Jachut

I manage it by not being tight, but I still get stuck. For some really weird reason, when I go out to eat, I'm always open, I've only once had a problem in public, but I'm extremely careful then too. I'm trying to eat Soup at the moment, this bacon and lentil soup that I like and it's getting stuck. This soup always gets stuck for me, how on earth does soup get stuck? Generally though, at 2.5 ml in a 4ml band I"m pretty loose and just have to eat carefully or I'll get stuck, but I can eat almost anything. Almost. When it does happen, I walk around and jump up and down and bend over. I've only ever PB'd twice in 18 months, I'm not a vomiter and seems I'm not a PBer either. I've wished once or twice that it WAS more easy to hurl it back up.

Walking helps me, I cannot drink at all when I'm like that, but I have a lot of trouble PBing, it just doesnt come up. But the simple act of bending over the toilet trying to PB actually works a lot of the time.

Sheesh, he's 29! What does he want, a birthday party at McDonalds?

I think it depends a bit on where your eating problems lie. Drinking while eating may make your food soupy so you get hungry sooner. I get that totally. For me my problem was ALWAYS eating too much at a sitting, not eating constantly. So it doesnt matter if I get hungry at 4pm, to me I just eat something. The band makes me full very quickly and once I'm full I stop, so I get full on an apple now instead of an entire packet of biscuits. I dont need to "not feel hungry" for hours at a time since the band assists me in managing my hunger in that I get full very quickly. With regard to pouch stretching though, wouldnt you feel it? I cant get my head around overeating and not knowing it. Perhaps I do since I can eat a sandwich - well 3/4 of one anyway, and not a fat one. Occasionally I will eat until I feel stuffed, but usually I dont. Who knows? But I've lost my weight and kept it off so I'm not sure its worth caring about. I'd bet money most bandsters are walking around with slightly dilated pouches. You dont go from being a huge overeater to not simply because your body tells you its full sooner. Most people have a gradual decline in what they eat and a gradual improvement in how well they listen to their bodies. Very few bandsters are perfect from the get go.

The thing is, a 45lb weight problem often doesnt remain a 45lb weight problem, its just a pitstop on the road to a really big weight problem. They'll band people who are BMI 30 in Australia because once you become medically obese, you tend to just get bigger and bigger. Prevention is better than cure and all that. I wish I could have done this when I was only 45lb overweight, I was always going to get as big as I did. I was banded at a BMI of 35 and I'm thankful beyond belief that I didnt have to become morbidly obese to qualify.

Personally I dont notice any difference between hard Proteins and feeling full longer. I've never felt the feeling full longer effect of the band very much at all actually, the band works more for me by stopping me eating a lot at one time and that was my main problem, not being ridiculously hungry at all hours of the day. Whatever I eat, I fill up quickly, although of course a good meal containing Protein does satisfy for longer, if I eat just a yogurt for lunch, of course I will be hungrier sooner. But I would consider refried Beans a good protein source that would satisfy for a long time. They're amazingly healthy for you, beans and are a GREAT thing for a bandster to eat because they satisfy two requirements at once - protein and fibre, which is so hard to get enough of. I think if you get to the point of avoiding healthy foods like that, you're on the wrong track personally. I wouldnt listen to your doc on this one. Unless of course you found you were starving and picking all afternoon, which obviously you dont.

Squeal Sqeal, clap clap, jump up and down. I bought a dress for a formal function today. it took 5 minutes, it costs only $199, its a size 14 and its gorgeous! How freaking easy was that, I knew the event was coming up but I wasnt looking yet. I laybyed it so cant take a pic yet, but its gorgeous. Its a fairly heavy black brocade-y sort of fabric, has a slight raised pattern on it, it has a boat neck line and is sleeveless - the neckline comes right out to the shoulder, darted over the bust and the skirt has some darts as well so its kind of tulip shaped, with a big belt around the waist. Very classic, very Audrey Hepburn-ish. Knee lenght. It looked fantastic on too, was a great find because 40 year old mother's of 3 who have lost 35 kgs dont really do jersey very well without some serious foundation garments, lol. I'm actually not 100% sure we're going as Dougs interviewing for another job (and its a work function) but I'm buying it anyway, I've never got anything to wear when these things coming up.

They dont do that here, but then people arent into therapy here either in the same way. Every man and his dog doesnt have a therapist.

Gosh, you could be describing me! I got to just within my healthy weight range and my weight loss stopped. After five months, I decided to stay there. I'm 79kg at 5ft 10, healthy, but I'm a "big" girl, in that I'm not petite, delicate, elfin or any of those things I would love to be. I'd love love love to lose another 10kg but I cant want it too badly or I'd do it. I'm enjoying running four or five times a week and not thinking about food. I'm definitely eating way more at tighter restriction than I ate six months ago and that's why my weight loss stopped. I'm flabby through the middle but then I'm 39 and I've had 3 babies and been 35kg overweight. I dont have "loose skin" in the sense of an apron or anything but boy, if someone cut 2 inches off the middle of me that would be great. But you cant tell when I'm clothed. I dont know why I should want more. But I've seen Victoria Beckham's latest haircut and I absolutely LOVE it. I've had long hair for years, the condition's suffered from my weight loss even though it didnt fall out, I'm older, I want that haircut! But she's so teeny tiny (not that I would want to be that thin), would I just look butch with a short cut like that? Suddenly I'm wanting to lose more weight again. Its hard isnt it to be happy with who you are? I'm pretty good at it by and large, but I do feel the pressure. I'm an American size 12 which is probably OK for a five foot ten person. But there's inches to pinch!

I've shaved my bikini line exactly once in my life - I'm not very hairy. In fact I only did it because I had a white bathing suit that year which was a bit see through, I shaved the whole lot off. And the exact same thing happened, and it bloody HURT. The local anaesthetic does hurt more than the procedure doesnt it? I had one in the sole of my foot once (for a wart) and it was excruciating.

It really is a medical issue, not a personal failure, I like that way of looking at it. We all feel like we've changed for the better when we have good restriction but nearly every one of us would be in the exact same situation if we were in your shoes. I'm praying that you get that new band soon.

Hmmm, if you could fill yourself then you could unfill yourself. And how many of us would unfill for a special occasion, and then do it more and more often? I feel like in Australia anyway, you and I can pretty much have a fill whenever we desire and pay little or nothing for it. My surgeon is half an hour away and it costs me zilch. There's no need to do it yourself. If you need the fill for the right reasons - you're not losing, you can eat too much, even if you've just had one recently, your doc will probably do it for you unless he judges that you're being unrealistic about it. We're lucky! Its much harder for the majority of members here to access their docs at the drop of a hat and much more expensive.

Well because I choose to run an hour five times a week or so, I've never had to find my *sweet spot*, I've been able to keep my band looser and still lose weight. I'm also 5ft 10 tall, and pretty active in day to day life apart from exercising so I have higher energy needs than someone 5ft 4 and working a desk job would - therefore I havent had to go as tight and restrict calories as much - thank goodness, lol, its nice not having the PB and food sticking issues so often and to be able to eat out, enjoy life as normal, just with less emphasis on large amounts of food. Someone much tinier than me would never be able to lose on 1500 calories a day but they also wouldnt necessarily have the same nutrient needs that I do to suit my larger bodyframe. That's why its necessary to fine tune it for yourself. When I say I cant imagine how you'd get what you need on 800 calories a day I'm talking as a tall, active, hard exercising female of 39, not as a five ft tall 65 year old. Does that make sense?

There's just little to no agreement on this to be had I dont think. It seems in America the ideals are very extreme, very low calories, very low Protein. And obviously that works for people by and large. In Australia, there's no such extremes, you get banded, you eat a normal healthy varied diet in smaller quanities - carbs arent banned, protein isnt pushed and THAT works too by and large. I think you have to fine tune it to your own body and beliefs. I never found it necessary to dip below 1500 calories a day to get to my goal weight, but I chose to be very active and still am. I dont believe its possible unless you are literally a perfect eater who never strays to get what you need on 800 calories per day long term. Nor do I believe that protein is the magic ingredient, cut carbs and you lose weight sure, because you're cutting out an entire food group. So I do what suits me. I may be right, I may be wrong but I've lost weight so who cares? I feel happy and comfortable in my choices and as long as you do too, they're right for you. I dont really believe in following a "plan" or a "diet" and nor do I believe relying totally on another person, albeit a nutritionist, to tell me what to eat, I think for long term weight maintenance, those choices need to be mine, they need to be good ones, and they need to suit my lifestyle. When it comes right down to tin tacks, eat less and move more and you will lose weight.

I wore jeans home, so I'd say sweat pants or loose pants will be absolutely fine.

If that's all I could eat I'd be having some fill out. I can eat a normal (if small portioned) diet at 2.5 mls - including bread.

I had a BMI of 35, so not morbidly obese. But I live in Australia, we actually have a health system that makes sense here. For the time being at least. Its a lot more fair and equitable and no jumping through hoops for insurance companies.

its possible, I did have a few months where I seemed to be experiencing quite severe hormonal disruption, it hit me at about 8 months out, suddenly I was having bad PMT, really painful periods and associated irritable bowel episodes, it was awful since I've had easy, light, painless periods that are regular since I had my first baby 12 years ago. But its settled again now. My doc says its not unusual for this sort of thing to happen.

On a house of $300,000 or so you probably would be looking at around $20,000 in buying costs. Most of the online real estate things have calculators - like on Real Estate, Property, Land and Homes for Sale, lease and rent - realestate.com.au you can calculate loan repayments, stamp duty etc.

Sounds like a hernia

I've never heard of it. Stamp duty is expensive here, but dependent upon the state in which you're buying the house. We've got a bit of a devious plan for buying investment properties and avoiding the stamp duty in a kind of way in that at the moment our house is in my name. Its too small for us and we need to move but our goal is to never ever sell a house, we have several investment properties (which we paid stamp duty on of course) and we've had tax advice that Doug can purchase the house from me (which is in reality simply a refinance as we have a joint mortgage even though technically I own the house) and gear it right back up to 100% so we take our equity out and becuase its a spousal transfer there's no stamp duty. So we get to rebuy this house as an investment property and take our money out of it to purchase our next home. Our next home will be a bit bigger but not our dream home, likely just around the corner, we're looking at that as a 3 year prospect before we do the same thing and that way leveraging ourselves up to what we really want which in Melbourne will be a million dollar home (phew, bit of work ahead of us, lol). But even then we pay stamp duty, we just pay it once per house, intead of buying a home to live in (and paying stamp duty) AND buying two investment properties (and paying stamp duty on both of those). Complicated, lol. Which is why we got professional tax advice before doing it.

I eat out of boredom too and I havent broken this habit yet. I also eat to sooth stress and I havent broken that either. One thing that works for me, really well actually, is to eat something like a sandwich for lunch. Bread is incredibly filling for me, I'm lucky I can even eat it at all, I know its unusual. If I eat a sandwich for lunch, even if the afternoon is loooooong and boring, I wont eat. I wont feel the urge. I lose weight at times when I eat things like sandwiches and rolls for lunch because overall, I eat less. But I'm a little afraid to fill myself up that much for fear of stretching my pouch. I should ask my doc about that. Its not eating to the point of discomfort by a long shot but I'm still not sure about it.

The entire population of Hollywood. What a collection of vacuous, vain airheads. I particularly loathe Angelina Jolie though. And Nicole Kidman. What a sell out. A gorgeous Aussie girl, a great actress, nipped, tucked and botoxed to within an inch of her life so that she now looks like an Alien. Nicole was beautiful 20 years ago. Now she's a freak. Why? To fit in with a crowd of freaks?

Its much easier to make yourself go out for a run than to make yourself not eat in my opinion. You really do have to just do it.

Its normal to get hungry between meals if they're hours apart - in fact I get hungry more now than I used to but not inappropriately hungry. If its hours since I've eaten and my tummy is rumbling, I eat something, like an apple, and I'll be fine again. Its being overly hungry that's a problem, and that does reduce with good restriction.