Jachut

I'd simply eat a bit less of the Protein food and more vegetables, fit in a bit of fruit in between meals. Having said that I guess it depends how tight you are and how much you can eat. I can eat enough that way to get enough protein. I actually have changed the way I eat - I used to eat each thing on my plate separately, now I take forkfuls mixed up to make sure I get a bit of everything. I dont necessarily agree or disagree with the protein first thing long term for people - I know it does make you fuller and you need your protein, but I think there's a major drawback in eating that way in that if you eat a chicken breast, then you've got no room for the vegetables. Chicken is good for you but it doesnt make a balanced meal if that's all you eat! And there's no point getting good levels of protein if you're low on other Vitamins and minerals. Perhaps logging on fitday for a while and seeing where your levels of all things are at could help?

In my experience, I'm very glad we had lots of sex BEFORE marriage because there hasnt been quite so much of it since, lol. I was lucky, though, I met my DH when I was 16 and even then, we did wait a few years before doing the deed. For my own kids, I'd be happy to see them sexually active (not literally) as long as it was in the bounds of a relationship - not necessarily a forever relationship but as part of a loving relationship that has some significance in their lives. I'm not really looking forward to the issue of casual sex if it arises. I'm also planning on being a parent who allows boyfriends and girlfriends to stay overnight in my house. My parents were great parents and very realistic ones, but they did have a "not under my roof" policy and it really forced me out of home and into marriage at a young age - not that young, I was 23, but most of my friends lived at home till 25 or older and had way more money to buy their first houses than I did. I'd rather see my children spend the night with a partner in their own bedroom and live at home that bit longer and see them set up well financially to being their adult lives. That's if they want to stay home that long of course!

Someone forgot to tell me! Ooops. I eat choccie occasionally. But I dont have the tolerance for rich foods I once did, it makes me feel sick very quickly, so I just have a couple of pieces now, usually we buy a block for the family to share when we get a DVD on a Saturday night.

Congrats, hope you heal up quickly and you look smokin hot when all the swelling etc has gone down!

Huge NSV for me today! I went to the Monash Pool and I realised I can actually hoist myself out of the water, gracefully, doing that kind of half turn to sit on the edge. I no longer need the ladder. When I was heavily pregnant with Eliza I actually had trouble getting out of the pool via the ladder!

Well you have to do a barium swallow several hours after your surgery - you drink the barium (nice NOT) and stand behind the xray machine so they can see if anything is getting through the band. That would show the port as well though so it kind of kills 2 birds with one stone.

Hmm, I guess I'm more of a live my life now girl. Although I'm pretty much at goal weight, but no, I didnt have a list and I didnt have a "reward" for myself either. It wont be a big party when I do hit that 75kg, it will be a quiet personal satisfaction. As for grooming, clothes, holidays etc - well within the sad reality of family budgets, lol, I was worth it when I was fat just as I am worth it now. I wasnt happy with myself when I was fat but I was as happy with my life as I am now.

I actually find them really distracting if I'm driving - especially when its a site where the death has been publicised on the news. But I always find myself looking around to see what it is about the site that could have caused the accident. For that reason, I dont think they should be allowed. I understand the need to mark the site and make it special, but its a public spot and not really appropriate for such private use.

My early fills actually all made quite a difference, I'd get about a 3 week window where I'd lose quite a lot of weight. My last two have been since my weight loss really slowed down and surprisingly, although they've taken me over 3ml in my 4ml band, they've made little difference. But I just dont know whether I want another or where I am weight wise is good enough - I'm still losing, but only about 2lb a month. Still I'll be at goal in 6 months at that rate. So really, moral of the story is everyone's different.

Not at all, you tend to lose a lot of your inner abdominal fat first. Its the stubborn fat on your hips and thighs that you're working on last. I found early on, I'd lose a lot of restriction with weight loss, now I've stayed the same for absolutely ages.

Every time I've had a big spurt of weight loss I've lost my restriction

You mean before surgery, instead of Optifast? There's nothing magic about optifast - its simply a low carb, very low calorie diet. It doesnt matter whether its liquid or solid food, if you eat similar calories, low carb, high Protein, you'll get the same results. It would certainly be a lot more palatable. However, you'd run the risk of getting too much fat or overdoing it, you'd have to do it perfectly. That's why Optifast works - if you just have the Optifast, you're getting optimum nutrition on the very very low calories that it provides, and you're getting the perfect balance of macronutrients to shrink the liver.

Early on when my doc asked if I had any questions I told him I'd found some great online resources. He looked alarmed and said "you have to be VERY careful about what you believe" and to take everything I found online with a grain of salt and to ASK before I did anything, lol. That's when he told me to ignore the high Protein advice and to eat a "normal" diet, based on the food pyramid, but to avoide white processed carbs and other junk. He also told me to ignore the cup a meal, half a cup a meal advice, apart from in the liquid phase where I had to be careful not to put too much down there at any one time. He said that I should eat till I felt satisfied, however much that was. To respect my band and try never to eat past satisfied and that if I just did that, I woiuld not have to worry about PB's and stretching the pouch. That if I did that and I lost, well then the amount, whatever amount it was, was perfect for me and that if I did that and wasnt losing then it was time for another fill. Made sense to me. So I've never measured, and early on I always served myself way too much and wasted a lot of food but nowadays, I serve myself just the right amount

Not to that degree but my skin, hair and nails are terrible at the moment. I was paranoid about hair loss and I did shed a lot but I always do so I thought I was right. Till all of a sudden, this last haircut, I've realised I have in fact lost quite a lot of hair. Its kept growing in at the scalp but the ends are really thin. And my skin is really really dry, and I've taken my acrylic nails off, gritted my teeth and got through the four or five months it takes to grow the damaged nail through to virgin nail only to find that my own nails are SO soft and horrid that they break down at the cuticle and tear vertically down the nail. Really bad, I cant use my hands at all, have to use a knife or a pen for every little fiddly job. I've had a blood test (routine 1 year follow up here) and started logging on fitday and both told me the same thing. Protein shmotein, I get plenty of that, but I"m very low on Iron, zinc and B Vitamins. Calcium's a bit low too. So at least I know what to supplement now - I didnt see my band doc for this, just by GP but he said give it 3 to 4 months and I should start to see results. Skin fixes quickly but hair takes a while, although I should be grateful I didnt noticeably thin like others have, my hair just breaks around the middle of the shaft, so its thick at the scalp but thin on the ends and the latest layered cut I had just emphasised it. I think long term nutrition with the lap band is very important, I've been guilty lately of eating for maintenance and allowing more junk and less nutritious foods in. I havent gained, and I'm at a healthy weight, but I've realised I jsut cant waste my stomach space on that kind of food more than very occasionally. The other thing you might benefit from is more Omega 3's in your diet, flax seed oil daily, lots of avocado, tuna, Omega 3 enriched eggs and bread keep my son's skin in good condition as he suffers terribly from eczema. Its quite a hard routine, keeping him topped up with good oils from the inside (and unfortunately for dieters, it involves calories) but it does work.

Unfortunately you cant spot reduce - you have to do lots of aerobic exercise and diet to get rid of the fat on your stomach. Crunches and pilates help heaps since your midsection looks much better when its toned and strong, but like somebody said above, it will be hidden under a layer of fat.

I like information! I dont generally use my HRM, I go by feel and near enough is good enough most of the time. I only have a basic Polar anyway, and I havent managed to work it out properly because it was my sisters and its all set up for her. But it was invaluable in increasing my distances with my running - when I wanted to enter the 10k. I wore it for several sessions and practiced running slow enough to keep my heart rate in the 130's - an intensity I know I can keep up for an hour or two. By doing that I was able to pace myself properly to complete the distance. But distances, time, stride etc, I want one of those Garmin GPS things!

Hehehe, doctor shopping to get a higher calorie diet?

Cant wait to hear how it went! Its great to hear how anyone went with their banding but its funny when you had the same doc, same hospital. Its reliving the experience all over again. I was so scared and so excited at the same time.

Although there are common problem foods - bread and red meat spring to mind. My doc warned me I may not be able to eat those again.

Ooooh, aaah, what you want is someone to say something encouraging like "of COURSE, it'll all disappear" but really, there's loads and loads of people on here who've needed tummy tucks. STill, it all comes down to genetics and luck I think, you may have amazing skin that snaps back. Its good to be optimistic and positive, but just with a touch of realism, knowing that a washboard stomach will probably not just magically appear. Good luck!

Some bandsters cant vomit and will spend hours dry heaving. I hate chucking more than anything, but I'd hate to not be able to get the relief of a good hurl when I'm sick. Not that its happened to me more than once or twice in the last 25 years. Others can throw up but only a bit comes back. That would be as bad. At the info night I went to the surgeon said if you start to feel nauseous and know you're getting sick, if its possible to be unfilled, do so as soon as you can. It "may" minimise the risk to your band if there's as little restriction there as possible. That seems to be mostly what I hear about, on our Aussie board, nobody has actually had a full on coming out both ends and out your nose horrible gastro vomit yet, and touch wood, nobody does. I used to be afraid of catching gastro from the kids, now I"m pathologically, deathly fearful. Lets just hope it doesnt happen and you never have to find out.

Actually, that's a good point Julie, its the nutrition you need, not the calories while you still have weight to lose - my ob told me this during my last pregnancy, as he didnt want me to gain any weight during it. And I didnt either. But how many people will make perfect choices? That's the trouble, the average woman requires a bare minimum of 1200 to get in adequate nutrition. I eat about 1500 a day, and I've been logging recently on fitday. I dont do the high Protein thing, I eat lots of fresh fruit and veges and I have been quite surprised to see that I am still falling well below the RDA of many things - notably Iron (I get about 30% of my recommended daily iron needs from my food), B Vitamins and I fall really short on zinc too. I eat such tiny serves of meat now, that's what it is, since all those things are present in lean red meat and the like. Although my protein levels are just fine, its the other things in meat that I need, and you can also get those things from wholegrains. How many women eating 800 calories a day are getting in a few 150g serves of lean red meat per week and their recommended 2 fruit and five vegetables every day? Eat the red meat and you wont be able to fit in enough oily fish and leafy greens for your Omega 3's. Its a real dilemma and its one I'm really having to think about now 14 months down the track as most of the weight is gone, but I"m starting to show signs of minor malnutrition in other areas. I was OK during the active phase of dieting as my body obviously had a lot of stores from years of being a good but huge eater. That's the trouble. Some of us may have to make a choice between the size of our bodies and our health and longevity, if they cant lose at 1200 or so per day, that's the only real choice other than to exercise for 2 hours a day. Yes, you can cut down to 600 and lose, and you might feel just fine. But revisit in in 2 years time and it might be a different story, the ill effects of poor nutrition can take a while to show up.

I'm sitting here chewing right now becuase I've got a bit of the "I dont know what I want to eat, I just want to eat something" going on this morning. It doesnt bother me and I have accidentally swallowed it once too and that was OK as well. But I wouldnt swallow it on purpose!

Actually rice is one of the easier foods to eat for me. I dont eat a lot of it though, there's more important things to eat. My advice is to pay absolutely no attention to what everyone says you can and cant eat after banding - because it is different for everyone. I went into it believing I"d be giving up bread, rice and Pasta and it just hasnt been the case - but I cant eat a piece of fish to save my life.

dinner time. I often sit down to eat and realise "I just dont want this". Which is a concern since dinner is my healthiest meal, its when I eat good red meat and vegetables that I really dont get at other times of the day. So I tend to take my time over it and keep at it for half an hour or so and I usually get it down. It seems with a lapband I shouldnt eat if I really dont feel like it, but the troubel is I know my body needs it, and calorie wise, I'd be stopping at like 800 for the day if I didnt eat my dinner, which as a runner, is definitely not enough. And I've been logging on fitday recently and I'm consistenly low on Iron, B Vitamins and Calcium, so getting dinner in is important.