Jachut

What is it with Asian nail bars? They're all over the place in Australia too. All that air brush stuff too. I like acrylic nails but havent got the time for them at the moment, but I like the permanent french ones where they use the pink and white acrylic - generally the mass nail bars dont do those here, you have to go to a more upmarket salon for them.

When I went to an information evening, somebody asked this and said "what about wine when you go out for dinner" which was precisely what I've asked here before. The surgeon said that liquid washes the food through your pouch more quickly and that you'll be hungry quicker - and he did point out big gulps would sit on top and cause discomfort, but then he went on to say "its up to you though, small sips of wine probably wont hurt you and what do you do after you've been home for dinner? Go home to bed, so if you're hungry a bit sooner what does it matter anyway?". Sensible advice I thought. I've noticed though that in Australia the type of advice they're giving is way more relaxed and casual than it is in the states. We were also told that everyone's different but most people can expect to enjoy a full diet including bread and rice, just smaller quantities. HOw true that turns out to be remains to be seen though.

that sounds fantastic and one of the very few recipes that translates easily for me because it doesnt call for weird ingredients or everyday ingredient called different things - bell peppers and shallots instead of capsicums and spring onions!

I'm the same as jack - cant bear artificially sweetened things and have never ever been a soft drink drinker (dont you know drinking calories makes you fat, lol). But ask me to give up coffee? No way!

that would certainly beat splitting your pants when you bent over!

Even just changing your exercise routine can help - your body gets used to doing the same thing all the time and becomes too efficient at it. If you walk daily, trying swimming a few days instead, do a spin class instead of the treadmill, that kind of thing. Keep up resistance training because it builds muscle, depending on what you've been doing that could even be a factor, muscle is heavier. Everybody needs to eat less as their weight drops but dont eat too little and perhaps spread your intake ovr five or six small meals instead of three. That's what I've read anyway, lol. I dont actually follow my own advice.

There really are some great healthy convenient foods out there - it makes me wonder why I'd choose rubbish instead, but sadly I do. I love those tuna fillets, and I love the pouched shredded tuna for sandwiches and salads too. Much better than tinned.

I think its healthiest to get that good foods and bad foods mentality right out of your head myself. My goal in this is to eat like a normal person, not live on a restrictive diet for the rest of my life. Portion control is very important. "Normal" people eat baked potatoes with butter and sour cream but they dont eat 3 of them in a sitting and they dont eat them for every meal. I wouldnt even give it another thought. Eating something like that and stopping when I'm full will be a huge victory in my mind because now I think "this is bad, I shouldnt be eating it, oh well I've blown it might as well enjoy the rest of the day" and proceed to really do the damage when the potato alone wouldnt have mattered.

I know how angry it makes you feel, you've thought about it, you're an adult and you've made the decision - they could book the surgery first and then have you do all that if it's really necessary so that you've got your earliest possible date. I had a similar experience and I'm still seething but I had it with 2 doctors for different things. I went to see my lap band surgeon for the initial consult which was $A120. He chatted to me, agreed with my reasoning and said he thought it would be a good move for me, he wanted me to go to an information night. I'd already been to one but run by a different surgeon so that didnt please him, it had to be one of his. Then he said after that to make another appointment to come back and give him my final answer. Well I made the appointment with his receptionist as soon as I got out of the consult and was paying for it. October 13. So in that whole month I could be doing all the preop testing but what really gets my goat is that I'll go back, use up my precious time driving all the way over to Kew to see him, AND spend another $120 on a consult simply to tell him "yes" and grab a few referrals for the endoscopy etc. Here our public health system works so I can claim back $70 for each of those consults so its not too bad but its still a silly and wasteful expense of taxpayers money for something that could have been achieved in one consultation! It makes me really mad. Had the same experience with the ophthalmic surgeon I had to see yesterday. All the way into the city, paid for parking, $120 consultantion just for him to explain to me what the laser eye surgery would do and to tell me he thought I could afford to wait and see what my eyes do, whether they behave themselves before I bother to go and have them lasered. Sheesh, its not like I wanted surgery, lol, but really, why did I even bother. The ophthalmologist who referred me could have and should have told me that and saved me the trouble.

Boy that must feel GREAT! I tell myself I still fit into a plane seat but truth be told last time I flew in May I was very glad it was Eliza on one side of me, Ewan on the other - Fraser and Doug were across the aisle. I had the armrests up on both sides and I needed it! I can fit but its embarrassing seeing the overhang. Sad thing is at 5ft 10 I recall being wedged into economy seats anyway even way back at 75kg or so, my legs are too long and I have to kind of sit sideways to fit them in.

Oh I can sympathise with him as I've recently been diagnosed with a genetic disorder called map dot fingerprint dystrophy which causes constant erosions and ulcerations of my corneas. I can understand how frustrated and upset he must be feeling. But laser surgery techniques are excellent these days and corneal grafts are amazing too. He will be OK.

I've been really thinking alot about staying on the straight and narrow after banding - because yes, I want this to improve my health. My main problem (and the reason I've become overweight) is not taking the time to look after myself because I have so much on my plate - 3 kids, one of whom is still a toddler (dont we just love that age, not), a university degree to finish, a neurotic husband who is finding life with 3 young kids tough and is having panic attacks and needing constant bolstering and ego stroking, he works horrendous hours, money's tight despite a healthy executive wage, the boys have all their sporting activities, I could go on and on and on. None of that is going to change, its how I deal with it that is going to have to change and that's still going to be a major challenge to me. There's no point getting banded if I'm still going to eat poorly, in a disorganised fashion and on the run. I may be thinner but not really any healthier. I'm really viewing this as a boost, the impetus I need to change my lifestyle majorly.

You know I was thinking about that and really, if the entire benefit was psychological, that's just as good really, isnt it? Physiologically, you eat less, you'll lose weight. It doesnt matter whether that comes from physical restriction or the motivation brought about by the true expectation of success.

And they should do a show called the Biggest Loser 5 Years Out - betcha none of them keep their weight off.

Spinning is fantastic isnt it? Unfortunately my gym offers it only once a week at a time that's not really convenient for me. I"m tempted to actually pay for it casually at another gym though - a couple of spinning sessions per week would get the weight moving, that's for sure. Its also a great class for the overweight and unfit because its non weight bearing - you dont have to jump around and knock yourself out with your boobs and you can take it easier if you need to. I did a Pump class once and came out and threw up in the rubbish bin, lol. I dont care for those much although I think they would be fantastic at reshaping your body. All those lunges, ugh, my least favourite exercise.

That's reassuring - this seems to be my sticking point when trying to explain my decision to do this, everybody just says "well the band won't help that" and I have trouble explaining why it will.

Most doctors wont accept self pay here - because if anything like this goes wrong it gets mighty expensive. But our health funds wouldnt quibble for a second about putting it right. We pay a "gap" to our surgeons and if anything like this happens in the future there will be no personal cost to righting it. It just seems so awfully precarious over there with the health system. Sheesh - fixing a slipped band not "medically necessary"? That's insane isnt it? I hope it does right itself by being unfilled for you.

I guess you've got to learn to stop before you're stuffed much like any successful dieter would? I've wondered about this and wondered if that's the reason why if the band is removed people tend to regain lots of weight - are they always looking for that same fullness?

This is interesting - because I think the thing for me will be the physical restriction - so that when that head hunger is undeniable I wont be able to eat like I can now. Because when you're in that mood you really do tend to eat till you're physically stuffed. Hopefully physically stuffed will = in pain or sick in the future and it will happen on much much less food. Hunger itself for me has never been a problem. I dont get overly hungry of course because now I eat plenty but I dont find it hard to resist physical hunger, its the head hunger that's difficult. I keep having doubts that the band will help me in that regard.

I find that I need to push it a bit to really enjoy it - I'm weird as I love the treadmill but cant really indulge at the moment because I have an injured foot. I love to shut the world out with some music and go for it. But I find I enjoy exercise more if I raise my heart rate quite high - I cant do it continuously for 40 minutes as I'm too overweight but I walk fast/alternate slow jog and it is enough to achieve for me that "runners high". For the first 10 mins it sucks and then something takes over and its absolutely exhilarating. Cant do it without music though. But I find structured stuff at the gym keeps me honest - that's why i dont have a treadmill at home, I dont think I'd use it. 3 days a week I walk the kids to school - its 3km one way so a good walk for them, and a 6km walk for me which is a bit over an hour. I'm also trying to look at stuff like vacuuming and mopping the whole house as a morning's decent exercise as in recent years I've gotten lazy about this type of thing. I'm also planning a wall/doorjamb/windowframe wash of the whole house and doing the windows too as regular events. Its tiring and quite hard work and achieves something too. Because I've always enjoyed exercise to a degree I'm lucky that although I've gotten fat I havent gotten really unhealthy.

Interested too - I'm really worried about this as I have a 2 and a half year old who doesnt understand that I wont be able to pick her up. She's still attached to my left hip 24/7.

Yay! I too have decided to treat this as a disease I have rather than some indication of my lack of moral fibre. And that's the truth. Why should you be so ashamed of suffering from this disease? At least unlike smokers you dont make other people ill also and you dont overindulge and drive home and kill someone on the road either. Its not a shameful thing, its a worldwide epidemic and those who arent fat are only lucky their bodies have withheld the kind of abuse that modern life challenges us with.

Why not get yourself on the list anyway though? I mean it's not a quick process even with private health insurance - takes a couple of months. You could put yourself on the list and also take out insurance if you dont have it and wait the 12 month waiting period and see which comes up first. I had a GRRR moment with the surgeon I'm seeing though. I mean, I went having researched and taken months to decide on this and he went through everything, agreed it would be beneficial for me and then said he wanted me to attend an information night. I told him I'd been to one the week before and he said he wanted me to go to one of his information nights - next one being 27th September. He told me to attend and then make another appointment with him to tell him what I wanted to do. Great - I have to wait till October 13 to see him again and pay $120 for a five minute consultation - I tell him yes, he writes out a million referrals for all the pre op testing. Could have done that last week when I saw him!

I'll be my bottom dollar that at 5ft 10 and a relatively large build I'd have a bigger stomach than another woman 5ft 2 and quite fine boned! You dont know that your doctor didnt select that band because it was right for you and this new doctor, without having a look inside cannot possibly know that either.

As long as I can eat toast occasionally I will survive, but bread is such a staple! Then again, that's not a good thing, i cant think of much that's nutritious about white bread. But still, to not eat bread! I'm not even going to think about it.