Jachut

Definitely after, looking at your ticker, you still have a lot of weight to lose. I found I got down to a normal BMI of 25 and I was still dissatisfied but droppng to 20 has completely changed my breasts. They're not very firm, true, and they shrunk the most int hat last 20lb (I never wanted large breasts though, very very happy with a small C cup) but my nipples now, for the first time in my life, point upwards. I personally wouldnt have any surgery until you've absolutely and utterly finished losing - and in fact I think that a lot of people have surgery for problems that another 20lb would fix, well, that's what I found anyway. The last 20lb to take me down to a low BMI made more difference to my body than the first 100!

If its an xray machine, of course the band was visible, it is very clear, as is the tubing - I've had a couple of abdo & chest xrays since being banded. I've got an ileostomy at the moment - imagine if they patted THAT down too roughly!

Over five years out I can count on my hands the number of times I've thrown up. I dont think anyone will make it years with never throwing up unless you can lose the weight pretty much on your own with virtually no restriction. But for me its an extremely rare event, always user error (hungry, bolt down food). the secret is, you have to do the work. I've kept my band loose enough that I can eat bread, apples with skin, all those difficult foods, but the cost of that is I can eat more and dont have that "I never think about food and forget to eat" lack of appetite that others talk about. I have to run an hour a day to maintain my weight and I have to hold out between meals. But I can eat normally and dont have problems, just less in volume. It pays off, i've had to be unfilled for the last six months due to other health issues and this approach has really changed my eating habits, I havent regained any weight at all.

That sound too tight, not like swelling. It may NOT go down this time. You shouldnt be like that after a fill, I've never had any problems like that after a fill. You should just feel a bit tighter, and maybe it will be tighter again for the first few days if you're a sweller, but you shouldnt be frothy and throwing up.

It couldnt be more simple, fill it 3/4 with Water, I add a squirt of dishwashing liquid, run it on high for 30 seconds then rinse out. It is a BRILLIANT machine. No kidding, but you can make Soup putting in entire vegetables - we made one that was on a TV infomercial - a whole carrot, half an apple, seeds, stem and all, a piece of celery, a piece of unpeeled ginger, a couple of unpeeled cloves of garlic, half a small squash,zucchini, capcsicum, some basil, coriander, cashews, chicken stock just shove it all in and turn it on pushing down with the tamper for a bit, and run till heavy steam comes out. Serioulsy 30 seconds prep and a lovely thai flavoured soup in seven minutes. I tend to use it a lot more for soup, as I do feel its easy to overdo the fruit, calorie and sugar wise and I'm not much of a juice drinker anyway. It makes fabulous hommous and stuff like that too, so so easy.

I dont have much trouble with it - bread, pasta, etc are fine for me although I dont eat the white varieties - wholegrain versions arent really easier. I have more trouble with cakes and muffins which I try not to eat at all obviously. The main problem I find with anything doughy is that I absolutely cant drink whilst or within quite a while of eating it - it swells up with the liquid and then you've got a problem. Things like a piece of crusty bread with soup are a no go but the bread or the soup on their own are fine.

It'll be fine for you now, but be aware - getting a six pack is all about dropping yoru body fat low enough for the muscles we all have to show - my BMI is 19, I'm fit and have worked out regularly for five years and I dont have a six pack,although i have a flat hard stomach! But what WILL happen is that your port will stick out, lol! I agree, big compound exercises that use your entire body and lots of cardio to drop fat.

Circuit training - can you find a heavy bag in your luggage? Google sandbag traiing, you'll get loads of videos and info on what you can do with a heavy, unweildy item - squats with overhead raise, clean and press, lunging, get ups etc. If you put together half an hour of such circuit training with somethign that weighs about 20 to 40lb you wont believe what an intense workout that is, very very effective for fat burning and even for me, who is a runner, it gets my heart rate through the roof within a minute and keeps it there - so it takes care of cardio and strenght all in one brief workout. I honestly dont get why people bother with the gym when you can do somthing like this so easily and cheaply at home. Obviously you can also do pushups, sit ups, tricep dips etc.

That's a shame for you, but you just never know how you'll react to something. Thank goodness the band is reversible and you can undo your decision relatively easily and be back to normal.

I seem to remember about six to nine months of occasional port pain, shooting pains on exertion etc.

Depends how hard it is to lose that 0.5lb - if you're hungry between meals, having to stop yourself at mealtime without really feeling satisfied etc, then a fill is probably not a bad idea. You can lose 6lb a week underfilled if you're determined enough, doesnt mean you should have to! but if its all ticking along nicely and you're just thinking its a bit slow, I'd think hard about fixing what aint broke - often more fill doesnt have the result you expected anyway.

Perspective, I guess. I think 2lb a week consistently is quick! It sure adds up over a couple of months. Its a normal, healthy loss but you might find you lose nothign for a week or two, then 4lb in one day, it kind of goes like that, it's not predictable or consistent. I think that the experts are now saying that quick weight loss is no less healthy than slow, but for me, a slow steady loss really helped to cement better habits - i didnt diet, I thought giving up dieting was very important in that Quest for a normal relationship with food - and I proved this to myself now that I've been unfilled for six months and havent gained any weight at all. I really have changed. i dont believe I could have done that if I'd lost 100lb in five months. that would have to be achieved with an extreme, and to me unsustainable, "diet".

300 calories a day is ridiculous and I would be pretty suspicious as to the credibility of any doctor/nutrionist that actually advocated that, you are starving yourself. As to exercise, well do what you feel OK doing - I was walking 45 minutes the day after surgery too, heck I ran 10 days after a major bowel resection. Some of us heal quicker than others, feel less pain etc. Even with exercise and such low calories your body will do what it will do. A read through this forum will show you there's gazillions of people for whom the numbers just arent stacking up, you cant entirely influence your weight loss rate - but eat less, move more and eventually you will be smaller.

I had that feeling after surgery, I think its just getting used to the band being there, kinda thing. But food does sit a little while, not as long as they have previously said, I agree with Elcee, but last year I had to have a CT scan and drink this contrast stuff over an hour and when they did the scan it was no good, the fluid hadnt made it through to my intestines as intended. I had to sit for another hour and a half until the scan was any good.

Me too, urgh. Seriously though, its ONE day. I didnt meant to eat as much as I did, nor did I need two hot cross buns but its one day and tomorrow I will be back on the wagon. My rule for Easter is that whatever chocolate is left on Monday goes straight into the bin. Thankfully, I dont raid the kids' stashes, they dont tempt me. I will go for a long run tomorrow and avoid the scales for a few days until the damage has been undone. If I get on the scales and see a gain, that's when I tend to lose control a little. Truly, for long term weight loss, its not the fact that you have these losses of control, binges, whatever you want to call them. Its what you do afterwards that counts. If you dont let it derail you completely, then one bad day is nothing in the scheme of things.

If you cant eat more than a quarter of a cup, I think you're way too tight! You cannot survive on that 3 times a day, you cannot possibly be well nourished on that and if you're actually feeling discomfort or pain, then its definitely too tight. Your body will end up driving you towards high fat, high sugar slider foods to prevent starvation.

I did wake up hungry the next morning after surgery.

They just done push the protein shakes here and I never drank them. It seems to me senseless to push sweet or artificially sweet things like jelly, custard, pudding, after banding - they're crappy nutritionally worthless foods. Protein shakes are a bit different, they do contain valuable protein but other than that they're a collection of ingredients your body doesnt really need - you could have soup - you can blend shredded chicken into soup so that it leaves no trace if you have a good blender, anything that goes up a straw is fair game and you can always thin it out with broth or water or milk if its still a bit thick for you at this stage.

I'm over five years now and never had an issue, never even been too tight. Lost all my weight, kept it off for 3 years now. I'm unfilled at the moment, but that's because I had an unrelated major surgery last November and have a small one still to go.

I wish I could find something to ease them other than tearing my clothes off and lying on the tile floor. I'm only 43 but have instant menopause thanks to pelvic radiation and chemo. They're misery. I've been up since 3 am due to a particularly bad night sweat and I'm bug eyed with exhaustion but its school holidays so no hope of a nap. A break is a nice thing, whilst unexplainable, I guess just enjoy it while it lasts. personally, I'm not willing (yet) to take any medication for it, I hate taking medication for anything and I'm having chemo which i think is enough for my body. I'm also not willing to look into the HRT option, just too risky. So there's little left to do but suck it up hope they dont go on for years.

If you have an appropriate level of restriction and are not too tight, there's no reason to really be concerned that anything will happen at sea or in another country. I've never had such an incident with my band in over five years.

I remember when i was gearing up for surgery - I was also having treatment for a chronic achilles tendon problem and sorting out an issue I was having with my eyes - I was seeing a phsysio, orthopaedic surgeon, podiatrist, ophthalmologist, and then I had laser surgery on my eyes after months of continuously waking up with torn corneas and being out of action for days because I couldnt see. I felt like I'd suddenly morphoed into my parents in law - they're typical oldies whose weeks seem to revolve around doctors visits and blood tests and they actually seem to LIKE it! I had to sort the eyes, but I dropped the heel issue figuring I'd sort it out later and reflected on the fact that if I didnt get this lapband surgery and lose weight, this really would be my life much sooner than was due! I wasnt working but was studying full time had 3 small children, it was quite a busy time. Ironically, I lost all the weight but it didnt save me, my weeks are currently filled with oncologist visits, chemotherapy, doctors appointments, etc. And I cant work because of it. But I really do believe that because of what I've done to change my life, I wont be spending my 60's visiting doctors.

I wouldnt do it, I think its totally the wrong way to think about eating, and you wont believe how fast you can put on weight - remember with a band you're living on a "diet" so to speak so unfill it and its liek going OFF a diet, vacations do way more damage than they do when you've already been eating a lot anyway. If it were me, I'd also ruin my vacation worrying about weight gain and moaning about how much I'm eating. I've enjoyed several vacations with good restriction - enjoy tastes of this and that and get home as thin (or thinner) than when you left - who wouldnt want that?

Oh yes. I'm very fussy. I always was to a degree, but my nails are always done, every 2 weeks, I pay over $200 for a haircut and colour (and that's nothing extraordinary in Australia, just what it costs at a good salon) no way in hell would I visit a second rate salon. I will never let my skin be seen in its ordinary pasty white freckly state, I am meticulously fake tanned, lol. I get pedicures. Ironically I wear very little make up now - I dont need it if I keep my tan up and with my hair properly coloured - I think obvious make up is ugly and fake looking, cant stand it. But I used to wear more than I do in an effort to feel better. I am really into my running, and I prefer that fit, natural look, but it sure takes a lot of time and money to get it, lol. It doesnt come naturally that's for sure. I spend way too much money on clothes and I have a real fetish for super expensive athletic wear. I went wild in Lululemon just the other day!

You just have to stay focussed, logically if you dont eat more than you were eating, you wont gain weight. We've ALL stuck to diets for a few weeks. I've been unfilled for five months, and I felt your fear, it kept me awake at nights knowing I'd have to unfill (for a surgery). But you know, I found after five years banded, I had changed my habits. The weight hasnt piled back on and I fill in the extra stomach space with loads of salad and fruit and vegies, I actually am eating much better. I eat larger volume but similar calories since with a tight band you do tend to eat mainly calorie dense foods high Protein and fat and not large quantities of fibrous low fat foods that are full of Water - the fruit, vegies etc. And whatever you do, keep exercising! I've played around in the past few months with starting Body Pump, but for my body, it just hasnt been a success - my weight and body remains under control best with an hour's run a day, I like cardio and strength training doesnt do a lot for me, although that goes against all common wisdom of today. I do pushups and squats and I'm strong, but if I reduce cardio for strength trianing, I just gain weight and get bigger (can feel it in my clothes). I'd say that in a situation like yours where keeping fat off is your main goal, focus on the cardio and do LOTS of it.