Jachut

I never lost my collarbones, but the first place I've lost weight has been in that region, shoulders, upper chest, a chin or two disappeared. In a head shot, I'd look terrific but in reality it only emphasises even more how far south my boobs are. I'd never convince my DH that I needed an eye lift or lipo but thank good men are boob obsessed and even if I'm not saving for the boob job, he sure is.

I'm still having a coffee after meals quite often, I dont want to have to break that habit until the band makes me and at the moment it doesnt make any difference. I'm not too worried about having to do it though. For me, its definitely eating fast. The first few mouthfuls of any meal I have to REALLY stop and think about it, or I get pain pretty quickly. And without thinking about it, I find myself drifting back to a high carb diet now too. Not bread and white stuff but I find myself basing all my breakfasts and lunches around Cereal, crackers, that type of thing.

Its a tough one. I have to watch my older son, he's the kidn who likes to hide in his room on the Playstation all day and he eats healthy food but eats tons of it. He's 10. Ewan, who's 8 just spends all day burning around outside and is as skinny as a rake. He's also just not that interested in food. It's a very fine line with kids between telling them they're getting chubby and destroying their self esteem. I have just tried to approach this by reinforcing that these days, our way of life leads us to getting fat very easily an that Mum, and Dad for that matter, have both been affected by the last 10 years of hard work we've put into our family and not had a lot of time to look after ourselves. So that now I'm doing something sensible about it, but that if the kids pay attention to being outdoors, getting lots of running around and eating healthy food, they'll never have to suffer this problem. So I think I've managed to divest the whole issue of any emotional/moral connections and reinforce that it's just a health problem I've suffered from. The boys are so proud of what I've done so far. I also fully intend sometime in the next few years when we've moved to set up a really good home gym, which I hope both boys will make use off during their teen years. With Eliza, she's only just shy of 3 and I hope all she ever remembers is a healthy mother with no weight issues.

Oooh how exciting! This is going to give you such a boost Kellie, it'll no doubt get you significantly closer to your goal weight and looking absolutely fantastic too. Its so close, I'd be very very nervous too.

I find it helps to just allow myself to have bad days. This is a lifestyle, not a diet and if I have the odd day where I want to just pick pick pick, I just do so. Normal weight people do that too you know. So far, just not banning anything at all means I dont get cravings. If I wanted chocolate for Breakfast I would eat it. It's when you want chocolate, tell yourself you cant have it for breakfast, eat toast, not satisfied, so eat Cereal, not satisfied, so eat a few crackers, still not satifsfied, so eat fruit, no that doesn do it and THEN eat the freaking chocolate you just should have eaten in the first place, then tell yourself how bad you are, might as well enjoy the day know you've blown it and start again tomorrow, so you eat crap all day long that you get into trouble.

Where are you Butterfly? There's loads of surgeons in all of the capital cities - surely you could find someone else. If you visit and join here http://groups.msn.com/Bandsters/general.msnw - this is an Australian forum with people from everywhere round the country. Someone will be able to help you with another surgeon.

My first fill has made a tiny difference - I can still eat probably a lot for a bandster (but I'm losing so I dont care about that) but it has slowed me down - if I eat too fast I know about it. But I can still eat anything. As long as I'm getting off that half to one kilogram a week, I'm happy - I dont want to be any more restricted than I have to be. At the moment, I'm living a very similar lifestyle to what I did before my band, just with better food choices. The band seems to work for me more in the way of making me just very unhungry (I feel like I did when I took appetite suppressants) but not by making me full really fast or restricting what I can eat. I dont eat as much as a sitting because I eat very slowly and lose interest.

I got a free pass to try one out here. For me, I'm already reasonably fit, it was waaaaaaay too easy. I can imagine it being a great starter workout but you'd definitely need to move onto proper weights and cardio in an ordinary gym after a while to keep seeing results. But a great place to start and a supportive environment for women.

Well I told everyone anyway. I dont care if anyone thinks its cheating, I know the work I'm putting into this. But in that situation, I would tell her and swear her to secrecy. I couldnt ever manage to do this on my own preband and I would have sat round waiting forever for that epiphany that they always talk about in success stories, so I'd think it was highly unfair to lead someone else to believe that it is that easy. And we know that statitically she is NOT likely to lose her weight and keep it off. So share with her this marvellous invention and perhaps help her to make a decision that really will change her life. She's a fellow human being in the same plight as you were yourself, I'm sure she'll be thankful for your honesty and will honour your secret.

I didnt notice that but the morning after my fill when I went to do number 2's, I had the worst experience - full blown diarrhoea cramps, cold sweats and the shakes, like when you have terrible gastro, but without the diarrhoea. It was like the fill and the grip it put on my stomach must have disturbed the pattern of peristalsis or something. It was really awful, I couldnt get off the loo for about an hour and I just about passed out, the cramps were so strong. It could have been a coincidence but I'm a bit apprehensive that it might happen again next fill.

Well he sure aint here - it's the height of summer. It's been over 40 degrees Celcius, which is well over 100 Fahrenheit here lots of days recently and sooooo steamy. I've been throwing tantrums trying to do my hair, lol, I have sort of curly frizzy hair and it takes a goodly amount of blowdrying and a straightening Iron to get it to look good. I'm dripping sweat as I"m trying to do it, and its just curling right up again, or I get it done, walk outside and it just pouffs right up. It's also been really steamy and humid, we have evaporative aircon and it just cant even work in this kind of humidity, the house feels all damp, the floors are slippery and all the dust has turned to mud. And we're in the grip of a long running drought. We cant Water our gardens, the kids cant play outside under a sprinkler etc etc. It's been awful.

I think its just a difficult food but I do find I have less carb cravings without eating those types of carbs. Nevertheless I ate a toasted sandwich on the weekend!

I kind of felt the fluid glug round my stomach, like a popping sensation inside, so I knew he'd hit the port. That was a little revolting but not painful at all. And the rest, well it was only a small needle, didnt hurt.

In Australia, its common to pay your surgeon a once off fee, mine was AUD $3,000. That covers everything forever - every follow up, every fill and any revision surgery needed. What basically happens is that our public health system covers it but the surgeon only charges the scheduled fee, so it costs the patient nothing, he "bulk bills" medicare. Usually surgeons and specialists charge a gap well over the scheduled fee and this is our out of pocket expense.

I like my coffee unadulterated. There's no such thing as creamers here anyway. It's milk or nothing. I think coffeemate had a little surge back in the 80's and you can get it but it's on the bottom shelf behind something else.

I'm normally an achiever. I'm pretty determined, I take on big challenges and I always achieve them. Except when it came to weight loss, now I am confident that I will achieve this as well.

Those are great tips. The only other thing I'd add is that incidental exercise is so important. Nothing drives this home more than when we go on holidays and stop the everyday running round - the supermarket, the housework, the kid's sports, the walking in and out of the school twice per day, all that stuff. Add the 5pm drinkies and nibbles and I easily packed on 6kg in a 2 week holiday. After two years of that I vowed to exercise during my holidays - we often go to Eden on the southern NSW coast which is very hilly and I hiked the treck from the wharf to the end of the beach every single day, or ran along another beach, about 3kms all up. I came home every year feeling great but ALL that achieved for me weight wise was to avoid gaining, I never lost. My husband walks 7kms in 40 minutes every lunchtime with a colleague but it barely makes up for 2 hours a day in the car and 9 or 10 hours at a desk. He has real trouble losing weight even though he doesnt eat a lot. So we've made a resolution this year to devote our weekends to household projects, to just do active stuff - we want to redo our backyard, window cleaning, car washing, gutter clearing, heavy housework etc. And guess what, Doug's weight has started moving finally. That everyday stuff really really adds up. So everytime you sit down in a chair or at the computer, ask yourself if you've earned the rest and if there's a better way to be spending your time.

Definitely - I find I want flavour more than anything - so I might eat something like a Ryvita with hommous, tomato and a bit of tasty cheese, with salt and pepper. I'm still just so suprised that I've walked past Muffin Break so many times and not even thought about stopping. Previously I never went to the shops, no matter how small an errand, without stopping for a big coffee and a huge muffin. I havent craved bread, biscuits or any of the stuff I was previously bad with. When we've had fish and chips for dinner, Doug and I just get a bit of grilled flake with no batter and make ourselves a salad while the kids have battered flake, potato cakes and chips. I think it's just because I tell myself this isnt a diet, I can have any of that stuff if I really want it, so it's been easy to say each time "not this time, I'll save it for when I really want it".

Gosh that must feel fantastic. I wouldnt be able to stop shopping!

Yep, my SIL lives in Newport so I know Williamstown enough to get there and find the place. I think it would be nice over near the water and a bit quieter than SY or Prahran. See you there!

Wednesday's great. Is there anywhere for coffee near the Water in Williamstown? That might be nice if its warm. Otherwise, yes Prahran would be a bit closer for me, but I really dont mind. Gosh, I'm over the 40 degree days at the moment.

Sometimes. First period after banding was only 2 weeks after the operation, I plateuaed on 105kg for 7 entire days (I was so not expecting to plateau 2 weeks in!) then after it started by day 2, I dropped 2.5kg overnight. When I'm dieting I can usually drop a dependable kilo or two on day 2. However my second cycle has just finished and there was no weight effect at all. I dont pay much attention to when I'm due anymore because I've had my tubes tied and most definitely will not be falling pregnant again so I dont really care, its been regular as clockwork forever. But sometimes when I"ve not been looking after myself I have plenty of warning its coming, bloating, a few zits, sore boobs and sometimes first day cramping. This time nothing at all and no Water bloating - less crap in my system makes a difference.

Well you sound like you're putting in 110% there, phew, what a schedule. I think it just helps to do lots of different stuff. I try to use a different piece of cardio equipment every time I go to the gym, some I like, some I hate. I loooooove the treadmill, I love to jog but cant do it often or I'll aggravate my ankle. That's my treat I use to lure myself when I cant be bothered going. I like the elliptical, hate the bike and loathe the rower. At the moment I'm doing 2 Body Pump and 2 Circuit classes a week, so light weights high reps really and I thought in eight weeks or so I might drop the body Pump and start lifting some heavy weights. Who knows? You'd think you'd be burning more than that on that level of activity wouldnt you?

Are you weight training in such a way as to really put muscle on your body? Like lifting average weights same old same old routine wont continue to net great results for you. Lifting heavy weights to the point of failure is what makes muscles grow - and wont make you huge either being female. Just very toned. Perhaps its time to shake up your routine a bit. Cardio is important as a mega calorie burner too. Are you doing plenty and are you working hard at it? Experts are really revisiting the theory that you should work at moderate intensity at about 65% of your maximum heart rate and are now advocating high intensity and interval training now. You do burn more of a proportion of fat at the lower intensity but you burn WAY more calories all together (including more fat calories although the proprotion is different) with higher intensity aerobic work. For a good program have a look at www.cardiocoach.com Also, eating five small meals a day instead of 3 larger ones can help a lot.

And I'm happy to come to Willy too if that's what you'd prefer. It's a pretty easy trip straight down the freeway. I can do Thursday too though, will just have a 3 year old in tow.