Jachut

I couldnt agree with this more. Its completely accurate. However, in the post op phase, it is most important to stick to your DOCTOR's orders, primarily becuase the reason behind the diet is MEDICAL not nutritional. Its to heal the stomach and whether or not you go into "starvation mode" (if it even exists)or lose weight is completely irrelevant right now. You're not supposed to be focussed on losing, you're supposed to be healing and he didnt give you a "spiel" he gave you responsible advice. the weight loss will come later, when you get restriction. Youv'e just lost a very large amount pre op, you've already exhausted your easy run of quick Water weight loss, and your body will now settle into slow and steady fat loss. This happens very often, and its just fact that the human body cant drop pounds and pounds of fat per week. Fat loss is slow and initial fast loss is water, muscle and fat and doesnt go on forever. You'd be muscleless, flabby and unhealthy if that kind of loss continued. Stick with your instructions and it will pay off. Also, dont forget that anybody can hang out a shingle and call themselves a nutritionist, not like a dietician. So if you find a nutritionist who will contravene your doctor's orders, you'd best be extremely suspicious about their knowledge. The industry is very much like the personal training one, there's extremely knowledgeable people out there, but its also very easy to get into back of the cornflakes box qualification type stuff, so there's really no substitute for being knowledgeable yourself.

At 4 years out, I've recently really recommitted and started up boot camp and circuit training as well as my regular running. I've certainly lost the last pounds. Everyone loses faster and easier in the first year but its not true that there's a window. You can lose whenever you're motivated to make the necessary effort. BUT -in my boot camp we were weighed first session of the series. Others have lost way more weight than me. I no longer really have an "excess" to lose, I just like to be skinny, lol, and I certainly dont drop 2 or 3 lb in a week even with mammoth levels of exercise. I'd be glad to lose 2lb in a month these days. But again - I have a BMI of 21 so that's hardly a problem!

The sad fact is you are most probably going to have a whole lot of excess skin no matter which way you go and no matter how slowly you lose it. It is a complete myth that the band results in less excess skin. The factors that affect the skin are primarily genetics, but also how overweight you are and how long you have been that way. The damage that is done to the skin occurs when you GAIN weight, not when you lose it, what's done is done and absolutely nothing you do now is going to undo it or affect it in any way. Its very disheartening but really, you should try to only focus on your health goals first and worry about the cosmetic side of it as and when you go. You'll feel more and more positive as you lose weight and will probably cope with skin issues much better than you imagine and tackle solutions to them much better than you imagine. As long as you're willing and able to work with a band, its a great choice for you.

Well, that's sad Erin. Its a big thing to go through surgery with such hopes, particularly at your young age, and to have it not work out for you. I'm sorry it hasnt been a roaring success, but I'm glad that you're looking at it positively in regard to achieving one of your goals. well done. It really does sound like something's not right in there. Bands shouldnt hurt and they shouldnt make you sick.

You know, every photo I've seen of you (lots of work bathroom photos, lol) you've looked entirely lovely AND appropriate for work. The flip flops issue, I cam understand although there's rubber thongs and them there's mule type shoes - in most worplaces you could were any sort of backless shoe with a low heel, just not rubber or beachy ones. This is a strange issue. I think with work, if you love the job, them there's not much to be done but comply, but really the only things that are inappropriate are very short items, loads of cleavage showing, sleeveless singlet type tops and denim in many workplaces. the trouble is sweetheart, you're so darn HOT now that everything you wear looks sexy. I also think your email is well worded and appropriate and hopefully you'll get to have a chat about the issue. But you're entirely right, its not fair to be expected to dress like someone's grandma now that the shape under your clothes is sexy. I've lost out on two jobs recently where I knew staff members at the school - I'm looking for graduate teachiing positions for next year. Both times, it was my look - it was intimidating - I look fit, thin and I guess I do look like what I am, upper middle class, privately educated. These schools were both in fairly low socioeconomic areas and both times it got back to me through friends that I looked like a rich bitch. It really gets my goat that you make the most of yourself and in so doing you end up facing WAY more discrimination than when you were fat. I chime in on those whiney threads on here about how people feel they're treated badly when they're fat - my experience is when I was I was no threat to anyone, now suddenly everyone's scared I'm going to lose their husband to me becuase I'm the only 40 something around that still looks 30. And I'd love to say darling, I lost weight not my mind. Your beer bellied low income earning uncouth husband is safe from me, safe as he ever was (lol, only kidding).

In Australia, the band is really promoted as tool to help you live a normal life. therefore, there is the standard post op diet, liquids to mushies to solids and that is strict, and we have the pre op thing too. but long term, we dont have anything like the rules you guys have. Half a cup as a portion is mentioned, but only as a sort of guide, not gospel and we are encouraged to eat healthily, from all food groups, but also to be normal people who share celebtration meals, eat on the run, sometimes eat fast food or enjoy some chocolate with an evening movie. Its everything in moderation, and most defnitely not a diet with rules like Protein first, counting grams of carbs etc.

Just goes to show that doctors are academically clever and can learn from books and get into good universities. Also goes to show that like most of the general public, some of them are idiots. those *are* the stats. But anyone with half a brain can understand that statistics are not givens. Why do people only lose that much? any reason at all from the fact that some obese people are sick and immobile and cant put in the sort of effort that another can, some are fat due to metabolic and disease issues, some are completely noncompliant and had surgery in the deluded belief that it would be a miracle fix, then throw their hands up in the air in horror that they actually have to WORK at this, some are suffering from things like PCOS and struggle mightily for every pound they lose, some are diabetic, or have lost a limb, or are actually genuinely elated with their 60% loss and dont really wish to lose more. THAT'S what your doctor should have said - the statistics are a bit offputting for these reasons, but remember, what you can do and what you DO do is well within your control and its entirely possible to lose 100% or MORE of your excess weight. The band is a tool, etc etc. To simply say that you'll probably only lose 60% of your excess weight, well, that's pretty stupid, inaccurate and wouldnt give me great confidence that the doctor really gave a stuff about his patient (or that he was deliberately steering you towards another surgery). Unfortunately there's a lot of doctors out there who are on a great money spinner but really have zero understanding or care about the other role a weight loss surgeon should play - mentor, supporter and carer.

I ate a cup of food all the way through, right to goal anmd 2 years into goal. I would never have survived on 1/4 cup of food. I didnt find it in any way necessary to eat that little. There's no magic in a measurment, you want ot eat the most food you can whilst still losing so that you remain well nourished and dont slow your metabolism unecessarily. At your stage though, you're healing and you will loosen over time.So its nothing particularly to worry about.

If you're going to stay with cardio machines, interval training will burn more calories for you - well more correctly, it will set your body up to burn more FAT. Calorie burn might only increase slightly due to doing a slightly greater distance, but your metabolism will skyrocket. that means, if you can only run for a few minutes on the treadmill, then spread your run out - walk very fast for five minutes, run flat out for two, recover with a minutes slower walk, walk very fast for another four, run flat out for two. www.cardiocoach.com is an excellent MP3 interval training program (there's about 8 volumes) that will take the guesswork out of that for you. But if at all possible try some circuit training. So instead of a whole hour of cardio break it up with heavy duty squats, lunges, pushups etc. Much more strength work done hard and fast, with work on the cardio machines in between will give you a better result. Cardio does get the fat off, for sure, and is never a waste of time, but you can get better faster results. I didnt really come to believe this myself until AFTER I'd lost all my weight just running, but what things like bootcamp and circuit have done for my body since is quite amazing. And I can eat and eat and eat and never gain. Dont go by what machines say you've burned, and ellipticals in particular are notoriously inaccurate becuase they base the calculation on a running movement, when in actual fact you dont actually leave the ground like you do with running. Go by your perceived exertion, set distance goals ad challenge those. Unfortunately to burn a lot of calories in an hour, it has to hurt, if you know what I mean.

Dont panic yet - its simply a matter of getting restriction. I must say, the older 4cc bands seem to have people at their sweet spot much much quicker, I found with mine, I had the right restriction for me at that particular time each and every fill. But i know from four years on here that its very very normal to take even up to a year to get good restriction and start losing. till then, well you DO have to summon up some willpower. Dont underestimate yourself - you do have it. Maybe not enough to have 2lb coming off every week, but to start making healthy changes. The band has NOTHING to do with your exercise habits, for example, there's absolutely nothing to stop you going at that really hard and with dedication and that will prevent weight gain, if not see weight coming off. Its a shame its such a drawn out process, but you dont have a "window" in which you have to lose weight or the opportunity is lost, when you get good restriction, it will start happening.

You arent giving your band a chance to heal. Just because you dont vomit, doenst mean you're not doing damage. The stomach needs to be given the chance to form scar tissue around the band so that its solidly held in place - the reason for the liquid diet to mushies diet. The first you might know of how detrimental your actions are is when your band slips in say, six months or a year's time.

This will be a challenge because you wont have figured out what you can and cant eat yet. personally, I'd stay FAR away from steaks and bread in any form. I was still quite tight and swollen with a lot of restriction at your stage. any sort of food that is gravy covered should be OK - indian and italian will be easy, Pasta MIGHT be a good bet for you now - I find risotto is my standard "safe" meal - undesireable carbs of course, but when you rmain focus is to eat in public and enjoy the experience without event, then I think that's a fair trade. Salads should be OK too - caesar or chargrilled vegie salads. Fritattas sound like a good plan. Basic eggs or cereals for Breakfast and take the soup option for lunch if you can.

That's a sign of being ever so mildy too tight in my experience. Its the one thing I noticed - not sliming, not pbing, just markedly reduced food intake (which i thought was good) but after a few weeks i noticed I was clearing my throat rather a lot. This made me notice how much saliva I had. I had a teeny 0.1 ml removed and it fixed the problem.

I cant figure the logic between saying you'd lost too much weight too fast and then not connecting that to fill levels.

High weight low reps - and go really heavy, as heavy as you can possibly manage. Better yet, do it circuit style, dont have breaks and sets in the same way that you do with regular lifting - and focus on whole body movements, dont waste your time standing round doing bicep curls. It will get your heart rate skyrocketing and torch calories.

No. I can count on my hands the number of times I've puked in four years. But eeeew little froggy. that'll learn ya to clean the rubbish out of your car when you get home! Just as an aside, how on EARTH could you get it into a soda can. When I do puke, its loud, violent and although not copious, there's no way I could do it into a can or bottle.

Google circuit training, there is loads and loads you can do at home with virtually no equipment to get really fit. Walking is great, it shoudl be something everyone does often and at the start of your journey, when you're heavier and havent been active, then its perfect to get your weight loss going. It will build some muscle and fitness. But the human body is designed to walk long distances and unless you're a dedicated power walker, it will be really difficult to build impressive fitness and lose 100% of your excess weight, gaining the type of body muscle tone most of us want, with walking alone. It will simply get too easy and wont continue to benefit you in the same ways. You can progress your walking into running when you're ready by adding intervals of jogging, gradually expanding them etc, just as when you can jog long distances, you build in periods of real running. There are so many body weight exercises that will benefit you too - pushups, dips on a chair, planks, squats, lunges - try lunge walking around even your backyard and see how much THAT hurts, lol. You can build circuits by say, doing 20 squat jumps and running a short course (or using a skipping rope for 2 minutes), do 3 sets of that, then change to push ups and skipping, then change to say sit ups and skipping, use playground equipment to attempt things like pullups as you get stronger, the ONLY limit is your imagination. personally, I made myself a sandbag out of a bag of garden mulch and I love hoiking that around rather than using weights. Twenty squats with a 15kg bag will get your heart rate up pretty well! I find this sort of thing easy to make up because I have a fair degree of anatomical knowledge and knoweldge about health and fitness, but you can research it and find all sorts of free programs and demos on the web and especially youtube. The only limit is your imagination. But do take it slowly, obviously I'm using things I like to do as examples and I'm pretty fit and no longer carrying excess weight. But you definitely dont need a gym to get really fit. At the moment, if you committed yourself to say 2 circuits a week where you mentally prepare yourself to work REALLY hard - feeling a bit ill and man am I going to be sore tomorrow type of hard - and then walk the other days at a more pleasant intensity, that would be a fantastic start for you. The duration of walking is great for fat burning, but you will really rocket your results if you can push yourself for two really intense sessions every week. With driving to the gym such a bit committment, dont feel pressured to have to do it. But if you can visit twice a week for a short period to do a circuit class or a personal training session or similar, explaining what you want to achieve, you will pick up knowledge about how to do these types of exercises so that you can design your own program at home.

I completely understand where you're coming from and I think you'll be very successful. Anyway you look at it, prevention is better than cure. I really think our bodies have a memory for our weight, and the heavier you get, the higher the weight your body will strive to get back to after you've lost it. I was a BMI of 27 once upon a time, at age 15 or 16. I was desperate about how disgustingly fat I was, because to a 16 year old, to not be petite and skinny IS a huge issue. I dieted my way over the next 15 years up to a BMI of 30, by which time i really WAS becoming obese. Throw in a couple of babies over the next few years and my BMI was 36. And at no time had I ever stopped trying to "lose" it. This cycle is so typical for women, dieting not only doesnt work, it actually makes many of us fatter. With your issues, you cant afford to get heavier and heavier and it seems once you're on the slippery slope, it is inevitable. I think you're very smart to be doing something about it now. No doubt you'll encounter negativity along the way, be prepared to just ignore it and remain committed.

Truly, 31 lb in four weeks is HUGE weight loss and there's going to be a very large percentage of Water and Fluid in that loss. Your body has no more of that to give up. Fat loss is a lot slower and your body eventually does rebalance itself, retain a bit more fluid etc. A two week plateau, honestly, its nothing. I'm banded, not sleeved, but I plateaued out for months at a time. You just keep on doing the right things and eventually it moves again. You've no doubt still got a lot of great, satisfying and regular weight loss ahead of you once this current plateau breaks, but wait until you're down to the last 30 or 40lb, that can take three times as long as the first 70! It gets very unpredictable and quite frustrating. But if you stay true, it will pay off in th end.

And you know what, sometimes the beautiful people have been right where you are and are more empathetic than you think! They're not judging you. I know how you feel, I bawled my eyes out finishing a 7.5km fun run once.

I think the band requires quite a lot of user effort to be really successful and based on that, the amount of people that lose 100% of their excess weight is fewer. Bypass is more likely to give you automatic weight loss for less effort. However, the effort you put in with a band pays off - particularly if you're good about getting your exercise. You learn new habits and that keeps the weight OFF. You can stretch out your pouch, but basically, barring slippage and erosion, things like that are relatively easily fixed and you can readjust your restriction when you need to unlike if you stretch out your bypass stomach, you're pretty much up sh&t creek without a paddle. The band can cause some unpleasant side effects such as vomiting, inability to eat a lot of foods, heartburn and reflux and it just plain gives some people too much bother to be a viable option long term. But do a bit of research on the sleeve, and you can see the issues starting to emerge now, reflux, heartburn, lactose intolerance, unpleasant gas and vomiting. Yet like a lot of bandsters most sleevers would say that its minor and a price well worth paying for health and anyway, like with the band, the majority have few issues and are very happy. Nothing is perfect, its more of a matter of whether you want to permanently reroute your organs - which is sensible if you really have eating disorders to the point where you wouldnt be able to work with a band. At 100lb overweight, you could probably go either way. personally I find the band a very liveable device which has never caused any problems, I lost 100lb relatively easily and keep it off fairly easily too. I am a dedicated exerciser though.

Hardly ever, I dont really like it and never did. but I dont really stop to think about it on the occasions I might have something like champagne or a gin and tonic, which again, is hardly ever anyway.

Lol, I have a cat in one hand right now Cleo's Mom! We've got a new little kitten named Lily. She's driving me nuts, she keeps running up the leg of my jeans (my legs are covered in scratches) and jumping on the keyboard. And she's chasing the other two cats' tails, lol. Maybe if I ate some chips, I could give her the crunchy bag to keep her occupied?

I've come to decide that programs such as this are really valuable when you're banded. If there's one downside to being banded, its that it does not always lead to the healthiest diet. I find my biggest challenge is remaining on a good meal plan and good routine, I tend to fall into the picking on crap all day and never really eating trap. I'm doing Lite n Easy at the moment, which is a home delivered program we have in Australia. I'm not a logger or counter, so I've always struggled a bit with WW but if you are good at doing that sort of thing, I think having a plan to follow is really really good for keeping you on the straight and narrow and making sure you eat enough of the right things instead of living on yogurt, biscuits, chips and Soup. I know I would NEVER peel and eat an apple unless its delivered to me for my morning snack!

You know, it doesnt sound that unusual a situation, it sounds like yet another case of the way the band has been made out to be some sort of miracle for effortless weight loss. Sharing stories like yours is really helpful in helping people to accept the reality of living with a band. You werent a huge volume eater to begin with, so that perhaps made in not the best choice for you personally. Your band was obviously overfilled, but you didnt have enough weight to lose to get the automatic weight loss many heavier people get when they get banded, so you had to go tighter and tighter to eat less and less. As for the changes you eventually made to lose weight (well done!) that's EXACTLY what most successful bandsters have had to do. We still have to make those changes, the band with some restriction just helps us to make them more comfortably. Its just that the effort that it takes is not really well advertised. I could have done what I did without the band becuase it holds me back when I do go off the rails and I never regain weight. But what I lost, I lost with HELP from the band and with a LOT of effort on my part. I still have to choose not to eat junk, I have to keep my band loose enough to eat fibrous, healthy foods which means that I deal with the appetite that could be controlled by going much tighter, and I work out really really hard, a couple of 10km runs, two bootcamp sessions and two tough circuit classes a week at present. I avoid fatty foods and processed carbs, I stick to a 3 meal a day schedule and I use other tactics to control the head hunger and appetite that creeps in between meals. I will have to do this for the rest of my life to control my weight. If my band were tighter I could eat less than I do with no problem but then I woudl be dealing with blockages, vomiting and heartburn. Like you, my port is pretty darn visible (but only vaguely, not golf ball sized) as I have a BMI of 21 now, ironically the only loose skin I got from a 100lb weight loss is on my upper belly (more from pregnancy as I never carried weight in my stomach), but I dont mind. I'm happy to wear a bikini with a lump showing, its a million times better than rolls of fat hanging there.