Fanny Adams

*cues Beaches music and sings to Jachut* Have I ever told you, you're my heeeeerooooooooooooo... :sad:

I'm going to take this bit by bit... That's a loss of 30lb in only 2 months! That's a fantastic achievement and you should be leaping for joy! Few of us lose quite that quickly. Congratulations!! Exercise will help in more areas than one - it will make you feel better, get fitter and will resculpt your body into a better shape. It may or may not help with weight loss, as you may build up muscle to replace the lost fat, and muscle does weigh more than fat, but it LOOKS a whole heap better. Start slowly and gently and build yourself up to it, but don't beat yourself up if you're not ready yet - you are losing at a great rate without it right now. Try not to think of the band as something that will stop you from eating, but as something that will help to stop you from overeating. If you can eat a whole plate of salad, that's WONDERFUL! Do it! Salad is good for you and will fill you up and stick with you, so that you're not suffering hunger pangs. If you're not eating much of other things, that might be worrisome and to me it is a sign that you don't need another fill. If you've lost 30lb in only 2 months, you can't have been at a "plateau" for very long. I know that as dieters, many of us are hooked on the positive reinforcement of the scale dropping every day and if it doesn't move for several days, we feel cheated and start to think we are failing, especially if we've been "good". This was probably my biggest problem in pre-banding days - if the scale stopped for more than 5 days, I assumed all loss had stopped and gave up in disgust. One of the best things I've learned about my body since getting the band is that loss comes and goes in rhythms that suit IT not our desire to see numbers move. There are so many other factors that influence the number you see on the scale - Water retention, time of month, stress. Personally I lose steadily for about 2 weeks, a fraction of a pound a day adding up to about 1-2 pound each week, then loss stops and my weight will "bounce around" up and down a pound or so for another 2 weeks, till suddenly it drops 2-4lb almost overnight and then gets back to the steady trickle down again. I've been able to tie this pretty closely to my ToM, and now expect that pattern and really look forward to my "drop day" . Take time to learn your personal rhythms. I wouldn't count it as a "plateau" until all loss had stopped for over 4 weeks. THEN it's time to evaluate what you're doing and make changes. I have a suspicion that you are already there but are just not recognising it yet. That's pretty normal - it took me quite a while to figure it out too. To me, the sweet spot is being able to eat just about anything I want if I'm careful and take my time to chew properly, but being satisfied on much smaller meals and not getting hungry between them. It also means that the hunger is under enough control that I can resist the urge to gorge myself or scoff chocolates or chips, not that I don't feel hungry at all. It took me AGES to work out that I wasn't going to get that old belly-stretching ache that I thought meant I was "full". I finally figured out that the pain (which I actually enjoyed) was the pain of being OVERFULL and STUFFED. Try eating your set portions (1/2 to 1 cup of food usually), then stopping and waiting for 15 minutes. Listen to your body. If you are HUNGRY, have a little more, but don't strive to feel FULL, aim for "Wow, I'm not hungry anymore, I can walk away now." THAT's your sweetspot. Boredom is another of my biggest triggers - I still find myself fossicking around for a snack in the mid-afternoon when I'm not hungry at all, just want something to do. Maybe that could be a motivation for you to exercise? Next time you think "Gee, I want something to eat", stop and examine the feeling - if you're not really hungry, just bored, get up and do something, anything. If you can't leave the house (e.g. small kids asleep or something), try just walking around your yard for 5 minutes. If you can get away, talk a 5-10 minute walk around the block. No-one says exercise has to start with a full 30 minutes or hour at the gym. Lastly (and I'm sorry about the novel, but your post really called to me), you are NOT failing!! Your numbers show you are having a wonderful success so far! Focus on your achievement and be proud of what you have done! Good luck on your journey.

I agree Jachut, and I'd also like to add that my question was relating to the ongoing after-healing diet, rather than the pre-op liver-shrinking fast. I did the Optifast option myself in the pre-op phase but, as you pointed out, our Optifast is higher in carbs than the US brand, so even on the minimum of 3 shakes + 2 cups of non-starch veges, it was very difficult to get below 50g carbs (Optifast alone was 45g) and impossible to get to the 30g recommended for Atkins. I don't see much of a problem with the high protein/low carb as a short term solution, but I think it is a dangerous route to pursue long term. I am particularly sensitive to this at the moment, as I have recently discovered that I have a kidney stone, so I will be watching my Protein intake to make sure I don't overdo it.

Good work!! :biggrin2:

I'd check with your doctor fairly quickly on that one. I don't want to alarm you but I've heard that reflux at night when lying down, coupled with no restriction in the day, can be a symptom of a slight slip. If they catch it early, it can be fixed by a simple unfill for a few weeks and then bring the fill level back up, but if it is let go until you have trouble swallowing in the daytime, it can get more serious. I may be way off base, so please don't stress over it, but I think it is worth ringing your doctor and asking him/her about it. More than likely it is just the fill kicking in, but better safe than sorry, eh?

TerriDoodle, the subject of the appropriateness of the rants and raves threads for newbie introductions to the forum has come up in other threads. I think it was you (or another mod) who suggested excluding the R&R threads from the list of new posts on the Home Page. Has this been done? I think it is a VERY sensible idea, as most of the newbies don't need these threads as part of their first introduction to our forum. This is a great place for us to let off steam, but we risk alienating newcomers who don't see the forum warning when accessing this from the Home Page.

I'm fine - doc has said he's happy to let it wait until the insurance kicks in. It doesn't really bother me at all (except when I've spent every night for a week poking at it, wondering what it was and bruising the area - LOL!). I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to get another fill. With mine, it can take up to 2 weeks to really kick in before I feel the effects. I don't know how that works, but it seems to... might be something to do with daily water retention fluctuations, ToM when I get the fill, etc. Either way, I think you are far better off being underfilled than overfilled. You can always eat some more nice crisp salad veges to fill you up if you are underfilled and hungry, but if you are too filled, the temptation to go for slider food becomes hard to manage. Don't forget to plan in a treat for the end of the day, as part of your daily allowance!

Brandy, How has it been going since you got your unfill and hopefully are working with proper restriction levels? Have your hunger levels stabilised now that you can eat more normal foods? Are you having less problems with PBing? Hang in there mate, once you get the fills worked out, it DOES become easier to work with and the weight will start to move - slowly but surely...

Zoloft had the same effect on me - reduced my appetite quite a lot, although not enough to lose serious amounts of weight.

I think one of the beauties of this surgery is that you can put it down and pick it up again later, when you want. If you could give us a little more information, I'm sure people would be happy to help you find ways to start over, but the advice offered will differ depending upon what your situation is. Did you never get any fills? Can you eat solid foods, just too much of it? Or do you eat soft foods because the solid stuff is too hard to eat?

Thanks Salsa! I think I'm starting to get the hang of this game and the weight is starting to move a little faster, so that's really encouraging. Right now, I couldn't be happier with my progress - hope things stay that way!

I've been told that my goal of 135lb is ambitious and I've also been told (by an asshole trying to get a rise out of me) that I am still aiming to be FAT with that goal. I'm 5'3" and the BMI range says it should be anywhere from 107 to 141, so my goal is in the top end of the "normal" range. As a teenager, I was around 115 and wearing Aus size 10 pants (US size 6) and size 14 tops (US size 10) because of the boobage. In dresses, I would compromise on a size 12 (US 8) and have them too tight across the chest (hehe - and who minds that as a precocious teen?) and a little loose in the hips. After I had my daughter, I went up a little to about 125 and stayed there for several years. I can still remember crying my eyes out when I hit 60kg (135lb) and that's when I started the whole yoyo dieting that got me up to my biggest of 275lb on the day before I started the pre-op diet. I figure that at my age (45), 125 would make me look gaunt - I think I'll need a little fat left on the bones to soften the wrinkles hehehe, so 135 it is... For the first time in 15 years, I'm really starting to believe I can get there too!

Hey everyone! *waves* I finally qualified to post in here!! :biggrin2: It's taken me a little over 5 months, but I have dropped from 275 to 231, 44lb down, and with a goal of 135lb, that means I NO LONGER HAVE 100LB TO LOSE!! :biggrin::thumbup: So how it everything in double digit land?

Hehehehehehehe :rolleyes2:

Hehe - there's always a good reason to have a pina colada instead *grins* And if you can tolerate watermelon, great! I'll probably try again in a couple of weeks when this fill has loosened up some. I guess 3 days afterwards was just a bit too soon, but it is the first time that any one food has said NO to me like that! And I happily eat everything that others say they have problems with.

I'm gonna jump in from elsewhere too, and say that "i don't eat a whole hell of a lot" tells me that getting another fill will NOT solve the problem! It might even make it worse, by making it harder to eat the good solid healthy foods and you'll end up substituting the easy soft slider junk foods that don't fill you up. If you're not eating much in quantity, what's the quality of your choices like? Are there other ways of changing your routine to give your body a bit of a shakeup? Maybe change your choice of exercise or go back to keeping a food diary again and see if the calories you are eating are giving you the most bang for your buck. Unless you are finding that you are eating large quantities of solid low fat, low cal, high fibre healthy food and are STILL hungry, I don't think a fill is the answer.

Be careful with the watermelon, even after an unfill - I have been able to eat just about anything, had no trouble with breads, pastas, meat, etc, but tried watermelon a few days after my last fill (when I was allowed back on solids) and OH BOY did that hurt! Watermelon has always made me burp big time, so I guess that's what all the pain was about but man, that's the first food I've found that I'm not in any hurry to try again... Now fresh salads and chicken, I eat every day for lunch and love them!

If you have a bit of a sweet tooth, I think it is a good idea to plan in a small treat within your daily allowance, best done as dessert. That way you can look forward to it all day and say no to other things during the day, because you know you'll get your sweet fix that night. You have to be really smart about it though, and make sure you don't have stuff around that you can overindulge in. For example, I don't trust myself AT ALL with a block of chocolate or a packet of biscuits in the house- who can stop at a couple of squares or 1 or 2 biscuits? NOT ME!! So I get things like the Nestles Diet Creme Caramels, which come in fixed serving sizes. When I'm up on site, I'm lucky, because the kitchen puts out a selection of tiny cakes and pastries, all cut into 1 inch by 2 inch squares. I can take one back to my room with me and nibble it in tiny bites, because I know I can't go back and eat the whole cake. Most of them are only around 150-200 cal in such small portions. If you like chocolate, maybe buy a Cadbury Freddo once a day? They are only 105 calories and could easily be factored into a daily allowance. I wouldn't trust myself to buy a multi packet though - coz I'd eat half of them in one night if I could. Perhaps you could make it a daily ritual to walk down to the corner deli and buy one for your late night treat? That way you get in some exercise and can't go wild and scoff the lot.

*giggles* Ok, now before anyone gets upset, this is meant as a JOKE, ok? I saw this today and immediately thought of this thread and the opposing sides. Hope everyone has a sense of humour :rolleyes2:

Yes, sodium can sneak up on you. When I was in the full liquid post-op phase, I stopped losing weight and started regaining and it took me several weeks to work out that even though I was only taking in around 5-600 calories a day, it was almost all in canned soups, which are high in sodium themselves, and I was pouring on the salt in an effort to satisfy hunger pangs with "flavour". I've stopped putting salt on almost all my foods now (still have to have a little sprinkle on eggs and tomatoes), don't add it in any cooking and avoid processed foods as much as possible.

Hon, don't wait till you get to goal, dump that ass right now! No-one deserves to be treated that way, but unfortunately when we are big and insecure, we often think it is all we deserve :thumbup:. You'll feel so much lighter once you dump that big old weight dragging you down and I'm NOT talking about the scales! I'm speaking from experience here :cursing:.

Well done, Sades! Keep it up!

PS: The trick to using prunes is that they are mainly preventative or an early intervention solution. If you are stopped up for a day or two, they will help, but if you've let it go for 4, 5 or more days, you'll probably need something stronger to solve the immediate problem. Once solved, make them a permanent part of your diet to prevent future reoccurrances.

I don't know if this affects all Wii's but you might want to take its fitness readouts with a pinch of salt: A person who is 4'9" and weighs only 6 stone (84lb or 38kg) has a BMI of only 18.2!! That is classed as UNDERweight, not fat!! How the hell did this thing come up with that as a comment if those are truly her measurements? Poor kid :cursing:

*the ghost of Rico speaks* It's "culinary"! :cursing::thumbup: