. If you don't care about calories then there really isn't any need to measure anything - just eat until you get your soft stop. For me i'm anal, didn't have good restriction for a good 8 months, and wanted to get to a healthy weight the scientific way and use my band for maintence - no guessing games about what I "probably" ate for me. It totally depends on the type of person you are... everybody is different and there is no one right way. If you are struggling to lose i'd suggest counting calories with a gram scale to see where your eating is letting you down and then only get the adjustment if your excess calories are coming form something an adjustment would help with (eg. if your drinking the calories then an adjustment won't help at all, but if your eating copious quantiites of food for hunger then get the adjustment etc.).

Savannah unfortuantnly many people consider 2 or 3 classes of obestiy and that it's okay to put down or otherwise belittle people going in to surgery with bmi's between 30 and 39 :huggie: Just ignore those people! It's their insecurites that make them put down others whether they mean to or not. I copped it after I was banded from people with much higher bmi's than mine (why did you bother with the surgery your not even that big? I wish I was as fat as you blah blah - it's hurtful), i've seen heaps of other people cop it too. We are all in need of and deserving of having this surgery. We were all obese. Everybody deserves a chance to be healthy. You are not less of a person regardless your starting weight or pre-op diet. I did the liquid Optifast and my recovery was gawd awful - other people do it and say their recovery is a breeze so who knows? I did lose a lot of weight on the pre-op and that is hugh psycholical thing. I'm sure if you ask your doc his reasoning for the diet (and it didn't used to be compulsory with him) he will tell you about the open lap band surgeries he had to do from huge livers - that's why they enforce the liquid diet so that that doesn't have to happen. It's easier to just give it to everybody than have us all pay $350 out of pocket in melbourne for scans to see how big our liver is pre-op. When I had the scan post-op from a liver problem I was having (caused by meds nothing serious thankfully!) I fully understood the crazy cost out of pocket that medicare didn't cover was a huge reason for just putting everybody on the same diet. There are psychological reasons for the optifast or kickstart also... the benefits from those are huge - once you start losing chunks of weight you become really motivated and up beat - the optifast doesn't make you wait 3 months after surgery for a good fill before you start losing weight - it's insant success which does help you feel really good (to know you've already lost all that weight) while your waiting for a good fill. Your doc is doing the right thing for you don't worry about what anybody elses doc is having them do.... we're all paying our docs the big $$ for their expertise - trust your own doc With most of the little differences betweens surgeons practices there are no definitive right or wrongs just different ways of approaching things.

I thought the 5% rule from most nutritionists was acutally less than 5% fat and less than 5% sugar - not less than 5% carbs?? ... it's just not eating too many carbs that are from 'sugar' and instead encouraging more of the good carbs. You'd be basically doing atkins with the orginal take on the 5% rule.

Gayle - I can assure you I don't have an eating festival but food is a positive social experience and shouldnt' be looked upon negatively (can't can't can't only leads to want want want).... we can enjoy food and lose weight/be thin like normal people... food isn't the enemy. I probably eat less calories than most given my weight - please don't think i'm a glutton or encouraging gorging.... I was actually talking about downsizing portions and hiding the fact that you haven't eaten very much. Most people after only 1 fill can eat a lot more than somebody at goal. My advice was totally from aussie thinking, sorry, we aren't all about protien and no-carbs on this side of the world with the band - it's about anything you want to eat in small portions right? Thats what most aussie docs seem to tout and weight loss seems highly successful with this method. Also note Australian portions are nothing like American portions (i lived in the USA for high school... a serving of pancakes here is a much diff erent experience! I remember the stack of face-sized pancakes they used to serve up in ohio - I don't know how anybody ever got through a plate!)... I don't drink after eating either but generally people get a drink during the half hour or so it takes for the meal to come out.... that's why I was saying just have Water (cause they hide tonnes of organic cream in everything else on the menu). Most docs are reasonable in thier thinking and realise water goes straight through the band so there is no need to hold off drinking half an hour before eating - just after eating. I don't drink for at least an hour (and the 1st year I was banded 2hrs). Have fun at your Breakky - we started out about the same weight at banding with the same goal - i'm sure you'll do just great