Jachut

Portion control really is it. I have to call on "willpower" for want of a better term to quit the in between meal eating, to say no when the Cookies are offered, etc etc. Which if you want to call it dieting is what we always had to do. I just found the strength to do that this time not because of the band but because in deciding to be banded I'd finally reached the stage where I was just ready to stop making excuses and bloody well DO it. But when I've been good all day I cant do what I used to do and then eat an enormous dinner to fill me up! My meals are small, as long as I stuck with 3 meals a day I lost weight and now I maintain. That and running nearly every day But it is a "non diet" plan definitely. I dont really worry about "what" I eat anymore, i dont fuss about Protein, carbs, etc I just eat what I want when I feel like it, and that's usually pretty healthy. The surgery doesnt turn you into one of those thin types, most of us will never be that. I have to control my eating, I dont think there'll ever be a day in my life where I dont think about eating the way I used to, I will never be "not interested" in food the way naturally thin people are and I will never be able to quit exercising.

Oh, I am SO going to get into yoga or pilates. My lower back problems are getting really debilitating. I love love love my running but boy do I pay for it, I have no feeling in the outer half of my right foot at the moment, I'm in constant discomfort from shoulder to heel. At least I know I have no degenerative disc disease, i've been thoroughly checked out so I know its a biomechanical/postural problem. But I'm actually getting to the point where I could kick a hole in the wall, I'm so frustrated. I've been told time and time again to do pilates, I really struggle for time to devote to something like that though, its nearly impossible for me. However youv'e given me new resolve.

Definitely. I still have DD cup breasts, but Ive lost ALL the volume in the top of them. I have to wear a bra with padded sides, to push them up and together beause au natural, I have this really awful look because of the utter flatness of the top of my breasts - my chest (ribs and sternum) stick out FURTHER than my boobs do. I am definitely getting this fixed, next year. And my ass, oh, boy. Its sitting on the back of my knees. Its my worst feature, its pretty saggy. I got out of this with no loose tummy skin, but I really need a butt lift. That'll never happen though, I look find clothed and I can live with that. Not many people look that great in a swimming costume.

I *almost* lost 100, does that count? its about 93 I think, for 120% of my excess weight lost. I eat a balanced diet - a very normal diet including carbs, I dont count Protein, I dont do protein first - I eat 3 small meals a day, sometimes I snack, Breakfast might be muesli, lunch cheese, crackers and fruit and dinner meat and 3 veg. I have a small glass of wine most nights. I run for 40 minutes to an hour four to five times a week. That's it. Its consistency that's been the key I think.

I run, its worked brilliantly for me.

Its not inevitable - I dont *have* to have surgery. I got out of this pretty well for an almost 100lb loss, but could I look better with some surgery - heck yeah! But dressed, I look absolutely fine. Its just naked and on the beach that I worry about which bits show. Out of all if it my boobs came out the worst, totally lost volume, all in the top of the breast so I cant even really push them up and together to create cleavage, its just flaccid saggy skin, looks like a plucked chicken. The rest of me, my skin is maybe 1/2 a size too big for me. It doesnt hang, I have a flat stomach, but I'm just a bit "soft" all over, if I had lots of money, I would definitely go a lower body lift, just because I'm a perfectionist. But I dont and I wont. If the worst thing that ever happens to me is I have to cover up a bit on the beach (which I dont, I just dont care) then I'm a lucky person. You just have to wait and see how it all ends up I think, 99.9% sure you will have some loose skin but it may not be that bad at all.

I weigh daily and for me, its a healthy habit. Low weight means I think "well done, keep going", up 2lb means "wow, better pay a little closer attention". It doesnt affect my mood or set the tone for my day it simply allows me to act on the smallest upward fluctation before it gets to be a problem. For maintenance, I think daily weighing is a good thing.

Are you male? Most men do carry a lot more internally than under the skin, its women who carry more fat subcutaneously (which is why we get cellulite). But the downside to that is that its far greater cardiovascular risk since it will be all packed around your organs.

I keep saying the same thing to myself and I'm 40. Its either that or I think I'd better get in and do it now whilst I still have a few short years to enjoy it. But really - why not? Why is 50 too old? Why is 60 too old? Its all about how you feel about yourself. Money's an issue though - I feel the same way - I have 3 kids to house and educate, how important can great boobs really be?

No but I was 104kg with a BMI of about 33 when I was pregnant with Eliza and I'm fairly sure that's the reason why we discovered she was breech at 38 weeks and not before. My ob just plain couldnt feel her properly - I only had the standard 12 and 18 week ultrasounds. We had trouble hearing the heartbeat too but that was becuase they were trying to find it in the wrong spot, I had to be monitored due to obstetric cholestasis in the last weeks and they were a bit concerned about why they couldnt easily find it. Nobody pegged that she was sitting upright!

A dose of bali belly will give you diarrhoea, not vomiting. Unpleasant but easily manageable with some Immodeum, and not dangerous to the band. Dont even clean your teeth with tap Water though! And steer clear of any suspect foods like lettuce etc that will have been washed in the water. I managed two weeks in Bali many years ago with no bali belly till the last day and let me tell you, staying in the toilet on a Garuda flight is WAY more comfortable than an economy seat!

The band definitely helps with portion control. And I always knew what I should be doing, the trouble is motivation waxes and wanes. With the band, you cant go too far off track, a really "bad" day (which we all have) might be 1800 calories, not 4000. You can always pick up where you left off again.

Havent seen those on the market here, but I"m a birkenstock addict. And you can get really CUTE birks, they're not all hideous orthopaedic nightmares for hairy legged Helgas! I've got red patent ones, and silver ones and black patent ones and ones with a red asian print, and swirly orange, yellow and red ones! I cannot wear crap shoes, my heels and back just wont tolerate it. I can wear a heel for work as long as I'm not doing too much walking, but for my daily/home life, I have to wear good supportive shoes.

I know too that the foods that I instinctively think "nah, dont want that" are the foods that fill me the most (and therefore take time and CARE to eat). The foods I think I dont want are precisely what I should be eating. Whenever I have a choice, I try to take the one I dont feel so much like. Because I can guarantee if a food really appeals to me, its because its a slider food that I can eat easily - and lots of HEALTHY foods fit into this category - like yogurt, cheese and crackers, etc. When I do this, it makes a remarkable difference to my hunger levels.

If it fills you eat it, regardless of what your nut says. If it washed through it wouldnt fill you and you wouldnt stay full. I also never ever found that drinking soon after meals washed my food thorugh. Soup is a food I seriously struggle with. I eat it becuase its a fantastic way (if you make it yourself) to get in a very very nourishing meal, but boy, something about the liquid/solid combo makes it very much a "go carefully"food for me, it takes me ages to eat and I stay full for hours and hours and hours afterwards. Its the best lunch I can possibly eat. Ditto - muesli (which is a solid with milk) has the same effect for me. A great filling meal that I have to eat slowly (which is perhaps why its so satisfying?). I think you have to find your personal balances to a degree, the band is differnet for everyone. Too many calories? Lol, what's your doctor smoking snowbird? I'm glad you ignore taht advice - I've got here a tin of (Australian) Heinz Very Special, Lentil and Vegetable, the panel says 250 calories per serve, a whopping 11 grams of Protein and 8 grams of dietary fibre, with fairly OK (for canned soup) sodium. That to me is a remarkably low calorie meal for the fibre and protein it offers. Given that the most I'd add to it is a couple of dry Vita Wheat crackers, for a whopping 60 calories!

The other thing to be careful of is the protein first thing - you have to try to avoid too much saturated fat, which is very hard when you're eating a very protein focussed diet. You cant eat 16 eggs a week and expect your cholesterol levels not to respond.

Ideally, you wont need to anymore, the whole point of being banded is not having to do that stuff any more. Although I think its cruel not to prescribe an appetite suppressant for the pre op diet, lol.

Unfortunately, no I havent but that's probably because I have 3 growing children two of whom are now approaching puberty, and a husband who cleans up my plate! What with the cost of groceries skyrocketing like they have (12 years of drought in australia now), we've held even, which probably means that we're doing better than we were. DH is getting banded on 6 june, I suspect we WILL notice the difference then. As it stands for example, I buy the same number of lamb chops I always did, I just dont finish mine. But he eats 3 at a sitting and will drop to one kind of thing. Also all the fresh bread from the bakery weekend lunches will finish becuase its him that drives that, so will the buying chocolate and chips on his way home from work, so will 3 eggs and a few pieces of toast at breakfast time etc etc. I never ate like that in the first place, what probably happens now is that I'll get 3 more serves out of a box of muesli, but it still costs the same to buy the box kind of thing.

I gather he doesnt want to post himself but knows you are? Because if I were him and I had a spouse watching everything I ate and reporting on it, and saying "should you be eating that?" etc etc I'd have to kill you and bury you in the backyard. That would drive me freaking nuts. He knows better than anyone when he's full and when he's not and its quite normal to not be full early on in this journey. If he's fine with you taking on this role and is finding it supportive, my humble apologies, lol, but if you're hovering and driving him crazy, trust me, it wont help.

My biggest piece of advice would be to learn to love exercise. I am like a broken record on this, but I swear, if I did not run every day I would not have been nearly so successful in losing weight and I certainly would not be so successful in keeping it off. I also think you need to remember that fills are for life - maintenance must go on. If at any stage after you reach goal weight you find you're hungrier, its time for a small fill! I recently had one and even my doc questioned me, I think he thought I wanted to try to get even skinnier but truly, I was just beginning to swing a bit up and down by 2lb and I wanted to nip it in the bud before it got out of hand. It worked brilliantly, I havent lost (it was only .1ml) any weight, but I have stayed back down at the lower end of my usual weight and my weight has stopped fluctuating. You need to keep seeing a doctor regularly and you need to fill when you begin to feel you need it. My internal dialogue was all about "well, I'm at goal weight now, it's OK if I eat a little more" but in all honestly, its NOT OK. And I was not eating a little more than the 3/4 of my sandwich I can eat at lunchtime, I was eating the 3/4 of a sandwich and then chocolate all afternoon. Its very hard to fight the I've lost weight now I dont have to worry mentality but its the most important thing in the whole battle. Just as for weight loss, maintenance takes a properly functioning band. Good luck. With perhaps a fill and renewed commitment, you can lose that weight again.

I agree with Juli, I'm not a man either by the way! You're pretty but you're just a youngun. The confidence will come as you get used to yourself and as you get a bit older and you'll develop more allure. When you're 24, sometimes, if you're not blonde with big boobs and all the right clothes, friends and accessories, you can feel a bit left on the shelf. Be thankful you have a much more interesting look than that, which (unlike the bottle blonde) will not look brassy and overdone by the time you're 30. You're going to mature like a good wine! And you'll score a way better guy too. Also, be open. I dont think I'd want a divorcee with 3 kids at 24 either, lol, but older guys can be quite a catch. 24 year old men, by and large have not finished growing their brains yet (sorry to any young men here, roflmao! but you'll agree with me by the time you're 40).

I really hate how its assumed if you've got a small back size - I'm a 32 now - then you must have no boobs, and likewise, my larger girlfriend finds that if you're a large backsize, she's about a 44, then it follows that you have mountainous mammaries! In Australian sizes I'm now a 12DD, quite hard to find standard off the rack in your average lingerie boutique, unless you want to make a trip to a specialist store. You really have to hunt, find a bra you like and then resort to buying them online once you've been lucky enough to land upon one in the store.

I ate spaghetti bolognaise mushed up with a can of tomatoes when I made it for my family! I disagree that its bad - carbs, protein and vegetables in a good mix. Full of iron and protein. Lasagne is a bit cheesy and fattening though, but in the tiny quantity you'd eat its not going to do any damage.

I have to admit, I cant understand this. Keeping on track of your food intake, day in, day out, week after week, month after month. That's hard. Getting on the treadmill for 45 minutes at night in front of the telly is not hard. Nor is going out for a run that takes half an hour out of your day. And the more you do it, the less hard it gets. There's no pussyfooting around this one. Do it. Dont be lazy! Sorry for the tough love, but its the only answer, you just have to do it. Find something you like, make it as easy as possible on yourself but stop making excuses and get to it.

I think those things are probably true to some extent BUT I think the way its said implies a moral judgement. If obesity were about nothign but willpower, it would be easily fixed wouldnt it? Normal weight people affect the environment too - how many would be happy to pay top dollar for organic produce for example? If we wiped out commercial agriculture as it exists now and went back to sustainable methods, buying locally and in season, without packaging, without massive transportation round the globe etc, what would we then pay for a pound of apples? And who would be screaming about it? If we all went vegetarian, we'd cut down greenhouse emissions remarkably. How many are prepared to do that? I'm not fat anymore, I run for exercise, yet I drive everywhere because I have to. I dont have the time in my day for starters, to walk, and the public transport in my suburb is a farking joke - over an hour on the train into the city, that's if you dont count the half hour it would take me to wait for and catch a bus to the station - oh, that's after I've deposited 3 children at 2 differnet schools (one of which is 5kms away) in completely the opposite direction. So its easy to blame it all on fat people isnt it?