Jachut

Oh, I eat way more than 1000 and Ive gotten to a healthy weight. I may have to go that low to do the fine tuning though, its much harder to lose now. I exercise instead - I'd rather eat and exercise. Yesterday I had breakfast: bircher muesli snack: coffee lunch: caesar salad and a few mouthfulls of orange juice snack: banana dinner: beef schnitzel and steamed vegetables

I can eat more than 1/2 cup too - if you're not eating to the point of discomfort, you're absolutely fine and its ONLY a problem if you stop losing.

Its true, your thinking is just incorrect - the weight loss WONT stop if you exercise it will accelerate! And it will be more fat than if you werent exercising.

I got a fill and am now at 2.9 in a 4ml band. Still not tight..... Lucky I've managed to lose nearly all the weight i wanted to without being tight, since it seems I will never get there. Salads? First time I've EVER heard to stay away from them. They dont irritate my band, that's for sure. I can eat salad easily.

Yes, the apple idea is an excellent one! Good fibre and Vitamins too. Any piece of fruit would do probably, just for variety.

It really depends if you're losing or not. There's no *should* about being able to eat this or that, if you're losing weight. I managed to lose all of my excess weight down to a normal healthy weight without ever finding a sweetspot or giving up bread. I just figure, the more you can eat and the greater variety, the better nourished you are going to be, the less chance of losing hair, etc etc. As long as you're still losing weight. When you stop losing or feel you are putting in inordinate amounts of effort to lose, or worse you are overeating and gaining, then its time for another fill. I'm going for one this afternoon for the precisely the same reason.I ate muesli AND toast for Breakfast this morning. Which is absolutely fine for weight maintenance, which I've been doing for months. But I really want to fine tune and get a bit more off so I can reason "well I can eat toast, so I have a lot of leeway to play with". I know I can get a small fill without getting too tight if I can scarf down a bowl of muesli and a piece of toast in one sitting. But if I were still losing weight I wouldnt worry about being able to do that. Does that make sense?

Oh, do I *have* to, lol. Not been a perfect bandster today! OK - I had bircher muesli for Breakfast. Followed by a piece of toast an hour later. Followed by (hangs head in shame) a big fat piece of lemon coconut slice and a cappucino for lunch. Argh. Talk about carb overload. I'm going for a small fill this arvo and really have just let my hair down today, lol. I am eating for maintenance at the moment - I'm at a normal weight but I would like to lose a tiny bit more, hence the fill. I promise to eat some vegetables tonight!

I do count on occasion, its hard not to when you've grown up forever on a diet isnt it? I find the opposite - I'm shocked by how little I eat. I keep feeling bad about the way I tend to pick in the afternoons, not really feeling "hungry" but just peckish. When I've counted I realise i've eaten like 400 calories all freaking day, no wonder I'm peckish. It reminds me to have a good Breakfast and a good lunch, maybe 800 calories worth and then the peckishness miraculously disappears. I do think you need to be aware of what you're eating, for sure.

Yes, I find I loosen very quickly with a bit of weight loss. I've had that sweet spot a few times, for a week or two only!

I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. I dont think enjoying good food and wanting to eat and weight loss are mutually exclusive, and I didnt get banded to starve or be miserable either. I like to eat dammit. I just dont want to do it to excess anymore. And you can do that and still lose weight if you exercise.

A lot of people like the Tony Ferguson program better than Optifast - its the same type of thing, and lots of people's docs have approved it instead, unlike Slimfast and other more "commercial" ones, its not full of sugar etc, pretty comparable to optifast. Lots and lots more flavours though. Its sold through Terry White Chemists or I think you can buy it online.

First six months, it was about 2lb per week, second six months, maybe 1lb per week, 12 months got me to 100% of my excess weight lost - which was about 85lb, hence the *slowish* loss. Second 12 months, I'm 7 months into that now and I really would like to lose another 8kg or so (20lb give or take) to get the lower end of my healthy weight range. I'd averate .00000000005 of a lb loss per week now, lol, really struggling. But - my band is not tight at all. I've never had to eat like a lot of bandsters. I still eat bread and really all foods in moderation. So whether or not I lose the rest is entirely within my control, I could get a fill and really knuckle down and eat like a bandster for a while to get there.

I lost about that in a year, it was 100% of my "excess" weight, now however I'd like to get to the lower end of my healthy weight range and I'm finding that VERY hard to do, seven months work has resulted in about 5lb loss. But I could try a bit harder, lol.

I agree, its a myth that you build muscle to the tune of it actually affecting your weight loss. What really happens is that the microdamage you cause your muscles in exercising causes a bit of Water retention. It wont last, and your fat loss will easily outstrip your muscle gain, which even if its truly excellent will only be a couple of pounds. But it makes a huge difference to your body and your metabolism. And lots and lots of cardio as well will literally have weight falling off you. That effect seems to peter out over time, but cardio is a very valuable tool in maintaining weight loss.

Hmmm, I cant say I'm afraid of being thin, but I'm almost ready to get going again, its not as cut and dried as it may seem. i've gotten to normal weight. Its at the top of my healthy weight range, a weight I've held for long periods of time in my adult life. I really and truly HAVE needed the six months or so I've spent at this weight to get my head around it in a lot of ways. I've never known myself thinner than this, so its hard to imagine getting there. But I do feel after a while I am ready to try. So my advice would be just take your time. Get used to each stage along the way.

30lb in 5 weeks yes, 30lb of FAT in 5 weeks, no.

I still get a kick out of this. I know its just so stereotypical and sexist etc etc etc but I love that I eat like a lady now, not like a pig. I was always the first finished! Now I'm always lagging and people say "c'mon, eat up, you'll waste away" etc.

It is amazing, but unfortunately for me, my appetite did return. I do still get a lot of headhunger and have to do a lot of "I will not eat, I will not eat" during the afternoons. I've gotten used to the fill up quick factor though. I serve myself the right size now and it doesnt feel small or wrong to me.

I'd bring it up with your doc, and I would have eaten the bananas too. I've only suffered with leg cramps during one of my 3 pregnancies and it wasnt fun. Those pre-op diets - they're only the lesser of two evils really. You dont want to go into surgery with your liver enlarged and fatty, but boy they're not very good for you in general. Way too extreme for average weight loss needs.

Hmm, SOM, for me it depends how full I am. I cant drink if something's a bit blocked, that's for sure. I think though that perhaps I'm even looser (bandwise, lol) in comparison to other bandsters that I realise and perhaps that if my band were adjusted more optimally, I wouldnt be able to drink and eat together either. Because to be honest, I fill up quickly, but nothing stays in my pouch very long no matter what I do. I dont find myself starving, but that "lack of appetite" I had when I'd just had surgery, I've never been able to find that again. I've gotten to a normal weight without it, but I'd like just a spell of it to get to what I consider my optimum weight. But I just dont want to give up the freedom I have eatingwise. Sigh.

Hmm, a little biased! Also, she's dead wrong on many levels. As already pointed out above, the lap band is reversible and removable. But also, there's considerable evidence to suggest that long term calorie restriction actually lengthens the lifespan. As to whether or not people remain obese (just less so), regain some weight or experience comorbidities such as high blood pressure or cholesterol, well, that's down to individuals. Its still down to our individual behaviour and I dont believe I've ever seen any claims or been under any illusions that its not still up to me to behave in such a way that I make this successful for me. Unfortunately obesity is about more than just how much someone can fit in their stomach at any one time and there will always be people who just cannot be helped by bariatric surgery.

I dont see how the doctor can *know* that your body will stop now any more than he can *know* just how many calories per day YOU need to maintain a given weight. That's really pretty ridiculous that he would presume to know that. There's averages and statistics but its something you will have to work out for yourself. My body has elected to "stop" losing now at the sort of food intake, at 78kg. It just never budges up OR down these days. I'd like to lose more. Its a no brainer that that means I have to eat less. I eat quite a lot for a bandster, probably 1800 calories a day these days. I'm not sure I want another fill though becuase I"m healthy and well nourished and full of energy. But its totally within MY control. I would take what your doc said with a grain of salt personally. He may well be right, but all it means is that a different approach or a more strict effort is required from now to get to where you decide you want to be.

I even ruined a vacuum cleaner and had to get a new one - and the man sold me a Hoover Cat and Dog! I noticed the shedding but I didnt notice thinning, although I noticed a general loss of condition. Until I had a haircut at a cheap place (spur of the moment) and the b*tch that cut it tsk tsked about how dry my hair was and did I want it layered. I said no, because I have a frizzy curl to my hair that's hard enough to deal with without layers. She did it anyway, and that's when I noticed how much it had thinned, the ends were just stringy. I've put up with it and gone back to a very good hairdresser - anyway I've just given up patience and had a huge chop into a really funky inverted bob. Now its so darn thick I cant manage it! ARGH. But my hair was literally everywhere - its disgusting, all over the basin, floor, clogging up the drains, whenever I use my hoover floormate and empty out the dirty water, there's all balls of my hair in it, from around the house. But I've always been like this, I shed heaps. I just noticed an increase. But I never noticed real thinning, and its not likely you'll actually go bald.

I had some oatmeal for breakfast, some bacon and lentil soup for lunch and just ate a couple of crackers because I was hungry. Tonight we're having roast chicken, mashed potato/pumpkin and steamed broccoli and cauliflower for dinner.

Only if you show me what's in your sporran...