Jachut

I'd always go the treadmill, its the only thing I know I'd use consistently. I think its because for me walking/jogging are natural motions, I dont have to think about them. I dont have to make an effort to keep up speed or resistance either, so I can concentrate on other things while I use it as the treadmill itself sets the pace. I always use an incline to more approximate outside jogging, at least 2 or 3. Studies have shown the treadmill to be the most efficient fat burner, and the most used equipment our of all cardio machines.

Its a hard decision. We had to put our relatively young pussy cat to sleep some years back, he was only six. He'd had a hard life, although we bought him from a pet shop, it was obvious he was a stray, he was riddled with fleas and in very poor condition and too young to have been separated from his mother, the vet bills started pouring in as soon as we brought him home. He turned out to be quite mentally unwell, overly agressive, constant fighting and the resulting abscecces and other problems, and when I started bring babies home, he went a bit nuts, attacked me very badly in the middle of the night twice as I was leaning over the cot. He had to be on valium all the time to keep him normal. When I found him squatting in the backyard trying to urinate and only passing blood, I took him to the vet. The vet didnt tell me what to do but he did sort of lay the facts out on the table and said he was an unhappy stressed cat, he was always sick, he was dangerous for children and I just decided it was best all round, despite his young age, we couldnt risk him attacking one of the kids and he just plain was living a miserable life. It was a really hard decision and it was harder because it was not like he was really old or very very seriously sick, and I did suffer quite a bit of guilt over it, wondering if I'd done the right thing. You have to make the decision based on their quality of life, and for us, I also had to make it based on the kids.

Treadmill got fixed today. So I did a 30 minute run on that and then 30 minutes of weights - I just made it up, I have a pretty good idea of my anatomy, what muscle groups respond to what exercises etc from my years as a physio student. So I just worked my chest, upper back and arms and did some ab work on the fitball.

Gorgeous, both you AND the dress. You look so tiny - those last 10kg or so have made an enormous difference on you. For the record, you cant tell for a second that you need a tummy tuck with your clothes on!

Ooh, thanks for that great link.

ps: you can have Russell Crowe. He's a big hairy bogan. Yuck. Plus he's not an Aussie anyway really, he's a New Zealander.

That's interesting. I dont think I'll need a tummy tuck, but my stomach wont be cover girl material either. But my boobs, oh, boo hoo, what a disaster. I've fed 3 babies for 6 years in total, so that's a bad start, take away 23 kg or so (and another 13 to go) and its not pretty. To top it off, I have one larger than the other, by about half a cup size. I was trying on bathers the other day, to see if I have any to take away with me (I dont) and I honestly need a grandma suit with inbuilt bra now. I wonder if one being bigger than the other could be reason enough to have it covered? Hmmm, they're DD's so I could always play up the back and neck ache thing too, and they DO get in my way when I run. I'd love to have it done, but I couldnt, wouldnt, take the money away from my family for something like that. I've decided I want a chin implant too, lol. I have a slightly "weak" chin, when I'm old I"m going to have one of those chins that joins into my neck, ugly ugly ugly. Its alright now I have long hair to hide it but I doubt I'll want long hair forever. Good luck with yours! You've come so far, its an inspiring story.

That's bizarre, is that because if you injure yourself you wont be covered for medical costs? Hmm, what a great way to force children to be obese and inactive - refuse to cover them if they do anything but move away from the television! Crazy crazy crazy. Doesnt work that way here but we've had a trampoline for at least five years and never ever had an injury on it.

The morning after, lol. But it was very easily quelled with a cup of coffee. Once I was off clear fluids drinking kept me full, it took about four weeks for any real appetite to return.

We've had more gastro in this house than we ever had before I got banded, at least five bouts of it. Its been a terrible year in Melbourne for stomach bugs for some reason. My oldest started vomiting after a party two days after I got home from hospital. I freak at vomit in the first place, I'd honestly rather face a firing squad than get gastro. I went straight to the doctor and got a script for some anti nausea pills which I took. I'm pretty sure I actually got sick but that they prevented vomiting - I was hot, clammy, feeling nauseous but it also could have been anxiety - I was absolutely obsessed with analysing whether I felt sick every second of the day. It also could have been a side effect of the pills. Anyhow, I was the only one in the family that didnt chunder multiple times. Since then there's been another few occasions, but I havent caught it and havent needed to take the pills. I stop short at wearing a face mask when one of them's sick, but only just, lol!

I think that's right. Just dont think about it too hard. For the average person, a bit of weights and a bit of cardio is going to work just fine.

I love local Australian films. YOu guys missed the joys of Puberty Blues over there back in the late 70's, its hilarious. You may have heard of Kathy Lette though, one of the writers. I love movies which highlight Australian suburban culture, they bring my youth back to me in a wonderfully nostalgic way. I love recognising landmarks, place I've been and the Australian film style is so wonderfully laid back and understated. Being a teenager in suburban Australia is a wonderful experience. Panel vans and boob tubes and chico rolls and Big M's and all the good stuff, but it makes no sense to the rest of the world. In fact its always rather sad when actors like Nicole Kidman sell out and go Hollywood. I'd rather we kept our talent all to ourselves!

Hmmmmm. Probably. Seeing as you've only had one. I just had another that I wasnt sure I needed and it has helped a lot.

I'm planning on it - but you're right, I dont want to make the trip if nobody's coming. Doug wanted to play golf and I said I had something on, so I'd hate to make him miss out for nothing.

Its fantastic exercise! I can get on ours now as it holds to 90kg and I was trying to show the boys some of the tricks I used to be able to do and was quite winded from it. We need a new one badly, the springs are all busted and its getting a bit dangerous. We're going to get a full adult sized one and I'll be out there bouncing. As an aside, its fabulous for your core and pelvic floor muscles! Try jumping on a trampoline when you've had 3 babies and you'll know what I mean, lol. You really need to hang on.

I've only done bits of it in circuit classes but I love it. And like Tae Bo there's lots and lots of trunk rotation if you punch properly, it will whittle down your torso, that's for sure. I'd love to do a class too.

Interestingly, as with the carbonation, the protein first etc this is not something that was even mentioned to me here in Australia. I got no "rules" from my surgeon at all. Suits me, because then I dont feel like I'm breaking any, lol.

I still do it. Well, generally I dont drink a glass of Water with my meal but I do drink pretty soon after. Sometimes I have a glass of wine with dinner, especially if I'm out. Someone explained this well for me a while ago becuase I couldnt figure out what difference it made whether you flushed food out of your pouch within five minutes of a meal or an hour, it equalled the same thing, but I think it was Deirdre who said that you need to give your brain time to register fullness which is the reason behind wanting to keep your pouch full for a while. I generally find though that I dont have a problem with this, that fullness generally happens before I drink. And of course, at the rate you drink wine (which is the only thing I'd drink with a meal, apart from perhaps a coffee with a sandwich at lunch time) it doesnt flush anything, its only sips. So short answer, no, it makes no difference to me, I still do it and I'm still losing weight.

Good for you Julie. You know, I didnt go out and immediately start running for miles as soon as I was banded. The urge hit me when I was ready. It will come for you too - not that it needs to be 3 hours a day. But I think after banding you heal bit by bit by bit, ever so slowly it all comes together. I'm a different person 7 months down the track, but it didnt all happen at once. And its taken me a solid 5 months or so since I first started exercising for it to become habit to me and something I want to do. I dont feel like I"ll fall in a heap and give it up now. But you have to wait for that to come to you I think. You take your own steps as and when you feel ready to.

Yes, I enjoy food now more than I EVER have before in my life. I'm not afraid to dig in, enjoy and stop when I'm no longer hungry. Because I dont feel deprived, I dont feel like eating when I"m not hungry.

They lose their purple colour and turn silver but will be there forever unfortunately. I dont have any on my stomach, and I gained none from 3 pregnancies at all but puberty wasnt kind to me. I went to bed a skinny flat chested kid one night at 15 and woke up the next day with DD's. Seemingly overnight I developed stretch marks on my breasts and hips. 23 years later they're just silvery white marks, but when I look down at my breasts the skin is corrugated, it puckers a bit round the stretch marks. However if they're pushed up in a bra I can put my cleavage on display because that fills them out, so its all good. The ones on my hips are fine, I wouldnt hesitate to show my skin, you can see they're there, but who doesnt have them? Every woman has stretchmarks.

I havent had a bad one, honestly! People might come up to me and say "wow, you've lost a lot of weight, you look fantastic" and of course they always follow with "how have you done it". I always just tell the truth and they say "well, good for you!". Nobody has ever said anything negative to me. I'm proud of the decision too - I was one of those people that people probably think "she didnt need weight loss surgery" but that's more about your head than the size of your weight problem. If it helps ONE person to make a similar decision for themelves, then I'm happy to tell all.

Didnt sound too appetising, lol. Slowly but surely though, your head catches up with your body, doesnt it?

The best thing about the band is that it may not be how you'd imagined and may not be working like you'd imagined, but you have it there, waiting until you're ready to take a deep breath and work with it. It doesnt take away the cravings, that's right. I still have head hunger days and I do give into them sometimes too. But the longer I've been banded (7 months now) the more I'm gaining control of that. It doesnt happen straight away, but you work on it bit by bit and you will get there. I can now think about eating something I shouldnt and probably 70% of the time am able to think "nah, not worth it, I'm only cheating myself". The rest of the time I cave and enjoy it and then get on with things. Bit by bit you change your behaviour, and its really the best way. OK so the weight loss might not come fast and instantly if you really have trouble with this, but it will happen slowly and gradually. YOu have to focus on your health as a while - mental and physical.

Fantastic news! And its wonderful to end a pregnancy feeling good about yourself, that glow lasts for weeks until the real sleep deprivation kicks in!