::tracy::

walk walk walk my worst pain after was back pain from how i was positioned for my surgery ... i had some hyperextension of my lower back. That lasted for weeks. It all comes right though.

yippeeee i am now well and truly in the normal sized section ... ok i am still a XL .... but at least i don't have to limit myself to clothes in the "plus size" section. i have been able to drag out clothes that i haven't worn in years ... including above the knee skirts. i just feel so good. i still have a long way to go, but i can see the weight reducing most everyday! i have in the past brought clothes thinking "it will fit soon" ... now i buy clothes a size or two too small and i know i will be in them in a month or so. It is just so exciting. yay for meeeee!!! love to hear your stories ... and successes

I have lost 56 pounds (pounds sounds so much better than kgs!!) I have to say i am pleased with my results so far. When i first had my surgery done i decided i wanted to lose 77 pounds by xmas ... at this rate, that will be well achieved by that date. i went shopping today, brought some lovely new clothes (well i go shopping often now) however as i was trying them on i was so certain that the sizing must have been wrong haha ... it was like ... there is no way i should fit this size! Great feeling!!!

Hi Debz, How exciting, i can remember when i got my date, it feels like it is forever until that day comes. i am now 6 months down the track ... the time seems to have flown by ... but i tell you what, the Optifast period felt like it would never end, i do not envy you. i still have good and bad days with food. i am evidently a slow learner on how to eat, slow and small bites sometimes seems to be an impossible task. However it has been worth it! i went shopping today, purchased a pair of size 14 jeans and a size 14 dress - which looks amazing on. Good luck with your journey ... and keep us posted!! from one kiwi girl to another!

the symptoms you are suggesting don't seem to be anything related to the band. like someone suggested, i think you need to see a pulmonary specialist or something of the like. it is all too easy to blame the band, they are right .... be patient, don't panic, let it settle and then reassess. you need to trust the surgeon. If the hospital is saying your O2 saturation is satisfactory, then that is what it will be ... if it wasn't ... you would still be there now, until it is.

this is a great thread, but i think it would be quite good to see a poll on percentage of weight lost to date. haha ... if i was not so technologically retarded i would do it myself. my weight loss as a percentage is 20%. Thats alot.

I hear what you are saying, but i would be willing to bet that there are deeper issues aside from spanking that has caused a divide between children and parents that would not see your siblings want to be there to take care of your father as he passed on. I certainly don't mean to say you are not telling the truth, but spanking alone should not cause a rift like that. Beatings from a father perhaps ... a few light smack on the bottom with an open hand, no. As i have said earlier, i was spanked a few times as a child but those memories fade in comparison to the awesome times i had with my mother, the loving and caring times. I have never felt resentful for being spanked, because i knew my mom loved me.

Thats awesome Jennie, i now buy stuff a size too small so i ensure i will fit it soon, to be fair though, clothes aren't lasting more than one or two months for me, then they are starting to get loose. Expensive but exciting!! Hi aurbie, i love your story. It reminds me so much of my hubby, he doesn't quite do the shopping thing, but when i get home from the mall i have to model everything i have purchased, especially when i go to the underwear store!! When i purchase underwear now, i buy matching bra and knickers. i certainly don't look like a supermodel in them ... but hubby's reaction ... i think he thinks i am now ... oh i love his rose coloured glasses when it comes to me. i had a good empty out of my drawers and wardrobe two nights ago, my hubby took great pleasure in phoning his sister, who is a "bigger" woman too, to ask her if she would like to try on the clothes that are now to big for me. His sister is a strange one, everyone else i know has commented on my weight loss, as it is quite significant now ... 20kg (44 pounds), she always looks me up and down but she hasn't mentioned one single word. Jealousy is a terrible thing.

i agree with you fully. i am not a parent myself and i wonder what type of discipline i would use. i have plenty of friends that have children who are good parents but use smacking as and when required. i think there is a place for smacking, to me smacking is not about hurting your child physically ... it is about enforcing a message ... that a behaviour or action is not acceptable. Growing up i was very rarely smacked but when i was, i knew my mother meant business. It never did me any harm and if i had my own children i would do the same ... perhaps if this surgery works out for me, i will have my own.

in New Zealand (where i live) it is illegal to spank your children. i believe it is wrong to take away the choices of parents. The anti-smacking law has divided the country. in my opinion ... spanking/smacking is not the same as beating/abusing. This law will not stop the abusers, it has the potential of making criminals out of decent people, because they use smacking as they feel necessary.

hang in there Jayme ... the end of liquids is in sight. It is so frustrating i know. Just remember, this time is about healing and resting your tummy after the trauma it has been through. Stick with the Protein shakes ... they are packed with nutrition and that is what is required when you are healing. I love my liquid meals now ... haha ... it is like an about face turn after 6 weeks of Protein Shakes and soups ... i thought i would never touch them again. i have been super lucky in that i haven't really felt hungry at all since banding (20 weeks ago) ... i get what i could describe as a psychological hunger where i think i need to eat, but that can be eliminated by other activities ... exercise, TV, reading this website. Wait until you get to the hair loss stage ... haha ... then you have something to worry about!! that has caused me more worry than anything else of late!

joycreated, i am pleased you have had a little more success with lunch today. It is such a slow process learning how your own band works for you. We are all different and what is normal and tolerated for one person is not ok for the next. i think as long as you are losing within that healthy range, you are not deficient in nutrients and you feel well, i think you are doing ok. Or at least that is my opinion. my surgeon is not overly concerned about the difficulties i am having, i have talked to him about it ... last time i actually took hubby with me so the surgeon could talk to him too. It was a beneficial visit, i don't feel so stressed about the not so good days, i have stopped worrying about whether i have slipped or whatever. While forums like this a great and it is awesome to share experiences i think you can get caught up in what other people can eat or not eat and i found myself thinking i was abnormal. i take what i read with a grain of salt because we are all so different. Healthy weight loss and nutrition are my guidelines! It is such a big lifestyle change and some days it is really tough and frustrating when i just can not get what i want to eat down. If i have had one stuck/vomit ... whatever ... i find the next time will usually be not to long afterwards ... so i know that i need to have a light meal ... soup or whatever. For me it is just about being patient ... and not over doing it ... not getting stressed about it ... and not worrying continually about things going wrong. Just before my last visit to the surgeon i worked myself into such a state that i couldn't even drink Water without vomiting. As soon as i went back to the surgeon and he reassured me that i was ok, i went back to liquids for a few days, then since then i have been working back up to meals. As i said earlier, i now know that morning food is not good for me so i reserve that meal as being a Protein shake ... i avoid the foods that make me sick .. breads, red meat, rice and such foods .. and if i do have them, i just take it super slow, teeny bites and i listen to the niggles and pains i feel. i am very lucky in that from the day i was banded i have not felt hungry as such, sometimes i get a grumbly tummy, telling me to eat ... and of course there is the psychological hunger ... where i think i need to eat. i am no lapband expert ... but i know what works for me ... and accept i am going to have less than pleasant days with food. It is only food though ... Food is Fuel ... that is what i keep telling myself.

joycreated, i have experienced that, try eating smaller bites and slower. i get so sick of people telling me that. Are you drinking anything with your meals? i can not drink a drop ... otherwise i vomit. as soon as i feel the slightest niggle of pain or discomfort when eating, i have to stop straight way. i find liquid meals so much more desirable than solid food as i don't have to worry about accidently over eating. i have had 2 fills, the first was 6 weeks after surgery and the next was 10 weeks after surgery. i felt no restriction after the first then i have had good restriction from the second. i think i have about 4.5 or 5 in a 10cc band. The surgeon thought that restriction would probably last until Jun (that's based on estimated weight loss between now and then). I go back and see him then.

i am boarder line to being to tight, though i have seen my surgeon and he is quite happy and said i need to slow down my eating and bite sizes. lol ... i am not sure i could eat any slower. i miss not being able to drink with a meal, i have tried it but it makes me vomit, the suffer the most dreadful discomfort following. The surgeon again shook his head and said "tracy, don't do that!" ... as for what i eat, i can not do food in the morning, it ALWAYS gets stuck, i usually opt for a Protein shake, sometimes eggs ... but eggs even eggs can get stuck in the morning for me. lunch tends to be a Soup or salad or something like that. Then dinner is whatever hubby is having, meat and three vege type thing, though mine is served up on a side plate, less than a cup of food. my digestion is a very long slow process, sometimes it is an hour, sometimes it is 2-3 hours. This makes getting my Water in very difficult as i can not drink until my food has passed through the pouch. i am terrible with my water consumption, i never get my 2 litres in. I do exercise alot though, which i love! i am happy with my results, yes there are days that it seems slow and not enough, but when i look at the overall numbers 1 kg a week (2.2 pounds) ... i can not complain at all!!

optifast does give you a new appreciation of normal healthy foods

It is awesome to hear peoples stories!! it is such a good feeling to hold something up in the plus size section and now there is no way you will fit that again! i too don't wont to be super thin ... if my some miracle i get there, i don't complain ... but the chances are slim. i just want to be healthy and normal!

I can not drink at all during my meals. It doesn't flush the food faster through the pouch in my case, it actually does quite the opposite. It makes the food expand and it results in me vomiting. When i go out for lunch or dinner, i always drink first then i eat. Like if i am having a coffee with my lunch, when i order i ask for that to be sent over first.

you will be there before long amsderb. at last i feel like this is actually going to work!! wow you are going great greeneyez, you are almost 1/2 way to goal weight, thats awesome!!

yay for all of us!!!

As hard as it is, you need to stick to what they say, it does pay off. We have all been there and it is just so frustrating. But when you think of the investment you have made financially ... as well as the commitment to you long term health and well being ... another week or so will fly by ... and it will be in the past. i totally remember those days, just craving something to chew or something that tastes, looks or smells different to Optifast. Now ... i love my liquid meals. i have had a few bad days recently and i have put myself back on liquids for a bit ... it is like a relief. i think less and less about food as a pleasure .. but rather a necessity.

Well i am sitting just so close to 20kg lost ... less than a week i will have passed that little goal. i have had to buy soooo many new clothes ... what a shame ... lol. i have been watching out for sales and doing it that way ... i don't want to spend a fortune ... but i don't want to wander around in clothes far too big for me. How is everyones eating going? how many calories would you consume daily? How much can you actually eat? i can't eat much at all, some days are better than others, but generally speaking i am eatin very little. Cuppa-Soup and up-and-go are my new best friends. if i eat too much i just feel like crap all day so i tend to take it very slow. One thing i have found i have no problems eating ... chocolate. Not that i eat it very often ... perhaps once every couple of weeks. One of my very few pleasures i have left when it comes to eating.

i can relate to the picking at food ... i do that ALL the time.

i have noticed hair loss too. i luckily have lots of fine hair, so it isn't too noticeable ... yet. I have no bald patches and i have got hair still growing. So that is a bonus i guess.

my first PB/stuck/sliming ... whatever you might want to call it. i was on my way to a job interview ... running a little behind time so i was eating and driving .... sushi. i ended up in the toilets of place i had the job interview, for about 20 mins ... thankfully the woman interviewing me was running late. it was very embarrassing ... every time i opened my mouth spit would come bubbling up! i have never been stuck like that since however i am now very good at regurgitating food ... isn't that just gross!! it would seem i have lost my manners since banding ...

I was banded in Dec 07 (oops can't remember the date - but i think it is on my signature) I am from New Zealand I have had 2 fills, the first at 6 weeks and the next at 10 weeks. I haven't required any more to-date. I have lost ... 16.5kg = 36pounds. Though the weight lost feels slow, the numbers are now starting to add up ... which is awesome!!