Jachut

I'm not a February bandster, had my band 3 years, but I'll pipe up if that's OK. I'm really an advocate of starting with what you can handle - physically and mentally and if you can commit to walking regularly and putting some effort into it, well a big pat on the back to you, that's fabulous. But longer term, those sorts of workouts you see on Biggest Loser DO work. But it takes a while to get fit enough to safely work out like that. I do now, but I have lost my weight mainly through long, slow cardio - jogging rather than walking though, which I found WAY more effective, simply due to the fact that if i had an hour to spare, I could run much farther than I could work therefore I burnt a lot more calories. It also allowed me to build up to a level of fitness to give me a base for what I do now. Once a week: - an interval running session of an hour (I use cardio coach, www.cardiocoach.com) to give me a program to follow, its FUN, but super intense. Three times a week: circuit training: I mix this up. Once might be at home, using a treadmill. I'll run for ten minutes, at the end of that time, I flip the speed down, incline WAY up and use handweights to do reps of various shoulder exercises while I walk. then I hop off and do sets of squats, lunges, step ups, then run a few minutes, then do sets of deadlifts, bent over rows, back extensions, run for a few minutes, then sets of pushups and dips - and so on till I've worked my entire body for about an hour. The next time I do it, I might take my daughter the playground and do it outside - using the playground equipment to do chinups (greatly assisted by my legs, lol), dips, pull ups, etc and run around the 300 metre perimeter, then the third time, I use a 20kg sandbag and a kettlebell - works my body completely differently each time. Once a week or so - my reward. A nice, gentle 10km run. And I'd probably do 2 hour long walks with DH, often on a Saturday morning well do the 1000 steps which is a set up steps up a mountain here in Melbourne. Quite a challenging workout. I do a LOT of exercise! But you know, i dont sepend an inordinate amount of time, all my sessions are about 45 minutes, I just work as hard and intensely as I possibly can during that time. I would guess I'd easily eat at least TWICE what many bandsters eat, at least 1800 calories a day to maintain my weight. I lost well all the way through on 1500 calories and I wasnt working this intensely, as I said, mostly running. But this has allowed me to sculpt a body I never thought I'd have and I have no fear of regaining any weight while I do this, and I get to have my band quite loose and eat very normally. I'd say long slow cardio like jogging and walking does work, it did for me. But I wish I'd really tried interval training and circuit training earlier, I'd have lost weight far more quickly than I did. It really torches the fat, I've seen it quite literally melt off for me apart from those very last stubborn areas.

For me, about 10 minutes. To me, they're a good post workout supplement for recovery but not a meal. They go right through my band. I need to eat proper food.

Oh, is smart lipo the injection thing? No, I wouldnt do that. Real lipo is what I'm talking about.

I'll wait with baited breath for the answers too - I'm skinny above the waist and below the upper thigh, but that section in between still has residual fat that simply will not budge, no matter what I do. There's a little bit of excess skin involved but there's fat under that skin. it drives me insane. I've had a body BLITZ over the last 8 weeks, what's happened? My boobs have shrunk to a C cup from a D! D'oh. If I were to lose the 10 to 15 lb (and my body does NOT want to let go of a pound, I've been trying to do this for a year) that I estimate it would take, in reality, what will happen is that I will have no boobs left and my face will look skeletal. I'm a perfect lipo candidate. BUT - I can guarantee my port would look pretty darn obvious, it would stick out like a sore thumb. Its already highly visible. Particularly since I"m pretty sure I have a six pack under there, my abs are super hard and flat. Does anyone want to donate to my fund, lol?

So, you're obviously not eating the way I'm talking about. You cant base your diet on salami and cheese and eat less than 25 grams of fat a day. Nor could you keep the salt content in control! But I dont need to back anything up Mac, I'm expressing an opinion. Its not surprising that it differs from others becuase i grew up in a different country. I harbour some other weird ideas too - I am wary of artificial sweeteners and I cant for the life of me understand why you'd use coffee creamer - chemicals instead of milk? Why? I cant understand why coffee needs to come with shots of syrup and whipped cream. I also dont get manufactured puddings or stuff like that. I think its highly dangerous to focus on Protein only and assume various foods are healthy becuse they're low carb - when they're full of crap that will probably give you ten brain tumours by the time you're 50. I think the idea of pumpkin in a can is bizarre and that multi purpose dough in a can is plain revolting. Who on earth is too freaking lazy to make dough? I'm not stating medical fact, I'm stating opinion. Its what I think, you dont have to agree with it. My opinion is that today I've eaten cantalope, berries, pineapple and orange juice (fruit salad), Beans, zucchini, leeks, onion, mushrooms and tonight will be ingesting pearl barley, lentils and chick peas, tomato, carrot, celery and lamb - all contained in fresh, home made Soup, fruit salad and a stew - amongst other things such as some skim milk, a Protein shake containing a banana etc and,. I will go to my grave insisting that even though I may have had less protein than the next person, that is a FAR more nutritionally complete and less artificial days intake than scrambled eggs with cheese, cheese rolled in slices of ham, Protein Bar and a Lean Cuisine with its paltry excuse for a bit of greenery. If I were trying to get 100 grams of protein, which I supposedly "need" at my level of physical activity, then I wouldnt have had the stomach space for all those good fresh organic vegetables. Tomorrow, I might eat more protein foods, I dont really care. It just depends. But for what its worth I think high protein diets can be heatlhy, and that nobody needs gutloads of processed grains. But I think there's an awful lot of bandsters out there that may be getting enough protein and may be keeping the calories low but who are doing not one single good thing for their health with their overly processed diets.

No, I eat a LOT for a bandster breakfast: a chocolate peanut butter and banana protein shake mid morning: small handful raw cashews lunch: zucchini and leek soup afternoon: leftover green bean and zucchini salad (just 1/4 cup) and an iced coffee made with skim milk, and later, a teeny piece of chocolate dinner: lamb shank, lentil and pearl barley stew I did the most torturous workout today with a 20kg sandbag, and its left me quite hungry. I'm maintaining now so as long as I dont gain, and I dont fill my stomach to uncomfortably full, I really try not to worry that I'm eating too much. In fact, I must need it for the amount of exercise I do because I've actually lost a bit lately.

Well, I dont live in America, lol but here, they're with the nuts in the supermarket and I buy them from either the meat wholesaler or the fruit and veg wholesaler we shop at.

Oh, if you're going to do it, you may as well get the best possible result, I agree. I wouldnt live with a really visible problem either, I think you've worked too hard to have to live with only half the result you wanted. As you can see from my avatar pic, for myself I'm talking about obsessing tiny details, not overhanging stomachs. I can also report I've just tried on some new bras and my boobies have shrunk to C cups! Eeek. The PS told me that if I have a lift I have enough excess skin that I would probably lose almost a cup size. Hmmmm, C is great, I dont yearn for bounteous bosoms. But I'm not sure I'd want to be a B at 5ft 10. But I'm totally ambivalent about implants, really really not sure about that. I envy people who are brave enough to do it!

I agree, my diet is more high fat than it ever was, but its good healthy fat. One of my major beefs (scuse the pun, lol) with high Protein is that people immediately ingest way too many animal products - red meat, cheese, eggs, and with it comes loads and loads of saturated fat, which is not good for anyone. If you do high protien, you have to be very careful to choose your protein sources wisely - fish, nuts etc have healthier fats that actually do good things for your body. Otherwise you might find yourself a nice skinny heart attack waiting to happen. I read the what did you eat today threads and its cheese, deli meat, eggs, cheese, deli meat, eggs. Yuck, that's diabolical. There is no way that's healthy. A piece of salmon and a salad - that's different. You wont find any argumement from me that that's a better choice than pasta!

ARGH, its awful isnt it. I did my circuit workout this morning standing directly under an airconditioning vent in the loungeroom, and I had two fans pointed directly at the treadmill. And I was still sweating buckets. But I dont mind the heat NEARLY as much as I used to. Being normal weight really does make a difference, you dont get so hot, you dont get chafing rashes, you can wear hardly anything and not make people vomit. Next summer, you wont mind it a bit!

Well, the Cosby Show hasnt been on here for decades, but I dont remember her fat in the first place. They're giving me the sh&ts here too - they've recruited Magda Szubanski (she was the farmer's wife in Babe), who IS rather large. But she's been mouthing off all over the news and radio about how much weight she's going to lose and how she didnt choose banding because she "wanted to learn to eat properly". Numbskull. Tell me how great Jenny Craig is WHEN you've lost weight and WHEN you've kept it off.

Knee problems often result form muscle imbalanced in the hips or feet, not from knees "bowing weird". What weight does is increase the shock force that travels through your leg and the friction in your hip, ankle and knee joints, which is why being heavy can result in knee pain. If you have a huge stomach, you may be sway backed, which alters how you use your hip and buttock muscles to stabilise your pelvis - muscles can get tight, weak or overdeveloped = knee problems. Have you ever seen someone with legs so big they kind of have to swing one thigh round the other? That's another example. Its less to do with your actual weight and more to do with your own personal biomechanics. I've never ever had knee problems, I've been very lucky. But my right heel/ankle is problematic, due to a collapsed arch (pregnancy, sigh).

I know Sam. I'm thin and I didnt get hanging skin that you can see through clothes, but sheesh my bum and thighs are saggy. But even the THOUGHT of that lower body lift, I just dont think I could do it unless i was really terribly afflicted with metres of excess skin. Its huge and it would rely enormously on the support of others - DH having time off work and WHEN on earth would I have the time to recover? its about a lot more than just the money isnt it? On a positive note, I was desperate about getting my breasts lifted. They've shrunk so much in the last six months taht I dont think I'll bother. They are now very easily covered and disgused by even a good bikini top. I'm actually thinking that a lot of the "sag" I see on my lower half really might still be excess fat. I'm in the middle of my healthy weight range and I think that I'm naturally more built to be at the bottom of it. I've plain got too much fat. I've been working extremely hard to actually build muscle in the area, who knows, maybe it will pay off? But I suspect if 3 years of running hasnt given me a great arse, nothing will. Sorry to hijack your thread Lellow!,

Yep, unfill. You will become seriously depleted on such an inadequate intake and it will probably affect your weight loss too. You wont recover properly after exercise, meaning you wont build and maintain muscle.

I'm the complete opposite. After a hard run, its hours before I can eat again. Its the one time I think protein shakes are worthy foods.

There's nothing I really *cant* eat. Everythign will go down with enough work. But boy, sometimes I jsut want to EAT, you know? Like not have to chew, not have to take it slow, I want a big serve of something I love and I just want to eat it with complete abandon. Especially when someone else is feeding you, and you have trouble with what it is they've served. We ate at Mum and Dad's before a movie the other day and Mum made huge chicken and salad sandwiches. I dont particularly like sandwiches anyway, but it was like trying to eat a house brick! That feeling doesnt strike me all that often though, and its a small price to pay for how I look and feel these days.

I wasnt that big a fast food eater - having a family to feed, I always was somewhat mindful of a healthy diet. We did have periods where we ate WAY too much takeaway though - namely pizza, fish and chips, Chinese. I've always been a bit phobic of other types of fast food - I havent eaten KFC for probably 25 years, ick. I loathe Subway (such awful crappy bread), I'm not huge on any of that food really. So no, I dont miss it at all. Most of my fast food eating was not for actual meals, it was eating in food courts - muffins, cakes with cups of coffee. I dont really miss it because those foods HURT to eat so I've naturally lost my taste for them. Nonetheless, you do end up in McDonalds every now adn again and yes, its quite difficult. I can eat the nuggets or I can eat a small fries, and i'd get a coffee, while everyone else ate a full meal, easy solved. Very occasionally, I'll get a yearning for a Hungry Jacks (Burger King) double bacon deluxe, the only fast food burger I really like. I buy one, take off the bread and take it home to eat with a knife and fork. That's maybe once or twice a year.

Yeah, the littler mine get, the better they're looking. I still need a lift for them to look good naked, lol, but they're looking MUCH better these days - I even wore a singlet with a shelf bra the other day with NO bra on (only at home, lol). It was 110 degrees, too hot for any unnecessary clothes.

The post op liquid phase is NOTHING like the pre op one, dont worry. Its much much easier for many people. Its liquid, yes, but its not so strict - I mean a liquid is anytihng that goes up a straw. So you dont blend Mars Bars, lol, but you can have proper soup, things like meat, veges and lentils, blended up and that is much more satisfying than what you have to do pre op.

Wasabi peas are a good source of protein (and fibre) I have a bag here that says 13 grams per serve. I love them, they satisfy that nut craving - although I eat nuts, I try to eat them sparingly and not go near them when I crave them - mega calories and fat.

What's your weight doing? If you're still losing steadily, then it does not really matter how MUCH you eat, if it's comfortable and you're choosing healthy and eating at appropriate times. If you eat 3000 calories a day but lose weight on it, then it is not overeating, is it? But that said, when you feel you're beginning to eat more and you want to KEEP the weight coming off at a good rate, its normal and sensible to start thinking about a fill. But you're completely right, with increased restriction, will come more stuck episodes where you have trouble with someting. And with each new fill there is often another food that you have to cross off your list because you just cant eat it anymore. So save the fills for when you really need them. In this way, even though I'd like to be 10 lb lighter, I am already a fairly low weight, and I know that if I get another fill it will be goodbye to the idea of eating any fresh fruit or raw vegies like salads. I have trouble with them as it is. And I dont think that's a worthwile trade off for what isnt even technically "excess weight". it gets more and more like that the more restricted you get.

Good for you!

I've got Cathe's Muscle Max which is a pretty serious workout and I have Jari Love's Ripped to the Core, also for the advanced exerciser. I dont do them very often, I might throw in 2 weeks of either one of them rather than my usual circuit training just to break the routine, but I find weight lifting in the traditional style rather boring. Well, very boring, in fact I loathe it. I'd rather mix it up in a circuit that I just make up, that way no 2 workouts are ever the same. But I learned a lot of exercises from these DVD's. I also have a Treadmoves DVD that is a treadmill workout, which I liked at first but 3 years later, its lame as lame for me, I could do it five times and want more exercise. What I use religiously, either on my treadmill or outside, and continue to find challenging is the Cardio Coach series - MP3 interval cardio workouts. Awesome, and you never get too fit for them.

That's not an injury, that's just muscle soreness from the exertion. Its nothing to worry about. If you practice running faster, eventually it wont tax your body so much. the way to get faster is to do intervals - mix bursts of faster running (like 3/4 of your maximum effort) for a couple of minutes, with a slow, recovery pace. And add some true sprints too - 30 seconds flat out. Over time, this will greatly increase your fitness and its like a strength training workout for you legs. Some of your runs should jsut be slow and enjoyable too though, you shouldnt run fast or do intervals ALL the time. Experienced runners mix it up. A hard interval session can make me stiff and sore and i've been running for 3 years.

Think how great you will feel about yourself if you go into your surgery not having stuffed your face for weeks. By all means, say some goodbyes, but dont overdo it. Think how disgusted with yourself you'll feel if you've overeaten, heck pigged out, and gained weight. Youve made the decision to change your life. Dont put it off.