Jachut

Eating for non hunger reasons was my main problem and still is. This hunger everyone speaks of before banding - I never had it. I never went long enough without eating to GET hungry! In fact I feel true hunger more often now with the band than I did before. For me, the effect is slight, I cant really notice it, but the band does stop me doing so much in between meal eating. I have a rule for myself, 3 meals a day, that's it, no snacks, precisely because I am a boredom eater. Without physical hunger, I can recognise my urge to eat as boredom, I do something else to take my mind off it, and handle it that way. I always feel like I just ate anyway because my meal stays with me longer, so I feel noticeably satisfied. If I do give in and indulge in some boredom eating, or do the before dinner nuts and wine thing or whatever diet rule I break, well, I cant eat my dinner. If I have cake and coffee with a friend mid morning, I wont be able to eat lunch. Not ideal nutritionally but it does keep the calories in check. The band definitely helps with that type of eating, its really hard to define how, but it does.

It is easier, you will probably still "fail" at Weight Watchers in that you will break out, you will indulge in the wrong foods occasionally etc. But with a band, a breakout is hardly anything and you just get right back on track so much more easily. With a band you might fight head hunger but you're not fighting physical hunger to the same degree. It is possible to not lose weight with a band but for many many many people, even if they did nothing other than get banded, they would lose. It depends on your habits I guess, but really, I couldnt help losing weight, its been me that's driven it to the point of me losing 120% of my excess but I lost the first probably 70% without even really trying - I ate less bad foods and exercised regularly and let the band take care of the portions, that's ALL and it was easy. Since then, I had to work a bit more to get the rest off, but to maintain, I just eat what I want, when I want. And I still run regularly.

Not weird, my DH was banded on the 6th and was home all last week. He's spent most of his time cooking, he's done fried rice, two lots of cupcakes for the kids, chicken dumplings, home made pizzas, a huge batch of bolognaise sauce, pea and ham soup,curried pea soup, zuchinni and leek soup, pumpkin soup, two lasagne's and a huge chicken curry! The freezer is groaning, I wont have to cook for weeks!

Yep, it does. running gives me this feeling in particular, the novely NEVER wears off. My internal dialogue is going "would you believe, I'm running, yes ME, I'm doing it" over and over again, lol.

Well that's what being banded is about, isnt it? sometimes you can enjoy something like this without overeating it.

I large packet of surprise peas (or any other instant dehydrated peas - but not the split, dried peas that you use for Soups, the kind you boil in Water to serve for dinner) 1.5 litres of vegetable stock (I use Vegeta powdered stock, its delish) Curry powder to taste Small bottle of cream Boil the peas up for about 20 minutes in the stock, then blend with the cream. This is INSANELY good, surprise peas are very sweet.

Mine were all supportive, one had another friend who'd done very well with a lapband. But I feel vain - I mean I have several friends who are fatter than I ever was and they dont seem the least moved to even consider surgery since I lost weight. Nobody seems to feel their weight problem is that bad, yet I felt at a BMI of 35 like an enormous cow. I was tired, clumsy, I thought I looked disgusting, I couldnt wear the clothes I wanted to and I felt middle age nipping at my heels. It really astounds me that NOBODY has quietly wanted some more info or anything. Nobody is interested, or even bothered about losing weight at all, surgery or not. Oh well.

OMG, that sounds delicious, but sooooooooo fattening, lol!

I take panadol and could handle the caplets right after surgery, in fact they gave them to me in the hospital. I particularly like the caplets cozs they're so little, so I never buy any other brand paracetamol I really NEED to take Nurofen sometimes, I know bandsters shouldnt take NSAID's but my doc says its OK once in a while. Sometimes my back and leg just get so darn sore and I've also developed endometriosis in the last few years and some months have wicked period pain, you really need Nurofen for those sorts of things. But again I handle capsules fine, I take them with Water an then follow up with food.

I'm going to totally gross you out and tell you I use cloth pads. People fall about going eeeeew yuck, but I reckon landfills full of disposed of sanitary pads is more disgusting. And none of my babies ever wore a disposable diaper either. I prefer tampons over pads and tried the mooncup and keeper but I cant tolerate them, something about my internal anatomy means they just dont fit right and give me crippling cramps. But my periods are super duper light and last 2 days anyway, so I like my nice microfleece topped hemp pads - the fleece top means they stay dry feeling. They have a PUL layer so never ever leak either. I will use tampons if I'm swimming though, or away on holidays or whatever. But I always buy organic cotton ones, all those bleaches and chemicals, no way am I putting them inside me.

Thanks - I really think the diet thing is personality dependent, for some people diet spells failure before they even begin. I really needed that safety net of being "allowed" to eat those foods, but nowadays, I just dont care about them anymore. Food has become only food.

I've lost 120% of my excess weight using the same approach. Bandme08 I dont think the original poster intends to live on those foods, just include them in an overall balanced plan. A healthy diet is part of a healthy lifestyle and obsessing over avoiding certain foods isnt necessarily healthy for a lot of people, some people DO want to live on a strict diet, others dont. pizza every now and then is not going to kill you. Personally, for a long time I could but now, I just really wouldnt bother with pizza or a burger, too hard and the level of restriction I have to keep a BMI of 22 means I am too tight to eat a whole burger, although I can eat the insides (which is where all the flavour is anyway) or simply order a few chicken nuggets instead, those are fine for me. I can eat potato chips without a problem, never eat the garlic bread because it fills me up too much but can eat Pasta and rice with no problem at all. Melted cheese too.

I take a good multivitamin, iron and fish oil and I do really try to get a really good diet - protein is important but you need more than just protein - you need plenty of fruit and veg for healthy hair and skin. Biotin certainly helps a lot of people.

I'd LOVE not to have nipple sensation, lol. Its like fingernails on a blackboard to me, I loathe them being touched and barely let DH near mine - and since I fed 3 babies for 2 years each, its ten times worse, I just cant forget the sensation of rushing milk when the let down happened and the feeling of a baby latching on. There's NOTHING in the least sexual about my breasts to me, apart from how they make me look all over kind of thing. No nipple sensation would not worry me in the slightest.

I think a step back can be healthy too and I'm glad you're still here BII because hopefully at some point, all this "tough love" WILL be useful for you. People wouldnt give it if they really didnt care, remember that.

Pretty much the same as while I was losing weight. I've not had an unfill, I eat the same as I was whilst losing, only thing is my weight loss has trickled to very very slow (I think I've lost 3 lb over the past 2 months). I still exercise for an hour most days. I dont worry *so* much about things like having a glass of wine at night, I probably eat marginally more calories than I did, but whether you want to look at it as a "diet" or a "lifestyle" the truth is you have to eat like this forever.

I dont get why you think its vitriolic? There's certainly no feeling like that from my end, its more frustration that she just cant see the negative through processes. If I didnt give a toss about people achieving their goals, I just wouldnt bother. The way I see it BrandyII's problem is the number one problem you see on this board - people just utterly unable to really allow themselves to change, stuck in destructive behaviours and thought processes. They reach out for help, but real help does NOT come in the form of commiserations and justifications, real help can feel like a slap in the face. Brandy may have had a point, that she just wants to be able to vent about it all without people's advice and help, and that's fair enough, rants and raves is probably not the best place for that however, because people assume you're inviting debate. I dont think this thread was at all vitriolic. Certainly not compared to some of the threads in this forum!

boredom eating and routine eating. Although I barely ever do it, I actually have never been able to break the mental habit of thinking walk in door, put the kettle on, make coffee, have a few biscuits. I used to do it every single time I came into the house, no matter where I'd been or how long since I'd last come home. Come home, make coffee, sit on couch, eat biscuits. My body still wants to just do it on autopilot and I have to REALLY resist it.

Yes, peek, I'm going to toss out those darned salted macadamias in my pantry! funny how I always choose those over the raw almonds.

yes, denim skirt and flip flops is more my speed than pencil skirt and stillettos. Just not into that sort of stuff.

Considering the heart rate of most overweight people is already high and probably well over 70, if not 80, doubling that is pretty intense exercise! Energy, well, I had none when I was fat and somedays I still cant believe how I can keep going and going. It does get easier, significant weight loss will really decrease the work you're doing just carrying yourself around.

Yes, precisely, I dont know why I couldnt just say it like that!

Its not borne out of agression (although my post above is a bit forthright, that issue particularly annoys me), but that those who have lost weight successfully have made huge sacrifices to do it and THEY werent ANY more able to do it than you are, we DID all start in the same place with the same problems. But having done it, I dunno, it seems so simple to me. Commit and do it, its the only answer. Trying to help someone see that before they are ready to is very frustrating. I think you're on the right track at the moment, put it all aside, and focus on just getting healthy for want of a better word. You cant force this issue before you're ready to tackle it, ideally you have that epiphany before you're banded, but just becuase you didnt doesnt mean it will never come. Patience I guess, and believe me, I do wish you good luck with it.

HI Wasa! Hope you're feeling great now. I want to tell a story about running being a passion. I love it, really I dol. That does help, it gives great motivation. But it shits me no end when people make the assumption that it is somehow "easier" for me to exercise than it is for them. At the moment, I have one whole side of my body completely farked really. I have sciatic pain down to my toes. My last 3 toes on my right foot are numb. My right knee feels like I jumped off a 4 story building, just totally impacted and crushed. I have chronic bursitis on my right foot. I'm making it sound like I'm in total agony, its really discomfort more than pain but it makes me anxious. I have visions of a painful old age. I've checked into it thoroughly, there are no disc problems in my back,its probably all postural/muscular, the result of a hip injury when I was 16 making my right leg marginally shorter than the left, 3 pregnancies etc. Running does not cause it, however it does worsen over time, after I've run a lot I get sorer and sorer. If I had time and money to be at the gym five times a week, I'd definitely be better off doing that. I've had this problem for the last 3 years. But what's my choice? Be sedentary, get fat again and still be in discomfort or exercise and be in discomfort but be thin and fit? I choose to exercise. But it is NOT easy. I dont wake up everyday thinking I WANT TO RUN. I roll out of bed, groan, limp and hobble for half an hour, sometimes get anxious and teary because I'm so farking frustrated with it, I dont want to feel this way, and I try to manage it by doing circuits and sometimes swimming etc as well as running, allowing myself at the moment to only run 6kms twice a week. I wont be doing the half marathon I so wanted to do but I stay active because its better to. So when people moan and whine that they cant exercise because they dont have time or dont want to, but "you're so lucky because you love it" I do want to snot them. It is a choice, absolutely. Do it or dont, but dont be surprised at the results if you dont. Oh, and if your metabolism IS shot, exercise is the best way to fix it.

Well I dont mind admitting I had surgery to look better, as well as prevent future health problems. I was suffering no real health problems as a result of my weight, being under 40 and a BMI of 35. I'm not the least ashamed to say it was probably 50/50 health/cosmetic reasons why i did what I did. Life is much better when you feel good about yourself. But yes, it is hard to come to terms with what you can and cant change. At the end of the day no matter how much weight you lose and how much cosmetic surgery you have, you will still be you. Everyone gave me wonderful complements for my bikini pic when I posted that (my avatar) yet I see fat thighs and it only looks decent becuase the light was perfect, the way I am standing etc. When WILL we learn to be less harsh on ourselves?