Jachut

It depends what you mean - like the others have said, oftentimes your tastes change a lot of you'll look at pizza and feel sick. I liked pizza as much as the next person, I almost gag when I look at it now and if the kids cook one at home, I have to leave the house, I cant STAND the smell - or any smell of cheese cooking come to think of it. I can easily walk into a McDonalds with my family at mealtime when we're travelling or something and even if I'm hungry, not order anything. There's nothing in there to eat that appeals to me. Our Maccas all have McCafe's too so I'll get a decent coffee - but I even look in the cake display and thing bleurgh - manufactures off site, that funny yellow colour to them, sitting under the light, all I see is sugar and fat. But to not be obsessed with food and weight on a daily basis - that's a tough call and I'm not sure its realistic. I have gotten WAY better than I was. And I firmly believe that that is because I've never dieted. I dont give a flying you know what what the doctors say about Protein this, carb grams that, what schedule they set or program they recommend, I refuse refuse refuse to diet. I believe the ONLY way to let go of that obsession is to eat what you want, when you want it, and not be concerned about the consequences. That's much easier said than done and I cant quite manage that because it does ignore the fact that I think we're seriously addicted to our processed diets and our bodies are simply not going to truly want to eat only healthy foods. I've got a pretty good handle on it though and I believe that my not dieting was instrumental in that. I'm taking my daughter to the movies today because its school holidays - I'll probably have movie popcorn for my lunch. So what? Its not healthy but so what? I have had a healthy Breakfast and will at a healthy dinner and wont eat anything between meals, its not going to matter in the scheme of things. That's a big improvement over eating it, thinking I've blown the diet and pigging out for the rest of the day. To really get better I'd have to stop weighing. Because I *will* get on the scales and check tonight that I didnt gain 15lb in a day by eating the popcorn and I will be on the scales gain tomorrow morning. To stop obsession I think we have to never diet and never weigh and not care- and in our society, with the foods available to us, that's asking for disaster. In reality, we are formerly obese people, we will always be obesity sufferers and we live in a world just waiting to degrade our healthy and send us into relapse at every turn. We have to accept that living with some degree of food obsession is what it takes to keep the physical aspects of the disease at bay. But there's obsession which is unhealthy and there's looking after your healthy, it takes work but if you want the result you've got to do it. It has to continue to be a daily focus.

You look about ten years younger!

I really dont believe there are magic numbers and i dont believe a week is long enough to say something is or isnt working! Our bodies are not that predictable and virtually nobody will lose in a steady fashion, it comes in fits and starts and plateaus are part of that, not something you need to "solve" necessarily. Weight loss can really only be reliably measured over longer periods of time.

It wont make any difference in and of itself, but if you eat more calories at dinner than lunch, for example, it might make a difference. Id do breakfast coz its easy although my breakie would seldom have more calories than a shake anyhow. Id find dinner much easier to replace than lunch as my appetite often switches off in the evening and ive never been a nightime snacker anyhow.

Mine were late to go, i was a dd and hated it. I went dow to a d but down about four back sizes so my breasts were a lot smaller. In the final 20 ( and already under a bmi of 25), i shrank to a c. I have no desire for large breasts so i was happy

I dont think you can say its 85/15 or 50/50 or 40/60 becuase its different for everyone.Everyone has different eating issues - I found parts of the process quite easy because for me, I was a healthy eater before the band but lacked the control to stop when I was done, and indulged in a lot of UNhealthy foods on top of what was a good basic diet. I didnt have to wean myself off horrible habits like McDonalds drive through breakfasts or huge whipped cream iced coffee concoctions or fast food for lunch every day becuase I didnt eat that way anyway. I already ate oatmeal for breakfast, salads for lunch and stuck to ordinary coffee with a dash of milk! I had to cut out the between meal cookies, muffins, cakes, the couple of glasses of wine with dinner and the mentality that everytime I ate out it was an excuse to hoe in big time. The downside is that I was a grazer, I miss eating all the time, I still ahve loads of headhunger and a deathly attraction to sugary carby foods. Other people were huge volume eaters, but not snackers or grazers and dont have to deal with the same issues. I was willing and able and enjoyed running and exercising very hard, others dont want to do this. I probably needed less fill than some because I could lose eating 1500 calories a day because of the amount of hard exercise I do, good trade off in my mind but someone else would rather be tight and eat 800 a day to avoid going for a run every day. So there's no "formula" to it, its individual.

I think its made me look my age (as has a year of cancer treatment) but my overall look is much more youthful. Undressed, oh dear. My breasts are most definitely aged. I dont have a bit loose skin problem but the tummy and thighs are not those of a 20 year old. But even so, given the shape most people are in today, I can honestly say I have a body a lot of people would really like to have, imperfect as it is, its a lot better than an overweight one. Dressed, most people do gape when they learn I'm 44 - becuase whilst I dont try to look 20, I dont have to wear the cover up style clothes most overweight mid 40's mothers of three get around in, I have a slim enough face and neck to do funky things with my hair (long unstyled hair NEVER makes you look younger even if it makes you feel secure) and I dont hide behind those things that older women often do - too much make up, too long, too painted nails, too much jewellery. I am quite happy to schlep over to the shops for a coffee on a sunday morning sans make up with unbrushed hair and in a tracksuit like a young thing, and I can look quite OK doing it. However, my face has hollowed out a lot, a bit of strategic makeup does me a lot of favours. I'd be a perfect candidate for fillers, I dont have a lot of wrinkles yet but I'm an Aussie and grew up in the sun and have that sundamage beginning to show - uneven skin and freckles and age spots. But I wont change it because I'd be afraid of overdoing it. Its like fake tanning, the more you use, the more brown you think you need to be until you're orange and everyone is laughing and you think you look good, lol. I've got much more important things (like school fees) to spend my money on and I'm happy to look my age. And I dont regret having a hollow face when I no longer have a huge wobbly bum. I wont do grey hair though, that's not in my future for years yet, despite what hubby says about the hairdresser bills.

You need enough Protein in your diet - about a gram per 2lb of *IDEAL* body weight, more if you're very active or heavily into strength training. You're probably doing fine - that's ideal body weight, your fat stores dont need protein! But you need some good carbs and fat too. The general advice to focus on protein is good because as obese people, you can bet all of our diets are filled to the brim with nutritionless empty white carbohydrates. We dont need that st7ff, although there's no harm in a little of what you fancy now and again. I personally believe wholegrains - oatmeal, good bread, brown rice are all foods worth eating and dont really think low carb is worth the pain, but that's just me and what my body likes, others cut out all grain foods completely. As a rectal cancer sufferer, I would never in a million years do it, those foods have a fairly clear association with reduced risk of cancer or recurrence whereas red meat, high saturated fat (so lots of cheese) and particularly deli meats like ham and salami (current recommendiations are to NEVER eat them!) are linked with increased incidence. So I would never dream of doing anything really high protein and low carb.

Well, I had my band totally unfilled for a bowel resection and chemo, so I've been at my doctors this year as often as I was right after being banded. But in that long stretch between hitting goal and being diagnosed, I saw my doctor about every six months and had tiny top up fills (0.1, 0.2cc) probably once a year. I did find restriction over time would wane and I would find myself eating more and faster. Its maintenance, you dont hit goal and never have to worry again. And truth be told, many people that we perceive as naturally thin work hard at being that way - what's dieting and obsessive to one person is normal lifestyle to another. I'm certainly not the only person in body pump 3 x a week and they're not all fat and trying to lose weight. In truth, whoever made the point about the excessive food today made a good one - we're only restrictive and dieting becuase of the bombardment we face at every turn. If all I had available to me to eat was healthy, natural food, I would never have become fat in the first place, let alone have to say no to a ton of unhealthy tempting food every day.

I never had any. Not sure why since when I had my bowel resection last year I had enormous gas discomfort - little surgical pain but I honestly thought I would pop. Probably since my digestive tract was actually opened up (which it isnt with banding). But with banding - none. Interestingly I've had 2 colonoscopies this past year and they say to be ready for the gas after that as they fill you with it - never came, makes me nervous that perhaps I was ripping off long, loud farts on the table, lol.

I still cant get up any motivation to do these really hard diets with the band - shake diets for example. I know it'd be a great way to lose the 8lb that's bothering me, and I know I wont really be terribly hungry, but I still like my food too much! But the best thing about the band is that if you CAN be arsed to do these diets, you cant pile it back on again in no time flat when you finish becuase it makes your band work BETTER and you'll feel tighter and unable to go and eat four muffins and a big iced coffee in your desperation to carb up again.

I got three months out without a fill and I lost about 40lb in that time - half my excess weight. My weight loss slowed right down after that, to average about 1lb a week and then about 1lb a month, and it took me 2 and a half years in the end to lose 120lb (obviously I lost more than just my "excess"). In hindsight I could have gone longer and as it was, I only had tiny fills, building the restriction up very slowly over that first year. I had superb restriction - I have a 4cc band I really believe the older bands were much better than the newer in the earlier stages - with the surgicial swelling mine gave good restriction - better than I've ever achieved since with fills since it was very snug and I could only eat less than a cup 3 times a day and never had head hunger or even thought about food. If I tried to go that tight now, I'd have vomiting and reflux at night. It was just really easy - that weight loss was like magic, effortless and automatic. I went for a walk the day I got home from the hospital and exercised every single day, back to vigorous 40 minutes on the elliptical by week 3 and then by about week 6, I started running. So I was exercising, I was highly motivated, spurred on by fast results, it was a real honeymoon period. It got much harder after that. You do "diet" with the band. I mean, you cant eat crap just in small quantities and you do have to say no to a lot of your food impulses. You have to exercise. We have all failed at that before but we can all do it or getting a band wont make much impact. The difference with the band is that you can actually keep it up and if you do fall off the wagon, in general you cant eat enough to do much damage. You cant eat a cookie, think yo'uve blown it and then eat an entire pizza, a tub of icecream and a birthday cake! I've been out for lunch today, to a barbecue. I had 2 glasses of wine, a bit of salad, potato salad, a chicken skewer and a piece of the french stick, then I had a nibble at the cheese platter afterwards with a coffee. It was spread over a couple of hours and to be honest, I was embarrassed by my tiny plate of lunch - one skewer (lucky to be 50 grams of chicken), three small cubes of potato salad, a lettuce leaf, cherry tomato and slice of cucumber and a piece of bread the size of a cracker. It looked pretty funny compared to others' plates. Maybe 3 pieces of brie and 3 crackers and a date and a few walnuts. Probably less than 800 calories all up. But even to enjoy that, I only had a coffee and a small yogurt for Breakfast and dinner is a very small bowl of homemade Soup - even though truth be told, I could eat a normal dinner and will probably go to bed a bit hungry. I have to plan for it, and work around it to "indulge' but I feel exactly like I did in the old days when my plate was piled with steak, loads of potato, etc. I enjoyed it and feel like I had an indulgence. That's what's so great about the band. A day out, social eating but no real damage done. The only "cost" is that I have to economise on the other two meals and I went for a run at 7 am on a Sunday morning (ugh, not my idea of fun). And when DH offered me a wine a minute ago, I had to say no thanks. Two in a day is enough.

My band hasnt stopped me being a hard core exercise junkie. I've run, done bootcamp (the real stuff, hitting huge tyres with a sledgehammer or dragging tyres across the football ground kinda stuff), done Body Pump, Spinning, sandbag training, ab work, you name it, I've never had a problem with band or port and I've also never (touch wood) had an injury. The thing I struggle with most is spinning - it really upsets my knees and that's no impact. some high impact activity is important - it builds bone density in a way that cycling or swimming or the elliptical cant but you dont need a ton of it. it certainly wont affect your band or port if both are properly in place.

I've been banded almost 6 years and I was unfilled for 9 months of this pat year for another surgery. I've had trouble getting back to where I was - I've got more fill now (3.4cc) than I had taken out (3.2cc) but less restriction, very frustrating. My doc has been giving me 0.2cc fills and I'm going back on Friday and will ask for 0.1cc, so yes, you can have just 0.1cc taken out. I'm hoping this next fill does it - I dont have much left, although the tighter you get the more smaller increments make a difference, but I can eat a whole tuna sandwich (2 pieces of bread, a small can of tuna, lettuce)! There's not really a problem with that, its hardly a lunch that will turn me into a whale, but it just doesnt seem right. I always say to people to be careful with trying to go too tight because I've seen from years on here that once you unfill your band, it does tend to work a bit differently when you refill it. I know mine isnt leaking and its been seen on CT scan and xrays for my cancer treatment which I was able to show my lapband doc, and its all in place and fine. Its just different. Its going to take more to get good restriction that it did. Although that might be because I'm about 10lb lighter than when I was unfilled. And that's 10lb off an already very thin frame, so there's probably no fat round my stomach at all now.

I dont feel thirsty like that often at all.

Gee, its rare to find people so deficient, what were you eating to be lacking so much? Have you had your thyroid checked? Nonetheless, its great news! We watched Limitless last night and I would LOVE to get my hands on a pill like that, lol. Imagine how much you'd get done - the ironing, the floors, the house would be organised, all my planning for a year of teachign would be done, the finances in order, nails done, make up done, hair done, school clothes ready for tomorrow, all the school notices done, oh my, it would be wonderful! I'd speed around a 10km run every single day, look forward to weight training, have a fridge and freezer full of super healthy food, I'd be so perfect I coudlnt even stand myself. You must feel a little the same. Its one of the things that prompted me to get banded, I felt like a fat lazy slob. I never got anythign done, I always needed a rest and yes, a gym session would see me exhausted on the couch for the rest of the day. Its wonderful to say goodbye to that lifestyle. And it will only get better as you lose - I got more done and got more exercise whilst having chemo than I did in my old life.

I'm building my way up to good restriction again after being totally unfilled for a surgery. this is what its been like for me. Every time I think "this is the one" and for three or four days it's great - I can eat good variety and reasonable quantity (as I dont need to actually lose weight now) but then it disappears and I have appetite, trouble getting from meal to meal without snacking, can eat what I consider HUGE meals (not really compared to others, there IS restriction there, but I can eat a whole sandwich for instance) and the satiation after a meal simply doesnt last. I'm really having trouble preventing weight gain, feel like I'm constantly on a diet and have to run 10kms almost every day to keep the balance on the favourable side. I've got enough control of my eating after six years that I'm not going to pile weight on, its taken me 9 months to gain 6lb, but a gain is a gain and I want to nip it in the bud. It wasnt quite like this after surgery - every fill took me to a good place, they did loosen after a few days but becuase I was much heavier and it took much less work to lose weight, I wasnt as aware of it or bothered by it. By the time I got to maintenance, keeping a steady weight was effortless - I didnt think about it, I had my daily routine around eating and exercise, and I enjoyed myself when I went out or away and broke that routine, then got right back to it. I never gained weight from these occasional indulgences. That's becuase I had the perfect restriction for me. Getting back to it is sure frustrating. But every fill lasts that little bit longer, and eventually you get there.

The lapband works well for most people when they work with it - but working with it isnt ALL down to you. You need proper restriction, which you dont mention..... have you had regular check ups and regular fills? Fills are essential, but you will find restriction wanes over time, so even after that first year or two, you'll often need a small top up once a year or so - I've found this even six years out. Others succeed because a) they have good restriction, they work with their band, c) they probably exercise regularly and d) their bands are functioning well. Is all that true for you? Even if you work and c) really well, without a) and d) results can be less than exciting. I saw my surgeon (or a doctor in his practice) every six weeks for the first six months and had a fill nearly every time. Then it stretched out to every three months, and then about once a year. I had my band unfilled this time last year for a big surgery and when I was able to refill again, I was going every six weeks again to get back to proper restriction. Have you had that sort of support and contact with your clinic? And if you have had that sort of medical back up and it still isnt working, some people are just plain unlucky and have these problems, others just dont do what they need to be doing to lose weight, either becuase they thought it was a magic fix and they shouldnt need to work at it or the band was just a plain bad choice for their particular eating issues and problems. Have you had any other problems like being too tight, vomiting, night time reflux, inability to eat solid foods?

I've never overcome it and I'm banded 6 years. I dont know how to stop trying to lose weight. I've been a steadfast "non dieter" in that I wont follow a plan, I wont log, I wont count calories, I wont low carb but I do consciously restrict what I eat on a daily basis and I stay away from bad foods, I feel guilty when I eat a lot or indulge in something fatty, I will move heaven and earth to get in six exercise sessions a week. I weigh daily and am only happy when my weight is down, and I've gone WAY past a BMI of 25, to get right down to 20. I've regained a little weight after having cancer and treatment for a year and still weigh less than when I was diagnosed, but I"m trying to lose 10lb at the moment. Its a sickness, and it can only be managed, I dont believe it can be cured or that you can recover. I am better at some times, worse at others - at the moment I'm worse due to the slight regain and am obsessing over it all again. I've never felt this way before but a major illness like cancer was like tripping a switch for me because I got a taste of being REALLY skinny and have had to deal with some regain, healthy regain but still hard. Most of the time I can tick along with a fairly good balance between just enjoying life and indulging the right amount, and keeping my weight steady, and I can live with that, I dont really think about being "cured".

I think you're well within your rights and dont owe anyone any truths. You've done the hard work, accept the praise. But I told everyone for exactly the reason you're saying. I remember when I was heavy, running into people who'd lost a ton of weight, or seeing my very heavy girlfriend embark on another plan and having success with it. It made me feel so damn worthless and miserable - other people could do it, why not me. I'd comfort myself with mean thoughts that they'd never keep it off (and they didnt) but I was still cut up over the fact that they could actually lose 20kg or whatever, and I could never lose more than about 5. So I'd absolutely HATE to think that someone else might feel so down on themselves over my success. Yes, it was hard work and I know that these people that know I'm banded think that it was magic, and dont appreciate what I've had to do to lose the weight. But at least they're not thinking that I'm amazing and they're hopeless. I also think its a marvellous surgery that works amazing miracles for people who are willing to put the work in. I want to spread the word! I dont want people to waste their lives trying to do something that statisically, just isnt possible

Personally I think they're junk food - they're either artificially sweetened if they're truly low carb, which is dubious at best. I think any sort of sweet food - artificially sweetened or with sugar - does drive you to want more. I also think the ingredients are man made, not natural and not healthy. I am a teacher too - I take a bag of cut up raw vegies to school and when the kids have fruit break, I have a few, or I might have them when the kids have their snack right before recess time (we dont get lunch till 1.45). I think I'm modelling good eating to my class, and a lot of the kids that dont like fruit have started bringing carrots or cucumber for fruit break. Of course in Australia we dont have school lunch systems, there's usually a canteen but all in all students bring their lunch from home. I also think they're too many calories for a snack - but that's because I'm a 3 meals a day kinda person so my meals are heavier on the calories and I couldnt afford that many for a snack - if I was a five small meals a day sort of person I guess then a Protein bar would be more reasonable. I think they taste like eating candles anyway, but that's just me. I would get pretty hungry between a 6.30 am breakfast and a 1.45 pm lunch but I take breakfast to school with me (or keep stuff in my pigeon hole and in the fridge in the staff room) and eat at about 8.30 instead, so that I can eliminate the need for any sort of substantial snack.

I didnt have to drink barium it was a clear fluid with the consistency of water and then they injected iodine into me via my arm. I drank the fluid over about an hour - it was at least a litre, eeeeew.

Lol, yes I tend to be only warm during a hot flush too. I went through being freezing, it lasted about 9 mnonths but gradually my body acclimatised to being lighter and having less fat.

There's also the harsh reality of feeling fat when you look in the mirror despite what you've lost. There's been many posts about "I've lost 50lb but I'm still fat". Thats because if you had 100lb to lose you ARE still fat, you're still 50lb overweight. But you shouldnt focus on that, you always had to lose that first 50, the ones that dont show so much, to get to the 50 that really make the difference. We have to learn to appreciate all aspects of this journey, to recognise all the small triumphs and to focus on how we feel and not just on how we look. Because even to lose 10lb is bloody hard work and a major triumph. 50lb will have done simply incredible things for your health and life expectancy! But the kind of weight loss that is noticeable and takes you down sizes and results in a gratifyingly quick improvement in looks is the last 20lb, not the first 20. sometimes even at goal and well below goal in fact, I look in despair in the mirror and think I"ll never be where I want to be, now I'm trying to fight aging! We really must learn to appreciate ourselves simply because we are each wonderful.

Dont you find too that healthy eating and exercise support each other? You dont want to undermine your hard work at the gym with crap food. And you dont want to feel sluggish and awful at the gym because you've got a belly load of bad food on board. I find I can slip off track and eat badly for days but overall, behaviour modification is not only supported by the band but how you come to appreciate how good you feel when you eat well and how awful you feel when you eat badly.