Jachut

Oh - yes, it was just a generalisation. Obviously I can see that people come in all combinations and shades. All I meant was that its rare enough here that any particular group as a whole is not necessarily stigmatised or identifiable.

You've probably irritated your stomach with the incident, and should stay on liquids for a few days to let it settle. Hopefully there's nothign still stuck - are you OK until you drink or eat? If you are able to get liquids down, give it a day to see if it settles and then if it does, a day or two more on liquids/mushies. If your'e still sliming and having trouble, you probably need to see your doctor to prevent getting dehydrated, you might need to take some fill out to let it settle. It doesnt mean its always going to be too tight, but I'd be careful as you approach that level.

I thought the way they treated a stretched pouch is to completely unfill and allow the stomach to re-settle.

A little bit - specifically to strengthen my ankles/calves, which it has done nicely.

Only once in a blue moon would you see a full blooded aboriginal person in suburban Melbourne - same as we dont have kangaroos hopping down the streets. You just never see it unless you travel. Of course there's probably loads of mixed race aborginals around but there's so many people of blended background . Blackness is not much of an issue here because the other cultures that have assimilated are generally European - Italian, Greek, etc or Asian - Malaysian, Thai, Chinese and Japanese. We dont have the history that you do, the slavery, the civil war, so people dont harbour the same feelings. You'll get plenty of people irate about muslims or italians, or whatever, just as I pointed out, but the N word would have no use here because its basically a white/asian population. Aborigines are sadly in very small numbers and often living in terrible socioeconomic hardship in remote areas. People of course have their views on that too. But I dont quite get what you're saying - I get the sense that something I said annoyed you, but I dont understand what. I wasnt saying people dont make the effort to assimilate at all, I was saying that its possible with effort from both sides.

I tend to make these sorts of decisions easily (more easily than I should) because I'm vain, lol. I was just so sick of the way I looked. But with the lap band I could justify it on health grounds too, and I really was fearful of how my fast approaching middle age was going to be, in pain, fat, unhealthy. I didnt have health problems YET but I knew my weight was spiralling out of control. I suspect I probably will have cosmetic surgery at some point too, I've convinced myself I'm against it for pure vanity (which it would be for me, I dont have a lot of loose skin) but the minute I have money again I bet I'll chance my mind pretty quickly, lol. But to me, the risk is pretty minimal - like if I were having open heart surgery or brain surgery I'd be SCARED, but these days a short anaesthetic is pretty low risk for a young healthy person.

I think everyone differs in how swollen they are and you're definitely better off eating little and often - but basically try to avoid feeling really FULL. Two tablespoons can be much more than you think it is post surgery. But yeah, I"m relieved its not two teaspoons! Or I'd be wondering whether there really is a band inside me or if I burst it open long ago!

I've always found the portion sizes dumbfound me. I ate about half a cup at a time in the mushies stage, which is what I was told, and just to be very careful not to get too full. Two teaspoons? Sheesh. Last I heard, this was a tool for improving our lifestyles, not a torture device!

I never know what to do with Tofu - they have something similar in the supermarket here, I'll give it a try.

- and they're saying now that the VERY best thing to eat after exercise is milk. Apparently milk has the perfect blend of protein/carbs for recovery and studies have shown that those that consume milk gain the most muscle. Far from proven of course, but interesting to google.

Yes - even with a relatively modest BMI if 35.7 when I started, and compared to others a smallish weight loss of 85lb, I have noticed a difference in my feet - about a size.

Yes, I get like this at times. Particularly dinner time, I'm never hungry in the evening. I have to cook for my DH and 3 kids and I really sometimes have to MAKE myself do it becuase if it were just me, I'd not bother, I'd have a glass of wine instead, lol.

Oh, you give me hope. Although I've had heaviness and pain in my calf that I now know is due to the sciatic nerve, for 3 years. But so often sciatica is just impossible to fix. I've been going to the physio regularly too.

I know we'd all love to see 50lb disappear overnight, but truly 10lb in 16 days is fantastic - you should be thrilled. Especially since this is 10lb that wont return. That's good loss, you've no reason to be upset about your progress.

I have a lot of trouble with fish. I dont like it much anyway. Too bad that Doug loves fishing, but he brings home so much crappy flathead which I hate, and he cant fillet or skin it well, ugh. I throw it out, buy fish at the fishmongers and then tell him its the fish he caught, lol. Fish sticks for me, the texture is just disagreeable to me, I block very easily on it. The only fish I absolutely LOVE is salmon and tuna, and I will make the effort for a salmon or tuna fillet but that's about it. I do eat canned tuna often, but fish is not a huge part of my diet which it probably should be as its so good for you.

We're so backward here downunder, lol. I mean, I just buy a bag of popping corn and air pop it. Just au natural. We do have microwave popcorn, of course, but that's full of salt, preservatives, flavours, fat. Popcorn is quite a health snack if you dont drown it in salt, fat, preservatives and flavourings.

That's good news. What did you do to your back? My sciatic nerve is giving me huge grief - feels like my third and 4th toes are broken but there's nothing wrong with my foot at all - the physio says to keep running, but the next morning till I warm up, OUCH. Glad to know that it is possible for backs to get better, lol.

I seem to be in the minority in that I can run on a full stomach - I often have dinner and 20 minutes, half an hour later head out for a run. I've met virtually nobody else that says they can do this, but it doesnt worry me at all.

Shoulders, back and arms, as well as face/neck. The shoulders and back really surprised me, I really didnt think I had as much to lose there as I have, and I'm very much your typical pear shape, so I really didnt think I'd gotten so overweight as to have a fat back - funny how we kid ourselves isnt it? I mean, I obviously thought I was fat enough for surgery and then I was surprised by a fat back? Lol. Crazy. Anyway, clothes were absolutely swamping me up top very quickly.

I spent years convincing myself that running around after kids was exercise - whilst i got fatter and fatter. I run an hour probably three days a week atm and then generally fit in a spin class and a long swim 2kms or so - I was running five days but have cut down because my sciatic nerve is giving me huge grief in my right leg at the moment, a problem I've had since my first pregnancy 12 years ago. Now I've gotten beyond goal though, I dont need a tummy tuck but I'm a bit upset about the amount of flab I have. I really think I do need to get back to the gym and take strength training seriously.

You dont see it mentioned much do you. I dont have a desperate requirement for a tummy tuck, but I'm flabbier than I want to be due to skin that's not quite "loose", perhaps half a size too big. But expense is my problem, it will have to wait till I"m working again.

I can drink normally.

No, I've honestly never heard of that, on all these boards, the general consensus is that unless necessary (like if you keep losing too much weight) you retain some fill in your band.

Ladies, I can see I'm going to have to start airmailing the Tim Tams, lol. YOu simply MUST try a Tim Tam orgasm! Its not where you do dirty things with the biscuit (although.... hm... be back later...). You take a cup of coffee and a Tim Tam or three, you bit one corner off the biscuit, then bite off the diagonally opposite corner, then you insert into your coffee like a straw and suck. When the coffee fills the biscuit, you cram the entire thing in your mouth just as the whole thing collapses into gooey chocolate, biscuit and caramel. That's a mushie, right?

Boy, you must eat a LOT of popcorn in America for a doctor to hold this opinion - I mean surely white bread is the root of all evil, lol? Seriously, how much popcorn would you have to eat to say its a leading cause of bowel disease? I eat it occasionally, I've never been a "every time I go to the movies I MUST have popcorn" person, but sometimes I do. And sometimes we airpop some popcorn at home, once in a blue moon. Popcorn just isnt that popular here that many people would eat it more than a couple of times a year.