Jachut

Well I wont name names on a public forum, but the centre she went to, my DH was almost involved with, eek. He worked for a short time as CFO for an outfit that had a syndcate of plastic surgeons, including this particular centre, and they were going to float the whole thing on the stock exchange - kind of a national network of cosmetic surgery centres. So whilst they had some good, experienced surgeons behind them, they were most definitely in it for a quick buck at the expense of quality of service. So the moral of the story is that EVEN when your surgeon has a lot of letters after his name and years of experience, doesnt mean he's dedicated with only your best interests at heart. They can and do STILL do surgery that they shouldnt or that they know will not have a good result. Having seen it from the "inside" Doug was horrified and did not want to be CFO of that particular oganisation once it went public, and it folded anyway. My feeling on cosmetic surgery is that it can be very necessary for bandsters having lost a lot of weight but sometimes, near enough is good enough when it comes to your body and shooting for perfection is just an unnecessary risk - as this poor girl shows.

More so. Like Jack says, pre op, good food always involved overeating. I was afraid to put the effort into cooking because if I made something good like lasagne, I'd pigout on it. At restaurants I took the opportunity to really hoe in, and go on a diet "tomorrow". Now, food isnt the enemy, its enjoyable and part of socialising but its just food. I eat as much as it takes to satisfy and that's it. But I enjoy it way more because I"m not afraid of it any longer.

Tuna's a little iffy. I can eat it, but it does get a little stuck. I havent eaten canned salmon - dont like it. Oh, south melbourne market dim sims. I'm hungry now!

The things that bother me to eat are really varied and weird. I have PB'd exactly once in 13 months though so I'm very lucky! Before I was banded, bananas and hard boiled eggs both gave me indigestion - that golf ball stuck feeling. They still do now. I can barely eat either. Fish, its really REALLY hard for me to eat. Its the dry rubbery texture of cooked fish. If I buy frozen fish in sauce that's really soft, that's fine, but fresh fish that Doug's caught, eek, plus all the bones because he cant fillet for peanuts. The tiniest sliver starts me sliming, I just cant stand it. Not to mention fishing is an entirely boring, non family friendly time consuming excuse for guzzling beer on a boat with your mates, but I digress. I can eat bread quite easily but toast bothers me. Its supposed to be the other way around. I can also eat cake, muffins, donuts and all things like that that are supposed to be difficult. Sometimes they give me pain, but they dont actually block me up, they go straight through with no problem. But I'm very good at staying away from them most of the time. It is STILL my favourite quality time with myself to go and have a latte and a muffin break muffin in peace with a good mag and no children, and I still do it quite regularly, just not every day. Its generally a Monday morning thing. I love how you can retain some pleasures like that and still lose weight. I cant eat fish and chips anymore. I didnt like them much before banding but now I loathe them. I hated the fat, and the oily ring they left round your mouth, now the batter kills me. Dim sims are impossible, even steamed ones, as our "easy" dinner at home was often home made friend rice and steamed dim sims, now I cant touch the things. Its like trying to eat the whole cat, not just bits of it minced, lol. Although, they're a good food in a way becuase if I can get one down, it fills me entirely for about 4 hours, all for about 150 calories and a few grams of fat. I always peel apples now, the skin gives me problems.

Realistically, its all you'll get in for the first six weeks or so - very hard on liquids and I know I had loads of restriction for about 8 weeks after surgery. Long term though, you need to eat more than that. It wont hurt you in the short term and you'll lose fast!

I know I expected a lot more of a hard stop from my band than what I actually get with 3ml. I can still eat pretty much any food, some are harder than others of course - what is it with fish, ugh - but when I concentrate on letting the band help me, not control me, I realise that the way it works is pretty good.

Yes, at least it is pretty much a healthy outline of how everyone should eat. Its not a no carb diet.

I think its ridiculous. Its a great way to get malnourished and lose all your hair though! Most women who arent even active need 1200 a day to be sure of getting all their nutritional requirements. Even 1000 is chancy. You may feel OK but are risking long term problems like osteoporosis. I've lost almost to goal (I do need to cut down now!) on between 1500 and 1800 a day. Granted I am active, but there is just absolutely no need to eat that little. If you dont lose weight on 1000 or 1200, then you need to move more, not eat less.

I can eat pizza - but very slowly and only one slice. And think crispy crust is much better than thick. Regarding goals, I think you have to decide when you get there. A size 16 maybe isnt obese, but I'm still too big. I have too many handfuls of fat that I can grab (although it "could" be excess skin I suppose, just because it doesnt hang doesnt mean you dont have it"). Around 70kg is a fantastic weight for me becuase it depends on your build and despite being a regular exerciser, I dont have heavy musculature, I need to be at the lighter end of my weight range. I have a girlfriend my height and weight and she fits into a 12!

Yeah, I'm speaking in generalities. Its never the first line choice though.

Lol, believe it or not it is entirely possible to be a very successful bandster without ever drinking Protein shakes! I prefer to get my protein from its original source, I never ever drink protein shakes. I hate them and they're too much a "processed" food for my liking.

I've never had the kind of exercise success that I've had since I faced the fact that I was never ever going to make it to the gym four times a week. Since I started running, I've become hooked. I run on a treadmill at home and I run outside. I have a couple of DVD's that I like to cycle through too - the Treadmoves ones are great for a treadmill workout with a difference - www.treadmoves.com. There's also quite a few cycling ones out there that woudl be great with a spin bike which I'm seriously considering getting in addition to my treadmill and there are quite a lot of body Pump style weights ones out there by Jari Love and similar if you like strength work. Jane Fonda style aerobics, nah, not my scene. I find them too easy and very boring and the music is always terrible. Pilates ones are good but I do think you need some instruction on correct technique before you rely on them.

I just want to reiterate that I'm not criticising - more I'm commenting on what you've just said Karen - the its very hard to even imagine being of a normal weigh therefore people set high goals. I just find it interesting. I really think an achievable goal is VERY important, but you may be surprised at what you can do when you get closer!

I totally agree Sunta. I think its personality dependent too though - some people really like to live to a plan, they love the discipline and focus.

Im five foot 10, 81kg and a size 16. I was a size 14 at 72kg, so I'd never be a 10 at 66 even though I'm inches taller - its weird isnt it?

Another thing to consider - since being banded I have become addicted to running. Long term to maintain my weight, I will need fill taken out because I wont be able to sustain myself training for say, a half marathon on the amount of food I can consume now. Its OK short term, but not long. If I'd had a bypass, I woudlnt have that choice.

You think, lol?

The thought of rearranging my insides like that, uh huh, no way, I just wouldnt consider it. I wasnt morbidly obese, it just wasnt necessary to do anything so drastic, I'd prefer to remain the weight I was. Its risky, there's a reasonably high incidence of regain and the fact that the band is always adjustable means you can get it right for YOU. They dont even do bypass in Australia anymore, its just not an option because they believe the lap band over time has such a better result. Yes you lose weight quickly with a bypass but its not healthy loss, it comes at the risk of nutrition etc. Lapband is slower, but has just as good results 2 years out.

Carbonation doesnt bother me at all, I'm not a coke drinker, but I do have a diet coke once in a blue moon.

Imperfections in decorating. Like when my husband moves the couch to an angle becuase he thinks you can see the tv better - AAAAAAARGH. Can he not see that if its not geometrically aligned with the window and the wall and the rug that it looks stupid! He has no real "sense" of where things should go in a room, to me there is an unfightable logic to how you arrange your furniture. I absolutely HAVE to buy things in pairs or threes. It drives me insane to find one print for example, or one plant. My crockery has to match. My MIL insists on buying me gift sets of mugs for Christmas that dont match my all white crockery. FFS, stop it woman. I throw them out every year, she must have noticed that she's never seen them in my house. Doona's not straight on the bed, beds without bedheads, pillows not piled just so, floorboards that arent gleaming and utterly perfect, any colour scheme that involves mint green or blue or yellow (ugh, vomit, bleuch), cottage style decor with patchwork and cross stitch and dusty bunches of dried herbs, or worse copper saucepans hanging from the kitchen ceiling. People that dont know how to fill a wine glass and fill it to the brim. Heathens! I also HATED it when our cars were blue and grey and did not blend nicely with the bricks of our house as they were sitting in the carport. And dont get me started on multi coloured gardens - our garden is very themed to match the colour of the bricks, timber trim and fences, as are the feature walls inside, they blend with the outside. My SIL has a house painted a gorgeous mushroom and eggplant colour scheme outside and the inside is peach and sage green. It is SO wrong. I dont know how she cant see that the inside doesnt match the outside, it gives me a headache even thinking about it. Picky biatch arent I?.

I cant agree enough on the importance of having physical achievement goals other than weight! For me, it has been ever increasing fun run distances. It just makes ALL the difference, its motivating and you focus on that and work towards it and voila! The weight just takes care of itself. Plus you're motivated to eat properly to achieve your goals.

Physically back to normal but I woudlnt have been able to hide the fact that I wasnt eating normally. I was still on liquids at 2 weeks out.

There's GOT to be a load of swelling and inflammation in there, so just take it easy and tiny sips of liquids till it dies down. If you feel you're going to get dehydrated act on it right away.

It does depend heavily on your build too of course - BMI in and of itself doesnt really mean much. I'm tall and am meant to be willowy, I dont have a lot of muscle despite being a regular exerciser. So a BMI of 25 for me still equals too high a percentage of body fat. But it wouldnt on somebody more muscular and of heavier build.

At a BMI of 25 - still a bit too chubby. I am tall, so I still am only JUST able to buy clothes in the normal stores and many boutique stores I will nevr be able to buy in - I'm still an Australian 16 which is pretty much the biggest "normal" size in many stores. But I do still definitely have too much fat on me at this weight. So the lower end of my healthy weight range will be right for me, and that will be less than I weighed at 16 years old. But I already weigh slightly less than I weighed at 16, and I'm almost 40. That's what I mean - people just say "oh, I cant weigh less than I did at 20" but really, you can. If its hard to maintain, it may not be worth it, I totally agree with that. YOu dont want to have to struggle to stay there. And statistically, people dont tend to get down to those weights. But I kind of see saying "oh, that's too thin, I cant do that" as not giving yourself the best chance possible. That said, I dont know if I will make my own goal - I'm struggling to lose now, and I would be very happy and satisfied with what my band has done for me if I never lost another gram. This is a whole world different to being 113kg!