Fanny Adams

*gasps in shock and horror* You SELL books and bookshelves?? I cannot bring myself to do such a blasphemous thing! I no longer borrow books from the library or from friends, because somewhere in my twisted mind lies the unshakeable deep conviction that once a book comes into my possession, by whatever means, it is MINE MINE MINE!!! Once I have my hands on them, I don't return them. I give friends fair warning - if you want me to read it, I'll buy a copy or you can give it to me, but I won't borrow it from you if you ever want it back again. I tend to read books over and over - it takes a pretty bad one to not warrant a second reading when I've gotten to the end of the collection yet again. If it weren't for the expense of shipping and you weren't half a world away, I'd say next time you want to sell the collection, let me know - I'd be there with cash in hand and a pickup truck :bolt:

Hehe - it was so fast it made my head spin. I had to wait 6 weeks from the time of my referral to my first meeting with him, as I work away on a mine site and we had trouble finding an appointment time to fit. Once that long wait was over, we scheduled the surgery during the visit and I was under the knife only 2 weeks later! I haven't regretted it for a moment since!

Hi Alioz - another Perthite!! You must be the third one to join this site just this week! Welcome! There's quite a few more Aussies around and a growing number of us West Aussies. If you go to the Home Page, you will see Australian Bandsters support group on the list of forums. Feel free to ask any questions - lots of experienced bandsters around.

If you're losing weight at 2lb a week and not struggling with hunger, you don't need a fill! Plain and simple. Don't let the doctor push you into it. When you DO start to struggle with hunger and the weight loss slows because you are eating more, that's when you go back for the top up. Everyone is different and quite a number of people have lost their weight without ever needing a fill or only having one fill. Most of us need at least 3 or 4 to get to a good restriction level and some will need many more than that. If you're happy right now, let it ride until you're not happy any more - if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I went with Dr Watson at St John of God Murdoch. He's very straightforward and has years and years of experience. Self-pay, the whole shebang (Dr Watson, anaesthetist, hospital stay, all the tests, etc) cost me around $12700, of which Medicare gave a $1500 rebate, so $11200 out of pocket.

What was wrong with ordering the tuna salad sandwich and then just opening it up and eating the fixings without the bread? They sell a fixed item for a fixed price, it's not their problem that you can't eat part of their fixed item. Just because you "prefer not to pay for it" doesn't mean they don't have a right to charge their fixed price. Demanding special treatment and then getting upset because you didn't get it is a good way to end up angry at the world.

Hi gmp72 and welcome from a fellow Perthite! There are many Aussies already here on the site and they can give you the lowdown on how Medibank Private deals with the waiting time, etc. It's a LOT easier for us to get covered under insurance than it seems to be for many of our US friends. I can't offer much insurance advice as I was so impatient, I coudn't wait out the 12 month qualifying period on my insurance and went full-pay. However, if you go to the Home page and look down the list of forum names, you will find the Australian support group. Good for you for making the decision - best thing I ever did for myself. You'll be saying the same very soon!

It's perfectly normal and you will start losing again. Most people experience a plateau or even a regain of a couple of pounds about 1-3 weeks after the op. I think this is a combination of things: firstly, a lot of weight you "lost" in the pre-op and first post-op week was Water, not fat, making it look like you lost more than you really did. As your body adjusts to the new regime, the Fluid levels balance out, masking your continued slow loss of fat. Secondly, most people seem to agree that after a long period of very low calories (e.g. the pre-op and post-op weeks), your body goes into "starvation mode" and hangs onto fat for dear life, thinking it won't get fed again. This will pass as you slowly take on more normal foods again. As you heal inside, you may (or may not) become very hungry again, waiting for your doctor to give the ok for a fill. Do your best to stick to the food types allowed (liquid/mushie/soft) as specified by the doctor, concentrate on healing and getting the right mental habits in place and don't worry so much about portion control - that will come with restriction. Within a couple of weeks, you will be eating more normal foods - choose lean meats, healthy fresh veges and let the band do its work. You WILL start to lose again.

YUM! Calamari!! An entree-sized serve of Salt & Pepper Squid with Chilli Mango dipping sauce is my staple meal of choice at any restaurant! :bolt:

I'd agree with Carolina. You're eating a lot of dairy and no mention of any vegetables at all. Add in some soft-cooked vegetables like sweet potato, squash, zucchini, etc, puree them up for no lumps and see if that helps. I think the mushie/soft food transition is mostly preventative. Even though you are chewing to "mushy/liquid", there's always the chance that you will miss a small lump, especially if you are eating "harder" foods like fresh vegetables or meat. At this point in your healing, a bigger than normal lump might get stuck, causing you to PB, etc. The last thing you want is to be upchucking before all the stitches have healed. Also, any lumps that slip through, regardless of if they get stuck or not, will require more vigorous stomach churning to digest, which will also pull at the stitches before they've healed. Sure, you might be really careful all the time and never miss a lump; sure, everyone is different and some will be more sensitive to lumps than others, so you might get away with swallowing some without PBing; however, when what you eat has been blended/pureed to mush, you eliminate the possibility altogether. This is much safer and I think it is the main reason why doctors recommend it. Why take the chance? It's like saying why bother with a seatbelt when I know I'm going to drive really really carefully each time.

One thing I'd like to see with that show is some follow up episodes for 12 months, 2 years and 5 years later. Sure, if given all the time in the world to do nothing but exercise, a personal trainer, personal chef and the motivation of being publically humiliated on national television if you slack off, just about anyone can lose substantial amounts of weight! But what happens afterwards? How many of them keep it off? For how long? How easy is it for them to maintain their new look?

This is one of the things I like better about our system in Aus, than the US one. Voting is compulsory here, and you must register at 18. I know a lot of Americans view that as an imposition upon their freedoms, but I just don't see it that way. To me, voting is not a privilege, not even a right, it is a civic duty that all functioning adult members of society are obliged to do as part of their contribution to the community. It's like paying taxes or jury duty. One advantage this gives us is that the electoral rolls here are far more stable and better maintained than in countries with non-compulsory voting. I'm sure there are minor incidents of voting shenanigans and gerrymandering does occur, but we don't get the scandals associated with ballot box stuffing that have poisoned the last few US elections. The rolls are too well known and established for any party to get away with that on a large scale. The other advantage is that everyone HAS to take at least some form of responsibility for the government we have. We may not get the government that we personally chose, but at least we know we got the government that the country as a whole chose, not just a small segment of it.

Ok, didn't make it by the anniversary, but made it by my birthday last week and it's still September so it counts! :bolt:

*checking back in* Nup, still no pics! All this chat about toned abs and hunky shoulders and no pics! I might have to unsubscribe to this thread at this rate *cries* *runs* :bolt:

I'm with the book women, not the shoe ladies! I have 11 6' bookshelves in my house, and I've read just about every book on them, many of them multiple times. (Okay, I haven't read every one of the Encyclopaedia Britannicas or Great Books of the Western World, but all the others!). I currently own 5 pairs of shoes: 1 pair steel-capped workboots (for work obviously), 1 pair good quality runners, 1 pair beat up wedge-heeled sandals, 1 pair leather thongs (flipflops to you guys), 1 pair cheap zip-up ankle boots. I'm gonna have to buy some new shoes for summer soon.

Everyone does make pre-judgements about everyone and everything else. We can't help it. It is the way our brains work, the way that we comprehend and categorise things in order to be able to think at all. Initial prejudgements can also be modifid by conscious thought or changed by subsequent knowledge. I don't consider it "discrimination" unless it causes someone to act detrimentally because of that pre-judgement, for example, to not give a job to the most qualified or refuse to serve someone in a shop because of their "difference", whatever that is.

Go Cherry, go! I second that vote for getting an unfill when needed. Better loose and eating healthy than tight and miserable. The worst part of being tight for me was that I was still hungry and couldn't eat! It felt like enforced bulimia - absolutely horrible. Never again!

I think one way to get an inkling of whether the band will suit you or not, is to look at your eating patterns. The band restricts you from eating large volumes of food. If your weight problem is more caused by over eating than by eating junk food and high fat/high sugar, then you are more likely to adjust well to it and be successful. If your weight gain is more from too much chocolate, the band will still help control your hunger pangs but you must supply the willpower to eat healthy food instead of indulging your sweet tooth. Unfortunately, the band doesn't stop you eating crisps and icecream :tongue2: Really take stock of what you eat and compare the meal sizes and frequency, including Snacks, with that of your skinniest friends. I've always known that my problem wasn't that I ate a lot of junk, I ate some sure, but not a lot. My problem was that I ate really huge meals and did absolutely no exercise. The point came home to me clearly after being banded when one night I was eating dinner with a couple of very slim girls from work. I was all proud of myself for my tiny portion and wondered if they'd say anything, when I realised that their portions were just as tiny - they ate like that all the time. What I had considered normal was the same portion that a large man doing heavy physical work would eat (and probably still gain weight on). The band works if you work with it. It has freed me from the hunger daemon and allowed me to make healthy choices because I am no longer compelled by a frenzied desire to wolf down everything in sight. Best thing I ever did for myself.

I was never particularly successful at dieting. Sure, I tried them all and started out strong but my motivation factor rarely lasted. I just couldn't deal with being hungry all the time. I would have difficulties going to sleep because I was hungry, wake up in the middle of the night dreaming about food, get up in the morning and immediately think about what I was allowed to eat that day. After a couple of weeks I would start to cheat. Once that happened, it didn't take long before I'd throw my hands in the air and say "**** it! I don't care if I'm fat!!" and go pig out. My approach to exercise was much the same - first couple of weeks I'd go hard, but it would taper off. The weight loss ALWAYS slows after the first couple of weeks, even if you are sticking to it perfectly, because half the initial loss is only Water. That didn't stop my head from saying to me "Why bother? It's not working! What difference does it make if you don't go to the gym today?" Getting the band was a whole change of headspace. I knew I couldn't face the prospect of trying and failing at yet another diet. I knew I couldn't face the idea of struggling to live with that hunger for the 18 months I needed to lose the weight I wanted to lose. The band gave me a reason to believe that I could succeed. I don't fight hunger all the time. I don't obsess about food all the time. Believe it or not, I've even FORGOTTEN TO EAT MEALS! I was absolutely astounded the first time that happened. I eat pretty much what I would have eaten on a "balanced 1200 cal" diet plan, but it doesn't FEEL like a diet, because I'm not feeling deprived. My exercise has been sporadic - went hard at first, slacked off for a while, got back into it. Right now, I am going strong at it, because it is SO much easier when 70lb lighter and I can really feel the difference. DO IT! In a year's time, you'll be saying it's the best thing you ever did for yourself.

Bout time you stopped shagging your hubby night and day and started posting again! You'll wear the poor lad out!! :tongue2: Wow, 50lb already!! That's bloody brilliant, Pix, not slow at ALL! Well done, mate!

It's like you said in the Sexist thread, Watcher. Discrimination is more than just mean comments about your weight, just as sexism is more than making a comment about a woman's appearance. To be honest, I can't really think of a time when I've even heard a mean comment about my weight, let alone could really attribute discriminatory treatment to it. Then again, I'm 46 and didnt' start gaining weight until after I was 30, so I didn't get the mean treatment in school that some people suffered. I'm sure that happens here as much as anywhere. I have heard people being mean to others with weight problems, so I know we're not saints about it. The closest I've come to actual discrimination in terms of work or service, has been when I've worked on minesites. I was asked once at an interview if I felt I could handle the physical demands of the job - long hours, extremely hot climate, often a lot of walking/climbing many flights of stairs in the heat. I felt it was a "fair enough" question, as the conditions on site can be tough and some of the physical demands were right at my outer limit of ability, at my heaviest. I answered the question honestly (saying I know it would be tough at times, but I would be able to cope) and got the job anyway. At my latest site, I had problems with store-issued uniforms, as they didn't carry my size pants in their usual stock. It was embarrassing to have to give the store guys my size so they could order them in, but it was done, no other questions asked. I've never felt that "I'm invisible" feeling in a shop, then again, I've never really looked for it and I don't like being accosted by store attendants anyway, so wouldn't have noticed their attention being missing. I really can't say that I've witnessed a lot of true discrimination either. One of the few jobs that I can imagine it occurring in, would be women applying for jobs as a front office receptionist. A lot of male-run companies want eye candy on the front desk, but I've seen a lot of heavy women in the same companies in the back offices. I live in Perth, Western Australia, in case you were wondering.

HA! Your comments are the main reason I keep coming back to read! you crack me up! :tongue2:

*does Cat Stevens imitation* This thread will never die, this thread will NEVER DIIIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!

My doc says "be very careful for the next 2 days", but doesn't insist on liquids or mushies. For the first 3 fills, I went back to mushies for the rest of the day, then fine the next day. For fill 4, I did liquids for the rest of the day, mushies on day 2 and then back to normal. On the last fill, I PB'd on thick Soups that afternoon, was really ill all night, spent the next day on clears and never managed to get past thick liquids for the next 10 days, till I had half the fill removed. I think the injunction is mostly to make sure you are REALLY careful after a fill, as you never quite know what the restriction is going to be until you try it. I was shocked at PB'ing on the same soups that I had used on in my post-op phase without problem.

I considered that option but find baby food to taste gross. I tended to cook up a big pot of something mushie then put it all into 200ml containers and freeze it. With 2 or three different options in the freezer, dinner was just a matter of a quick microwave and voila!