Jachut

Actually a sandwich would be the most difficult food I can think of and I never liked them much either, so dont miss them. Like Puddin, I can eat anything if I eat it slowly enough. Some foods surprise you, things you think will be easy to eat. I had a bowl of cornflakes a week or two back for Breakfast as we had half a box left from making honey joys for a kids party. Those were SO hard to eat! YOu dont know what your problem foods will be, but you may be lucky and not really have any. I can promise you that you dont really miss what gives you grief to eat.

I know about and worry about the effects of tanning such as skin cancer etc - this is HUGE in Australia being the biggest suffering country as far as skin cancer is concerned, in the WORLD. But I also kind of believe some of the counter arguments to this - such as a mild base tan actually helps prevent skin cancer due to you not burning out in the sun and that it can help prevent certain cancers etc. So I do it in moderation - I do it when it matters to me, in the summer when bits of me are on show and I dont do it over winter (much as I would love to) when everyone else is white anyway. I've never protected my scars and if anything its made them less noticeable. They've just about faded away.

Oh, I'm sorry. It is NOTHING you did. A large proportion of pregnancies end in miscarriage sadly and as for nutrients and energy needs, these increase a lot in the third trimester but needs over and above what you normally need are virtually negligible during the first trimester. . My doc explained that my baby needed nutrients, not calories, and I could do that on a low calorie intake with supplmentation and he was right - I gained no weight during the pregnancy and came home 12kg lighter than when I'd conceived. Fat loss and baby growing are not mutually exclusive by any means. I wouldnt want to be VERY tightly banded and eating VERY little, but the band in and of itself is no problem - and it would be YOU that was at risk in that situation, as it would be your body that went without, not the baby's. Nature is smart that way. That's how starving women in third world countries give birth and lactate. Still, I can understand how you would feel, when you conceive again, if it makes you feel better INSIST that your doc removes some Fluid. It wasnt meant to be, it happens because there's some problem with the embryo, and it is not uncommon, it doesnt happen because you're banded. How many of us have smoked, drank, exercised hard or done other supposedly risky things without even realising we were pregnant?

I've had five and am not really there, but I am almost at goal weight so I dont really care much, lol. I've lost anyway through changing my bad habits and just using what help the band WAS giving me, even though perhaps to some people they wouldnt call it optimum. I had good restriction at first for about 3 months and over time its lessened despite more fills.

Bowel prep is common before lots of ops. You drink it and it clears you out. BOY does it clear you out. Dont plan anything away from home the day after you drink it, lol.

Hehe, its like my obestrician. He's treated my mum, both my sisters and I for various pregnancy and gynaecological reasons. We thought we should ask for a family discount but we also thought we might ask him if he sees any family resemblence, hahahaha! Oh, seen one Nash, seen em all!

It TOTALLY depends on your frame. 185lb is overweight for 5ft 8, its well above the top of the healthy weight range. I'm five 10 and I look and feel best at around 154lb. Its perfect and its smack int he middle of the healthy range for that height. I still have curves at that weight - its not skinny at all for me. I'm 180 at the moment, and I have a muffin top going on, flabby backside, I've got plenty more to lose. I think it also depends how obese you've become, it seems to me that at the top of your weight journey, its extremely hard to see a "normal" weight at the end of it. Everyone seems to say - oh the charts say I should weigh "x" but that's ridiculous, I'm shooting for "y". There's nothing too skinny about being in the right range for your height!

Probably 2 days - and mum had my 2 year old daughter during the day for 5 days. But general household duties and playing taxi to a 9 year old and an 11 year old was 2 or 3 days.

I've lost back size but not cup size. Which is a bit unfortunate, lol. I'd love to be a D instead of an E.

Totally agree with Bubblebutt here too - I had a BMI of 35, and I was as good a candidate as anyone, I have fought my weight my whole life and I'd reached the maximum weight I was willing to tolerate. Why on earth should I be unable to get the band just because I wasnt "fat enough". I was plenty fat thanks. Here in Australia they will band people with a BMI of 30 or above. I'd think with a BMI of 28 you're probably not at serious risk of health problems related to obesity, you're not actually obese, so it'd be difficult to convince anyone on that score but I think prevention is a totally valid reason to be banded. I was ALWAYS going to get fat and would have benefited as much from the band when I was 20 as I did at 38. I just gained a whole ton of weight in between. I think you can expect to lose all of your weight if you're willing to work at it. My experience has been that its VERY hard to lose the last of it, it takes every bit of dedication and willpower just as it did preband. Unless you want to be tighter than a fish's proverbial and barfing up everything semi solid that you eat, you actually have to call in the willpower and self denial at this stage, and you have to exercise your butt off. To me the beauty of the band is in getting you to a healthier weight without too much drama but most of all in KEEPING the weight off. That's where it's real value lies to me.

I only had to do a day of clear liquids before moving onto full liquids. If you have to do longer, I'd suggest talking to your surgeon about it. With regard to full liquids, there's no reason to get weak and shaky and not eat properly. My doc told me that liquids were anything that would go up a straw, so as long as it was liquid consistency I could eat it. Neverthless I did what most people seem to do and tried to live on juice, V8, Optifast, yogurt and the like, within 3 days I was having fainting spells. I made some REAL Soup with Pasta and meat and vegetables in it and blended that up. I blended up spaghetti bolognaise with a can of tomatoes to a liquid consistency, I did the same with tomatoes or stock for several casseroles I made for the family. By the time Christmas came around I was just about ready for mushies, so I even had my roast turkey and vegetables blended up with gravy at the Christmas table. I pretty much ate totally normal food just blended to liquid in one way or another. Lost tons of weight, felt fine.

Judy, I'm going to go against the grain here, but I eat a totally normal everyday diet same as I did before, just in lesser quantities. I avoid a lot of the bad foods, but I eat the same types of things I did before. Protein first is a big one. I dont follow it, never have and I'm just fine. I have all my hair, I've lost nearly all of my weight and I've been a carb eater all along (good carbs only though!). Its just not true that low carb diets are the only way to lose. Yes, it works, anything works when you cut out an entire food group but from a health point of view, know that it is a fashion in America, but they dont do it in Australia, its an everything in moderation approach here and the band works very well here! A healthy diet with all foods in moderation will work for you if that's the way you want to do it. A protein first diet will too if you prefer to do it that way. As a diabetic, I imagine you're going to lean towards a higher protein lower carb diet. All I take is a Multivitamin supplment, because when you're not cutting out entire foodgroups, you dont need to take a million supplements. I've never drunk a Protein Shake in my life. And I prefer to exercise and maintain a relatively high calorie intake, so of course, I'm not going short on things because I eat enough food in enough quantity to provide good nourishment. Please dont think I'm rubbishing the way others do things. Eating 800 calories a day on a protein first, low carb diet is a perfectly valid way to lose weight and can improve your health. Its just that it does bring with it a different set of problems in terms of having to supplement etc and if you wish to avoid those problems, then you can lose weight perfectly easily and reliably on a higher calorie, more varied diet - if you choose to add some decent exercise into the picture.

We have one called Liteneasy in Australia and I love it. The food is terrific and its just so convenient, I always had success on it, just keeping it off long term is the hard thing. I just find it very expensive, but really when you go out and actually buy that variety and quality of food its not that expensive. We usually eat a much narrower variety and poorer quality food to boot to try to stick to our budget, so although you pay for the convenience, I'm gearing up for an 8 week stint to just get down to goal weight. I figure I paid $3,000 for my surgery so an extra say $500 over and above what I would have spent on food anyway is not so silly. I love knowing that there's little margin for error. If you eat what they give you you'll lose weight, end of story. And for some reason I find it easy to do, I dont sneak extra food in like I tend to do when calorie counting.

I've been thinking about it too. Like you I did not want to diet or be obsessed with calories or grams of anything and I havent. But realistically, there does come a point where you dont have much left to lose and your body has adjusted to your lower intake so that you just have to be more specific about energy in versus energy out. I think WW is a very healthy and moderate way to do that. For me though, I'm going to go on LitenEasy when we get back from a short Easter holiday - home delivered meals. It just is SO easy and works really well for me, only I've always regained of course. I'm just a really lazy calorie counter and with WW I tend to eat badly because I just count the points of naughty things and do without the good food, lol. I get a bit carried away with the supposed freedom of it, sigh.

Yes, I could feel it at first and very very vaguely see a slight lump there when I lay down. Now I can feel it extremely easily, feels like a nectarine pip under my skin. But interestingly even now that I can virtually palpate every individual stitch holding it down, it isnt any more obvious to the eye.

There's lots of people out there that arent very compliant and dont lose well or regain what they've lost. For so many reasons. The lapband does seem to miraculously cut out a lot of head hunger and just plain appetite for me, even loosely adjusted. But some people are just harder nuts to crack, and I suspect that's through no fault of their own, more the degree to which they suffer from this disease. I've also worked exercise - a lot of HARD exercise - into my daily routine and kept it up long enough that it is now very much habit (and a very pleasurable habit) to me. I swear, I cannot emphasise enough how much exercise is key to this process. I find (as I've found before in my life) that I'm nowhere near as vigiliant with my food intake now I'm near my goal weight. But I can have a weekend where I go out to eat 3 nights in a row, have a couple of drinks each of those three nights, meet some friends for cofee and cake during the day AND make pancakes for Sunday Breakfast and my weight literally does not budge a single ounce. That's what regular running does for you. Not that I'm advocating that as model bandster behaviour, but I'd never call myself a model bandster, lol. If you can do these things, there is no reason in the world to be one of those depressing statistics. Its a great tool if you want to work it.

I dont know about anyone else but I find the thought of paying someone to clean my house somewhat absurd. When I'm working outside the house again, I will do it, but now, whilst I have 3 kids and we're all here during the day, the actual cleaning is a laughably small drop in the ocean compared to the tidying, the organising, the washing (oh, god, the washing!), the putting away of the washing, the making of lunches, the cooking, the shopping, the constant rubbish bin emptying. Scrubbing a shower or mopping the floor, pah! What on earth help would it be to me to pay someone for a few hours work once a week when I have about 40 or 50 hours of other stuff that I struggle to get through? I need a wife, not a housecleaner.

I dont think that you can prevent it with exercise, skin is skin, muscle is muscle. At the very most being toned underneath will help you look your best, but if you are genetically given to skin that's not going to bounce back you could exercise 9 hours a day and it will still happen. Best thing in your favour, you are young. So even if you're looking at extra skin on your tummy, but hopefully your arms and thighs will bounce right back. There's not really anything you can rub on it or drink or eat either. Where do you carry your weight? I think people tend to suffer more badly if they have developed very big stomachs. But you CAN do something about it when you've finished, even though nobody really wants extra surgery, it may be for you when you get there, and the results are incredible judging by what we've seen on here. First things first, get rid of the weight. There's every possibility you'll be really pleasantly suprised by the results.

Who else has skinny siblings? My middle sister is gorgeous, she's so petite, about 54kg and she has the flattest stomach you have ever seen, its utterly perfect. She's also a half marathon runner. My baby sister is like me, not as fat as I got but mid 30's, 2 kids, the crazy life that results and she's been gaining lately, I'm sorry to say it but I think she's on her way to obesity. My parents arent obese, both could lose a bit but they're in their late 60's now, so really, that's pretty normal. Doug's 6ft 3 and 112kg, his sister is 5ft and 42kg, lol! Thank god it didnt turn out the other way around, hehehe.

I'm in the middle of a Bachelor of Primary Education in Australia. I just did 3 weeks of teaching rounds. actually I lost a bit of weight because of the work environment, you cant eat and drink coffee all day like you do in other jobs. I had a bottle of Water nearby most of the time but because I wasnt downing six or seven cups of coffee during the day I didnt need the toilet more often than usual. I'd think being a theatre nurse or similar would be more of a problem!

Whilst I agree it could be a sign of depression and anxiety, I dont think its necessarily so - I've never even remotely suffered from either in my life and I'm a complete pig. I love a very minimalist, clutter free home. The trouble is I'm a lazy messy pig who hates housework. I live my life constantly late, running around trying to find socks, screaming at the kids and making even MORE mess trying to find my lost car keys. It causes me enormous stress and was at the very root of my weight problem - often I'd get the kids to school and realise I was shaking and my heart was pounding from the stress, I'd be straight to the shops for an enormous coffee and a big fat muffin, and I'd feel that sugar hit my blood and feel m-u-c-h better. Nowadays, having lost so much weight and gotten really fit, its not nearly so bad. I will always have a disorganised, messy personality but I have the energy to deal with it, I have the energy to say no, I do not need to sit down RIGHT now, I can just do this first. THe house runs better, its not perfect but it runs a lot better. And I always was ruthless with clutter, I am not sentimental and I dont keep ANYTHING I dont need. It does really help. We still have mess but its manageable. Plus we pay the kids quite a lot of pocket money but dont buy them ANYTHING, they have to pay for whatever they want - they're expected to really CLEAN for that money, not just keep their rooms tidy. They clean toilets, scrub showers, mop floors and vacuum. Works for us, with five of us pitching in, its much easier. But honestly, I feel getting on top of this disorganised side of my personality - espeically in terms of doing the darn grocery shopping, which I would always put off - has been KEY to allowing me to overcome my weight problem.

I have the same problem and to be honest, I have to realise that its not totally for me to control. Really. The best thing you can do for her is help her to learn to eat foods like that in moderation - to ban them for her and not her brother wont achieve much I dont think, other than encourage eating in secret and that type of behaviour. Its so hard isnt it? You dont want her to feel judged for her size, but the hard truth is some of us are luckier than others in the types of eating and exercise behaviour we can get away with. Family rules must come first, your son doesnt need Cookies and not getting fat is only a small part of the health equation - he can still be a walking heart attack risk by age 45 if he leads an unhealthy lifestyle, so dont think you are "punishing" him by not having cookies in the house for the sake of your daughter. I'd allow them both treats very occasionally, if its not going to hurt your son, its not going to hurt your daughter either. Kids need to play sport, whether they're fat or thin, they need lots of outdoor play and not too much time in front of tv, computer and playstation. You dont need to only focus on your daughter here becuase she has the fat genes, its every bit as relevant to your skinny son. But most of all, you just cant force it past a certain point. My oldest son definitely got the fat gene and he got the lazy lump gene from Doug's side of the family. None of his family are fat but they are without a doubt the laziest most inactive people I've ever known. I've kind of beaten it out of Doug over the 25 years I've known him, but Fraser has it too and he will exercise if I make him, he plays sport because that's fun, but in between he sits and doestn move much. Whereas Ewan runs around from dawn till dusk. Its that incidental activity that makes the real difference, but you absolutely cannot be on a child's back all day to make sure they never sit still! It should be a normal part of being a child but more and more these days it isnt. YOu can only provide the healthy environment - and you dont need to distinguish between your daughter and your son here, not at all - they have to do the rest to a certain degree and past a certain age.

I'd maybe just "try" upping the cardio and decreasing the weights. NOt cutting them out entirely but perhaps do a bare minimum to ensure you maintain muscle, but perhaps try an hour of cardio six times a week or so. Mix around the intensity of the cardio - what do you do? Maybe a couple of very long, slower sessions and some more intense interval training - which is great for kicking you up to that next level of fitness. I say just "try" it because its the only thing I could really think of doing, but perhaps it will work!

Well said Kat, I look at it very similarly. I wanted a lifestyle, not a diet, hence my weight loss has been slower. And even more than that, its probably due to running so much, more so than my perfect bandster diet, NOT. Hehe, I eat the same as I always did (which was pretty healthy), just in slightly smaller amount. I can just manage to contemplate "dieting" now that I only ahve a few kg's to go. As in its going to be a short, intense period of dieting and exercise that will be "over" at some point in time. I have no doubt I can maintain now, I've been doing it for ages.

Its such an individual thing, whatever level of calories you're eating, if you arent losing then you have to change something, I agree entirely. Just because I can lose on 1800 a day doesnt make that the right level for everyone, and just because others need as little as 800 a day doesnt mean that that would be right for me. Know yourself, that's the key I guess.