Jachut

You're not a loser if you can step up to the plate and start again! Seeing your doc regularly is so important, I feel silly going when I have nothing to ask, nothing to tell and dont need a fill, but to go at least every 6 months keeps everything on track and would enable me to get on top of any problems before they become big ones. So you're doing the right thing. Best of luck.

I always thought it was the risk of blood clots too - I remember having to come off the pill to have my wisdom teeth out when I was about 20 so its not something new.

Wow, what a lovely subtle and natural result! You must be thrilled, you look lovely, not at all stitched up and "done". I'm gonna start saving now!

Chickie, I'm SO glad everything has turned out OK for you, thank goodness it wasnt erosion or anything sinister like that. Pah to more surgery though!

I've always remained quite loose also, I'm not sure why I tightened up so much since that last fill, it was only .1. I have been having quite a few girlie problems at the moment and I suspect that has a lot to do with it. The fill was fine for me for 6 weeks or so and then gradually I just got tighter and tighter. I'm going in for a laparoscopy later in the year (putting it off until after my half marathon, lol) and I wonder if I'll need to be unfilled for that, pumping your abdomen full of gas must make you tighter.

Well I had an unfill! And I feel so much better for it. Just goes to show that you dont have to have the typical symptoms of being too tight to be, well, too tight. I have just noticed my eating habits and behaviours took a nose dive since the last fill and when I tried to remember when I last ate dinner, I mean, some meat, some potatoes and some vegies type dinner, I actually couldnt. I actually couldnt remember when I last ate a proper lunch either. I was eating about half a cup of food at a time but that just plain isnt enough food for me, I dont care what the conventional "rules" say about that. Its not enough for me. last night I had a lamb loin chop, some mashed potato, broccoli and carrot. I had half a lamb kebab for lunch - full of tabouli, onion and tomato, then a bit later I had a mandarine. I had a piece of wholegrain toast with Peanut Butter for Breakfast. That's a MUCH better day's eating than coffee, more coffee, a few Cookies, then a cappucino at the shops, with the free cinnamon donut mind you, then a bit of a nibble at some cheese and crackers in the afternoon, then an abortive attempt at dinner. Its amazing how you can just not see what's right in front of your face. And I was 68kg this morning to boot. Havent been ANY hungrier, still need to eat carefully, but can definitely eat properly. What a difference .2ml makes. So much so, I'm going to tackle 14kms this weekend!

This is such a myth, and the thing that makes me about it is that even the personal trainers spew it forth - well you can get a personal training qualification on the back of a corn flakes packet in Australia! Exercise performed at a 60 to 80% of your max heart rate (and for many people this means walking rather than jogging) will burn a greater proportion of fat than exercising at a higher heart rate. There's also the rather beneficial fact that you can probably keep doing it for the 40 minutes to an hour that's recommended. So why would you run? Firstly, if you can jog that hour, you'll go further therefore you'll burn more calories in total. And even if you burn a different mix of carbs/fat, you'll burn MORE fat overall running for an hour than walking because of the fact that you burn more calories. But more importantly, once you're conditioned to run - because undeniably running is harder and your cardiovascular system and bodily energy systems will adapt and become much stronger than they will even with power walking, you will eventually find yourself in a situation like this. When I wear a heart rate monitor, I find these days I am running but my heart rate stays between 120 and 140 bpm - my personal 60 to 80% range. So running actually becomes an ideal fat burning exercise, not a very intense one. I can talk while I run, I dont breath particularly heavily, it is definitely aerobic and in the fat burning zone. But if I hadnt pushed it at first I never would have gotten here. Now what would you rather, walk for an hour and burn 400 calories, or work at it till you can run for an hour and burn 800? If both are within the fat burning range, which do you think will help you lose and maintain weight the most? Furthermore, interval training, where you have bursts of VERY intense exercise (like sprinting) blows them both out of the Water when it comes to elevated metabolism and fat burning in the hours after! So why not incorporate a bit of each. Have a few nice steady walks a week, and two interval sessions? Your fitness will increase amazingly with the interval sessions and you may wish jog either in future as you get fitter or now if you're already there. I do know that I've NEVER had exercise results like I've gotten from running and I've been quite active all my life. I walked for long periods of time and it never ever gave me the results that running has. I have an entirely different body, one that is actually two entire sizes smaller than it was last time I weighed this much in my teens. But of COURSE, all that comes when you're ready. If walking is a challenging activity then that's what's right just now. Its hardly as if its not valuable exercise!

Its probably nerves, but I wouldnt take any more/other medication for it. If you're actually ill, it will probably become evident by morning, and there's nothign you can really do, fingers crossed for you that that's not the case. It sounds like you're a bit wound up and probably are gassy as a result.

But see, for someone to sit there and blab on about it like that, I suspect its not a true eating disorder, more a personality disorder. I listened to similar in the waiting room a few months back, these two ladies came in, both pretty obese, both had gained and were talking about it. "I'm going to give that doctor a piece of my mind" said one. "oh, yes, I can eat ANYTHING too, I ate a whole big mac meal the other day". On and on it went. Its pathetic. That's not an eating disorder, its a refusal to step up to the plate and do your bit to make the band work! Its obvious they both just wanted something to do all the work for them, and they had this "I bought a faulty item" mentality where it wasnt working and they were going to darn well complain about it. That's so different to true anorexia, bulimia or compulsive overeating. In fact I think if you really suffered those first and foremost you would probably know that you had a lot of sorting to do before you were banded, or at the very least you would have informed your surgeon and sought outside assistance with it. You wouldnt be bitching about it in someone's waiting room. 21 ice cream bars is just bloody stupid and she deserves what she gets for that quite frankly. Sooner or later you have to grow up and accept that you wont get the outcome you desire without putting the work in.

I was never really told a goal but when I asked because I'd seen so much about it on here, I was told 40 to 50 grams is ample. Furthermore, I was told by my doctor that that formula is supposed to be based on your IDEAL body weight not your current, because your current body weight includes an awful lot of metabolically inactive fat.

I'm suffering with it a lot lately, but I really think my body is trying to tell me that it does need more food. I had a fill back in Feb, a teeny .1. I didnt even notice that it had an effect but gradually over the months, it has tightened up to the point where I'm eating around 1200 calories a day. I run an hour most days and I no longer need to lose weight, so I am going in for a slight unfill this afternoon. I think for me personally, to actually eat more will help me, I need 3 square meals a day, not three times of having a little mouthful of this or that. My stomach feels full but my body keeps telling me it needs more energy. I think as long as I keep training for this half marathon I wont gain. Its not likely if you're early in your journey that this is the answer for you but you do hear a lot of people start to complain about this when they've had more than a few fills. I dont think you need to be necessarily suffering reflux, pbing or other problems for your band to be too tight. And I think the reaction to a tight band is sometimes craving all sorts of foods because you're jsut not nourishing your body properly.

The first eight weeks or so for me were like being on an appetite suppressant (took tenuate and duromine way back in the 80's, lol). Not only did I not have physical hunger but I had no interest in food at all, no head hunger, nothing,. I'm glad I made the most of it and lost heaps becuase its never been like that again since.

Awesome pics!

I take the Enervite Children's burstlets - which you can buy at My Chemists, and Priceline and online too, probably in other outlets as well..They're like a capsule that you bite, and they taste quite OK, you can chew up the capsule but I spit that bit out. I just double the dose and take 4 and I also take Vitamini's - I just take 2. The iron/folate/B12 are called Iron Melts and I buy those at Priceline.

I think what you need to supplement varies from individual to individual depending what foods you routinely eat and what exercise you do. I take a multivitamin, an extra Iron/Folate/B12 supplement and fish oil.

Just personally, I dont think holidays etc ought to set the parameters for your fills. You need a fill when you need it and I would rather go on holiday well restricted, just to a good level, not tight, but I try to no longer think of holidays in terms of eating binges, lol. I'm having this argument with DH. He's put off his second fill (and he's not losing that well on the first) till after a business dinner on the 25th. I'm like WTF? Its a set menu, its only food, it wont be that darn good and nobody cares what you eat anyway. Why on earth wait? But he's paranoid about disgracing himself, lol. He's not used to banded life yet. I'd get a fill now if I were you, but there's also valid reasons for not, as others will probably point out.

Oh boy, there is NO WAY I'd let anyone stick me with a needle that wasnt new out of the packet. Surey that's not legal? It certainly isnt here. I wouldnt go back, that is really really dodgy. I'm sorry it was such a bad experience. What right does he have to make you feel bad about being fat? Why on earth does he think you are there?. For reference, fluoroscopy fills are not routine here, the fills are done just in the doc's office and most competent doctors can find a port, whether the patient is fat or not.

I didnt/dont do anything special. I dont count, weigh, measure and I certainly dont low carb. I eat like a normal person, from all the food groups, in reasonable quantities. I break out now and again if its a special occasion or holiday or whatever, but very much in moderation compared to before. I eat 3 meals a day and try to eat nothing in between, it'll usually be Cereal for Breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and meat and 3 veg for dinner type of thing, although we eat pasta/rice dishes too. Every now and then we have take away. I dont do Protein shakes, low fat, artificial sweeteners. I try to eat fresh food and avoid packaged and canned stuff. I run for about an hour, four to five days a week, one of those runs will be as long as two hours as I'm training for a half marathon.

I tried it once thinking it would hasten the PB. I tend to get stuck and then remain stuck for a long time, I'm not a vomiter and never have been in unbanded life either. Everyone on the table can be half dead from foodpoisening and I will be the one to not get it. So when the blasted bit of sausage would not go up or down, I took a slug of Water, expecting it to make me ralph. Its the only time I've seriously panicked with a blockage, I really thought I was going to choke. Then I pb'd back all the water and remained stuck for a further 20 minutes until my body decided it had had enough and exited the offending item. Its why I'm extremely cautious eating out. No such thing as a discrete and quick trip to the ladies loo, I"ll be in there coughing, spitting and jumping up and down for a good half hour.

It wouldnt be much to watch anyway, as its all laparoscopic. Just a crowd of people around you with all the equipment stuck through your skin. Not half as interesting as seeing a hip replacement, which I watched once! And I've been at several births, that's awesome to see.

Completely happy, no regrets at all.

I lost about 30lb before my first fill. DH on the other hand lost about 15lb then has stalled. He is definitely going to need good restriction before he loses.

The basic guideline at my clinic as per the literature is 3 meals per day, no snacks, but its not like you'd get into trouble if you choose an alternative plan. Its left up to the individual, it would really only be discussed if you consistently werent losing or were gaining weight. My doc has never really asked what I eat because the results have been good.

I actually didnt have a lot of problem with this, I'd lost 15kg (over 30lb) before I changed sizes, and being a BMI of 35, that was slower than it is for a lot of people. So I shopped once in the first six months. Its now that its really a problem. I think I"m done losing, buy some new jeans, then lose 4lb and they're all too big on me. You change size MUCH faster when you've less to lose!

Its not that you cant keep going, its that you cant keep going at peak formance. I could walk a half marathon on an empty stomach, but I need more instant energy to run it. If you fuel right, that second 5k wouldnt kill you kind of thing. But that's an AWESOME job, congratulations! You still burn PLENTY of fat, but if you replace the electrolytes and salts you're losing and your muscles need to be nice and full of glycogen. Your particularly need to replace magnesium which fires your cells for energy conversion and production. You cant even convert the fat to energy without the right environment. Seasoned athletes are simply superbly able to meet their body's energy needs with super efficient systems, whereas less fit people arent. Its not all about simple cardiovascular fitness. The difference when I run 14k without preparing and when I do it after making real effort for a week to carbo load and hydrate is quite remarkable. You're right in that you dont just conk out but it can be an enjoyable experience that you recover from quickly or it can be torture, where you're staggering by the end of it and dont run again for a week. And both scenarios, you still burn a lot of fat!