Jachut

Oh I long to have that sort of energy again. At the moment I just about pass out once I'm home from collecting the kids from school - and I still have dinner and the evening clean up (which is when I get most of the housework done) to get through. If I sit down for 1 minute I"m cactus. I havent looked at the garden for a looooong time but I did pay someone to come and clean it up. I swear going to the gym 2 or 3 times a week doesnt even begin to make up for the lack of all that type of stuff in my life as I've gotten too fat and tired for it.

I must admit that I just dont get the need for all the testing and it p*&s me off that I have to pay for it. If I went into surgery to fix my bad ankle nobody would do anymore than a quick urine test and take my blood pressure. Nobody gave a toss before about whether I sleep well at night etc etc and they sure as heck dont do this type of testing before any other surgery. Why now? Its not huge surgery in the scheme of things and in Australia it doesnt have to be done really to qualify either, they see you're fat as a house, they do the surgery, simple. To me its a big time waster and an unecessary expense. But I guess we've all got to jump through the hoops.

Tricep dips on the edge of the couch or on a step or something although you may need to do dumbell exercises first. But I find once you can get to the point where you can do a full push up or tricep dip and use your bodyweight for resistance you get results REALLY fast.

It works a little different here in Australia. Medicare, our public health system, pays for the bulk of the operation as its generally not argued that its not medically necessary as long as the surgeon has said he will do it. Our private health insurance pays for all hospital costs and surgeons and medical professionals usually charge a "gap" over and above the scheduled fee that Medicare will pay for any given procedure. For banding, the average gap is abotu $A3,000 so there's generally a one off payment of $3,000. For many surgeons that covers all aftercare for ever - every fill and any revision surgery as once they've charged the gap, many surgeons agree to simply bulk bill all maintenance/revision/supervision - meaning they bill Medicare direct only the scheduled cost. So its pricey but not out of the league of most people really. If its done under the public health system the wait is up to 7 years in many hospitals. Many surgeons will not touch self pay in Australia because they say that it leads to people not continuing with follow up treatment after surgery and if anything goes wrong and revision surgery is needed, costs mount up to re-mortgage your house kind of levels very quickly.

Ah of course, I hadnt taken into account the lessing of restriction as you lose weight. So you might only be able to eat say 1200 calories a day at 200lb but maybe 1500 at 130lb type of thing.

I'm actually going through a surgeon that I've only met once and we havent discussed all that, before that I was considering someone else and had had 2 appointments, but have decided not to go with him purely because the wait for surgery was months and months and months as he's going overseas for an extended holiday. But he told me (and this may be different with the new surgeon) that I wouldnt have to do any pre op liquid diet apart from the day before, reason being he doesnt believe its good for you or necessary unless you're very very very overweight and need the liver shrinking benefit which I dont. After surgery is one week liquids, progressing to mushy over the next week, starting with very easy to digest stuff like pureed fruit and vegetables and progressing onto the liquidised roast pork that raised so many eyebrows, lol, towards the end of the second week and perhaps into a third week by which time you should be eating three squares, just in liquid form (he suggested very liquidy oatmeal and fruit for Breakfast, Soup for lunch, and meat and 3 veg liquidised for dinner) after which time start introducing solids gradually, with the aim to be on full solids by 4-5 weeks. Post banding long term diet is encouraged to be nothing more than a regular family diet (of healthy choices of course) in smaller quantities - ie. everyday food the whole family can eat, lean meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, wholegrain cereals and not too much Pasta, rice, potato etc. Same as anyone would eat losing weight. The whole Atkins style high Protein thing is not that popular here in Australia, its much more modified, most doctors now recognise the benefits of eating slightly higher protein and less refined carbohydrates but that's about the extent of it. All seems doable to me as luckily its really just a scaled down version of what I eat anyway (apart from the pasta and rice, I love those!), just in way too great a quantity and with too many treats. My treats tend to be white carbs, luckily for me they're often difficult to tolerate after the banding/fill regime has been completed. Nobody has ever mentioned Protein shake, formula diet foods or anything like that to me, although the advice to eat your protein first and then veg and then any starchy food has been the same.

I havent got mine yet but its taken me a very very long time to come to the decision. I changed my mind several times and to be honest I think it was the right thing to do. Each time i decided not to do it, I came upon another truth - like what was "normal" anyway?. It made me realise that I didnt want to be my kind of "normal" ever again since that was what got me here in the first place. I think I learned more in convincing myself not to do it - in so doing I faced what it was that was scaring me - things like losing my best friend food, my particular feelings about not being able to just hoe in when eating socially etc etc and yes, the terrifying reality of actually losing the weight. Take your time and think about it as much as you need to. I find even now I'm focussing on the process and not thinking too much on the actual event - kind of like not looking directly at the sun - but I know now I will do it. I should find out a date at my next appointment on 13 October.

Like I mentioned in the other thread I only buy organic fruit and veg and usually organic meat too. Always organic milk and eggs. It costs a fortune but its worth it in terms of our family's health and the improvement in my son's asthma and eczema has been remarkable as it had not been able to be tied down to actual food allergies. We also use natural/organic cosmetics and grooming products in this household. And I am very proud of the fact that we have never used disposable nappies in this household apart from on the odd occasion. There is no way I would ever put that chemical gel near my baby's bum! Read up on what is in them and what it can do, its horrifying. We've done cloth all the way and most of the stuff I've used has come from the US, you have the most amazing cloth diapering products over there. We use Fuzzibunz almost exclusively :-) But people have to decide this stuff for themselves, its not black or white but shades of grey and everybody has to decide where they feel comfortable on the spectrum. I'd use a disposable diaper or regular antipersperant way before I ate pesticides on a daily basis. So every little bit helps. Its all better for our environment too :-)

I'd be at the docs right away because if it smells foul you've an infection coming on. I've only had a sinus infection once and it was not pleasant, in fact probably one of the two or three worst illnesses I've ever had. I'd be getting on antibiotics right way. By the way, my sinus infection happened after I had gastro and was vomiting and yes, it came out my nose, eeew.

Candysmooch I agree with you entirely. There is no way I'm having this band to live on processed crap like powdered shakes. I am positive half the weight problem in the US and in Australia which is fast catching up in obesity levels is due to the highly processed foods we eat. And I do not believe in low fat yogurt, cheese, etc. I believe its better to eat more reasonable amounts of the natural version. I dont want to fill my body with artificial sweeteners either. I only buy organic fruit and vegetables and often organic meat also. Its very possible to get fat on good food, really that's what I have done as I feel responsible for my kids so dont bring biscuits, chips, McDonalds, ice cream etc into the house ever. I just eat way too much of the right foods most of the time, I am entirely capable of a fast food pig out occasionally though. Im quite relieved that my danger foods - bread, cakes, white carbohydrates seem to be foods that often cant be tolerated after banding because I know I could use a diet more focussed on Protein, fruit and veg and less on carbs. I'm more than relieved that I cant stand ice cream and really dont have a control problem with chocolate. Here's hoping it doesnt develop when I realise its easier to eat than other foods. I might blend up Soups in the liquid phase but they wont be salty canned ones. That's why I felt the suggestion of liquidising ordinary healthy meals was a reasonable one and it didnt surprise me when it was suggested at the info evening. However again, I would never advocate doing anything different from what your surgeon says to.

I dont quite get this. If you get to goal still losing 1lb, 2lb a week, wouldnt you perhaps require a slight unfill to halt weight loss?

except for in Australia where doggie bags are illegal due to health and safety issues.

there's also lots more than just protein your body needs to keep your hair growing and healthy - your diet needs to be balanced all round.

I can only advocate the tiny bites and chewing. I've been practicing this before I gt my band and it is really amazing how much less i eat now before I'm satisfied.

Its not always the norm here to do a pre op liquid diet but I must admit I just dont understand why you cant just do a very low calorie diet of real food instead. I mean it cant be good for you having that processed rubbish (optifast) every meal for weeks and not eating fresh food. Surely that just gives the liver more work?

Crikey! That's a bit scary particularly since lots of those are just over the counter stuff.

I think there definitely must be a difference and I can see that what I think is a healthy diet is not the same as what a lot of people here think - not that that makes me right of course It definitely strikes me as a cultural difference. Of course, I havent even been banded yet. But I think the number one thing is to stick with what YOUR surgeon advocates. There's obviously a lot of variation out there - and none necessarily right or wrong but if you dont go by what your surgeon has told you, what's the point?

Again - there seems to be a huge difference to what Australian doctors are saying versus the US doctors. This was all condoned by the surgeon - steak and pork are not unhealthy choices if you choose lean meat. Pork is "the other white meat" and is actually one of the lowest fat choices, its only if you choose the crackling that you do damage. And steak doesnt have to be an enormous hunk of dead animal on your plate either. BBQ'd or grilled, its a healthy food. A roast cut of pork cooked without added fat, on a rack so the fat drains away, without the skin and served with steamed vegetables and maybe a plain baked potato is a very healthy meal! A touch of gravy perhaps - not made with pan juices or blend it with stock and that would be a high Protein, varied Vitamin and mineral content meal. Heavy on the veges light on the meat. There'd be more fat and way more salt and additives in blending up a can of cream Soup. I realise it wouldnt be wise to have that for your first mushy meal, its something you'd eat as you were preparing to go on solids but if you made it very liquidy surely it's be no more than a tasty soup?.

YOu wont be on it for long! And exercise is one of the BEST ways to bring blood pressure down quickly, tryin to destress and not worry about it helps too. You are doing the best thing you possibly could for yourself and it will work.

I've told most of those close to me that this is what I'm going to do apart from my inlaws. I really felt I wouldnt be able to hide it anyway from family - we seen enough of both sides that they sure as hell would notice if I was out of action for a week or so. Yes I could say I had something else done but why? They sure as hell would notice that I was eating way less, I couldnt avoid them for the liquid/mushy phase etc. But I havent told the IL's yet - I'm saving that for the last minute. They're so ignorant and so dramatic, its not going to be easy. MIL will be recounting stories of all the peopel she's seen die under anaesthetic, that type of thing. They wont "approve", they'll say "just eat less", etc etc. But I"m still just going to get it out of the way and tell them. I'm not working at the moment and wouldnt go telling every acquaintance I have because then yes, you may be the subject of gossip. Just those close to me. And I've had nothing but support so far, although my family were a tad upset at the beginning, my mother to her credit has done loads of research on it.

Well I havent been banded so tell me to rack off, but surely with mushies you can eat almost anything, as long as you make it "mushy". When I was at an information evening on the band one lady who'd had it done got up and spoke and she'd blended an entire roast pork dinner, frozen it in portions. It's like feeding a baby surely, just blend it up lump free adding extra stock (broth) to liquidise it. OK so you may not get the experience of chewing a steak but there's really no necessity to be starving and lacking variety of food, like a baby you can eat a good meat and 3 veg dinner, but just not in solid form. But of course, like a baby, start slowly adding one food at a time. If I'm disillusioned, dont tell me now, lol. I'll figure it out for myself soon enough.

I really dont know anything about losing early restriction or any of that as I havent been banded yet. You might need that fill in another week or two. I dont know how it works - if I cancelled a scheduled fill and then decided a week or two later I needed it afterall personally I could ring the surgeon and might have a wait of a few weeks to see him so I couldnt necessarily decide I wanted that fill at the last moment and be in the next day - but what's a few weeks over the course of the whole journey? But if at any stage I were in that position - nicely restricted but able to eat a wide and varied (read healthy) diet with normal foods just in smaller portions and I'd quite overeating and I was losing at around 1lb a week or so, I would be over the moon about that. And I wouldnt get greedy and want more restriction, faster weight loss. I think the health side of things has to be considered - the more foods you can eat with just enough restriction to keep losing the better. I think if you get to the stage where you get your Protein in and a few vegetables and not much else, you're trading off your long term health for short term weight loss. I will gladly lose weight more slowly if it means i get my 2 fruit, 5 veg in every day.

Well at least I'm wearing underwear this time - a white Berlei sports bra (very ugly but the only supportive one I own atm) and black lycra high cut bikini. Gosh I need to do some serious underwear shopping but we are still very lacking for plus sized underwear in this country, its granny undies or nothing. I looked at that fifi site (thanks to whoever gave that link) and saw a great front closing bra, I might order a few things but its $35 parcel post - sheesh - so wont do it till I can order a fair bit at once and get my money's worth.

If you quite you are not necessarily giving up your career long term. But you could give yourself the time to focus purely on you and the journey you have to undertake. I'm seriously thinking of deferring a year of my studies next year for precisely that reason - all the running round and focusing on anyone and anything but me has led me to gain an awful lot of weight in the last year or two. You could have time for the gym four or five times a week, time to walk daily, time to plan and shop for healthy meals - all things I know I find extraordinarily hard now - and you could focus on becoming physically more healthy and hopefully mentally much stronger over the next 12 months.

I'd feel cheated without the overnight stay, lol. What - miss out on a day of drowsing in and out of sleep and reading a book in peace and quiet? No way! I couldnt go home to a 2 and a half year old either, she'd have to be elsewhere for a day. The boys would be OK though. But you can go home several hours after a short general anaesthetic.