How Bout New Zealand

[PaleoKris 0]

Yeah, a balanced diet is always a good idea. You could do things like not have the butter and mayo, or only have one, and if its butter, swap it for a low fat margarine...

It's kinda like when I used to have toast, I really like Peanut Butter, and when I was really little it used to be toast, margarine, and peanut butter. Then when I was trying to lose weight the margarine got kicked out and the peanut butter became a thin smear. I'm still in the habit of not having margarine with peanut butter, though I did have it for the first time in about 10 years when I was home at Christmas... hehe.

Also, you may want to get into the habit of having Breakfast. Not sure if anyone else has had the experience here or not (everyone's different after all!), but I know that if I skip breakfast I mess up my eating for the rest of the day and can only eat about a third of what I usually eat. This might not be a bad thing, but it could kick the body into starvation mode I suppose which means you won't lose any fat as your body wants to hold onto it 'just in case'. Having breakfast also gets the metabolism going I think, so you'll metabolise everything else faster anyway.

5km run! Woo! And don't feel too sore today either. Back in the zone! Willpower 1, microscope induced Snacks 0. Until later today anyway. Though wasn't very onto it last night and didn't have dinner straight away afterwards, bad me.

[Gordana 0]

Surgery tomorrow, 1pm. Exciting!

I've bought a good supply of baby/toddler fruit/vege drinks (no fat/sugars, all natural etc) ... ordered some Protein enriched shake powder to introduce once I'm ready for that, and some choco-soy milk to try out. Having trouble finding clear Soups over here (Korea) - so I'll have to set about making my own once I'm moving around a little more comfortably. Jelly is pretty non-existant here, without all the added sugar anyway.

Now if only I can find a hot water bottle, and a good supply of anti-gas tablets I should be all set!

Have a great weekend all, I'll report back on Monday.

[laura5127 1]

Well good luck Gordana.

omg i had such a bad experience tonight. i was at work and i stopped to have dinner. i made chicken, rice and salad and after having like two or three peices of chicken it was like syuck or something idk if it is because i ate to fast or what but it hurt like a b$*#h and it started coming back up i was worried cos i was at work and i couldnt leave but after finishing work and by the time i got home it had started to relieve itself but i dont want it to happen again.

[AAAJJJ 0]

I am on my way I guess! 1st week of pre-op 5.8kg lost. A pretty good result I think considering I probably didn't quite drink enough Water (that is the aspect I am struggling with the most) and I cant excercise at present due to a toe injury (I think I might join the gym and do some weights). I have been pretty strict on the diet. I went to the meat and fish shop and bought some electronic scales and weighed all portions exactly and individually bagged them to stop me eating too much Protein. I also have a spreadheet in the kitchen listing exactly what i can and can't eat.

I have done this before though, and had a big loss the first week. I'm sure next week will be a lot less lost. I am away with a work trip so it is going to be quite challenging. I will be taking my opti-fast with me though!

Regards to all and Good luck for your op G.

[amourette 5]

Wow that sure is a great big weight loss for the first week AAAJJJ, when is your op again? Laura was that your first time something got stuck? Is sux bigtime aye! When I had my band first done 6 years ago I found out the hard way things I could and couldn't eat, I had some awful situations out in public.......Even now I occasionally get them, like I tried a banana choc chip muffin early in the day and it was not going to stay down, the pain of it ouch!!!! chicken is one of the main things I struggle with, it is just too fleshy for my band, most meat I struggle with........Gordana, do you have someone who can send you a 'care package' with jelly etc.......?

One funny thing about having a bubs is him eating a lot of mushy food, I sometimes share as it goes down better then and I can be slack about veggies!

[PaleoKris 0]

Good luck Gordana!

And wow, well done AAAJJJ, that's a lot. Good luck with the work trip, too!

Laura, welcome to having a tighter band... That's the main reason I always say try every food as if its brand new - the consequences of it getting stuck aren't particularly pretty. It forces you to be strict about eating slowly - it took me a long time to learn it, but if you eat slower you can always eat more. If you eat to fast you risk running to find a bathroom (or to 'fix your contact lenses' or to 'blow your nose' if it's more than once when you're out... Gah.) I've had moments when I've been on a car trip and I've had to pretend I'm car sick when I'm actually just reacting badly to eating one chip or half a scone or something ridiculous.

A few things I've learnt:

eat slow and in very small amounts!

if you do take too big a bite or something and find you regret it standing up and/or walking around can help. Drinking Water doesn't half the time, it actually makes the problem worse for me.

Sometimes finding a bathroom and just getting rid of the stuck food makes everything a bit easier. I've actually found that it's a lot more painful to try and wait it out, and it isn't very often when the stuck food gives me the opportunity to wait it out, often it just appears back on it's own. Annoying that.

Not exactly the most graceful side effect of having this surgery, but either way.

Amourette, that is definitely a good thing about having a small child, haha. I remember girls on my bus from school eating baby food (apparently it was cool at the time, god knows what got them started on it), but could never bring myself to eat it for some reason... (Kinda skipped that part of the food post-op... Just mashed soft food up a bit more...).

Had a girls' night with two girls from work. They both know about my op (we've had nights before with dinner/drinks together) so it definitely wasn't a stressful situation, but was the slowest eating night for me in AGES. Don't know what was up... We had homemade pizza, which isn't easy for me to eat anyway, but compared to last time I had pizza this was ridiculous. I don't know what's up, apparently my band has tightened itself? Or maybe it's protesting the lack of running - I was able to eat a fair bit rather easily last year when I was doing a lot of running. Definitely think that should be enough motivation to get the exercise regime back in order.

Only up side was that desert of chocolate-dipped walnut-filled dates actually was really easy to eat after the pizza-stuck feeling went away. Dried fruit have always been an issue for me post-op (used to enjoy dried apricots, these day one can have me feeling full for an hour). But these dates actually went down really easily. So that's something at least!

Actually, other upside is I have three-quarters of a pizza as leftovers for the next couple of days.

But still, slow eating days with an uncle visiting next week, a workshop in two weeks and a conference in three? When trying to pretend to eat semi-normally? Hmm.

[Gordana 0]

Hi hi, Well I'm back at work teaching. I took Monday and Tuesday off even though I was feeling quite well, but I was nervous about putting too much strain on my stitches - so I decided to rest a bit longer.

I've been really lucky with recovery - no bruising, very little discomfort, no gas problems. Hopefully things continue as well as they've started! (Touch wood)

My incision above my bellybutton which has staples in, was the most tender, but that's ok now. I've been drinking a heap of Water with some of the ‘vege juice for toddlers' poured in, and lots of iceblocks (sugar free, juice types). The crunch of the iceblock satisfies any cravings for that 'snacking' feeling.

AJ - Well done on the 5.8kg lost, and all the best on your work trip.

Amourette - My Ma in New Zealand is going to send me some diet jelly, Soups etc, so that will help over the next couple of weeks.

Have a great day everyone.

[Gordana 0]

Had my check up and weigh in on Saturday. Stitches are out, and just a few staples remain above my bellybutton. Week one - minus 12kgs! I had to look twice at the scales to make sure the nurse wasn't seeing things.

Exciting!!!

Hope you have all enjoyed the long weekend.

G

[AAAJJJ 0]

Hi All,

Just 4 days to go until my op!

I am getting rarther nervous about it but there is always the over-riding feeling that i am doing the right thing. It is a bit scary signing all the consent and hospital admission forms, But my pre-admission meeitng at the hospital went ver well and ECG was A-OK.

It is funny though checking in to a hospital for an operation when you feel that at present (apart from the weight you are carrying) you actually feel quite healthy! Anyway I am determined to follow through as last time I lost weight like this it went back on - with interest added.

The pre-op diet has been going pretty well, though it was always going to be difficult to maintain the loss momentum of the first week. I haven't been perfect but when i have fallen off the wagon it has been Soup not McDonalds! Pretty close to 10kg now and I joined the gym last week as well.

I hope all is well with you all.

AJ

[laura5127 1]

ohhh good luck.

yea i know what u mean about the hospital it felt weired for me aswel.

i hope everything goes well for you.

[laura5127 1]

yay im off to wellington on thursday night. all my dads family live there. im excited. i had an appt with heather on wed and decided to wait till i get back from wellington to get another fill. i decided to renew my gym membership when i get back aswel i need to kick start this weightloss again because its slowed down to much.

[amourette 5]

Good Luck AAAJJJ, it is the start of the rest of your life regarding weight loss, will be thinking of you, report back to us as soon as you can so we know you good, and any questions answer away! Laura how you going with that latest fill , I assume you having another one when you get back??? Are you excited about all that is happening? I joined Jetts gym, they seem pretty good, and it's 24 hours, but I walk a lot with the pram too...my weight loss is going pretty slow to say I am not eating that much........weigh in in next couple of days........

[Aldesa 0]

Hi All

Havent been on for a while, bit slack really ha ha. Actually Ive been trying desperately to diet and lose a few kg, had my band put in 6 years ago but have just managed to put on 4kg over the summer. Well........diets have all failed and Ive put myself back on Optifast today, going to try and do it for 4 weeks and get the 4kg off!

Wow AAAJJJJ youve done really well, and Gordana what a massive first week.

I was wondering about getting a fill but I have trouble already eating before lunchtime, even struggle with drinks in the morning sometimes. And I really cant eat fruit, always comes back...really frustrating. Funnily enough chocolate goes down so easily, and biscuits, chips etc.

Anyway, good luck to those starting the journey, its all worth it in the end!

:-)

[PaleoKris 0]

Wow, 12kg Gordana, good one!

And good luck AAAJJJ! I definitely agree with the feeling weird thing about checking into the hospital.

Aldesa, sounds like a real rough patch. And yeah, I've also found that chocolate and stuff like that goes down real easy most of the time (much to my past boyfriend's amusement! He had a theory that it was because there wasn't as much good nutrition in them...). fruit is really slow for me as well. It's annoying, because you need to eat the fruit but it takes forever to finish. Are you managing to do a bit of exercise? It might be that the exercise needs to increase rather than the food decrease... Or perhaps get an appointment with them and see if they can give you advice. It sounds like you're at a similar stage of the amount of food you're able to eat where Dr Fris pointed out the band couldn't do it for me and that it was just a tool. That I had to do the work...

[Gordana 0]

Aj - you had your surgery yesterday. I hope you are recovering nice and comfortably today! Look forward to hearing how you are!

Laura - Goodluck with the fill and 'kickstarting' again!

Amourette - Best of luck with the weigh-In and the gym, I'm going to join a gym at my halfway mark - less floppy bits (I hope) ....am exercising at home with cans of Soup, walking with weights etc ... had a slow loss this past 2 weeks, after the big loss the first week, but am happy with it so far.

Aldesa - 3 weeks on the liquid diet I included some choco flavoured milky iceblocks ... they satisfied that sweet craving, and they were OOo soo good. Isn't that typical that all that yummy, crappy food that tastes so good - can sneak through the band, but healthy foods not so much! *shakes fist in frustration @ whoever decided banana's couldn't have been that snack food to crave!* Best of luck for that 4kgs!

PaleoKris - Thanks! I had to check a couple of times that the nurses scales werent broken, on an uneven surface - or that I wasnt hallucinating!

Went in for my check up today - end of week 3. Only 2 kgs down after such a big loss my first week ... but I was very lazy and did no exercise. Had my first fill today though! It was at 6cc's that he'd filled when I had the surgery .. he added 2 cc's today ... and I felt it the minute I took my first mouthfull of juice. I feel almost every swallow now ... like unplugging a plug ... slowly letting something through! So far so good ... I can start adding solids too but I'm in no hurry while Im still enjoying my shakes, Soups - and baby food! (IF Jennifer Aniston swears by babyfood - then I'm going to try it!).

It's really great to be in touch with you all ... hope you have a fantastic week - and if any of you are in Christchurch .... I hope the shakes settle down soon!