Jachut

I have to second the running. I think what exercise suits you does depend a lot on body type. I'm tall and fairly fine boned, but definitely pear shaped - classic pear really with small bust, small shoulders, no fat on arms/back, flat stomach, but curvier aroumd the bottom and thighs. I know what all the experts say about strength training and with my bootcamp twice a week, I do get what I need in terms of building strength, but I am NEVER going ot have a body that is hard, muscles up well etc. I lost all my weight with long slow cardio and the long, slower runs STILL result in the body I want, which is to make the best of my own body type. I think its all definitely related, and different health problems and metabolic issues go along with different body shapes. In my experience, pear shaped women do do well with running - they may not have a lot of speed, but they have endurance and they have a good stock of that slow burning fat on their hips and thighs to fuel those activities. But I found my figure problems didnt diminish much until I got quite skinny. Stopping at a BMI of 25 would have left me with a fat bum and big thighs.

Guys, you are WAY too tight. That is serious undereating and you wont lose weight that way, or maybe you will eventually but it wont be healthy loss. You need to eat a balanced diet and exercise to lose, not eat so little that your entire body and activity levels peter out. If you cant eat a variety of healthy foods, what on earth is your long term health prognosis? hair falling out is a sure sign of under nutrition and its just no way to live life. Not fancying foods because they're hard to eat and not being able to eat them at all are two different issues. But I do think the band tends to lead to many people eating crappy soft diets - and Protein shakes as a mainstay are not healthy - man made, artificially sweetened etc, no basis for a healthy diet. They're a supplement, not a staple. Get an unfill, you're unlikely to gain lots as you'll then be able to eat lower calorie foods and you'll probably find you start to lose.

Spinning is fantastic, dont wait! Nobody is ever looking at you the way you think they are. Its great because its lower impact and you can probably work a lot harder (and burn more calories and fat) than you could at anything fully weight bearing. But be prepared, you will probably need to take it very easy to guage your abilities for the first few classes, it can be extremely strenuous. But it is very much able to be self paced.

Its one of the downsides of the band, I've noticed the same thing to a lesser degree. I *can* eat all foods, I've yet to find one I cant keep down. But things like fresh fruit make me gag to think about eating now, and I am really not an advocate of a high Protein diet, I think fresh fruit and vegies in abundance are way more important. Yet, I find it extremely difficult to eat these foods, I just dont want them and have to psych myself into eating them. I've gotten round it by finding ways to cook and eat these foods that make them appealing to me. For example, I cook vegies and I do have a bit of butter and salt and pepper on them, whereas before I was militant about no added fat. I will eat fresh berries with a sprinkle of sugar and a small bit of cream. All those fattening additives I was so afraid of, they dont seem to harm my weight at all now that I'm so active and am at a healthy weight, so I've learned to enjoy them, becuase I think if it means I get the Vitamins and antioxidants in the fruit, then its a worthwhile trade off. Fruit smoothies in the morning are another thing I can do, but to pick a piece of fruit from the bowl and eat it, I just cant do it (and we have a wonderful quality of fresh produce in Australia), but I've always been a little bit like that with fruit anyway. Its just if you eat something and consistently feel discomfort from it - which I do from fruit - its only natural to not desire it as much. I only WISH that the bad foods did that to me. So, I guess I'm saying it is a matter of experimenting to find ways to prepare foods you struggle with or sucking it up and just eating them. If you truly cant keep them down then you probably are too tight.

My small scars are invisible now at a bit over 4 years out. All I have is a faint white line over my port. Its fine, not puckered or distorted, just a white line.

My port is very visible now, and I only have a little excess stomch skin. I can tell you, when I take my tiny roll and pull it down, as in a tummy tuck, my port pops out like an ice cube on my stomach. I would have no choice but to change to a low profile and I'm guessing THAT would be visible too.

My son is 14 and well overweight, we're from Melbourne too. I'm really just waiting for him to hit puberty well and truly, which he hasnt yet, and then we're going to speak to our surgeon - both DH and I are banded. We were both lower BMI bandsters, never getting past a BMI of 35, 36, but our son is shaping up to be much heavier. We want to nip it in the bud and save him the pain of real obesity, he's about - at a guess, he wont tell us - 90 to 95 kgs at about 5ft 8. He eats healthy but he eats an awful lot. Interestingly though, its way less than his skinny mates, he would NEVER order a large meal at Mcdonalds, we dont buy any softdrinks, juice, or crap at home, and he's still fat. He plays basketball and I take him to circuit class once a week, but he's just less "active" than teenage boys tend to be, he doesnt do any of that running around that they like to do. He's also very unsporty and not good at anything which doesnt help, he's almost given up basketball many times. Its such a hard thing to approach though, he's very sensitive and wont talk about it, it ends in fights every time. Both of our other kids are skinny beanpoles, life can be so cruel. I'm just wary of pushing our desires onto him, he needs to want it, but I think he thinks its an easy way out and will say he wants it anyway, without true understanding.

I was never told anything, I was given a guideline to eat to satisfaction, eat from all food groups, and get a fill if weight loss stops. 3 meals a day, no Snacks was recommended, but my doctor did say it doesnt suit everyone. For me, it works better than eating more often, I tend to overeat when I snack. For me, I naturally fell at about 1500 calories a day, I lost all me weight on that, now I eat about the same amount to maintain, but extras such as the odd glass of wine, cookie, I'm not so pedantic about certain foods etc, so I probably eat 1800 or so most days.

I think its BS too. I think there's some credible reasons for not filling people with unrealistic hopes, and that in lots of cases, very overweight people just never manage to get to "normal" weights, but it IS something within your control and it can be done. As for "too skinny", well I'm surprised you cant hear me scream from Australia. I absolutely HATE that one. Too skinny for what? Normal clothes, healthy body? I'm currently at about 150lb at 5ft 10 and I absolutely am NOT skin and bones, I'm fairly tall and lean, but i have curves and i still have some excess fat. So I find it hard to imagine 145 too skinny for nearly anybody as I'm so tall as it is. I think in this world of everybody being either obese or porky, people have lost sight of what a normal healthy person is supposed to look like. People freak at bones and they think big huge breasts are a sign of being sexy, when most of the time, apart from a few well blessed people, big huge breasts are a sign of being FAT, and they go along with fat bums, fat tummies, fat legs and bad blood chemistry! We are designed to have collarbones, knees and elbows, wrists and jaws that show through our skin and it is not sick or unhealthy when that is the case.

Ah, yes, the age difference, lol. I dont have a 'sexy playlist'! Between work, house, exercise and the kids, DH is lucky if I even stay awake long enough, and its done in the dark, in bed before sleep, sigh. Nothing so adventurous as the freedom of the whole house and music!

I was pretty fit after 3 years of running and doing the odd bit of circuit training, but last October I started an outdoor bootcamp twice a week - this has REALLY leaned me out. I've dropped no weight, but really gotten "hard" for want of a better word, its been quite remarkable and very obvious since I was at a healthy weight when I started. Having someone push you is sometimes what you need, I'm very self motivated but I would still never work as hard as I do at boot camp. I was lucky the long, slow cardio thing worked really well for me to lose ALL my weight, it was extremely effective. But when it comes time to ramp things up, which it does for some people sooner than others, then I personally dont think you can beat really hard bootcamp/circuit style workouts that involve hard bodyweight exercises with really intense cardio. I find it rather expensive at $150 for 10 sessions, but still cheaper than one on one training, which I dont think I really need or want to pay for.

My clinic is run by Prof. Paul O'Brien, somewhat of a band pioneer. The advice I was given by my surgeon and which is also contained in the official literature they give out is that the band is supposed to be lifelong but that in all probability, some part of it will fail, most likely the balloon part that holds the saline. Silicone is inert in the body and wont rot, break down or cause any problems, but the balloon is to all intents and purposes a moveable part that will be tampered with, which increases the likelihood of it wearing out. They dont say when that is likely to occur, because of course, people havent had these newer style bands for longer than 10 years. However I was told that at 37 when I was banded, I could realistically expect another surgery in my lifetime. That doesnt particularly bother me. I didnt find it a difficult or time consuming surgery, and at least when something goes wrong with the band, its fixeable, your insides are as they were and if I were, say 70, I might not even bother having it replaced. However, as it stands now, our insurance system works such that there's no justifying or arguing whether the surgery is necessary. If the surgeon says it needs doing, then its done, end of story, and it will be at no cost to me. I might have stopped to think more if I could anticipate being in a position where I might need surgery but might have to pay lots of dollars out of pocket for it becuase insurance wont cover it. Lets face it, when you're having what is a relatively new surgery, there ARE no long term statistics and you are taking a bit of a leap of faith.

You have to do this for yourself and yourself only, I too got extremely frustrated with the attitude that I wasnt big enough and "all you have to do is .....". Particularly from my mum who has never been obese but has had to watch her weight since she hit middle age or she tends to get a little plump. She reckons weight watchers works for her every time. She got VERY offended when i said if it worked, she wouldnt have to keep doing it, once would be enough. But I was so sick of the inability of people to accept that diets dont work long term. I wanted to do this just once more and I was bloody well going to do it right! I just ignored everyone and followed my heart. What's surprised me is the outright nastiness you can experience from people with bigger weight problems who somehow feel there isnt enough surgery to go aroumd and that by having it at a lower BMI you're somehow stepping on their turf. I understand that it must be to some people like the thin girl whining about 10lb (and we've all wanted to thump her!), but its so darn ignorant, telling people that they can tackle such a "small" problem themselves when you yourself have failed to do so and gone on to get even fatter! Then there's the fact that as a thin person, you may find you face more hostility and discrimination than you ever did fat when you were no threat to anyone...... Given all that, please yourself and yourself only. You are what matters.

I must admit, as I stood on top of the giant drop at Dreamworld in Queensland, that thougth crossed my mind. I have no problems as a result, but I dont think its terribly far fetched either. However, I now get sick on rides, sea sick, car sick, things I never ever suffered before, since I was banded. Sea sick particularly. I get nauseous really easily, so if I never go on a ride again, i couldnt care less.

Hmmmmm.......... I think its a little bit true. I certainly dont have the lack of appetite I had in the first 12 months. Well, I *think* I dont, perception changes too, that's what makes it tricky. What I think is a pig out now is nothing compared to before, I can barely even remember before. So perhaps I just think I eat more now than I did in the first year. dont know. The head hunger and urges to eat at inappropriate triggers definitely came back for me, but I did change my habits and mindset and particularly got myself very fit and committed to exercise. So I havent found I've gained so much as an ounce. But I do think I eat more "normal" and less "diet" nowadays.

Doubt it. I dont have any more acid that I can perceive and I definitely dont have it coming up into my mouth. Perhaps if you were having reflux problems, a too tight band etc and you did vomit a lot and have acid coming up, but this is NOT normal.

Nobody here in Australia would have to hunt their food and we dont really have the kind of animals you'd eat anyway - yes, we eat Kangaroo and yes, there's rabbits, but still.... I think if you catch food, that's one thing, but to actually enjoy it as a sport, that makes you a sicko. Killing things for the fun of it isnt OK, and I wouldnt have much time for anyone who found it so. It IS part of the cycle, I mean its no worse than farming animals and raising them for slaughter, but we dont do that for the fun of it, its necessity. So should hunting be.

I took up running within weeks of being banded. I've done a half marathon a little over a year ago. I didnt have any trouble at all but I dont keep a tight band. The other thing is, I'm in Australia, and we dont do "protein first", that whole Protein thing just isnt a craze here like it is there. Nevertheless, I've been curious and tried it on occasion and I can tell you, I run like CRAP when I eat a diet heavier on protein and lighter on carbs. I need my bread, cereals, rice, fruit and veg to be able to run well. I've never had a single problem losing weight on a more carb rich diet - as long as we're talking good wholegrain carbs, not white, sugary ones. These days, I run lesser distances, not usually more than 10kms - the half was a challenge I wanted to achieve, but for me personally, training for that distance took the joy out of running a bit. I just found the trainign boring boring boring and with my 10k distances, I've never had an injury, but when I started going further than about 14, the niggles started, and I was always hurting somewhere. I was glad to get it over and done with, say I'd done it and settle back into more enjoyable distances. For 10km runs, you dont really need to eat any differently than the next person, but if you're regularly doing them, you also dont have to lose weight on a piddly 800 calories a day - I ate 1500 a day or so the whole way through and lost weight at the average 1 to 2lb a week level and never lacked energy.

The band does 2 things for me It keeps portion sizes reasonable - for the right foods. 3 meals a day works for me, its my best routine. Snacking makes me keep snacking and grazing. So I eat 3 small meals. I choose the foods, I do the exercise, I avoid the trigger situations. I could do all that before, but I just ate too large portions. I thought they were reasonable, now I know they were huge. And I ate fast. The band IS magic in that regard. I think being a slow eater is key to being healthy weight. With a band though, i dont regain weight when I do fall off the wagon occasionally. Keeping the weight off for over 2 years now (I've been banded four), and maintaining those habits for that long, my outlook on food has changed. My kids complain that I underfeed them because my perception of a normal meal is much smaller than others. I could never change my habits and keep it up for long enough to cement the changes.

I love the tartness of plain yogurt. I think its an acquired taste though. I'm not really into sweet yogurt.

I agree, its a distinction between liking your appearance and liking yourself as a person. I never had a problem with self esteem in terms of my value as a person, and what I had to offer. But I was very down on how I looked. At a BMI of 35, I felt blobby, slobby, lazy and disgusting. I use those words on purpose becuase I truly DID feel that way about myself. And comparing the way I live now, there's no way around it, I really WAS a lazy slob. We all have it within us to do what we need to do and when we're living in a way that means inactivity, bad eating etc, we KNOW we're not doing our very best. So how can we feel really good about that? I'm not one to make excuses for that sort of behaviour - I believe it is a choice and it can be changed. The only thing I find offensive about thin people assuming fat people are lazy is that many thin people are lazy too! But I dont think living in that way can be good for your self esteem. Unless you're one of the rare ones who got fat whilst eating well and exercising regularly. But I always felt I was a good person who just needed to change certain behaviours.

its a big change, and that can be hard for partners. But I suspect the real fear is in YOU changing, not your appearance. Surely, nobody that loves you is truly shallow enough to believe that they wont find you attractive at a healthy weight. I think that's just a way of expressing a deeper fear. Afterall, you're not going to be that much fun if you're crippled by obesity related disease, or if you die younger than you should. Health is important. I doubt 'chubby chasers' truly are attracted to size, I think its the personality issues that go along with obesity - or more correctly, that people perceive obese people have. These men probably want more submissive, less confident women. Most people are able to find all sorts of people attractive and are not fixated on a "type" unless its a fairly complicated set of attributes that feeds a need they have. Your hubby might be afraid that all SORTS of things are going to change, but I think that as time goes by, the gradual change to your appearance occurs and your relationship does not change for the worse, he will still be finding you attractive.

Well.....it IS an advantage. But I find it advantageous not so much in day to day ability to stick to a *diet* but that it keeps me from ever really blowing out. Day to day, I do get hungry, I do get head hunger and I can guarantee if I entered a competition like that, after a day of low carb high Protein eating, I'd be struggling to avoid a big carb pig out. I would struggle every bit as much on that sort of regime as I ever did. The band helped me achieve slow steady loss, not spectacular loss like you're wanting in competition situation. For that, I'd have to dig as deep as ever. And of course, the exercise part of the equation, you'll have people that do that easily and people that wont. Bands dont make a difference to that. And of course, its ENTIRELY possible that someone will beat you anyway. Some people have incredible willpower over short periods of time and some people lose weight faster than others. I'd enter. Its not as if its hundreds of thousands of dollars like on the TV version. If you win, it will be down to hard work and perserverance, the difference being you probably wont pack on 20lb within a week of it finishing. I dont think I'd lie about it though, if there are rules and if there are, I'd ask if I could join for moral support.

I know! This is thread hijacking, lol, but we were all romantic about a white Christmas too. The last day they were in Edmonton, jut before Christmas the only colder place on the planet was some town in Siberia, lol. whereas, on our victorian ski fields, you generally can ski in a tshirt. Once you're active, the 1 degree celcius temps dont require real snow gear. All the snow gear BIL and SIL bought here before they went was useless, they had to buy real stuff in Canada.

I think this is an important point. Its why i got a band to NEVER diet again. If I got thin counting calories and fussing over Protein, I would not consider myself "cured". I worked very hard to get over the good food/bad food mentality and whilst eating healthy is important, I now choose to do it for reasons other than calories. it all ties in with something I saw yesterday at the beach, it was awful. There was an old Greek lady, very old, very fat with her daughter on the beach. She required help to get across the sand. In trying to spread her towel, she staggered, and fell over backwards. She was like a turtle, couldnt get up, didnt have the strength or mobility. Her daughter had to haul her up. Then she went into the Water and promptly collapsed again, swallowing water. Her daughter was refusing our help, and other people's but eventually had to admit her mother was in trouble. We got her out of the water with great difficulty as she weighed a ton and could barely walk, she had water in her lungs, was vomiting etc. Still the daughter was saying "she'll be right". Doug rang an ambulance anyway, without her permission, becuase it was obvious she needed it. The ambos arrived, and struggled to get her off the beach, and off to hospital. I was thinking I sooooooo dont want that to be me. Probably 50% of my motivation is how I look and the other 50% is ensuring that I am going to be strong and healthy when I'm 70, still running, still able to enjoy life. I never want to end up like that poor Greek lady. Those things are to me sensible and healthy motivations to eat well and I find I dont need the rules when I think like this. I choose for health and the rules are automatically satifsifed. I just dont like to approach it with I *MUST* do this, I *WILL* do that, I dont feel guilt when I dont but I eat well to respect myself and ensure my future, not to satisfy a program. In that way, I feel I've been able to achieve what you're saying. I dont think about weight and my body and what I'm not going to eat every second of the day anymore, and that's as much a part of your health as your physical state is.