Jachut

That's exactly what I do, read the title, think oooh interesting and go on in. In fact my computer screen is so configured that I cant even see the forum its in without purposely scrolling across. And obviously it IS a problem Susan because more than once, a thread has been disrupted by arguments like this because people take it as you poking your nose in where you werent welcome. I'm always willing to apologise for that if its what happens. But not to people who accuse me of barging in in my bikini to patronise :-)

I've had fantastic results with mine, I've gone way past my original goal weight and I dont have much in the way of loose skin to show for it. I guess I was a slow loser but I was fitter, stronger and more able to exercise from the get go, I got over the surgery very quickly, I didnt have health problems that would prevent me from exercising, etc etc and I suspect I didnt have some of the enormously challenging eating/coping/emotional problems that come from being severely obese for a long time to overcome either. Its got way more to do with your attitude and how committed you are to losing weight than it has to do with your starting weight. I vowed never to diet again and I havent, I eat what I want in small quantities, I choose well 9/10 of the time and I exercise regularly. Commitment to that is all it took for me.

We have one side of the family that is solidly built, that's Dad's side. German heritage, and we're all tall, and pear shaped. Tend to be heavy, but getting to a BMI of 36 was really alarmingly heavy to me, way fatter than mum, dad or either of my sisters. My youngest sister is built like me, but just has never got beyond a BMI of (I'm guessing) 31 or 32. Mum's side is short and round, lol. My mum has never been obese, but her sister is, but she's a diabetic and has been since infancy, she got massive at one point but lost it all and never regained it. But her daughter, is very very big, probably a BMI of 45 or so. But those are the only two in our family. So I dont think I can blame genetics for my weight, it was much more poor lifestyle choices and lack of time that led to poor choices. Plus the common post pregnancy suddenly home looking after babies all day type weight gain.

Believe me, if you can eat a cup and a half of Pasta in five minutes flat, you need a fill. If you can eat a cup and a half of pasta but it takes an entire hour, that doesnt necessarily mean you need a fill. It means you should stop eating after 20 minutes or so. You can still eat a LOT of food if you nibble it over a long time period, very bad habit to get into. But being able to eat faster over time is a sign your restriction is lessening. You dont HAVE to have a fill unless your weight loss is suffering, but if you can eat a lot in a short period of time, your band would be pretty loose. With good restriction, if you do that, you'll probably be sick and definitely suffer discomfort.

Exactly Heartfire, that's what happened. This entire thread is not even about weightloss or me parading around in a bikini, its about a very strange, very angry and very rude person who went off the deep end at quite a moderate post that was intended to be helpful. Typing in caps, abusing someone for their avatar photo and belittling their challenges, only to come back with I had a miscarriage so there!, completely forgetting the fact that probably several of us here have suffered the same tragedy, is seriously warped. So maybe, even though the people in my world who suffer sleep apnoea manage to look after themselves, I had no business speaking up without a medical degree. More likely I inadvertantly posted in a June 2008 thread where the advice of longer term bandsters wasnt wanted - this is a real problem with the way this forum works by the way, this happens ALL the time, becuase lots of us use the New Posts function. There was no call for what spewed forth, and the OP is entirely responsible for the direction this thread took. I'd feel awful if I pounced on someone who only wanted genuine advice. I didnt, and nor did anyone else, we responded to the abuse we got for daring to presume to know her.

There is the skin thing to consider, and I dont want to lose any more weight either, for exactly that reason. But with the age and what you used to weigh when you were 20 issue, again, its a choice but there is absolutely NO physiological reason why you cant weigh at 47 what you did at 20. None at all. People get heavier as they get older because they get less active and fail to eat less to compensate. Simple as that. You can easily weigh what you did at 20 if you decide you want to. Heck, I weight less at 41 than I did at 16, AND I wasnt even *very* overweight at 16, just slightly over the top of my healthy weight range.

Unfortunately, it takes quite hard work to lose weight with a lapband. But I dont think one single person on this forum wasnt a little bit deluded that it would be a bit magical and effortless, so dont get down on yourself. It is ENTIRELY normal to not lose (and even gain after doing that stupid Optifast!) at first while you work it all out. And out of any group of obese people, you are definitely going to find some whose bodies simply do not behave the way they are meant to when calories are restricted. You have to watch the calories, exercise regularly and get good restriction, which can take a few months. And then you'll be away. So just take it as a learning experience, dont worry about it or feel guilty about it and look towards getting all the elements working in harmony. Good luck!

Without a doubt, the rudest things have been said to me here. Its the "it was easier for you because you dont have sleep apnoea, you werent as fat as me, you dont have two heads" variety of excuses that piss me off the most. Of course it wasnt any easier for me than anyone else, I just chose to stop with the excuses and self delusions when I got banded. That's WHY I got banded, because I was ready to get real and get on with it. I also get a lot of the "you're just a mean reformed fatty" comments. When people dont like real, honest, practical advice and instead want to be told that its OK never to exercise because you have sleep apnoa and that makes you special and you will lose weight without any exercise even though nobody else can, they can cut up VERY nasty. And rude. So I'm some magically gifted person upon whom some greater being decided to bestow this wonderful, effortless weightloss for which I had to do absolutely nothing? And its fine for ME to run an hour a day because I like it, and that makes it somehow effortless, whereas poor baby who's having a go at me, doesnt like it therefore how can SHE be expected to exercise? Man, those assumptions are far far ruder and more offensive than anything that was ever said to me in a previous fat life.

Work them into your plan, nuts are a superfood, they're full of good fats that are good for your heart! You're well and truly at goal now anyway arent you? You dont need to overly restrict healthy foods. Nuts are great, everyone should eat them (apart from the allergic of course!)

hahaha, look at all those tests, I love it! Congratulations!

Oh boy, drop the bomb and then nick off with the last word? OK, you can have it. You can assume that nothing so awful has ever happened to me if it makes you feel justified. And of course, you know for a fact that nobody else posting here has ever been through anything like what you've had to endure. Goodbye cruel world!

I was just instructed to eat till satisfied, and to adjust fills according to how my weight loss was going. Like you say, some days were higher calorie than others. But throughout my weightloss I would have averaged about 1500 calories a day, and now I'd eat about 1500 to 1800 as I dont hold back quite so much on a few indulgences now and then, like a glass of wine, or some chocolate after dinner etc. I run an hour a day though, so do burn off quite a few doing that.

I was like this for simply ages, I thought I was the only person in the banded world loose in the morning and tight at night. It suited me quite well as I believe in a good Breakfast, but then again, at night is when I eat most of my vegies and Protein so it sort of wasnt ideal. But over time, it has passed, I'm much more typically tightish in the morning and more able to eat a decent dinner these days. I just wish I was blocked shut for an hour or two at about 3 to 5pm!

Hehehe, I'm pretty sure different as we do it, neither American nor Australian doctors would recommend a bucket of hot chips at your kids basketball and a huge vanilla slice (delicious concoctions of choux pastry and vanilla custard) as your entire day's intake - I kid you not. Ugh. I feel sick. I cant even think of any dinner. Boy it was good though. Luckily, that's a maybe once in an entire YEAR day's eating for me. Oh, I had about four cups of coffee as well and might as well finish it off with a wine. Stupid thing is, because it very high calorie but very low volume I'll probably have lost weight tomorrow!

I've seen frusterated rather than frustrated more than once too. There's a few more that I just can't think of right now that have left me quite dumbfounded too, such obvious common words to be misspelled. I guess my colour, neighbour, favour, grey etc look pretty weird too though. I hate the spellcheck on MS Word becuase its all American and you just dont realise how many things we spell differently here. We have to add SO many words to the dictionary! And my 12 year old has just shown me how to change it, d'oh.

It varies month to month for me.

Oh, Lulu, some people just cant face reality. I think rather than get upset with them, we should all chip in and buy them Lane Bryant vouches for Christmas. They're gonna need them. Good for you Ceredad. You wont get any arguments from me. Course, we're all crazy and obsessed and have forgotten what it was like to be fat.

Ack, it drives me NUTS too. I have a friend on another forum whom I also know in real life. She always types cloths for clothes. I smack her about the head everytime I see her.

Dont people just love to dramatize? This is really pretty stupid, considering its a very short, very safe, very uncomplicated procedure. There is always a small risk with anaesthetic but its very very tiny. The operation itself is not very dangerous, there's no disconnecting your heart and lungs, or taking a kidney or a section of your bowel for example! I dont know why people dont worry about the risk of dying when they have a baby, that's possible too but they dont spend their entire pregnancy worrying about it! Well, most people dont. Relax, the risk of remaining obese is MUCH greater than the risk of dying of the anaesthetic or the surgery which are absolutely miniscule.

Ugh, no. I had to have an unfill a month ago after I flew whilst I had my period. I've never had any effect from flying before. You really ARE in a spot of bother, about all you can do is stick with liquids, and any calorie filled liquid you can find - milk, orange juice, anything like that. Yogurt might be OK, I actually block up really easily on yogurt for some strange reason. You wont starve to death in four days even if you only get down coffee and Water, but that isnt going to be pleasant. I hope you're not actually phyiscally hungry at the same time! Hang in there!

It makes sense though, becuase the clitoris is much more than just the bit you can see, it has branches that extend down, and perhaps some people's can be stimulated through the vagina? depending on personal anatomy, everyone's built slightly differently. I have a funny story about vibrators. We didnt even order any, about three weeks ago we got a slip in the mail box saying there was a parcel at the post office that we had to go and collect as we werent home when it was delivered. I go over to the local post office and the lady comes out with this huge box, really heavy. Plastered all over the side of the box was a huge lable SASSY VIBES. I just about died of embarrassment and the PO lady had a smirk on her face, it was obvious they'd all been having a joke at this big box of vibrators. We never ordered anthing, I protested. Oh, yeah, suuuuuuuuuure you didnt say the post office staff, lol. Truly we didnt, but we opened it anyway (as you do, of course). It was all gift wrapped, couldnt see any of the items but the invoice had stuff like Big Bertha and Tonsil Tickler and a whole lot of books about "pleasures for one", roflmao!!!! Doug was all for opening them all then and there, but I said no, how embarrassing will it be if they figure it out and we've opened it all. Sure enough, a few days later someone rings, there's two Hutchinson's on their records (that's where our bullet came from) an they sent it to the wrong one, could we send it back marked Return to Sender. Trouble is I have to go BACK to the PO with the big Sassy Vibes box! Who dares me to say to the post office lady "oh, this one didnt work, I need the mega power kickstart model"?

Lol, sometimes i dont realise I must sound strange A dummy is a pacifier, you know what a baby has. Hence when someone throws a fit in a really immature way over nothing much at all, simply out of pique and bad temper because she didnt get what she wanted, we say she spat the dummy, just like a toddler would do getting ready for a big tantrum (tanty). What else do we say.....hmmmm..... chuck a wobbly, crack the sads..... that's all I can think of right now. Pretty much sums up what's happened here I think.

No doubt about it, losing weight without exercise (and therefore losing your muscle) will worsen loose skin. I have been pretty pleased with how lightly I got out of this but I will say I only average 40 to 50 grams of Protein a day and I dont have loose skin. They dont tell you to do protein first or to get any particular amount of protein in Australia - so that would tend to suggest to me that EXERCISE is the most important factor. I get most of my exercise with running, I just do some basic bodyweight stuff like pushups and tricep dips for toning, as I really dislike working with weights. Its been enough, I have plenty of visible muscle tone! And running has well and truly taken care of my lower body, my legs are like steel and my stomach is flat. But I still do have *some* loose skin, my boobs are wrecked and I have a really saggy bum. I think the only way to prevent loose skin after weight loss is to not lose any weight. Other than that its down to luck and genetics.

Eating too much will probably make you PB but you know when you're doing that, to PB from eating too much means you would have to eat past your body's signals to stop, it doesnt just happen unexpectedly. Its usually too big a bite, or not chewing properly that does it. And it can happen with your first bite but by the time it registered, you've eaten two or three more bites and you're in trouble. I've found by far the most effective tactic to avoid PBing is not so much ridiculously tiny bites or chewing till your teeth fall it, its waiting in between bites to make sure one has gone down right before you take another! Like put your fork down and wait. Lots of tiny bites chewed well one right after another will cause me to PB or have discomfort just as much as a big badly chewed one.

I'm so intrigued by this because I like to look like I've made an effort but I really loathe a full face of makeup. Its that sunlight look. You can put your makeup on and it looks OK inside and then you see it in sunlight and its just so obvious and layered on thick and it looks truly awful. I much prefer bare faces, only my bare face needs some help. My main problem though is that I have dark undereye circles and slight redness around the nose and chin. So I definitely need light foundation. And that's what tends to look ugly out in the daylight, although mineral stuff is good. So if you wear a light foundation, does that "cover up" the eyeliner so that you need to go over it with a pencil anyway? Lol Susan, I've actually dreamed of losing all my hair and having an excuse to just wear a wig everyday. My hair is the biggest pain in the bum you could imagine. My latest is to have a shower and do it at night , then sleep on it to squash the frizz out so I dont have to bother in the morning.