lellow

Haz it's LOUD. Like noticeably audible. Not something anyone could ignore. And it's started back up since my last fill (the boyfriend is very happy about that!) Again looks like it's unique to me...

The amazing thing I have found though is that good quality food actually tastes GREAT, makes you feel less heavy and bloated and though more expensive, it's only because the demand for good healthy, organic whole foods isn't there. How, as a society, we have been conditioned to think that mass-produced MacDonald's chicken nuggets, which taste like cardboard to me now, is worthy of any sort of craving, is beyond me. Give me a miso-marinated slab of beautiful codfish anyday....yummmmmm.

You can call your doctor, for sure. But in the meantime see if you can get some cold pineapple juice and sip it slowly. Pineapple juice is good for reducing swelling, and if you feel like you've irritated yourself at the back of your throat that might provide some relief. It always does for me after a stuck episode. I have pineapple juice stocked 24/7 at my house.

I know it's hard to believe but being too tight actually stalls your weight loss. Because the things that a tight band will tolerate tend to usually be high calorie foods. Never be too scared to get some fill out if you're too tight to eat solid food. A too tight band can lead to all sorts of complications you really don't want, and can stop you losing weight to boot.

They say that sneezing is an acceptable defence for losing control of your car for a split second.... ....just sayin'.....

Holy cow, if you're exercising and burning 1000 cals a day, no bloody wonder you're always starving! This is only my own personal opinion but 1 hour a day 7 days a week without a rest day is, to me, excessive. Even athletes have rest days. I agree with hazel in that she's just thrown up these variables to you and that to me doesn't teach you anything. Yes, you BMR drops when you lose, and therefore you need less calories to survive in general (and therefore need even less calories to lose) but I agree with you that a 0 net calorie balance for the day is just crazy talk, and even worse, probably unsustainable. In the green zone, even if I've exercised and am super hungry, I still can't eat more than 1200 cals a day if I'm eating good food. Protein fills me up and does the job of keeping me satisfied for 3 - 4 hours. But I also don't overexercise (4 x strength training for 20 mins a day now, and when I was losing, I did 3 x 40 min cardio a week, and that to me, is a pretty strict routine as it was), so I wasn't struggling with my body trying to get me to eat back my exercise calories so I didn't go into too much of a calorie deficit. There is a balance that needs to be struck, and I don't think the advice she gave you strikes the right balance. Just my opinion.

I was going to say the same as Mis. I spend more money on food than I did before. A grass fed, organic melt-in-your-mouth sirloin steak is going to cost more than a KFC meal, and if I can only eat a little bit, I want the food to be great quality and great tasting. So I don't actually think I've saved money on food at all.

Joanne great news on making that first appointment. I gained weight last year with a leak and for about 4 months just gave up. I kept gaining and it all felt to hard. But I too decided to take control back and now I'm rebanded, have lost most of the weight I'd gained and am back to living the bandster lifestyle. All it took was making that decision to go back and see my doctor.

Actually my surgery and the surgery of most Australian wls patients with private health insurance is covered by their insurance without jumping through all the hoops. I automatically qualified at a BMI of over 35 with a family history of diabetes. Spoke to my surgeon for the first time on 4 July, banded on 1 August, hit my goal weight 22 March the year after. Most Australian insurers don't believe a patient has to 'prove' that they're worthy of getting wls. Insurers in Australia are as much in it to make money as any insurer in the US, but unlike US insurers they're not looking for excuses not to give the patient what they need. They recognise that wls will save them money in the long run by preventing obesity-related diseases, and that it therefore is a worthwhile investment. There is no proof that having to do a psych evaluation, multiple information classes, seeing a nutritionist or having to do a supervised diet will mean more success for the patient. I'd like to see independent studies that support that assertion if US insurers are saying that's true. In fact, anecdotally, I find that the Australian banders I've spoken to are often MORE informed about lapbanding including the lifestyle choices they have to make, and what it will mean for them in the long run, and I suspect that has more to do with not spending so much time having to fight their insurance companies and having access to subsidised socialised medicine which means cheap access to aftercare.

Just on the point of psych evals, most doctors in Australia don't require you to do them. Nor attend information classes, or see a nutritionist, do a supervised diet or anything in order to qualify for the band. These are not pre-requisites for success with the band, as I obviously am testament to. I also didn't get a pre-operative report when I left hospital both times, with two different surgeons, and my first surgeon had been banding for 15 years and my 2nd surgeon for almost 2 decades. I didn't know what band I had until my first visit to my doctor both times (when I asked about it) and I don't think I've been at all irresponsible.

4 tenths of a cc is 0.4cc. Is that what you have in your band at the moment or was it a recent fill? My last two fills have been 0.1cc each, and I definitely felt the last one. 0.4cc is probably a little bit conservative but that's not a bad thing. My first fill ever was 0.5cc.

It actually never occurred to me that anyone might be confusing how the band is restricted around your stomach with being restricted from being able to eat, even though I've read that article before MIs. Now I get why people get confused by the term. I have talked about how being at the right restriction (of the band) will mean you will be in your green zone (little or no hunger, steady weight loss, satiety for 3 - 4 hours) but would always say that your SHOULD be able to eat, and eat well, with the band. If you can't eat, you're too tight. Now I wonder if I've just been confusing everyone! When I talk about restriction, I'm talking about FILL LEVEL that achieves the outcome of being satisfied on a less food for longer periods of time. The Green Zone is the perfect level of restriction where losing weight and maintaining it is easy.

I have times of the month I just wanna eat and eat. And stress used to be trigger, but I have since found that exercise and the endorphins they release is a MUCH better manager of stress levels. The only advice I have for you is to be prepared. I have cut up celery and carrots and I eat them dipped in hummus as a snack if I really feel like snacking. Or I have unroasted, unsalted nuts. You can't always get rid of the urge to snack, but you can stem some of the cravings with stuff that's still going to be good for you.

I actually think Mis has been very respectful in all her posts to you before you attacked her. Perhaps you were feeling attacked yourself and therefore can't see that she was trying to help you. When I read her posts I see genuine concern for you. I don't agree that she has attacked you or criticised you, though I do think she's criticised how responsible your surgeon may have been if he really put a non-adjustable band in you. I won't lie, I actually think it was irresponsible as well if it's true. Having said that, if he's saying you can adjust it without further surgery, I don't think you have a non-adjustable band at all, and all this kerfuffle is for nothing. When you next speak to him you really need to find out.

I had mine for 3 years before it sprung a leak and had to be replaced. A leak is a band complication and NOT a foregone conclusion, so it was actually a defective band as opposed to it just 'wearing out'. I expect my new band to last as long as I do.

Honestly, I think she's gotten the point that the non-adjustable band is old, potentially dangerous and hasn't been used for a long time. I think I see her point in that it's been done already and what she now needs is support. pampi whether you recognise it or not, that's what these ladies are trying to give you - support. Trying to get a doctor locally is actually a great idea just to keep an eye on you to see how you're going. Even with a perfectly working band, it's not a bad thing to have regular aftercare. Another thing about having someone local, is that complications with the band can sometimes occur very fast, and sometimes you don't have to time to get yourself to Mexico. The risk is there for all banders, not just in your specific case.

it is for some doctors yes. I was back on normal food in less than 2 weeks with my first surgeon. My second surgeon (for my replacement) was more conservative. Just follow your doctor's orders and chew slowly!

I have had all the surgery to remove the excess skin and to remove the 'lumpiness' and even then I'm ever vigilante, wondering if my band is working optimally, watching to make sure I don't gain a lb, freaking when I gain a couple, because that's how it started when my band started leaking, a couple of lbs here, a couple of lbs there, and before I knew it, I'd gained 35lbs. People were still saying to me, 'but you look amazing!' as if to say I should not be worried about those 35lbs. I had people tell me that they'd give anything to be a BMI of 27 (like I was then) when to me, it might as well have been a kick in the gonads. I worked hard for this, gaining 35lbs wasn't nothing, it was devastating. The scales were going the wrong way! So especially us oldies, we get it, we definitely get it. I hope your surgery will help you with some of how you feel, but mainly I think feeling like you can take that 5lbs off and keep it off is really what would help, and at our weight, even 2lbs is a struggle to lose.

Because it seems completely clear to me, I often make the mistake of thinking it must seem obvious to others. So here it is: If you are over-weight and don't have a band, losing weight without eating well/exercising is damned near impossible If you have a band and don't eat well, don't exercise or have no restriction, you're pretty much as above If you have a band, don't eat well, don't exercise and have some restriction, you may still lose, but probably not much, and eventually you'll probably start regaining If you have a band, eat well, don't exercise and have no restriction, you might still lose, but slowly If you have a band, eat well, don't exercise, and have restriction, you will lose steadily but may not lose ALL your excess weight. If you have a band, eat well, exercise and have restriction, you now have the trifecta and have given yourself the best chance of success with weight loss. I am a realist. If I don't exercise, I don't expect to lose fast. If I drink alcohol, then I expect that I will have to burn that off. If I don't have restriction, I expect to GAIN. The responsibility of how well I do is in my hands. No one else, and certainly not the band's alone. People say the band is a tool, and this is what it means.

Lol I'm getting cynical in my old age, I think.

See this isn't even about whether you're choosing good food over bad food, or about your will power over food, this is about whether you have put yourself at risk of slippage or even erosion. That's not about losing weight, it's about a complication so bad you could die. Saying 'I'll be good now, I'll just stay on liquids" to me isn't enough. I personally think you need to call your doctor's office and tell him/her what you've been doing. If he doesn't want to do any tests to see if you've damaged yourself, he might wish to put it in your notes in case you do start displaying symptoms of complications later on, that they can track the potential cause. Because if you had a kidney operation, you wouldn't then go out and binge drink two days after surgery, would you? This is no different. It really can be that serious.

I birthed 4 kids, 3 without pain relief, am covered in tatts, have piercings and have had multiple surgeries, but I still won't let anyone wax my bits!

I usually eat Protein for breakfast (if I'm not feeling too tight in the morning), and for lunch and dinner. I have protein first, veggies second (and with every meal) and if I have room I'll have carbs. Though I have meals where I'll only mainly have carbs (I'm Asian so I love my noodles), but I do that knowing that the carbs probably won't keep me full for long and I'll be hungry again shortly. I eat eggs, fish, shrimp, chicken, crab, mushrooms, beef, lamb, tofu as my protein sources all which easily keep me from feeling hungry at all for about 4 hours (when I have good restriction). So between meals I'm almost never hungry because of the hard protein I'm eating. And the added benefit is that your hair should come back if you increase your protein intake too!

That's what I love about LBT, there are people on here who are committed to this lifestyle and if you need someone to help, they're there. But don't expect them to coddle you, they will tell it to you straight, and if you take that support on board, you will come away with LOTS of incredible collective knowledge to help you every step of the way.