Jachut

What would concern me is not having health insurance for the long run. What if there are complications and revision surgery is needed down the track? My surgeon will not operate on self pay patients for this reason. I would be too impatient to wait though, if I could afford it I'd go the self pay option, but I'd ALSO take out health insurance, simply because I believe in it and would feel very exposed without it.

Because whether you're a Christian or not, its a wonderful time. People are happy, they're extra loving, giving etc. I hate when people get all stingy about how "commercial" Christmas is. What spoilsports. Its a time for remembering how much you love your family and showing them that, its exciting and special and wonderful for children. No matter what your religious beliefs there's something in Christmas for everyone if you really want to make the effort. I dont think about Christmas in the religious sense at all, its just wonderful family time.

I wouldnt be upset about how much I ate if that was my day I'd be upset that I'd eaten NO fresh fruit or vegetables! I'd feel totally crappy on that sort of food. Replace the pudding and the ice cream for something like some fruit and a salad with your chicken. Dont worry about it, its just one day, write it off and start again. I dont know how much you normally eat, for me, I eat more than you've just described. I think we lose our perspective after banding, and start to become obsessed with the other end of the spectrum, eating as little as possible. Its not necessary and not healthy. Of course, dont eat to feeling FULL more often than you can help though. But one day doesnt mean success or failure, just put it behind you.

I just think this whole all or nothing diet mentality sets you up for failure. People dont live like that and they dont eat like that. What you want is a healthy lifestyle, and a healthy lifestyle CAN include treats every now and then. You want a balanced diet, not some torture plan that you have to be on for life. The band, when you get restriction, makes it easier to think about food rationally so that nine times out of ten you choose something appropriate to eat. But the lapband is not a life sentence to never enjoy your food or never eat anything just for the pleasure of it again. What you want to learn is how to fit that appropriately into your lifestyle, not make eating for pleasure an every meal thing. And exercise helps a lot there too. It really does seem to regulate your appetite and make you want healthier foods. You do need to be kind to yourself. How strictly you like to diet is personality dependent and its not wrong to approach it that way, in fact most of the really successful people do. But its not how I like to live and I've managed to lose all my weight. I had to be content with slower loss (18 months to lose 85lb) but it came off nonetheless and I didnt feel deprived doing it.

Berlei sports bras rock dont they? Its all I'll wear to run in. Luckily I can just whip down to the store and buy a new one when I need to. Bras are serious support for me too. The right bra and my boobs look VERY impressive. Being a D to DD they're off a good size, particularly since I'm thin now. I like a good supportive Tshirt bra with foam lining, it gives a really nice rounded shape. You can save your lacy bits of nothing for hiding the fact that you've got no tits, lol. The Fayreform bras are all simply fabulous their Tshirt bra is still pretty, but it just gives the best support, I buy them 4 at a time and I dont even try anything else on. Fayreform Profile Perfect Contour Bra at Zodee. Buy Lingerie, Bras, Swimwear, Underwear and Hosiery Online They give you GREAT bewbies. But yeah, when I let them loose, look out below!

Dunno. I didnt gain heaps of weight in preganancy or get huge and I'm already stall so there was lots of room in there for babies. My belly button stayed normal, so perhaps the port could possibly too. I wouldnt be suprised if it became visible though.

Mine is quite conservative, he has filled me when I've asked which has never been closer together than eight weeks anyway, as I tend to be conservative on it too. He's filled me even though I've lost weight consistently in that time because as I pointed out the weight loss had been great at first then waned. He'd fill me now if I really wanted him to. But he doesnt give big fills, 0.5 for the first two fills and after that they've all been 0.2 or so. Its suited me fine.

It depends with my doc, sometimes I've rung in the morning and had my fill that afternoon, othertimes I've had to wait 3 weeks - since I'm 2 years out I dont book my next appointment in advance anymore, I'd only have to go see him if I wanted a fill or to discuss something.

Yes, I'd best describe it as ladylike eating, nothing more. Just stead, small bites, put down your utensils between bites, chew well. I truly think the difference between the way you eat and the way we eat here helps too. In the US, it appears table etiquette dictates that you cut up your food, then swap your fork to your right hand and eat it? Here, table etiquette is to keep your knife in your rigth, fork in your left and you cut off a bite at a time, so its much easier to slow down between bites, which is what I find makes the real difference to getting blocked or not. When I get stuck, its ALWAYS because I've taken bites too fast together, no matter how small or well chewed they were.

Oh, they have sagging skin on the Biggest Loser!! They just dont show it. On the Australian one they did and it was quite publicised how several of them have had MAJOR reconstructive surgery afterwards. Our season one winner looked simply terrible, honestly like he'd melted, he had to have the man boobs removed, an entire lower body lift, brachioplasty etc. And if you notice, they often weigh shirts off early in the series then the shirts start to stay on!

As far as mega protein drinks go, I thought your body couldnt absorb more than about 25g in one hit?

Running four or five times a week for about 40 minutes. I do the occasional spin class or swim laps. Dont have time for much else. I had a good routine of circuit training going too, must get back to it. I do notice the difference in my body when I'm doing regular strength training.

Lol, definitely rings bells!

Rhonda, its totally different here in Australia, there's an entirely different approach to it and Protein isnt emphasised nearly as much. We're just told to eat solid food, no liquid calories and a basic balanced diet according pretty much to the food pyramid. I wouldnt worry, it works just as well. Australian bandsters have good rates of weight loss and its not as if all our hair falls out from lack of protein (and its highly debatable that that's the cause of weight related hair loss anyway). Just do what your doc told you and you'll be fine.

Hmmm, I dont know how necessary that will be. I'm maintaining perfectly on 3ml in a 4ml band, I suspect were I to be unfilled, I would gain weight. I know Chickie has an empty band for maintenance but I've always been told that the aim is not to deflate it, just to learn to live with whatever fill level you maintain on.

I think you can........but you're facing a bigger battle than others who can be more active. You hear the statistic that most bandsters lose about 60% of their extra weight, without exercise, you're likely to be one of those that loses that 60%. To lose 100% and KEEP it off you need to make regular hard activity part of your lifestyle, cardio especially. Can you consider circuit training where a lot of the aerobic benefit comes from doing moderate weights very fast rather than pounding the concrete? Try an elliptical machine? (easier on knees and hips than running). Rebounding classes? To not have a pool any closer than 45 minutes, that's hard, probably impossible to consider Water based exercise then. Strengthening muscles sounds like a great idea and cautiously take it from there. I honestly believe where there's a will there's a way and as long as you make the most of what you can do and what's available, then you will enjoy a good degree of success, even if it would be so much easier if you could exercise more easily.

Oh, boy, I'm so sorry. I thought barium swallows were standard?

Lol. i was dropping DD off at daycare today, dressed to go running. Her daycarer is a large lady and her little friend Ashlyn was there too, her mother is also rather obese. They both commented "wow, wish I could get around dressed like that". Maxine asked how much I'd lost now, since she's known me for years and Renee (ashlyn's mum) asked me how I'd done it, so I told them I had a lap band. Renee said both her MIL and SIL have lapbands, but SIL is on medication to dry up her saliva since she has a very high saliva production and her band was not working even with high restriction becuase her body just lubricated anything through and souped up everything she ate to slip through the pouch very quickly. Since starting the meds a year ago she's gotten to goal with a 55kg loss after not losing more than a couple of kilos for an entire year. Made me reflect, not that I'm worried as I"m under my goal weight, but I wonder if that's the reason why I've been so incredibly lucky to be able to eat anything, hardly EVER PB, and not get tight. I mean I've got 3cc in my band and am not tight, can eat any food, some harder than others of course, but there's seriously nothing I cant eat, bread, pizza, cake, rice, fruit and vegetable skins, steak etc etc etc. I wonder if I"m just full of spit?

Ah yeah, the pun was intended, lol.

I find though that while I had to work to lose weight - as does anyone really - I cant eat enough to gain. I mean when I say I can eat more than most bandsters, I'm talking 3/4 to 1 cup. I cant eat anything like what I used to and over time my habits and tastes have changed and certain foods like pizza give me enough trouble that I just dont even like them anymore. And I run four or five times a week and that helps heaps. So I dont fear regaining and I really think that where the band comes to the fore is with weight maintenance. I mean, a huge proportion of people here have lost large amounts of weight before and regained it, THAT is where the band is really going to help, to keep weight off for a lifetime.

I was lying on my side for short periods on the day I had my surgery, had to get off my back, it was driving me nuts. I just put a pillow under my tummy, like you do when you're pregnant.

I've lost 85lb and here's the lowdown on my stomach. I've had 3 babies. I'm 5ft 10 tall and my babies werent huge, 7, 8lb. I didnt get enormous and gain heaps of weight in pregnancy. I carried my weight a lot on my hips and thighs. I never got above a BMI of about 36, I wasnt that heavy for that long and I dont have many stretchmarks on my stomach either - but I dont know that I have good skin or anything because I have heaps of old silvery ones over both hips and on the tops of my breasts. My stomach now, as you can see from my avatar is good enough for me to wear a bikini. Its not a great stomach, but it doesnt occasion stares or glances either, its just a stomach, like most 40 year old women have. Its a little loose and doughy and I do have to watch the muffin top effect if I wear anything tight, and I have the tiniest little flap that will wobble over the top of that bikini I have on, I have to readjust every so often. If I turned up at the PS asking for a tummy tuck, I wouldnt be laughed out of the office. But in my case, the scarring really has to be weighed up against the size of the problem I have. A TT will make little difference to how I look clothed and if I feel self conscious in a bikini, its easy enough to simply not wear one. So to me, I'd like a firmer stomach than I have but I"m pretty thankful that I dont need major surgery, which is expensive to boot.

Great advice. I get a lot of male attention now that I never used to. Often DH is right there watching it, he thinks its hilarious. But I dont view it as a lost opportunity at all. I've got no real desire for anyone else but DH but its nice to think about.

Well, its not something I ever noticed about myself - but I wondered, lol. Its like I was saying to the doctor about my son's asthma - you cant ask him if he feels normal because to him normal IS hardly able to breathe kind of thing. If you had more spit than the next person, you wouldnt really know that would you? Anyway, I guess spit happens.

Wow, we have a theory forming here! I've lost weight successfully and with not much difficulty but I can eat more and way more variety than most bandsters, and always have been able to. I've always had to rely a lot on willpower to not eat when I get the urge because I could. All the band does for me is make me get full quickly, but I've also always been able to eat and drink together and NEVER found it made a difference to staying full, because food seems to move through my pouch pretty quickly. Yet its worked, so who's complaining. I mean I'm maintaining now and I dont have to be super restricted to do it.