Jachut

Its nowhere near as limiting as a c-section - I didnt find my one very painful, but like after a caesar, even though you're not in extreme pain, you have to take it easy. I felt well enough to go for a short walk the next day (3kms) and potter around the house, but it was a week before I felt my usual energy and strength.

I can take any pills I need to, big Vitamins and capsules included, and you wont be tight during pregnancy anyway probably. There is some risk of vomiting day and night for 12 months and doing some damage - how were you during your first pregnany? Is that likely for you? Just imagine though, the joy of being pregnant and glowing, with a cute little basketball tummy! Instead of being like a beached whale, bloated and swollen. It would sure tempt me to lose the weight first! And you'll have a much healthier pregnancy with less risk of complication if you are at a more normal weight.

Yes, its quite slow for me. Its worse than MSN and that's saying something, lol!

This site is giving me the sheisens lately. You cant edit without problems, you cant load pages, now when I post it looks as if my post hasnt appeared and then it appears suddenly half an hour later, drives me nuts.

I always thought that your stomach was about the size of your fist? Then again, there's probably a difference between an Aussie rules football and an American football, If I had something the size of an Australian footy inside me, I'd look 6 months pregnant! Anyway, I often choose not to drink when I go out now becuase it turns off that inner voice and I'm way too prone to eating too fast and not stopping when I'm comfortable, and then having to suspiciously disappear to walk around outside or spit in the toilet until the sliming subsides. I keep much better control when I dont drink. I like my wine, but I stick with just the one and move to Water.

<p>I had my surgery at 245 lb and 5ft 10, BMI 35, and I think I went out for my first run when I'd lost about 14kg, I would have been maybe 210-220lb, I guess. So in the scheme of weight loss surgery patients, being so tall, I guess I *was* pretty light, carrying maybe 50 extra pounds.</p> <p> </p> <p>I also wasnt sedentary, I'd always been active and began some really serious exercise about 3 months before surgery, I'd worked up to about 45 minutes on the elliptical at quite a high resistance, so I was quite fit too. </p> <p> </p> <p>Mainly what I had to develop that I didnt have for running was lower body strenght. Cardiovascularly I was more than OK, but I had to take it slowly to build up my leg muscles and avoid injury. I have legs like iron now, lol. Biking at first is a great idea, it will build up fitness and prepare you to run later. </p>

I bought tons and tons at first, although it took a good few months to go down a size, I had nothing in my wardrobe because I tended to shop to make myself feel better, believing this top or those pants would make me look fab, get them home, wear them once and hate them. So I'd have tantrums where I'd throw out my entire wardrobe, otherwise I too would have had clothes across a few sizes. Now I've gotten to goal but would like to get lower in my healthy weight range, I havent needed to buy much very often but I am STILL shrinking ever so slowly even though my weight doesnt change. Three kilograms now and a pair of pants will become too big, but I dont think my upper body will change much, there's nothing left up there to lose. I think I lost about 15 kilograms (40lb give or take) before I changed size at first though, it was very frustrating.

I'm under no illusions that I could have done this without any fill but I am very loose (by bandster terms, lol). I can eat all foods, including bread, I dont PB and only get stuck every now and then. My band just takes the edge off my hunger. I've never come anywhere close to a "sweet spot" the way other people talk about it. I guess I just WAS really ready. I made the changes, the biggest one being to begin running regularly. My loss was moderate slow, it took a good year to lose the 80lbs I needed to, I was never a star loser like that, but I've lost it now and glad I didnt have to live on a few grains of rice to do it. As a result of being looser, yes, I did/do need more "willpower" and I'm actually thinking of a slight adjustment again as I'm finding myself hungry and eating a lot lately. But I didnt suffer any of the usual problems either - no hair loss, no constipation, no episodes of being too tight, two tiny PB's in 18 months etc.

That's why I dont pay for a cleaner. I've never had any joy from them, I can clean up the middle in the visible areas with a lick and a promise easily enough, what I really WANT is for someone to do the dirty work, the window sills, behind the couches, under the beds, the stuff I dont have time for!

I went for a 3km walk the day I got home from hospital, a very gentle one, it was about 24 hours after the surgery. It felt wonderful, after lying flat on my back all night. I did it every day, I didnt push hard or anything, but I felt normal very quickly. I got back into hard exercise in about the third week.

Hunger still feels like hunger to me, exactly the same. Full still feels like full too, only it happens a lot sooner. I really couldnt say there's any difference except for the fact that ignore that comfortably satisfied feeling and shove in a few more bites and there'll be major discomfort very quickly.

Yeah, liquid in = liquid out in the first stages. But overall for me, totally normal. I eat carbs though - tend to have muesli for Breakfast or oatmeal most mornings, I eat wholegrain bread, I eat plenty of fruit and veges and am not very tight, so I get enough fibre to keep things moving. I can become a little constipated if I dont watch it, only in the sense that I might not go ever day. I've never had to take anything, and I dont need a fibre supplement.

I always always got "you're not fat, you're just a big girl". Argh, that used to piss me off. Firstly, I very definitely WAS fat, were they freaking blind? Just coz I wasnt morbidly obese didnt mean I wasnt fat. And secondly being a "big girl" implies you're stuck with it. I may be five ft 10 but I'm positively willowy now, yes I'm "big" compared to a lot of women, but I most definitely look female and curvy, not beefy!

Fish is the worst offender for me. Followed closely by any stodgy junk such as pizza, ugh. Just not worth the effort. I can eat bread, I have to be careful, but I can eat it and I can eat sushi too although its very filling.

I tend to drink and eat at the same time, not big amounts of liquid. Right now I'm eating my Breakfast and nursing a cup of coffee I've had sitting by me since before I started, and taking a sip every now and then doesnt bother me at all. I also have never noticed that it "washes" food through my pouch faster, although its logical that it would make whatever's there more soupy and likely to go through faster, I dont notice an effect from that. I would imagine gulping down a big glass of Water immediately after finishing a meal would put you at risk of overstretching your pouch and i've never tried to do that - instinct tells me it would be uncomfortable. When I say I drink and eat I'm talking tiny sips of a glass of wine, not a whole 250ml glass of water.

I've decided this morning that I am officially pissed off by the shape of my backside, lol. I'd just gotten back from an 8km run. I run, I do weighted squats and lunges and I sometimes do spin classes too. Why is it then that I am within my healthy weight range and I still have a dimpled saggy bum that jiggles like a bowl of custard? I dont think I'd ever have a tummy tuck for the minor amount of blob I have there, nobody ever sees my tummy anyway and it doesnt show in clothes. But there's definintely lipo on my thighs and backside in my future.

I think its handled differently in different parts of the world and its also down to how YOU like to do it too. Some people love the routine of calorie counting, food recording etc, and thrive on that. Me, I just eat what I want when I want and that worked too. I dont count anything, calories, carbs or Protein.

I was done at The Avenue too but the Epworth's site was the first online resource I found, I've heard good things about their bariatric centre.

My little incisions are invisible at 18 months post op but the big one is still there. Its getting paler and paler but I suspect it will take a few more years. I cant even see my caesar scar at 4 years so I'm hoping!

You would probably see me and say I dont have loose skin but it is there, just not a lot of it. I'd attribute it as much to 3 babies as to weight loss though, I had about 80lb to lose.

Interesting - I'm pretty sure I could eat more in the afternoon than I could first thing in the morning though - I can sometimes get tight even on yogurt in the morning.

Yummy! I love pineapple. I have to cut the centre bit completely out though and I do tend to spit bits out because they can be tough and fibrous and I dont want to risk swallowing them.

I try never to preach, I dont even talk about it really with my one or two very obese friends, both of whom have been nothing but supportive of me. I do mention it to my DH every now and again because at a BMI of 31 he could get banded in Australia and I think it would benefit him, he is a very healthy eater but a volume eater. But what seemed such a clear path to me just does not look that way to others. Perhaps they dont think about their wieght the way you do about yours? Perhaps they dont *really* want to lose it, perhaps they are afraid of other things. I know with my DH, Aussie blokes drink beer and they go on fishing trips and eat hamburgers cooked on the boat, not tuna salads. Doug is afraid his social life would have to change more than he is prepared for due to being banded and actually he's probably right. I've been super duper extraordinarily lucky with how easy I've found being banded, but as a female, I have been on said boat and cooked said hamburgers and eaten mine daintily with a fork without the bread. That's Ok for girls, its not the way Aussie men behave, lol. I do find I've become a bit like an ex smoker though - in my mind, I keep my lip zipped. I actually find myself more judgemental and less empathetic towards obese people becuase I've seen a clear path and followed it and gotten the results, I think "for crying out loud, pull your socks up and DO something".

My DH is on blood pressure meds, his was about 140/90 and has always always been borderline high. He's moderately obese, BMI of about 31. He's desperate to come off it, mainly because of the way being on blood pressure medication makes him feel - OLD! You dont expect to be popping pills like that till your 60's. His doc told him you just dont come off blood pressure meds and that losing weight wont really help becuase his was high-ish even as a 20 something. But I have told him that people say here all the time they lose weight and their blood pressure comes back down. Who knows? I didnt have high blood pressure even at a BMI of 35, and it remains unchanged now my BMI is under 25 yet I had pre-eclampsia for 2 of my 3 pregnancies. Blood pressure is just not something you can control, it may come down, it may not and its not necessarily your fault or the fault of your lifestyle if its high in the first place, it may be just the way it is.

I have to pull myself up on this all the time. I rarely do it at dinner time becuase that's a meat and 3 veg affair in our household, but for lunch and Breakfast, I do find it easy to do. I eat Soup for lunch all the time, which I like becuase soup is such a healthy food - well home made soup is, full of veges and lentils and good stuff like that. But its easy to eat. I find all I have to do is add a couple of wholegrain Ryvitas or a slice of wholegrain bread though and I'm choc full till dinner, but I often just eat the soup. Same with breakfast. I tend to choose yogurt and muesli, again very healthy and no reason to discontinue. But I find I do get hungry before lunch, what I've been trying to do is add a piece of toast, I cant fit it in right away though, maybe half an hour later while I'm drying my hair or something I might nibble on a bit of toast. Bread for me is a good food because a) I dont believe that wholegrain carbs need to be avoided and indeed I believe they're worthwhile, healthy foods and bread is notoriously difficult, I can eat it slowly but it fills me for HOURS. I just find I cant be bothered with the effort so I eat the easier foods but the effort definitely pays off for me, it makes my band work the way it should. Otherwise, I find that I do tend to graze and overeat over the course of a day, but I really dont believe I should need more restriction than what I have and I like the freedom my level of restriction gives me. I was the same pre band too - I always found when I ate *more* than what I thought I *should* at mealtimes, the in between meals munching stopped and I'd lose a bit of weight. Same now, post banding. If I eat a bit more than I think I should by eating around my band somewhat - waiting a while till there's room again and eating a bit more of something - same thing happens, the headhunger stops and I lose weight. That's probably not the way you *should* do it but it works for me.