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I am very anti hunting. I don't believe that people should get pleasure from killing - that is just wrong. And trophy heads on walls just make me want to hurl.

Love it. They really do find every possible way to milk the consumer don't they!

Congrats on reaching goal - it must be an incredible feeling. I have just got back from a 6 week overseas holiday and have only gained 2lb so I am rapt! This may not sound good but to me it is. I was staying with family so was never in charge of what was served and I didn't want to rock the boat or upset anyone by insisting on special food. I ate the same as everyone else but in smaller quantities and only ate cake occasionally.We also ate out a number of times. I never felt deprived or as though I was on a diet. When we arrived at the airport apparently my Dad said that's them and my Mum said no its not Lynn's much heavier than that. Thanks Mum! She was surprised at all the weight I had lost. I did have to tell her how as she kept watching me eat and commenting on how slowly I was eating which made me feel really uncomfortable.i didn't tell anyone else and for the most part it went well. There were a couple of times when I had to run to the loo as I had got stuck and I have no idea what they thought. I now eat about the same quantity as my naturally skinny sister. My worst day was Christmas day/boxing day. I was fine until the evening when for some reason I couldn't swallow. I am not sure if it was what I ate, the fact I ate too late so had been nibbling inbetween or the fact I had been drinking. Noone noticed on Christmas day as there were lots of people there and me constantly running to the loo is not unusual as I have always had a weak bladder! On boxing day when I wasn't eating though they were looking worried. I explained it away by saying that I had a sore throat. It was quite scary as nothing would go down not even cold water or hot tea. I was concerned that I would have to go and see a Dr but luckily it resolved itself. I think sucking on icechips helped! To answer the question about flying I had no problems. It took a total of 3 flights and approx 24hrs to reach my destination. I even ate small quantities of the food! I had asked my Dr before I flew and she said flying is normally only a problem with an empty band as the air in it can swell. If you have saline in the band the saline doesn't expand. Now to get back on track. I think just giving up the 2 glasses of wine a night that I was drinking on holiday will make a difference! I am scheduled for a fill on Thursday and I think I need it as I can eat bigger portions than before and have even noticed that I am hungry when i wake up! Not sure how much is in my band at the moment but I think it is around the 3.2 - 3.5 ml mark(10ml band).

Just read this thread and I am gobsmacked. I cannot believe how narrowminded and bigoted some people are. And the worst thing is this is supposed to be a support site! I am very glad that I never had to have a BMI of over 40 to qualify for surgery.I looked disgusting with a BMI of 32 and anyone that said otherwise would have been lying. I looked 10 months pregnant - could not get clothes to fit as if they were big enough to go over my stomach they were way to big everywhere else. So glad that I had the option of surgery before I ended up not just obese but morbidly or super obese.I can't see how a person that carries on eating until they get to that category are deserving of surgery whilst those that try to stem the problem earlier aren't. As someone else has already said - what a bunch of hypocrites!

I am flying on Wed and asked my fill dr about this. She explained that you are more likely to have a problem if there is air in your band (like soon after surgery) as air can swell and cause it to tighten. The saline does not swell so it should not cause a problem if you have fills in your band She also said that if the worst came to the worst and I did tighten up that it would loosen again on the ground so not to worry.That it is possible to go for 14hrs without liquid. Horrible thought. So I'm still scared of flying but not from a band point of view.Its just so long, cramped,boring and just generally nerve wracking!

If you have chewable papaya enzyme tabs you can try chewing some of them. They never work for me but some people swear by them. Guzzling the soda really fast is supposed to work but beware apparently it comes up really fast too. Once the blockage moves you should probably go back to liquids for a day or 2 as you will still be swollen and eating solid foods too quickly could cause further problems. If the blockage doesn't move you will have to go and see your Dr as otherwise you could dehydrate. Don't swear off chicken. Try it again at some stage in the future but make sure it is really moist(dark meat is best), in some kind of sauce, small bites and chew REALLY well. Just because it has caused you a problem today doesn't mean it will do the same again next time. Hope you feel better soon.

Will do. Thanks

You cannot compare yourself with others - everybody is different. 55lb is a heap of weight.You should be really pleased with yourself. How fast you lose depends on lots of things. How much you eat, what you eat, how much and what type of exercise you do, your own metabolism etc. Something else to consider is how much you have to lose. Typically people that are bigger lose weight quicker initially than people who have a lower BMI. I find it helps to look at percentages. I started at 74kg. I now weigh 54kg so I am down 20kg which is "ONLY" 44lb! LOL. But that 20kg actually represents 27% of my starting weight. That is HUGE. So remember everyone is different . This is not a race it is for life.

You could be opening a can of worms here.LOL The approved view is that you should exercise, exercise has lots of benefits other than just weight loss. Personally I don't exercise. I do incidental exercise in that I try to be fairly active during the day. Sometimes I go for a walk. Rarely I will jump on my exercise bike but (hanging head in shame) that's it!

They scare me too. I am flying to South Africa on wed to visit my Mum and Sister for 6 weeks. Mum has probably been baking for weeks filling the freezer with mince pies, welsh cakes and all the other things she makes so well. HELP!

Constant violent vomiting can cause your band to slip. I would phone your dr and see if he can prescribe an anti-emetic such as Maxolon to stop the vomiting.

All Bran. Sultana Bran, Oats, weetbix or untoasted Muesli.

My Dr uses small fills but recommends coming in every 3 - 4 weeks - if you can actually get an appointment that is! Yes March sounds way too far off - I would try and get in again sooner, otherwise it will take you forever to get decent restriction.

But it doesn't. If I want chocolate I can eat it. If I want cake I can eat it.If I want dessert I can eat it. The band won't stop me. A lot of what the band does is more subtle than people realise. A very big part is that it helps you feel satisfied on less food and not get hungry as quickly. You still have to learn how satisfied feels as it is a lot different from full. You need to learn to stop eating when satisfied and not carry on until you are full as chances are if you do that you will actually overdo it.

This worries me a little. It is impossible to see the emotion behind what was written but to me it almost sounds as though you were challenging yourself to eat it, that it was some sort of test. We need to be very careful and understnd the difference between what we can do and what we should do. For instance it is possible that I could eat a whole tub of icecream(I haven't tried). The band won't stop me from doing that. But it's not something I should do so I don't. Remember the band is only a tool . Do not rely on it to stop you eating the wrong things or even too much. Eat the amount that you have been told to eat by your Dr. You may or may not feel full. What you should feel is no longer hungry - a sensation we need to learn to recognise and you shouldn't get hungry again for approx 4 hrs. This is how the band works. If you are depending on the band to stop you eating too much you will probably be dissappointed. You will end up being so tight that you can only eat high calorie slider foods and you will end up with the associated problems of a tight band such as heartburn. The key is to work with the band not to expect it to do all the work. I think it sounds as though you are too tight and that you should go for a small unfill. Good luck

I can't see that taking them all at the same time would be a problem. Just make sure you swallow them with plenty of water.

If Biotin is a B vitamin then you probably get enough by eating your daily Vegemite! Vegemite is full of B vitamins.

I'd rather have small boobs than a big belly. Its a lot easier to hide the fact that they are small - think pushup bra's, chicken fillets etc! And once you've saved enough you can have them lifted.

I think that for a lot of people that is quite normal. Fat is something that we can hide behind. When things in our lives are not going right we can blame it on being fat instead of something we are doing wrong. One example is people who have been sexually abused will often put on weight so that they don't have to deal with men. There are lots of other examples. Don't let your fear of the unknown stop you from achieving your goals. If it does start to get in the way then go and speak to a pshycologist. Imagine how fabulous you will feel when you get there.

I'm in Victoria, Australia and I pay $118.40 of which I get back $97.90 from medicare. I find it strange that the medicare rebate differs between here and WA as I would have thought it would be the same for the same service!

I agree with what the others have said. I also think that people sometimes think the same thing about some of my posts. When I reply I often have limited time and want to get the important stuff across without dressing it up in lots of nice flowery language.If someone doesn't like it then it is their problem not mine. As they say. "you can't please all of the people all of the time". But hopefully we can help some of the people some of the time!

That is one hell of a fill ! It also seems a really large total fill amount that you have. It also doesn't leave much room to play for future adjustments.I hope you can cope without problems.

As far as I know this type of programme was popular in the 70s/80s. HCG is a hormone pregnant women produce.(Won't go into where they get it as it may have changed).Most of the time the injections are combined with a very low calorie diet and like most of these fixes it is not really sustainable.

This was aked before and we never came up with an answer. However something came up in a conversation with a friend recently that may be the reason. She asked if I drink with meals(she doesn't know I am banded) and then went on to say that her husband never drinks with meals, he stops drinking 20 - 30 min before etc. Does this sound familiar? Apparently he was brought up believing that drinking with meals is bad as it interferes with the digestion. I decided to look it up on the net and yes there seems to be quite a lot of theories that say drinking with meals affects the digestive process as it dilutes the stomach acids and it can lead to various problems such as heartburn etc. Of course there are plenty of experts that disagree but I am thinking that this is probably where the rule has its roots.

I actually met someone the other day that got banded in March this year, has not had a single fill and has lost 28kg so far! Everyone is different. I'm still wondering how she has done it but obviously she has. We need to fixate less on the fills and more on how we are doing. if you are losing weight and are not hungry then you probably don't need that fill. Wait until you really need it.