elcee

Technically, I was born in Cardiff so yes I am from Wales! However I now live in Australia and prior to this lived in South Africa.

How many obese people have complications from being obese? It is far more dangerous to do nothing.

It is normal to be hungry at this stage. The swelling from the op has gone down but you have no fill yet. Many people refer to this as bandsters hell. Follow your Dr's instructions and if you are unsure of something call him. Often nausea can be from not having the right kind of food. Too many sweet Protein shakes made me nauseous, once I started on healthy homemade veggie Soups I felt heaps better. You may need to adjust what you are eating to find what works for you.

You are highly unlikely to be slowing your weight loss down. If you are not hungry do not force yourself to eat. The weight will start coming off, sometimes the body just takes a little time to catch up.

That would be so frustrating. Hopefully this will just be a minor hurdle and you will be able to get banded soon.

Whenever I get sleeve envy I do exactly what you have done too, go and visit VST and yes that usually cures me.

I was a lower BMI , also just under 32. I didnt lose the massive amounts that some people do but I lost steadily. I think I lost 5kg (11lb) the first month a little less the next and so on. It took me about 6 months to get down to my goal of around 52kg.

I think you are getting confused with choking. When you choke the obstruction is in your airway which prevents you from breathing so you can die. With a stuck the object is stuck in your stoma so it prevents food and fluid getting through. Yes it feels like you are going to die but it is highly unlikely. It takes a couple of days without liquid and a lot longer without food to kill you and most people would not be able to stand the pain and discomfort for that long before going to see their Dr to get it fixed.

Well done. I have never jogged a 5km , I can walk it easily but jog or run - no way!

Which special interest group are you looking for? You will need a password specific for that group.

I would be a bit concerned that it could be more serious. Take yourself to emergency and let them check you over. Hopefully it is just gas but the concern after surgery is that there could be a clot that could cause major problems.

I have tried once or twice to use an app such as my fitness pal and it makes no difference to my weight. I find it time consuming and annoying. I didn't get a lapband so that i could spend the rest of my life weighing and measuring and logging food. As to how many calories in a chocolate bar the answer to that is easy - too many but hell if I have decided I am going to eat one then I will regardless ! But as you say each person has their own way of doing things and each person needs to work out what works best for them. I have now been banded 4 years and yes I have gained a little in that time. My lowest was 50kg , I now sit around 53kg. However as that is well within the normal BMI range for my height and age I don't think I can complain too much. I would love to lose those 3kg again but i am also realistic - I am older now and menopausal which makes it harder to maintain the very low weight. I just live my life and eat "what I want" (within reason). I go out with friends, I eat cake, I have chocolate, a glass of wine etc. So essentially the band must be working for me the way it is supposed to.

Revolting things, I wouldn't.

My father nearly died from a hip replacement a number of years back. He contracted MRSA had to get it surgically cleaned out a number of times, that didn't work, he then had to have the prosthesis removed and wait a couple of months . Luckily they eventually cleared the infection and were able to put another prosthesis in. The downside is that he now has 1 leg shorter than the other and has to have specially built up shoes. Hip replacement surgery is common and relatively safe but my Dad was one of the unlucky ones that ended up with a major problem. We all know that there are risks to surgery but we all hope that we won't be the one that is affected. Sorry that you were unlucky.

Feeling full with a band is horrible, uncomfortable. It is felt in the chest or the throat rather than the stomach. The aim is to try and stop eating before you get to this point.You need to aim for satisfied, not full.

And if you read posts in other forums and sites you may discover that sleeves and bypasses don't work in the long term either, at least not all by themselves. If they did then we wouldn't get posts from people asking if it was possible to put a band over a sleeve and we all know that there are many with a band over their bypass.

How long have you had the sleeve, how much have you lost? Have you discussed your issues with your Dr? I am not sure why you are not losing but does it have anything to do with eating more often than you should or not exercising or eating the wrong kind of foods? If it does then you will find that you encounter the same issues with the band as well. Each form of surgery is a tool not a magic wand. It is necessary for the owner to utilise their'tool" correctly in order to get the optimum result.

So sorry to hear that Sue

I would also be looking for a revision. Even at 4 years out I know I cannot do this on my own.

Go back to basics. Imagine that you have just been banded when the motivation is really high. Set lots of little mini goals and rewards9non food) Then:- Check in with your Dr to make sure everything is as it should be. Keep an honest food diary for a while to see what you are really eating, it is so easy to sneak in extra kilojoules/calories without even realising. Then start planning what you should be eating to lose weight. Make sure you are doing exercise - find something you enjoy doing as then you are more likely to stick to it. Find a friend or support group to help you achieve your goals. None of it is rocket science but it is really easy after a while to lose sight of the goal and slip back into bad habits. Remember weight loss is not something that can be won , constant battles are required to keep the enemy under control!

I sew, lots

I have a friend who is getting a sleeve next week and she is the worst for watching what I eat. She always watches and says can you eat all that, or I can't believe you ate....... I know she is only doing it because she is wondering how things will be after her op but it can be really disconcerting. Plus I have a band not a sleeve so what i can/can't eat will probably be widely different to her experience and having reached goal weight I am not exactly sticking to a diet so she could be getting a very bad idea of what to eat if she wants to lose. my eating now at 4 years out is vastly different to when I was first banded.

I have lost more than 100% of my excess weight. Not sure how to calculate it exactly but i am somewhere in the middle of the normal BMI range.

I have to disagree with you. All you have to do to get fat is eat more than you need, it can be done as easily on healthy food as unhealthy food. What a lot of people don't relaise though is how much their little treats add up, so although their diet is 90% healthy they forget that the cookies etc they eat in between all add up. Plus things like cheese are healthy but only in moderation. Then there are all the foods that we have been fooled into thinking they are healthy e.g low fat foods not realising that they are actually high calorie and full of sugar. Being a short (153cm) person who is now at a healthy BMI I can see how easy it is to inadvertently eat too much and gain weight. My BMR is ridiculously low and the older and slimmer you get the lower your BMR gets. So effectively if you eat the same at 50 as you did at 30 you will gain weight. Sometimes all it takes is 1 extra cookie each day......................

Very strange that when they took fluid out you felt pressure, normally removing the fluid would relieve pressure!