Jachut

Makes a lot of sense to me. Its why I dont count, measure or weigh anything. I eat what I want, when I want to in reasonable quantities, but do say "no" to junk food too often. I try to eat healthy and that's about it.

Lol, I've just spent the weekend away with a running group, most of whom were doing the half marathon and several were doing the marathon. We went out for Italian on Sat. night, carbo loading, lol. I had fettucine carbonara. It was simply enormous. I think I ate 10 strands of fettucine. All around me, everyone was scarfing down enormous bowlfuls of Pasta and my small appetite caused loads of comments. These people were pretty much strangers to me (I was with my sister, its her group) and in the end I fessed up about the band becuase seriously I think they thought I was anorexic or something! People eat HEAPS. You just dont notice it until you have a band.

I gave this reasonable thought, and since I have had a band, even more. I knew that slippage and erosion were a possibility, now I've given thought to whether there might be long term esophageal consequences, I do wonder what always having food in the top part of your stomach could do. Then there's overtightness and reflux etc. But I figured that what I knew FOR SURE were the long term consequences of obesity. There was not a lot of wondering about that. Early death, probably of heart disease, maybe cancer. Those things could strike anyway, yes, but I feel like I'm living a life now that will do as much as possible to ensure a healthy and enjoyable old age. My commitment was to do this as moderately as possible. I've never been, nor wanted to be so tight that I'm relying on liquids in the morning, living on Protein shakes, decreasing the variety in my diet. I eat bread and wholegrains because I'd really like not to have bowel cancer one day (family history), I eat plenty of fruit and veg, I get my dairy, etc. I made up the difference with strenuous exercise. Because I'm not overly tight, I rarely PB or even get stuck/slime, so really, I do think I'm doing everythign I reasonably can to ensure the health of my band and my stomach. But it was a gamble, and who knows what the future might hold. As it is, I've changed my lifestyle enough (particularly exercise wise) that whilst I'm sure I would gain weight without a band, I truly doubt I'd get as fat as I was.

Yes, running isnt all that realistic at first. I just sort of wanted to make the point that some of us that are seemingly performing miracles, werent all that far behind the eightball in the first place. I was already lighter and fitter than a lot of bandsters, which meant I could do more. Its not that I'm more dedicated, or have more willpower or anything, its simply that I had more physical ability and less weight to overcome. So nobody should feel bad if they're not out there running half marathons with me, lol.

I wouldnt want to pretend it was all that difficult for me - I was a bit of a couch potato which is why I had begun putting on weight. But I hadnt been for all that long, I could .... aaah, can someone get this darn pest of a cat off my keyboard? ...... anyway, I could still run short distances when I was fat, I was banded at a BMI of 35. I was very active through my teens and quite a good athlete, playing state representative tennis and netball. I'd also kept enough fitness with my numerous diet and exercise attempts and gym memberships that I just wasnt really that unfit. I'm not a gifted runner by any means, my gait is terrible, I'm a bit of a biomechanical disaster really, lol, but I had that fitness memory, if not the fitness itself and it just plain wasnt that hard to get it back. I also had a positive attitude. Exercise is necessary to lose weight, why on earth waste your time being negative about it. Self talk is important and I really believed running would be a joy and it IS. So I just didnt find it difficult at all, I dont know quite what else to say. I wanted to do it. And I love it more and more each week. Standing in a crowd waiting to start a run, I cant believe I'm there, that I'm one of "them". That buzz is enough to keep me going back for more. Its also such good headspace, its my time out each day and I really enjoy the time and find it relaxing. I listen to music but I'm also running positive self talk through my head, reflecting on my journey, planning how I'll stay on track etc. Its a huge reason why I've had such great success I think, that mental commitment and reflection. Running is good too because it brings REALLY fast and good results, more so than nearly anything else despite all the theories about fat burning zones and such. The weight fairly falls off you early on. And its a very powerful weapon in maintaining your weight. Nothing will burn more fat than running. And contrary to the experts opinions, it builds muscle too, I've got lovely tone that I never would have thought possible just from running. That motivated me. But you have to love what you do, and its finding the thing that's right for you that's the key.

I just figure that much as self control and strength come into it, so much of the world's population cant be absolutely hopeless and completely self indulgent. There HAS to be biological reasons for it. At the info evenign I went to the surgeon said that the band stays forever because although they dont know why, someone who has been previously obese just simply cannot handle the same calories as someone who hasnt. Its kind of along the same lines. I know that I've just been away for the weekend with my sister and her pal to do a run on the Goldcoast and Lesley is 65kg compared to my 69, a few inches shorter than me and I was gobsmacked at how much that woman eats! Yes, she runs lots, but I do too and I maintain on about 1500 calories a day whilst she was putting away at least twice that. She never freaking stopped. And even my teeny 59kg sister eats more than me (she's never been fat). Now DH is banded and is proving to be one that simply is not going to lose until he gets perfect restriction, I didnt think he overate BEFORE banding, and now he eats probably half what most men his size do and is not really losing yet. There's definitely more to it than the conscious decisions we make. But it still up to us to take charge of it and deciding to get banded is a great first step in that battle.

What sort of "hurts"? My first thought was skin being pulled around too but really, any pain with sex ought to be checked out.

I dont do it personally, but I'm not at all suprised that statistically it brings great results. I eat a lot of things that I forget about, lol.

I really think "I can still eat a 10" vegie sub" is not quite the right way to look at it. I really dont believe that any food is totally bad or off limits, or that being able to eat something specific that you fidn to be a problem food necessarily indicates you need a fill. But if you can wolf down a 10" sub really fast that's probably lack of restriction. If you can eat it with some effort then, I think we get bands to control our eating, and to eat less overall. If you eat a 10" vegie sub and nothing else till dinner and then at a moderate dinner, you exercise regularly and are losing weight slowly and steadily then SO WHAT if you can eat a sub? We didnt get bands with the express purpose of not being able to eat a specific food, it just doesnt work quite that way. I can still eat pizza, but only a very little, I can eat a burger but not a whole one. I do it occasionally. Generally they take so much freaking effort its not worth it and I dont really enjoy it, but I can do it. But once in a while, what does that matter. Chances are, if you cant sort out choosing healthy foods MOST of the time, and having those yummy things just as treats, when you go tighter, you will simply find other easier unhealthy foods to eat that will go down if the sub wont, the band doesnt MAKE you choose salad, vegies, fruit etc. So yes, to a degree you do need to control it yourself. It takes both - good restriction and some reasonable control. But of course, good restriction makes self control easier. Its just not necessarily a problem to eat pizza occasionally, unless it sends you spiralling out of control.

I failed curves, lol. Fit as I am and with as much running as I do, my back absolutely cannot take trying to use hydraulic weights machines fast in that manner. It took me about five months to recover from it, and I had to stop working there also. I did some real damage and it wasnt from improper form, its more that all the twisting on the ab machines is not good motion for bad lower backs. But I think its fantastic, and I dont believe you outgrow it. I'm very fit and by simply working as hard as possible I got a good workout. But I will admit, I did come home and do a 40 minute program on my treadmill, 29 minutes is just not enough and it wasnt hard "enough" for me, as in I couldnt afford to not run coz I was doing Curves as I would lose fitness. But yeah, i think its great, I just think you also need some longer sessions - walking, swimming, treadmill etc.

Well, I just got back from the goldcoast and doing my 10k. I had an awesome weekend, I was with my sister who lives in Sydney and her running group which was the biggest group of gay men and drag queens, we had an absolute hoot, and mum and dad were at Tallebudgera where they go for a few months every winter. four glorious days with NO kids, sigh. Got back in at 2.30 am this morning, yawn. Anyway, I did an hour and one minute which is a PB by some five minutes, but I was hoping to crack the hour and would have if I hadnt seen mum and dad at the turn around point and stopped. The running group also has three older ladies of 59, 65 and 79 who all did the half and two almost fifty year old ladies who did the marathon. I am SO joining a training group and doing the half in the melbourne marathon in October!

Are you a fat personality or not? Not all fat people have fat personalities. I'm sorry I disrupted a mental health thread with this yesterday, I didnt realise and it was inappropriate. But I've got to get this off my chest. I'm done with the whiny pathetic excuse making marshmallows populating this board. Get some backbone, and wake up to reality. This thing takes WORK. We all fall off the wagon, we all make mistakes, what is it that makes some of us dust ourselves off and keep going and some of us refuse to admit the mistake, blaming everything and everyone but ourselves? I've never really understood pre band psychological counselling, but now I do. Some people here should never ever have been banded. Not until they did some serious work on themselves first. Its very sad. But the tool is there when they're ready to use it. If they could EVER admit that they need to change things up a bit. The band is so wonderful. You can lose weight slowly. You can even do it without exercise. You can get to a low BMI or not, you can stop where you please. You can feel in control of your food for the first time in your life. You can be super strict and lose weight at the speed of light and have cosmetic surgery and be the hottest thing on 2 legs. You can do low carb or not. For some, sadly its just not the right tool. I have respect for people who decide that and go for something else or who choose another surgery int he first place. But for many, its so versatile. Sadly there's some people who still dont lose. They have medical and physical issues that need attention. They may have gotten so big that they really struggle to move around let alone exercise. They are in real trouble and need help and compassion. But there's also a whole lot who are just, well, pathetic. They wanted to lose weight but they wanted someone else to do it for them, afterall its not their fault their fat right? So they get this band and WHAT? It doesnt do it all? This thread is not compassionate. I dont hate fat people, heck, I *AM* a fat person. I dont believe I will be anything other than a fat person in remission. I feel compassion for the plight people find themselves in, I feel that for every single person. But when they refuse to help themselves, it evaporates. Now, I'm the first person to admit I dont understand much about mental health issues like depression. I know its wrong, but I do sometimes fall into the "just snap out of it" camp. I realise there's stuff like that involved. But nine times out of ten, struggling with a band just comes down to being unwilling to pull your finger out and face your issues. So when people post threads seeking help and then oh so politely come up with an excuse to every single helpful suggestion, look out, I just might BITE! And nobody had better DARE so "if I could do that, I wouldnt have needed a lapband". That is quite honestly the stupidest thing that I have ever heard on this forum and unfortunately its been said many many times. If you seriously believe that, you are in more trouble than a lapband can get you out of!

Lol, its amazing how much little things like this give you a boost! I can cross legs both sides, but if the right leg is on top, I can cross it AND loop the foot around the calf of my left leg. Quite comfortably too. But I cant do it with the left leg on top, weird huh?

I eat a totally normal diet from all five food groups. Today for example, I've eaten: Breakfast: 1 sachet of oatmeal 1 apple Lunch: a wholegrain bread roll with tuna, slice of low fat cheese, avocado and tomato an orange dinner tonight will be: chicken schnitzel (a very small piece of breast dipped in egg, breadcrumbs) and shallow fried mashed potato mixed steamed veges lunch is the hardest, it took me an hour and a bit to eat that. I cant eat a whole roll at once, and I certainly cant follow it with a piece of fruit. But although technically, its eating around the band, to poke it down slowly over an hour means I've got on board a good healthy lunch that gives me enough energy to get through the afternoon. I dont find the bandster rule of eating for 20 minutes or so does me much good because 2 hours later I'm starving. Whereas if I eat the whole roll I get through till dinner no problem. that's a typical day for me. Now I'm at goal, you'll find a glass of wine here, a cappucino there, a bit of chocolate or a cookie now and then etc. I tend to cook from scratch for most things, I dont like buying processed foods, or dinners in boxes. I also run for an hour most days.

I dont understand why people have so much difficulty with the puree diet, I dont think doctors and nutritionists are giving enough advice and guidance here and people are trying to live on fresh air. The rules for liquids for me were as follows: clears for 2 days thin liquids for the next two days then gradually begin thickening, going by how you feel as a guide, NEVER have something so thick that it brings on nausea, discomfort or over fullness, proceed very slowly and carefully with this. After that, anything that goes up a straw if fair game, although I was advised to stay away from empty calories like Jello, ice cream, popsicles. This means you can puree decent, normal meals - if you add broth, canned tomatoes, Water, milk (depending what you're thinning) to make it the right consistency for you, but in this way you can eat fruit, vegetables, meat and carbs to give you satisfaction and energy. Breakfast for me was often a fruit smoothie - milk, soft fruit (like berries) a weetbix (one of those biscuit type cereals) and an egg, blended. I'd have to halve that, have half for breakfast, half a couple of hours later. lunch might have been a lentil/pasta/vegetable Soup blended up (like minestrone), I could have juice, water, milk or V8 in between and dinner would have been a different type of soup or even something like a family roast dinner blended down well with broth into a soup. I began that when I was ready, probably day 4 or 5, before that I had to just sip sip sip to get anything in. There is absolutely no need to try to survive on nothing but Protein shakes. Although I know that that's what many are told to do and here we are talking about rules, so if you've been told it, I guess you do it. But it is not "standard procedure" everywhere in the world and honestly, if you blend real foods, liquids is NOT hard at all. The post op diet is made so much harder than it needs to be by restricting variety of foods.

The other thing which I think is not totally irrelevant is that if you get banded at a lower BMI and prevent the morbid obesity in the first place, it is possible to lose weight and not need cosmetic surgery. I know the medical profession would argue that nobody "needs" cosmetic surgery anyway but they're not walking around wearing enough skin for two people. When so many bandsters lose their weight and then have to go and spend thousands (and have more surgeries) to remove all the loose skin, that's something to consider. It really is a part of the cost and risk of weight loss surgery. And there's loads more that can go wrong with cosmetic procedures such as a tummy tuck which can seriously affect your health and your life. So if a really "need" for it can be avoided by preventing obesity in the first place, then isnt that another reason to band people at lower weights?

I follow rules that I see as vauable and reasonable rules. I followed the post op liquid/mushies/solids regime to a T because I wanted my band healed firmly in place. I didnt want to risk complications and it wasnt difficult for me anyway. Now as to Protein first, not drinking with meals, half a cup and no more, I dont follow those rules. They were never mentioned to me as rules by my surgeon anyway because we seem to do it slightly differently in Australia, instead I follow our rules - eat sensibly from all five food groups and eat only till satisfied, not full.Its generally advised though not written in stone to stick to three meals a day too, something I do try to do because it works well for me. So although I'm not non-compliant, if I were to move to the US and have to find myself a band doctor, would I follow all the protein first, half cup, no drinking with meals rules? No, I wouldnt. I know my way works and is doable for me so I'd pretty much ignore the doc on that one. But would I follow the post surgery rules from ANY doctor. You bet I would because its safer not to play around with those ones. other rules I bend slightly sometimes. I have taken NSAID's on occasion because I've needed to. I would never take them on a regular or semi regular basis though.

me too. Off and on I did exercise regularly before being banded, I even ran sometimes,but not far, lol! Exercise on its own doesnt really work, dieting on its own doesnt really work,but both together they do!

that scared me too. For me,the pleasure side of food is still there. Its social, its a way to relate to friends, family etc, I like going out to eat in a group. I love seeing a really yummy recipe on tv, buying the magazine, shopping for the ingredients and cooking it up. That's a great saturday acivity that Doug and I do, and we usually crack a bottle of wine whilst we're doing it. BUT - I get the same pleasure out of a tiny amount of food, than I did before. In fact is MORE enjoyable becuase I know I wont make said recipe and then gorge myself stupid on it. I can make a cake and eat one slice, to me that's a freaking miracle. I really enjoy food MORE now because I'm not afraid of it. I taste it better, it lasts longer, I dont feel guilty when I'm eating, all of that stuff.

I made it 12 months before it happened to me.

Yeah, I ate a lot, I ate when I wasnt hungry, and I really overdid certain foods. That was disordered eating. I've never binged. I always ate till I was full and stopped, but full was too many calories for my body. I've never eaten things I've pulled out of the rubbish bin, or eaten an entire cake or eaten till I've been sick. Likewise I've never starved myself or exercised excessively and obsessively. I'd say definitely I dont have/didnt have an eating disorder. I had an appetite too large for my energy needs and a distinct lack of self control and accountability.

I think we probably look at it a little differently because of the difference in our health systems. In Australia, that's already the case. If a surgeon will do it, most health funds will pay. But I get the idea that there, the health insurance companies themselves have rules, so that even if the surgeon will do it, the health fund wont pay?

Just musing here, throwing a few questions around. If you've got enough money you can pretty much find someone to do nearly anything on you. It doesnt necessarily follow that if someone with a BMI of 25 is banded, they'll become anorexic. Anorexia is a mental illness, not just a function of how many calories you eat in a day. Chances are, they just wont lose a lot of weight. BUT! and that's a big but, who is to say that someone with a BMI isnt struggling mightily, using all sorts of unhealthy means to maintain their weight such as obsessive exercising and fad dieting, and actually displaying disordered eating. Would the control and peace of mind a lapband gives, the freedom it gives you to really be a "normal" eater for the first time in your life, not help someone in that situation too? What if they recognised that they dont need weight loss and thus dont need to be very tight, but they do need appetite control to gain the ability to eat normally and maintain weight? You dont have to be wearing the fat on your body to be a fat person you know. I will ALWAYS consider myself a "fat person". I just happen to have it under control right now. That's why, in Australia, if something happens to my band, I get another one right away, no questions from my insurance company. My BMI is irrelevant in that situation. There's really no black and white answers on this one I dont think other than those that are most obviously overweight are not necessarily more deserving or needy than those who arent. Plenty of thin people really have to struggle to be/stay that way to the point where it takes over their lives. But that's where it has to be on a case by case basis. Medical professionals must be able to sort out those who are planning to use their bands to become underweight from those who may not actually be overweight but have all the disordered eating and thinking patterns that overweight people have. What if someone's just lost 100lb and has not put it all back on yet? Would you say they shouldnt have a band? Because if you ask me, maintaining a weight loss is harder than the weight loss itself.

If your DH has a stomach bug I'd say its a sure bet you do too. If you overdid things with the Ablounge, you'd be in physical pain, as in having ripped a muscle, burst stitches, dislocated your port. Nausea would be a very unusual symptom in this case. I get nauseous if I do a really really really long run, but that's different. So soon after banding, you'd need to make sure you have some anti nausea medication to hand to prevent vomiting if possible. Ack. This happened to me five days out of surgery, the kids were chundering all over the damn house, and guess who had to clean it all up? But thankfully the medication worked. I got sick, it was inevitable, but had headaches, fever, body aches and pains, but not nausea or vomiting. Fingers crossed for you, but in any case, it would be sensible to wait a bit longer to do the ab lounge.

I'd just like to reassure you that you can and will enjoy food in a social sense after banding. I'm not trying to talk you out of doing it, and you dont have to justify it to me in any way, actually it was the way that you at first said it, "eat until it hurts" that made me think, oh hang on, do you really want to do that? But going out and enjoying a sushi meal, why the hell not? There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with it, fat people do it, thin people do it, in between people do it! You just made it sound a bit like you wanted to go out and eat till you were sick. I'd still say do you really want to do that, but to go out and enjoy something you might not eat again, that's entirely normal and if you're not limited by a pre op diet then why not? I certainly didnt spend my pre op time denying myself everything, I just wanted to eat moderately and not go nuts and gain weight becuase that would not have made me feel at all good about myself. DH is a case in point, he had his first fill today. Got to the doctors and was rather deflated to learn he'd lost no weight, when he's lost 6kg by our scale. Reason being, they're comparing him to the last time they weighed him which was six months ago when he first began investigating. They dont record your weight on the day of surgery in your weight loss file, its more for anaesthetic purposes that they need to know. So he'd been weighed, approved etc and booked his surgery date for 6 months hence, and proceeded to throw caution to the wind and eat like a piggie for that six months. Of course he gained a lot of weight and all he's lost is what he put on. So according to his file, he's lost zip. He wasnt feeling too chipper about that, more than a little embarrassed in fact. I'd encourage anyone not to put themselves in that situation. But you're obviously not, so dont let others disapproval get you down. You know your own mind, and you do what makes YOU feel good!