Chickie

WooHooo! A HUGE congrats She!! And happy birthday to both of you!

Small explosions. Gunfire, the usual stuff. It is highly unlikely that if you are following the guidelines as set out by your surgeon, you will do any damage. At this stage, if you were to sit down to a steak dinner, pizza or the like, yeah, you might have issues now or later down the track. Just take it slow.

At 3 and a half years post op, with nothing in my band, I eat whatever I like. I never maintained a tight fill, because while I liked the idea of losing weight, being ill due to lack of proper nutrition didn't appeal to me. It is true that it is trial and error, but I think by far and away the single most common mistake that is being made is overfilling. By being overfilled you limit the foods that you consume to a very small feild. And by doing so, you make yourself unhappy, frustrated, and likely to rely on soft foods. The result is little weight loss, or weight gain. I know you asked what foods are troublesome for banded folk. But the truth is, nothing should be a problem. You should be able to eat solid foods without discomfort and PB'ing.

Some very wise ladies have given some very good advice here. It is shameful that it was thrown back with a "You don't know me". They are all spot on. I dont just know you. I was you.

But, *I* look like Paris Hiltion!! minus 3 feet of height, and adding a few pounds, oh, and I am not blond. Or rich. But I am a nicer person! Look. It's not unreasonable to expect that you will lose 100% EW, they just want to know if you are going to do silly things to get there. He is a nice enouh guy, but I doubt in the 30 minutes he sees you for he could give a difinitve Dx. I have it on fairly good athority that even if you do have some sort of eating disorder, you get passed. That this guy thinks that even people who do badly, still get some benifit from the band. So it's not the science it appears to be. And Hey Jude! Sorry things are a bit wobbly right now. Hopefully when you see your doc you can get back on track.

I was just pointing out, that at the end of the day *we* do the work. The band is a tool you can use to *aid* weight loss. It's not going to stop you putting Cookies, chips, coke and other crap in your mouth. YOU have to do that. The band is not a magic willpower machine. Lots of people can out eat the band, and not lose, or even gain weight. I worked hard to get where I am. Despite PCOS, IR and later Type II, I got to goal, and have stayed there for over 2 years. And while my band helped, to say that it was the only reason I lost is laughable. I worked my ass off. I ate a low GI diet (NOT low carb, no carb or Atkins / South Beach style) with as many whole foods as I could manage, and exercised daily. It's simple, but really hard work. I am not trying to get on anyone's case here. But reality is, despite PCOS weight loss is do-able. And even with a band, you DO have to eat right and exercise. The band is NOT going to do all the work. Not by a long shot. /rant

Lets not forget that it is *not* the band that helps with PCOS symptoms. It's a little silicone band. On it's own, it does nothing. But by eating a balanced diet, in smaller portions, and exercising, you lose weight, and *that* helps the symptoms. And it is still up to you to eat healthy foods. The band will not stop you from eating chocolate, drinking soda and high calorie soft foods. That is down to you. That will help with the regulation of blood sugars, and put you on a level paying feild with the rest of the population. (you is a general *you* and not aimed at anyone. I just see a lot of people saying that the band helps with the symptoms. It doesn't it's weight loss that does)

If I am not wrong, she is seeing the same surgeon as I went to, and he requires for his bandsters to be seen. It's manily to see if the bandster to be will comply with the band rules. Not anything to do with the health funds. Although most funds do pay for the visit.

The link to my insane rambling is in my sig. I do need to get onto listing my fave blogs there too. Oh. And an update would be nice. It's on the to do list. :smile:

Welcome & Congrats to both bella64 & Danni!

Good luck with your surgery.

From one Aussie Sam to another, Congrats! (although I was not banded in August {I was banded Feb 2005} I wanted to say 'Hi" I hope no one minds)

I ate low GI, went vegetarian, and started running. Within 6 months I was off all my meds for my type II, and my hormones were normal. I didn't do anything special, I just ate well and exercised. And the weight just came off.

I just assumed that the test took that into account. I mean, if you walk / run outside there is a natural variation of incline. But I would think that even walking at a 5 or 6% incline wouldn't burn quite as many calories as a good run.

I don't remember the exact wording of the referral letter, but from what I do recall, there was nothing overly "creative" about it. Just stated that I had lost a massive amount of weight, and that I needed reconstructive surgery.

Fanny, you would be surprised whet people think and say at times!

I had a TT almost 2 years ago now, and it was pretty simple. Went to the GP, she sent me to see a couple of reconstructive surgeons, I picked one I liked, and because I had a referral from my GP my surgery had an item number, and my fund ponied up for the op and hospital stay. From memory (the memory is a bit wonky) I was under $1800 out of pocket (I'd have to look it up to be more exact) Don't know about boobs. Well. I do, but you know what I mean.

Great article.

I am hopeful that he will let me run a little more than that after a month or so... But even at 3x 3k, I am still running.

Will do. Not bloody likely! The physio has me running 3x a week for no more than 3k till we have my back re-aligned and my knee stregthened. And I don't know how long that will take

I don't know how common it is for people to have a backslide after a few years, I haven't, nor do I personally know any who have, but it appears to be fairly common on the online community... So I really don't know what the stats are. But you have a good idea of what made you regain the weight, so that is a great starting point in getting back on track. Best of luck to you.

Yeah, that's why I think it's the go for DH. He has a shuffle, and no plan to upgrade. When I saw them online, I thought they looked nifty, glad to hear that they indeed are.

I have a Nike+, and I looovvveee it. I am thinking a sportsband might be DH's Xmas gift this year... They do rock, don't they?

Getting to goal and staying there for over two years has been reward enough. The material things I brought along the way, and thing I did are long forgotten, but the being healthy, and free from morbid obesity is more of a reward than I could have ever brought at a store.

LMAO, I can imagine the looks you got. I have been known to sing loudly (and badly) when on the treadmill :wink2: I am yet to slip up in public, but my time will come. I agree. It's not a bad thing to see yourself as an athlete when you are running. It's not so much about how I look, but how I feel. I feel strong, powerful, graceful and lithe. It sadly doesn't trasnlate to how I look 100%, but that few K's I pound out, I AM all of the above, regardless of how I really do look. Thank you muchly LJM and Jachut.