Jachut

Oh, I went wild! I have NEVER been able to buy what I wanted and I only ever got to a BMI of 35, which seems ridiculous. I was obese yes, but not shaped so that I needed to wear a tent. I had recognizeable waist, hips and bustline, I could have worn most of what was out there if it came in anything over a size 16 (which is about a US 12). Only "fat clothes" do here in Australia, size 16 is about the top of most regular stores range. I had soooooooo many clothes. It was a joyful moment every time I got into one of them. I bought so much once I'd booked my surgery! I did slow down, and now I dont shop nearly so much. I dont need that validation of buying somethign to make me feel good about myself and what I do buy, I actually like so I keep it and wear it again and again. I used to buy clothes wear them once and throw them out becuase they didnt magically make me look good.

My loss just got slower and slower and slower and eventually stopped, a couple of kgs below my goal of 70, I had a bit of a bounce around there for six months, from 67 to 68 to 70 back to 68, up to 69 etc etc and now my weight is stable at 69kg give or take. I've been here for over 2 years and have had one fill - teeny tiny 0.1cc fill - because I felt myself getting hungrier. That was 18 months ago and I havent felt the need to be back to see my surgeon since then.

Its the same with anything, moderation is one thing and if a food has good benefits and some not so good, then moderation protects you to some extent (although lead and arenic?). Having them several times a day is overdoing it. You shouldnt rely on any one food to that extent.

Whynot make some soup with some meat and beans in it and blend it completely smooth? Like a beef and barley soup or something?

Hmmm, I've made goal and then some and I've maintained it for well over 2 years with a band. I dont think you'll find many who would say get a band here, and to be honest, it requires good aftercare and a lot of maintenance and the way things seem to work in the states, with your health insurance system and so many people going to Mexico etc, I just dont think its maybe the best choice unless you happen to be able to find a surgeon a suburb or two away and can be SURE you can afford all the aftercare etc. When the band goes wrong, it goes very wrong, as many people here can attest, they are thrilled to have the bands out of them and a new chapter of life beginning. For a bandster with a perfect working band that has been successful, long term, the adjustability of the band is GREAT, I wouldnt want to give that up for anything. I have been able to eat a good 2000 calorie a day diet to maintain, its NORMAL eating, just without overeating! When I hit plateaus etc I was able to go tighter, the adjustability thing is a very big advantage. As to day to day issues, from reading here, I'd say with a well functioning band, the eating issues are similar between the two surgeries, I've read of many people here having far more issues than I ever had with a band - reflux, am I full yet, did I just eat too much, why cant I eat this food or that food, etc etc. But that's weight loss surgery, you take that on when you decide to do it, and if anything were to happen to my band, even though I've had such a great experience, I think I'd choose a sleeve next time simply for the permanence, the lesser aftercare and not having this feeling that one day, something's going to go wrong and I'll lose my band. I fully expect that this band wont be in me forever, and even my surgeon said it will probably wear out one day. I truly dont think anyone should let the permanence of a sleeve put them off - ANY weight loss surgery has to be considered permanent if you want to stay thin and healthy - just because the band can come out, doesnt mean it should or will one day.

I dont quite trust the numbers either, you just never can really know. By all accounts, my sessions (which are not in the gym, I do running, bootcamp and boxing) burn around 600 to 700 in an hour, and I know when I get on my treadmill, I usually run 7kms which says I burn 700 calories. I know I can eat 2000 a day and maintain, so its probably not TOO far off. But I agree, for me exercise is about a lot more than calories. You work up to it, dont feel you're not doing enough, when I started off I ran, walked 4kms at a time, it was more like 400 calories. Its taken me a couple of years to comfortably burn 700 or more and to be able to towel off and get on with my day without being exhausted. Its now a part of my day that takes under an hour, and there's no way I have more time to burn more. I agree with the above poster, it needs to be a comfortable part of your day and you will burn more as you get fitter, not by trying to find time you might not have.

Congratulations! I dont know what it is about running, but there's NOTHING like the feeling of conquering a big distance like that. No other athletic accomplisment feels quite the same. I know that teary feeling as you cross the finish line, by the time I did my one and only half marathon I'd lost my weight and kept it off for a while, so it wasnt then, it was actually crossing the finish line when I did my first 7.5kms. I was blubbering like a baby. I did my half the year I turned 40 and it took my 40 year old hips and knees about 3 months to recover, lol, so I'm happy to say I've done it but 10kms is my distance! Good on you, you should be very proud.

I probably wont have anything done BUT if I somehow have so much money that I cant think of other ways to spend $15,000 or so, I'd want a lower body lift. I know, I know, there's that photo of me in my avatar, in a bikini and looking not too bad. But I do have a "spare tyre", my skin doesnt hang but it is loosish and flabby and it really ruins a lot of outfits, just that hint of lovehandles and muffin top drives me MAD, and when I wear said bikini, I have to be careful to arrange myself in a flattering position and then not move becuase if I bend over, then things definitely hang! DH would like a nice big pair of plastic tits, and they would be more spectacular and perhaps a better use of any PS money, but the truth is, they just dont worry me that much. Once I'm dressed and have a good bra on and even a decent bikini top, they look allright and I really dont want big breasts that will draw attention anyway, its just not me. Its that spare tyre that drives me nuts. DH would spare the cash if I really wanted it, but then I'd feel bad getting done what I want done and not what he would probably like, lol.

If you need hot tea to eat any solids then I'd say you were already too tight. And obviously, you're werent able to eat enough in a sitting to sustain your needs, which is why you're hungry. I think an unfill was the right choice, eventually you'd find you were eating sliders simply to get calories in.

My personal view is that anything like that - chewing and spitting, deliberate vomiting, having your band SUPER tight and living on liquids and taking weight loss drugs all fall into the category of you needing more help than the band can give. I hesitate to call it "gross" as it really is an illness and people need help, not contempt. I know our natural response is "eeeeew", and its certainly what I thought too, but it is really very sad. Its not the first time i've heard of it though.

Off and on, I have. Have you tried cardio coach for the elliptical? Have a look at www.cardiocoach.com, his programs (which you play on an ipod or MP3) REALLY make the time fly and get you on the right intervals and intensity. You get long intervals, short intervals, etc. Also Treadmill Trainer is good, but you'll have to google that, not sure of the URL. I also do a lot of Bootcamp at a local group and that's similar, really high intensity interval stuff. What I have found is that it has blown away the last of that body fat, but unfortunately I notice when I go for a run that I've slightly lost my endurance and aerobic base. I've got a lot more fuel in the tank for brief spurts and can get through an hour of bootcamp, but the longer runs over 10kms are harder for me now. I really enjoy the bootcamp, a lot of the intervals are done in the form of exquisite tortures such as squat jumps, lung walking with a 10kg bar, burpees etc - and believe me, burpees work even better than sprinting to send your heart rate through the roof. So I've found I've gotten great toning at the same time. So I think its a matter of what your priorities are. I figure I dont really *need* to run more than 10kms but its simple, come running season which it is now here in Melbourne, do more running, less intervals. Come bikini season DEFINITELY do more intervals, lol.

Its kind of surreal, I saw them but I didnt. the same way as I knew I was fat but I didnt "see" it when I looked in the mirror. That awful moment when you suddenly see a picture of yourself without your blinders on! I'd have to say though that the most gratifying and exciting part of the journey was the last 30lb, that's when the changes became really obvious to me. Every couple of pounds made a difference in my appearance and dress size. Its why I'm just baffled when people set goals for themselves 20 lb above a healthy BMI, saying they look "better" at a higher weight. Logically I appreciate that's true for different body types but I cant help thinking that people are scared to see the real change so they stop before it happens. that last 30lb is the difference between remaining a fat (but not SO fat person) and really leaving the old you behind and I'm sure for some people, its fear of that that makes them set those higher goals. Enough pop psychology, I'm making enormous assumptions about people based on what I believe which is not really right. But yeah, that last 30lb was what was most exiting for me, and it took that first 70lb to be gone before I could see the new me emerge. Before that, I saw my body get smaller but it was still the same shape if you know what I mean. It was still a "fat" body just a smaller fat body. The last 30, all the flab dropped away, the bone structure and muscles emerged, I started to look entirely different.

The only thing I really cant eat is huge meals. I can get any food down without too much trouble. But like you mention, there are several that just turn my stomach. I would STARVE before I'd eat pizza, the smell of it cooking, the sight of it, it makes me dry retch. It absolutely nauseates me and I dont really know why, I've never had an issue with it (although its never been a favourite food). This has come on over the last 12 months and i've been banded nearly five years! The same thing with grilled cheese. I used to eat cheese on toast or toasted cheese sandwiches happily, now the very thought makes the bile rise in my throat. The smell of it cooking is hideous.

It'll be five years for me this coming December. I've been at goal for about two and a half.

You blend them and you cant taste egg at all, that just adds some oomph and nutrition to the drink. It tastes mainly like milk and vanilla blended with some nutmeg on top. egg flips are sort of traditional "sick food", the kind of thing your mum always makes you when you're ill or convalescing - a bit like chicken Soup. Its a habit of the 1970's that has kind of stuck with me.

I think you'd probably be fine with a fill before you go, but just in case, I'd wait. Its only a few days.

I've had awful trouble this year (four and a half years banded, never had any trouble before), but I'm not sure that its the band. My family has a strong history of endometriosis, particularly all over the bowl, in the women and bowel cancer on my dad's side AND IBS (which tends to go along with endo on the bowel). I havent felt well all year, its been chronic low grade diarrhoea, bloating, flatulence, and to be perfectly blunt, I havent had a good satisfying sh*t in about 6 months. I get the urge and then I just fart, sigh. I cant tell if I need to go or if its gas but I have to go to the toilet because small amounts of liquid sometimes pass and I can never be sure. These are all issues others in my family have had and I to date have escaped. I've always made an effort with my band to continue to eat wholegrains and stayed FAR away from a high Protein low carb diet because I'm concerned with getting fruit and vegies and grains for fibre. But what I find now is its hard to eat enough to make my bowels really regular, I eat prunes, I use benefibre but if I slip up for a couple of days, I'm miserable. I dont think my band has caused it but it doesnt make it easy to eat well enough.

I hope it becomes a forum where you can just vent. I think the "tough love" that struggling bandsters often get is well meant, and its probably best thought about and considered too, but sometimes you just need to get it off your chest and you dont WANT the advice.

I dont drink Protein shakes - before you die, I'm 5 years banded, not sleeved and not post op. I dont like them, find them too sickly sweet, and if you read the labels, theyre often either a big hit of sugar or of artificial sweetener, neither of which I'm keen on consuming. I often make an egg flip - just an egg, skim milk and a dash of vanilla. Its not savoury, but not very sweet and with a shake of nutmeg on top, I really like them for Breakfast. There's about 17 grams of protein there and nothing artificial (I use real vanilla). I know some people will freak at the thought of raw eggs, but I've never had an issue and I've had egg flips since I was tiny.

Oh gosh, I love love love my smaller C cup breasts. I think our sizes are a bit different to yours and a C is probably a little smaller here, but I love being much smaller uptop. In my humble opinion, a well shaped small bust that doesnt burst out of everything is much more attractive than the kind of large bust that results from being obese. I admit some of those silicone DD's are quite um, spectacular, but I'd rather not have a pair myself thanks. I dont really know why anyone wants huge boobs, I love being able to run in comfort, buy nice underwear without having to find speciality sizes, I love not having six hooks on the back of my bra, I love being able to wear anything I like with enough bust to fill out tight tshirts becomingly but not make everybody stare at my chest. Before I just had big matronly unattractive old looking bosoms. Big aint necessarily better.

Even when you make it yourself soup can be a high sodium food, because the broth you use is usually high in salt! But at least home made, you can control it. Soup fills me up a LOT, I find it a very hard food to eat, I"m not sure why, probably the combo of liquids and solids. So for me, it is a fabulous low calorie choice that dampens my appetite for hours. I rely on soup, I eat it probably five times a week, in order to get a good lot of vegies and Beans in. I dont worry tooooo much about the sodium because I eat a very small serve, I make it myself and the rest of my diet is very unprocessed, Breakfast is usually things like rolled oats, so totally unprocessed and dinners are nearly always home cooked from scratch and fairly low in salt. My favourite is zucchini and leek - I use the food processer to grate 3 large zucchini (courgettes) and 2 leeks, then add to a big pot with some diced bacon (a couple of handfuls) and olive oil, sweat it down in the pan by adding about 1/2 cup Water and medium heat, 20 mins or so, then add your stock (I use Vegeta and hot water) - about 250 mls, simmer for about 20 mins, then add either cream or low fat evaporated milk (I just use cream, I mean I eat so healthy overall, I'm not worried by a bit of cream) and blend it all up. Its absolutely delicious!

That sounds a little unusual, to still be able to overeat non slider foods. But I sort of hear you on the certain foods that work better. I've never found the solid Protein and then vegies routine all that great, I am still looking for food when I eat that way. The inclusion of something like potato, rice, Pasta or wholegrain bread makes all the difference to me with hunger levels. I get physical satiation either way, but it lasts longer with a carb included but more importantly I have that vital psychological satiation that blocks the craving for rubbishy foods like cake, biscuits, all those deadly between meal nibbles. But have you investigated WHY you've got this capacity - I mean 2 pizzas? I couldnt have eaten that BEFORE I had a band, it just screams that something is not right or that you just plain havent got enough restriction and need to be filled more.

That's very true. The thing that worries me with huge time commitments is burn out, that you'll just get sick of it being all you do. I was in your situation Ada when I got banded, three kids, not working, a full time student but that's very flexible. I had time to put into my weight loss and I used it. But I took up running knowing that I'd be going back to full time work when I finished my degree and that there would be days when half an hour is what I had. I really appreciate being able to burn 500 calories in half an hour now. You make a good point about what you can handle - you really need to listen to your body. I guess you have to read yourself well and listen to the signals your body sends you - if you work very hard at the one hour jazzercise, there's probably not a lot more to be gained from another class apart from some calories burned, which will be less than you burned in the first hour because you'll be tired. If you can handle it, and whilst its not boring you to do so much, then that's fantastic, but if you find yourself dog tired and slowing down for the rest of the day, rather than energised, its counter productive and the calorie burn is not going to be worth the time commitment. As to actual fitness putting the most into your hour class is really all you need to do, because its the intensity, not the length of time that counts.

I started with a BMI of 35 and lost weight well on 1500 calories or so a day. But I dont know exactly. I just followed my band, listened to my body and ate a lot less, and exercised a lot more. I never journalled or counted or worried that I lost 2.5 lb this week but only 1.588888 the following week, I just went with the flow. I know some people love the journalling and the rules and the whole "program" but reading your post it DOES add a lot of stress to this journey! My advice: do it the way that you want to if but dont drop calories any more than you need to. You know what you're eating and losing, if the equation isnt satisfying you eat a bit less, move a bit more. At 1500 a day you've got room to drop without danger of starvation mode, if that even exists.

The real way to progression is not more and more and more exercise, its to work smarter with the time you do have. Classes are great fun and you should continue to do them if you really like them. They're great "maintenance" if you like. So do your jazzercise class, but dont follow with another class, go into the gym and do some circuit training or an interval run on the treadmill or something like that. But if you really want to get to that next level of fitness its intensity that's required, not time. That means stuff like Rockstardiva has mentioned, and you're looking for the I'm going to vomit feeling, lol. Things like boxing and kickboxing, hardcore spinning, cicruit, interval running and bootcamp. I've found with this, my time commitment is about an hour a day, not too scary. I've been able to lose on about 1500 calories, I maintain on about 2000 and because of that, I can eat a balanced diet which supports the energy I expend. I can keep a looser band, so I can eat anything and enjoy living with a band. My routine is: Saturday boxing, sunday day off, monday bootcamp, Tuesday a run (about 10kms), Wednesday another run, Thursday bootcamp, Friday usually just a run on the treadmill, something easy. Try googling interval training, educate yourself about the benefits of super intense exercise, half an hour of real interval training will blow two hours of low impact cardio out of the Water. It will 'switch on' your metabolism like nothing else. I find my bootcamp and boxing that sort of training and my long runs are relaxing recovery. I come home from those intense classes barely able to walk, lol.