Jachut

It is amazing - and unexplainable. it works the opposite way too - since starting HRT my body has ah "redistributed". I have my saddlebags back - without gaining any weight. Sheesh. All my pants feel tight in the legs. I have washboard abs. Its a fairly inexplicable phenomenon - because although everyone loves to say muscle weighs more than fat (actually it doesnt, a pound is a pound, its just denser) - there is NO way on the sort of calorie deficits lapbanders have that you are building muscle at the same rate you can lose fat. You'd be winning Ms Universe in a few months time if you were that freak of nature. Just enjoy it, even if the lack of numbers lost on the scale is frustrating - who cares why it happens?

I've always been a runner and it worked really well for me - for many years. I push myself pretty hard, ran a few half marathons, ran through cancer treatment, ran on every vacation I went on, I never miss days. I also love spin classes and do two or three a week. I got the body I wanted, fit, toned, low body fat, never was interested in looking "muscular" - I even think a lot of the spin instructors look very bulky and masculine. Its served me very well - until really recently. Through having cancer and the medical attention that it brings, I've discovered problems with renal function, Iron levels, testosterone levels. In past months I have been unable to maintain my exercise intensity. I also broke a rib earlier in the year doing nothing more than trying to undo the knob on my spin bike. Moral of the story - dieting and exercising is great for your health but it can be done to extreme. I refused to listen to the demands placed on my body by illness, I continued to push it and make huge physical demands and in my refusal to gain some much needed weight i contined to keep my calories low (about 1300 a day on average).I just wanted to be the best that I could be, fit, slim and healthy and instead I really have overdone things. I've had my band seven years and whilst we all have years of fuel and good nutrition stores at first, they do deplete over time, especially when you make such big physical demands on yourselfr. So do P90X or Insanity - what a great way to a really fit and healthy body - but you must fuel it. I've never seen the point of "eating back exercise calories" but the black hole I've fallen into this year has wisened me up. I still dont believe in low carb high Protein but I now know that you cant run miles a day for years on a piddly calorie intake, especially if its made up of processed foods (I always ate good quality food). Honestly, a pound or two a week is enough for weight loss - fuel your body to make it really fit and get your metabolism up with great programs like these. But trying to lose super fast and exercise super hard is like two cars tied together pulling in opposite directions. that would be the only real problem I've come across - and it took seven years to show up. Physically speaking - no restrictions!

I know where you're coming from, although I've not had real dramas with my band I've had a slew of problems in the past year or two - following rectal cancer which was in no way band related. Cancer placed more demands on my body but at seven years my body has said ENOUGH! You need to feed me or I will quit working. I was in no way a super low cal dieter (lost on 1200 to 1500 a day, maintain there too) I eat well, ll food groups so it has taken years for the cracks to show but I have obviously needed extra to heal from big surgeries, chemo and radiation. Instead I have tried to prove how tough I am by dieting harder, running hAlf marathons, etc. It started ith disturbed slep, low testosterone, foot cramps, over time progressed to depression, renal problems (nothing too serious), depleted ferritin levels, and I suspect my abnormally low heart rte is not purely a result of great cardiovascular fitness. Diagnosis? Malnutrition! I am normal weight not scary skinny. But becoming more skinny fat by te day and unable to maintain exercise levels I could do whilst having chemo! You cannot starve your body for years on end, we do need to begin to eat more eventually and I think you're doing the right thing. We're all guilty of using the band too stringently, 1000 cal a day is for the short term only! I have not gained now I'm on 1800 so good lucky- I'm beginning to feel loads better.

My idea of the perfect body at the moment would be one that had enough iron, enough energy, perfect cholesterol levels and wasnt freezing cold all the damn time, lol. Just now I wouldnt care what it actually looked like.

Or - I went to a gluten free expo on Saturday here in Melbourne and sampled a new product called Slimpasta - its basically what you guys have a shirataki noodles (or kognac noodles). Calorie free, carb free, they just contain soluble fibre and that's it. I cooked them up last night with some homemade pesto (walnut and spinach mmmmm), sundried tomato, olives and smoked chicken and a bit of parmesan - OMG it was delish! They are more like noodles than pasta and dont taste like wheat pasta but a perfectly acceptable alternative for the calorie saving! We cant get spaghetti squash here - but I do also stirfry zucchini ribbons to have with bolognaise sauce and that's really yummy too. I adore pasta but the calories, sheesh. Even on bandster sized portions its still easy to end up with a 500 calorie meal which by the end of a day is too much for me, especially if I fancy a small glass of wine. I have to have gluten free pasta too - which is even MORE calories and generally crappy, high GI refined rice, potato flours.

I'm lactose intolerant - I buy lactose free milk nd yogurt. I have also got low renal function following cancer treatment - don't know why yet. I have been told by my onc to have a fairly moderate amount of Protein, I think 110 g is way too much if you know your kidneys are under stress! But that's my personal opinion, not a medical one.

What I'd worry about is not too much Protein but too much of the other crap that's in Protein shakes - the list if ingredients frightens me off them. What I'd do is add some more fibre, protein, good fats and nutrition with something like a banana and berry smoothie made with milk and a big heaping spoon of ground flaxseed, so many other thing in there that your body needs that protein shakes dont provide you and 300 calories or more, easy.

My sodium intake really only jumps above 1000 if I'm eating packaged foods. I find keeping saturated fat down, protein up way more of a problem

If I want chocolate then only chocolate will do. I could eat my way through a bucket of chocolate pudding andI would STILL end up eating real chocolate. I save myself a lot of calories by just having a bit of what I really wanted in the first place.

I had the same experience. early on I enjoyed food so much more - I wasnt shovelling it down and therefore was actually tasting it. And I lost my fear that eating it would make me fat! As I gained restriction, some foods lost their charm and some became downright repulsive - I loathe bread now and the smell of grilling cheese, ugh, I have to leave the house. So pizza,bread, toast and stuff, yuck, dont want it. Fruit lost its appeal. Then I got unfilled for chemo. Over that six months, bread tasted amazing, pizza was fantastic and an apple a real pleasure. Got filled again and suddenly those foods were horrid again. So weird! Now I have major IBS issues and food intolerances and am on a low fodmap diet - its so darn restrictive, and combined with not needing to eat a lot because of my lapband I just dont get much joy out of eating. I go out and there's literally NOTHING on a menu I can eat (cant have any garlic or onion, no wheat, no lactose). I end up with a bowl of wedges or fries and that's it. But I dont really care. I just dont care about food that much now.

Mandarins are in season here, and the little tiny Arafour ones are delish- no pips, hardly any strings, the first time mandarines have worked for me in seven years of being banded. I have also discovered that whilst cutting a kiwifruit in half and eating with a spoon blocks me up badly, I can bite through the skin and eat it that way, so I've been eating lots of kiwi. Bananas are good too. For a snack, I try to incorporate a piece of fruit and a Protein - almonds, walnuts, cold hardboiled eggs, or my latest favourite Bounce Balls (a Protein Bar alternative that doesnt taste like candles). meals lately have been homemade toasted muesli or this awesome Power Porrij (quinoa, amaranth, oats, almonds, chia), lunches cruskits or rice cakes with tuna, salmon, smoked salmon or roast beef and salad veg and dinners have been our usual meat and 3 veg type meals.

at home, I just go to the pantry, grab a few walnuts, grab a few choc chips and eat!

I have never really eaten Protein bars or drank shakes and mouthed off about it quite a lot here - how I dont think you need tons of protein (still dont) but I have had to see a dietician for other dietary issues and she recommended I get more protein than I do (some days only 50 grams). I loathe protein bars - they taste like candles - but I just cant get more protein from what I eat without a ton of saturated fat! So I have been having Bounce Balls - I dont know if you have them. They are DELICIOUS - fudgy and covered with nuts, and contain a good quality whey protein for the peanut and almond versions and taste like something home made -none of that waxy tasteless Protein Bar experience. And they dont contain such a list of chemicals as protein bars tend to. I have looked into making quinoa ones too as I have some quinoa and didnt really liked it cooked - how did they turn out? those Breakfast Cookies intrigue me - I'd swap the butter for a healthy Omega 3 spread - but they intrigue me enough to give the recipe a try! I could make them gluten free.

It just kind of happened naturally for me. My weight loss just got really really slow. It took me a year to lose the last 10lb! And then I didnt really lose anymore. Occasionally I lose some and occasionally I gain it back. Nobody can keep up the sort of strict eating you tend to do in the first year or two with the band - I've kept up the exercise, but I definitely eat more. There's just more treats, less thought about going out for a meal or having a few drinks etc. Those calories (for me anyway) added up to enough to maintain my weight. I find when I log and cut out the nibbling I still do lose weight - so if i were a perfect eater who only ate healthy foods three times a day, I would need to unfill a tiny bit. that said, i was an eat less move more loser - no low carb, no logging, no cutting out of any particular foods, and I was never tight. I ate 1200 to 15.0 a day to lose on average - just ballpark. If you're an 800 calorie a day strict rules dieter, then you might find you need to unfill to stop losing. Me, i think I learned how to handle food in a real life way outside the security of a "diet" by doing it my way but everyone's different

I also felt there was no way I'd settle for "overweight". But for some people that would be fine, those lucky women who are more muscular and can have curves without flab, for example. Me, I'm tall and skinny - my BMi is 20 but I could definitely stand to lse fat and gain muscle. But I have noticed that having a BMi of 20 makes health professionals really nervous, like you're going to suddenly become anorexic - it's simply where I ended up, by chance! It's a ballpark goal, nothing more. Your body composition is what counts. Skinny fat people like me need to be lighter than stronger, more muscular folks. I was still muffin top, belly roll, spanx under everything fat at a BMi of 28!

I make and freeze Soup in small portions for something hot, and usually have with a couple of cruskits or similar. I also bring Snacks. Today I had greek yogurt with bananau and walnuts (half a cup total) for morning tea, high fibre crisbreads with some tuna, avocado, sliced tomato and cucumber for lunch and have some carrot sticks and almond butter for afternoon tea. Sounds like a lot but I have a lot of really small containers!

Had you gained it *immediately* after surgery. Could be Fluid, they absolutely fill you with saline. I've had three ops and two hospitalisations in the past two years and gained about 10 temporary pounds each time, Or..... Did you lose a lot on your per op diet - you know that sort of loss is Water, not true fat loss right? It's vey common to regain a bit as your body equalizes. It sucks and is very demoralizing but ther is NO way you can gain 15lb of FAT in a week on reduced calories. It's got to be fluid.

About 210 lb from memory (I'm 5ft 10).

I dont actually think its too unreasonable - and not for 3-4 weeks out when your swelling has gone down and you hve no restriction yet. And I refuse to believe a couple of rice cakes is the difference between losing or not losing. personally, I'm surprised anyone larger who was used to a high calorie diet wouldnt lose quite fast on that sort of intake. I would lose weight now on that and I'm only 145lb these days. My question would be - did you do a pre op diet and did you lose weight on it? Because when you do that your post op period is not the shock to your body it would ordinarily be, in fact your food intake often increases. Your fast and easy weight loss has already been exhausted in the pre op phase and you've already settled into the slow and steady, so post op is often not as dramatic as you imagine it will be. I think if you keep at it, it will eventually start to drop. For myself, when I want to lose, I need to up the cardio to an hour at a time and make it six days a week. Four is maintenance level. Even if you keep up your gym routine and add a half hour work early every morning or something like that. But overall, I think you just need time and restriction.

I think you may be a bit too tight and are unable to get enough down at one time to keep you going fr a couple of hours. Two forkfuls of meatloaf and 1/4 cup of potato is not much of a meal, wouldn't get me from lunch to dinner!

I've got packets of zofran left from chemo, wish I could email it to you! Always always keep good anti nausea medicine on hand. I got gastro three days after surgery (thanks kids!) but maxalon saved me. Ice relieves nausea for me, as does icy cold soda Water.

The further out you get, the easier it is for bad habits to creep back. But te really important thing is to keep getting back on that damn wagon. At seven years out I am so used to my band that it feels like its doing nothing, but I realize the deviations are my choice and no fault of the band. I suck at dieting, I seem to have a splurge day very third day ately. But because I don't give up and because I m a very regular exerciser, I don't often gain and if I do, it's only a little and it's gone in a day or two. Just keep doing what you know you should and don't bet yourself up for the odd indiscretion.

Mine sat round there for over a year post bowel surgery - I had an ileostomy which was very active and I was pouring fluid out of my body 24/7 so I attribute it to dehydration. As soon as I had the ostomy reversed I gained 3kg literally overnight and my bp returned to its normal 110/65 and pulse back up to the high 40's (normal for me as a runner)

The trouble is I find I have no off switch and I can't be satisfied by a small portion, one or two Cookies just mkes me want more. So I avoid keeping those foods in the house, control the impulses to buy them and accept when I do have them, it's going to be a major pig out. I don't binge in that I do stop before being totally full or even sick, but I can easily eat my way through 800 calories. However, I'm very active and maintaining for years now and it truly doesn't seem to affect my weight. I usually then skip dinner and even breakie the next day coz I'm just not hungry. I'm dysfunctional around sugar and that's just how it is. For me there is no way to control or tame it. Good balanced Protein containing meals and willpower keeps me away 99% of the time but once I start to eat it, it's all over.

I've ony needed to once in seven years, unfortunately alcohol was involved, lol. And no, I couldnt. I retched and such but nothing came up.