Jachut

Mine grumbles from time to time, which wouldnt worry me apart from the fact that for the last few months, my digestion hasnt been the best - I have constant mild (and smelly) diarrhoea and am more gassy than normal. Thankfully not so bad I cant control it, lol, but if I let one out, I can clear a room. I am extremely slack for not getting this checked out, I just dont want another surgery. I really need to rule out other causes of the bowel issue but the two often go together. I'm almost FIVE years out from lapband surgery and have maintained my weight for two and a half, so it can rear its ugly head any time I guess. I'd have an attack of pain only once every six months. I just dont want more scars on my tummy! I'm 42, almost 43 and have enjoyed the first chance in my life to wear a bikini, but if I have a fresh set of scars that have to heal and fade, I'd say my bikini days are over, sigh. How vain is that?

Since I was banded, I finished a university degree and returned to full time work. I'm a teacher, so I eat in a staffroom every lunchtime. Its Education Week in Victoria and tonight is an Open Night, so I'm hanging round till 7.30 and will eat dinner in the staffroom too. Nobody here would have any clue that I'm banded. I get occasional ribbing when we've eaten out about leaving so much on my plate, but nobody would know anything other than I dont eat big meals. I can eat "small normal" sized meals, meaning when I serve myself its about a cup of food which I eat slowly. It doesnt look pathetically small, and if I'm eating out, I usually leave about 1/3 of my meal (our meals in Australia re nowhere NEAR as big as standard US serving sizes generally though!). so no, I dont sit there stuck after three mouthfuls, miserable and standing out while everyone else tucks in. In fact, I enjoy my food very much. I dont have a tight band though, I'd rather have less fill and exercise more to allow me to eat that way.

I never felt invisible and I dont really feel any different about myself now than I did before. There's more confidence there before, but whilst I totally defined myself by my weight before, I actually still do now. I can have a fat day over 1 lb. I guess what I'm saying is there's thin and there's thin. Naturally thin people, you ASSUME, never think about food, dont obsess about their weight, dont define themselves by what the scale says. That aint necessarily the case. For me personally, I tend to view myself more as "in recovery". I will always have head issues over my weight, I will never be able to eat exactly what I want when I want and not feel some anxiety over it - although I've worked really really hard towards that end which is why I've always refused to diet, do Protein shakes, count protein, fat or carbs, avoid any food etc with the band. Its really helped me to become more normal, but I dont think I'll ever be a "thin" person in the sense you mean. I view my running and exercise and the band as the two tools that allow me a bit of normality because they mean I can pretty much eat as I like. But that doesnt mean I dont plan every day to be better than the last, berate myself for "failures" etc. I wish I could get over that but I dont think I ever will. And .... over time you get used to your normal thin body and forget what your fat one was like, so you start to get dissatisfied with every little lump and bump, same as you were before. Sorry, that's not the most positive post, its a bit tiresome to think life will always be like that. But I really view obesity as a disease with many facets and if people suffering other diseases get on and make the most of life, then we can too. Its just one part of us. but on a more positive note, a lot of the anxiety has left me. I know I can wear whatever I want to any event, when I think of the pain I used to go through when somethign dressy cropped up, I had to go looking about 50, it was just so depressing. I can participate in any event, not that I couldnt, but I can run around in public for example, without rolls of belly flopping out. I'm happy to go to the beach, I'm really looking forward to an upcoming holiday etc.

these are pretty old posts, the 4cc band was in more common usage a couple fo years ago. I have one, I think its got 2.8cc in it, probably a bit less now as it hasnt been filled in well over a year. I could use a teeny tiny top up probably.

I will swear blind that at least half of my excess weight was unexplained, dont know why it happened weigh gain from my six years of breastfeeding. It never made me noticeably hungier and I was always very good about long walks every day and not sitting around the house when I had young babies, but I just gained and gained and gained whilst breastfeeding. I never gained a lot in pregnancy either, well under 20lb, and I always between 15 and 30lb extra before I had babies, that's it. Suddenly after babies it was 100lb! I probably put on40 to 50 from breastfeeding and the rest was me giving up and becoming a complete greedy piggie once I'd lost control of my weight and got too heavy to do a lot of effective exercise. Its entirely possible its the same for you and if you're not gaining, you're actually doing very well.

Sigh. this is definitely the bad side of the band. I have a very well behaved band, generally speaking, and public pb's have only happened once or twice, once there was no bathroom available and I went sliming down the main street in Byron Bay, puking on the railway tracks, in the park etc all the way home. It was pretty awful, but also the only really bad not over in a second pb I've ever had in almost five years. I actually think I could use a small top up fill after no fill for over a year. But I'm really enjoying my ability now I've gone back to full time work, to eat in the staffroom without undue fear of embarrassment. I havent told the other staff about my band, they're not people who knew me before. I just keep not getting that fill because I dont want to let go of the normality I've regained - and truth be told, I'm not sure it would be healthy to - I mean surely you've got to stop relying completely on the band sooner or later? I just figure if I gain, I'll be in there like lightening, lol.

English and Irish mainly. My dad gave up on doing the family tree when he got back to about 1000 people named Murphy from County Cork, Ireland, lol. Bog standard, common anglo ancestry anyone? I do have a german great grandmother on my dad's side though. I'd like to put in an order for some Asian or mediterranean genes though please. I'm a bit tired of being a boring looking pasty white brown haired green eyed caucasion, I need a bit of something exotic in my blood.

You should be fine. Assuming its a standard yard and pretty easy to mow. Not an acre of waist high grass?

Well, I've had my band for five years almost and I'm still a happy camper. Its never ever given me any trouble and never restricted me so much that I've been miserable and unable to eat in any given situation. I can always tackle something of what's on offer, i lost weight easily, I keep it off easily, I love love love my band.

I've had arguments on here before with fans of other WL surgeries who like to get on here and band bash. One guy insists that adjustability is no advantage, that it makes the band a poor choice. Old age was the first thing that came to mind for me for that one. My grandad went through a long period where he lost his swallowing ability and damn near died several times from choking. My nanna got and my auntie (her daughter) is getting - absolutely skeletal in old age, I share their body type. Both reasons to my way of thinking for being able to completely unfill the band, but not necessarily need another surgery. But the best thing is, if your family decides the band must come out, then it can come out and you will have a stomach in one piece. It probably wouldnt function entirely normally after all that time, and you might well end up on a pureed diet (but a lot of old people do) but it can come out. You're right, you need your wits about you eating with a band, but at least it can be adjusted.

Well, I think you have to do what is right for you and not what is right for your mother. And I agree, theren are a lot of things that can go wrong with a band. But there are ALSO people non here, not a lot, but some, who have had way more trouble with sleeves (reflux, not being able to tell when full, vomiting and foaming etc) than I have ever had with a band. It is possible to have a well functioning pain free trouble free band - well at least I'm talking five years down the track. And the best bit about a band? Now I'm maintaining, have maintained for 2 and a half years, i dont need my band tight anymore. Its only filled a little, I can eat 2000 calories a day and I can eat in public, with others, normal, satisfying and well varied meals. I feel almost like I dont have a band at all anymore, except that it does still put paid to OVER eating, just not to normal eating. I've actually probably vomited maybe 10 times in 5 years with the band and always due to eating too fast or a bit too much (those last few bites). This appears to be equally a problem with the sleeve. But overall, this is a sleeve forum, and people are happy with their choice, so I wont go on too much. I think if you're going to consider any WLS, then you're going to have to decide to live with the effects of whatever you choose. Nothing is perfect.

I lost easily on about 1500 calories a day. I know we've all used the excuse of a "slow metabolism" for being overweight, I did too. But in hindsight, given I ate about 1500 to lose and maintain on about 1800 (I certainly dont need my band tight for that!) I dont think I fit into the slow metabolism camp, although all the charts say that at my height and activity level, 2500 a day or so for maintenence would be where I should be at. There is no way I can eat that much, I got fat on that much! However I am a slug without starches and grains in my diet. I cant run well, I cant exercise well, I cant make it through the day and my bowels complain mightily. I avoid sugary white carbs, but every day includes at least a serve of something like oatmeal, some bran, brown rice or Pasta and I'm not the least afraid of potatoes either. I find just a little starchy food like that fills my stomach much better and makes a meal stick for me. As you can see, everyone is completely different and there's no right or wrong to it. I dont believe at all that wholegrain carbs are nutritionally worthless but some people need more than others and some people's bodies handle them better than others. That's something you need to work out for you. Same with calorie level, my idea of how tight a band should be would never ever have allowed me to survive on 800 a day, I'd have starved!

My face has softened a little with maintenance, I'm not gaunt, but I think I'd look softer and a bit younger with more fat on my face. Unfortunately, I cant choose. Courtney Cox once said as you get older you have to choose between your face and your ass, and that's VERY true. I look at my ass and think 15lb more would do me the world of good, but I look at my face and I'm definitely bordering on too thin - my shoulders are very bony, my neck very thin (I can gross my kids out by clenching my jaw and making all the cords stick out). I mean, I cant even get a spray tan even because it pools in the deep hollows of my collar bones! My face does not need to be one single bit thinner. I think I've officially reached the point where to shrink my lower regions, I really would have to consider lipo or more major cosmetic surgery. I just dont have more weight to lose up top and up top is exactly where it would come from. My boobs have even shrunk so much they no longer sag and for someone that's had saggy boobs since puberty, that's miraculous.

I reckon it did take me about 45lb and that's even with a starting BMI of 36. I lost about 100 in total to get to a BMI of 22, but yeah, I was surprised how long it took for me to no longer look fat. I think its because even though I'd lost, at say 200 lb (I'm 5ft 10) I still WAS fat. It may have been better than 250, but it was still pretty darn hefty. I was looking for things like bony shoulders, a flat stomach, visible shoulder blades and hip bones. It took a long time to see that and the most gratifying and noticeable changes in my body - that metamorphosis of fat person into thin - that didnt come until I was well under a 30 BMI. Prior to that, I was just a smaller version of my fat self. Other people didnt really comment convincingly until I'd lost about 45 either. Also, because I "wore" my fat fairly well, I carried it very evenly and am tall, so i didnt have any really obvious features like a big apron belly or really ginormous boobs, I was just what I call "football player big", there was nothing that disappeared all at once, I just gradually shrunk all over and eventually bones started becoming visible. (not that I wanted to look like a skeleton by any stretch, but to me, normal weight means collarbones, shoulder blades, hip bones, knees and elbows are visible and stomach is flat).

The rumblings - well some girgling from your stomach is normal after banding, a bit like when you watch a stopped up drain empty, you know how bubbles "erupt". that happens in your stomach too. But if its rumbling AND you're gassy, then you're probably full of air, and its simply a case of wind. This could very well settle, its only been a couple of days. I notice that my belly is very rumbly when I lie down, relaly loud, and you can feel the air moving around in there, but it doesnt translate into farting all the time, lol (thank goodness). Nor do I feel bloated, its just "there".

hahahaha, yes I twitch after a run.

I can identify with that feeling, and its one thing I think is problematic with the band becuase I think it keeps you in that dieting headspace. I'm conditioned through dieting my entire life to expecting to be hungry. I spend my entire losing phase convinced I wouldnt lose THIS week becuase I was a piggy and had eaten too much. Even five years down the track, every day feels somewhat like one of those "bad days" from pre band, where you go to bed vowing to do better the next day. I just constantly feel like I havent done well enough becuase I'm full and satisfied. What I tend to do though is not "allow" myself to eat enough at meals and then wonder why I get the bikkie attack at 4pm - the cravings that send me for the chocolate biscuits. Yet, allowing myself to actually eat at that time feels somehow wrong. I'm working very hard on this and am slowly overcoming it. It just doesnt compute for many of us - we cant possibly be not hungry, that means we've done somethign wrong.

I knew that at 5ft 10 and about 170lb for a lot of my mid teens, I was always the big fat chick in any group of people - I certainly didnt catch the eye of the boys. At about 16, I made a concerted effort and slipped down to about 154 - better but still far from the petite girl I longed to be. I knew however that 154 is a good, healthy, sustainable weight for me, so that was my initial goal.I also knew I'd want to go a bit further, which I have. But what surprises me is that 154 at my adult weight is WAY thinner than it was when I was a teen - partly perception becuase everyone around me is fully grown now, but also becuase I guess now although I was sporty as a teen, I'm now at a much higher level of fitness and I'm probably more muscle, less fat. As it turns out, I have a fairly slender body type and could easily get down to 140 without getting scary skinny, but I havent managed it and am not sure I could sustain it. 150ish suits me pretty well. I maintain it absolutely effortlessly, my weight never wavers and I'm also almost 43. For me, its a BMI of about 22, for you it will be a point or two higher, and really, what's unrealistic of maintaining a healthy BMI of 24ish? Its not really thin, its just healthy.

That's partly why I took up running - to cover that sort of distance in an hour. In answer to the previous poster who asked if those at goal fear gaining weight back - its a no for me. I do run about 5 to 6 miles a day in slightly less than an hour a day and I know I can reliably find that sort of time. If I need to cut it short then i can still cover 3 miles in half an hour or so, still a decent session. Because I do so much exercise, i can literally eat what I want and I have not gained an ounce in 2 and a half years. I really do think exercise is the key to not regaining.

That would worry me. I really was considering a small fill, just to see if I could lose 10lb more. Then I realised that I cant not eat for the rest of my life, that at a BMI of 22 I need to worry more about maintaining a healthy diet for the long term and that MUST be a decent calorie level - more around 1500 or so. There's no point not eating. For me, at a healthy weight already, it borders on dysfunctional to consider doing that to myself. But I think most of us will always be cursed with thinking we are still fat. Nutrition is important. So many things can go wrong with your body through not eating right and the post banding diet is very low in calories but also restricts us from many foods - for me and many others I find fruit and veg difficult to eat, which is a real worry. YOu may be thin but you will definitely not be healthy if you spend the next 25 years on Protein shakes and cottage cheese. So if you really cant eat more than 600 I'd suggest you are too tight. If being busy and such keeps you from it, then its much harder, like most people you relaly have to strive to make room for your health in a busy lifestyle.

You sound too tight. A small unfill would probably make all the difference. Also, if you're staying on mushies and chips/crackers for days at a time, that's going to be a lot more calorific than proper solid food. An unfill could actually see BETTER weight loss.

Ooh, I need me some of those glasses! I see somethign that looks more like a large cauliflower than an ass when I look in the mirror. Sigh. These complications do pass, lol. My credit card needed CPR and being married to an anal retentive accountant sure helps. But I still have too many clothes to fit into TWO wardrobes!

Flying doesnt make me tighter, it doesnt happen to everyone. But if you're touch and go anyway, then you need an unfill, period. Not for the vacation, but becuase you're too tight. In that case I *would* unfill slightly. Being too tight and especially being really unable to eat for weeks would be miserable. And I think we need to remember, we need to eat to live! Being sort of pleased b

Question is, are you losing? if you are losing, then it doesnt matter if you can eat 2 cups of food at meals! there is no need to strive for that common half cup goal if you dont need to eat that little to lose. Nor is there any need to hanker after not being able to eat certain foods if you find you can eat them and still lose. I never found it necessary to give up bread, for example. If you are losing reasonably (1 to 2lb a week) without clinging on by sheer willpower, then you dont need a fill, even if you need a snack between meals. If your weight loss isnt satisfactory, then its probably time to reduce calories more, which means a fill.

My doctor said something similar to me, he chose a 9.75cm 4cc band, which was more commonly in use 5 years ago when I was banded. I dont have particularly small organs he said, not a tiny stomach, but not as much fat around it at a BMI of 36 as someone may have at 46. So i got the smaller band. I've always had great restriction with this band, I think its easier to get restriction with them than the newer bands, much easier, but the newer bands' designs have less risk of erosion and slippage. However, I do have over 3mls in my band and can easily eat bread, can eat about a cup or a bit more of food at a time etc. So to have the "tightness" that others seem to want, I'd have to go close to the limit. Thankfully, I've never seemed to need that level of restriction, I lost all my weight easily still eating a reasonable amount of food and from all food groups.