Fanny Adams

There are several reasons. Firstly, a percentage of the weight you lost on the pre-op diet wasn't actual fat being lost, it was losing the contents of your digestive system as it empties and isn't replaced, except by the small volume of the Optifast or whatever you used. That gives you a "false high" reading, which makes you think that rate should continue, except that now your digestive system is largely empty and you won't see that rate of drop again, because what you're seeing now is actual fat loss. Secondly, they put you on a saline drip for the operation, which boosts the fluid levels in your body and water is really really heavy (much heavier than fat). Thirdly, your body is swollen from the operation. All that swelling is even more fluid retention, masking the weight loss that is occurring. Gradually your body will let go of the fluid and return to a more normal balance. At the same time, you gradually move on to thicker liquids and then mushies, which fill your digestive system again. This often means that you have a couple of weeks of plateauing or even a small regain in the post-op weeks. You are losing weight, probably at the expected rate of about 2lb per week, but while your body is going up and down with fluids and solids all out of whack, the scales are going to be really inaccurate, firstly showing a faster loss than was really there (pre-op) and then hiding the real loss that is continuing (post-op). By the time you get back onto solids at about 4-6 weeks post-op, all that will have balanced out and you can start to trust the scales again. At this point, take measurements instead. Your bust, hip, thigh and arm measurements will show the losses more accurately. Your waist measurement is much more subjective to fluid, bloating, swelling and other factors, so it isn't really accurate yet either. Take heart, it IS happening beneath the surface and it will all show up in the end. Congrats again on arriving in Bandland!

Luluc, yes I'm in Perth and if I'm not up on site, I'd love to meet up for a coffee or something! Let me know the dates and I'll check my roster to work out if I'm going to be in town. Come prepared for some HOT dry weather at that time of year!

Thanks for the advice, Kathybad, I'll concentrate on intervals not speed for now. I've been doing my jogs at the park this last few days - man, it is SO much harder on grass compared to the treadmill! I think I'll pattern my intervals to fit my Fly In/Fly Out roster. I work 8 days on a mine site, then spend 6 days home. On site, I use the treadmill because it is just WAY too stinking hot to go outside (it's in the far northern outback of Western Australia), and at home I go to the park. I'll increase my intervals on the first day back on site, get used to the new ratio on the treadmill, then consolidate it and push it harder by doing the same rate at home on grass, then up the interval on the next swing. What do you think? It makes a 2 week pattern, not 1 week as the program says, but I'm having trouble increasing in the 1 week intervals as it is, so I think it will suit me.

Welcome to the club, SNT!! I hope your journey to health is an easy one! Now you'll have to update the byline under your name, coz you're no longer "pre-banded"! And thanks for the congrats :smile2:

Hmm.. well the bottom of my bra sits exactly level with the base of my sternum (the bone/cartilage that joins your ribs together). My port is about 3-4 inches below that (and about 4-5 inches above my belly button). For my port to sit directly beneath the bra itself, it would have to be under the skin on top of my ribs, and I can't really imagine that! Wouldn't it stick out awfully far too?

Posting just to say LOOK AT MY TICKER!! LOOK AT MY TICKER!! Note the 8 at the beginning of the number on the kg ticker!! Note the 1 at the beginning of the number on the lb ticker!! WHOOHOOO!!! :smile2::biggrin::thumbup:

Congrats Damo!! I'm thrilled for you! The Optisludge phase is yuck but it does work wonders! Thank goodness we don't have to stick to that for the whole ride down to a healthy weight. Stick to your guns while you're on it and take comfort in knowing that it won't be forever.

You should be very happy! That is a very healthy rate of loss. I know it can be frustrating when you see some others losing faster, but time is on our side and we'll get there eventually. I was at just about the same point as you at 7 months out. I'm now at 10.5 months out and hit Onederland today. As the Pantene commercial says, "It won't happen over night, but it WILL happen!" Congratulations!

You mean it is stitched onto the top of your ribs??

I made it!! I made it!! I made it!! YAY!!!

DANCE!!! I made it, I made it, I made it!!! Whoohooo!!!! I was nearly there a few weeks back, had gotten down to 93kg (205lb) but then I had to have the operation to fix the kink in my tube. With all the fluids they pump into you, the Fluid retention from the swelling, and the severe constipation from the heavy painkillers (didn't poop for 5 days! :w00t:), I was back up to 96kg (211.6lb) at 5 days post-op. It slowly came down to 94kg over the next 5 days but then my ToM hit and losses never show up on the scale until that's over and then I show it all at once on the day it is over. Well the day arrived - my new weight? 90.2kg!! That's 198.8lb!!! WHOOHOOO!!! :laugh::eek::laugh::wink2:

Advice please. I read the speeds someone else said they were walking/running at and did the conversions to metric so I could understand it :regular_smile: and realised that I am going WAY slow . I've been increasing my intervals and feeling that I'm ready to move forward but don't know if I should try to increase the speed at the current interval or up the intervals again. Which do you recommend? Or should I do both and step my way up, i.e. increase the speed at the current interval, then increase the interval at a slower speed, then increase the speed till I can do that interval at the higher speed, etc?

*waves at SNT* Where in Perth is your brother based? I'm a Perth girl and just have to say (especially to She Smiles) WEST IS BEST!! :thumbup: If you want, I can give him some recommendations for places to go, things to see.

Ok, folks, I'm back in the game. It's been 8 days since my operation and my tummy is just about pain free (still a little pulling when I bend), so time to get off my butt and get back into it. My back has been giving me serious pain for the last couple of days (sciatic nerve) and I planned to ease back in with some very gentle walking. Well!! After 5 minutes of very gentle walking, my back felt better enough that I pushed the pace up to 5 more minutes of fast walking. After that, the pain had diminished to the point that I was brave enough to try the jog/walk pattern again! I only did 10 minutes of that, then a 3 minute cooldown walk, but my back is almost painfree now! Who woulda thunk it? Tomorrow, I'm back on track for the full 30 minute session!!

Thanks for that link, Sunwyse! I'm always on the lookout for new bra shops - it's my biggest shopping weakness! I just love lingerie!

Thanks for the welcome, folks! I really enjoyed the first couple of weeks on the program. Unfortunately, I have to take a slight hiaitus, as I go back under the knife tomorrow to get a kink in my tube fixed. I'm hoping that I'll be ok to get back on the program in about 1-2 weeks. One of the reasons I started the program was to step up the fitness level before surgery, in the hopes that it might help with recovery times. I also posted just before taking a program break on purpose, so that I wouldn't be able to slink off into the night and not go back to it. So if I disappear from the thread altogether for a while, one of you kind folks will kick me in the bum and tell me to get off it and get back out there, won't you? :biggrin:

Clear liquids are anything clear or semi-transluscent. Examples would be chicken, beef or vegetable stock, Crystal Light, jello, cordials. Full liquids are thick and opaque. Examples would be Cream of [anything] soup (not the thick & chunky varieties, those are mushies), plain yogurt (if it's got fruit chunks, it's a mushy), Optifast.

Heading in tomorrow. Wish me luck, peoples!

I spotted this article on a side bar on my online news this morning: Fancy footworkFitFlop fitness craze. Their website is here: The FitFlop Anyone tried them? Is it all hype or does it make a difference?

Sounds like you are exactly on the right track to me. We have to learn not to be afraid of feeling a little hungry for a little while. The band is not supposed to mean that you don't feel hungry EVER. It is perfectly normal and perfectly ok to feel a little hungry as meal times approach. What the band is supposed to do is to stop you eating a meal sized for 3 people (as I used to do every night) and to stop you feeling like you're starving in between meals. By the time you tighten it up to the point that you feel no hunger at all, you are almost certain to be too tight and won't be able to eat properly, leading to dependence on generally high fat/high carb/high suger slider foods and weight gain. It's meant to be a tool, not a miracle cure, so it does require a little work on our part. I think you are doing exactly the right thing - controlling mild hunger before meals. When it starts to get to raging hunger or the meal sizes start getting large again, that's the time to tighten the band in another notch.

LOL! Chicken wings was the first thing I went for when I got the ok from the doc to go back to full food after the post-op healing! They were worth the wait too! Hang in there - it's only temporary!

Resurrecting this old thread because the time has come (the walrus said...). I go in on Wednesday morning, op is in the afternoon, overnight stay then home on Thursday. I'm a little nervous as I sent a bunch of questions to my surgeon last week and he still hasn't answered, so I'm not sure what to expect. I don't think the op will be as involved as the original banding but I know he said he was going to go back through the main incision but move the port, so I think it will be comparable (hopefully a little less). I don't have any time at all to prepare for coming home from hospital this time. I fly home from my minesite late on Tues evening (don't actually get through my front door till 1am Wed morning) and have to present at the hospital in the morning. I'll just have to take it as it comes and rely on my wonderful family to help me out with shopping etc for the couple of days following. *chews fingernails*

I just can't believe that I have actually been able to do it! I was watching the timer on the treadmill as I was getting up to the 20 minute mark on the 60/60 jog/walk pattern and just spinning out over the fact that I was getting all the way through it. I spent the 5 minute cool down walk grinning my head off and just thinking WOW! I did it! ME!! JOGGING!! It was almost surreal.

Whoohoo!! I've finally joined you! There's no way I'm reading all 1300 posts, so I'm not sure if this thread is still on the Couch-to-5K topic, but I'm posting anyway . I've had several attempts at starting this program but always fallen back to just walking again, after a couple of tries. The first time was in the early months after banding, when I was still very heavy and even trying just one or two 60 second jogs (after warmup) pulled muscles and hurt all my joints. The second attempt to start the program was a few months later and several kilos lighter. It didn't hurt as much but I was so wiped out after just a couple of 60 second jogs that I couldn't even finish my 30 minutes walk on the treadmill. I decided to leave it until I felt a little more fit and went back to the walking. A couple of weeks ago, I felt ready to give it another try. The first week was hard, and I only managed about 10 of the required 20 minutes in the 60/90 second jogging/walking pattern. The second week was easier and I did my full 20 minutes, with 5 min warm up and 5 min cool down. This week, I switched to a 60/60 pattern and at the end of it was elated to discover that I really COULD do it! I felt ready to move up to the Week 3 pattern and came here to check on the numbers, only to discover that my 60/60 pattern isn't in the program. I'll give the 90/120 pattern a try tonight, but I think I'm ready to do 90/60!! I can't believe I can really do this!! Whoohoo!! Does anyone think the exact numbers really matter, as long as you are progressing up in increments?

Hehe - Curry Laksa is another favourite! Haven't tried the Hawkers at Wembley but I'm familiar with it at a number of other places.