Jachut

When I eat properly - as in chew well, small bites, and foods that arent REALLY hard to eat - fruit for me is very hard, ugh - then restriction feels like nothing. I just get a normal full tummy sensation after about 3/4 of a cup of food. I never pb unless I make a significant user error or try to eat too soon after hard exercise. I personally think that a lot of what people describe as their sweet spot sounds way way too tight. My lifestyle is not at all restricted by my band - for example I'm going with my grade sixes on school camp next week and am not at all concerned by what I'm going to eat - I will eat what I'm served! I dont plan specially for occasions or events, I dont freak about what I'm going to eat on a plane etc etc. I can eat absolutely anything, and I can be pretty much 100% sure that if I'm properly careful, embarrassing public pb's wont happen. That to me is ideal restriction.

there was a young girl from Nantucket whatever she ate, she would chuck it it would come up with slime all of the time so she always carried a bucket

Oh, gosh, this is my life too at the moment. I just cant be bothered. Its not only band related, I'm just fed up to the back teeth of thinking of dinners to cook and having the kids not eat them! I have been really bad at not eating any dinner because I'm so unethused about it! Its just one of those things you have to force on yourself I think. I've been out for dinner more often than normal lately becuase I've felt like steak and I cant cook it well, and I've REALLY enjoyed my healthy filet mignon and steamed veg that way. Otherwise, I have to cook and freeze for the week and I'm so over spaghetti bolognaise and casseroles!

You will most likely need it forever. I've found that the way, amount and foods that I eat are pretty "normal". Most people would just think I have a small, ladylike appetite. I eat healthy foods but I occasionally have treats. I like wine in moderation. I run five times a week and do bootcamp twice, so I do much more exercise than "normal". But my lifestyle overall is a healthy, normal one and I dont need a tight band, so I can eat any foods. But without my band, I'd probably regain. I think my habits have improved such that I wouldnt hit previous highs, but I couldnt stay this light either.

My doc generally requires them but i didnt have to do one. It was purely luck, when I asked my GP for a referral to a lapband surgeon, he sent me off for a battery of tests, many of which the surgeon would have had to send me for - it shortened my entire pre op phase actually. One of those tests was a liver ultrasound - which is not a standard test the surgeon would send you for normally, here in Australia - and it showed that my liver was not enlarged at all and only a little bit fatty - certainly not enough to hinder surgery in any way. So that being the case, and my BMI being 36, the surgeon told me not to put myself through the torture, that he wasnt going to have any trouble doing surgery on me anyhow. Makes you think it might be kinder to send everyone off for a liver ultrasound, instead of making everyone do the preop diet, lol.

I have no trouble with any of them. I just tried to eat a banana though and that very nearly came back up again.

Its never "permanent" but it can last a looooong time. To be honest, i would describe the 'sweet spot' as restriction that lasts, not as a certain level of restriction. I found I got the same restriction with each and every fill, but it waned very quickly at first and then began to last longer until my last one has lasted 2 years, well past goal weigth and well into maintenance. I notice I can eat more than I could say a year ago, but it really doesnt matter, my weight is stable and not rising and I figure that as long as I stay the weight I want, the more I can eat, the better because long term that means better nutrition.

Exercise wont "tighten" loose skin -but what I found was this. At about 3/4 of the way to my goal, incidentally right about where statistically many stop losing, I thought I had bat wings and weird side boobs, a lot of flabby skin on my sides under my arms that really bulged over my bra, and I thought inner thigh surgery was in my future too. Well, getting down to a truly low weight eliminated all of that. I think soooooo many people still have a lot of residualo fat they could lose when they decide to have cosmetic surgery. That's not to say that they shouldnt do it - or to imply they should simply work harder and lose it. Some fat is much harder to lose than other fat and if you CAN eliminate it in a procedure because its isolated to one area of your body, why they heck wouldnt/shouldnt you? But if you cant afford it, or dont want to have it, then losing more weight and getting to a low BMI will help a lot with that in many cases. If you're ever seen a pannus that is truly only skin, its much much thinner than most people's before photos. It was the same with my boobs. I got as far as going to see surgeons over that issue, but eventually, as I lost more, they got much smaller and a lot of the sag and cup overflow issues have gone away. It wasnt ALL loose skin afterall. I now have upward facing nipples for the first time in my life and the size discrepancy between the two has been eliminated and although they're still a bit battle scarred, lol, I'm happy enough not to have any surgery. Exercise helps with ALL of that, and being in great tone under your skin is the best thing you can do for how you look, short of surgery.

Well...... it does sound like a problem of not enough restriction and that you will get there eventually. Your job in the meantime is to try not to gain. Easier said than done, but we have probably ALL lost weight without a band at some point in our lives. I'm glad I had a 4cc band. It seemed to me that I had great restriction at every single stage, there was no "waiting for the sweet spot" at all. The restriction I had at each stage was perfect for me. I dont know why its been surpassed and isnt used anymore.

Oh gosh Betsy, must you make it sound so tempting? I think I'm going to barf :blushing:

You know though, i totally and absolutely agree with MaggiesMom above. This surgery has NOT turned me into a perfect eater. I have the exact same issues - I eat when I'm not hungry, I eat for reasons other than hunger and i find it hard to stop when I'm enjoying something. I also find it hard not to eat chocolate and wine instead of dinner! But that's all in how you look at it. I've changed what i could change, put in a huge effort with exercise and accepted my faults and weaknesses - in other words, I am just like a normal person! So I lost weight because I ate less food but I didnt ever think I would be perfect! I thought I'd be able to eat far less and far less variety than i can and its pleasing to me that not only can I live a normal life, its also resulted in normal weight. Attitude has a lot to do with whether or not you are disappointed with this surgery.

Good for you! Running will give you your dream body. there's so many theories and fancy combos of strength/cardio/yoga/cardioyogalates, etc etc etc but I still think a good old fashioned run is the best thing out there. OK, I do some bootcamp too so I get plenty of squats, lunges, pushups and such in, but basically running got rid of ALL my weight and made me lean and toned with nice feminine muscles. Its the best.

Personally, I think the ideal range, which is developed statistically IS what is healthiest and suits most people. I think those that have been very overweight for long periods of time simply cant imagine themselves that thin and imagine they will look sick or emaciated. That's rarely the case. I have a BMI of 21 and I look perfectly normal.

I never had hairloss - above normal that is. I shed like mad anyway. But no, it never thinned or gave me any concern.

I have to keep on top of the same thing. I do it too. Its impossible not to at times. but I've kept up my exercise, i work out like a fiend and that prevents regain for me. I've never regained even an ounce. Oh - December 2005 for me.

Running and boot camp

I lost about 120% of my excess weight. I expected to do this well, I got to my goal weight and really my experience has totally matched my expectation. Except that living with a band is far easier and more normal in the longer term than I thought it would be.

Protein has little to do with cramps, but potassium might. I've been much more prone to foot and leg cramps at night since I've been banded.

I've been through similar issues and for me it came and went and I havent had an issue for aaages till just lately. I never ever get constipated but I'd go and suddenly, without warning, strong cramps would start. I'd poop and poop and poop for like 2 or 3 hours - normal consistency, must so much of it, lol. I dont know where i was hiding it all, I'd go five or six times in that time. Not diarrhoea though, just cramps (which got to making me puke stage) and normal poop. The rest of the day I'd be shaky, wrung out and ill. Then that would be it until some sudden event again months down the track. For me, we suspect it was endometriosis. However, for the last five or six weeks, I've had different issues - a strong urge to go which would be nothign but a bit of froth and bubbles to be completely gross. Six times a day. Stinky gas. Horrible smelling bm's. Kind a dark/reddy colour. I have not had a solid one in weeks. Its really weird. We treated the whole family for worms, that made no difference. So I'm off to the doc tomorrow. There's nothing else you can do but see a doctor, you have to check it out. It could be a disruption to bacterial balances, a fungal thing, something relatively more serious like polyps or a motility issue, or an ongoing infection, you just dont know. Nobody can tell you online, you really need to be tested.

I havent noticed it to this extreme, but I've also lost a bit since starting full time work this year - I'm now one of those people who if they are busy and stressed doesnt eat. What I did notice was extreme tiredness starting to creep in and when I couldnt even out-exercise that (I nearly ALWAYS feel less tired after a good workout) I knew it was probably an issue of poor diet and lack of Iron in particular. So... I've just forced myself to eat basically. I take Breakfast to work and I take a healthy lunch and I eat them. And I'd even been missing dinner, I hate dinner! I've had two eye fillets this week - cost me a fortune, but feeling way way better. Just willpower basically - only forcing food in instead of resisting it.

Loads of running, squatting and lunging has done it for me. I run a couple of times a week and do bootcamp twice.

I found mine improved as I lost more weight, they've shrunk now to a C cup and I'm much happier. They're a bit sad and wrinkly yes, but now they fit into anything, I can wear nice bras and they're the perfect size to look like yes, I have breasts but not huge ones. I'm not really keen on the idea of breast augmentation. I dont WANT them bigger, I dont like big breasts, but I'd probably need them for firmness. But you know, I cant see the point. The rest of me is a little the worse for wear as well, my stomach is pretty good but I have a terrible backside, lol. I cant afford and I wouldnt WANT to fix both, there's no way I want a lower body lift, there's no room in my life for the expense or the recovery. So a pair of perfect perky breasts on a woman who otherwise pretty much looks her 42 years would look a bit odd. I've just grown to accept it, I mean I can even look OK in a bikini top and the only things I cant wear is some lacy bras - I need a structured, moulded cup these days. The flabby underarms went away with the last of the weight, I found that was just fat, that's all. The skin is maybe a bit loose, but not noticeably so.

Hmmmmm, ah, yeah, it is to some degree. I lost weight with minimal effort and I maintain it with minimal effort. If you call running five times a week and doing bootcamp twice a week minimal effort. Foodwise, i dont have to think about what I eat and I didnt have to to lose. I just lost. I adjusted my habits as I went but honestly, I didnt find it hard. I just eat less than i did, not really different. Perhaps I was lucky that I did eat fairly healthy, just way too much. But why does that have to be some sort of moral judgement? What sort of idiot would overlook an easier solution than starving on stupid diets for the rest of their life? As far as I can see it, my diet and eating habits now are as effortless as the next (thin) person's - meaning I can and do overeat at times and need to use some self control not to do that too often. If I have a tool that makes that possible for me, who has the right to say that I dont deserve that as much as the next person? Something was broke - whether physical, pscyhological or moral and I fixed it. Nobody would expect me to walk around with a broken ankle, would they? So why not fix obesity?

My biggest surprise was longer term. I can tell by what people post here that my eating habits were just as bad as a lot of other people's but I sure as hell would have had to binge night and day to get to 300lb. It has turned out that I never got as fat as a lot of people on my caloric intake and I was able to lose weight on twice what some other people can and at least 400 calories more than most. I also never regain so much as an ounce now and all this without tight restriction. I n eed my band, for sure. But it turns out, I actually seem to have a fairly fast and healthy metabolism. I got fat, yeah, but my body cut me a LOT of slack and still does in terms of eating indiscretions compared to others. I'm way luckier than I realised.