Chickie

In Australia, rather than making a person get to a BMI of 40+ they will band you at 35ish (It does vary from surgeon to surgeon, but 35 tends to be the starting BMI for banding in Oz) The docs here have been banding since the early 90's (the really early stuff began in the late 80's) and I guess that they see that it works well to prevent people becoming super morbidly obese.

I have heard of BMI's as low as yours being banded in Oz... But we have been banding a lot longer, and use it as a prevention method, as well as a "cure" here.

LOL, well, it is one of the harder rules to get used to, I am afraid. But it does become second nature after a while. I am glad you are feeling fuller / less hungry now.

That rule applies as soon as you start mushies.

Thanks for the heads up.

Hi Nikki. Welcome back!

I wanted a normal BMI.

I hit the treadmill if it's that early. But I have gone out once or twice at 4.30 5 ish with the dogs! While the above might work really well for me, 5 days might be enough for you, if you know what I mean? I mean, everyone is so different.

I don't know if anything I do really sets me apart from the rest of the pack. I have always been big on exercise, and making sure I fuel my body with the best foods I could. I guess, if I had to give one bit of advice, it would be - Don't stop moving. Keep exercising, even if it just a short walk. Anything that gets your heart rate up is going to help shed the kilo's. No, exercise is not always fun, nor does it always fit into your day, but it is vital (I have been known to get up at 4am just to get my walk or run in for the day) And I think daily exercise is the key to losing weight, and keeping it off. I have lost weight before, but when I stopped exercising daily, that's when I gained it all back...

The only scary part was the unknown. I knew all about the surgery, the post op diet, exercise, and so on. What I did not know was how well the band would work for me. If I would lose all the weight I needed to.

Dude. No way. I get to be Queen. DH says I act like a princess, so it's not a huge leap for me. I get to be Queen.

I love crap weather! But the housing prices I could do without. Its bad enough in Brizzy.

You can build the muscle under the skin, but not tighten the skin. Skin contains no muscle. That said, building muscle in arms and legs (even backsides) is a great way to fill in empty skin.

Beattie is an ass. There are problems (Water, skills and otherwise) all over the country. He is just up himself enough to think we are worse off than any other state. He can't go pissing off the rest of the country like that... Honestly... I am glad I didn't vote labour... Blame my DH! Sam.

And you get good rep for that! LMAO

Send that rain up this way!! We have just had level 5 water restrictions put into place. 4 minute showers do not make me a happy lady!

I took about 18 months to lose down to about 63kg. The last 10kg or so I lost after my tummy tuck in August '06. I haven't lost weight in a few months now, so I hope to stay put at 52-53kg.

I hate rep. It gets abused, and people who have unpopular (but at times correct) opinions will end up with bad rep.

Hiya Lisa! Congratulations on being banded, the weight loss and the exercise!

This is what today looks like for me; Breakfast; Oats, and a banana (I gave my DS half of the banana, it was HUGE) Snack; 2 rice cakes with Peanut Butter Lunch; Tofu stir-fry Snack; Mandarine and a handful of nuts (today it's peanuts) Dinner; Couscous stuffed eggplant and a veggie sausage (really nice chickpea and spinach ones) Snack; Soy yoghurt. And heaps of Water (only because I am thirsty, not because I drink a set amount) A couple of cups of coffee, and a few cup of tea in between.

It does come down to calories in Vs out. If your burn more than you take in, you will lose weight. If you take in more than you burn, you gain.

My arms were much the same then (60lbs ago), as they are now... They were just solid then. The same amount of slack... DH swears black and blue that the skin has gotten tighter in the last few months, but I can't see it. Your arms look just fine, by the way! One thing I have noted while "people watching" is that everyone has some sort of defect.. No one is perfect. Only the 14, 15 16 year olds have perfect skin. And if my only problem in life is slightly saggy arms? Baby, I have got it made in the shade!

I have never been a huge Protein shake drinker. I drank what I had to as a new post op, then got my protein through food after that. For what it's worth, my doctor has never given me a gram amount for protein consumption. As long as all my labs come back within normal ranges, we (doc and I) are happy.

Argon, I uploaded some photo's to my journal (link in sig line) Sam.

Sorry, I had it set to private for a while... It should be fixed now.