Jachut

I never had the stomach flap to begin with, I got banded at a BMI of 36. I've had 3 babies, one of which was a caesar and my middle sister who's never been overweight has the flattest stomach that you'd ever see, so I suspect its good genetics. All I have is a little bit of crepiness on the lower belly, but i do have a bit of loose skin on my upper belly - that's no doubt courtesy of pregnancy (and I always carried very high). that hasnt snapped back - so although I can wear pretty fitted things and it never shows through, it does kind of ruin the effect of a bikini - and it needs to be pulled UP and not down as in a traditional tummy tuck. Under the arms, I had quite a lot of loose skin. Well, so I thought. It went away as I lost more weight. I have a minor amount there now, nothing anyone would notice.

I would take up his sort of exercise program. I find with regular cardio and strength training, the overall trend was down with my weight (now I maintain) and a bit extra on the weekends doesnt affect my weight at all.

Well, it does and it doesnt. In the beginning, running 3kms was really hard for me, now it'd be a piece of cake. But now, I dont run 3kms, I run 10, so I work just as hard! But I swear half of getting fit is just getting used to the bodily sensations of oxygen debt, when you're not an exerciser, that feeling panics you, when you are used to it, it still feels the same but you welcome it. At the moment, I'm doing a boot camp twice per week. for FUN!!! Its a weight loss competition, I know I wont lose weight and I know I wont get much fitter becuase I've got no real weight to lose and I'm already very fit. But I have to do something most days so why not do this boot camp for a new experience and to exercise with others? In that way you get to welcome activity opportunities, enjoy challenging yourself and you become unfraid of some serious pain, hehehe. Lungewalking round two basketball courts, followed by sprinting it immediately after - well, that really hurts! But I'm not a morning exerciser either, I only do it when its unavoidable.

I never had great hair to grow long, its frizzy and not thick at all, but it was shoulder blade length. The condition really suffered from weight loss, I had to cut it in the end, but I went to a short, bob, its pretty short at the back and collar bone length at the front, really funky. I love it, I'd never go back to long hair, sooooooo boring unless you have absolutely great hair and loads of time to blow dry/straighten, otherwise, I think it tends to drag your look down and make you look a bit unpolished. But that's my age - at 42 I think I'm past long hair, I dont think it flatters many older women particularly. My hair definitely needs to be coloured (too much grey) and it must be straightened or I seriously cant go out in public without stares (not curly, just stupid fluffy) and therefore I need it shorter so that I can do all that to it without it getting dry and split.

I dont follow a Protein heavy diet and would get about 60 to 70 grams a day, but I dont really focus on it. Its not what we're told to do here. As for exercise, I do something pretty much every day as well as being generally active. at the moment, I do bootcamp Mondays and Thursdays, circuit training Wednesdays, an 8km run Tuesday and Saturday and a long walk (12kms) easy on Sunday. So its pretty much an hour at high intensity five days a week, a long easy session one and a day off.

I had a BMI of 36 and GREAT results. I lost quite slowly but very steadily and now have a BMI of 21. I did/do a lot of exercise to get there though, but it was easier for me than had I been much heavier. I also didnt get a lot of loose skin. I could use some tightening up, dont get me wrong but I can also live without it not looking any worse than any other woman that's 42 and has had 3 babies.

Well, I guess it depends on how much you want it. personally, I wouldnt EVER go into debt for something like that. I have kids, we need a bigger house and we're paying private school fees. Those things are WAY more important to me than cosmetic surgery is so my saggy boobs will have to wait. Unless I could pull the cash straight out of the bank for it, which I could, but I would feel too guilty about my kids not getting a holiday, then I would consider I cant afford it. And if you cant afford it, you cant afford it, simple. It then becomes a matter of prioritising and saving. I know I'm a bit black and white on this, but I'm married to an accountant, forgive me, I've become a painful bore on the topic of non profitable debt! I would only consider debt for income producing assets.

If you're eating far less than you used to and not starving to death then you have restriction. No amount of restriction will really make your food choices FOR you though. You can still make bad choices at any level of restriction. I must confess though that even after 4 years banded I dont understand the concept of a sweet spot. To me, my band gave me restriction at every level, I just needed more fill to give the same restriction as time went on. Until I reached a point where I began to need fills less and less often and now havent a big one for well over two years. But at no point did I "arrive" at restriction. I had it from the word go. At the beginning it was easy to lose weight so I didnt need much restriction to do it - my body was used to a bigger calorie intake and dropped weight readily on a slight reduction. Now to lose weight, I'd have to fill my band right up to the point where I could barely eat 800 calories a day.

It depends what you're doing, but I found for running, the minute I could stretch brand name stuff like Adidas, Nike and New Balance on me, I found it much much more comfortable. Old tshirts and sweat pants just dont cut it when you're doing things like running or really working in the gym. Even the difference between the support a proper running tight gives you v lycra bike shorts from Target is very noticeable. But I had to swallow my embarrassment, I felt I looked hideous in tight running pants! But you get over it very quickly. I always always always buy tops with a shelf bra in them and get them to fit quite close. That PLUS a really good sports bra held my then DD cup breasts quite comfortably and now even at a C I need that support to feel comfortable.

Its frustrating because this only causes you more stress, which probably leads to higher BP. But those are really very high readings, you certainly want that under control. Try to stay positive and at least everything is all approved, you're not fighting for the right to even have the surgery in the first place. Do the right things, relax, some gentle exercise like walking and take your meds and hopefully it will be under control really quickly.

That's probably it to a degree, but to be honest, I had a BMI of 36 when I got banded and I had to lose about 40lb before anyone even noticed. You feel it straight away, you search the mirror and convince yourself you see it but to others it actually does take a pretty big loss to be really obviously visible. People might notice a little difference round the face or something, but dont be surprised that it takes 50lb before people start saying "oh, have you lost weight?"

This is a difficult one, I struggle with it too although I'm banded, not sleeved. I lost really well and have a BMI of 21, but I'm a really tall, thin build and to be honest, i still have fat that I'd like to lose. To do that at this stage, I'd definitely need a "plan", just eating well doesnt cut it for weight loss any longer. But with things like WW and the one I like - Lite n Easy (an Australian home delivered) I just cant eat all of the food! It makes me realise how WLS can actually lead you to eat less healthy than you did - becuase you just cant fit in the required amounts of fruit, vegies and wholegrains that you could. I balk at paying $125 a week for my 3 meals and having to throw out half my dinner! To be honest, for weight loss initially, you dont need to follow a plan as such, just the "rules".

I think you mean grams, not milligrams. Its always debatable what the ideal diet is, what percentage Protein v what percentage carbs v what percentage fat. I tend to be more a believer in a moderate protein, moderate carbs, moderate healthy fat diet, so I wouldnt get more than 70g protein most days. But that said, its calories in calories out and that's all it is for weight loss. If you get 125 grams protein v 70, at the same level of calories it doesnt make any difference. However, if you ADD another 50 grams of protein on TOP of your calorie amount, then it might. Extra calories are extra calories and your body doesnt care one bit whether they're fat, sugar or protein, they all end up stored on your hips.

Setting smaller goals seems to make sense, but to me, there's no way if I need to lose 150lb that I can take my eyes off THAT prize and aim for 50, its just not the way my head works. i'd be saying "yes, I'll try to lose 50, but of course I'm going way past that". so I just set a low goal weight and went for it. No smaller goals along the way. that said, I did have other, non weight goals and that really really helped. I focussed equally as much on becoming a runner, running longer distances etc. and the weight kind of came off as a side effect. We can all weigh healthy weights, it sounds low and its really really common to think you'd look sick at that weight but you wont.

Moderation in all things. We dont even get told protein first here in Australia. The aim is for a completely normal diet. There's no need to cut out all carbs and starch, just dont overeat them.

I think probably if we thought about it, we'd realise we can all eat better standing. if you cant eat sitting at all though, that's a problem. You're probably overfilled for you right at this moment, and I agree, a bit less weight in the stomach as you lose it will probably make ALL the difference to you. Carrying weight in your abdomen does restrict your stomach significantly. Just try to eat sitting down at 9 months pregnant - I could barely eat anything in my third pregnancy, lost heaps of weight.

I ordered a burger the other night, a real one, not some McDonalds crap. I've been craving one so badly lately for some reason. It came and of course it was HUGE, and had a pile of chips with it too. I didnt even touch the bun, I ate it with a knife and fork - the bacon, the egg, the pineapple and about 1/4 of the actual burger. it was sooooooo goood. of course I got asked what was wrong with it when the waitress took my plate. I dont often order things like that becuase they're just so enormous but sometimes you have to have a bit of what you're craving. I couldnt even THINK of eating the bread with that, there's just no way it would happen. But I can eat a small sandwich with the crusts cut off, toast, and rice an Pasta are no problem for me. But they're all 'harder' or 'riskier' foods that I dont crave nearly as much these days.

Wow, I think you've done pretty darn well in the face of some major obstacles. For me, I find the key to not gaining is exercise. If I were in your shoes, I would be looking to become an exercise junkie. I find I can pretty much eat what I like as long as I run regularly and get to the gym for circuit classes.

For me, its a bit of a case of not letting myself panic, that I can indeed eat more normally now and not gain. Afterall, I"m a healthy weight and NOT on a diet so why not have a glass of wine? But on the other hand, I cant break the diet cycle. I cant stop trying to lose weight - just four more kilograms - I'm falling into the same trap that that's what would finally make me happy with my body, as if the last 45 or so dont count. Its stupid. I dont know the answer, I think the actuall weight is only a part of this disease, and the only part we can fix. If I just ate what I wanted every day and didnt think about losing any more weight, I bet I'd eat a LOT better than I do and not this on a diet Monday morning, off it by Wednesday cycle. Luckily, I DO exercise regularly, I've gotten to the point where that's just part of my life and not related to what I'm eating or not eating. I love it. And its why I've never regained an ounce.

Jeez, that's a pretty tall order. I would have to do the shakes the whole time to lose that sort of weight in that time frame. I'd start sooner rather than later if I were you. But its so unfair! I didnt have to do any preop diet whatsoever and anyone who thinks that it "proves" anything about your potential success with the band is, quite frankly, an idiot.

It takes a while but it comes eventually. You start to have a more realistic view of yourself, although I think, even 2 years after hitting goal I do tend to see myself as bigger than I am. But I definitely see the difference these days and I dont think of myself as fat anymore, dont pick up clothes and think they'll never fit me etc.

If you're going to use your elliptical, i'd highly recommend cardio coach - www.cardiocoach.com for an interval style program that you can play on your MP3. OK, so you will have to build up to it, but there's spots all the way through to cut off your workout if that's all you can do. Seriously, it makes the time fly. What you have to do is start out much more lightly/slowly than what you're doing so that you can keep going for a more reasonable period of time. I'm a runner, but to learn to run I had to slow my running to what seemed like ridiculous speeds - I could walk faster! But it built the endurance and the right muscles and got me to where I needed to be. Cardio coach will get you in touch with the sensations of exercising, let you know when to go hard, when to rest etc, its a really great program that will get results, and you can start out with an easy one and purchase harder ones later one. Its pretty cheap, about $15 for an instant download.

Lol. I must say though, I've never had the "I cant remember eating THAT" experience with a PB, like you do with vomiting (where on earth do the carrots come from?).

I'm actually banded, not sleeved, the reason I pop in here occasionally is I was invited to do so by Wasa when it was started, to help get things going and to chime in on the exercise questions. Now I pop back every now and then becuase there's lots of people I know here and i like to see how everyone is doing. I might post on things I know something about, the more general conversational posts. I got banded December 05, so coming up to 4 years. I'm one of the lucky ones, I have a perfectly functioning band. I lost about 100lb and I do lots of running and circuit training. I had a BMI of 36 when I got banded and hadnt really been that heavy for more than a few years although I always struggled with my weight a bit and had to work hard not to get fat. Pregnancies were my downfall, as for a lot of people.

I will add - when I say "in public" I do get plenty of warning and have always made it to a bathroom, lol. Its just that everyone else in there at the time can get to enjoy it too!