Jachut

It's 9.42 pm here and still off rating season on the television, meaning there is absolutely nothign but crap on. I am bored bored bored. But you've brightened my evening!

What next, pimply butts? Hehe, just made up some words :- (to the tune of the Billy Joel song) Show us a snapshot Pianoman Show us a snap tonight For you've told us you have bigger gonads And we want to see if you're right

Hahaha, love it. If only I had a dollar for every time I've been asked if we have kangaroos in the street. When I was in my teens we had a Californian softball team come out for a tournement, they were amazed that we never had accidents driving on the wrong side of the road and shock, horror, our house had two bathrooms! What did they think, we live in shacks?

I dont think I had one single hunger pang until about 5 weeks down the track. I found liquids/mushies easy easy easy.

Oh - if you're talking hair, nails etc I do less of that now than i did before, I no longer need that as a prop. I spend loads and loads on my hair though, colouring and products. Loving myself really means to me though saving my money for what really matters to me and my family - a new house in a suburb we want to live in. French nails are nice, a renovated Edwardian in a leafy street is much nicer. But I am thinking of the new bio-ionic permanent hair straightening, going for a preliminary consultation on Friday.

Kellie next time you definitely need to get on that plane! It was really nice, thanks ladies. I think they were a bit disappointed with our lack of eating, lol, but I got home and ate some Ryvita's for free. Sorry the rest of you, none of us had a camera. We cant show you how stunningly beautiful we all are.

Well you dont look at the mantlepiece when your stoking the fire anyway! I'm sure my husband would be happy for me to have a beard or even two heads if I was up for it 10 times a day.

I go to the gym. Once a week I do a Body Pump class and twice a really killer circuit class, plus two of those days I'd generally spend 40 minutes on cardio equipment as well. Another once or twice a week I go in just to do cardio and faff around on the weights machines. I'd really love to have a treadmill at home so that I could just go to the gym those 3 days and do something at home the other days. I dont stick to this routine week in week out, but most of the time I do. When I hit a plateau or stop making gains, I'll swap from the classes onto heavier, more serious weight training.

ARGH, that would drive me freaking crazy. Dont they realise how much we have riding on those things and how much emotion we invest into it? When people just pass it off like it's nothing, its very cruel.

I think I have to be realistic, I'm the mother of 3 children, so they are going to have to come first at various times. I cant go to the gym if one of them is sick, I cant ignore them to meet my own desires. I'm just at that time of my life when I come last in a lot of respects and I'm OK with that. Having the band was the biggest thing I've done for myself in a long time and I did think long and hard about using that money for myself. But I cant continue to be a good mother if I fall down dead in a heap now can I? My life was and is incredibly busy but I knew one or two behaviours and coping mechanisms were going to have to change and I've worked hard on those. As for loving myself - well I always have. I loved myself fat and I will love myself thin - not in an over the top way but I've always been self confident and comfortable with my choices. I've never judged myself morally for becoming overweight.

It would also seem highly likely to me, that given the trouble lots of people have losing after their band, that there are more reasons for their excess weight than just gluttony. Obviously many people's bodies, metabolically speaking, are just not functioning normally. I always thought this anyway, and judgement of overweight people as lazy or greedy really annoys me. Now I know that it IS true, some people are fat because their bodies just work that way. It doesnt mean you cant lose it but it's not fair that it should be so hard for some.

Just spiders. You guys dont have the pleasure of huntsman spiders over there. Though I never hope to meet a tarantula, we have some really AWFUL spiders here, big as dinner plates. I just have about heart failure when I walk into a room and there's one sitting on the ceiling. Because of my fear of spiders, I am absolutely fearful of doing anything like putting my hand anywhere there might be one. I never would put my hand behind the toilet to retrieve a toilet roll, or behind the fridge or under the BBQ to get something. I always scout around very well for spiders first.

The newer ones are incredible- they have video screens and hook ups for cable TV, free to air TV etc and you can play DVD's on them etc. I think a wide track is important, but I'm never going to be running at 20km per hour, so I'd be happy with one that goes to 12km per hour. What do you like to do on your treadmill - you pay a lot for all the programs, which I personally never use since I like to do cardio coach on mine so all I need to be able to do is increase speed/incline. I've never used the present programs on any of those machines. Of all of them though I'd say a preset heart rate program would be most useful - one that keeps you in your chosen zone. I personally think heart rate grips on the handles are important too

It would be a diet thing - especially since meat can be difficult to eat. There is no way that on the restricted diet bandsters eat long term that all of us dont get low in things every now and then.

You'll hate me because I had none and wore jeans home from the hospital. Dont ask me how long the ugly rash caused by the dressings took to disappear though. I was completely, totally back to normal in every respect by 4 weeks in terms of pain, restriction etc.

It can be a stage of life thing too Kel, you've got a bunch of kids just like I have. Its not like I dont love my hubby and its not like I dont enjoy sex a lot when we actually do it but if you give me the option between sleep and sex, I'll always take the sleep at the moment. I'm just so busy I fall down dead at the end of the day. It might be worth bringing up with your GP, as it could also be hormonal.

Great. I dont have a lot of restriction but I dont really feel I need it. I just dont get hungry often and that is enough to keep me on the straight and narrow. I'm losing a consistent kilo a week and have past my previous 8kg limit, down a size or so and only seven weeks in! I love thise band.

I think they'd distort when you gained more so than when you lost? I dont have any, too conservative, lol.

I was down at Rebel Sport today to buy a fitball and I was looking at the treadmills. I really really want to get a home treadmill for the reasons you describe - I love the gym but eventually want a home set up for time reasons - once I go full time with my study I'm not going to be able to get to the gym regularly. It's my greatest ambition to own one, lol. BUT I have hired exercise equipment a few times in my life and to get a gym quality treadmill you pay big big bucks (well in australia anyway). So I've chosen the home hire option and been so disappointed with the quality of the equipment. Ditto ellipticals and even bikes. I think it's imperative to buy great quality. Poor quality stuff ruins your experience and it wont last. The store I was at carried the Nordic Track ones and they looked unbelievable but were the most expensive ones I've seen. Nevertheless I dont think I'd waste my money on a rickety one that cost less than a thousand dollars (probably about 750 US I think). Spend the absolute most you can, I'm sure you wont regret it.

I find though, that I do too much research. I get all confused about what's the best way to go about it - free weights or machines? Heavy weights low reps or low weights high reps? What outcome do I want. To be honest I just want to be more toned, and to decrease body fat, I have no desire for major muscle definition, let alone being able to enter a body building contest. So probably a few rounds on the machines a few times a week with some free weights for the arms would be ample. I think I put too much pressure on myself. I do NOT want to spend an hour each time lifting heavy dumbells. I'm just rambling now, what I really mean to say is do what you enjoy too. Any exercise is better than none.

If only hey? I'm Jacqui, I'm from Melbourne too.

I've always exercised albeit a little sporadically when life got in the way. I did take a good 4 week break after surgery. But I'm prone to doing what I enjoy - cardio. I have no motivation problems with cardio as I find it great stress release and it makes me feel terrific to get that runners high. What I'm not good about doing is weight training and I really need to start some serious stuff as I really dont want to just be a thinner version of my flabby self.

I'd put on my headphones to block out the world, choose some great music and go for a run on the treadmill. Exhaust myself to the point where what I'm focusing on is physical, not the worries in my mind. Works wonders when I want to kill my children. If I didnt feel active, I'd choose the same music and go for a drive, play it FULL boar in the car. Pity Cold Chisel never made it big in the states. Great sing your heart out Aussie pub rock, never fails to make me feel better.

It hasnt happened to me at all yet but I only had my first fill a week or two back and dont have an awful lot of restriction. Ive started off a meal eating way too fast though and I've had one very close call.

Perhaps if you really cant tell you are full you need to actually "diet" in the old sense of the word. Until you do get proper restriction. If you can muster up the willpower for it, it will be the last time in your life you have to do it, ever. I cant say a fill has made a lot of difference to me, I'm really finding it hard to sort out how much the band is actually doing and how much of it is mental - like I expect to succeed now, therefore I am. I just havent fallen back into old eating habits, because I know I shouldnt. I couldnt stick with it before the band though, so who knows?