Jachut

i've had lumps at IV sites before, its worth mentioning to your doc, but for me in the past, hirudoid cream gets rid of them. You'd freak at my arm - Im having chemotherapy at the moment and so far they've put the iv in the same place every week - big hard lump and my vein has gone black all the way up my arm. Apparently this goes away eventually, phew.

Its entirely unique to you. You'll find people on here who think you should eat 150 grams of Protein a day, and others like me who dont think that so much. You'll find people who think an 800 calorie diet is the bees knees and others like me who think that's not even remotely necessary. You'll find people who exercise a lot - you'll find people like me who love their cardio and do strength training only as much as necessary and others that'll tell you that cardio wastes your muscles and your time. You'll find people who actually think half a cup of food is a meal and others like me who would be thinking "now, where's the main course". Like curvycat above, i've actually found an unfilled seems to still control hunger but not portions - and I eat waaaaaay better because I make up those larger meals with vegies and fruit and wholegrains, not with crap food. I've actually lost significant weight unfilled and I was already down to a BMI of 21 when I was unfilled (for a surgery). So you need to find the restriction level best for you too. Truly, you have to work this one out for yourself. Even your doctor/nutritionist cant really tell you what to do, they have seen what works for most by and large, but everyone has a unique mix of calorie and nutritional needs and output.

Beats me. .My main worry with diets like this is a bandster's inability to eat large quantities and also the very common problem of not being able to eat much of any fibrous foods like salads. Atkins or any other low carb plan is meant to be eaten with a shedload of leafy greans and low carb vegies. If you follow the "what did you eat today" threads, what a banded low carb diet turns into is Protein shakes, deli meat and cheese. A truly alarming and horrible diet. Protein is great, but its not meant to be the only food group. A quarter cup of Beans a day does not satisfy your body's need for plant foods. You need several cups worth. If you can do low carb like Atkins and eat several cups worth of vegies a day, you have a pretty healthy plan. If you cant, you have a problem. I would get banded a hundred times over again, its worked so well for me and I have always been an advocate of 2 fruit, five veg a day but I just couldnt manage it with restriction, my fruit and vegie consumption dropped way down. Since i had my band unfilled and have stepped up my fruit and veg intake, my skin, nails and hair are fantastic and I feel great, even though I'm having chemotherapy and have had a huge surgery at the same time! It reinforces to me that banding is a good solution for obesity but it definitely runs the risk of poor nourishment due to restriction in variety of food intake, and I really believe doing something like Atkins without being able to eat huge salads and loads of vegies is probably likely to result in good weight loss but very poor nutrition. Protein alone cannot supply all your body's needs.

I've learned to really think about my cravings and can now distinguish between an "impulse" and a "craving". Impulses I can ignore. I feel the urge to eat something, usually because I've seen it - like in the foodcourt and if I just take a minute to think I realise that I dont want it enough to deal with the consequences of eating it - like having to adjust for the rest of the day so as not to have a huge calorie day, usually its something small but horrifically calorie dense that will take 2 seconds to eat and give no lasting satisfaction and its just not really worth it. Other times, I might have a feeling that I want somethign specific for several hours and that happens only occasionally, so to be honest, I go with it. I dont believe in totally denying myself. Lately, since I've got an ileostomy and am having chemo, my sweet tooth has disappeared and i tend to get cravings for salty foods - its important that I actually EAT them, becuase my body needs the salt since it loses so much. So I try to identify that its salt I need and not necessarily hot chips covered with salt. At times like this, a can of Soup for lunch actually might work to satisfy the craving and drive the thought of hot chips from my head (soup is pretty salty). I just think it through is all, but every now and then, when I really want something, I have it.

Yes, entirely normal when you're afraid of what might happen if you eat! I've only dim memories of the post surgical phase, it was over five years ago now, but I've recently had a bowel obstruction and that was pretty darn painful. I was 3 days of nil by mouth in the hosptial, then onto post procedural fluids. It took me 2 weeks to get up the courage to move off mushies, and only at the urging of my surgeon and oncologist who were threatening sustagen (urgh) because I'd dropped to 58 kgs which is well and truly in the underweight territory for me. I was really scared of a recurrence and felt quite sure I could live on mushies indefinitely, lol. But naturally everything was absolutely fine. Post lapband - you might find your weight does strange things as you move through phases. I mean you've done pre op - and probably had significant weight loss - then pre surgical fasting, then a while with no food and then liquids, move onto mushies or solids and your weightloss will most probably stop, that's if you dont actually gain a couple of pounds. Be logical - you CANT gain 3 lb of fat overnight, its physiologically impossible, you know its got to be Water weight. Dont let it get you down, try not to weigh yourself daily, stick with the progam and you will succeed at this, but know that weight doesnt drop steadily, logically or predictably week by week and prepare for that fact

Im firmly in the "a calorie is a calorie" camp, although I do agree that low carb seems to suit some people's bodies better. But for the general population, I dont think it makes a lot of difference as long as the calories in calories out equation is right. I dont believe in "diet" foods though - I dont buy low fat or artififcially sweetened foods. I think high fat and high sugar foods are foods that need to be eaten in moderation and making them low fat or artificially sweetened does not give you licence to eat them daily. What gets my goat and makes me argumentative is people's insistence that they have THE answer. I agree with the above poster, fat is fat. We need it, we should eat some but you cant then read an article like the one quoted and think you can eat all the fat you like. You still have to have balance, which is why,when you do it right, it STILL comes down to the calories you eat. In general, I dont believe much the nutrition industry says. They were adamant low carb eating was it and a bit in the 70's and obviously it didnt work then. They they were positive that high carb low fat was the bees knees. That obviously didnt work either. Do you honestly believe that its going to be different this time around? And in reality anyway, people dont follow it - people in general eat high fat, high carb, highly processed diets and do no exercise. Any "system" that you follow is going to be better tha that and improve your health states. Even a low carb high fat diet is probably less fat and crap than the average person eats, and thus is healthier. You should just do what resonates well with you and ignore anyone who tells you that you're wrong or they know better or whatever. And its not an either/or thing anyway. I dont really believe in high fat low carb eating, but that doesnt mean I'm a complete advocate of high carb low fat! There's plenty of us around that eat moderately from ALL food groups and do just fine too.

36 to 19 and yes, I need to update my ticker!

Oh, the weight will budge alright, otherwise nobody would ever starve to death. But it doesnt come off like you think it will when you starve yourself and when it does, its all lean body tissue as well as fat and you just basically become malnourished and sick, and you also put your heart and kidneys at risk. I'd be really worried that my nutrionist was, to put it bluntly, an idiot and not competent to be supervising my weight loss if he told me to eat 600 calories a day. You have to be really careful with nutritionists and such - they are NOT qualified medical professionals. They're like personal trainers, its not a degree qualification, and whilst you have really good ones, you have really silly ones too. They're very prone to just running with whatever is currently fashionable in the nutrition and fitness fields and will preach it like its the answer. To some degree you need your head screwed on and to be able to set your own guidelines becuase lapband surgeons are just that - surgeons. They're not necessarily nutritional experts, they have their beliefs and have seen what works overall of course, but in reality, you do know your own body and what it responds to and you are perfectly able to experiement with calorie levels to find your own personal balance.

I look at gym expenses in a different way. I've just joined again, having not had a gym membership for five years (I run outside primarily for exercise and have been doing ciruit style workouts at home). I'm not working now becuase of the chemotherapy I'm having so I can either a) spend the mornings in the gym or hang round the shops having coffees and eating bad things and spending money on crap I dont need. The gym for $70 a month is a bargain! its not only exercise, if you enjoy it, its a hobby! You'd spend $55 on a night out without a thought probably, so why not invest in something that is both fun and healthy?

Uncontrollable diarrhoea will result in incontincence at times, dont fret that this will be an ongoing problem. One of the things you read here is liquids in = liquids out, as your diet thickens up, the diarrhoea will go away. I had the same experience after a sigmoidoscopy, it was a bit distressing but didnt last.

It can be an eye opener. I'm still learning, five years down the track. I had my band unfilled four months ago in preparation for an unrelated surgery and it cant be refilled until such time as the second surgery and rount of treatment is completed - probably mid year at least. I made a deal with myself. At a BMI of 21 and having maintained for a few years, I only needed to continue to maintain so I said 3 meals a day no Snacks, not ever, not for any reason, not even a mouthful. Well! I didnt realise how much I punctuate the day with a little nibble of this and that. There's regular times throughout the day when I would stop and eat something- coming into the house after being out is the primary time for me - kettle on, coffee made, bikkies out, lol. I wasnt an emotional eater to much degree, just a habitual one, certain situations would remind me to snack. I've really become aware of those situations again.

The only Protein drinks I've ever had were simply out of curiosity to try them. All the one's I've tried are disgusting - they have a distinctive base note or taste that is in all of them, covered by an absolutely sickly artificial sweetener sweetness. I just refuse to believe that they are healthy - they're processed crap in my opinion. Mankind survived perfectly well before Protein shakes became fashionable, which lets face it has only been in the last several years - and where are all the lean, muscle bound people walking around as a result of drinking them? Probably hanging round with the millions of healthy thin people that did Atkins and the trillions of superslim low fat high carb devotees. They're simply one way of ingesting calories. I've lost weight perfectly well, maintained it for years, and am now maintaining with my band unfilled, all without relying on protein shakes, I run, do bootcamp and body pump, all without protein shakes. I am fit and lean. Without protein shakes. I'd say if you dont like em, dont drink em. After surgery, I made lots of smoothies - yogurt, milk and fruit. Fruit was allowed on my list. Personally, i dont eat manufactured things like syrups, pudding mixes and other artificially sweetned and flavoured alternatives. Another faveourite - a good old fashioned egg flip - egg, milk, vanilla and a teaspoon or so of sugar. I had blended up Soups that had protein like meat and beans/pulses/lentils in them too.

Remind me not to stand downwind!

I bought some tiny dishes for things like cereal, yogurt and even pasta for dinner. I eat off small plates anyway. That REALLY helps. And the no snacking rule, just none, for no reason whatsoever. Its one rule to stick to, not a complicated program.

I dont personally think its a good idea to try to stay in ketosis, that's an extreme (and toxic) situation for your body. Most bandsters end up reducing carbs substantially anyway because you just cant fit in the carby foods to the same degree. I actually never counted, wouldnt have a clue how many carbs I ate in a day. Since hitting goal and maintaining for a few years I've had an ileostomy and now I have to follow a low residue diet which is based on white bread, rice, Pasta, lower levels of vegies. I hate it, its not my idea of healthy eating at all but I havent gained an ounce on this diet even though my band is totally unfilled, in actual fact I've lost significant weight. I think just keep carbs reasonable unless you are specifically wanting to low carb it which many people do,. You lose quickly when you cut carbs because carbohydrate molecules bind to Water molecules in the body, this when you cut them, you lose a lot of water, which you will quickly regain on a day when you eat more carbs. It takes time to lose fat on low carb diets just like on ordinary diets, there's no particular magic to it. But it does seem to suit some people's bodies a lot better.

38dd to 32c

Wow, at 165lb and 5ft 10 I would be larger than a size 8, more like a 10. I find it incredible how bodies differ. I'm a 6-8 now at 130lb.

Well, if its any consolation I love my vegies but also love my pasta, and wholewheat bread and I lost over 120lb without ever giving up bread, pasta, rice or carbs in general and maintained it for three years. Furthermore, i had my band unfilled for a surgery which involved me having an ileostomy so now I am on a low residue diet which is based on WHITE bread, pasta and rice and even with an unfilled band I have not gained any weight at all. Truly, for most people calories in v calories out is the main determinant of weight loss even if we can argue all day about the health benefits of this diet vs that. But we all need vegies - I love a packed of fresh spinach, wilted down with half a block of low fat cream cheese, a bit of nutmeg and some pinenuts as a pasta sauche - that's a good way to get in some vegies! tonight I varied that by adding a carton of pumpkin soup. It was delish. That's vegies. Many pasta sauces can involve vegies, soups are great, you can even make muffins with spinach, zucchini etc in them. I had a spinach and fetta muffin the other day when I was out, with some cream cheese as a spread, and a latte. Yum!

I get disgusted with myself that I find it disgusting! I should be empathetic, should remember that was me once, but to be honest, i find it disgusting. I hate watching people stuff their faces, but then even though I did it myself I always did find it digusting. One thing that really revolts me is people walking through malls eating - stuffing a hot dog or hot chips down their faces, and I loathe the current trend for walking around sucking on paper cups of coffee or smoothies. Its vulgar. I never ever did that, its just plain bad manners and vulgar. You want to eat in public, you sit down and do it nicely! I avoid the foodcourt because watching people gorge on KFC or McDonalds is really disgusting. I know, I know, I'm awful, like a reformed smoker, but I cant help it. I can converse with anyone here talking about thier food issues or inability to give up junk and not feel disgusted, i truly want to help. But to watch it makes me sick.

I've read that too - that you need to rely on your own core to support yourself and that shapewear does weaken the core if worn all the time. Not really sure that any garment could provide THAT much support, I think its probably a bit of a myth. However, it is also a myth, or really complete fantasy that anything you wear could prevent loose skin. That has already happened by the time you're fat, weight loss just exposes it. There is absolutely nothing you can do about that - you will either have it or you wont. Exercise helps you look more toned though.

Yep, I've been unfilled for four months so far. My rule is simply three meals a day, no snacking, ever, not even a mouthful and I've kept up my exercise. I havent gained an ounce, in fact I've lost weight.

You sound too tight to me. I could eat anything I wanted to at what I considered good restriction. Some things were definitely harder than others and I didnt fancy them much, but I could eat them with care.

Personally, I think its a little of both. Or meant to be,anyway. Now that my band is unfilled after five entire years, I can make a bit of a comparison - I am NO hungrier with no fill in my band. I eat more at a sitting, but not much more but the main difference is the variety of foods I can eat - I could always eat anything if I really wanted to but my tastes changed as it was unpleasant or difficult to eat some foods. I've just had breakfast - blackberries and strawberries with yogurt and some muesli sprinkled on top. I would never have chosen to eat that with fill because the coldness of the yogurt would cause me problems, berries were sometimes hard to eat. I am actually eating much healthier now. But my band definitely restricted portions. I eat three smallish (but bigger than bandster) meals a day, I dont snack and the only real hunger I have is just before dinner time. Who knows though, if I had had to unfill four years ago, I may have had a lot more hunger. My body has obviously adapted to its new weight as I've maintained it for about three years and it only wants to eat enough to maintain that weight - it doesnt seem to be striving to get back to 113kg. Early on with my band I certainly had the lack of hunger and appetite, and would forget to eat, but I think the body adapts to that over time. Even the experts dont really know how/why the band works - they cant explain the mechanism that leads to lack of hunger for example. I think just work with it, however it works for you. But I really think ultra tight fills are asking for trouble.

Dont have it but have recently had rectal cancer, surgery, chemo and a temporary ileostomy. My intenstines are pretty darn sensitive at the moment. I am finding I pretty much have to stay on a low residue diet which I absolutely fought against at first - because its a lot of white bread, white Pasta, white rice, limited fruit and vegies, etc. But I simply cannot digest tough fibrous things without pain, bloating and diarrhoea. And I've already had one bowel obstruction. you need to avoid fibre, that's the main thing and popcorn is one of the WORST things - along with nuts and seeds its absolutely forbidden as it has a very high likelihood of causing a blockage. if you google a low residue diet you'll find the general guidelines, I have to eat the bread/pasta/rice because it thickens things up so I'm not just pouring watery discharge out of my stoma, but you can otherwise avoid so much white carbs, but you need to learn how to substitute low fibre foods for high fibre ones.

Often when you read the labels of fat free and low fat items and compare it to the regular item, there's way more sugar in fat free. I was buying tzaziki last night, and I compared the labels. There was only an 8kj saving between a serve of each of the products, but the regular fat had 0.2grams of sugar, the fat free had 6.8grams! Now, I think its a tad obsessive to panic over 6 grams of sugar anyway, so it wouldnt worry me, but you really gain nothing nutritionally or calorie wise by choosing fat free or low fat in a lot of instances. If you eat reasonable portions, it just doesnt matter. but I wouldnt throw them away either - if you like them, who cares? I personally didnt get banded to sweat small stuff like this and I certainly didnt get banded to feel guilty over eating fruit yogurt. That's splitting hairs and does nothing for a good long term relationship with food, to worry about every detail like that.