Ohm

Hiya Bobbie, how did I build up my running stamina? Ah, thereby hangs a tale...are you sitting comfortably? Do you remember a little girl being abducted nearly 3 years ago? Madelaine McCann? Well, I woke up that morning and knew that if someone took one of my tiny terrorists I would not be able to run after them. I was 287 pounds (height 5ft 9) and that was the day I decided to make a difference. I had just had an operation to remove gall bladder, having developed gall stones and received a diagnosis when halfway through my last pregnancy. At the time Maddie McCann was abducted my tiniest tiddler was only 8 months old and I was booked for a post-surgical assessment - and I knew the surgeon was a bariatric surgeon - so I asked him if he could help me. His reply was typical - and was the spur that got me going - he said "I will help you if you show me you can help yourwelf - if you don't change your lifestyle before an operation you probably won't change it afterwards. Go away and lose some weight". So I did. I changed my whole diet and my whole lifestyle. I built exercise into my lifestyle fromthe beginning. I decied that i would walk 5 miles every day and I took up swimming (I've always been part fish - or maybe whale). Anyway,the first 5 miles I walked took me 8 hours!!!!!!! My husband came with me and by the time we were halfway home he was offering to call me a taxi - but I persevered. When the cold weather came I joined a gym and walked on the treadmill, where I could keep a track of the speed and the distance. Then came the day when I reached that stage where I was walking faster than some of the joggers and I decided to try to jog onthe treadmill - and I did. SHOCK!!! I, who had never run in her life, was jogging. I immediately phoned all my family and friends who though I had completely lost my mind. Anyway, it went onfrom there. I run, therefore I am! Last week I managed 12km/h which is about 7.5 mph - not exactly a cheetah speed, but for one previously lardy yardy, significant improvement! My friends ask me how to run - and I actually taught one to do it. Like me, she had never been a runner, she'd hated PE at school and had never, ever run, in her life. Ialways advise people to get comfortable with walaking first and do it on a treadmill. Get the treadmill up to a comfortable fast walking speed and then just decide to jog at that speed. Don't go any faster - just change the movement from a walk to a jog. It is so easy - and then comes the speeding up bit (which isn't so easy - I'm still working on that). I have always set aside a specific time for my exercise. When I go to the gym, I set aside an hour for exertion - because I know that i can manage to get my 5 miles in in that time. I never exercise for less, but will sometimes go for longer, depending on how I feel. That way I may get extra exercise, but i know that I always get my minimum requirement. Remember, you can jog at any speed - slower than a walk or faster than a walk. Most people try to run too fast at first, but slow and steady really does win the race. Just make a small change at a time. Go froma fast walk to a slow jog and then work on the speed. Remember to stretch before and after and most of all TRY TO ENJOY IT. I treasure my time away from work and family demands - it's my golden hour - and the dog (when she comes with me) is much calmer for all the exercise). Cheers I'm due for the surgery on Friday! Getting nervous now. I've just got over the swine flu - which has had me flat on my back for 5 days, but am now fighting fit and ready to face the next challenge. I'll put some piccies up ina bit - found a really bad old one and am dying to share it with someone. Even my kids didn't recognise me! Good luck with the running/jogging.

Hi PrtyAntOvrYt (love the tag). Thanx for sharing your exp. I wanted my arms (and boobs and legs) done too, but the good old NHS won't do more than 2 procedures and they have to be done seperately - so I'll have to fund the arms and legs myself - or look like a very poorly made mannequin for the rest of my natural! My boobs are definitely the next priority (after the abdo). I used to have lovely breasts - but now they look like long socks with a tennis ball inthe end - YUCK!

Maybe it's because I am 42, but I'm not so bothered if anyone can see my port. It is attached to the bottom of my ribcage and has been visible for months now (I've been at BMI 25 for about 6 months). The way I see it: I'm about to have an inverted T abdominoplasty which will leave me extensively scarred but with nice body contours - so I'll look normal in clothes - if anyoneknows me well enough to see me without my clothes they are more than likely to have been told about my surgery, so seeing the port should be no surprise. But then again, as i said, I'm 42 - I'm married - I've got 4 kids ranging in age from 20 to 3 - I'm no threat to Naomi Campbell or Victoria Beckham - such is my life that a port, especially when it doesn't show when I'm fully dressed is just part of the wallpaper and not really important inthe scheme of things - well, not to me, anyway. Ohm

Yes, you mentioned the revision in your thread - and the photos are quite breath-taking - but your "after" photos are stunning. I'm at my goal weight, but I still look as if I'm wearing a loose jumper UNDER MY SKIN. Please God, I will soon look like you - or at least a lot better than I do. I'm going to go nuts if I can't exercise - I have become a complete exercise addict. I don't care if it's the gym or the pool, or just the track - but I have to exercise! Ohm

I'm due to be done on the 12th of Feb at North Tyneside Hospital (ward 7 - if any of you are local - why don't you come up and see me?). Incidentally, my staffy bitch is being speyed on the Monday (8th Feb) so I am guaranteed some empathy from somewhere. Ohm (Becci)

Just a quick word of reassurance. I was banded 2 years ago and used to have long curly hair, which I used to be able to sit on! Once I was banded It got thinner and thnner and inthe end I took the plunge and chopped it off. It is now much thicker again and, you know what, the short, snappy cut I have chosen is esier to maintain, quicker to wash and look after and much more me. I used to have long flowing hair because I was so fat that it wasa the only thing I felt showed I was feminine - now, I don't need it any more. I know we all have a lot tied up in our hair - as women I mean, but it is just keratin extruding from our scalps. It changes when we change (puberty, pregnancy, menopause - lapband surgery) and will always be changeable. Try not to get too upset, it will probably thicken up again when you get closer to your goal weight - mine did. And in the meantime, why not try a change of style to go with yout changing body shape? You sound like you are doing allthe right things. Good luck - and happy hairstsyle!

Hi Mimi, the least I can do is reply when someone goes to the trouble of replying to me. We banded individuals need to stick together! Thanks for the encouragement and the interest. I will keep you posted! Ohm

Thanks for the reply Mimi. I will be happy to share my experiences of the procedure once it is done. Please God, my results will be as aesthetically pleasing as Shalee's. My original post was moved to a different forum and somehow, your post has ended up disconnected from the original post, but I still appreciate your reply.:cursing:

Thanx for that Shalee, it makes me feel less nervous to know that someone else as been there before me. So you lost 9lbs? Fab! That will take me down to an even better BMI! Yeeha! Fitted tops and jackets - here I come! I will definitely take a look at your thread - just as soon as I have finished this reply. How long was it before you were comfortable enough to resume your usual exercise regime? I'm horribly worried about Fluid (and OK, I admit it, fat gain too) gain whilst I'm inactive.

Hiya Lesley Ann. Mr Woodcock is lovely - like a great big teddy bear. Don't be nervous. My schedule ran sométhing like this: I first met Mr Woodcock when I suffered gall stones during my last pregnancy. After the baby was born, he took my gallbladder out - that would have been in December 2006. I had a follow up appointment with him in March 2007, and in the meantime I found out that he was a bariatric surgeon. I asked him if he could do something to help me with my weight and he told me that I would have to ask my GP to refer me, but inthe meantime he weighed and measured me and told me to try to lose weight. So, I trollied off home and spoke to my GP who ummed and ahed and tutted, and said that there were procedures to go through. She told me that at the very least I had to see a dietician and to try a focus group at Wansbeck hospital called "Food for Thought" and they had a long waiting list, and only when I had seen them and given their philosophy a try would she be able to consider referring me. I was so disappointed. I contacted the focus group and they told me that the waiting list was over a year long and that I had just missed a new start, and they only started up new groups every 3 months, so I wouldn't even go on the waiting list for another 3 months. I was so frustrated - anyway, I sat down and wrote to Mr Woodcock, advising him of my situation and telling him that I would keep on trying to lose weight and that it might be a long time, but I would keep on giving it all my efforts until I was referred to him. Bless his little cotton socks - he wrote to my GP and gently but firmly pulled rank. He basically instructed my GP to refer me to him ASAP and I had an appointment within 6 weeks! So I saw him in May, and I had started dieting properly the week before. By the time I saw him for the firtst official appointment. I had lost a little weight (about 21 lbs - remember I was 248 lbs to start with) and he told me that if this had been my second visit he would have been scheduling surgery there and then, but we had to have 2 visits before surgery could be scheduled - so I went away and kept up the new diet regime (low fat, low carb, relatively high protein) and went swimming every day and walked for miles and miles each week (about 3 miles a day at the start rising to running 5 miles a dy these days). At that first visit he asked if I had tried diet pills, and I had, but he prescribed some for me anyway, just so that we had ticked all the boxes. He gave me reductil which is supposed to make you feel satisfied more easily - but they made no difference to my weight loss. I didn't lose any more or any less when taking the pills - but the weight kept on coming off. It may seem a little odd asking people to lose weight when the reason for their approaching hiim was because they could not keep their weight within normal limits, and I certainly asked him about this one. His reply was simple: if you can't change your habits before the surgery you wont be able to do so afterwards either, in which case the surgery would be a waste of time. My problem was never that I could not lose the weight - I just could not keep it off. I would always lose whatever weight I wanted to lose but then gradually regain it once it stopeed being the main focus of my existence. THat is what the band does for me - it keeps me focussed on what I have eaten and reminds me when to stop. I saw him for the second official bariatric appointment in September 2007 and the surgery was scheduled for the 17th December 2007. I had the surgery and I am feeling great. I am still a little overweight - about 10 lbs, but the weight is still coming off. It is much harder to lose weight now that I am so much closer to a healthy weight, but it is worth making the effort. I can wear normal clothes (UK size 14) and I can run and play with the kids. I can walk for miles and I run 5 miles a day. I am about to enter my first half marathon and I am so proud. A word of caution though. This surgery does not do the job for you - you still have to take control over what you put in your mouth and it isn't a licence to sit on your butt all day - exercise is very important - in fact more important than ever if you don't want to be swathed ina shroud of excess skin and flabby tissue.... I don't particularly like chocolate, but if I did, and I chose to eat it all the time I would still be fat. There are some foods that I can only tolerate tiny amounts of: bread, potatoes, rice, Pasta. I can only manage about half a slice of bread before I am so full I am in pain - real pain. And if I ignore the early signs of being full up and just eat up anyway, even only 1 extra mouthful of yoghurt, then I will be sick and that is very unpleasant. Likewise, apples, and other "firm textured" foods fill me up so quickly. I can't eat chips or cheese or anything firm textured like that - but if I wanted to I could eat bowls and bowls of porride or stew or ice cream or chocolate biscuits - and then I would regain all the weight I have lost. I eat my meals froma side plate, and I have come to accept that if the food doesn't fit on the side pate then it wont fit in my stomach without causing me great pain. Especially now that I am nearer to a normal weight, I have to make sure that I exercise strenuously and regularly, or the weight loss just stops - but that is OK because I have really come to enjoy my exercise - it is my "ME time". Hope this helps. If you are local I would be happy to meet up with you and chat about this. There is a bariatric surgery support group at Wansbeck every 3rd Thrusday, I think. I used to go but found the politics a little difficult. They are a really nice bunch though and welcome pre and post operative patients. Is there any way to pass personal info so we could pass on contact details without sharing them with the whole WWW? Ohm

Yes, I have seen a dietician already, and I will see one again after surgery, but dieticians tend (in my past experience) to be rather boxed in by theory. The practical experience of living with a lap band woud be really useful to draw upon - but I doubt that most dieticians would have that resource. I have my pre-surgery assessment on 28th November, and I have to start my "liver reducing diet", which is basically a low fat low carb diet, ten days before surgery - so that would be on the 7th of December. I'm terrified that I may gain weight before the procedure. I've really experienced a demotivation in my diet and exercise regime since I was given my date. Do you think they might cancel me if i have gained a lb or two? Becci