Chickie

What's worse is when your not quite 11 year old wears bigger undies than you do!! DH folded the laundry for me a couple of weeks ago, and had put the larger (DS's) undies in my drawers thinking they were mine, and given DS my undies thinking they were his! The following morning DS comes to me to complain that his undies are too small. Guess who's undies he was wearing! Poor little bugger was so freaked out that he was wearing Mum's undies! I haven't laughed that hard in ages.

There is a world of difference in quality of life between a BMI of 35 and where I am now. It's my ankles not swelling in the heat, it's not dying of heat exhaustion when it gets of 25*c, my knee not hurting after a day on my feet, it's my sugar and insulin being normal, its my thighs not rubbing together and causing a rash, it's sleeping better, my asthma improving, not being worried about breaking chairs, its about physically capable of doing everything I need to do, mowing the lawn (by myself, we own 1/4th of an acre, and mow the next door neighbours too, so I mow a total of 1/2 an acre) I keep up with my kid, or rather, he tries to keep up with me now, aside form all the other health issues that go along with being overweight, or morbidly obese, and while your sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure may be fine now, that will not last forever...Very, very few people can manage to be perfectly healthy and MO at the same time. There is a world of difference. Truthfully, I didn't know what I was missing till I had the things I was missing out on. And it's true, you can be unhealthy and be thin. BUT is is much more likely that someone who is MO will have a huge range of health issues. The chart most of us are going on is the very same one the medical profession is using. The same one your doctor is likely to be using.. And the reason it is a weight rage is a "range" is to accommodate the different body types. For the record, I actually love the word normal. Normal is highly under rated.

Just like to add, that I have to go grocery shopping (Folks! I eat! A lot!) and am not running away, but I may not be back to reply for a few hours.

It really does become "Them vs Us" sometimes because there tends to be a attitude of "Oh, well, you have just forgotten what this is like" & "Its different for you"(I think that someone has actually said that) I try really hard to overlook a lot of the posts, and try to keep in mind that the written word is a different animal, and tone is everything, but sometimes.... When the general tone of the board is "Skinny is ugly" it does become personally offensive. Especially when people are pointing out celbs who are your weight and height and say they are "anorexic and disgusting" I wasn't so much offended by Phyllis's comment as amused. It really did read to me like people who are thin are overcompensating for their terrible lack of confidence. Nothing could be further from the truth for me, and a few other "at goal'ers" I know. I wasn't offended, just amused that obese people are not allowed to be judged, yet thin people can be.

Eh, if this is not being confident, and hating my body, I'll take it. I rock, my body is hot, am becoming quite the fashionista, I am fitter than most people could ever imagine, and I am as happy as a pig in mud. Yup. I'll take it thank you very much.

So, people who try to get down to a lower weight are not confident, and unhappy with the way they look?

What sort of people? Overweight people? I think everyone who goes into WLS does so because they have some sort of problem with food. Be it portion size, or sweets, or fatty foods. We all have to make a choice, to continue to enjoy the things that made us overweight to start with, or to give them up, and live a healthier, happier life. I think you will find that true for whatever surgery you end up with. I didn't put my whole self into losing weight. I changed my lifestyle. I intend to live a long healthy life, and to do so, I need to eat well, and exercise regularly. I wasn't about going on a diet for 17 months and getting to goal, then going back to the crap that made me obese to start with, it was abut making life long changes that bettered my health. You could eat more chocolate than chicken. If you want to. Will you want to with the band? Maybe. Will you be able to yup. Is it a good idea for anyone to eat massive amount of chocolate? No. Will you want to after RNY? Maybe. Will you be able to yup. Is it a good idea for anyone to eat massive amount of chocolate? No. The bypass will NOT keep you from cheating. It will make you dump if you do, but it can't put a gun to your head and stop you. Only YOU can make the choice to eat better foods and exercise daily. No surgery in the world will do that for you. And with out a good healthy lifestyle, it doesn't actually matter what surgery you have, because the end result will be the same.

I was banded knowing that if it didn't work (for whatever reason) I could be revised to a DS, RNY or VSG. In my humble opinion, if you are committed to a healthy lifestyle (including a balanced diet and consistent exercise) it is a good choice. Out of interest, why do you have a hunch that the band doesn't work very well?

I lost over 100% of my excess weight. It can be done. I refused to starve myself, or exercise obsessively (I have seen people who exercised 3 or 4+ hours a day), and yet, somehow, I still managed to get there. What it came down to for me was, that this isn't just another diet that I will get down to xxx weight with, and "eat normally again". It just doesn't work. So I changed my lifestyle, and reaped the rewards. So has my family, but that's another thread.

I think you are onto something there.

I am in Australia, and it is dammed near impossible to get a doctor to tie the tubes of a 27 year old woman with one child (I know, because I am in the middle of trying to find someone) I am the same. I just don't want any more children. I know that we can give the one we have a fantastic lifestyle (private schools, music lessons, karate and anything he needs or wants) But if we have a second, well, that cuts what he gets in half. In my humble opinion, it's not selfish at all. But yeah, I am having a hell of a time finding a doctor who will do it. They all say the same thing "You only have one child, you are only 27, what if you want more later on down the track?" Umm? I had my son at 16, I got married when I was 17, don't 'ya think if I wanted more kids I would have had them by now Doc? Sorry, now I am ranting! LMAO

:clap2: Best thread derailment ever! :clap2: That link had me cracking up!!

Why on earth would I think that? My goodness. My own husband is overweight. Not just chubby, but overweight. I don't judge him, so WHY would I judge anyone else? I never, ever said ANYWHERE that people who don't get down to some impossible number as selling themselves short. I always say that any loss is going to improve a persons health, and that is the main goal of being banded. My health was my main focus. Sure there was an element of vanity in there, I cannot deny that, but I wanted to live a long, healthy productive life. And even a 50lb loss would have gone a long way in achieving that aim. I was lucky, and I developed a fantastic lifestyle, and managed to lose 190lbs. But I would have been just as happy with 50, or 100lbs. Because it achieved my main goal of improving my health. I would just like to know how you got the impression that I think you are selling yourself short? I mean, I never actually said anything of the sort to you (or anything actually) What am I saying or doing to give people idea's like that?

And to add to my previous thought, the reason I look "skinny" to some people is because a huge percentage of our population is overweight, and overweight is starting to look normal. So when people, who are used to seeing overweight people, see someone who is of a normal weight/BMI, they look too thin. So, the Olsen twins who are at the lower end of a healthy BMI, DO look too thin, compared to someone who is overweight or morbidly obese.

LMAO, is there an equivalent for American slang??

Some people can eat bread some can't. For me, white bread is evil. But very grainy bread, is just fine. Although I didn't really eat bread till I had been banded over a year.

Spooky! My husband has actually said "the less I have to do to get down to my goal weight the better"

I would examine my diet and exercise, and it it is as good as it can be, I would go in for another fill. The first year was not wasted. The beauty of the band is, we can start over at any point. Congrats on the 55lbs lost!

I think you would have to ask the OP if this thread was inspired by you, because I don't know. I know that MY part in this thread has been inspired by all the mean spirited people who have taken great pains to tell me I am skinny, anorexic, ugly and nasty. And I am not sure what the point in posting the content of that thread was. My point there, as it is here is, as much as people don't like being called fat, I don't like being called skinny, and scrawny. And let me tell you, when you pick my weight, or dress size, and say that at your height (which is the same as mine) you would look scrawny and skinny, it tends to give the impression that you are talking about me. I am sorry that if by saying whatever I am you think I am saying that you are falling short (I have no idea what I did to give the impression I think that by not being super skinny people are falling short, I never actually used that expression till just now...) See, I have no freaking idea where you get the idea that I think I have to be super skinny. Just because my weight is not one you could imagine on yourself, doesn't mean that I am unhealthy. And that is what pissed me off. The fact that it is just assumed that if someone is under a particular weight, that they are at deaths door. It's not the case. I just came in from an 8km run, am eating a huge bowl of oats, and have a banana to eat after that. I eat, probably more than a lot of bandsters around here, and if I was as sickly as my weight is portrayed to be by some people, I would be hooked up to an IV, not out running, and about to eat more than some people do in a day!! I eat the way I do (vegetarian and organic) because I feel almost super human when I do. I exercise the way I do, because it adds to the way I feel. I am alive. I feel better than most people could ever imagine, and the way I look, is just a very nice side effect. The way I eat and exercise is not driven by a need to be skinny, its driven by a need to be healthy. And I hate having to explain myself.

Why do you want to lose weight before you go to the doctor for a fill? I would go and get that fill ASAP. The only thing you can do from here, if you want this to work is, start eating better, and exercise as often as you can. Sam.

I eat much the same as I did while I was losing. But, eating has never been a "chore" for me. I did find that in order to stop losing, I had to have a total unfill, so I can consume enough calories to maintain my weight.

My favourite is "So when are you having it removed?"

Congrats! And soon enough, you will be shrinking out of those too!

That's awesome!! Congrats!

See, now you all have me blushing a fetching shade of bright red!! Although while I was out for my run this morning (and as an aside, don't take your dog out for a run when she doesn't want to go. It makes for a very frustrating run) I can see how people might get the impression that I am obsessed. I do have a very "go hard, or go home" attitude when it comes to my health, eating and exercise. I am passionate about the things I am involved in, and I enjoy what I do. My husband on the other hand, while he wants the type fitness I have, and he wants to lose the last 10-15kg, he just doesn't care that much. He is happy where he is. I don't respect him any less because of this, but I do think he could have everything he wants with regards to his health, if he put a little more effort in. He knows I feel this way. And when I express this, he smiles at me and says "We can't all be hard asses" And I am fine with that. He has lost enough weight that his health has improved, as has his quality of life. And that, in the end is the single most important thing. Health and quality of life. If you have those, it really doesn't matter what you weigh.