Jachut

That's such rot, honestly. My life as a bandster is nothign like that and she sounds like she really has no idea. For starters, a meal the size of a tennis ball will satisfy you, so its all you'll WANT to eat. You wont feel deprived at all. I eat 3 meals a day just fine. I dont think that much about what I eat. I eat a normal diet in good amounts, I choose healthy foods and that's pretty much all there is to it. I drink when I'm thirsty, there's no need to obsess over and measure out Water. Just drink some, preferably 8 glasses a day or so. But it takes what, 10 seconds to drink a glass of water. I spend way LESS time thinking about food and eating it than I did. Its like being set free, not an endless prison of rules, regulations and regimes. I'd ditch her and find a nutritionist that actually knows what its like to live life banded.

that wouldnt fill me up very much either. If I ate the turkey on a slice of bread with some salad and had an apple instead of Jello, not only would I get more fibre and Vitamins but I'd be full too. Cottage cheese and jello are more mushy foods that will go through quickly. Was it "real" turkey or deli style meat.

You just never know - I remember the friend of a father stopped at the traffic lights and some girl came hysterically screaming up to the car window that her friend was being raped. Of course he got out and ran to help and was beaten and robbed by a gang of them waiting round the corner. You cant be too careful. He may not have helped because he was concerned for his safety - I dont think it necessarily has anything to do with Christian spirit. If someone knocked on my door begging to be let in to use the phone, I'd leave the doors locked to be honest, and not let them in. Of course, i'd sit in side frantic that the person was genuine, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Its awful to be stranded like that, its happened to me before too but it was before the advent of mobile phones.

Pretty much as much as you're willing to work for. It can go a number of ways. You can be a perfect bandster, you can eat perfectly, exercise well and you can even do this very intensively, like Biggest Loser or something. Chances are if you do that you'll be a star loser. You can be a not so perfect bandster, but still do mostly the right things most of the time. You'll be a moderate to slow and steady loser but will get there, as long as you eat well and exercise well most of the time. You can eat well but not exercise, chances are you'll plateau out and stop somewhere a little above a healthy weight range but feeling great and looking MUCH better. You can want fast weight loss but not be able to motivate yourself for many reasons to do what you need to achieve that. So you can keep getting filled tighter in a Quest to hit that sweet spot so that the band will do all the work. Chances are you'll lose quite well, but again stop short of where you want to be, maybe regain and definitely have lots of slimes, PB"s maybe unfills and refills and much mucking around. Some may even say this can lead to further complications. Or you can be lucky and just lose tons of weight. Or you may be any or all of a combination of these, or none of them at all! Its a totally individual thing. But one thing I do know - adopting the right behaviours to lose weight and get healthy and use your band as TOOL - generally pays dividends. Its up to you.

Yesterday: 2 weetbix with banana for Breakfast toasted cheese sandwhich and some grapes for lunch canneloni and salad for dinner 2 glasses of white wine. So far today: muesli with natural yogurt and pureed fruit for breakfast left over canneloni and salad for lunch half a Crunchie bar (well Eliza didnt want it so what could I do :nervous ) Dinner is going to be pizza as we have a friend who wants to repay Doug for helping him with some tax stuff so said he'd come round and shout us some pizzas. Groan. I dont even like pizza and I'm pretty sure I wont be able to eat it after my last fill. I'll make a salad and perhaps just eat some of the toppings off one piece.

I really dont understand why people find liquids and mushies so hard - I kind of want to highlight what Berry said about making up potato and watering it down. That's not illegal! The thing with liquids and mushies is the consistency of the foods, NOT what you acually eat. If it will go up a straw its liquid. So liquidise REAL food, dont try to get by on shakes, juice, water, cottage cheese and yogurt. No wonder you're starving. Make some decent soup, with some meat and pasta in it, liquidise some chicken and potato and vegies with gravy, or stock, you can liquidise nearly anything. Breakfast could be a protein shake with a banana blended into it, you could have some yogurt mid morning, some sort of protein, carb and vegetable concoction for lunch, blended fruit in the afternoon and something similar to lunch for dinner. You dont have to starve. You have to figure out a way to feed yourself real food in liquid form. Cook something - dont just rely on packets, boxes and powders or you will be hungry and find it really hard to stick to. Mushies can be every bit as varied, filling and satisfying as a regular solid diet. When you cook up a roast chicken and vegetables for the family for dinner, give yours a stab (no skin!) with a stick blender and gravy. Instant mushies. You dont have to live on cottage cheese. Make some lentil dahl with a dab of natural yogurt, or a minestrone soup, or similar. My instructions from my doc were to try to get in 1200 calories a day during this stage to make sure what I lost was healthy weight loss - fat - not muscle, water and a bit of fat. Those massive weight losses at the start arent really any indication of how you'll go further down the track anyway. If you happen to heal quickly and well and lose your restriction quickly and have a long period of hunger before your first fill then it will be hard - but it need not be any harder than being on a diet normally is. We've all done that for six weeks havent we? Its keeping it up long term that's the really hard bit. Two weeks of clear liquids - now that IS very hard. I dont think I could have done it to be honest. I dont blame anyone for caving on that.

With regard to the two PB's. I had a small PB last week my second in 16 months, just before AF started, I really struggled with some fish I ate for lunch. Fish is a difficult food for me. Its only becuase of my lifelong no vomit policy that I couldnt just huck it up and out, rather I slimed and was in pain for half an hour, did several giant hiccups. I nearly did the same dang thing again the next day, it made me stop and realise I was probably swollen and irritated from the day before and stop trying to eat something so sticky and difficult (sandwich) for pete's sake. You need to take it easy for a day or two. WRG to drinking while eating - I tend to do this. Its never made an appreciable difference to me before, so I didnt break the habit. More often, I dont drink while I eat but I drink immediately after. Usually coffee. However I had another fill at the beginning of this week and now drinking after I eat does take away the fullness noticeably. So that's my new goal, wait an hour. Its difficult, I just had lunch and I really really want a coffee. I might go and clean my teeth instead. Its just one of those things - it wont kill you to do it, it wont even make any difference or it may help you if you give it up. You decide what you need to do. Now, soda - I dont drink it often so I cant help - but there is no hardset evidence that soda expands your pouch and does you damage. Surgeons have conflicting views on this. But personally, I dont like it much so I dont drink it. If someone told me I had to give up coffee, I'd honestly rather be fat.

I always just choose a small piece of meat - a sausage or a burger are "safer" for me, and a lot of salad - I avoid the potato salads and the like. I might have a glass of wine, even two, dont usually eat dessert unless its fruit which I might have a pick at. The main thing I find is to avoid the nibblies before the meal.

If I average it out, I've lost at 2.5kg per month. I reality I lost 15kg in the first four months and have lost only 17 in the 12 months since then. I've lost 2kg in the last 3 months. I've been a slow loser I guess. But I didnt have as much as many to lose in the first place and I've deliberately wanted to go slow and steady. Its easier, its healthier, I've enjoyed every stage along the way, I have all my hair and I dont have loose skin.

Woohoo! That's great news all around. Good luck with the run Meredith. I am really upset that I cant do the Run for the Kids in Melbourne this weekend - I've trained really hard to do the 15.2km distance only to realise at the last minute that not only was Doug going to be away but I have to pick up my kids from their cousins by 10 am - so not enough time, grumble grumble. Oh well, I'm aiming to do the City to Surf in August in Sydney, at least I've made the distance now. Although that's a shocker apparently, right up through Rose Bay up heartbreak hill. It goes for about 5km this hill, you shoud see it! But then you get to run triumphantly all the way down the hill into Bondi, that will be an awesome moment!

Some people heal up very quickly and lose their swelling and can eat quite early. the thing is you never quite know what's going on in there. The fact that you CAN eat doesnt mean that your stomach doesnt still need mushies and liquids to avoid all work and churning it would have to do to digest solid food. All it means is that you dont have restriction yet. When you dont have the restriction, pretty much anything will go down pretty much normally. It takes fills to get to good restriction, where you have to eat slowly, cant eat much and cant always eat everything. Please follow your surgeon's advice about when to move onto solids! If you're inventive and creative, liquids and mushies CAN be satisfying, there's no need to live on Protein shakes and juice.

Because I feel totally changed. I dont feel like somehow miraculously I have lost more weight than ever before but am now hanging by a thread to make sure it doesnt go back on. I know its lost for good. Losing it was hard but maintaining it is really really easy.

Yes and I hate it. I cant go for a run without getting honked at, hooted at, and having lewd remarks thrown out of windows. It just proves that a lot of men are bloody idiots. OK, so I have boobs. So does every other woman. Why cant I just be left alone to exercise?. I dont go out dressed in hardly anything to gain attention when I run. I also find it a bit intimidating and threatening given that I'm on my own. I hate standing at traffic lights and knowing I'm being looked at in that way.

I smack sometimes, I cant help it. Its usually in response to fright or pain. Like when Eliza wont go in her car seat and fights and ends up headbutting me full in the face and almost breaking my nose, I gave her a slap before I could even stop to think about it. I dont really think its an effective disciplinary method but it sure as eggs diffuses my anger sometimes. I dont like that I do it, but I'm not perfect. I was smacked as a child, more than I smack my own children, which is hardly ever. I got the belt for things I did. It was just punishment for some of the things I did, in my opinion. I loved (and still do) my mum and my dad, and was never afraid of them. I deserved a spanking sometimes. My relationship with them is still fantastic. I was smacked on the behind. I was not punched, kicked, or violently hit. There's a big difference.

Giving up sugar in tea and coffee is extremely easy. It takes 2 weeks tops, there's way harder dietary challenges to face than that. That solves all problems - no sugar AND no artificial sweetener. Just cut it out. Of course that doesnt solve the problem of other sweet foods, but this one is really very easy to do.

Oats. There's quite a few rye breads on the market here that have no wheat too, so surely there'd be even more over there.

So do low GI wholegrains though.

I havent read all the in between posts but I agree with you entirely Janine. I dont like artificially sweetened products, I'm wary of what artificial sweeteners may do to you Healthwise, and I dont like the taste. But wait, there's more, lol. I dont like low fat products either (apart from skim milk and mayonnaise). I like full fat cheese and yogurt. Way I see it, if you eat appropriately and in moderation from all food groups, in proper amounts, the fat isnt a problem. AND here's the really contraversial thing. I dont believe in low carb. I think its unhealthy and a great way to give yourself bowel cancer and heart disease years down the track. I respect people's choices but I dont think there's any miracle about it, cut out a food group and you lose weight. All that scientific mumbo jumbo about insulin levels etc, I dont believe that. I think wholegrain low GI carbs are just fine. When people say they're addicted to carbs because they crave them, well of course you will crave them if you dont eat them because you're body needs them. They provide ready energy. People that suffer *severe* carb and caffeine cravings often have an underlying disorder like hypothyroidism. But I agree, sugar is no good for anyone. Processed white refined carbs are crap foods that we shouldnt eat. I also think the Protein first thing is garbage, we need food from ALL the food groups. It may be the best way to get full but its not the best way to nourish yourself. Protein is not the only nutrient we need. Lol, wow, I feel brave saying all that. Each to their own though. Why would I want to argue and be disrespectful of the way other's choose to lose weight? My way works for me, and that's all I'm really concerned about. I'm not saying I'm 100% right either, its just my personal feelings. I would never not follow my surgeon's directions, but I only had to do 24 hours of Clear liquids, others have to do 2 weeks. So who's right? There's no consensus on it. But I do agree that if you cant follow the post op instructions, you're going to struggle long term.

I dont low carb but as for stalling, I got to about 11 months before hitting my first major plateau. I've lost since then but only 3kg - but I'm now at a normal BMI so I'd expect it to be hard from hereon in. Its going to take some major shake up to get the rest off - like proper DIET (dirty word round here) and personal training kind of torture.

Since I got banded, we seem to have had more stomach bugs through my family than in the entire 38 years before! The first one struck three days after my surgery and I caught it, but the anti nausea medication worked for me. I felt awful, I had fevers and chills and I nearly drove myself insane thinking "do I feel sick?" "am I nauseous" "what was that rumble" to the point where I actually wished I would just throw up and be done with it. But the medication worked. Since then there's been about 5 more bouts of it, but I've managed to not even catch them by being absolutely ridiculously fanatical about cleanliness and germ containment.

I just had a small fill and am having the same problem. I entirely disagree with being able to eat bread meaning you need more restriction. I'm now eating little enough that were I to be filled more I'd be severely worried about general nutrition. Some people can just eat bread is all, and I'm one of them. I most definitely dont need to be any tighter. Since the fill, I've really started following bandster rules a bit more closely as I've not really needed to till now, have lost weight well. So solid Protein, no drinking. What's happened to me is that now I'm ridiculously and utterly STARVING within 2 hours of a meal because the meal was so small. I'm tall and I run a lot, I burn quite a lot of energy in the average day as I'm also really active on a general basis. So I do need to eat. I'm experimenting with dropping my 3 meals a day routine and adding two good Snacks, as I simply cannot eat enough now to get me through to the next meal. So I dont really think more fill will solve your problems, its more managing how you eat to fuel yourself throughout the day.

Its not great for you band to PB but most people do it at times and their bands survive it. Its PBing several times a week or more that's problematic. I've only had it happen once, it was awful and my stomach was sore for days, I pulled a muscle.

I had a BMI of 35 and didnt realise when I began researching that its much more lenient in Australia. I had no troubles. I really thougth that I may be refused as I didnt think a bad ankle would be enough of a comorbidity but it was. I wasnt prepared to gain the amount of weight I'd have needed to to get over 40, for me that was well over 30lb. But 10lb? Looking back on how much this has helped me and how successful I've been, I'd gain it in a heartbeat. I'd do all the things suggested above and gain a little to boot.

I had lost about 14kg when I first tried it, and I also started from a lower BMI of 35, so it was perhaps a bit easier for me. Also very soon after I started, I purchased a treadmill and ran almost exclusively on that for ages. It really has taken me a year to build up the leg strength to be able to run 10kms out on the road several times a week without causing myself injury. Slow and steady, do what you can, but do protect your knees and ankles. Even 20lb off will make a difference. Try to seek out softer surfaces if you possibly can. Everybody can run. Not everybody can be really good at it, lol, I'll never break any land speed records, but everybody who wants to can run, barring specific injuries etc.

Fraid not. I dont have many stretchmarks, I dont know why, just lucky. I have a few over my hips, but after 3 babies, I guess I've basically got good skin. Lucky not to have an apron. But the cellulite on my thighs and backside, if anything, its worse than it was because now its not filled out tight with fat, its a bit more jiggly. Dont even ask about my boobs, lol. I think childbirth and breastfeeding has done way more damage than weight though.