Jachut

I think its the nature of forums to be honest. Rules or no, it will still happen. Its just like talking in real life. Dont feel afraid to pull it back on topic if you havent had an answer.

I agree, that its a bit strange to start having so much trouble now, when you've had great restriction before. You might want to bring up with your doc the possibility of investigating it further, if only to put your mind at rest. If you've lost 100 lb then you're an expert on this now, you know what you're feeling and like you say, you dont believe you've reached max restriction. I didnt realise you'd done so well and lost so much. I think I'd be insisting on some further investigations.

Its really not quite correct to judge whether or not you have restriction on whether you can eat bread. I can eat 3/4 of a sandwich and I'm at goal weight, it really is problematic to judge your restriction by being able to eat certain foods because everyone is different. The only measure of whether you have enough restriction is whether you're losing relatively painlessly. Some people dont need a lot to achieve that and many foods will always be on their menu. Others need to really restrict their diets. Its not a moral judgement, its just how our bodies work. Some need a lot of calorie restriction, some dont. I'd do what you're doing and go for tiny fills, try to sneak up on it and hopefully get to the point where the restriction you feel is enough for you. What you need and what your stomach can handle are, most frustratingly, sometimes two different things entirely and you really dont want to place your band at risk by going too tight even though you once had 6cc. There really is no option in the short term but to try to burn more calories by exercising rather than trying to eat less once you get to the maximum restriction for you at this time. But take heart, our bodies change all the time and you may find this time, your body will allow you to go past 3cc, and if not now, it might in the future. Your job is t hang in there and work with what you have at each stage. You sound really down about it, try not to be. This is never a smooth journey for anyone and just because its bumpy for you right now, doesnt mean it wont smooth out in the future.

I'm in the calories camp. But I wouldnt advocate a HIGH carb diet. A diet high in refined carbs and sugars is not a healthy one. But nor do I think the diets a lot of people adopt when they try to avoid carbs are healthy either. I think when you do that you have to be very careful to focus on lots of vegies and only healthy fats - not saturated fats from cheese, salami, dairy etc. I would only limit sugar and white carbs but I do run a lot and can eat a fairly high carb diet becuase I burn it off. If you're not physically active, I think you need way less carbs.

Probably they would - I nearly had a stand up argument with a waitress last week, because I didnt finish my meal, lol. She didnt believe there was nothign wrong with it, but I was simply full. She kept arguing with me to tell her what the matter was. Normally I eat enough that this doenst happen but I was just tight and unhungry this particular night and would have been happy not to eat at all. it was quite embarrassing. I ended up telling her I had a band to shut her up and make her go away.

It sounds as if you've simply reached the maximum restriction you can handle at this point in time. People can handle different amounts, and it may change later for you as you lose, you might find you get back to 6ccs. How is the restriction for you though? I mean, it is frustrating for you if you're still hungry and not losing, but if you're losing, even slowly, then there's really no need to push it and go for more fill if it causes you problems. i think you've got the right plan, to get a tiny fill next time. And of course, its important to balance restriction with exercise. Trying to achieve your entire calorie deficit with what you eat is a recipe for disaster for exactly that reason - there's only so tight you can go - so you simply must burn a lot of those calories away with exercise. That way, you dont need to be so tight.

A bit, yes. Even though I'm thin now and can shop in almost any store (at 5ft 10 and an Australian size 12 - which is your 8 to 10) I'm still too big for a lot of really high end fashion, not that Im that interested anyway. I am pear shaped and i have to dress for it. Its not extreme, but I do have to dress with my rear end in mind. I'm not a skirt person either. All cute little skirts that are out this summer, flippy gathered things, they just dont work on me and nor do maxi dresses. I have tiny shoulders and am very thin and bony there and a big dress makes it look like I just get wider and wider and wider as you go down. I really had to work hard to stop dressing in clothes that were too big. It still takes courage for me to dress in things that really show my shape. I'm a bit bikini obsessed too, this is the first time in my entire life I've had the body or the confidence to wear one, even though I wasnt fat till my 30's, I've never been this fit and in shape. But I cant just go and throw on any one, I have to buy ones for the 'fuller figure' and take my age into account - definitely need full coverage bottoms, and underwired or really structured tops. I can still look very dumpy, flabby and yuck if I choose the wrong one, lol. Sorry, you probably dont want to hear about some smart ass moaning about bikinis, but the point is, its a balance between having the courage to show yourself off a bit and not looking tragic because you've gone overboard and dressing too tight, too young etc. It comes with practice. What I'm loving is that my shopping habits have changed, I was always a binge shopper and did it regardless of budget, it made me feel better to have a pile of new clothes, promise of looking good THIS time. Now I dont do that anymore. I might see something, like it, buy it, then its over until the next time I see sometihng I really like, I'm MUCH pickier, and the clothes I have I actually like and wear. Whereas before, I'd get all those new clothes and nothign would change, then I'd come to hate them.

A number of things. I got to 72 kg to get married and I knew that was Okish, although the top of my healthy weight range is 79kg. I felt huge at 79kg, I always weighed about that and was always the fat one in any group. that was a BMI of about 25. I hated it. I knew I could improve on 72, it was OK but I wanted to be less than 70, so I said about 68. Which is where I am. In truth, I could still be 6kg lighter, it turns out I am not big boned at all, I'm actually meant to be quite slender. My tickers says I'm 12kg below goal because I set 79 as the first goal, in truth I was always aiming for under 70. My doc never said anythign about it. They dont discourage you from wanting a BMI of 20, that's still healthy and not too skinny. But I think I'd have to argue hard to get any more than a top up fill now, they'd probably tell me not to get obsessed with losing more.

Ditto. I would have done the same too. The health thing, despite being an Australian (we have more skin cancer than anywehre else in the world) wouldnt scare me, as I'd rationalise it with the chemicals in foods we eat etc, so many other health risk But vanity, that hits where it hurts! At 42, I am now glad that I never really got into this. I have a great routine. Moroccan minerals fake tan is fantastic, a realistic colour. Once a week with that and then daily with Olay gradual tanner. I am brown all over - not orange, its not sticky, doesnt stain, its a quick daily thing, stays even, I exfoliate lightly in the shower every day so it doesnt build up and I have not even been remotely tempted to get into a sunbed. I do this all year round. Now, I'm appreciating having nice, young looking skin. Some of my friends are now looking seriously middle aged. My students think I'm 20 something. And honestly, there's not that much you can do to prevent loose skin with a large weight loss but constant tanning will make it worse. Still, lest you think I'[m a pain in the bum, there's nothing that will stop my lying out in the sun and getting really brown once a year on holidays!

My BMI was 36, I lost 100lb or so which was about 120% of my excess weight. Meaning I got well under the 24.9 BMI as the top level of "normal" weight. For me, it was slower, it took me 2 years but I'm not a big believer in dieting - i dont do low carb, I dont agree with eating less than 1200 calories a day and I dont want to EVER diet again. So I was more than happy to take it nice and slow, eat quite a bit more than other bandsters - and not lose my hair. I ended up without significant excess skin, but I do have some. If I could remove about 3 inches around my middle with a total body lift, I would seriously have an AWESOME figure, and six pack abs to boot. It really frustrates me because if it were hanging, disfiguring and really problematic, such a huge operation could be justified. As it is people, particularly family, would think I was certifiably crazy to do it. I have a lot of trouble coming to terms with either just living with the sag (I am 42 afterall) or being vain enough to spend that sort of money and take that sort of risk for a problem most people dont even think I have. It might have been easier to ahve been much fatter in the first place, lol. I sound nuts, I know, but this issue is probably the hardest one for me. I am healthy, I look pretty good, but I'm a chronic perfectionist and cant help wanting to look perfect at 42 after 3 babies, unrealistic as that is.

isnt it just awesome. To go on holiday and not be either stressed out about how much you're gaining or driving yourself nuts trying to avoid food so that its all you think about! I even go the whole hog and treat vacations as a bit of a health camp - I up the running, get out and see things, walk around etc. I come home feeling so healthy and fit, that's what a holiday is all about, not rolling home unable to button your jeans.

yep, this is totally normal. It only began for me once I had my last fill (well over a year ago) so its definitely a restriction thing. It makes me imagine a stopped up sink, you know how stuff bubbles and percolates when you try to get something thick to go down? Its like that. You get the bubble and girgle, but no actual burp. It can be loud - usually mine is fairly subtle, but I was at a funeral the other day and it was really embarrassing as I was sitting so close to other people and it was so quiet in there.

Probably not, I just have very very fine body hair,and despite being dark haired and fairly olive skinned, my body hair is fair. I can leave my legs literally three weeks, have no noticeable hair on my arms etc.

I dont do it either. I have a good routine going, twice a week at night, I slap a bit of Nair on legs, bikini line, underarms, then get in the shower, have a good scrub, put on the fake tan. Keeps me brown and hair free all year round. I have had my bikini like waxed before but what I hate about waxing is that you have to let it grow back some before you can do it again, bikini lines get itchy! I dont see the point in Brazillians. I just dont understand the attraction, I find it slightly sick, this obsession with looking like a prepubescent child. And I think that at 42 after 3 babies, a bit of camouflage is a GOOD thing. I'm not sure I'd like what I saw, caesar scar included. I get my eyebrows waxed though.

I'm dark so I dont have the brassy problem, I colour my own hair becuase the grey shows through so fast. I only use the 24 wash type things, as I find what happens when you colour your own hair is that you're often not very good at just doing the regrowth and eventually the colour builds up on the ends. I wouldnt touch my hair if it wasnt relatively short and so the ends are cut off before they get too dark. to be honest, if you've done a colour you dont like, and you've used a permanent colour, I wouldnt stuff around with it anymore, I'd seek professional advice to fix it. Many stylists will sell you colour to use at home and give you proper advice about how to use it too.

I'm not a man, obviously, but you can weigh whatever YOU want to weigh, you dont have to go by the charts. However, in my experience, most obese people's perception of normal weights looking skinny or sick are way way off. People seem to need to start this journey thinking they are the one special case that can be heavier and still healthy. Its rarely true. The only reason why you would be heavier than a normal BMI and still healthier is if you ahve a lot of muscle. Many people have the type of body that is muscular and look better at a BMI of 24 or 25 than they do at a BMI of 20, for sure, just as many people are finer built and look better lighter. It also varies depending on what you find attractive. Personally, for men, I agree with you a little, DH is banded too and if he got down to a low BMI he would be scrawny becuase he has a runner's body, tall, long and very fine boned and muscled. Not my idea of the ideal shaped man, sigh. I prefer him a bit cuddly. But he'd be healthier scrawny, without the pot belly. In the end, nobody's holding your nose to the grindstone, you stop where you want to and feel you look best, and thats your right. Dont engage in all the debate about what you "should" weigh, believe me, if you're not trying to argue why its OK for you to be a bit heavier and you feel best that way, you'll be justifying that you're not sick and anorexic. Everyone's always got something to say about it.

Because when I inevitably indulge in foods that I shouldnt eat, when I go off the rails for 3 days before my period as I sometimes do, when i get insanely busy for weeks and lapse in my dedication to shopping and cooking healthily, I *STILL* cant eat enough to gain any weight and I can ALWAYS get back on track by making a committment to staying away from soft foods and eating the more solid ones first. Other than that I choose to eat healthy most of the time and I choose to go out and run every day. But even there, I found those behaviours much more rewarding when I actually saw weight lost as a result. The band gave me the results which enabled me to keep up those behaviours long enough for them to become habit. I now enjoy running just becuase and not because i expect to see 2 lb gone at the end of the week (which never happens any more).

I feel normal, I can usually feel increased restriction for a day or two and then it goes away and I feel normal again. I have never had a fill where I could suddenly eat dramatically less, it was always barely noticeable but just enough to keep weight loss going.

I eat bread with no problem too, I usually have half a piece of toast in the morning, and often eat a sandwich for lunch. I cant eat the entire thing, and i have to cut the crusts off - why waste stomach space on crust when you can eat the bread part and nutritious filling?

We were considering the same thing, from Australia. Here its the norm to book DL or DW as an all expenses paid thing, accommodation, entrance, meals, rides etc. But I guess that's because for us its an OS holiday. Strangely, our kids are ambivalent about it! We thought we'd better do it before they get too old (oldest is 14) and I think they'd rather go to Thailand. I'd definitely rather laze on a beach in Thailand and its heaps closer, and cheaper, so who knows? I cant believe my little brats are so spoilt. We've never taken them overseas, I wouldnt have thought they'd turn their noses up at anything.

I was actually a more "normal" shape when fat, lol. I've always been pear shaped, and whilst I was at my heaviest, I didnt have the gapping round the waist problem that I'd had when I was younger - things fit my thighs and bum and then have 10 inches to spare at the waist. I've noticed a *slight* return of this problem, although I'm better proportioned now because of the running. However I was trying on bathers yesterday in a room with a 3 way mirror. I can look and like what I see now, imperfect as it is. But it honestly from the back looks like someone else's fat arse has been grafted onto my body. It goes: long neck, graceful shoulders, fine shoulder blades, narrow waist, pleasing muscle tone in the back, WHOA LOVE HANDLES, CELLULITE, DIMPLES, SADDLEBAGS, toned thighs, nice knees, nicely shaped carves and slim ankles. Its sort of problem enough that I'd thought of lipo (which I know wont get rid of cellulite) but the advice I've had is that buttock skin after weight loss is usually of not good enough quality and firmness to cope and that the only answer is a buttock lift. Have you seen the scars from a butt lift? Horrid. And way way too high to wear a bikini that is any way fashionable. Sigh. I think the best bet is to learn to love what we are, and just be able to look around you and realise nobody else is perfect either. But I agree, its much easier to be a pear. You can always get the waist altered.

Lol, Helen, we'd better not tell em what the rest of the world says about American food! Or the coffee over there. Actually my MIL is English and she cant cook at all. Bland, starchy and yuck. However, I suspect its more her than the fact that she's English, she's rather bland, starchy and yuck herself (ooh, miaow, dont let DH read that). She drives me freaking nuts with her whining about whatever I cook when they come here, too spicy, its got bones, upsets her stomach, blah blah blah. Granola is muesli here. But said m-yoosli, not moosli, that drives me crazy! Biscuits are Cookies - jsut little ones that you'd buy in a packet in the supermarket. cookies are bigger, same thing but more often speciality or deli items. What you guys call a biscuit, we'd probably call a scone, although there's no exact equivalent. but you dont have crumpets. mmmmmmmm, crumpets with butter and honey. A sausage is something in a casing, of decent quality, that you'd cook on the barbecue, not little bits of Breakfast meat. Lamb and rosemary sausages for example. Bangers and mash!

Me either, although I've heard it said that the 4cc band can hold 5cc at a pinch. If you're meaning 4cc I've got one, I have 2.8cc in it and its perfect. I can still eat things like bread, I just cant overeat. But what someone else experiences with this is absolutely irrelevant. Some people cant swallow saliva at 1.5cc. Others have little restriction at 3.8cc. its all totally individual.

We've got 3 kids so like most people at this stage of life, stomach bugs have been a regular part of the last 10 years in this household. Someone is always puking. Thankfully, my kids seem to be growing out of this now, their immunity is becoming more adult like and they're not always bringing home these things, Eliza at 6 has had so much exposure through daycare, kinder, school, big brothers etc that she rarely gets sick. however my oldest son started with the temperatures, vomiting and diarhhoea the DAY I got home from being banded. I was in an absolute panic! I went straight down to the local doctors and got a script for an anti nausea medication and keep this to hand at all times. When the kids have been sick I've turned into the disinfectant freak, I do not touch ANYTHING without gloves, bleach the toilet and bathroom every time they use it, bleach in the laundry, all round the washing machine doors and buttons, spraying Glen 20 on every single surface, training myself not to touch my face and using that hand sanitiser a million times a day. It works, they've been sick 3 or 4 times over the last four years and I've not caught it. I'm about to finish my teaching degree and will be working next year, I'm really hoping that as an adult graduate, with kids myself, I have a strong enough immune system not to fall victim to the legendary horrible first year of illnesses!