lellow

I don't think ac/dc is on iTunes. But dance music hmm. I actually found 'Single Ladies' really good for the right beat for cycling, and American Idiot by Green Day is good for running. Otherwise the Prodigy is AWESOME for keeping those feet thumping the pavement. Try Invaders Must Die, or Breathe, or Firestarter. Hysteria or Supermassive Black Hole by Muse is awesome for a run too. Anyway, those are some of my exercise tunes but they may not be to your taste!

I have a friend who is a lot like you. She got banded when she saw the success I had. But when she and I go out together, I pretty much know why, one year on, she hasn't lost any weight. We get to a restaurant. I order a salmon and some arancini (I don't avoid carbs) and I'll eat 1/2 of the salmon and 2 pieces of arancini. She'll eat 1/3 of the salmon and nothing else. Then we walk out of the restaurant and she'll stop and buy truffles. Then 10 mins later, she'll get an ice cream cone. She saves her 'band space' for sweets. Then wonders why she isn't losing. She exercises every day but will eat a bag of chips after her 'dinner' of steamed vegetables every night. What is in one bag of chips is equal to your entire calorie intake for the WHOLE DAY. No wonder she isn't losing. So only you can answer this: if you could only eat a small amount, would you use that small amount to eat the sweets and candy that you shouldn't? Coz the band will control your physical hunger but it will never control your head hunger. Lots of people fail with the band because you can eat around it. Do you want to be one of those people?

what kind of music do you listen to though? When I exercise, I like angry rock music. I dunno why but it makes me cycle faster, run longer and seems to pump up the adrenalin.

Pumpkin soup is quite filling. Cream soups that has been strained is good. I've blitzed potato and ham soup in the blender too lol. Or make yourself a shake to take the edge off.

I know in Australia, generally speaking, the one rule we have is 'don't drink your calories'. We don't do Protein shakes. I don't do Protein Shakes. You should be able to get enough protein with the solids you eat. When I was losing, there were days where I was tight, but I didn't supplement my protein with shakes. I didn't put in any more than my band allowed me to in solids. If I was hungry, I ate more solid foods and did not drink my food.

Hey all and welcome to the newcomers (but old-timers!). Heidib my friend, good to see you here! Well I went for my post-op appt today, brought forward a week due to the fact that my belly seems to be quite swollen, and found out some interesting things today. Turns out he didn't cut into me over the port site but instead went through my old body lift vertical scar - which is what I was hoping for - but that meant he had to do a fair amount of 'burrowing' to get to the old port. He also replaced the tubing, which he wasn't sure he would have to do. So overall there was significant trauma to the area to get it all fixed. Add that to the fact that I am quite thin now, and he expected the swelling to be significant, and it is. The second thing I learnt was that the leak in my tubing seems to have been caused by a tattoo needle. The leaking area has green ink staining it, and he was completely confused by it at first, then realised that it was the same colour as my tattoo. He believes that the tubing was close to the skin and the tattoo needle nicked it, and what started as a small, nearly indiscernible leak just kept getting bigger. He has taken pictures of the tubing (he showed me) because he said he was thinking of writing a report or paper on it, because he's never seen anything like it. But then again, how many people get tattooed on their stomach over their port area? So moral of the lesson: don't get tattooed anywhere near your port. It turned out it's likely I caused the leak myself. I'm a little peeved about it now. BUT the good news is he checked the liquid he put in at the op (4cc) and all of it was still there so it looks like the leak is fixed now. I've now got 5cc in there and am hopefully back on my way to health and to some restriction!

fluff at 6cc in a 10cc band, I had no restriction. We're all different. Took me about 8cc in a 10cc band to feel it.

Good to see you, Cherish! And woohoo on the tattoo! I can't wait to see a pic! You are a sexy grandma, so why wouldn't sexy grandpa find you attractive? Lol!

Hi JPS and welcome! I have to admit I too maintained easily and only began to worry about not having been committed to the lapband lifestyle once I sprung a leak in my band about 3 months ago now. Once I no longer had any restriction, I was amazed at how much the band had done for me in terms of portion control and hunger. Even so, in the last three months, I haven't gained, which I'm happy about. But it's been very very hard work. But my leak was hopefully fixed yesterday with a port replacement. My band, as I understand it, currently doesn't have any fill in it, and won't until my first post op appt on the 16th of March. So I'm still going it alone. I'm on liquids for 2 days (today is the second day) and it's not easy without a band, even after all these years of being a bandster. Well, time for me to make a shake for brekkie. I'm sore still and my tummy is swollen but nothing like it was yesterday. So on the mend now, thank goodness!

Oh and I have been known to ask the waiter to get the chef to please overcook my pasta, because I don't like my pasta al dente.

My band is leaking, and I have no restriction and I have to say I feel like this too. I maintained my weight for years, then no restriction and BAM I'm struggling with hunger. This isn't head hunger either, it's real hunger. After over 3 years of nearly never feeling, it's so dismaying to think that all the lessons I learnt about food and hunger is undermined by actual physical hunger. Don't get me wrong. I haven't had restriction in over 2 months now, and I've maintained but damn, compared to having the band, it's hard work. And the more I exercise, the hungrier I get. I did not have that when the band was working. I never realised how much the band did for me. And I miss it. I want it back. I think I could maintain without the band, because so far I've been able to, but - call me spoilt - I don't want to. I struggle with eating the same amount as a three-year-old. I am constantly hungry. My dr filled me right up at my last appt. I was starving when I got there, hadn't had time for lunch. And as he depressed the plunger on the syringe, I went from starving to not-the-least-bit-hungry. Oh what an amazing feeling! And then in the last week, the leak has meant that hunger is creeping back, and it annoys me no end! It's like getting the golden ticket, then losing it again! The good news is my port and tubing replacement op is tomorrow. I hope to god it fixes this leak. I think I will have a VERY big tantrum if it doesn't! Lol!

When I was well restricted and would go out with friends to a restaurant, I'd always order something more slidey than I wouldn't eat at home. I know it's counter productive but I don't eat out with friends often and I don't want to have to slow things up or spend my evening PBing in the toilets instead of socialising. If there is nothing too slidey, I would order and then pick on my food, and drink my wine instead. All my friends know I have a lapband though so they tend to ensure that there's something I can eat or we go somewhere else.

I chose the higher paying, higher responsibility job where the trade in was that I have less of a life outside of work. But I am not unhappy. My job challenges me to the nth degree and I feel most alive when I achieve things. And should I not feel that way, it's easier to trade your job down that try to get that opportunity again to trade your job up. I'm 42 and to me, I'm in the prime of my life as far as health and intelligence. The 40s is the time where we have so much to give in terms of maturity and experience too. If you want a career, I reckon this is the time to give it all you've got.