Jachut

Hi, I get what you're saying. I had my band unfilled five months ago for cancer treatment, and I can tell you I am LOVING life without restriction. I managed my band very well, hardly ever puked, didnt have much trouble with it at all but I had gotten used to what a pain in the ass being unable to eat totally normally was. I can now eat anything, anywhere, without the pressure of worrying if it will go down, at the most what happened to me was "uncomfortable moments" when eating out etc, where I'd strive to hide the brief stuck/sliming from others I was eating with - I sure as eggs dont miss that one single bit. I'm enjoying bread again etc. Best of all, I havent regained any weight at all. I wouldnt say we're all "food addicts" though, I think very few people are truly addicts. More often, certainly for me, we just plain like eating, we've gotten self indulgent, we never say no to ourselves, we develop bad habits and we dont exercise enough - its as simple as that. I've relearned those things and now practice them all and as a result, I need no restriction for the time being.

Four days on liquids = fast weight loss that is NOT fat, its water! So the minute you eat again, you gain. Its the classic crash/fad diet scenario. Ok, so its prudent after a fill to take it easy, and you've done the right thing, just dont take the weight loss that results at face value. Its what you lose over say six weeks that counts. It doesnt matter how much this message is told though, we just dont take it in. I'm really prone to Fluid loss (and weight loss) at the moment because I have an ileostomy and chronic diarrhoea from chemotherapy. I can drop down to under 125lb (I'm 5ft 10), which is scary skinny and which i absolutely KNOW indicates some major dehydration and signals the need to drink and force myself to eat, but I still feel great when I see that number on the scale - its really sick, it worries me how much I enjoy knowing i"m actually officially underweight at those times. Likewise, 3 days later and I've bounced back up 8lb,. and I should feel relieved that I'm in healthier shape - instead I feel fat and out of control. I'm pretty sure the true secret is to stay off the damn scale and only take account of what it says once a month (for us maintainers) or once a week for those losing.

You know, I think that the right person at 17 could handle a band. If your'e completely aware of what you'll be giving up - those years of drinking and eating junk that most young people go through with the lifestyle you lead at that age - those will be hard with a lapband, but they're also terribly unhealthy and very often set you well and truly on the course to lasting adult obesity. If you're committed, you're old enough to handle it, is my opinion. However, I know here, I was at an info evening and this couple bought their son up to my surgeon and he was very very obese, and the surgeon still said he wouldnt touch him till he was 18, the poor kind was only 15! I so felt for this family. But you're nearly there and even if you start the process now, with all the jumping through hoops that you guys seem to have to do over there, it will be here before you know it. Good luck to you!

not common? Wow, that surprises me. That's how my weight loss went in the first year. Big, fast dramatic loss for three or four weeks after a fill, then petered out to losing miniscule amounts, less and less each week until the next fill. After that, my weight loss was very slow, like less than a pound a week, and the fills didnt make a difference. But I still lost 100lb in the first 2 years and about 130lb overall - I was losing weight as late as last year and that was FIVE years out. Just every couple of months, a pound or two would disappear. Dont try to figure out the why's of it. The people on here that I notice get the most frustrated and bash the band the most are the ones who want it all to work out with military precision - you know, eat this, count that, eat THIS many calories, make sure you burn EXACTLY that many, check it all on the body bugg, log it, add it up, etc, those are the ones that then end up bashing their heads against the brick wall because the number on the scale just doesnt say what it should. Your body will do what your body will do and all that really matters is eat less, move more and in a year you will weigh less. That's about as much control as you truly have.

Best of luck to you! I'll live vicariously. I've kept running through it all, but I dont think 2011 will be a marathon or half marathon year for me, what with having chemo and more surgery. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself to run 8kms most days, lol. Take it easy, work on keeping your hip and back muscles strong and you'll get there again. And sometimes I think a setback like you've had makes the victoriy all the sweeter.

on the one hand, I was more than happy with my "slow" loss, I wasnt prepare to follow a diet plan, I just did my own thing, ate less, ran every day etc. I didnt set a time goal for myself at all and the fact that it took me 2 years to lose 100lb didnt worry me in the slightest, it was better weight loss than I'd ever managed before. But I did have an ambitious weight goal - there was no settling at the top of my healthy weight range for me, i wanted to be at the bottom of it. I wanted to be truly thin. I think setting "realistic" goals is sometimes a bit of a cop out - people do it when they dont have confidence in themselves and its wonderful to see them change as they make progress and set new, more ambitous goals. Before anyone goes nuclear on me for saying that, I dont by any stretch of the imagination apply that to everyone, but there is some truth in it for some people. So set that lofty goal and aim for it! Believe you can do it! To me, being "realistic" means set the high, ambitious goal but dont beat yourself up if you dont quite make it, be able to say "well, I did great even if I didnt quite get there" But if you dont even try for it, you wont make it, will you? I think you could definitely lose that weight within the time frame.

I just dont know why people think Protein is the be all and end all of preventing hair loss. Hair loss is much more likely to result from general nutrient deficiency and hormonal disturbances caused by fast and dramatic weight loss, you can endure all the protein shakes you like and it wont stop hair loss. Even doctors seem to believe it! Protein does not provide all the bodiy's nutrients and it does not solve all of the body's nutritional problems. For that you need a BALANCED diet, which includes Proteins, fats and carbohydrates (which certainly dont have to be the major part of the diet or come from grain products). A Multivitamin is going to do much more for the health of your hair than overdosing on protein. Try eating a more balanced diet, which includes enough protein certainly and take heart that shedding is very common following weight loss surgery but it virtually always stops and the hair regrows. Its a big adjustment for the body.

Not that I've noticed, but all my jeans are pretty low rise, so they dont dig into my stomach. However, whilst my clothes fit, I rarely wear anything I'd call "tight". But for what its worth, I always feel sick if I wear any kind of control garment, I cannot bear them. I hate that suffociating feeling of being pulled in like they do, but I dont like tight clothes either. I marvel at women who say they wear Spanx every day because I loathe wearing anything like that, it makes me feel hot and sick.

Well, I can recommend getting to goal first if you're not already - I saw a surgeon 2 years ago at what I thought was goal weight - 69kg, and he recommended lift and implants. Now I'm 9kgs lighter and decided to revisit this issue as I have no tits left at all, sigh, and now two surgeons(including the one I consulted previously) have recommended just implants, and small ones at that - I have no desire to ever go back to a D cup or bigger, a small C would be perfect for me. This is the size I am now, but its a flappy floppy C and the surgeon says all small implants will do is lift the breast and fill it out at the top without actually increasing cup size significantly. So your weight and where you are at makes a BIG difference - this saves me thousands! Over that 9kg weight loss, my nipples went from being downward pointing to upwards, simply due to the loss of fat. I dont have significant sag anymore becuase there's nothing but skin there, not much breast tissue at all. I wouldnt get the result I'm after with just a lift as I desperately need filling out on the upper part of the breast and a lift will just not do that. I'm still not sure, sigh. I really would like to do it, but I've had so much surgery and trauma, more to come in the past year, we desperately need a bigger house, DH puts everyone first before himself and he wants a boat and would let me do this in a heartbeat but I'd feel so selfish. But I think he'd like a nice pair of boobies, lol.

I had/have a very similar attitude and experience to Jodie. Moderation and exercise were the keys. I vowed never ever ever to "diet" again and I havent and I truly believe giving up dieting has been a major factor in my success. Like Jodie, I weigh every day and that guides me on how to approach the current day - weight up a bit, I am a bit more mindful of what I eat, make sure I eat no Snacks and dont allow myself to miss my exercise session if something comes up like I might on another day. Weight down and I'm encouraged to keep up the good work. Not dieting but learning to listen to my body - eat appropriate amounts (and that's where the band does its job), choosing healthy foods (not necessarily low carb ones for me!) and really analysing when, where and why I might feel like a treat (and this guides whether I will indulge or not), simply making the best of non healthy menus and situations where I'm not in control, planning for really big indulgences and simply working very hard to not think about calories, fat, carbs or whatever. I know this has worked for me because I lost about 130lb (which has taken me to a BMI of 19 which may be a bit TOO skinny), but because my band is now totally unfilled and i am having absolutely no trouble maintaining my loss and have no plans to fill my band again. I eat absolutely normally, my mind has been retrained in how I think about food and what sort of portions I consider normal, I have relegated sugar, alchohol and fat to an appropriate part of my eating habits and vigorous high calorie buerning exercise is an everyday part of my life, no willpower required. I basically eat what I want when I want but what I truly WANT is 3 healthy meals a day with the occasional indulgence and what I really WANT is to run or go to the gym every day. That to me is success, and I would never want to pretend that my definition of success is the only right one, but to me, living on a plan, journalling, counting calories, avoiding carbs - that would not be success to me, it would be a life sentence. I have what I consider success - I maintain my weight without really thinking about it. I dont need fill to do that, but if someone does,well, that's what the band is for.

I think it depends how tight you're willing to tolerate - a few days on liquids wont hurt you and might ease the irritation and that may be the end of your problems. Personally, I would unfill because experience has taught me that tight bands dont equal weight loss like you expect - you just end up eating soft crap to get the calories in.

Primarily since being banded 5 years ago I've been a runner. I also go to the gym 3 times a week to do a short run on the treadmill followed by Body Pump. I was doing an outdoor bootcamp for the past 18 months which I think was way better but our trainer has moved, and I havent found another group, so I joined the gym instead. On the days I dont go to the gym I run 6 to 10kms outside, depending how I feel, how much time I have etc. I sometimes do a spin class prior to body pump rather than run on the treadmill.

I had no hunger, in face I was very UNhungry, and great restriction for 12 weeks after surgery - I never really got hungry before my first fill, which took place at 12 weeks simply because i saw my doc that week and it was a reasonable time to do it. You are no doubt still swollen, 11 days is not long. When I got an ileostomy last november, it has taken till now for my system to settle from that, so healing does take rather a long time.

I squish it in in the late afternoon, early evening. For me, I am so not a morning person, there's no way I will ever get up at 5 am to go running. I can go in the morning on a weekend, just need to be up an hour or so first. I find mornings with 3 kids to get to school are just too busy if I'm working. My kids are 8, 13, and 15 so I can just leave them and I also have a treadmill at home. I just make sure dinner's ready to go, either its a freezer meal from something I cooked on another day or all the prep is done.We never eat till about 7 so the kids are just used to that. At the moment I'm not working and I can make a leisurely trip to the gym at 10 or so in the morning, but early evening is still my favourite time to run, I have the most energy then.

Most people that drink coffee and tea regularly are used to the cafffeine anyway and it doesnt have such a diuretic effect.

circuit style training with the free weights is much more beneficial than machines, but you'll need someone to show you ideas of what to do. Things that use a full range of functional motion like lunges with dumbell shoulder raises, and squats with shoulder press etc. Forty minutes of that and 20 minutes of interval training on a treadmill or elliptical will give you a good workout. I tend to go in, do a half hour interval run on a treadmill and then a body pump class. I need a class for weights although I know that Body Pump is endurance training, not muscle building, but despite what I said above, they bore me to tears and a class gets me actually doing it.

GEEZ - 300 calories in a day? Have you actually be told to eat that little? I didnt say what I did with any expectation that you were eating that level. My doc doesnt even require liquids after a fill so obviously my expectations are a little different.

Lol, my hopes for you are that in a few months you'll be posting about how you can feel it and/or see it. I was always pear shaped and didnt carry all that much weight on my stomach, and I got banded at a BMI of 35, so I could always feel mine. Nowadays, my BMI is 19. It shows thorugh clothing. You can actually see the bubble on top of the port and the tubing as well. It looks hideous, lol. My band is unfilled, has been for months and I'm going to have a scar on my tummy for an ileostomy closure anyway soon so I'm consideirng having the port moved to under the muscle and having another small scar. The doc says its not very easy access there and they dont like to do it, but Its ot looking like I'm not going to have to refill my band anyhow, have had no trouble maintaining my weight without fill. Truth is though I'm not so worried by it, I look so good dressed that I'm not really that worried about what I look like naked, I wore a bikini with pride 10kg ago but I'm pushing 44 now and probably wont put one on again anyhow so not sure I'll bother.

Panic attacks are truly awful and so illogical but can be controlled with the right medications and medical care. You need to find the right support for this. But the trouble is, your mind returns to what you think is the cause - the band. Its a valid choice to have it removed. My DH went through a few years of this and it was very difficult to live with and support him and I've felt very close to it myself with my bout of bowel cancer. I am so so anxious about the reversal of my ileostomy that I'm getting quite wound up and my surgeon I can tell is rather frustrated with me - as usually reversals are successful and liveable. But I cant get my head past the fact that its possible I could be housebound and incontinent and unable to work at the age of 43. I am so worried by this that I am quite prepared to live with an ileostomy forever in order to avoid the possiblity, and truly, in the face of all medical advice to the contrary, I may very well decide to do that. So i can certainly understand that although there may be no true basis for being so worried about your band. the feeling that all will be OK if you can just get it out of you is so very strong that you may decide to do it. I guess I can only suggest medication counselling, which not being my *thing* I have so far not undertaken myself, but somehow you need to get your head functioning logically and not in a spiral of panic so that you can make cclear decisions. Very best of luck to you.

It does. I have an ileostomy and having chemo that causes diaorrhea at the same time so I'm at real risk of dehydration and electroylte imbalance - and my doctors all say tea and coffee count. The only extra thing I've been told to do is make sure I include extra salt on my food and drink some gatorade or similar every day.

In five years with a band and even longer on this forum, that's the first time I have EVER heard that advice. I wouldnt worry about it, fills may swell your stomach a bit but they dont affect your body overall and there's no reason why you shouldnt exercise unless you're so tight you cant drink properly. Oh - and exercising without the fuel to do so is how we burn fat! The whole point of this entire thing is providing your body with less calories than it needs.

I've given up absolutely NOTHING. You can get all scientific about diet, in fact we have quite heated debates about it at times on here. But its really all about portion control. You can lose weight eating nothing but absolute crap, just as you can get pretty fat on a healthy diet - truly weight and health are two separate issues, its all about calories. You will find there's foods your band doesnt tolerate very well - often that's breads, Pasta, rice, red meat, but it wasnt the case for me, I struggled more with cold stuff like yogurt and things like fresh fruit. wine tasting? For sure you can do that, in fact my doctor's practice, from which the book The Lap Band solution comes, has actually found statistically that moderate drinkers do better than teetotallers. There's nothing wrong with anything in moderation. All I find when having a glass of wine is to watch the accompanying foods - stay away from the nuts and the chips unless you want to skip a meal to afford the calories for them. Its true you shouldnt eat and drink at the same time, but wine's a different matter, you dont gulp wine in any quantity, sipping wine whilst eating is just fine. Will you lose faster on a scientific, precision controlled low carb up the eyeballs in rules diet? For sure. But you'll probably be miserable and there's a great chance you'll be a complete pain in the ass to live with and socialise with too. I preferred to eat more moderately and normally and make up the difference with a good long run every day. Worked fine for me. But its each to their own.

Like we've mentioned above, I think where exercise REALLY makes a difference is in keeping weight off.

I'm 43 and lost 130lb, my saggy skin problem is very minimal. I'm more "flabby" than I would have been if Id never been overweight but still way better than a lot of women that have never been overweight but have had several pregnancies. I was very lucky. I can put on a bikini without too much embarrassment. There's a couple of little areas. Just under my chin is a little flappy bit. In the crook of my elbows the skn wrinkles unattractively when I bend my arm. And my backside - I have very toned legs and buttocks from all my running, you can see this high, rounded buttock and this kind of little curtain of skin that droops off it - in tight jeans I have a seriously good booty, naked ugh, not so much. And my boobs - I've dropped to a small C cup and they're really just flaps of skin - i cant wear a push up bra becuase the breast tissue is so soft it just spills out the top, it doesnt plump up like they're supposed to when pushed together. Mind you, I've gone right down to a BMI of 19, too skinny, due to unrelated illness, and its been the last 20lb that really highlighted those problems (apart from the boobs).

I think walking can work well at first - if you're very overweight and unfit and add a few hills, its hard work! It definitely puts you up there in a higher heart rate zone. If done properly it will lead to weight loss. But its not always so great over time for everybody. Oh, it'll keep you out of the cardiac ward, its great for your general health, its enjoyable, relieves stress and you should do at least walking. But you'll get WAY better results from more vigorous exercise. Its hard to put a finger on what it does, but after five years of running, my metabolism is like a furnace. I've had my band unfilled and have become one of those infuriating people who can eat anything and not gain weight - honestly. I have no need for fill in my band. You build up to these things though, nobody says you have to go out there and run a marathon and bench press 200kg right now. You keep challening your body. A comfort zone really means that you've stopped making gains, exercise should be a little hard. And its just very true that you get out of anything what you put into it. Exercise must fit into your lifestyle, you must like it enough to do it and the best exercise is one you willa ctually do - if that's walking, then that's fine. However, dont close your mind to challenging yourself a little more than that in due course. The MOST important factor for weight loss though is your diet, if you get that right, then it may not be ever necessary to do any more than just walk.