Jachut

I think to be honest, the real statistics on slippage and erosion are pretty small but you have to remember that a lot of people that have suffered these things will be seeking support from them online. The one concerning thing is I dont think the professionals really truly know yet how to (if its possible) prevent these complications occurring int he first place and we definitely dont have long term data on the band since even here in Australia its only been done 10 years or so, less in the States. I think moderate restriction, avoiding being over full, stuck often and definitely avoiding PBing is perhaps the only thing you can do in the hope that that may increase your odds of keeping your band. That and a healthy dose of remembering that statistically speaking, its only a couple of percent of people that experience these problems.

Woohoo, good for you. I just bought a pair of WHITE jeans. Now that's wishful thinking, lol.

I can feel my port if I put my hand there, now I'm almost at goal its very easy but it doesnt show. There's no discernable bump there. If I lean into something like the kitchen bench and hit my port it might be uncomfortable and the cat has a terrible habit of standing right on it when she jumps on me to begin her morning begging for food. Sometimes, with very strenuous exercise it can hurt a bit - like a stitch, more of an annoyance, rather than pain. But overall it doesnt bother me at all.

It really does make you open your eyes and realise how much our life revolves around food doesnt it? I'm as big an eater and as inappropriate an eater as the next person here, but I have never enjoyed stuffing myself stupid at Christmas just because its Christmas, nor do I let my hair down on holidays and guzzle 5 glasses of wine a night and coffee and cake three times a day and eat a full 3 course meal every night. It just becomes not enjoyable anymore when you're sort of "forced" into it because its a holiday or Christmas or whatever.

I think the biggest benefit of the lap band is not the weight loss - we can all do that, and have done at times, but keeping off the weight lost. Normally when you've dieted for a while your motivation fades and you regain. That still happens for me but in those down periods, I dont regain. I think one of the main reasonings behind the gastric balloon is to bring extremely obese patients into a safer weight range for more permanent weight loss surgery.

Something like SPF 4 to 6 I think - which may not sound like a lot but it could give the average person a couple of hours in the sun if they're also wearing a 30+ sunscreen.

Too much of anything gets stored as fat. In the western world we all get enough Protein without trying. Too much protein can be a problem but in reasonable amounts it wont hurt you as long as it doesnt come at the expense of a balanced diet in total. That figuring would put me at 90grams of protein per day and I'd hazard a guess I dont get that, but I"m still living and breathing and perfectly healthy.

It becomes easier over time too - like I had to just accept that going to the gym 5 times a week was not going to happen, its just too hard with kids and i have too many important things to do while Eliza's in daycare to spend it all in a gym. Which is why I took up running. But I'm so hooked now, so focussed on the next race and I love it so much that if I know I'm going to be busy that evening or whatever, i do get up at 5.30 am to go for a run. It doesnt feel like a sacrifice to do it becuase I feel so darn good after running and I feel so darn good about running. But its taken me almost a year for it to really become a daily habit and something that I wont just give up.

Mine is fine a year post op but I still havent reached optimum restriction. Despite that in 12 months I have lost almost all of my excess weight, and am now in a health weight range, the rest is just cosmetic, but still important to me.

Naturally as we had the same surgeon, I got told the same thing. He just about did cartwheels round the office when I told him I was running regularly! I think that overeating is truly a disorder that people are not entirely responsible for and cannot control on their own. But it is within everyone's power (allowing for physical ailments of obesity and old age of course, but I'm talking people in reasonable health) to get off their backsides and get active. I cant for the life of me see why you'd pay for the surgery and then not do it, or balk at the cost of going to a gym or whatever. Its a necessary part of the process and I do agree that if you're not willing to do it then perhaps you should be considering just how well this surgery is going to work for you. And its possible to lose weight without it but you're losing muscle and just becoming a smaller version of your fat self. Its entirely possible to be within your healthy weight range and be too fat. Incidentally, being sedentary is as bad for your body and as deadly as smoking a pack a day.

I'm not an advocate of solariums and sunbeds usually, I just truly think you must be nuts to want to fry yourself into a leather handbag on purpose, but I love a tan! They are truly invaluable before a tropical holiday, just a light base tan and it saves the pain and tears of a bad sunburn when you get to your destination, which almost always happens to us fairskinned caucasions. It really does a lot less damage to your skin to build a light base tan than to get burned, although you'll still need the 30+. If you cover your scars you'll be polkadotted of course, but does that really matter? Have a fabulous time and enjoy those cocktails.

I dont have trouble with them and nor with calamari which is surprising since it closely resembles rubber tyres. Oysters, eew forget it. If you cant swallow them whole (which caused me huge pain) believe me, you do not want to chew and really taste an oyster.

I keep going to put my 2c in but I cant, I really dont know what I'd do in this situation, its so very sad for both you and your daughter.

No. I dont know if you remember but in the recent Melbourne Marathon there was a team event and Andy was looking for participants here. I emailed him and said I'd love to be a part of it, but anyway, after I'd gotten all excited it turned out he'd organised coverage on Today Tonight, which is a current affairs program on over here. I didnt want to let him down, but aside from not having the time to commit to group training, I really did not want to be on television. I didnt want people who've known me in my past, say ex colleagures, see that over the years since I'd left work I'd gotten fat as a house and had weight loss surgery. I truly dont mind people knowing now that I've had WLS, but I"m much much shyer about the fact that people who never knew me as fat would find out that I got fat, if that makes sense. And whilst I hope the story was motivational to people, I really didnt care to hand over creative control to the media, especially to a show that's notorious for scandalous and inflammatory journalism. It could have been presented in any way and I'd be helpless to control it. No thanks. So I did the run on my own, went in the 7.5km event. It went well for the team and I'm so glad for them but being on TV wasnt for me.

Its so worthwhile and necessary. Yes you can lose weight without exercise. You need lots of cardio to lose weight but strength training is extremely important too. Now if only I'd take my own advice, I run a lot but I havent lifted a weight in six months. Result - I'm smaller all over, I'm so fit I could just about run a marathon but I still look not pudgy but soft. I need some muscles to really get the body I always dreamed of.

Thanks for that, its made me realise I need to ring my doc TODAY and go for another fill. I've been lucky in that I always was a "good" dieter and I've lost a lot of weight, I'm nearly to goal. But I'm struggling now and I have never had the restriction so many others talk about. I can eat anything, like you I just have to eat more slowly and that amounts to less. But I need to eat less than less now to get this last bit of weight off. I've been reluctant to trade in my easy bandster lifestyle for the restrictions that being tighter will bring, but it is time I think.

1. Coffee 2. Going for a Run 3. Get busy doing something else 4. Get distracted by one of the crises that occur with regular monotony in this house - ie. kid cutting off finger trying to cut apple, kid breaking arm on trampoline, kid falling off top bunk 5. Give in - and I do this regularly. I dont get true cravings very often at all, when I just have to have something particular. When I do, if I dont have it and I follow any of steps 1 to 4 above, the craving just returns later on, whereas if I have what I'm craving then I wont think about it again for a month or two

Havent had any. I shed like mad all the time anyway, so I've been super attentive to it but my hair is the same as its always been.

I've got a really good gym quality treadmill. I'd love a punchng bag. We have odd weights and resistance bands lying around but I really want to get myself some of Jari Love's Ripped Series and a proper barbell set and start doing some strength training. I do run outside quite a lot but I have the opposite problem at the moment, its stinking hot in Melbourne, 36 degrees celcius today and really oppressive, way too hot to run.

There's not tactful way to say it really - you have to get off your behind and do some exercise, whether you hate it or not. But it doesnt have to be in a gym. You can exercise in any manner you please. And lying around being lazy only makes you feel more lazy. The more exercise you do, the more energy you have. It really does pay ample rewards if you stick with it.

Some people are really prone to scar tissue/adhesion problems after any surgery, I know my mum had horrible problems after a hysterectomy with scar tissue joining everything all together and causing pain. Perhaps that's what he meant. I thought it was actually the scar tissue that forms that helps to keep the band solidly in place. For me, I'm pretty positive that unless I go and get a mega fill, my band's main advantage is my inability to gain weight. I really do seem to have to do 9/10 of the work I would have done previously to actually lose it - which is why I havent lost a gram in about 6 weeks. But I havent gained and for me that's huge. I was always pretty good at losing, it was keeping it off that was the problem.

I've just gotten back from a run about 20 minutes ago and I wore my heart rate monitor - reason being, when I work on my treadmill I tend to do about 5km and run with my heart rate at about 165 bpm. But I've just registered for a 10km race in 2 weeks time and was thinking I'd never get there, but since I've been out jogging slowly with Doug walking, I've realised that if I really slow it down, I can cover huge distances without tiring. And amazingly, its done wonders for my stamina, and I've suddenly lost a lot of inches too (but not weight, I'm nearly at goal). It really is time over distance when you're working towards fat loss. But you have to put in those really high intensity workouts in the early days to get to the point where you can run dont you? I am still amazed that I can RUN and my heart rate didnt move about 140 the whole time, that's a whole hour of running and my heart rate didnt go above 140. The novelty will never wear off for me, I love this sport so much. But I'll say it again - what really keeps me going is workign towards races. It gives me a focus that I otherwise just wouldnt have, I wouldnt put the effort into training the right way.

Sadly I know for sure I cant make it now. Doug's work function is on that day. I may not even be able to do my 10km run that I've been training so hard for.

Hmm, I will say that these days, the smaller portion thing is automatic. I no longer serve myself too much food, and the small amount doesnt look weird on the plate to me. But I will always always have to work at not eating when I'm not hungry. Hunger is the least of reasons to eat, lol. I do eat just because its there, and I dont think that will go away.

You've answered your own questions - I think, its a bit hard to follow, lol. Dont forget you're not so overweight this time either. You dont have much to lose so it wont be fast and dramatic like it was the first time round.