Jachut

Wasnt it Courtney Cox who said a few years back that eventually you'll have to choose between your face and your bum? I think it's true. You do look older when you lose weight and your face isnt so pleasingly plum anymore. My surgeon says less than 1 in 4 require cosmetic surgery after weight loss. I dont know that I believe that either, it seems like the other extreme to me. I think it depends upon your age and genetics more than anything.

Actually I'm not sure whether it's carbs per se or just wheat. I do fine with other carbs - pasta, Ryvitas, dont seem to make me crave more. They suit me fine. But the bread, WHOA. Maybe I'm sensitive to wheat and just never knew it.

It's fantastic on eczema too - its one of the very few things that dont sting poor Fraser - he gets eczema all over.

Wow that banana idea is a great one. I'm going to try that! January 15th. Breakfast: 2/3 of a fruche (yogurt) - finishing up what Eliza didnt eat, 1/2 a banana Lunch: 2 Ryvita's with hommous, cheese, tomato, some strawberries, 3 barbecue shapes (little savoury Snacks, probably about 20 cals each) Dinner: spicy fish with coconut, cauliflower rice, steamed snow peas, a couple more strawberries.

I ate a pork butterfly steak the other day and it went down pretty easy, but I"m unfilled. I had planned to do a lot more meat in minced forcm, as in burgers, patties, etc. Like chicken as a Thai style pattie with coriander and sweet chilli sauce. I made lentil burgers the other night that were delicious, chilli, bolognaise sauce, meatloaf, lasagne, so many ways to eat meat other than as a hunk on a plate. Small shaved pieces of beef in a Thai Beef salad, droooool. More omelettes (thse have become a family fave with salad). Or, learn to love fish. We've never eaten an awful lot of it, but have started and now I'm learning lots of ways to cook it I like it an awful lot more. We had a salmon steak the other night rolled in an African rub - a blend of african spices, and baked in the oven. It was absolutely divine. Perhaps you could find a variety or two of fish you do like - my DH is a keen fisherman but I hate what he catches, mainly flathead - because it has bones and skin, ugh, it gives me the heebies to even touch it. but I love salmon fillets, steaks, tuna steakes and just find the rest all just Okish.

Its very hard to explain and I never expected it. What I expected was to still have a raging appetite and to be wandering the house in an agony of frustration because I wanted to eat an entire twin bag of chips but I just couldnt get it past my band. What's actually happened is that I could get the chips past my band but I dont want to eat them. I think I went into this operation thinking deep down that I would punish myself for being so weak, by making sure I could never enjoy those things again. What actually has happened is I have performed the most loving/respectful act I could for myself. I hope that doesnt sound corny and make you puke, but it's honestly how I feel. I'm just coming up to my first fill, so it's early days but what I've found the band has done for me is just entirely stop the head hunger/non hungry eating that I used to do. It's like I'm not stuffed full but I am satisfied all the time, till I suddenly get hungry, so I eat something small and that's it. I get hungry more often now, I can definitely eat more than I could a few weeks back so it is time for a fill. but for about a month, I would also fill up very quickly to the point of being really full, on about 1 cup of food. I eat the same amount now but am merely satisfied. I just dont think about food unless I get hungry, I swear that since I stopped eating muffins, cakes, bread and Cookies I no longer want them (they were my problem food, I was a sugar/carb addict) and I live totally happy on lean Protein, yogurt, fruit and vegetables. Tuna is my new all time dependable food. It's like somebody gave me a food lobotomy, its absolutely freaking amazing. I never expected it to be like this. I was prepared to wave bye-bye to bread and the other foods I shouldnt eat, but to be sad about it and eventually just learn to live with it. I didnt think I'd simply never want them again and that my tastes would change so suddenly. I was a pretty good eater pre band though. As I have a family to feed, we always ate lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, good quality meat and fish. Take-away was a once a month treat. I wouldnt dream of feeding my kids the crap I used to shove in on top of the healthy family meals. I would hate myself if I made my kids fat. So I havent had to get used to "new" foods, just wave goodbye to some old (no longer) friends.

Spicy Fish with Coconut - slow cooker recipe This recipe is aboslutely freaking divine! I used tuna steaks for this. any firm fish filets would work just as well. 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 chilli chopped and deseeded I clove garlic, peeled and crushed 1 lemon grass stalk, chopped (i used about 2 tsp dried) 1 tbsp grated lime rind 2 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tsp Thai fish sauce 150ml coconut milk 4 fish steaks or fillets 1 tbsp chopped coriander to sprinkle on top for serving steamed rice and sald or steamed green Beans to serve. Heat oil in frying pan and fry cumin seeds, chilli, garlic and lemon grass for 3 minutes. Blend with rind, soy and fish sauce and coconut milk. LIghtly rinse fish and place in slow cooker pot. Pour coconut mixture over. Cook on high 20 mins then on low for 2-3 hours depending on the fish. We had this with cauliflower rice and steamed snow peas. Yummy.

It's so amazing, its hard not to gush at strangers on the street. I see poor overweight women lumbering through the shopping centre and I want to grab them and say "I know how to fix this". Mind you I've only lost 9kg so far, lol. My girlfriend is very obese, and I'm waiting for her to start asking questions. She's not, I dont think she's interested and I dont think she's all that impressed by the lifestyle changes. But I want to corner her and say "you really should do this". Of course, I shut up about it. It has to be people's own decisions. But it's just so freaking amazing. I've found the weight loss and the lifestyle changes that have resulted in it, simply effortless. It's happened automatically. I do not miss a single thing about my "old" life. I'm glad you're having just as great an experience.

I think you'll find your band is tight when it's tight and loosens when it does, there's not a lot you can do about it.

Mine went through what foods to introduce at what stages, but didnt have any real bent one way or the other on types of diets. A little bit of everything in moderation. Big waste of money I thought, I knew all that anyway and I'd gleaned from enough places what foods to introduce when, how long to stay on liquids etc. My doctor didnt tell me any of that stuff. But I guess a lot of people get banded who having found sites like this for information.

Its easy to get really anxious about all sorts of things like this. You just have to block your mind to it I think. I mean for years we're told lots of cardio to lose fat, now we're being told cardio makes you lose muscle blah blah blah. Less food, more exercise will work. And as to Protein, I prefer to eat it simply becuase it comes with lots of other valuable nutrients like B-12 and zinc or even Calcium if you're talking cottage cheese. That's more calorie efficient if you ask me. I also dont feel comfortable with a high soy intake, there is not complete certainty that it's safe, especially for males. If I drank Protein drinks I'd probably choose a whey protein isolate one.

I do believe that our diet does not need to be as carb focussed as the typical western diet is and I certainly believe that white refined carbs are bad for us. But I think that Atkins is a dangerous fad diet supported by questionable theories that have no scientific basis and that it sets you up for heart disease and kidney problems, not to mention Vitamin deficiences. Eat a low carb diet for sure, I think it helps weight loss tremendously. But there is no need to be in Ketosis to burn fat and it does not protect your lean body tissue from being consumed either. But a post banding diet tends to be lowish in carbs anyhow, and there is no need to restrict fruit or vegetables, they are vital for our health.

A couple of weeks of home delivered meals A gym membership, time out, it was so wonderful. Those are probably group presents and you'd need to know the person actually wanted them. Can you find out if she's going to do cloth or disposable diapers? Because there are some AMAZING cloth diapers out there that are absolute works of art. And they all come from the States. You can check out www.mothering.com for ideas. We used Fuzzibunz almost exclusively. I couldnt get enough beautiful organic baby toiletries too. Burts Bees Buttermilk lotion is to die for. They have a website or Colleen from www.naturalbabies.com is wonderful to deal with and there's lots of beautiful stuff there. You're so lucky, I had to import all that sort of stuff. You have it all on your doorstep.

I'm just going to bid it adieu I think. I havent really missed it at all anyway. I havent given up carbs but I just dont need white processed ones. Interestingly too the minute I've started introducing more refined Cereal, crackers, Pasta etc my weight loss has slowed markedly too. I think I'll save those things for the occasional treat and stick with the Proteins, fruit and veg. I was running just fine on oatmeal for Breakfast and Protein and veg for my other meals. I dont think you need to be a carb nazi necessarily, counting grams of this or that, but I've never cut them out to this extent and the difference when I started eating them again has been marked.

I love my wine, but have had hardly any since being banded, Christmas day and New Years Eve being the exceptions. I'm not a drink till I'm tipsy person generally though anyway, one or two is what I usually stick with. We would probably have a drink at home 4 nights out of 7, but havent done so for the past few months, I"m happy to save it for when I'm out.

January 14th Breakfast : 2 slices grainy dark toast with cream cheese + jam Lunch: tuna, chickpea and tomato salad Dinner: 1 lentil burger, mixed salad I forgot my Vitamin again, but drank loads of Water. Weight isnt shifting this week, its really slowed down, 1.5 kg since the 1st of January which I guess is Ok, but I'm so early in the journey I want it coming off a bit faster. Roll on end of school holidays when I can get back to the gym!

Everynow and then you'll come across something that really shows you how much you've lost, that is so amazing it brought tears to my eyes. Wow! I cant see anything in the mirror yet but am down a whole size, so I think I'll keep a reminder or two as well.

Ok, so nothing too severe (just 5 plain sweet biscuits, only about 200 calories) but just a good reminder that I am still susceptible to eating when stressed and must make efforts to find other ways to deal with it. Gosh they were goooood though, dunked in my coffee:heh: I'm just SOOOOO over school holidays. 3 kids at home, no daycare for Eliza and I cannot do anything I want to do. We must have 20 children between the ages of 5 and 13 living in our end of the street and they are all driving me freaking insane. They are feral, absolutely feral. Today my son was down at a friend's and Fraser was in his room on the playstation with his mate from next door and STILL these kids were racing in and out my front door on the way through to the backyard and the trampoline. I look out the window, they're jumping all over the front garden, the door's going slam slam slam, there's fighting and screaming in the backyard and the little ones come in to me to sort it out. As if I give a flying you know what. They have also taken to exiting the backyard by climbing the tall picket fence thus breaking the fence, they track dirt and mud through the house, AAAAARGH. I have gone ballistic at them, told them to all bugger off and mess up their own houses, I have even spoken to the 2 sets of parents involved (who by the way will never let my kids into their houses to play) and nothing has been done. I have an almost 3 year old who will not sleep due to the constant noise and who wants to be outside playing till 9.30 (its daylight savings here) with the big kids so whines and throws tantrums all evening. It used to be a blessing living in this street, its such a young, family area but I just want to get the hell away from this area now. I hate it with a passion. I'd rather make the effort for my kids to have schoolfriends over rather than this constant stream of undisicplined feral children on my doorstep. And to top it off Doug's decided that it's OK to go fishing every weekend, even though he went fishing with a friend for two weeks over Christmas and New Year so I"m here to deal with it all by myself. Sorry for the vent, it just got to me today. And yes, I felt better after the coffee and the biscuits.

I dont think you're being overcautious. I dont think I'd go with a surgeon who's only done 40 bands, attended by more experienced ones or not. And the reputation of the hospital itself is quite a different thing from this surgeon's own reputation. I wouldnt want to scream, DONT DO IT, by any means, but I do think it warrants some consideration and if you can easily switch to one of the other surgeon's I'd do it in a heartbeat just for peace of mind.

I also can guage by my sister - who is the same height as me and looks perfect at 65kg - she's an Australian size 12 (us 10) - tall and slender but still curvy, not overly skinny at all. It's great having a look-alike motivator. I guess you have to choose a ballpark figure and then adjust according to your body type when you get there.

I find the trouble with water workouts (I do go to deep water running once a week when I can) is that I cant go anywhere in public without a shampoo, conditioning treatment and blow dry afterwards, lol. My hair if left to dry naturally is a big fluffy ball of cotton wool, I have to spend half an hour pulling it straight. So a 50 minute water aerobics class is a 3 hour ordeal for me, once I've driven there, and driven home and showered etc.

Depends. I'm 5ft 10 as well and my wrists are thick, I always measure as a "large frame". I dont have huge hands or feet though. Yet, I have photos of me at about 70kg (154lb) and honestly, I could have done with losing another five or six. I think to be pretty lean and not have rolls or bulges anywhere I need to weigh right down at the bottom of the healthy weight range somewhere around 64kg - about 140lb. I've never weighed that as an adult so I'm not even shooting for it at the moment, 75kg is my first goal, somewhere round 160-170lb. I think however that I'm not really a large frame. If you do have big hands and big feet and are really a large frame, I think I'd aim for somewhere around the 180lb mark at first and then take it from there.

I voted none at all, just eat till I'm full. But I'm choosing wisely, lots of fruit and vegetables, pretty low fat (but I do eat the good fats), trying to get in lots of fibre and still enough protein, etc etc. So I'm not eating any rubbish which means it's pretty low cal. I've done the calorie counting thing so many times in my life I can keep a pretty accurate mental scorecard and it's came in around 1000-1200 for the first couple of weeks, is edging up to 1500ish now, I think I will be having a fill next week.

13 January Breakfast - 1 slice of wholegrain toast with jam Lunch: zucchini bolognaise Afternoon: 5 plain sweet biscuits with a cup of coffee (my first pig out, but only about 200 calories) Dinner: pork butterfly steak marinaded in plum sauce, ginger and garlic, steamed broccoli and carrots

Hehehe, I gave those up years ago!