Jachut

Well, I would have to delibarately sabotage myself and eat around my band by eating chocolate all day long to gain weight. I run nearly every day, burning about 800 calories at a time. I'm very busy and active and on my feet all day too. I'm 5ft 10. I need to eat about 1800 calories a day to maintain my 150 pounds. I cant FIT in any more food than that. I eat a good variety, it satisfies me, its a normal amount of food for perhaps a person with a small appetite.I have enough room in my calorie allowance for treats and such. So I dont go without anything. I'd have to decide, I want to gain weigth, how on earth am I going to do it and set out on a deliberate plan to do so. Given that I eat what I want, according to my appetite, it takes no particular effort on my part to stick with that, so there's no reason why i cant continue doing it indefinitely. and I love running, I'm not going to give that up because it something I actually want to do.

Ugh, not the way I cook it. Truth be told, i do struggle a bit with steak, it has to be very very tender, and for that, I have to go out for it. I cant cook steak at home that I can really eat. But you do adapt too. I have a bit of a wicked relationship with lamb cutlets, mmmm, the tiny little ones. I've always preferred lamb way more than beef anyhow, its probably the eat we eat most in Australia.

Failure isnt black or white either. To what "failure" was he referring? Many many people do not lose ALL their excess weight. Is that failure? Or is a realistic outcome for a set of people suffering from an illness that is as much mental as it is physical? How can a band around your stomach fix all the issues with obesity? It cant. But is losing enough weight to save your life, improve the quality of your life and get you independent and back into the world again a success, or is failing to end up looking like a supermodel failure? The stats for people who dont lose any weight, lose and then regain or who have complications that end up with band removal are significant, but 50%? No way. And for a good proportion of those who "fail" its all factors within your own control anyway. Stats say you lose about 60% of your excess weight with a band. Yep, that's what happens if you have the surgery and just kinda go along with it. Its not a bad outcome. But if you eat consistenly right, do the right kind of exercise and approach it with the determination that you are going to do all the work needed, you'll lose more than that. I know that with a band and an hour long run every day, I would have to deliberately drip feed myself liquid mars bars by IV all day every day to gain weight. My weight never budges, I've kept it off for 2 years now and I never even have the slightest qualm that I cant continue to do so.

I can eat steak, just dont very often as I'm not that fond of it. Shrimp, not a daily feature on Australian menus. I will probably NEVER eat calamari again though. I'm deathly afraid of it. I had the worse ever pb on that, it took about three hours, it happened in public..... dont want to scare you, lol, but it was awful.

Argh. I hate misinformation like that. What a twat. Lets see her in two years when she's regained it all. Credit where credit is due, she's done the work, but statistically, its virtually a given that she will regain that weight. And Rosemary Conley was the author of The Hip and Thigh Diet in the 80's, which miraculously caused weight to fall off from exactly where you wanted it as a result of stuffing yourself stupid with carbs and eating no fat - yep, white bread and jellybeans is a GOOD lunch on that diet. OKaaaaaay, so we're dealing with experts here. I read an article - I think it was in this weeks WHO - about body image and stuff. It goes merrily on its way reporting 70% of women have resorted to starving, 50% have taken pills, 45% exercise obsessively, yada yada yada and then says "and 14% would EVEN resort to gastric banding" as if obsessive/compulsive food behaviour and dangerous drugs is a sane and healthier alternative to the oh so drastic and dangerous option of a surgery that doesnt even cut or alter permanently any major organs! Its like the anti band people who like to get on this forum and say that they would never choose a band becuase of the risk of repeat surgery down the track, when under their ticker's they've got about 50 different cosmetic surgeries listed!

I always felt like that, I hated that I was always the first one finished. One of the kind of perverse things I love about this surgery is that now I eat like a lady. I'm always the last finished, i eat small amounts and I eat nicely - AND it doesnt take a supreme act of mental willpower so huge that I dont even enjoy my food to do it.

Cardio cardio cardio. Its the only way to really reduce fat. Preferably with some strength training too - not to spot reduce but to burn even more fat. Also, when you do loads of cardio, you can tend to get very wasted and lose a bit of muscle, and strength training counteracts that. Most of the "before" stomachs you see in tummy tuck pics are still substantially fatty, a true loose skin only apron is very thin. So you *should* be able to substantially reduce the size of the bulge below the belt. But past a certain point, only cutting it off is going to have the effect you're after. And if you can, why not cut it off instead of waiting forever to lose it? But if no PS is in your future, good old fashioned hard work and time is your best weapon.

Same here, it was once I passed the point I'd already been able to achieve on my own. I've been very successful with the band, but perhaps surprisingly, I'm not one of the people who'd ever lost substantial weight before. I had honestly never lost more than about 20lb in any dieting attempt, ever. I really really suck at deprivation and dieting. Still do. Lucky I really really excel at exercising myself into a quivering mass.

I definitely have variations - I'm tighter before period time and if I'm going to pb, this is when it will happen. I'm also tighter in the morning and late evening than I am during the day. But at no time am I so tight I cant eat, its just sometimes it requires more care than others. If you cant eat at certain times, I'd say you n eed an unfill.

I would imagine that you'll have to find a pool when you are allowed in the Water, I cant imagine anything else strenuous enough that doesnt involve bearing weight on your foot. What a nuisance! I'd be in major panic over that! Its one reason I havent done anything about getting my boobs done, dont want to be unable to run for a few weeks. I guess you *could* work out some sort of circuit that was pretty demanding - switching from pushups to dragging yourself on your elbows (you know how they do that through the sand on biggest loser?), fast situps all in a fast cycle? something like that could be pretty hard core, perhaps even just ONE session with a trainer could give you some ideas.

Look at your portion sizes - how much are you eating? the band is not meant to make you unable to eat, its meant to reduce your portion size whilst you still eat a good range of solid foods. No amount of fill will make you unable to eat fattening foods like Cookies, ice cream and chocolate either, and no amount of fill really cuts your appetite for those foods permanently. You need to honestly look at your calorie intake as balanced against hunger levels and ability to stick to say 1200 a day. Any tighter than you need to be and you tend to start eating slider foods, which means you dont lose as much weight anyway. Also, we all lose fast and steady at first based on the fact that our bodies have not wised up to what we are doing and we also have super motivation! How much exercise do you do and what do you do? Its near impossible to lose weight well long term without plenty of good hard cardio and preferably some strength training as well. Walking is a fabulous, healthy activity and done really hard may be all you ever need, but the way most people do it, it wont cut it for your entire weight loss journey, you have to sweat hard and get out of breath. If you're eating the right foods to the point of satsifaction, getting enough of the right kind of exercise (45 mins most days) and you're STILL not losing, then its fill time.

Whatever works I say. personally I absolutely loathe tracking food and although I'm a keen runner, I dont track my workouts either. I absolutely hate feeling I should or should not do something because some chart or plan says I should. I'm a do what I feel like on the day kinda person. Also, I grew up counting calories from the age of about 11. I know the calorie content of everything I eat, and I'm a label reader. Now I'm banded and can be reasonably sure I actually do eat about the recommended serving size and not four times that much, I'm very much able to just add up accurately in my head. Not a day goes by that I dont know approximately what I've eaten, but i dont plan it, I just add it up mentally AFTER the fact. But its always been a case of near enough is good enough for me, I lost weight pretty well. I personally find charting and tracking the kind of food obsessed behaviour that made me fat. I'd prefer not to even think about what I eat and that works for me.

I think you need to go easy on yourself till you get your thyroid right. Its partly being fat, it makes you lazy and tired, so that working out isnt appealing. On that note, perhaps you can make a deal with yourself that you do a gentle 30 minute walk a day or that you do your housework and only sit down doing nothing for x hours per day or whatever. Just increase your movement slightly for the weight loss process. No matter the cause of tiredness being inactive doesnt help it and makes you feel worse. But if you're thyroid's out of whack, thats a kind of tiredness you cant talk yourself out of and its very debilitating, having big expectations of yourself just now is only going to end in disappointment that you havent managed to do it. But getting the weight off, its amazing when you realise how tired carrying it all around actually made you. Being normal weight makes a HUGE difference to energy levels.

Lol, there's a reson why that pic is so tiny! It makes me look good! I dont "need" to do anything, I'm not stupid about it, but I do actually have enough flesh for a lower body lift. Its not fallen and there's not so much of it as other people have but I'm just very "loose" and must choose bathing suits VERY carefully - anything that bites at all - like a belt on a bikini bottom, and hello muffin top. My lower belly is quite crepey, so cant choose too brief a bottom, etc etc. Not bad, I feel very blessed, but its disappointing too to be just so close to looking really perfect. I also have and always have had a very flabby behind! Lots of cellulite, sigh. Its really the buttocks and backs of my thighs more so than my belly that suffered. Dont even get me started on the empty socks that I call breasts.

I can see mine, its a lump in my upper abdomen. I can feel a bit of the tubing as well through my skin. If I lie flat or put my arms up in the air, it stands out in sharp relief - a bit freakish. I had a BMI of 35 to begin with so mine has always been fairly superficial and easy to access. This photo, you can see a bit of sort of "unevenness" on the upper right stomach (left side in the photo of course), it doesnt really photograph that well, but that's what it looks like normally. If I ever had a tummy tuck and lost that upper abdominal crepiness, it'd be very obvious.

You save the pics onto your computer. Then you click the "go advanced" box that you see at the bottom of the reply box, when that comes up, there's a little paper clip icon that you can click on. this brings up an attachment box - you click 'browse", find the picture on your computer and select it, then click upload. You have to do it pic by pic and they take a few minutes to upload. HTH - I want to see the pics, lol. I've just been trying on new swimwear, suddenly I feel $30,000 worth of cosmetic surgery would be worth it!

I know its what docs recommend but I am baffled by the requirement for 800 calories a day or so - I run for an hour daily and I need to eat about 1800 yes 1800 to maintain my weight and have the energy to perform well at it - AND I need to eat carbs like wholegrain bread etc or I just cant function. I also lost weight steadily and well on 1500 a day right down to a bmi of 21. I'd say when you're eating that little, its entirely normal, absolutely normal, to be exhausted after any physical exertion. But its not insurmountable. As you get fitter, you'll be able to do it more easily.

It depends on the cause. DH has lost 50 lb and is now only "overweight" and really doesnt need to lose a lot more than say another 20. His BP hasnt come down at all - it was never very bad, 140/90 but he's on meds for it and its looking like he always will be. He's trialled going his meds, when his PB is measured as quite low but it always returns to 140/90 over a week or two. Other people I've known came off medication as soon as they started losing.

Wasa posted to someone on LBT not long back that going by her studies, if you have band acid reflux(excluding banded people suffering as a result of their bands) before VSG you're quite likely to still have it after.

Well, some years later, still at my goal weight, I can relate to this. It is so hard to remain vigilant. From time to time, I notice little symptoms, and I realise I'm overeating slightly but constantly and abusing my band. The drinking/eating thing particularly. I know when I've overeaten at night becuase although I dont have night time reflux, I'm simply not "comfortable" lying flat and cant go to sleep. I've been very strict with myself the last few weeks and decreased portion sizes again. I dont need to decrease calories but I need to be much more careful of eating too much at a time. Not too much for my body and its energy needs, but too much for my banded stomach. Thanks for the reminder. I've had my band 4 years with no problems and I'd like to keep it that way. I'll swear blind 99% of band problems are user error - but that user error can be so very subtle that you dont even realise you're doing it.

I've never tasted a Protein shake that didnt have a disgusting aftertaste, they're all awful imo. They werent even on my list for post surgery because they're not the be all and end all of everything nutrition here in Australia. I had stuff like milk, smoothies and egg flips made with fruit, Soups, juices, yogurt, custard and jelly on my post surgical list for the liquid shake. I didnt keel over from not taking in 450 grams of protein a day either. I made sure I made home made soups that contained meat and meat broth MADE from actual meat, not carton stuff and when i had canned soup, I chose varieties with meat and vegetables and blended them down with some broth to the right consistency - there's no real need to exist on low protein cream soups! I've done this whole thing for four years really only having tasted Protein shakes out of curiosity - they are not and never were a part of my diet. I get what I need from food, anybody can if they dont like shakes, they dont have to drink them!

I know someone from here - it was Chickie if you want to try to search it out (several years ago now) had to have another surgery well after reaching goal to shorten the tubing becuase it suddenly started rubbing on her diaphragh. She's pretty tiny and there's rather a lot of the tubing. This solved her problem.

I feel exactly the same way and have maintained for almost 2 years without an unfill. I do eat more calories though - I now dont worry about enjoying a glass of wine, going out for dinner and i eat things like nuts, and yes, chocolate. Volume of food still small, most choices still healthy, but well rounded out by enjoyable, normal treats. I can eat REALLY badly for weeks on end though (tends to happen when I'm very busy) and coz of the running, I never ever gain, not even a pound or two. Dont be afraid of a small unfill if you need to though, you're not going to suddenly gain heaps of weight. Those who have discovered how to really exercise properly, it really is a ticket to easy weight control for life. I'd have to say over a long period of time, my fill has loosened off anyway so that I can eat more than I could when I was losing. Not a lot more, but obviously enough to keep me at 150lb.

When your body stores carbohydrate, it also stores it with Water, I think 2 molecules of water, 1 carb, but maybe its the other way round, hmmm, anyway, long shot is that's why you lose so much weight when you embark on a low carb diet - water. There wont be a lot of fat in that, perhaps 1/3 and you'll lose a bit of muscle too from the ultra low calorie diet, but its all part of the process. Its not "healthy" as a weight management strategy and longer term, its not very effective. Virtually nobody keeps that sort of fast weight loss off, unless they're following it up with weight loss surgery. You're not doing it for healthy weight loss, your'e doing it to shrink your liver. Just when you cant take it anymore, you have your surgery and can keep going. But for many people, once that water weight is shed, the fast loss slows down and they're disappointed with after surgery results. Dont be. The weight loss that really matters is the steadier kind, that's more fat.

glad it went well, I ahve small hidey veins too. they can never get an iv in me, yet I can clearly SEE the veins on the backs of my hands. I cant figure out why its so hard. Anyway, my DH passed out while they were getting me ready for my caesar, lol. What a wimp - it was ME they were sticking the thing into!