Jachut

I'd definitely have to say I look "older" in the face in that at 39 for the first time in my life I can now see some lines - frown lines and one side I have a deepish line in that nasolabial fold from your nose to mouth. I also have a little bit of crepiness under my chin, obviously from losing a chin or two. I've got deep set eyes anyway, I was always going to have a problem with dark circles and shadows as i aged, but its suddenly become much more noticeable. But I look immeasurably healthier too - I've lost the horrid bloated fat look and that more than cancels out the small signs of aging. Looking around me, I'm not bad for 39 so I try not to think about it or worry about it. I am going to have a bit of crepey loose skin on my abdomen too - I never knew whether or not three pregnancies had left their legacy because I was well padded out, but it is there, however I'm lucky never to have carried much on my tummy, so definitely no apron or tummy tucks - but I dont think I'll be wearing a bikini again either. Its just going to be a bit loose, not bulky. My boobs, sigh. I've breastfed three children for six years in total so there's no mystery why they look the way they do. I might fix them up, then again I might not. I dont really care that much, I can dress up and look fine, its not like I walk round naked in public.

considering I was given crushed ice to suck on in hospital, within hours of band surgery, I'd have to say no. Its only water by the time it gets to your tummy.

Plenty of women have operations and manage to keep feeding though, dont panic. It'd just pay you to have a stockpile of milk in the freezer if you can start expressing some extra now, so that you have milk to use if you have to discard what you make for a while. It'll be fine, it'll probably be for a few days that you cant use the milk.

What is the deal with anaesthetic and meds though? Wont there be a period where you wont be able to breastfeed due to the drugs in your system? I'd start stockpiling some of that lovely breastmilk in the freezer perhaps to get you through, as you may have to express off your milk and discard it until your bloodstream is clear of medication. And I'd actually seek the advice of a nutritionist or lactation consultant as to how to make sure your supply doesnt reduce during the liquid phase, you're going to have to be very careful to actually eat enough. Good luck!

Groan, finally succumbed to the pressure of Victoria's first Krispy Kremes store. Ok, I ate one. They were handing out free glazed ones, hot off the press. Now I'll admit these are a different matter when they're hot and fresh than they are cold and sitting in a box. So - big run this arvo - 5kms at least and I want to do some weights too.

Pick your products too - like you might love expensive anti ageing moisturisers, in which case allow yourself one, but does it really matter what you cleanse with? Its on and off your face so quickly, I use a really cheap scrub every day in the shower. But I buy good eye cream becuase it makes a difference to me. It sounds like you need give nothing up in the meantime though if you have so much to hand! Enjoy it while it all lasts and just vow not to buy any more.

I'd express for the first day or two if you can, but after that, i think I could have handled it. or yes, lie down on your side to feed.

I can see why it causes some people pain, that I can understand but personally I reckon the whole pouch stretching theory is bollocks. I dont personally like very fizzy drinks, I just dont like the sensation of drinking it. But I do love champagne!

Hmm, well I can pretty much eat anything, I have way more tolerance than almost anyone I know and well done meat is off the menu for me, not that I ever liked it that way. Its the one thing I cant get down. I've not even gotten to the stage of PBing becuase its just too darn hard to eat. I dont miss it though, I'm not a big meat eater anyway, I prefer it hidden, cooked into dishes, rather than a hunk of dead animal on my plate.

I've had to do the same thing, not that I've gotten myself into debt or financial distress because of it but becuase I feel its unfair that the kids cant have, say, new basketball shoes becuase I need need need stuff all the time. There's some indulgences I must keep. I had the bio ionic straightening done on my hair earlier this year and there's no way I'm giving that up. It only needs to be done about once a year anyway but its' $500 a pop. So..... given that you shouldnt bleach straightened hair anyway, I've given away the expensive foils and just going with a semi permanent colour - but colour I must because I have too many greys. Semi's dont cover the greys well but I'll just use one of those touch up kits in between. I wont give up salon quality shampoos though because my hair is unmanageable if I use supermarket stuff. Other than having it straigthened, I keep my hair simple, its just long with a sweeping fringe - I just quickly blow dry it with a paddle brush - no styling products, no hairspray, cant stand all that crap in my hair. Means I can get away with a cut every four months, not every six weeks, I'm holding out as long as I can before I cut my hair into a "style" that has to be maintained. When I'm so old it looks ridiculous, then I'll cut it. I dont need fancy makeup. I just go to Target and buy Revlon stuff, why pay $45 for a YSL lipstick? I dont wear lots of makeup anyway, I dont like that full face look, so a few items do me for all occasions - concealer, foundation, bronzer, a brown pallette of eyeshadows, brown eyeliner, mascara and two lip glosses is all I own. I use Olay total effects on my face, and Palmers Coco butter on my body and a Skin Doctors eyecircle cream that's awesom for dark circles, which I suffer from. I do my own pedicures in the summer. I dont need to wear perfume everyday, so one bottle will last me a year - I used to have to own the whole swag, the bodywash, body lotion, the talc AND The perfume. I'm giving up my acrylic nails after today. I had them done today because I have a formal thing on tonight but I made an appointment to have them taken off next week. I'll miss them, but nobody will probably even notice. We bought a treadmill that the whole family can use instead of paying out for a gym membership that only I can use. No more lunches out on the run, I either dont eat, I take something with me or I come home. No more than a coffee or two a week either, instead of every single day. No more stupid magazines, I dont even read then anyway and I dont give a toss whether Jen hates Angelina. Natural is better anyway - I'd sooner spend what money I do have on good skincare or haircare, as I think other than in certain circumstances - evening functions, maybe working at a cosmetic counter, lots of makeup looks awful, it just looks like you with a load of goop on your face. And good eating, exercise and lots of Water does loads for your good looks too.

Oh, yeah, I've just made a cool $300 on ebay this week selling Eliza's old clothes. Buy good brands/labels and you get half of it back easily.

Hehehe, Doug rushed himself to emergency once from work, worried that his kidneys were about to pack it up, the culprit- beetroot sandwiches, he'd eaten every day for a week.

That has to be the stupidest thing I"ve ever heard, lol. Not move your arms in a circular motion in case the band slips off? Sheesh. I like swimming once I get there, I love the silence under the Water, and I can swim well enough to get a good 40 laps of the olympic pool in without stopping at the ends, so its a great workout. I have heard and read things lots of times about swimming not being great for fat burning due to your body temperature not being raised as much but I think that's bull to be honest, I get plenty hot if I swim hard, and any exercise is good exercise, its great for your heart and lungs and its good to do something that works your upper body for a change. Also I think lots of people stop at the end of the pool for a breather, not keeping their heart rate elevated the whole time. My husband for example simply cannot pace himself with swimming, he goes too fast, gets puffed, has to stop, he cant get a slow steady pace going that he can maintain for 40 minutes. What I dont like about swimming is its inconvenient - you have to get to the pool, get wet, get dressed again etc. My hair could never ever cope with three or four times a week in a chlorinated pool, it would just snap off and I dont pay hundreds to get it coloured just to bleach it all out again, it dries my skin out and gives me eczema if I do it with any regularity, it makes my nails break and the polish come off my toenails, lol. And I do NOT have hair that can just be washed and left to dry naturally as it goes all kinky, I have to blow dry it. I hate having to cart a huge bag of clothes to the pool too.

I had a spray tan today becuase I have a formal thing on tomorrow night. I dont know, I've never been a huge tanning bed user anyway, just every now and then, but since losing weight, my face does look a little older and I just cannot bring myself to accelerate the aging process by baking in a tanning bed. I know I'll look good now but will regret it like hell in five years time. The first time I had a Magic Tan (in those booths, no attendant necessary) I chose Level 2 and it was a bit too orange, not to bad. But today I had Level 1 and its a gorgeous colour, not really obvious - but enough to take the winter pallor off me and its a lovely golden brown. No stink and no streaking either and I know from previously that if you look after your skin as they recommend you get a good 7 days out of a tan. I think I'll be doing that weekly this summer, stuff it we can just eat baked Beans to pay for it. I'm a child of the 80's, brown is better to me!

I'm a bit the same NewSho, I have a relatively small lean body mass despite always having been pretty active and being pretty darn fit now. I've always loved cardio and never seriously stuck at strength training for any length of time though, so that really is my current focus. Its why I believe that even though i fell within a healthy weight range for many of my teen and early adult years, I was most definitely overweight and always destined to become obese. And its why I know that really, I do need to be aiming for the low end of that healthy weight range even 20 years later.

It does get better when you move onto thicker liquids and anything you can blend is fair game. I even blended things like spaghetti bolognaise with a can of tomatoes to make a soupy consistency, anything with a bit of real meat and some carbs in it will stop the hunger. And there's really not need to even worry about calories or eating only x times per day or any of that. Just do what you can to get through this stage.

I ate a fair few lentils - ate loads of dahl, yummy!

Hmmm, I doubt it. I wont be looking perfect at the end of it, but I never had a particularly big stomach, so I will probably just have at typical 40 year old I've had 3 big babies kinda stomach - a little loose but that's it. I'm thinking now I may have just a touch of loose upper arm skin too and I'm a little flappy under the chin, noticeable only to me but not as tight as it once was. I honestly dont think I'd do anything about any of that, the scars would be worse than the minor problems I have. But I am definitely thinking of a touch of lipo - I have a weird upper abdominal fatty deposit that I never had before and moderately bad saddlebags. And I think a breast lift/reduction may be in my future too, they're problematic, just too big and saggy and really limit swimwear severely. I'm only 38, not ready for a big grandma swimsuit. All this will have to wait at least 3 years till I finish my degree and am working, unless I can manage to have it passed off as reconstructive surgery rather than cosmetic, and I do love running and they do get in the way! Cosmetic surgery is not covered by private health insurance in Australia, you have to pay the lot.

Whoohoo, this morning I ran 5km in 30 minutes! I'm training for an 8km fun run in September so I need to work on both speed and distance. That's my best performance to date.

What I dont understand about that theory is that you will lose lean muscle mass as you lose weight - no matter what you do, you will lose some. Nobody loses 100% fat. So when you get to 190lb your body composition will be different to what it is now.

I'd like one too. One of my favourite ab exercises is to hold a medicine ball in front of you, sit with your feet hooked under something and twist side to side, putting the ball to the floor each side.

Yeah, the head hunger thing. For the first few months my band really quashed head hunger for me, but its crept back in now. But I dont find it nearly so hard to resist as I once did. Its more now that if someone offered me a piece of cake, I'd sometimes eat it just for the sake of it, but really, most people are like that. I dont think that's a problem or abnormal. But once upon a time I'd be prowling the house looking for stuff to eat, and I'd find it very hard to resist something good, and almost impossible to stop once I started. I dont have so much trouble with that. I think that's the band but I also think its due to the success I've had so far - it seems worthwhile now to hold out becuase it works!

I've really got life running smoothly again since banding. I'm more energetic and therefore more efficient. Life was becoming chaos, just a jumble of mess, clutter and crap all over the house, the kids going to school in odd socks, late every single morning etc etc. My excuse was that I'm a university student, you cant do everything dont you know? Well since banding, I can. I leap out of bed in the morning and hit the ground running, I think I was mildly depressed, I'm now feeling just so positive. I also seem to have broken my overspending pattern, I used to buy stuff jut to make myself feel good. I still want to - ever smaller sizes tempt me - but I dont "need" to anymore. I really have a totally new outlook on life.

talk about using your original stones, when I had my engagement and wedding ring reset, I used 16 small diamonds that came out of a ring I found squashed on the road, lol. I handed it in to the police but it was never claimed so I got to keep it. It was a horrible acquamarine thing, big princess setting, not my taste at all, but it had 16 diamonds around the acquamarine. My wedding ring already had six diamonds so now I have 22 diamonds channel set into my wedding ring. I dont know what I did with the acquamarine. I always wanted to come live in America because everyone seems to have amazing diamond rings, lol. Every American person I've known has sported a massive rock on their finger. My engagement ring is .6 carats and that's big by Australian standards, but sheesh, I'd love a carat or more :-) Maybe that's just a stereotype, hehehe. Like all Aussies are ocker and like beer and prawns on the barbie!

I've taken my wedding and engagement rings off for now because I'm in danger of losing them. I've only got 15kg to go to goal and should get there by the end of the year, so I"m not bothering to have them resized just yet, I dont want to have to do it again. The only reason I was still able to wear then is that I had them redesigned 4 years ago as the band had almost worn through on my engagement ring, it was a solitaire in a very simple, fine setting. They got made a bit bigger when that was done.