Jachut

I'm very lucky, I get stuck only rarely and virtually never PB. But I can get stuck on absolutely anything, coffee and yogurt included. On Sunday we had a picnic, we took a cold chicken and a tossed salad. I got so stuck I started to get the blurred vision and shaky legs, precursor to violent Exorcist style PBing, but thankfully, it passed very suddenly when I stood up. The next day I ate same leftover cold chicken with lettuce and tomato in a sandwich. Go figure. Its purely down to how and when I eat it, some days are tighter than others, mornings slightly tighter than daytimes, evening times can be tight as well, time of month, etc. I need to concentrate too, talking whilst eating is dangerous.

I had my surgery at a BMI of 35 and I got a LOT of that. "You're not THAT fat" etc etc. Most people felt it was way too drastic a path for someone with my weight problem - I'm also 5ft 10 tall so I didnt have that really really obese look, I looked pretty "normal" and not all that roly poly, just big and solid. But I knew how I felt and I could tell I was on a slippery slide to morbid obesity given enough time. What we call "normal" these days is actually overweight and most people who ARE a healthy weight are considered "skinny". Normal is only relative and normal is too heavy for optimum health most of the time. Thank goodness my surgeon totally agreed and saw no sense in turning me away only to have me present again 20kg heavier in a few years time. I had the classic pattern of losing/gaining, failing to achieve or maintain significant weight loss in my past and the past three or four years had seen nothing but gains. I didnt listen to others, I knew what I wanted and had faith in my decision.

Absolutely gorgeous. But yeah, not planning grandbabies till I'm in my 60's, lol. My youngest is only 4!

I dont know. I'm well within a healthy weight range for me but I'm having difficulty deciding whether the remaining figure problems/flab/cellulite are par for the course for a 40 year old who's had 3 babies or whether I really should try to lose another 6 or 7 kg and get to the bottom of my healthy weight range. I suspect there's middle ground there. I'm a fairly thin build, I could easily be lighter than I am and not be underweight. I still have a healthy level of cushioning. But is it going to turn me into Elle McPherson? Not a hope in hell. So I'll probably do a mixture, try to lose another couple of kg's, get my boobs lifted and live with the lumpy thighs.

I wish I could motivate others on this one. I love running, really love it. I had to make myself do it at first but I figured I was desperate enough to have weight loss surgery then I was f.&(#g well going to pull my finger out and do the work alongside it, you know? Like what more motivation is there? So I did it. I plugged away day after day and gradually I came to truly love it. Now I know for sure that it WORKS, so even when I dont feel motivated intrinsically I know how necessary it is for me to maintain my weight, in fact I'd say it is more than half the equation. Definitely with a young baby I'd choose something with daycare, here I could run all year with a baby in a stroller but Melbourne's climate is very mild, no such thing as snow in metropolitan Melbourne! Even so, you need to learn to make exercise a priority, other things have to suffer and I'm extremely selfish about my exercise time. You have to be. I also invested in a decent home treadmill even though I really dont have the space for one (no basements in our houses) so that I am never at the mercy of rain or very hot weather. Quite simply put, if you dont exercise you wont be one of the 100% of excess weight lost (and MORE) stats, you'll be one of the 60% of excess weight loss stats. Also, a huge thing for me was not only losing weight but shedding that awful lazy good for nothing personality. That pathetic excuse driven existence was equally as unattractive and depressing to me as being fat was, and I vowed never ever to be like that again. Just do it really is my motto now.

Never heard of it, but the kids got a Wii for Christmas and I had a go with the boxing - I was stiff the next day, lol!

I dont really drink them, I dont like them and never really have. I either drink Water or coffee during the day and if I go out, I drink wine. Or water, depends on whether I'm driving. I might have a lemon lime and bitters which is mildly carbonated, but normally I stick with a nice sav blanc, planning on a few glasses of champagne over Christmas too of course. So I'd have something carbonated VERY occasionally, it causes me absolutely no pain or gas. But I still wouldnt drink diet soft drink regularly because I am phobic about it - all those chemicals and artificial sweeteners, ugh. I'd far rather overdo the caffeine and die of a good honest heart attack than a brain tumour thanks. Ok, being a bit melodramatic, but I did say I was phobic!

Ah, what a breath of fresh air. I wish I'd been born a guy. Women are such bitches and I've just had a bit of a break from here, partly for that reason. I'm also sick to the f*#*&g back teeth of the racist/anti religion threads - and those are coming from the guys! I figured I dont need to hang with a bunch of ignorant aholes. Is that clear enough? Have a good break Tommy O.

Oh boy! If I was in the US I think I'd be fired as a patient. I disagree with this nutritional outlook on so many levels, there's no way I 'd be compliant. Carbs do not make you fat. Some people lose better without them but it is not a requirement for weight loss that you give up carbs. White carbs are crap for you, granted, but fruit, vegetables and wholegrains are healthy foods.

I'm not a crafty person, dont have the patience and generally dont like the results either, lol, not into country style decorating, patchwork etc etc. Give me a stark, minimalist modern interior any day. Although I did have quite a successful business sewing cloth diapers for a while there, and enjoyed it thoroughly. But overall, my hobbies would have to be running, the computer and filling my pandora bracelet. Nearly done, am going to have to start another bracelet soon!

Its not something I would choose to drink due to the high sodium content. I avoid canned soups too for exactly that reason, I have them occasionally but generally I make soup from scratch.

I wouldnt. If you're going to unfill and fill to suit yourself then frankly I dont see why you'd have a lapband in the first place. The sensible thing is to break the habit of eating more on vacation, as seeing a vacation as a break from your healthy routines. I take my running shoes and eat sensibly and come home feeling WAY better than when I used to pig out for two weeks!

Several of the biggest loser contestants in Australia have made a big thing about all the PS they needed after the weight loss. Its all smoke and mirrors on TV and do you notice how the men take their shirts off to weigh at first and then stop doing so past a certain point? Sorry, but there's no way to prevent sagging skin, you either get it or you dont. I was very lucky but I do have some. I'm going to have a breast lift, for some reason that area REALLY suffered whereas my stomach and thighs, whilst somewhat loose are really very OK, no worse than a lot of people who have never been obese. But yeah, with a bra on and dressed, I have a pair of quite impressive assets, lol. They certainly get stared at a lot as now I'm tall and thin with DD's. But naked, ugh. They are horrendous.

Just an update. Went and saw a PS re a breast lift last Monday. Showed him my tummy, he said dont be an idiot. Tummy tucks are serious operations for hanging skin, not tighten ups for perfectly normal 40 year old stomachs. Lol. I always wish I had an apron so I could get that perfectly flat stomach!

I like go getters, people that are direct, forthright, honest and work for what they want. I have absolutely no patience for whining, woe is me types or types that dont make their own luck.

Yeah, the scar worries me. I mean, I know in my avatar, my belly looks OK and really it is. But being a bit of a perfectionist, I think lots about a lower body lift becuase I do have a poochy bit of stomach and my backside and thighs are heading south quite alarmingly, lol. At 40 though, I think I look better than probably 80% of my peers and with the extent of the problem I have, the scar, honestly would be just as bad. And my skin is going to continue to sag and get old faster and faster now, like I'm STILL going to be flabby and unable to wear that bikini in 10 years time whether I do it or not, you know? If I were 28, I would, for sure. I'd go for perfection. But the huge operation and the scar just arent a worthwhile trade off to me at 40.

See for me, Pasta is quite easy to eat, certainly easier than chicken or beef. And depending on the sauce, you could eat the sauce and push the pasta round your plate a bit. But 2 weeks out, ooooh, I just dont know that I'd try that in public - or at all. Seriously, I'd take a can of Soup or something that can be microwaved or heated for you, hang the embarrassment of having to eat differently, you just shouldnt take that risk at this stage of the game. I wasnt eating solids for four or five weeks, at 2 weeks, even half a mug of thick soup could keep me full for hours. And if you really cant do that, I'd call in sick and miss the party. I'd just avoid the situation alltogether. Having told all and sundry I'd been banded would have made it easy for me to say in a work situation "oh, I cant eat that". That's what I would have done. I had my christmas dinner all mashed up in the blender with gravy - turkey, veges, cranberry sauce and gravy, it was delish. And Christmas pudding is DEFINITELY a mushy! So is brandy custard. Only time in my life I've had such a tiny serve and not gone back for seconds, Christmas pudding is my favourite food ever.

Oh, that wait would kiiiiiiillllll me, lol. But - like you say, that's what you get when you want the best. Think about it like this, that last 3 pounds will go, some more could even go in that time, you have some time perhaps to do a bit of a fitness blitz, get those abdominals in superb shape, really do everything you can to maximise the result AND your skin will have had some chance to snap back to what extent its going to.

I've not had exactly the same but I have had bouts of what I can only describe as irritable bowel associated with my period since banding. I normally go in the morning, I wake up feeling normal, then get the urge, off I go and then the pain starts. Labour is a good way to describe it, it honestly hurts as much as labour, and similar type of pain, in the lower belly, down my legs, into my back. With full on cold sweats and shaking. What I, ah, produce (lol) is normal. Not runny, not diarrhoea, not hard like consipation. But it just keeps coming and coming, like where on earth was I keeping all THAT? The episodes last a few hours, there's no way I can go anywhere, and they do actually involve some screaming. I've never in my life suffered from anything like this before. Its happened only maybe four times in two years, so its not too major a concern, but I did get checked out for endometriosis, on the suggestion of my surgeon, nothing seems to be abnormal. I stick with a diet that includes plenty of wholegrains, I dont do Protein first, I'm pretty big on fibre and bowel health and whilst I certainly eat enough protein, its not at the expense of other foods. The fruit, veges and wholegrains probably get more attention in my diet.

7lb in 5 days is fantastically fast weight loss in my book.

I love all that stuff, wish that were on here! I started physiotherapy when I left school - didnt continue it becuase despite all my fascination with all things biological, the practical side of the job - geriatric incontinent patients - ugh, it wasnt my scene. Where were all the muscly footballers I'd imagined, lol! But the coolest thing of the 2 years I did was getting my very own cadaver and cutting her up, utterly fascinating and very confronting too - to see a person reduced to nothing more than their physicality really makes you question your spiritual beliefs - or in my case realise that you do have spiritual beliefs! It took me ages to get over the fact that there was nothing in the chest cavity other than organs - I think I actualy expected to see a "soul"!

Personally I wouldnt spend the money on a TT right before having kids - you could get a whole bunch of new stretch marks, you've taken a lot of the give out of the skin and you could really undo some lovely work. Then again it may be fine, but personally, I dont see why you'd risk it.

Being banded has not changed our family routine in the slightest. I just eat less. And while I'm no low carber, when the meal involves rice or potatoes, I often dont put any on my plate simply because I cant fit them in. But mealtimes are the same, we eat the same things etc.

Its not uncommon - my ob/gyn was a bit of allright, lol. But he wasnt exactly seeing me at my best.... You put a lot of faith in many medical professionals, particularly when it involves something very personal or emotional and when they treat you with compassion and respect, not like one of a million patients, its quite natural to develop feelings for them. I'm not sure what you can do about it, lol.

Oh, I dont know that its "meant" to be offensive. I know now how I feel about my body. I have forgotten how it used to feel and look and I worry as much now about 5lb as I used to about 50. It feels just as real to me. It might be nice for them to stop and think before they speak, granted, but dont dismiss their issues as nothing. When you've never been more than say 20lb overweight, that 20lb feels like a big problem.