Jachut

I have to peel apples too but they're a great snack as I get very full from eating one.

What about if you exercise you turn your fat to muscle or if you stop exercising all your muscle will turn to fat. How stupid can people be? Fat is fat, muscle is muscle. Although I have a male friend who was a keen cyclist, he had hugely muscular thighs. Then he grew up, had kids, bought a house in a suburb he could afford and had to catch the train to work - he also married a wonderful friend of mine who was/is obese. Over the years he's become morbidly obese - the size of his legs, WHOA. He's retained all the muscle and laid fat down over the top, and I'm not kidding, he actually has trouble walking, cant get one thigh around the other. He would have the hugest legs I have ever seen.

I do believe in this I think a high (wholegrain) carb, high fruit and veg diet is the healthiest in the long run. Note: NOT sugary white carbs that give you a big insulin high. Plus I find that anything fibrous like wholegrain bread is the best solid for me to eat, I eat a little, I get full very quickly and I stay full for ages. Well chewed Protein is next best, but not as good as grains, bread and salad for me. Whenever I add a salad roll for lunch mosts days, I lose weight. The minute I go back to softer foods, I resume my snacking and picking all afternoon and the weight loss stops. Same with Breakfast, not only does my body run a lot better with a good energy hit from the carbs in the morning, but I stay full all morning, just doesnt happen with an egg. Dont get me wrong, protein foods are important and I dont undereat it, I just need fibrous foods/carbs as well.

The normal disoriented feeling when you wake from anaesthetic. And as I usually am I was freezing and got the shakes really badly. Then I became aware of a dull thudding pain in my stomach, in my head I pictured a huge rock tied to my organs. It was heavy and it hurt, but they gave me morphine right away. And slipped a pillow under my knees, which really took the pressure off. Then I had that lovely dozy sleeping on and off all afternoon, without any kids to bother me!

I lost 35lb in the beginning before I changed down one single size. Now I'd need to lose about 8 to 10lb and I'd be down another size. It depends how overweight you are (and how tall).

I wish I knew the answer, lol. I need another fill to lose the last bit of weight, I really do. I made an appointment last week and I chickened out. I'm so afraid of getting to tight, every single fill has left me able to still eat everything for which I've been very glad, as I've still lost weight without being very restricted. I feel like I'm just pushing the envelope to go for another and that this one will be the one that forces me into a very restrictive bandster life. Its probahbly more likely that the next one will make no more difference than the last five have, just a slight increase in restriction for two or three weeks and then back to normal. But I like being able to go out or go on holidays or whatever and not have to worry abotu what am I going to eat, what if I PB in front of everyone etc. But there's no way of knowing till you actually do it, lol. I'm ringing for another appointment today - what did I get this band for if I'm not going to use it properly to achieve the last big of weight loss? Its not permanent, a fill, if its too much you can have some taken out.

No, not at all. I dont feel like I miss out on anything (and I dont, there's nothing I really cant eat). I enjoy food MORE now that it has no power over me and I"m not afraid of it.

I'd have to agree, this hits me occasionally too - as it did before banding. It coincides with times in my life that are busy and stressful, and I also agree that those phases get shorter and shorter as I learn to look after myself and put myself first. Nowadays, the *thought* often hits me but the reality is I dont really want it so much anymore. I did have McDonalds on Friday night as we have had a hellish week getting ready for a huge birthday party on Saturday for my daughter. I had been over the other side of Melbourne to pick up my niece and nephew, it was 8pm, none of us had eaten dinner yet, it was quite reasonable in the circumstances to hit the drive through, which I did. I ate my fries, looked at the cheeseburger and thought, nah, cant be bothered. It really does happen eventually! The hardest part is getting yourself back on track but really its what you do MOST of the time that counts.

Doesnt work that way for me. Every fill I've had I have 2 great weeks, lost a lot of weight and then it goes back to how it was before.

Everyone knows I'm banded so I dont have to explain anything.I just leave what I cant eat, although when we go to friends, its nearly always serve yourself type BBQ or something, formal dinner parties just arent really done these days - well not amongst my generation. At a restaurant I just leave what I cant finish. I'm a big believer in dissasociating myself from the food. I think to worry that you're *wasting* money by not eating all your meal is the kind of mentality I want to avoid. To me it seems kind of dysfunctional. I just dont care about it. I eat what I feel like eating, stop when I'm full. Not interested in taking it home or splitting with others or kicking up a song and dance over not having to pay full price becuase I cant eat a full sized meal.

Its pretty much everything in moderation in Australia. We dont do the protein first thing. Moderation works, you dont have to give up all carbs to lose weight. Bread in fact is the most satisfying food for me becuase it sticks around for hours. But my idea of moderation now is a tiny piece of Eliza's birthday cake yesterday, not a packet of sweet biscuits and a bag of chips every day.

For me, its never OK to snack. Once I start I dont stop, I just pick pick pick. I really really need to get back on track and just say no eating between meals ever. I fill up quite fast at mealtime, so I ahve adequate restriction there, its just the picking and head hunger that do me in. And I dont think there's a fill level that will actually stop that. So it depends on you really, and what works best for you. Snacking is trouble for me. I can eat more than a cup but I need to, I run a lot and need the energy.

It really depends on whether you're losing weight - if you're losing then you're not eating too much, its that simple. Half a cup, a cup, it doesnt matter if you're not eating to bursting point and you're losing weight. When you stop losing then you need to assess honestly why. Is it just too much volume as restriction is no longer adequate? Or is it also due to poor food choices, lack of exercise, etc? Are there things you can improve on?

I'd wait. I'm not losing really anymore now that I'm nearly at goal weight, i can eat about 1800 calories a day, I'm restricted as much as I'd want to be when I sit to eat ameal but I have too much appetite in between meals these days and I'm STILL procrastinating over getting a fill. I just dont want to be tight! I've got an appointment for this afternoon, but I bet I dont end up going. so yeah, I'd wait.

Oh, sorry I didnt read your post thoroughly enough to realise you're 2 weeks post op. As you move into mushies, you can make things like mashed vegetables, lentil dahl, I made a huge pot of lentil and vegetable soup that I blended up chunkier than when I'd had it during liquids, fruit smoothies, my favourite meal was a salad of cucumber and tomato (both peeled for musies), chick peas, avocado and a can of flavoured tuna, tinned fruit, stuff like that still contains fibre. Although obviously on such reduced volume as compared to normal, there are some digestive adjustments. I never had to take anything though and it all normalised once I was eating well on solid foods.

I know that nothing anybody says will convince you but you can and will eat your favourite foods again - only this time not in excess and they wont have the hold over you they once did. There is no need for you to have it "one last time". I felt a bit the same but for me, my new life started the day I said to my surgeon that I wanted to go ahead with the surgery. My last supper was tinned Soup and toast, lol.

Meat and bread are the best foods for me to keep me full for literally hours. Everything else goes through quickly. I fill up quickly but I dont stay full, I've kind of learned to just live with that. Staying full for 4 hours after eating never happens for me. But same as before, a cup of coffee or a drink can take the edge of my appetite if I'm hungry and I just ignore it till mealtime.

I keep my band looser so I can eat a good volume of fruit and vegetables and still eat wholegrain breads and cereals. I run a lot so I've still lost weight. Good volume of high fibre food + vigorous exercise = no constipation.

I agree, if you're down and up 30lb, that's yo yoing. My loss isnt constant but I have never regained so much as a pound that I've lost. I credit all the running I do for that - exercise is brilliant at helping you to maintain lost weight.

Eating more slowly and choosing the right foods is more natural to me now. I'm not constantly worrying about the lap band. But I still think about my weight, food, what I'm going to eat, what I'm not going to eat, how far I'm going to run etc constantly. I'd love to just not think about those thigns at all.

My guess is that its a pretty high proportion. Many people truly need a tummy tuck and many people want to fine tune and could probably get away with not having one but they want to really finish off the journey feeling great. And then there's plenty of people who dont want more surgery and dont think its worth it. But there's hardly anyone with a perfectly flat and tight stomach!

To fill or not to fill? That's the question isnt it? I made an appointment for Thursday arvo, I so want to get another 7kg off and I will be DONE! But I'm afraid of being too tight. I know a few wiser food choices and bit less packing in things round the sides - a choccie here, a biscuit there and it would probably come off without me needing to go tighter. I'm really debating whether to cancel the appointment or not. We went to dinner at SIL's on Sunday and dinner was torture, I really had to eat very carefully. I'm not often like that, but even rarely is enough, I dont want to face that all the time. But it may be just what I need to get to goal and then I can have some fill out to maintain. Hmmmm. I cant decide. We're also on tenterhooks because Fraser sat the Haileybury scholarship exam on Saturday. I'd so love for him to get the opportunity to go to a school like that. He and Ewan have both been enrolled since birth (Doug went there) but sheesh, we have 3 children to educate and at 20grand a year its not likely to happen without help. We have to wait till April to find out how he did. He's a pretty smart cookie, but probably not smart enough to beat 300 other students to the prize. I'm so proud of him for having a go though.

Bugger off Barry!

I'd rather be tighter in the morning since how often do you go out or eat socially for Breakfast? I tend to be a bit tight first thing, but only to the point of having to eat carefully, not sticking to liquids. But I can get much tighter in the evenings and it can make eating out not impossible, but I have to choose carefully sometimes or I know disaster will strike. Lucky for me, carefully really means anything softish or chewable like Pasta or a salad, available pretty much everywhere.

Funnily enough some crackers seem to really do me in! Bread can actually be easier to eat than crackers for me.