Jachut

I think starting a diet or new lifestyle is one area where nature is kind. I always find the weight pours off at first and just when that fast ride stops is when the NSV's start, keeps you going a bit longer. You're dong great.

Oh poo :-<. Yesterday I saw a really yummy looking recipe for little pizzas made in big field mushrooms. I was going to try it! Maybe I will, whilst I'm still unfilled. I'm a bit apprehensive now though.

I think these things always work short term because you're eating less calories. Its interesting how some people cant eat carbs in the morning or lots of carbs at anytime. I'm the opposite, I need my cereal for breakfast or I get fuzzy headed and faint, maybe not in one morning, but after a day or two. I guess we all figure out what's best for our bodies. I think it's important though that you realise you need variety in your food for good health. It's not going to hurt you at all for a week or two or maybe even a bit more to get some weight off quickly but you cant eat the same thing everyday for month's or you'll run short of nutrients. I think if you were going to do that though, cereal (as long as it's not sugary processed cereal) is a good choice, you get your dairy too and a piece of fruit during the day as well is a good idea.

I was never a real bread addict but I have occasionally yearned for a piece of freshly baked white bread, toasted, with butter and jam :-0. But though I have not even tried bread yet - tomorrow I will do so - I have eaten good carbs like All Bran and Ryvitas and loads of Beans and legumes too so I havent really missed bread much. I hate sandwiches with a passion anyway, so I never ate them before, its just toast really.

Yep! Doug says my belly has flattened out a lot, and I do think that's where I've lost it all from (it was the last place it went on, I tend to be pear shaped). I cant see any real weight loss from my face yet. But I feel loads better about myself. Doug was always up for it at any conceivable time, but for me it was more of a duty than anything else lots of the time. Occasionally I'd get in the mood, but I'm in the mood much more often now.

Huh? Why even get the band if you're going to try to lose weight without fills? I've lost almost 9kg without a fill but I can tell it is petering out now, I'm starting to think between meals, hmmm wouldnt mind a little something, I'm getting hungrier. I still get full pretty quickly though. How many surgeons are there out there that really have NO idea what it's like to be obese and share the general public's view that if we just zipped our lips and used a bit of willpower we would lose weight? Seems to be an awful lot. I dont know the answer to your question though, so I'm going to hang round waiting for an answer. I have my first fill on 19th Jan at 9 am and I want to go out for Breakfast with some dear friends on 21st January. Now I dont intend to eat a huge hunk of toast or anything, but I'm almost scared to eat in public at all that soon afterwards.

Major NSV today - got into (cant wear yet but did them up!!!) a pair of Size 18 Sussans jeans. That's a regular store size 18 (I think it's about a US 16), not a plus size 18 - 2 entirely different things in Australia, plus size sizes are really generous. So.......... I'm going to wait, five or six kilos more and I'll be able to wear those jeans in public, I wont buy any new clothes till then. By then I'll be able to shop in a regular store. My Size and 1626 (our two major plus size chains) have served me well but I have just resolved NEVER to set foot in either one of them again. YAY!!!

It wouldnt surprise me although Oprah does seem honest. Who would really know though? I dont even know who Star Jones is but I reckon Kirstey Alley did.

My hubby has a BMI of about 32, he'd have no real trouble getting banded in Australia. He thinks if he tries really hard for once and for all he can lose the 25kg he needs to lose. But he's been trying to do it for over 15 years. I think he'll end up getting a band at some point in time. He works 11 hour days sitting at a desk, he simply cannot keep to eating a small enough amount of food for such a sedentary lifestyle. He walks at lunchtimes etc but it only just maintains for sitting at a desk 11 hours and spending another 2 hours in the car every day.

I probably eat close to 1200 most days, I eat a reasonable amount of healthy fats but not much saturated fat and because I"ve only been banded a month, I've lost at a rate of about 4-5lb a week. That will slow down.

I vary my breakfasts quite a lot - cereal, fruit, yogurt or some combination of 2 or 3 of those, occasionally eggs, very very occasionally pancakes. lunch is normally either fruit and yogurt if on the run or some kind of salad, sometimes dinner leftovers if suitable dinner - so many things to have for dinner, occasionally it's Pasta of some description, most often its a Protein (like chicken) only rarely plain, tonight we're having Thai chicken Cakes - and salad or vegetables. I dont eat dessert.

Fantastic. Good for you Kellie.

It really is all in your attitude. You can handle any situation if you want to. The kids had takeaway fish and chips for dinner last night as they had a friend over at the last minute and I didnt have enough of what I'd planned to go around. In the old days I would have had them too - chips, battered flake and a potato cake, maybe even a fried dim sim. But I surprised myself by thinking "oh, I dont eat that kind of food" so Doug and I just got a piece of grilled flake each and had a salad with it instead. It wasnt even an effort and it came automatically.

We get the British version here with Gillian McKeith, a wizened up humped back woman who does not look at all a good advertisment for healthy eating. She's stick thin and dried up looking like people who live on lentils tend to be. But my goodness, the diets people eat, its truly shocking. She puts all their food for a week on the table, and its horrifying, there is nothing green to be seen. It makes me realise I was nowhere near as far gone as I thought. Its really gross, she analyses their poo and one woman on Sunday night was on television having a colonic irrigation!

All my fills and aftercare are free forever and if I should require any revision surgery, that too will be free - the surgeon will only charge the scheduled fee so the entire amount will be covered by Medicare (in Australia). I paid a $3,000 once off fee to my surgeon so that's all banding will ever cost me.

I dont know specifically anything about them. BUT - I have so many times hired exercise equipment and been really disappointed. I love the treadmill and I love the elliptical and I also love spinning. I would love to have any one of these pieces of equipment at home. But I ONLY love gym quality equipment - every time I hire something, its second rate for home use and the whole experience is ruined. If you buy somethng of lesser quality you'll be disappointed and you wont use it. If I were to buy an elliptical for example, I would only do so if I was prepared to spend upwards of $AUD 3,000 on it. Is there any way you can try before you buy? Or do they have a moneyback guarantee?

I was going to say the same thing - just more onto sashimi. Its jsut as good, in fact better since the fish is so good for you. Not as much fish in sushi.

I'm a bit resistant to the idea of fills the same way as I was to getting the band in the first place. I dont want to be tight, I want to be able to eat whatever I fancy, but at some point in time I'm going to have to face the fact that the band wont work properly if I dont do it. I can indeed eat more and am hungrier in the last few days so next week when I'm due, I spose I'll be getting a fill. If you're hungry, eating more and have gained you probably at least need to seriously consider it. Make the appointment and have a chat to your doc when you're there.

For sure - the weight we carry is only a symptom of the disease

I think for the average woman, around 1200 a day is pretty workable and healthy. As to fat, they say 30% of calories from fat and no more than 20g of saturated fat a day. To be honest, I just keep saturated fat to a minimum, eat loads of fish, tuna, use a bit of olive oil sparingly and eat things like nuts and avocados. I think my diet would be highish in fat, probably more than 30% but its the good kind, the weight is coming off regardless, and honestly, my hair and skin have NEVER looked or felt better.

Well having been through the first month now, I'd now say I wouldnt comply with that, its just not necessary. I've followed my surgeons guidelines, not tried food before I was supposed to and I havent even had an episode of sliming, let alone a PB. I have a reasonable capacity, about a cup now. There's no way I'd still be getting by on liquids and it would make me angry because it's just not necessary, its way overcautious. When you think that some people only have to do a week on liquids, its laughable. I think you also "know" somehow when you're ready to move on. But - I guess you do have to do what your doctor instructs. It's certainly not going to hurt your band.

I had a cup of coffee the next morning after my surgery. My doc said it was OK too. I drink way less than I used to though because I want to be healthier all round, and I just dont have the room. I used to drink lots to waylay the hunger and now I dont need to.

I'd still take an iron supplement if you've been told too. Generally if you're low in iron the small amount in a multivitamin wont be enough. It's the same deal with calcium - they cant put enough in a multivitamin becuase both iron and calcium will interfere with the absorption of certain other vitamins and minerals. So you generally need to take extra if you're levels are low.

January 8th First thing: coffee Breakfast: raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and banana with vanilla yogurt and some flaked almonds Lunch: Indian dahl dip (2 tbspns) with some crackers, cucumber sticks and cherry tomatoes for dipping, some cherries Mid Afternoon: an orange Dinner: Lemon myrtle Pasta with Asian pesto (this was to dieeeeeee for, I think it was coriander (cilantro), peanuts, chilli, garlic and olive oil made into a pesto) I have forgotten my soluble Vitamin for 2 days running. I went to the gym, did cardio coach Vol 2 on the elliptical and some weights

Its great to put faces to names. I must get off my behind and take a picture of myself. I have none on the computer or camera, they're all old shots from before we got a digital camera.