Jachut

Ah, here's where I admit to my charm bracelet habit. I got a Pandora bracelet for my 40th last year. Are those as huge there as they are here? Anyway, the plan was that people would buy me a bead for every special occasion, it would do for birthdays and Christmases for a few years to come. Um, it was filled in 4 months *shamefaced*. I simply couldnt wait. Bugger waiting till I'd lost a pound, lol!

Well, yes, Atkins is very high fat, I'd be most alarmed to see anyone promoting that these days! Unless you base Atkins on the right fats - fish, olive oil etc, and not saturated animal fat. Its fantastic that its worked for you but the jury is still out on whether its safe. That's far from proven. The thing is, Atkins style diets didnt solve obesity in the 60's and 70's when they were all the rage and they're hardly likely to work any differently now. Nor did the high carb low fat way of eating all through the 80's and 90's solve anything - heart disease or obesity or any related diseases. Carbs doesnt mean highly processed white carbs, it means legumes, Beans, fruit, vegetables and wholegrains. Those are what I eat and what my diet is based on, for me, the Protein is a secondary consideration, not the primary, that's the only difference to what you're talking about. Its not that we eat an entirely different diet here, its just configured a bit differently. Its not generally believed that protein is the most important nutrient, its only ONE of the important nutrients. But we're not talking a diet of protein, veggies and fruit as compared to a diet of white bread, cake and soda. I think its important not to view this as a right or wrong thing though. They just dont really know! And till then, I think you have to stick with what you feel comfortable with, what you can live with and what works for YOUR body. All things in moderation is probably a pretty safe motto. No food is completely band. Red wine may be empty sugar and alcohol calories on the one hand yet it is known to be full of flavanoids and antioxidents and offer heart protective benefits. So is it evil or good? Wholegrains give you slow release energy, valuable Vitamins and minerals and are very good for your bowels. You can guarantee most bandsters dont get their 30g of fibre a day! So are they good or evil? We need protein for the building blocks of our bodies but too much will give you gout, kidney stones and at the expense of other foods problems like constipation. It also comes packed with saturated fat, and if you drink soy based Protein shakes, there are dangers in excess soy consumption too! So it would seem sensible not to eat any food to the expense of any others.

Its most likely you will have some loose skin. Look at your stretchmarks. If you have a lot of them all over your stomach, your skin is pretty shot thee and its most likely it wont bounce back. wherever there are stretchmarks, you're probably going to have loose skin. And even where there arent stretchmarks you're probably going to have loose skin. But you can be lucky. Mine is minimal, but its there, after 100lb. But certainly not surgery worthy. Just a bit crinkly in spots. Except my breasts which are ruined, and that's got as much to do with six years of breastfeeding as with weight loss. Its hardly as if they were pert before, you could have guessed what the end result would be. However, the cellulite I had on the backs of my thighs/buttocks is still there, boo hoo. Its good luck and genetics and there isnt much you can do to prevent it. Hopefully with such a relatively moderate weight loss you will be just fine.

I've lost 100 lb. I guess you wouldnt say I have "excess skin" but I'm not as firm as you would expect someone with a BMI of 22 who runs for an hour five days a week to be. I have more flesh than I should have at this weight. But I dont have skin hanging that needs surgical removal. What does worry me though is that in another 10 years, it may really be hanging, lol. I guess I would have some surgery if that were the case.

Crikey! (to use a colloquialism). I even get my nose out of joint at wedding registries. Like my g/friend getting married next month, all they've got is contributions at a travel agency. They've got stuff, they've been living together, they've both been married before. They're not even insisting that that's ALL they want, they're happy for you to buy a gift you've thought of yourself. I just keep thinking, what if I put $200 into the travel registry and only a couple of other people do the same. They've not got enough then for a holiday and my $200 just sits there uselss for however long until they've got the money to add to it. Or friends that dont want to ask for expensive presents so put tons of $20 crap on their registry and there's nothing there to buy as a big group present, or anything that costs even remotely as much as the price per head for each guest (which, etiquette dictates, is about how much you spend on the pressie). But birthday parties? Sheesh. I'd buy him a $5 huge lollypop just to really piss his parents off. That would really annoy me. Birthday parties are out of control these days, we really feel the pressure with our kids. I got one or two in my entire childhood, they want bigger and better every year. We have a rule $300 per birthday (older kids). That means big party and that's all. Or small party and reasonable amount for presents. Or no party and a really good present, like a DS and a game or two. Their choice. But I aint doing parties and big presents! Eliza's had one birthday party, she's five. Before that she had no friends, lol. She got tons of cheap crap that got thrown away a month later. Which is exactly as it should be because that mean that every mother took her daughter to choose Eliza's present and they chose the most beautiful sparkly things that five year old hearts desire. Where's the fun if they're told what to buy? For a kid buying the present for a friend is special.

I think losing interest in what you're eating is half the success behind the band! It is not that difficult to do once the band is there becuase you learn pretty quickly the bad effects of NOT doing it.

Everyone is so different. I was in barely any. I was up and walking within a few hours. The first few hours felt like someone had grabbed my stomach with a fist and squeezed hard. But its hard to say how much pain that was in that groggy post anaesthetic morphine haze. Once all that wore off I was more than fine. I came home the next day and went for a walk. But I'd hate to mislead people because it is differnet for everyone. I mean I gave birth without pain relief twice and I dont think giving birth hurts that much. For which people most probably would like to stone me! I honestly dont. Nor was a caesar much to recover from. Fingers crossed that its like that for you. But realistically, its not a HUGE operation and whilst there is likely to be post op discomfort, its not usually major or uncontrollable. The most problematic thing is usually the gas which starts in a day or two later.

I'd say the same as Fanny, lingerie! And lights off, naturally. Only very brave people could have sex with the lights on. This must be really hard. I know my pic is up there in my bikini but I'm really shy about the tiny amounts of excess skin that I do have. And I know thats exactly like the thin girl saying she's fat and fishing for complements, but believe me, everyone has body insecurities. If he's worth it, it wont matter to him. I think of it in terms of the way I look at DH. He's gained about 80lb since we met (as had I!). He's obese now. If I looked at him objectively, he's not as attractive as he was as a fit, muscly 18 year old. But the thing is I *dont* look at him that way. I dont break him apart and look for his flaws. He's my DH and I love him and therefore I find him desirable. If this is the right guy for you and the relationship is on the right track, he wont look at you that way. You know, even PS wont take these feelings away, because there's going to be some pretty major scarring. We simply have to learn to love what we have. Best of luck and I hope you can get the PS thing sorted too.

They dont really do gastric bypass here, its all band. But at a BMI of 36 I wouldnt have ever considered a gastric bypass. Way way way too drastic and risky for a moderate obesity problem with no comorbidities. I havent found hunger to be too much of an issue, I get hungry, sure, but then I eat something. Like normal people do. I dont get inappropriately hungry anymore.

Its what I just did, ugh. On Soup no less. I can eat bread, I can eat rice, I can eat red meat. But I cannot eat vegetable soup. Why do I persist in trying? I'm late for an appointment now. PBing is not pleasant, but not too dreadful either. Its more inconvenient (and embarrassing if the need occurs in public). Its not uncontrollable, you're not likely to puke at the dinner table, but it is annoying to be locked in the bathroom with everyone waiting for you. Thank god, it doesnt happen often for me, only a couple of times in three years.

Slimmy many people still have overly large breasts after weight loss, if nature dictates that is what their shape is. I have that empty top bit too, I was large breasted but am not now, I'm still a D but on my five foot ten frame, that's not really big. I've had some initial consults about my boobs, which are very saggy and completely flat on top. I've had two main pieces of advice. First is that yes, a breast lift is what you need, we can fix all that but the other guy said no, you have too much loose empty skin on the tops of your breasts and will get a better result with an implant as well as a lift. Not sure. I like not having big boobs. I dont want big boobs. But if I can get an implant that will fill out that top portion but not make me noticeably bigger I will. To the OP, I'd say now is a great time to start looking for a surgeon.

A little bit. Being able to dress the way I want to and present myself how I want to, and for me, that's in quite a young way. I often wonder whether I draw the line and become mutton dressed as lamb, lol. Like should one wear skinny leg jeans with boots at 40? Should I still wear a bikini? But I'm still a mum of young kids and a university student as well. I dont want some blowsy, big hair, big makeup look either, I want to be casual, make up free and natural. I dunno. I dont FEEL old. But I'm starting to get the first signs of aging. Is having breast work silly at 40? Like will I be some pathetic sixty year old with everything gone to gravity except for a big pair of plastic boobs? Lol, its difficult. I dont want to start having PS and then find I look like Jocelyn Wildenstein in 10 years time either. I have no desire to go clubbing though. Or behave as anything other than a 40 year old mother.

Oh, if only he knew he was more intimately acquainted with you than he could possibly imagine!

I do. I eat bread, Pasta and rice, but not the white version, good wholeground ones. It hasnt stopped me losing weight at all, and I was happy with the pace of my weight loss but compared to a lot of others, it was slow. Then again, I've had a 100lb weight loss and dont need any plastic surgery, so maybe that has something to do with it? I feel truly awful if I dont eat carbs, I cant run well, that's for sure. White refined carbs though - sugary ones, evil! Nobody needs them. And my diet is less carb based than it once was, the ratio between Protein, carbs and fat, and the type of fat I eat has changed a lot. I did used to eat carbs carbs carbs and nothing but. Still, I do eat about 150g of carbs a day, in good, low GI form. I still eat a diet based on the traditional food pyramid, but obviously, I burn it off. I guess i follow the low GI theory, not the low carb theory. Moderate wholegrain breads, cereals, lots of Beans, lentils, fruit and vegetables, very minimal biscuits, cakes, etc.

A tiny little silver bullet (about 3 inches long and slender). It does the job, it fits between us and its metal, so the vibrations are powerful. I have absolutely no interest in enormous phallic shaped implements with flashing lights! And anything silicone damps the vibrations and doesnt work as well in my experience. Pretty much I'm not into toys so a little bullet shaped implement is about the most I can cope with and even then, that doesnt get much action.

No, it feels kind of gratuitous to me, and I dont believe in holding off on things (like living your life!) till your weight is this or that exact amount. I know it helps others but to me its no motivation at all, probably because I"m incredibly self indulgent and buy whatever I want, whenever I want it, lol.

You dont make it clear about whether you are having trouble eating regular foods or whether you mean you just cant eat large portions. If you are having trouble eating any meat for example, and are relying on ice cream instead, you're too tight. Weirdly, it can be much easier to lose weight with a looser band that allows you to eat filling foods. I had some fill removed recently and just ate a salad roll for lunch (bread roll, lettuce, tomato, carrot, cheese, beetroot, sprouts and cucumber). I couldnt quite finish it but boy was it filling. But the kind of filling that sticks with you for hours and coz I measured it and counted the calories I know it was 370. By contrast a few weeks back I was eating Soup for lunch because I was too tight to get anything much down. Rich, pumpkin soup with Peanut Butter and sour cream in it. Easily 370 calories. And then nibbling on a few Cookies an hour or two later coz I was hungry. And then eating only half my dinner, giving up becuase it hurt and having another glass of wine instead. And then feeling hungry an hour or two later and having some ice cream. I'm sure you get the picture. I'm doing much better on three really decent meals a day and being able to eat healthy foods like an apple, or a small piece of grilled steak etc. I didnt mean to get so tight, it was a combo of PMT and a plane flight, it jsut kind of happened suddenly and then I didnt recover from it. But it definitely didnt result in weight loss or in feeling good.

Noooooo.....but I get your point. I need my band but I have not needed the high levels of restriction others talk about. I havent needed to low carb it or eat 800 calories a day etc. But I did get to 70kg which was 120% of my excess weight lost and wanted to go just a bit lower and got a fill I didnt really need. I wasnt enjoying how tight I was and i wasnt enjoying the quality of my diet so I just had a bit removed, so I'm .2 cc less than what I was when I had that unneeded fill. I'm really hungry! I can eat so much more! My weight did rebound up a little, jsut by 3lb and I have that under control now. I'm tempted to go back and top up just a little more, but really, I feel I ought to be able to control this now, and I really WANT to control it myself. For the first time in my banded journey, Ive begun calorie counting. I really believe if we dont learn the skills to manage this weight thing that we're never going to keep it off. But I really did need my band to get it off in the first place and I'm sure that though I'm hungrier and eating a bit more, my band is still working for me, that it would be MUCH harder without it there. You've done incredibly well. But personally, I wouldnt remove the band. What a bonus to have it in there, remain unrestricted but have it for the future if you ever need it. Why have another surgery? You're really unlikely to have problems with a completely empty band.

I've got sciatic issues but I find that running, although it is hard on your body, really helps manage it. Regular running and diligent stretching keeps me flexible, mobile and in less pain overall than if I sit on the couch. That's when I stiffen up and get sore. Like you say Greythorpe, exercise is also at least as effective with milder cases of depression as medication is, and it helps your meds to work a lot better.

Ah, no. My head is fine.

Post anaesthetic nausea is different to throwing up as a result of being too tight or eating wrong though. Plenty of people puke right after surgery becuase anaesthetics make them nauseous. They'll probably have something in your IV for that, particularly if you know you're prone to it. Thankfully I have cast Iron guts and never puke after anaesthetics, lol.

I was never told no caffeine, in fact when I asked my doc based on what I'd read on here, he laughed at me. They just dont do "rules" like that here. Same on soda. Its not some evil thing no bandster can ever have, just not an "everyday food". But my main vice is too much coffee. I've managed to wean myself off the caffeine, easily too becuase the caffeine was never what I drank coffee for. I have about 3 caffeinated cups a day and those are only instant coffee, I usually buy one skim latte a day and I'd have another three or four decaf instant coffees. Its my main Fluid intake. I just plain dont like cold drinks. Everything I drink is hot. I do drink three or four large glasses of Water a day before and after my run and during my run, if its longer than 5k I always take a 500ml bottle of Endura with me. But I have to be really post exercise thirsty to enjoy cold drinks. If I am thirsty though, the only thing I ever have is water. I dont drink juice, sodas or anything like that. A glass of wine at night is nice though I suspect that doesnt count for your fluid intake. Despite all that supposedly diuretic coffee, I dont pee anymore than the next person and its always clear, I'm not dehydrated. And the diuretic effect of caffeine is markedly reduced when you're used to it anyway. I know caffeine can be a stomach irritant, but it also has some health benefits, protection against diabetes being one of them. So although my coffee habits are a bit out there (but again, its not that much actual caffeine, falls within safe levels at 50mg or so for a cup of instant), I wouldnt hesitate to encourage someone to enjoy a cup now and again!

I really believe that you have to find your own level of calories, nobody can do that for you. Not the doctor, not the nutritionist and not the little calcs you find online. Based on my body size, weight, level of activity etc, I technically need 2,600 calories a day to maintin my 154lbs. Right. That's why I became obese on that sort of an intake. I ate plenty of crap, for sure, but I was never a MdDonalds for breakfast, KFC for lunch, Italian pasta pig out for dinner, 4000 per day kind of eater. I am now 154lb after being banded, I run for an hour five times a week, I have 3 kids and am active at home, lots and lots of shopping, housework, on my feet all day kind of stuff. And I need about 1800 calories to maintain. Any more than that and I start to gain. Which means I can eat 3 solid meals a day but really need to watch the extras like in between meal snacks, wine, chocolate etc. So I listen to my own body, not what someone else calculates for me. Its the only way. If you're not lising on a reasonably healthy intake of 1300 or so then perhaps you need to tweak it a little, I'd suggest slightly less food (for which you may need a fill) combined with slightly more exercise if that's doable, purely so you can continue taking in reasonable nutrition.

I think it happens to everyone eventually, you will slip up and eat something too fast or something just wont go down. But it should not be a regular occurrence. For me, its been like five or six times in three years and I made it the entire first year before it happened.

Personally, I wouldnt eat less than what you are. I'm 5t 10 and female and I couldnt survivie on 1000 calories a day or less. I think you're probably undereating. Protein, I dont know. I eat about 50 grams a day and dont focus on it like you guys are told to do, I eat carbs and I lost 120% of my "excess weight" but I've certainly been able to lose the last 5kg I'd like to. I think you just get to a point where weight loss is soooooo slow and virtually impossible. I would try eating a bit more, and see what happens. But it did take me a year to lose the last 10lb that I lost. It just got really really slow and then petered out into maintenance.