longingtobelean

Hi Megsy, Don't worry about lines on the face.......it's better than rolls on the tum! Sounds like you are going great......at least you are motivated to start walking......something I have been procrastinating about for months! Keep up the good work. Tracy

Hey 27 Januaries, How is everyone going? Anyone had fills yet? I have had 2 so far (total 3ml) but not feeling a great deal of difference just yet. Need to be very careful when I start eating to chew reeeaally well for the first few bites until everything gets working. Then I can eat way too much. No problem to get about 3 cups of food down, so hoping the next fill will be the one that will put a stop to that! Have lost about 8 Kg so far but weight loss is very slow with the amount that I can eat. Missing fresh white bread a bit but I even struggle now with soy and linseed toast so I have no desire to attemp it. chips also hurt, so they are gone! Only PB'd twice but both times did not chew well when I started to eat.........own stupid fault. Hope you are all doing well. keep me posted on how you are all going. Any major problems? Cheers, Tracy

Hey Jacqui, I also had two weeks off work....probably could have gotten away with one but you will still be a little tired :smile2: in the second week and if you can afford it it will help your recovery to get some rest. I wouln't take any longer though......you are on liquids still then, but starting to feel really hungry and the distraction of work will help with that. Everyone recovers differently but if everything goes as planned you should be OK. I was told not drive for a week but was good to go after 4 days, so it just depends how well you heal I guess . Good luck.......you will not look back. Tracy

I'm Hungry still! Not at 'green zone' yet and can't wait to get there. Eating way too much for my liking. Had a couple of glasses of wine when I got home from work last night and of course this makes you even hungrier....then put away a whole pork fillet steak (about the size of my palm) with salad. I suppose I shouldn't be whinging..... I used to be able to put away 2 steaks, plus chips with salad and garlic bread to boot. But not going to get the weight loss I am looking for when I am still eating so much. Can't do chips and bread anymore because they hurt :thumbup:.....pleased about that, but still miss a 'sanger' now and then. One more week until next fill. Doc said if I am feeling some restriction to leave it a month this time but not feeling enough to cancel my appointment. Still get hungry too often so I am going in for more in the hope that this next one will make a significant difference. Have only lost about a kilo in the last 4 weeks, so it's been a bit disappointing.....but hey.....at least I haven't put weight on .

I'm Hungry still! Not at 'green zone' yet and can't wait to get there. Eating way too much for my liking. Had a couple of glasses of wine when I got home from work last night and of course this makes you even hungrier....then put away a whole pork fillet steak (about the size of my palm) with salad. I suppose I shouldn't be whinging..... I used to be able to put away 2 steaks, plus chips with salad and garlic bread to boot. But not going to get the weight loss I am looking for when I am still eating so much. Can't do chips and bread anymore because they hurt .....pleased about that, but still miss a 'sanger' now and then. One more week until next fill. Doc said if I am feeling some restriction to leave it a month this time but not feeling enough to cancel my appointment. Still get hungry too often so I am going in for more in the hope that this next one will make a significant difference. Have only lost about a kilo in the last 4 weeks, so it's been a bit disappointing.....but hey.....at least I haven't put weight on :thumbup:.

Yay! Back on real food :drool:. To all those who assured me that the missing food thing would pass......thanks heaps........it has :thumbup:. I have practically no restriction and feel like I can just about eat anything. Everything I have tried has not been a problem. Pasta, diced up meat (haven't tried steak or bread yet on Dieticians advice), rice, sausages, crackers and cheese etc, all seem to go down without a fuss :tongue:. But...........I am getting hungry way too often! I only eat a small meal (1 and a half cups or a bread and butter plate worth) but an hour later I am hungry again. Need to have a fill badly.:huh2: I have my post op visit with Doc Peck tomorrow so I will tell him about it and see when he will put some fluid in my band :drum:. 8kg down on my starting weight but not game to look at the scales in the last few days in case I have stuffed it up with all of the 'snacking' I am doing . As soon as the rain is gone I will have to start 'pounding the pavement' and get motivated to do some crunches. Want that 'Bikini Belly' to look good next year!!!!! :thumbup:

Yay! Back on real food :drool:. To all those who assured me that the missing food thing would pass......thanks heaps........it has . I have practically no restriction and feel like I can just about eat anything. Everything I have tried has not been a problem. Pasta, diced up meat (haven't tried steak or bread yet on Dieticians advice), rice, sausages, crackers and cheese etc, all seem to go down without a fuss :mad:. But...........I am getting hungry way too often! I only eat a small meal (1 and a half cups or a bread and butter plate worth) but an hour later I am hungry again. Need to have a fill badly.:huh2: I have my post op visit with Doc Peck tomorrow so I will tell him about it and see when he will put some fluid in my band :tt1:. 8kg down on my starting weight but not game to look at the scales in the last few days in case I have stuffed it up with all of the 'snacking' I am doing :thumbup:. As soon as the rain is gone I will have to start 'pounding the pavement' and get motivated to do some crunches. Want that 'Bikini Belly' to look good next year!!!!! :eek:

Hi Ronni, Nice to hear from another Mid North Coaster!:smile: I have my 3 week post op visit with Dr Peck tomorrow and I am hoping he will tell me when my first fill is due as I seem to be hungry a fair bit and even though I only eat small meals compared to what I used to, I still feel I am eating too much.:scared2: Without any restriction I can just about eat anything, but on Jodie's advice I still have not touched bread yet. I had roast pork for tea tonight (chopped up fine) with some baked and steamed veges (enough to fit on a bread and butter plate) and smothered it all in gravy........Yuuuum:drool:. I don't know whether this will change after I have a fill or not..........I am hoping I can still eat most of my favourite foods. Is there anything you love that you can no longer eat?:crying:. How many weeks after your Op did the Doc do your first fill? How are you going with your weight loss.......are you near your goal? I am down about 8kg since the start of Optifast but fear if I don't get some restriction soon I will undo all of the good work done in the past 5 weeks . The rain has been lovely over the past few days. We have property so we really needed it, but we have had enough for now. Hate spending the weekend indoors . Talk again soon, Cheers from Tracy

I'm back! Complete with my newly installed 'mid-band'. Operation took about 50 minutes and it seemed I was out of recovery and back in the HDU in no time.:eek: (with my mummy waiting for me......it was a great relief to see a loved one after going under.) Had a fairly rough night, but only because the drip was making me want to go to the loo every 2 hours and I had to get unhooked from the monitors and re-plugged when I got back into bed each time so it did not make for a good nights sleep.:toetap05: Hubby came to pick me up the next day when he knocked off work at around 4.30pm, so I got to stay a little longer in hospital and doze through the day to try and catch up on some rest. It was really nice to have a shower the next morning and run the hot water on my shoulders as I had some reffered pain :crying: in my shoulder blade from where they blow you up with the gas. This passed in a day or 2 thank goodness. I was told not to drive for a week but I was fine to drive the 45 minutes to see my Mum in hospital on her Birthday on day 4 post op. Did not find it at all uncomfortable and even getting in and out of 4WD was no trouble. Struggling with the whole 'not eating' thing though........I really miss the comfort of food and the taste of it. :frown: It is very difficult to make a meal for the family and sit there and watch them enjoy it whilst I drink soup and fluids! It's not that I feel hungry......I don't really........I just want to eat! Other banders have ensured me that this passes when I can start eating solids, but it is a natural process that everyone has to go through at this stage. I get very cranky :confused: at meal times because I miss food so much, so I try to stay away from everyone when they are eating. I have my dieticians visit in 2 days and can't wait for her to tell me to start eating mushy food! I am already planning my dinner that night of mashed potato, pumpkin and broccoli with gravy.:drool: Weighed myself this morning and 6.5 kg down (92kg) from when I started the pre-op diet so I am pretty happy with that. Have to start walking again this afternoon to burn more kilojoules .

I'm back! Complete with my newly installed 'mid-band'. Operation took about 50 minutes and it seemed I was out of recovery and back in the HDU in no time.:eek: (with my mummy waiting for me......it was a great relief to see a loved one after going under.) Had a fairly rough night, but only because the drip was making me want to go to the loo every 2 hours and I had to get unhooked from the monitors and re-plugged when I got back into bed each time so it did not make for a good nights sleep.:blushing: Hubby came to pick me up the next day when he knocked off work at around 4.30pm, so I got to stay a little longer in hospital and doze through the day to try and catch up on some rest. It was really nice to have a shower the next morning and run the hot water on my shoulders as I had some reffered pain :heart: in my shoulder blade from where they blow you up with the gas. This passed in a day or 2 thank goodness. I was told not to drive for a week but I was fine to drive the 45 minutes to see my Mum in hospital on her Birthday on day 4 post op. Did not find it at all uncomfortable and even getting in and out of 4WD was no trouble. Struggling with the whole 'not eating' thing though........I really miss the comfort of food and the taste of it. :thumbup: It is very difficult to make a meal for the family and sit there and watch them enjoy it whilst I drink soup and fluids! It's not that I feel hungry......I don't really........I just want to eat! Other banders have ensured me that this passes when I can start eating solids, but it is a natural process that everyone has to go through at this stage. I get very cranky :thumbup: at meal times because I miss food so much, so I try to stay away from everyone when they are eating. I have my dieticians visit in 2 days and can't wait for her to tell me to start eating mushy food! I am already planning my dinner that night of mashed potato, pumpkin and broccoli with gravy.:mad: Weighed myself this morning and 6.5 kg down (92kg) from when I started the pre-op diet so I am pretty happy with that. Have to start walking again this afternoon to burn more kilojoules .

Hi all, :eek: 7 days post op now with my brand new 'midband' installed. Going fairly well but missing the comfort of eating :w00t:. The whole hospital experience was fine. Op only took 50 minutes and I had minimal pain. The worst part was getting out of bed every 2 hours to go to the loo because of the drip. Made it hard to get a good nights sleep. Out the next day and just had a bit of discomfort whilst band was settling in for the first few days. Soon discovered that I cannot start the day off with juice as it is a bit too acidic for first thing in the morning so I kick off with a cup of tea and drink the juices later in the day. Wounds are getting itchy now so they must be healing well.:thumbup: I am a tummy sleeper and I have been able to sleep comfortably on my tummy for the last 2 nights.:tt2: I see my dietician on Friday and I can't wait to start on mushy foods so that I can eat 'real' food blended. It has been very hard to cook meals for my family and watch them eat them whilst I drink soup! :tongue:. Doctor told me not to Drive for a week but I was fine on the fourth day and drove to Hospital to see my mum who had just had major surgery. It was easy to get into 4WD and I put the seat right up so that I was sitting up straight and had no trouble with 45 minute drive. Is everyone else looking foward to tasty foods again? So Glad to hear you are going OK Granny and Tas. Cheers, Tracy :drool:

D-Day tomorrow! Not very good at this blog thing......havent written much in here.:cheatfree: Had a much better week on the optiyuk this week and made myself busy this weekend with cleaning house and washing the car etc. so didn't think about food much. Got some hot chips for the kids for lunch today though and just had to have a couple.....Bad...Bad girl!:cheatfree: Hospital said I can have piece of toast at 6am because my surgery is not scheduled till around 1.30pm, so I am looking forward to toast and vegimite for brekky.:Banane37: Have lost 4.4 kg on the pre surgery diet so I am fairly happy with that result. I hope it has been enough to shrink my liver for the surgery. Hubby and kids coming to see me off in hospital but I have asked them not to stay. Could be a while getting out of recovery and I don't want them to just hang around and wait as they have 45 minute trip home. My Mum lives 5 minutes away from hospital so she is going to stay till I'm out of recovery. Thank God for Mums!:Banane37: Getting a little nervous but more worried how I will go with the chewing.....I normally 'shovel' my meals in......always first at the table to finish, so this will be very new to me:huh2:. A means to an end. Just have to keep chanting 'Bikini or bust' in my head.

D-Day tomorrow! Not very good at this blog thing......havent written much in here.:ohmy: Had a much better week on the optiyuk this week and made myself busy this weekend with cleaning house and washing the car etc. so didn't think about food much. Got some hot chips for the kids for lunch today though and just had to have a couple.....Bad...Bad girl! Hospital said I can have piece of toast at 6am because my surgery is not scheduled till around 1.30pm, so I am looking forward to toast and vegimite for brekky.:thumbup: Have lost 4.4 kg on the pre surgery diet so I am fairly happy with that result. I hope it has been enough to shrink my liver for the surgery. Hubby and kids coming to see me off in hospital but I have asked them not to stay. Could be a while getting out of recovery and I don't want them to just hang around and wait as they have 45 minute trip home. My Mum lives 5 minutes away from hospital so she is going to stay till I'm out of recovery. Thank God for Mums!:wink2: Getting a little nervous but more worried how I will go with the chewing.....I normally 'shovel' my meals in......always first at the table to finish, so this will be very new to me:huh2:. A means to an end. Just have to keep chanting 'Bikini or bust' in my head.

Hey all, Don't worry Granny about only losing 2kg.....you have probably stripped all the weight off your liver, which is what it is aimed at doing. Sounds like you have been good and done all the right things so it should get results even if you see them on the scale. Is everyone getting a little nervous now? I had my pre-surgery clinic on Tuesday and Surgeons visit Friday so am good to go! :thumbup: Hospital rang Friday and said I can have light brekky at 6am (might shout myself a piece of toast and vegimite as a good bye present) as I am not getting done till after lunch.........probably around 1.30. Packed my hospital bag today but they are aiming to have me out by 10am the next day so I wont need much. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.......have a great Australia Day. :party: I will check in again on Monday night to wish everyone well. :w00t: Cheers :cheers2: Tracy

It's Sunday afternoon and I am bored :cursing: and hungry. 9 days to go until surgery and I am struggling through the optifast stage. I am looking foward to some roasted vege's when I do the family Sunday Roast tonight, but it will be hard to cut up the meat and dish it out without trying some :redface:. Reading through the some of the inspiring results that people on these forums have posted is what is keeping focused on my ultimate goal of looking like a healthy 45 year old mum. :thumbdown:

Hello all, I have only just found this thread (there are so many of them) and I am also scheduled for January 27th. I am on day 7 of Optifast and going OK but really missing meat and bread! Lost 2 kg so far. Megs it sounds like your op went really well if you are back at work and running around with the kids already. Sounds promising for me because I have a busy work schedule commencing on the 10th Feb so I am hoping everything goes textbook for me and I recover quickly. I have heaps of sick pay if it doesn't, but I just don't want to let them down. My mum is also having major surgery 2 days after me so I need to be well enough to help her in her recovery. Good luck to all...........check u later. Cheers, Tracy

It's Sunday afternoon and I am bored :thumbup: and hungry. 9 days to go until surgery and I am struggling through the optifast stage. I am looking foward to some roasted vege's when I do the family Sunday Roast tonight, but it will be hard to cut up the meat and dish it out without trying some :thumbup:. Reading through the some of the inspiring results that people on these forums have posted is what is keeping focused on my ultimate goal of looking like a healthy 45 year old mum. :tounge_smile:

Hey Lellow, good on you for buying the bikini. Don't worry about the loose skin.......the fact that you can fit it to one is great! BTW your pics look great. By the look of it you were a lot like me carrying most of your excess on your tummy. When I lost 25 kg on JC that was the last place I lost it. Everyone commented on my skinny bum and legs but I still had 'tyres'. Alas..........it was short lived. 18 months after quitting had put it all back on again. Hence the need for WLS. One week and 2 days to go till my surgery. Struggling through Optifast right now, mainly because it is the weekend but I work for the next 6 days, so I should be able to stay on track at leat till Sunday. You are doing remarkably well. I hope to slip under my goal a bit as well so that I can wear that bikini to the beach . Catch u later.......Tracy

Hi Paul, does that mean I will still be able to fight the kids for the crackling? Great news! I hope I will be able to slice up the meat small enough to get some of it through though......I love my roast pork. Struggling with optifast at present but have lost 2 kg so far so it's enough to keep me on track. Let me ask you.....how do go with cheese? :banghead: Another one of my favourite foods. I was wondering does it go down OK or does it 'glue up' and get stuck as well? Catch u later Tracy

Hi 27ers! Optifast diet is going OK but I am going to struggle using the box of chocolate dessert I bought......it left a horrible aftertaste . Love my coffee one in the morningthough, and so far have not felt too hungry. Had a big craving for a fresh bread roll with salami and cheese today (sorry guys......you can probably feel your mouth watering now:blushing:), but I got through it by going shopping for a 2nd Birthday present for my neice. How is everyone else doing? Anyone blow it big time already?:tt2: Just read the horror stories about not being banded because of a fatty liver and they will keep you on track! Keep strong..........check u later. Tracy

Hi all, thanks for all of your welcome's and wishes of good luck.:thumbdown: I had a wonderful 'last supper' (even made sure there was plenty of crackling on my plate.....probably won't be able to eat it again because it will be one of those things that will get 'stuck' easily:confused:). All of your weight loss stories have been so inspiring :cheers2: that I can even put up with the nasty taste that the optifast chocolate desert left in my mouth tonight :eek:. Don't think I will be buying anymore of that one. Would love to be able to go out and buy myself a new sports car to celebrate when I loose the weight, but I will be happy just to buy a bikini and be able to get into my kayak without tipping it over and landing in the drink! Anyway, still have a long way to go yet so I will just take it one day at a time and hope that I can achieve the same kind of results that some of you have. Cheers from NSW. Tracy :wub:

G'day to all Aussie banders.:grouphug: New to this site and looking forward to chating to fellow Aussies about lap band stuff. My date is scheduled for 27th January at Port Macquarie Private :cool2: (Dr Nigel Peck). Starting Optifast on Monday 12th so I am going out with a bang! Pizza for tea tonight and roast pork Sunday (my last hoorah). Can't wait till the day when food no longer rules. Cheers from Tracy

I am January 27th as well! It will be great to chat to others that are getting done the same day. Starting Optifast on the 12th and returning to work from annual leave same day so should be easier to stick to when I am distracted from food. Have to stock up on the 'free' veges for the fortnight and get the kids to lock me out of the pantry. Wish you all well on your Journey. Talk soon........

G'Day from North Coast of NSW! I have 2 days to go before starting on pre-surgery Optifast diet and scheduled for surgery on January 27th. (Day after Australia Day). Am starting to get a little nervous but more concerned that I will not be able to keep up the strict optifast diet without cheating . Have to get my family on board to watch me the next couple of weeks and go for a walk at lunchtime whilst I am working to take my mind off food. Weight is 98kg and Goal is 68kg. Nice to see so many fellow lap banders to chat to. I will keep you posted on my progress.