Jachut

I feel your panic. I am normally a sensible, sane and calm person who can deal with a crisis. But ONE hint of gastro and I go to water. I panic so badly I convince myself I have it, every twinge I'm thinking "what's that, am I going to vomit?". Its ridiculous, I honestly cause symptoms when I am completely well. I dont know why, chundering cannot be half as bad as the mental anguish I put myself though. I'd honestly face surgery without anaesthetic with less fear than I have of catching gastro. of course, having 3 kids, it seems like the last 10 years someone or other has chucked in the middle of the night at least 3 times a week. However, the last time I actually caught it was the week from hell known as the Hutchinson Family Vomit Fest at the end of which was left only five weak humans and a pile of sodden, stinking laundry. No bed linen, no towels, no pyjamas left in the house. Since then (4 years ago) we've had maybe 2 bouts of it, but I've been OBSESSIVE about cleaning, not touching anything without gloves, and following the offenders round with a can of Glen 20 - even spraying the couch after I've sat down. Cans in the bathroom with STRICT instructions to spray taps, door handles, toilet lid and button, seat etc after every use. Spray the washing machine and dryer. Bleach everything, hot wash everything non bleachable. Disposable gloves (you'll go through about 500 pairs). Honestly, its hard work but it WORKS. I've managed to not catch it. I'm not a pig but generally not the most obsessively clean person either. This is the exception. That and the classroom. When I've done my teaching practicum, I keep that hand sanitiser in my bag and use it like 25 times a day - how many things do you catch off a classroom of kids? When its my classroom, the trusty Glen 20 will be coming with me. Thankfully too we seem to have past this stage of life in my family and I've had everythign known to modern man and rarely catch anything anymore, but gastro is horribly contageous. If you do get it and you have time before vomiting starts, unfill if possible. I keep some anti nausea medication to hand too - I just explained to my doc the situation, and got a script which I filled and the tablets are always there. Probably should replace them now,they'll be expired. But its still probably MOST likely if you get sick and you vomit you'll be fine. Its a risk factor, not a death sentence to your band. Many people dry retch and cant bring anything up, others vomit quite normally, and only a few have band problems as a result. But best to avoid it if possible.

I cant figure out why surgeons would place the port there - it's completely idiotic. It only has to be a few inches south and you have no problem. Mine is to the left, and only about 2 inches above my belly button and it doesnt get in the way of anything - waist bands are well below the navel and bra underwires well above where the port is. If it doesnt bother you or hurt, I doubt its going to harm the port, but it it does hurt, you're probably going to have to move it at some stage. However, sitting up straight helps - at a normal weight, when I sit straight, there's no "folding" of my stomach at all so the port doesnt get pushed up. Perhaps as you lose your stomach this will help. If I slump over and round my back then of course my port and rib cage come together.

Whatever way you cut it, I'd me most satisfied the skinniest I can get. I'd really like a BMI of 19. Whether I'm a victim of media pressure or not I dont know, but to me very slim looks elegant and beautiful. But I'm someone who can do that without losing my curves. However, there's only so much eating control I'm willing to place on myself, so my weight has to be compromised. I'm quite willing to exercise like MAD by running an hour a day (and really running to) and doing weights because those things make me feel really good. But I cant take extreme eating methods like low carb and very low calories. so "happy weight" is about here - fairly thin at a BMI of 22, maybe not as thin as I'd really like - but super easy to maintain.

I've adjusted now but I was freezing for about six months, it was very noticeable. And although I'm not always freezing anymore, I usually wear more layers than I once did - even a singlet in the winter, lol. DH is just now going through it and driving us all mad by turning on the heating in the middle of summer. Funny how *I* had to cope, but when its him, everyone else has to suffer the heating on rather than him putting on a jumper!

Leftovers are notorious too - there's very little that I can comfortably eat reheated unless its soup or a very moist casserole. Meat is impossible.

I wanted to prevent future health problems, for sure. My weight was just starting to make me feel unhealthy but I had no real issues. It was probably 80% a cosmetic issue for me. I was sick to death of looking chubby, matronly and being categorized as another 40 + middle aged mother. I wanted to be HOT. And at almost 41 I am. I am fitter than most women half my age, I have muscles, I am toned, I can wear great clothes, and dont have to hide behind long hair. And I still have plenty of years to enjoy it. Most people guess I'm about 32. Which is amazing to me since I felt about 60.

Just take it easy for as long as you need to with liquid and mushy foods. A bad stuck episode can cause quite a bit of irritation that takes a while to subside. Sorry, but I've turned green and am gagging at the thought of eating liver, lol. Mum used to FORCE us to eat it when we were kids and to me its probably the most hideous food you could possibly eat. I would definitely barf if I tried. Seems you either love or hate offal!

Successful exercise for weight loss is all about intensity. If really brisk walking for you is intense enough to raise a sweat and have your heart rate well elevated (say 130 or more) and still gentle enough that you can do it daily, then its going to work GREAT. Until such time as you get too fit for that and then you have to decide to introduce more intensity such as jogging. Its when people say they hate running, and just want to walk because its easier that walking isnt so great. Easy walking will work at first but you soon outgrow it. You really should be sweating and slightly uncomfortable when you exercise. The treadmill is great because you cant slow down, it keeps your pace up. The more incline, the better, walking fast on a high incline can be much tougher than jogging flat, without the impact. And inclines give you a great ass. But ANYTHING that you will consistently do is great!

I weigh about 30 lb less than I did at 16 pre kids. Yes, its a "different" look, lol. Not that the original pleased me all that much. But I dont believe for an instant you can fill out your skin to look younger, you just look your age only fat. I have a little bit of the saggy baggies going on at 41 but that's 154 lb of me, what on earth would 254 have looked like by now? I know which I'd take. But tooooo skinny, probably not a good idea when you're older. However, healthy weight isnt gaunt or emaciated, people only think it is because they're used to nearly everyone around them being decidedly chunky if not obese. You can always stop where YOU'RE comfortable and where you feel good!

Personally I'd want the hernia repaired, you just read too many cases of people having horrid reflux with the band and there's so often a hernia involved. I've never had reflux really apart from once when I got a bit too tight, I'd get slight discomfort after eating. A tiny unfill fixed that.

Its important to understand that maintenance is every bit as important, and I hate to say it but actually harder, than weight loss. Your relationship with your band doctor is FOREVER. You need to continue to attend, you will need fills periodically (over much longer periods of time) and you will have to work that band each and every single day of the rest of your life. Every day you get up, you have to invest the same mental energy and determination that you do to lose. It never gets truly "easy". You continue to exercise - I mean I run an hour most days and do 3 hour long strength training sessions a week even though I'm just maintaining now. You can never stop exercising and you cant really relax your food routines. The band absolutely comes into its own when it comes to maintenance. Most of us can and have lost significant weight without a band. But to keep those behaviours going forever, you need your band to support you. It sounds so depressing. It is, I guess. Boy, I'd just love my band unfilled for a few days to really EAT with abandon again. But this is our lifeline and we need it every bit as much when we've lost weight as when we're losing weight.

I have a 4cc band and I found my sweet spots all along the way - EVERY level of restriction got my loss going again and I lost it all fairly steadily - it was more a matter of how long that good restriction would last. As my band got fuller, good restriction lasted longer and longer. Once I hit 2.75 cc I havent needed to go any higher - although I'm sure you wouldnt define it as a sweet spot - I can eat bread, I eat more than half a cup (but less than 1) and I dont stay full for hours. But I'm maintaining now and not trying to lose. I think 3cc would be TIGHT for me, really probably a .2 fill would be all I'd need to drop weight again.

Well said! High Protein or not, crap food is crap food. You can have a low carb diet that's completely rubbish and will put you in the grave just as fast as a diet full of processed carbs. This cut out one nutrient and every health problem you ever had will be solved nonsense is complete rot. Moderation in all things sounds good to me.

Ideal weight is pretty easily generalised by charts, i knew what range I should be in. I also knew from prior experience that I am still fat at the top of that healthy weight range, I look and feel MUCH better in the lower half of it. So that's what I aimed for. It never entered my head that I wouldnt lose 100% of my excess weight. I just dont think that way. I can be lazy and completely not tackle something that needs to be tackled (like my weight, or the housecleaning) but WHEN I do it, I do it absolutely thoroughly. 50 to 70% weight lost was not acceptable. And when you think logically about it, its an average so of course that includes non compliant people and people who are physically disabled in some way. I figured neither applied to me so nor would that depressing statistic. My doc never said anythign much at all about it.

What I really mean by that is that if you can eat pasta and bread and over a cup at a time, BUT you are losing weight well, there's no reason to adjust your band. You may NEVER need to be restricted to half cup servings and no bread to get to your goal weight - I certainly ate more like a cup all the way thorugh and bread, rice and pasta remained a regular part of my diet. Only go near that sort of restriction if and when you need to. However, if you're hungry, and not losing weight satisfactorily, then its time for a fill. But different people lose on different calorie restrictions and therefore I think its senseless to define a sweet spot the way its been defined here many many times - can only eat 1/2 cup, cant eat bread, goes 3 to 4 hours without hunger. Such restriction also brings increased difficulties in living with the band - less variety in your diet, more stuck and pb episodes, possibly greater risk of problems such as slippage and erosion. What I perhaps should have said is sweet spots are different for everyone and you will probably have many of them on the way through. Its not necessarily a destination.

I dont agree with the idea of a "sweet spot". Every fill I had restarted weight loss again for a while so every one was a sweet spot to my way of thinking. I needed less restriction to lose weight at first than later on. Striving for some spot where you "cant eat bread, can only eat 1/2 a cup at a time and lose 1-2 lb per week" like people say is a pretty silly idea. You get frustrated and forget to make the most of the journey along the way and you give your band way too much power when you should be taking the responsibility yourself. And really, if you can lose weight less tight you're way better off.

I would seriously say being a stay at home mother/student is 3/4 of the cause of my weight problem. I never gained much till I became a stay at home mother. At the moment, I'm on teaching rounds, meaning I'm working full time. 3 small meals per day is easy as anything to stick to. Spend a day at home and I eat 3 times as much. I cannot wait to return to full time work next year. I swear I'll finish this weight loss and get right down to my ultimate goal once I'm not at home and able to eat whenever the urge strikes. Teaching is a great job for that because in our schools, there's no vending machines, or junk food or ability to buy food, you have to take lunch from home and what you take is all there is. Kids can get lunch orders, but its nothing too tempting. Those are teriffic suggestions above, I'm going to try them too.

I hadnt been obese all my adult life. Whilst I always struggled a bit with my weight, I managed to stay merely overweight until I had my second baby and the third was the final straw. A couple of times I'd lost weight and gotten down to 72, 73 kgs. I knew that was "okay" for me, so I determined 70, although 79 is the top of my healthy weight range. I'm not "big boned" or muscular and I knew since I'd spent years and years at about 79kg that I still considered that pretty beefy and wasnt happy being that weight - although its normal weight, given I'm 5ft 10, its still plus size territory for me, with little to fit me in regular stores (here). Australia has nowhere near the plus size range the US has and our regular stores carry less of a size range. However, I even think about 65 would be about right for me, but I've not been able to get there. That would be a BMI of under 20, but I've been surprised to find I'm actually very fine boned under all the weight I always carried because even at BMI 22, although I'm fit and have a fair bit of muscle under there, there's still too much fat on parts of my body. You have to fine tune when you get there I think. Your body is unique.

I have NEVER found this. For the longest time I drank when I wanted to, and it never seemed to make me hungrier than when I didnt drink. Once I passed a certain point of restriction, I couldnt drink for a while as if I'm full, it makes me FULLER and causes discomfort or even pb. For me, it most definitely does not wash everything through, in fact I can feel the increased pressure and fullnessn - which is why I avoid it these days, I mean I'd prefer not to suffer pouch dilation from shoving things in there. However, my "window" appears to be about 20 minutes, after which time drinking is completely comfortable, generally I wait the half hour which is my doctors guideline. I figure early on, with less restriction the danger of pouch dilation is much less than later when you have restriction. When you have restriction, you will know in no uncertain terms that drinking right after a meal is a bad idea.

Yep, I've been back for a top up twice since I hit goal 18 months ago.

I do lots of compound moves - I wouldnt waste the time standing there doing single muscle exercises like bicep curls - it burns hardly any calories for starters and its time you could be spending torching fat by running - just my humble opinion. I try to make my strength sessions aerobic so I do them circuit style - I mean, why NOT burn stacks of calories at the same time? So I might alternate short runs on the treadmill with sets of squat/shoulder presses with a heavy barbell, lunges, pushups, tricep dips, chest press. I tend to do high rep/lower weight but by lower weight I mean the sort of weight you can lift for 30 reps - my barbell is 45 lb so its not that light - but it doesnt exhaust me to failure in 10 reps. As a woman, you're never going to build that sort of muscle anyway, so why do that sort of weight training? I like lean and toned, I have no real desire for very visible muscles and ultra low body weight. I do have Jari Love's Ripped series on DVD and those are quite good but although she claims you burn lots of calories, I find them frustrating light on the aerobic stuff but incredibly deceptive on how much strength training they contain - I'm sore today even though I do this regularly! If you need guidance, these are good DVD's. But I still feel I have to have a run that day also. At the moment my routine tends to be a short 6km run outside in the early morning, go to work for the day and then maybe do a weights DVD 3 afternoons when I get home from teaching. One longer run over 10kms on the weekend.

Oh, this is SO true. People that knock cardio and say it doesnt improve your body just dont get it. I let myself be swayed eventually into more strength training. It has toned me up a lot. But most of the improvement in my shape has been from running, I just havent found it makes you "skinny fat" (ie. low body weight but also low muscle) like people claim. And the strength training stuff, I struggle to find time for. Lately I have gone back to just running, for up to an hour a day. What happens? Down 3lb and clothes all loose again. NOTHING burns fat and keeps you thin like running, despite what all the theories say, you just have to do it to be convinced of that.

The reality is it wont outlast you. Its a manmade item and the most likely part to wear out is the balloon. There is a very high likelihood of having to replace your band at some point in time. I attend prof. O'Brien's practice and HE is perfectly upfront about that as a worldwide authority, so I'm not exactly sure where some doctors are getting their information from if they say the band will outlast you by 50 years. However, it hasnt been in use for that long so we shall see. Its also quite likely that if and when your band wears out there might be a better alternative.

I would definitely try out beforehand. I cant stand wearing any type of garment like that, I find them very uncomfortable and I always get a sore back and a stitch in my side.