*Dean*

http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/the-sweet-solution-20121210-2b4bv.html

Hey Gamer, is that stuff similar to Stevia? I've been using liquid Stevia for a while and it's great. Really sweet and no after taste.

I haven't been on a pregnancy / child raising forum but even when speaking to SOME new parents you can see the similarities. For most of us we see VSG as our last chance. We desperately want to get it right. We do research, choose a surgeon, get advice and decide how we're going to 'do it'. We believe with all our hearts that our way is 'the way'. And we get passionate about it. How you bring up your kids is the same. We love our kids so much, surely the way we're doing it must be THE right way. But there are loads of right ways to bring kids up. For me, the bottom line is there's lots of right ways to loose weight with VSG as well. You even get surgeons giving out conflicting advice (thank God mine said I can drink coffee!) So long story short - I don't take any notice of 'mean' or dry posts. I just figure they believe strongly about their way. Just like I don't worry about the looks from helicopter parents when I give my kids some freedom Disclaimer - this post is not directed at any person in particular. Any resemblance to you is entirely co incidental

I guess the shorter you are the smaller your muscles are and the slower your loss. I hadn't really thought of it. I think the upside then must be smaller losses in weight have a bigger impact on your BMI. Maybe focus on that? Deano

I'm sure you'll be fine. Having said that you did skip ahead quite a bit! I know what it's like, you just want to bite something. Do your best to stick to it, and maybe if you were going to skip ahead it should have been a puree / mashed something. Good luck! Deano

My Dr didn't tell me what his expectations were. The conversation went something like this - Dr: "So what weight would you like to get to" Me: "82 kgs. But it's not where I'd like to get to, it's where I will get to" He didn't mention it again! He did say I'd lose the first 30 kgs fairly quickly and then it would get a lot harder.

AAAaaaaarrrgh. Hopped on the scales this morning (the 'official' weekly weigh day, don't ask how many 'unofficial' ones there are). I'm 9 weeks today, but I'm half a kilo off my 1/2 way mark! I'm not really disappointed, but it would've been nice.

Hey! I'm 9 weeks out today. Starting Weight: 137.7 kgs Current Weight: 110.4kgs Weight Gone: 27.3kgs Goal: 82 kgs Me: Happy

Have fun! Deano

I have the opposite. I live in a sub tropical climate in Queensland Australia and the heat in summer would take the wind out of my sails. Not this year

I had the same thing. Not sure if they were dissolvable but it disappeared after a few days.

I like seeing the smiling 'after' shots with the proud partners. Well done. Deano

Go to sleep! You burn calories while your sleeping

I'm sure it will be fine. Just get some good advice early. Congrats!

That's a great start Sarah. I'm sure they'll be pleased, although, we're not doing this to keep our surgeons happy!

Welcome back. Good to hear it went well.

Nice work! Congrats. I bet your kids were smiling too

Very cool story. Well done Deano

Good on you! I agree. Plastics isn't a magic wand. Even the finest of scaring for a tummy tuck can be extensive. It's a fine line between managing what skin v scars you can live with. I think getting your tummy and boobs done and not worrying about your arms and legs can be a good compromise. You don't want to look like you've been attacked by a shark! Or a croc (well, I am an Aussie) Thing is we'll probably never be picture perfect with our gear off. We have to have some war wounds for our past sins. Being happy in your skin is the main thing. I don't mind having a bit of lose skin under my arms to remind me what a great job I've done at losing weight Deano

Not disrespectful at all. The best part of this forum is learning from other peoples mistakes I lost the weight with a personal trainer, training 6 days a week and relentless with my diet. I went from 345 pounds to 191pounds. I was a diet and training machine but still couldn't get below 191. 191 is still overweight for my height. I did make the mistake of starting to think my issues with food were 'cured' and that I was bullet proof now At the time I was in my early 30's. Married. No kids. Working 9 - 5 (ie easy to train and plan food) Over the next couple of years. I changed jobs and had to work shift work. My wife and I had kids, twins 8 years ago. And guess what - I wasn't cured nor bullet proof! I slowly over the next 8 years fell into some old habits and my weight crept up to 301 pounds. I tried and tried but weightloss in your 40's isn't like in your 30's. I had VSG almost 9 weeks ago and that's what the tickers below reflect. I've learnt from my mistakes and I now know I'll never be cured and this is something I'm going to manage my whole life. But this time 'it' won't get the better of me again

The advice I received was introduce anything after 4 weeks. They gave me tips on easier and more difficult choices but that I could try anything.

I guess the meanings of words like 'normal' and 'average' become blurred when we live in the western world where most people are overweight or obese. It sounds like Catracks husband eats how people SHOULD eat. Weather it's common, average or normal for me is pretty irrelevant. I'm more concerned about how I should eat, not how others are eating (including friends and family), not how the population eat (most of us are fat) and I certainly don't want to be average!

I had a tummy tuck when I lost 150 + pounds with diet and exercise in my early 30's. Unfortunately I've put 3/4 of that back on over the last decade or so. My understanding is you want all your skin to finish changing because of the rapid weight loss. If it hasn't done this it will effect the final result. As you'd imagine joining two pieces of skin that previously had a number of inches of skin removed from in between isn't an exact science and results vary. A bit like VSG surgery, I think it's best to do everything possible to help the surgeon get the best outcome for you. Good luck with everything, Deano

I can appreciate waiting the extra time would be / will be frustrating. I'd imagine that over the 12 months at goal, like proudgrammy said, your skin will firm a little, tone a little and change a little. I'm guessing it's about all this happening up front so you get the best result for the plastic surgery.

At work this afternoon (lucky me) but had a good morning. The girls had nippers, so spent it at the beach. I was in the surf helping out the kids on their nipper boards. Now, I don't know if it's the amount of weight I've lost or muscle I've lost or the low calories I'm eating (or a combination of the three) but I'm normally pretty strong in the surf and a strong swimmer. This morning I got thrown around like a rag doll. I wasn't used to it, it was quite funny. Hope you're all having a good weekend. Deano