Jachut

WTF? Weight loss surgery is for OBESE people - surely a good percentage of them are going to have a waist hip ration above 0.85? That's insane!

You have to start with what you can do and build from there, dont try to kill yourself with really hard exercise right way. Being active and on your feet in a job is an advantage, you burn more energy than a sedentary person and it all helps. But its not the right kind of exercise for real weight loss, you need to just be active AND do something hard that makes you sweat. Its one of those things - you dont have a choice. If you want to lose steadily and lose all your weight, you have to do some exercise and if you're not willing to spend lots of time at it, then it has to be cardio, or cardio/strength combined (as in circuit training or body pump etc). You need to eventually be moving at the pace of a jog, or its equivalent on a bike or elliptical, do something like fast lap swimming, spinning etc to keep weight coming off. It takes time to get there though. It needs to be almost daily. People lose without exercise, but I dont think you'll find many who lose ALL their weight and keep it off. Things like Pilates are really good for you, they tone you, they strenghten important parts of your body. But they burn hardly any calories at all and do not burn lots of fat. You need cardio for that. Doing both is is great! If you dont like it, just do it anyway. it only takes half an hour, 45 minutes. How hard is that really?

Ah, ok, didnt know about any mobility issues, so hope I dont come across as a insensitive! Still.... can you think outside the square in that regard?

If you are stuck with the larger stomach, unable to move forward to the DS just yet and not losing on the amount you are eating, then I think the most obvious answer is to try to burn those calories instead of trying not to eat them. Honestly, it IS possible to lose weight and live a very normal life on a very normal amount of food if you are fit and active. I am a shocking dieter, I could not do that five day pouch test ridiculous thing for love nor money and wouldnt even try. I dont do deprivation. The only way I have EVER been able to lose weight is to eat a bit less of everything, but not deny any foods or cut out groups, I cannot feel like I cant have anything I want. But it WORKS, if you can get the calorie balance right. I run an hour a day and people think I'm very dedicated to do that but really, the motivator before the running bug bit me big time was that if I didnt do that, I would have to eat some horribly small number of calories like under 1000. Food and certain foods in particular CAN be an addiction that you are powerless to control to some degree. But you can ALWAYS choose to go out and be active, no matter what your circumstances, where there is a will there is a way. To me, I may not feel like running and sweating but it is over and done with in 45 minutes, it cant be "undone", and as long as I do it day in day out, I stay thin, no matter what I eat. Its MUCH easier than ignoring the cheescake in the fridge. What about something like that combined with a bit of soul searching and a moderate diet that you can have a hope of sticking to, in order to try to balance the ledger back on the side of losing again? Could you BURN 500 calories a day extra rather than trying to eat less?

No. My literature says to eat however much satisfies you and that when you're not losing on that much anylonger, its time for a fill.

For me the good behaviour came quickly, but for it to become automatic? I think at least a year. It was at about 15 months that I realised I was finally not serving myself four times too much food at every meal! There's a bit of "relearning" with every fill, but I found by about a year I could really say my eating habits had changed. I found the same with exercise - it took about 9 to 12 months for running to be somethign that is just a part of my day and not a 'chore'. My body had adapted, it no longer tired me, it no longer felt "hard" but I've continued to have the good effects of fitness and weight control with what feels quite natural and easy. but this "it takes six weeks to form a habit" - what a load of bollocks. Honestly. Nobody loves runniing and is good at it and finds it a natural thing to do in six short weeks. Nor does anybody change their eating habits that quickly.

I actually focussed more on vegies than Protein and ate a lot of protein plant foods - chick peas, lentils etc. reason being, we're not told to focus on protein here in Australia like you guys are and tend to consider our fresh fruit and vegies at least as important, and generally more so than the protein, which we all seem to get enough of anyway. and going a bit low on protein and such for a few weeks while you're recovering is not going to hurt you anyway. Not with the way most Americans and Australians have eaten, our bodies have plenty of stores for a rainy day.

Hmmmm, its very annoying when people cant handle your success and have to console themselves with feeling certain you will fail. Why cant people just be happy for others? But we've all felt the same way at times. I feel it everytime one of our friends or families buys a new house or car. We seem to be surrounded by very wealthy friends and relatives, we do OK, certainly above average but we dont have the financial freedom that say, my sister does, who bought herself a BMW on a whim last week. But as to the habits etc, after 4 years, I definitely eat more "normally" than I did at first. But you know, I really believe its the commitment to exercise that makes all the difference there. Keep up the hard core exercise and you will stay thin.

I didnt, I was passing out by day 3 and extremely weak (and addled mentally too) by day 5. My doctor told me to stop doing it, given I had a BMI of 35 and had recently had a liver ultrasound and blood tests due to my very thorough GP sending me for a barrage of tests (saved the surgeon having to do it). So I knew I didnt have a particularly fatty or enlarged liver and all liver enzymes etc normal. Given that, he said there was no real need for it. I wouldnt have coped, it made me really ill. I would not have had the willpower to stick to it, feeling like that. I was even having trouble talking, the words were on the tip of my tongue but wouldnt come to me.

Lol, well we eat a bit differently here in Australia. No low carbing and no focus on Protein. I eat fruit and vegeatables, Cereal, bread, Pasta, rice as well as protein foods, pretty much in that order. My eating philosophy veers more towards organic and unprocessed than towards more or less of one food group. I eat stoneground, wholegrain breads, not white bread. I wont eat packaged, freezer meals, I cook from scratch etc. At the end its really calories in v calories out.

Well, I would have to delibarately sabotage myself and eat around my band by eating chocolate all day long to gain weight. I run nearly every day, burning about 800 calories at a time. I'm very busy and active and on my feet all day too. I'm 5ft 10. I need to eat about 1800 calories a day to maintain my 150 pounds. I cant FIT in any more food than that. I eat a good variety, it satisfies me, its a normal amount of food for perhaps a person with a small appetite.I have enough room in my calorie allowance for treats and such. So I dont go without anything. I'd have to decide, I want to gain weigth, how on earth am I going to do it and set out on a deliberate plan to do so. Given that I eat what I want, according to my appetite, it takes no particular effort on my part to stick with that, so there's no reason why i cant continue doing it indefinitely. and I love running, I'm not going to give that up because it something I actually want to do.

Ugh, not the way I cook it. Truth be told, i do struggle a bit with steak, it has to be very very tender, and for that, I have to go out for it. I cant cook steak at home that I can really eat. But you do adapt too. I have a bit of a wicked relationship with lamb cutlets, mmmm, the tiny little ones. I've always preferred lamb way more than beef anyhow, its probably the eat we eat most in Australia.

Failure isnt black or white either. To what "failure" was he referring? Many many people do not lose ALL their excess weight. Is that failure? Or is a realistic outcome for a set of people suffering from an illness that is as much mental as it is physical? How can a band around your stomach fix all the issues with obesity? It cant. But is losing enough weight to save your life, improve the quality of your life and get you independent and back into the world again a success, or is failing to end up looking like a supermodel failure? The stats for people who dont lose any weight, lose and then regain or who have complications that end up with band removal are significant, but 50%? No way. And for a good proportion of those who "fail" its all factors within your own control anyway. Stats say you lose about 60% of your excess weight with a band. Yep, that's what happens if you have the surgery and just kinda go along with it. Its not a bad outcome. But if you eat consistenly right, do the right kind of exercise and approach it with the determination that you are going to do all the work needed, you'll lose more than that. I know that with a band and an hour long run every day, I would have to deliberately drip feed myself liquid mars bars by IV all day every day to gain weight. My weight never budges, I've kept it off for 2 years now and I never even have the slightest qualm that I cant continue to do so.

I can eat steak, just dont very often as I'm not that fond of it. Shrimp, not a daily feature on Australian menus. I will probably NEVER eat calamari again though. I'm deathly afraid of it. I had the worse ever pb on that, it took about three hours, it happened in public..... dont want to scare you, lol, but it was awful.

Argh. I hate misinformation like that. What a twat. Lets see her in two years when she's regained it all. Credit where credit is due, she's done the work, but statistically, its virtually a given that she will regain that weight. And Rosemary Conley was the author of The Hip and Thigh Diet in the 80's, which miraculously caused weight to fall off from exactly where you wanted it as a result of stuffing yourself stupid with carbs and eating no fat - yep, white bread and jellybeans is a GOOD lunch on that diet. OKaaaaaay, so we're dealing with experts here. I read an article - I think it was in this weeks WHO - about body image and stuff. It goes merrily on its way reporting 70% of women have resorted to starving, 50% have taken pills, 45% exercise obsessively, yada yada yada and then says "and 14% would EVEN resort to gastric banding" as if obsessive/compulsive food behaviour and dangerous drugs is a sane and healthier alternative to the oh so drastic and dangerous option of a surgery that doesnt even cut or alter permanently any major organs! Its like the anti band people who like to get on this forum and say that they would never choose a band becuase of the risk of repeat surgery down the track, when under their ticker's they've got about 50 different cosmetic surgeries listed!

I always felt like that, I hated that I was always the first one finished. One of the kind of perverse things I love about this surgery is that now I eat like a lady. I'm always the last finished, i eat small amounts and I eat nicely - AND it doesnt take a supreme act of mental willpower so huge that I dont even enjoy my food to do it.

Cardio cardio cardio. Its the only way to really reduce fat. Preferably with some strength training too - not to spot reduce but to burn even more fat. Also, when you do loads of cardio, you can tend to get very wasted and lose a bit of muscle, and strength training counteracts that. Most of the "before" stomachs you see in tummy tuck pics are still substantially fatty, a true loose skin only apron is very thin. So you *should* be able to substantially reduce the size of the bulge below the belt. But past a certain point, only cutting it off is going to have the effect you're after. And if you can, why not cut it off instead of waiting forever to lose it? But if no PS is in your future, good old fashioned hard work and time is your best weapon.

Same here, it was once I passed the point I'd already been able to achieve on my own. I've been very successful with the band, but perhaps surprisingly, I'm not one of the people who'd ever lost substantial weight before. I had honestly never lost more than about 20lb in any dieting attempt, ever. I really really suck at deprivation and dieting. Still do. Lucky I really really excel at exercising myself into a quivering mass.

I definitely have variations - I'm tighter before period time and if I'm going to pb, this is when it will happen. I'm also tighter in the morning and late evening than I am during the day. But at no time am I so tight I cant eat, its just sometimes it requires more care than others. If you cant eat at certain times, I'd say you n eed an unfill.

I would imagine that you'll have to find a pool when you are allowed in the Water, I cant imagine anything else strenuous enough that doesnt involve bearing weight on your foot. What a nuisance! I'd be in major panic over that! Its one reason I havent done anything about getting my boobs done, dont want to be unable to run for a few weeks. I guess you *could* work out some sort of circuit that was pretty demanding - switching from pushups to dragging yourself on your elbows (you know how they do that through the sand on biggest loser?), fast situps all in a fast cycle? something like that could be pretty hard core, perhaps even just ONE session with a trainer could give you some ideas.

Look at your portion sizes - how much are you eating? the band is not meant to make you unable to eat, its meant to reduce your portion size whilst you still eat a good range of solid foods. No amount of fill will make you unable to eat fattening foods like Cookies, ice cream and chocolate either, and no amount of fill really cuts your appetite for those foods permanently. You need to honestly look at your calorie intake as balanced against hunger levels and ability to stick to say 1200 a day. Any tighter than you need to be and you tend to start eating slider foods, which means you dont lose as much weight anyway. Also, we all lose fast and steady at first based on the fact that our bodies have not wised up to what we are doing and we also have super motivation! How much exercise do you do and what do you do? Its near impossible to lose weight well long term without plenty of good hard cardio and preferably some strength training as well. Walking is a fabulous, healthy activity and done really hard may be all you ever need, but the way most people do it, it wont cut it for your entire weight loss journey, you have to sweat hard and get out of breath. If you're eating the right foods to the point of satsifaction, getting enough of the right kind of exercise (45 mins most days) and you're STILL not losing, then its fill time.

Whatever works I say. personally I absolutely loathe tracking food and although I'm a keen runner, I dont track my workouts either. I absolutely hate feeling I should or should not do something because some chart or plan says I should. I'm a do what I feel like on the day kinda person. Also, I grew up counting calories from the age of about 11. I know the calorie content of everything I eat, and I'm a label reader. Now I'm banded and can be reasonably sure I actually do eat about the recommended serving size and not four times that much, I'm very much able to just add up accurately in my head. Not a day goes by that I dont know approximately what I've eaten, but i dont plan it, I just add it up mentally AFTER the fact. But its always been a case of near enough is good enough for me, I lost weight pretty well. I personally find charting and tracking the kind of food obsessed behaviour that made me fat. I'd prefer not to even think about what I eat and that works for me.

I think you need to go easy on yourself till you get your thyroid right. Its partly being fat, it makes you lazy and tired, so that working out isnt appealing. On that note, perhaps you can make a deal with yourself that you do a gentle 30 minute walk a day or that you do your housework and only sit down doing nothing for x hours per day or whatever. Just increase your movement slightly for the weight loss process. No matter the cause of tiredness being inactive doesnt help it and makes you feel worse. But if you're thyroid's out of whack, thats a kind of tiredness you cant talk yourself out of and its very debilitating, having big expectations of yourself just now is only going to end in disappointment that you havent managed to do it. But getting the weight off, its amazing when you realise how tired carrying it all around actually made you. Being normal weight makes a HUGE difference to energy levels.

Lol, there's a reson why that pic is so tiny! It makes me look good! I dont "need" to do anything, I'm not stupid about it, but I do actually have enough flesh for a lower body lift. Its not fallen and there's not so much of it as other people have but I'm just very "loose" and must choose bathing suits VERY carefully - anything that bites at all - like a belt on a bikini bottom, and hello muffin top. My lower belly is quite crepey, so cant choose too brief a bottom, etc etc. Not bad, I feel very blessed, but its disappointing too to be just so close to looking really perfect. I also have and always have had a very flabby behind! Lots of cellulite, sigh. Its really the buttocks and backs of my thighs more so than my belly that suffered. Dont even get me started on the empty socks that I call breasts.

I can see mine, its a lump in my upper abdomen. I can feel a bit of the tubing as well through my skin. If I lie flat or put my arms up in the air, it stands out in sharp relief - a bit freakish. I had a BMI of 35 to begin with so mine has always been fairly superficial and easy to access. This photo, you can see a bit of sort of "unevenness" on the upper right stomach (left side in the photo of course), it doesnt really photograph that well, but that's what it looks like normally. If I ever had a tummy tuck and lost that upper abdominal crepiness, it'd be very obvious.