Aussiegirl

I find that my band is extremely unpredictable - what I ate yesterday and the amount I ate, I may not be able to do today. So, I guess what this thing is teaching me is to concentrate on eating while I am eating, and listen very closely to what my body is doing it's darndest to try and tell me. For me perfect restriction is represented by weight loss, having no desire to eat between meals, being able to consume enough Water, being able to consume at meal times all the Vitamins and minerals my body needs. There are days when that happens, and days when it just doesn't!

"Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding - Achieving Permanent Weight Loss with Mininally Invasive Surgery" by Jessie H Ahroni?? If so, please tell me your thoughts. It is available by mail order through one of our bookstores here and I am wondering if it is a worthwhile investment. This message board has been a wonderful source of information but I am always on the prowl for more! Thanks, Kirstie.

Hi, I'm from Hobart...a bloody cold Hobart at that. Can you believe the temperature at lunchtime yesterday in town was 3 deg and it reached a top temp of 7 deg? Kirstie.

Hi again Sam, Yep, I still see my surgeon every couple of months to weigh in, see how I am doing and if I haven't lost enough weight (in his estimation), he does a fill. He has never mentioned blood tests to me which I think is kinda weird. I have an appointment with him in July, so will ask him then. He is a nice bloke, but not very forthcoming with information, which is probably why I have found this site so helpful. I did try breaking my tablets in half too, but even that was no good. I am having bad day today - even my chai latte this morning has been difficult to consume. Think I'll have to give lunch a miss!

I've decided that I don't want the scales to rule my emotions so the only time I weigh in, is at my surgeon's office every couple of months. I can tell by my clothes how well, or otherwise, I am doing.

Geez you're lucky you can get tablets down in the morning. I can't. They just get stuck. I am taking my BP tablet at night now. I used to take a Centrum Multivitamin each day prior to banding, but they are as big as horse tablets and I just can't do them anymore. What are you taking? I have tried a few liquid Multivitamins (doesn't seem to be much around) but am a bit dubious on the quality. So at the moment, I am trying to get what I need from my food intake. I also use a juicer which helps and am feeling OK. I do wonder about my Iron intake though. I have had no blood tests at all, post banding, to check my blood chemistry - have you? Kirstie.

I can't do breads (get stuck), but dry biscuits are fine. meat like steak and lamb are a no-no for me (get stuck), chicken varies, sometimes it is OK, sometimes it isn't. Anything too spicy or acid is no good, so oranges, lemons, grapefruit I don't like too much as these things give me reflux. Hot chips no good (I miss fish and chips) , but mashed potato is just fine. Smoked salmon gets stuck, but salmon steaks are just fine and other fish seems OK. Porridge gets stuck so I stick to Hot drinks in the morning before lunch. eggs (scrambled, boiled, in omlettes) I find are unpredictable - sometimes OK, sometimes far from OK. Veggies that aren't cooked real well and salads that are lettuce based aren't great. Stringy type fruits and veggies I find no good eg pineapple, asparagus, rhubarb, celery, snow pea sprouts. So that's my list . As you can probably tell, I am quite restricted at the moment.

My grocery bill is quite a bit less per month than it used to be, so I have diverted that money from the "food" part of my budget, into the "clothing" part of my budget. As I still have weight to lose, I find that getting "new" clothes at Op Shops (thrift stores) is the way to go and my size continues to decrease every few months or so. Eating out is a lot cheaper, but I still fluctuate from getting annoyed that I am wasting money when I can't eat everything that I have paid for, to being pleased that I can't actually eat everything on my plate!

Hi Sam! I'm from Australia too (Hobart) and only found this board a few weeks ago. It is fantastic and contains a lot of very useful and wise information. I was banded in February last year and it has taken me that long to lose 30kg. I am half way there and have about another 30kg to go. You have done so well on your weight loss - well done! I have a band with a 4ml capacity and have 3.1ml (from memory) in at the moment, so I am pretty tight and am hoping that I have found my sweet spot too. Mornings are the worst - my stomach isn't open for business until around lunchtime, and even then, it can be difficult. Despite having this thing in for over a year now, I am still learning how to manage it. Anyway, nice *meeting* you!

Thanks - that would be great

Hi Janeen, No I didn't know about the Australian support group. Thanks for that link, I will check it out.

Hi Karen Yeah, the psychological aspects are quite interesting. Let me see....for me there have been a number of aspects to this. For a start, I still feel quite ashamed about the fact that I had to go to this extreme measure in order to lose some weight. I don't have a problem with exercise - I go to the gym 5 mornings a week before work and have a personal trainer and I train really hard, I don't just perspire, I sweat! My problem is an addiction to food, and like any other addiction, I don't think that will just go away. As a result of this shame that I still feel, I haven't told all my friends/family about the surgery, only some. Like another thread that I noticed on this subject, it can lead to some problematic situations when I am invited out to meals in people's homes or restaurants. I don't like being forced into "fessing up" but have found that that can be better than hurting a hostess's feelings when you don't eat all the food they pile on your plate. I also found that some of my friends who did know about the band stopped inviting me over for meals due to their concern about what they were going to feed me! I've handled that by having them around to my place so they see what I do eat, how much etc. Despite the fact that I have lost the weight that I have, I look in the mirror and don't see a difference (except in my face which is a lot leaner). Just goes to show what a distorted body image I have, despite the fact that I have gone from Australian size 24 to 16/18 and have had to replace my entire wardrobe, undies, bras and all. I get cross about the stuff that I can no longer eat and find the social situations that centre around eating a bit hard, almost like I am missing out on something....and I am - a whole lot of calories!! So, I have found this to be an interesting journey. Despite the difficulties, I have never regretted my actions and I am looking forward to seeing what the future may hold in store for me. In some ways my band is my friend, but occasionally it feels like my enemy. Good luck with your surgery.

Hi All - or should I be a typical ocker Aussie and say "Gday"? I stumbled across this forum a few days ago after doing some research. I had lapband surgery at the end of February last year. My starting weight was 122kg which I think translates to 268.4 pounds. 12 months later I have lost 27kg (59.4 pounds) - a nice slow and steady weight loss. I have been very interested to read about other lapbander's stories. There is no support group here in the state that I live in (Tasmania - the little triangle island at the bottom of mainland Australia) so it has been great to come to this forum. Last week I had another fill - or down here we tend to call them "adjustments". After reading some posts here I asked my surgeon what the capacity of the band is and he said 4mls. I now have 3.1ml of Fluid in my band. I am quite restricted and am looking forward to finding the "sweet spot" that others talk about. I have also noticed that you guys in the USA seem to go through a lot more testing prior to surgery that I did. In fact, the only thing my surgeon did was weigh me, measure my height, calculate my BMI (which has fallen 10 points, by the way) then tell me I was morbidly obese and met his criteria for the surgery. Luckily I had been researching this procedure for 12 - 18 months which my General Practitioner first suggested to me. Speaking to other patients who have been banded, both before and after my surgery, has been absolutely invaluable. Over 12 months down the track, I am only now I think, getting my head around this whole thing. I have found the physical aspect to banding great, but the psychological aspect has been interesting. Anyway, I look forward to chatting when I can. My only access to the internet is at work (currently lunchtime here at the moment) so I am somewhat restricted. Nice to meet you...