Jachut

None of it would worry me until he said restriction is a myth. WTF? What's the point then? I would worry that he didnt know that much about banding if he truly said that. or did he mean that PBing, sliming etc should not occur that if they do, you've done somethign wrong? That's definitely true. The likelihood is everyone will do things wrong occasionally, but if you're PBing and sliming regularly then your band is probably too tight or you're eating wrong.

That only happens to me if I'm busy - when I'm working full time on teaching rounds I notice I eat about 1000 a day, I eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and a fruit snack in the class with the kids. There's no opportunity for between meal eating. I think when I go back to work full time at the end of my degree (one year to go) I will lose weight. At the moment, my life doesnt have that sort of structure being a stay at home mum/student. I'm busy but I'm around the house, I get multiple opportunities to see food. Saturdays when we're busy with shopping and 3 basketball games, I often go from breakfast to dinner without eating - and without getting hungry.

I followed my post op diet to the letter, BUT (and yes, that's a big but) it was nothing like the post op diet many bandsters have on here - much less strict (thank goodness, what is with 3 weeks of clear liquids?). I had one day clear liquids (included coffee, which pretty much made my day's intake, lol). 3 weeks of gradually thickening liquids - juice, milk, fruit smoothies, Soups, yogurt and a couple of foods that I avoided - jelly, custard, pudding - all crap foods that do nothing for you and certainly add little nutrition int his important stage. As I was able to thicken liquids I was including stuff like lentil and vegetable Soup, with some real meat in it, blending a weetbix (wholegrain cereal) into a fruit smoothie, and even watering down family dinners where appropriate with chicken stock. 2 weeks of mushies - anything that was mushie, soft cooked fish, steamed veges, scrambled eggs, lentil dahl, soft salad vegetables, cooked and mashed fruit, yogurt etc. then cautiously onto solids Never a Protein shake was mentioned, and no calorie limit, protein grams to count or anything. Which is probably why I found it really very easy and even enjoyed each stage.

Huh? It is my understanding that when you're working out hard you need plenty of Protein in your system to provide the raw materials to rebuild the muscles you've damaged AFTER the exercise has occurred. When it comes to your body producing energy for your muscles, doesnt your body use circulating sugars in your blood, when that's depleted you use the glycogen from your muscles, followed by fat. That's why you use sports nutrition products like energy drinks and gels during a run - instant, quickly digested and converted carbohydrates, and afterwards you ingest a mix of protein (for repair) and a high GI carb to fill up that muscle glycogen that you've depleted. I didnt think your body "burned protein" or any type of calories specifically or in preference once over another. I know I sound argumentative, honestly I dont mean to. I want to understand this.

Mine was almost 36 Its been a resounding success, i went way past my initial goal and am now fit, healthy and running half marathons (well, almost, lol). There's some evidence from Australia that the band actually works even better for the lower BMI patients.

It does sound like a case of Chinese Whispers doesnt it?

Lol, I'll join that club. I piss myself laughing everytime I drive past the Harold Holt Swimming Pool in Malvern, here in Melbourne. Harold Holt was an Australian prime minister who drowned!

DH and I were banded 3 years apart, both at a BMI of 36. He had his back in June this year. He's really only starting to lose significant weight now with good restriction (finally). He hasnt lost as well as I did because he's really lazy and does no exercise, lol.

Fantastic! What an awesome time. I've broken the hour for a 10k but I slow down remarkably over the second ten, lol. What was your training schedule? Do you do long slow runs, interval runs, strength training, a combination?

I will get caned, lol, but I dont believe its necessary, as long as you do eat pretty well and get 50 or so grams a day anyway. Other than that I think calories are calories and adding more in the form of shakes on top of what you already eat isnt going to help a lot. I think if you're working out an hour a day at a high intensity you need more (but you need more of everything) and if you want to build enormous bulging biceps, you definitely need more. Protein in and of itself wont cause weight loss. Eating less calories than you burn causes weight loss.

No, they dont remove the band after a year. It is designed to stay there forever. When the band is removed, the patient inveitably regains the weight. Surely someone is pulling someone's leg? Even a layperson can find out better information than this surgeon has. If he has been trained to place the band then he has to have had access to proper information at some point in time, which is why I think someone is just joking around or trying to scare you. Erosion can occur when the band kind of erodes through the stomach. It is one of the recognised complications of the band, but it occurs very very seldom, I think the statistic is less than 1%. In 3 years on this board, I've only read of a couple of erosions, 3 maybe. One of the causes of erosion can be infection which starts at the port and travels up the tubing to the band.

I think where you find successful long term bandsters who have maintained, you will ALWAYS find a dedicated exerciser.

She's not talking about complications such as slippage, erosion or not being able to tolerate fills though. That can definitely occur. But even when it does, the tissue around the band does not simply waste away so you have to remove half your stomach and convert to bypass. That's ridiculous. Erosion can leave a nasty old mess in there for sure. But that's a teeny tiny percentage. In many many cases after slippage or erosion rebanding is entirely possible. Lapbands dont magically dissove your stomach! And if a surgeon had to do a "lot of reversals" because bands he puts in do that, I wouldnt let him touch me.

I was banded 9 December 3 years ago (huh, I just realised I missed my third bandiversary) and I faced this same issue. The newness of my band, the liquid regime I was on and my excitement at what I hoped to achieve were enough for me not to miss the Christmas goodies in the slightest that year. I had a whole year to adjust to banded life and I was able to simply enjoy what was on offer in very limited quanity the following year. By the third Christmas, I was at goal and the same deal - enjoy what's on offer in limited quantity, the same will apply this year. YOu honestly do lose that paranoia/urgency that you must eat as much as you can shovel down as fast as possible and not miss a single one of those goodies over time. You do become able to have one or two things and then stop at that. That first year, I had my Christmas dinner mushed up with gravy in the blender, a scant half cup or so of it. I was on mushies by then. And I had a teeny tiny piece of plum pudding, which is pretty mushy, with some brandy custard. As good a Christmas dinner as I've ever had. A glass or two of wine during the entire day and I was more than happy. Best Christmas I ever had in fact because I wasnt sleepy and full and I wasnt 4kg heavier next day!

Seriously, where do these doctors get their qualifications? Of the back of a Cornflakes Packet? That's the biggest load of bullsh*t I've heard yet. Its complete nonsense. The only tissue that wastes away from the area round the band and round your stomach is FAT. Which is good. Barring an awful complication like erosion of course. Seriously, if my doctor was talking rubbish like that I wouldnt trust him to put a band in me. I'd think either he doesnt know anything about the band at all or he's trying to manipulate me into another surgery.

Ack, I loathe doing that stuff. I find it completely a waste of time, not the least helpful and it pisses me off. I respectfully disagree with the above poster that it teaches you anything valuable. It is entirely personality dependent - I'm not in the least bit interested in that kind of stuff and I know why I overeat when I overeat - I dont need to write it down and analyse it. Honestly? I would make it all up. I'd try my best to eat well but if I broke my diet I wouldnt record it. I'd write what they want to see so I got recommended for surgery. That's not to say I wouldnt be trying to follow a diet I'd been given, and that I wouldnt sit down with said journal and fill it in, but I wouldnt be honest if I fell off the wagon. That's because I think its pathetic. How well you record in your journal whilst jumping through the hoops for the medical professional tells them jack shit about how successful you'll be with your lapband.

You know, you really cant ever completely ease up but you can allow things in like a nightly glass of wine. My weight loss simply petered out, it got slower and slower till I was just maintaining. But I keep the calories down, the food choices good, if I have a big day I pull back the next, I stop myself having too many of anything - too many glasses of wine, too many chips etc. I never gave up everything while I was losing though so it may be differnet for someone else. Over the last 3 years this has come to be normal for me, this way of eating, to someone just starting out their journey, they would probably consider I live my life on a diet. But that's what you have to get your head around, you can NEVER just eat what you want when you want and expect to stay thin and healthy. As for exercise, well I just keep working harder and harder, becuase I have other goals besides weight loss from my exercise, I work REALLY hard five days a week - maybe an hour long full body circuit, a 10km slower run or 40 minutes of really tough interval running. But it kind of grows on you throughout your journey - I know that sounds scary but my body copes with it now. The information in my surgery pack said that in all likelihood some years down the road the band will fail - probably the balloon will give way at some point in time, like 15 or 20 years. There simply isnt the long term data and the newer bands that they're doing now, three years down the track have been improved with this in mind. But I think you'd be unrealistic to expect that you'll never have another surgery related to your banding.

I've just had a bowl of muesli with some sliced mango and a dollop of greek yogurt for Breakfast (oh and about 3 coffees since I've been up). Today for lunch, I've got some leftover chicken from the other night (just marinated breast meat which we barbecued) and I'll make a salad to chop that into - lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red peper, onion and my obsession lately - salad sprinkles (sesame seeds and nuts) and lots of avocado. I love avocados, live on them. I'm doing a circuit in a little while after I've dropped my kids off at school, after a hard workout (I tend to burn 6 or 700 calories at a time) I try to have something with Protein and a high GI carb like a banana smoothie - some skim milk, a banana, some vanilla essence, we've got an entire tray of mangoes at the moment that we need to eat up so I might throw some more in that. dinner tonight we're having shepherd's pie - that's a mix of leftover roast lamb in a tomato/worcestershire sauce kind of thing, I always chuck in kidney Beans, left over roast veges such as onions, pumpkin and leftover peas, carrots and beans, then you top it all with mashed potato, sprinkled cheese and bake. Sometime this afternoon, I'll probably have something a bit naughty like a cookie or two with a cuppa, I usually do. That's a normal day for me, a couple of types of fruit, a few different veg, protein at lunch and dinner (I rarely eat protein breakfasts, cant stomach it in the morning, I need a carb hit) a small treat, some exercise..... Sounds a lot but its all pretty small quantities - no more than about 3/4 of a cup at a time.

Whilst I agree in principle, I can promise you that running builds your arms and shoulders to a lovely feminine tone and will eventually give you SUPER strong and flat abdominal muscles. My upper body is in fantastic shape from running.

I drink most of it after the meal, I might have a couple of sips during. The first drink I had after several weeks abstinence post surgery went straight to my head! But now, my capacity for and tolerance of alchohol is exactly the same as it ever was. Meaning I can cope with 3 glasses of wine before I start to get silly and four if I dont want a wicked hangover. Mostly I stick to one or two. Two if I'm out, one if I'm at home.

Truly, I think this is one of those surgeons thinking bandsters are bypass patients situations - my guess would be that he wants you to make the most of your "window" of opportunity to lose weight. Truth is, with the band there IS no such window. I stayed clear for a few weeks after surgery, as you do. During the time I was trying to lose, I tried to keep it to a couple of glasses of wine a week. Now I enjoy a small glass (1 standard drink) at night after dinner, maybe five nights of the week. My clinic's stats are that the regular moderate drinkers lose weight better than non drinkers - although they're unable to offer an explanation why. Certainly moderate wine intake is good for your heart. My mum's cardiologist tells her every time (she had a heart attack last year but is fit as a bull now) to make sure she continues a nightly red wine and to get her 3 daughters to do so too!

Hey, just realised you're in virtually the next suburb - I live iin narre Warren. Have you had a look at www.calorieking.com.au. Its much less Americanised, it recognises all our common everyday foods. On fitday you have to enter EVERYTHING as a custom food coz we dont have the same brands and our serving sizes are smaller too.

We're in Australia and were banded almost 3 years apart so no help to you. But it helps our lifestyle to both be banded. However, I'm a lot more committed and dedicated to my fitness than my husband is, despite having lived with me and seen how hard I worked to lose my weight, he still thinks the band should just do it all. Consequently he's lost about 30lb since June. But by the same token, he has nowhere near the same desire for physical perfection that I have. He's happy to be be healthier, come off his blood pressure medication and not have the threat of morbid obesity in his future. I'm a LOT vainer and want to look like a supermodel, lol. So even given that we have vastly different goals, I believe we're setting a heatlhy and moderate lifestyle example for our three kids.

Everyone's different. In Australia, they dont often give you a calorie range, because everyone IS different. If you're losing, you're eating the right amount, if you're not losing, you're probably eating too much. I lost on about 1500 a day and I maintain on anywhere up to 2000. If I ate 2000 too many days in a row I would gain a bit, 1500 to 1800 is better and keeps me where I want to be. A lot of people said why would you even need a band if you can eat that much, but sadly, my natural appetite directs me to eat more. I'm 5ft 10 and very active thought.

Just teeny tiny burgers really - chicken mince, egg, herbs and spices, maybe somne breadcrumbs, form into a pattie and shallow fry or barbecue.