Jachut

Very high Protein diets can leach calcium from your bones, which can result in the formation of calcium based kidney stones. that's not to say high protein/low carb isnt excellent for weight loss, perhaps even the only way to lose weight for many people. But what's best for weight loss and what's best for overall health are not necessarily the same thing for all people. The only real reason I wouldnt do one personally is that I love my carbs! But if I was prone to kidney stones, I dont think I'd risk it. It sucks, currently I have an ileostomy (which is only temporary) and the best way to manage one is with a low residue diet. That means lots of white bread, white rice, white Pasta, low fibre, not a lot of fruit and veg, no nuts or seeds. I may be a carb eater, but I'm a wholegrain carb, high fruit and vegies, love my salads carb eater. I started out refusing to eat a diet of white sh*t, but a few bouts of diarrhoea and exoriated skin on my stomach as a result and I might just have to bow to the wisdom of the dietician on this one. I feel for you being asked ot eat in a way you're not really comfortable with - you MUST consider your own wants, needs and knowledge about your body whilst taking the advice of the nutritionist. And even seek other proper medical advice (nutritionists are not dieticians, nor are they doctors).

Its all been said above. Kids need the same thing as adults, maybe a bit less but when it comes to teenagers, maybe a bit more. My DH and I are both banded and the kids get what we eat. Its summer here now, so we might put some steaks on the BBQ, make a big tossed salad, if anything, I'd bake some potatoes for the kids. We dont low carb or anything, we eat normal balanced diets in smaller quantities, so there has never been any need to do anything different for the kids.

The first time I put on a bikini, I felt like I was on the beach naked, it was excruciating. I feel self conscious about my body though - my size is perfect, exactly what I wanted, I am tall and slim and I dont need to worry about a fat bum on display or huge boobs hanging out of a bikini top, everything tucks in nicely. I dont have a hanging stomach. BUT - bit but, I do look a bit loose and I guess I look my age. I cant compete with a 20 year old in a bathing suit and i guess I'm a prime example of less being more in terms of women in their 40's and bikinis. For starters I would never wear a tiny bikini, I spend up big on very high quality suits, with undewire, and coverage and such. My shape is such that I actually look better in two pieces, it elongates my body a bit and makes me look less scrawny up top and less hippy below. But this season I have a stoma due to having bowel cancer, and for the time being until that is reversed I'm obviously not goign to wear a bikini with an ileostomy bag on display! I've bought two one pieces and a tankini and thank goodness they're back in this year becuase i felt like I was wearing my grandmother's bathing suit at the start, but in truth, I feel more comfortable more covered up. But my experience is this - if you pick up a bathing suit and its $250 and you go "no way, i could get this in target for $39", try it on. No matter WHAT shape you're in, a really high quality suit is going to look loads better on you than a cheap one.

What do you do and how hard do you work out? Its fantastic to have a workout routine, but the brutal truth about exercise is this - if you arent pouring sweat and completely stuffed at the end of it, its not going to have burned astronimical calories - no matter WHAT the counter on the elliptical machine says. To burn a lot of calories, you do need intensity, which also triggers hormonal responses in your body to keep burning fat long after the workout finishes. If you're following the old work in your fat burning zone method, you wont be burning a lot. And when you stop, so does the calorie burning, your body returns to normal straight away. If you're pushing hard and not losing, then maybe calorie adjustment is worth playing around with, patience is also a virtue as if you've got calories in less than calories out, eventually you're going to lose. It sounds like youi're doing the right things, so its probably just a waiting game.

Well, I lost 120% of my excess weight, I have a BMI of 19, I eat whatever I want and am effortlessly maintaining weight loss without any fill in my band and I would NEVER do a high Protein low carb diet. I have eaten bread, rice and Pasta - in small qunatities - and i have never supplemented protein with shakes or bars- all the way through - with the blessing of my doctor as well - we just dont get told to do that high protein stuff here. If I had such a risk of kidney stones, i wouldnt touch a really high protein diet with a bargepole personally. I'd eat normally from all food groups, smaller quantities, balance calories in/calories out and weight loss will follow.

Since the start, I've been a dedicated runner. I supplement with a bootcamp twice a week and I go to a spin class every now and then, and I also do a bit of strength training at home. Like instead of a run, I might hoik a sandbag around - squat and lunge with it etc and intersperse that with short runs on the treadmill between sets. I also mix longer, slower runs with sprint/interval sessions. So basically, i stick with running and circuit training but constantly vary the way i do it. its worked well for me. I am effortlessly maintaining weight loss with no fill in my band, I lost well over 120% of my excess weight, my blood pressure is low, my heart rate is often under 50 and its given me the body I wanted - long and lean with functional strength but only feminine amounts of muscle.

I echo Blackbelt's sentiments too. I think unless your cousin is like 6ft 3, 150lb is a perfectly normal, healthy weight, its certainly right in the middle of my healthy weight range at 5ft 10. I've dropped to about 135, myt BMI is 19, and yeah, I'm getting pretty bony now, its not intentional weight loss, and I'm struggling, despite having an unfilled band, to put weight back on without resorting to eating crap for the sake of it. But that's due to other illness, not the band. I think, truly, that as obese people our idea of normal weight becomes quite warped, and its also true that we seen people who've dropped a lot of weight and think they look "sick". In actual fact, it is NORMAL and HEALTHY to be slim, but so many people want to aim for just above that - they're looking at "overweight" (BMI 25-30) as curvy or normal because based on the size of people in general nowadays, it does appear so. But its NOT the healthiest weight to be. I seriously doubt any woman weighing 150 is "sick" or "underweight". However, if you dont like the look of normal weight below the BMI 25 level, then dont go there, its absolutely your choice. And the truth is anyway, that a large proportion of people who have been morbidly obese will struggle to achieve that level of thinness anyway, to get to merely "overweight", you've knocked most the risks on the head, you look pretty normal, can shop pretty normally etc so if you want to stop there, that's your choice. I agree with L12 too, where was the concern when my BMI was 36? the number of rude comments I've received about being skinny, vain, obsessed with my looks or simply people assuming I"m a snob has astounded me. So I tend to bristle a bit when people post these threads about how awful people look at perfectly normal weights. Granted, I havent seen your cousin, I'm not in a position to judge, but 150 is hardly scary skinny.

In your position, I would want another band too - or another surgery. But on an ecouraging note, i was devastated to learn I'd have to unfill my band for a major surgery, and that it would need to remain unfilled for up to six months as I have to have a second follow up surgery. So far its been over 2 months, I've actually LOST weight and that's without hardship. All I've done is log my 2000 maintenance calories a day and exercise like I always did (which is why I can eat so many calories). I have enough for three good meals, the occasional treat, and a "bank" throughout the week as I hardly ever eat the entire 2000 so that I can go out and have a bigger meal without guilt or repercussion. Seriously, its been easy and sooooo enjoyable to have bread, salads and red meat again. I will not fill again unless weight gain occurs, but truly, I am now confident I can maintain my weight, as long as I keep up my running.

I dont find it to be true. Water intake has never affected my rate of weight loss, but water is important for general health. Fat cannot be "flushed away', it has be comverted and used for energy. They byproducts of this process can be flushed away, but overhydrating beyond what your body needs isnt of any particular health value. You jsut pee it out, and that's all that'[s happening when you drink gallons of water. 2L a day is plenty for the average adult. But is cheap and nboody is likely to serioulsy drink too much, so if it has a positive impact on YOUR weight loss, follow your own body's leads.

Well....;if all went according to play, waiting till 35 would work out fine. Things change when it comes to pregnancy plans though. I had my third at 35 and it was an easy pregnancy - not an "old" pregnancy at all these days. I'd say wait until you've lost the weight but that's easy to say, I'm done and dusted babywise. And anyway, weight wise, I managed to control my weight very well during pregnancies and barely gained, it was the changed lifestyle afterwards that did me in and its not going to matter whether you're at goal weight or not on that score, you can either control your weight or fall into the eating for two trap and pile it on no matter how mcuh you weigh when you conceive. But truly, waiting till your finances are sorted/you're in the right house - THAT's important. Nobody ever can appreciate just how much you can achieve financially before you have children and just how much your money disappears when you do! I thought i'd be a straight back to work career mother, but once I had my first, that ambition evaporated - I stayed home with my kids for 13 years. I couldnt bear to leave them in childcare. So yeah, financial and house plans changed quite a bit for us!

You could easily need a top up fill. Even with no weight loss, restriction wanes slightly over time. You lose a bit of fluid from your band due to evaporation/seepage too. Tiny amounts but it makes a difference.

Well..... this should be encouraging. Got banded in 2005. Lost 120lb - first 90 within a year, another 10 over the folliowing year (then 20lb last year due to illness). Maintained a great BMI of 21 for 3 solid years, never gained an ounce, lost that 20 I mentioned and had to get unfilled for a major surgery. Realised that over time, all the work I did on lifestyle (healthy eating, exercise, not eating just for the sake of it) has stuck and have now maintained a BMI of 19 for several months without a fill -easily. So after my hard work with the band, I get to be thin and fit but eat "whatever I want". That means I get to enjoy bread, salads, red meat and fresh fruit - all the things that were hard for me with fill in my band and thus, not so enjoyable. AND get this - due to my fitness and exercise levels which I worked so hard to create, if I make my meals fresh, healthy and low fat I can easily afford the odd splurge - had lunch at the pancake Parlour today - dont have to worry about a glass of wine at night, or the odd cookie here and there. In fact, my maintenance level of calories is about 2400 with my running and with mainly healthy intake, my biggest problem is eating enough. The band has totally re-educated my mind about portion sizes, so my 3 meals and a healthy snack generally add up to about 1400, 1500 calories a day. I usually dont eat more than about 1800 in any given day, so a nice dinner out once a week when I might splurge 800 to 1000 calories with some wine and dessert as well as a main, no problem whatsoever, my weight stays steady. I never though being unfilled would be so good, but its been a very big lesson in just how much my band has done for me. Its there if I need it in future, but for now, its done its job and it can just bide unless I suddenly begin to gain. I can always fill again. Life really couldnt get much better than that - I'm now a normal, "naturally thin" person!

It can be really hard to turn things round when you're iin a rut. I find it easier to focus first on exercise, doing extra, upping intensity, even starting a new program/focus (i cycle around between slow steady running, interval training, curcuit training to prevent boredom and plateaus) and then the eating follows. It really only takes one or two good days to get you back on track and srrong enough to keep going. I'm not a big one for "diets" but it can also really help just to follow a program - like a week of eating that you get in the Weight Watchers magazine or similar. Personally, I always called up for a week or two of Lite n Easy which is a home delivered calorie controlled plan we have here. Just take away the guesswork and temptation and get with it, and you know you'll get results. After that I was always fine to carry on on my own. These slumps hit all of us from time to time.

I was open with everyone in my immediate circle about planning to have the surgery and I did feel I had to argue my case strongly. I hadnt planned on telling anyone else and was horrified when DH told has mate during a fishing trip that I was having it done. I dont know, maybe admitting I was fat by having surgery meant that other people would suddenly notice "hey, yeah, she IS fat"! It was some sort of warped logic like that. Anyway, got over that very quickly. I am proud. I did something great for my health and wellbeing. The only time since then that it's arisen was going back to full time work and eating in the staffroom with other teachers. And we'd occasionally go out for lunch or something - oh and I had to go on school camp. People did notice that I didnt eat the enormous meals they were all scarfing down and woudl rib me about being so thin and obssessed with dieting. I fessed up and got comments like "oh, boy, I like my food too much to do that". It was kinda embarrassing but not too terrible. Now I'm unfilled and having no trouble maintaining, so probably wont get a fill again. I eat normal portions now and there's never the awkwardness of getting stuck at the dinner table, but I eat carefully and healthily and I exercise, and we were away with some friends this week and again, they commented on my "obsession" with diet and exercise, when all I did was go out for a run every morning, and say no to a second cookie or second helpings of dinner! I mean, we were away at a beautiful beachside country town, surrounded by glorious Aussie bushland, with walking trails all through and great weather - who WOULDN'T want to go out for a nice hour's jog to enjoy the atmosphere, lol? No doubt about it, if you dont stuff your face with McDonalds and KFC, take seconds, and sit on your fat lazy bum all day the people want to know why you're anorexic. Its about them, not you. You can feel proud of the fact that you have enough of a brain to say NO MORE and take control of your health.

I maintained for 3 years before finding out I would have to unfill my band completely for an abdominal surgery. That scared the whatsit's out of me, I was positive I'd pack on the weight again. Now, I'd been ticking along nicely with maintaining with a band, basically, I ate whatever, whenever, to my heart's desire. Portion control was assured, the fact that I generally like and choose healthy foods was a given, but I had plenty of sugary or high fat stuff and a glass of wine a day in there too. I decided I'd better start practicing counting and logging calories and being VERY careful in preparation for what I hoped would only be a few weeks unfilled. What do you know, the weight started falling off! I lost 10lb very quickly and easily, which when you're already at a BMI of 21, is quite a lot of weight. So yes, anytime you get back on that bike, your band is in there willing to help you. But you have to do the hard stuff - the calorie counting, the saying no to high calorie foods, cutting back on the alcohol etc. Its a pain in the behind, but nobody can eat just whatever they want and lose weight, although with a band you can pretty easily do that and maintain.

I agree with the body fat goal too - I think that's great, because everyone has a different body type. Now, I only know becuase of my scale, and we all know that what scales tell you about body fat and hydration can be wildly inaccurate, but going from 150lb to 135, my body fat has dropped from 22% down to 18%. My goals now are not weight related at all, but I would like to see my body fat at about 20% and my weight rise to whatever is necessary to put a bit of muscle back on my body (I've definitely dropped lean muscle in that weight loss). Body types, hey? I look at Kim Kardashian for example and wonder how it is possible to be so wondrously curvy without being flabby. The answer is probably how much muscle her body type carries. I put any weight back on and it goes on as fat, I have two choices with my body, which is lightly boned, lightly muscled but pear shaped - I can be a healthier weight with flabby bits or I can be extremely skinny. I also think PS has a valuable role to play becuase you can get to a healthy weight with a bit more fat coverage for your face and chest, so that you look healthy and young, but you can nip and tuck the bits below that bother you. I would look fabulous at 70kg with a fair bit of lipo around the hips and thighs, but its just not on the cards for me, with my family needing a bigger house, and private school fees for three kids, sigh. And I've had enough brutal surgery lately, I just dont think I can face something voluntary like a tummy tuck. I think your goal has to take into account your body type, but i never knew what mine was till I lost weight, I would always have called myself "big boned".

There's a difference between delivering a reality check and being totally self righteous as well though. Some people are early on in the process, full of enthusiasm and determination and are blind to the fact that reality eventually settles in, novelty fades and the hard slog of it all gets quite wearing. They speak as though they'll never slip up. That really gets my goat. Personally, I cant understand how anybody finds the first six to eight weeks difficult! I dont see how if you've made the decision to have surgery that your enthusiasm and anticipation of your new life doesnt carry you through that period, bandster hell or no. But it simply isnt the same for everyone so i dont go around lecturing about how people should deal with it, I support and commiserate instead. Over the years I've seen many people start out with such difficulty and eventually find their groove and go onto success. So I dont really think people in the first couple of weeks need a reality check, especially from others in that same stage who really know two parts of stuff all regarding what they're talking about. Unless your talking silly silly people who dont follow their liquid to mushy to solids instructions! That calls for a swift kick up the clacker. As does the I ate McDonalds, why arent I losing weight questions.

My doctor didnt set me a goal weight, but did record a weight that was a BMI of 25 for me - 78kg. I know that I spend many years as a teenager and adult at around that weight and frankly, I consider it fat. Its nowhere near the fashionably thin I wanted to be and I always struggled to lose. I guess I had a BMI of about 25 to 27 for most of my adult life until my mid 30's and if you asked me, I'd say I've been fat all my life, so obviously my goal was going to be somewhat lower. I'd dieted down to about 72 kgs once or twice and I knew that even then I wasnt very happy with that - I'm 5ft 10, so I still felt "big" rather than tall and slim. So I sort of said 67kg to myself. The idiot nutritionist scoffed at that as unrealistic, I hate how they do that without even knowing you, or your strength or determination. Anyhow, I got there easily. I'd had a sort of secret in my dreams goal of 64kg, but could never manage it, I maintained between 67 and 70 very happily for 3 years. Anyway, if there's one good thing about cancer treatment, you lose a bit of weigh. I saw 64kg come, saw 64 kg go as I plummeted to 60, eeek. Back to 63 now, but overall, I think my original goal of 67 was perfect. I do look better just a little bit heavier. I've realised supermodels are supermodels because they can be incredibly skinny and still look good and not bony and ill. Unlike us mere mortals. anyway, you dont want my life story, but I say pick a weight you know you loved being and go for it, dont let anyone tell you otherwise. And if you've never had the experience of being a normal weight, go by the charts but simply plan to adjust along the way. its your body, your life and you can stop where you're happy to.

Truly, I think its headwork, not bodywork. We all have those spots on our bodies, and with little pockets of fat, the ONLY solution to them is to lose fat overall. You cant spot reduce, so that means less calories, a lot of cardio and some strength training to increase your overall metabolism. That's the only workout plan you need. However, even then your body will lose from where it chooses. I got down to a BMI of 22, felt and looked great, but still had a muffin top and some flubber. I just came to accept it, as I held that weight for 3 years and I could see that my upper body was very thin already, so its just my pear shaped body type. Other health issues have seen me shrink to a BMI of 19 and yep, the muffin top's gone, but I also look like a concentration camp victim (I'm not kidding) above the waist. So do be realistic in your goals.

I've been a regular speaking at my surgeon's information nights and he has mentioned several times - their practice's statistics (the book The Lap Band Solution is written by the head of this practice)show that moderate wine drinkers lose more weight than complete teetotallers. He's never offered an explanation for this, it just is. Moderate wine consumption may confer some health benefits, there's plenty of evidence for that. yes, its empty calories, and it needs to be kept to a minimum when weight loss is the goal, but its not gonna kill you. I dont know that I'd indulge four days post op, cant imagine feeling like it, but if its just the odd glass, I reckon enjoy it and good luck to those who are so high and mighty that they think they'll NEVER indulge in anything off their plans. Its a long way to fall from up their in your tower.

I'll only eat the 6grams of fat or less ones, a bit of ham and turkey, no cheese and lots of salad with salt and peper. Under 300 calories, under 6 grams of fat and very filling even with an empty band. The rest of them, I loathe, all that sweet onion teriyaki slimy crap, the meatballs just look disgusting I wouldnt dare to eat them, ick. It just doesnt appeal to me. But I like that you get a reasonable sized sandwich, unlike the sandwich places in the food court that give you seven pieces of cheese and half a cow on your sandwich so that the calorie content must be sky high, even in a healthy Protein and salad sandwich.

banana and Peanut Butter in a vanilla shake is the only Protein shake I will drink. Even then I prefer it with vanilla Optifast. But I think that huge amounts of peanut butter, sigh, defeats the low calorie purpose!

I've come to realise that fat is just fat, its just a symptom of an illness that a large percentage of the population suffers from. To me, body image and acceptance is not tied to being fat. I have as many issues now and I'm freaking skinny! My BMI has dropped to 19 and I *STILL* see fat on my body that I'd like gone. If I actually see a photo of myself, I'm shocked - I'm much thinner than I see in the mirror. I am tryign to gain a little weight, but its on a superficial level to please my surgeon and oncologist and not because I see how skinny I am and realise I'd look better with a few more pounds on. I look in the mirror and see 80% satisifcation at a normal weight body with a bit of flab at hips and thighs and, frankly, terrible tits, lol. I think the thing about fat acceptance is the moral issues we attach to obesity - I personally am quite disciplined in my eating now, I think about what I eat, and I ignore impulses to eat rubbish most of the time. I exercise almost fanatically. I really take care of myself. So I do find myself passing judgement on people sitting in the food court pushing KFC down their gobs - see, I even say it in a derogatory way! That's why obese people feel judged, becuase truthfully, they are. I even feel disgust for my own kids and the way they will eat if I let them. But that's so not fair. I think the problem is people these days give into their every whim and desire becuase they can, they want instant gratification every seond of the day, becuase its available. That's what leads to fatness. But its human nature to want that! It makes evolutionary sense to take the easy road, to eat food when its there, to eat food that will sustain. Lettuce or KFC, which is going to keep you alive the longest? Personally, i think dealing with that kind of stuff is what it takes to accept yourself as a fat person. But I dont believe you have to accept yourself AS fat, if that makes sense, you dont have to say "I'm a big person and I'm happy this way" (which none of us are or we wouldnt be here). I think it means "I've fallen prey to the dangers society presents, just like most other people have. This is the effect its had on my body, but I'm smart and I'm going to do something about it". That way, ANY weight loss, ANY improvement in lifestyle behavour is a triumph and it doenst all become about losing ALL your weigh tor fitting into a certain size, but more about your ability to choose your own path and stick to it.

Completely open. Firstly, I couldnt possibly have surgery without my family realising it, even if I wanted to. Secondly, your eating changes dramatically, and there ARE times when you get stuck, and if your'e at the dinner table and sliming its hard to hide, not the least becuase my voice goes all weird and you can hear that there's saliva in my throat! But mainly, I told everyone else becuase I remember how I felt on one of those rare occasions when you ran into someone you knew who'd lost a lot of weight and looked fantastic. I felt sooooo down on myself, what was wrong with me? Why couldnt I do that? I would absolutely hate for anyone to think that I'm some sort of superhuman dynamo who has more willpower and drive than anyone else, that I could lose 52kg on my own. Truth is, I'm realising I actually AM a very strong and driven person and I've not given myself the credit I deserve, my band being unfilled now I've come to realise that it was actually ME doing 80% of the hard work, not my band. But the point is, I feel bound to let people know that there is help out there, that I had help and that I'm not all together and in control whilst they're hopeless, lacking willpower and discipline. I dont feel like walking up to other fat people and sharing my experiences uninvited, but I dont hide that I'm banded. I also found when I started work again this year that I copped heaps of ribbing over my small meals, my slow eating, people do notice it. So I told the truth. That's not to say I dont hide some things. DH bought me a stunning lab diamond, must be 2.5 carats, I absolutely dont mind people thinking that I'm wearing a $25,000 ring, loll!

I always wait to see what ends up in the gym, lol. So far, its only those ab rollers that I've ever seen - oh and gym balls. I havent really looked into these, but I've picked one up at the store. It moves around inside right? The premise will be the moving weight challenges stabiliser muscles - there's some truth to this and I'm a real believer in functional fitness. But a little girlie weight isnt going to have much effect. If you're interested in this type of training though, google sandbag training. Lifting a heavy bag of sand whilst you squat and lunge and such, it moves around, its hard to grip, that really challenges your core and stabilisers. But I personally wouldnt waste my money on little light dumbells. For lighter weights, fill some milk or juice bottles not completely full with Water - use ones with a handle. Those will work a bit like kettlebells, but the water will slosh, the weight will shift and it will achieve the same thing. And of course, if that's not the element that interests you, save your cash and just buy some ordinary dumbells.