Jachut

Watch out Karen, i have a wicked True Religion habit now, its a very expensive habit!

Small plates and bowls are a godsend and really do help to make you feel like youre eating a full portion. Tonight i was starving for dinner. I seved up the kids and dh's meal in ordinary noodle bowls. I tought about doing the same for me, thinking id need more. But I didnt, i used my little bowl that holds 3/4 cup - i filled it to the bim as compensation. It was more than enough, but I feel lik i had extra. I actually always thought about what i ate. I never would hav eaten mcdonalds without major guilt, self loathing and going on another diet. Eating for me was a failure of willpower, not mindless. I ways knew th fat, the calories etc. For m, being nnded has freed me from that somewhat.

I have worn my port loud and proud for several years, and not let it stop me wearing a bikini. But i know what you mean, it does diminish the pleasure, mine was freaky. I also had a small but weird draping of loose skin over my belly button, but never enough to justify a tummy tuck. Events transpired that i had a medically necessary tuck a few weeks ago to fix damage and scarring from recent surgery and my port was moved, and the back taken off it to reduce the profile. I eouldnt have believed that it coulf be hidden on my abdomen which had very little fat on it. But it is right ny my navel now in that natural pad of fat, instead of on the hollow sides of my belly. It is really worth moving the port. All you cn see now is a very light mound and my new belly button is ever so slightly off centre, youd only notice if i stood still while you looked for it.

My weight loss got slower and slower over two years and eventually petered out. Fills were spaced at about a year, teeny tiny top ups when i noticed i was hungrier and my weight began to swing by a pound or two. At six and a half years, i can eat a bit more and more variety, but basiclly, you will allways have to eat the bandster way or you will begin to gain. No let up on the exercise either, it takes about 1500 calories a day and three hour long runs, three spin classes and a Bodypump or two to maintain my weight.

Yes, i was made fully aware that there was a possibility of band failure - most likely the balloon part, at some point in time but that I would hopefully get 20 years out of it. Ive been banded six and a half so far. Im honestly not phased by the possibility of revision surgery, its minor surgery compared to the major lifesaving ones Ive had.

I dont like Protein shakes but I do like Optifast, and often use it as a base. I get weird comments when i buy it along the lines of, oh, you dont need this stuff but the thing us, becuse its a Meal Replacement, its very nutritious! And it doesnt taste like eating candles which is how Protein Shakes taste to me. I like vanilla opti with frozen berries or with Peanut Butter and banana (often use the PB2 powder to save calories and about half a frozen banana) strawberry is good with frozen berries too And i love the coffee flavour with a few walnuts I too always add ground flaxseed and a few spoonfukks of psyllium. smoothies are great for bandsters because using something like Optifast you get a fruit serve, a huge whack of fibre and a large total of ypur days Vitamins and minerals in a meal that goes dcown without drama and is less than 300 calories. As a bancdster smoothies

Sorry, saw it typed yet again this morning, amazing how many people do it. Just had to get it off my chest, lol. Pehaps its because Im Australian and Microsoft American spelling also gets my goat?

I know Im no advocate the damn diet but for pete's sake, its ATKINS, not ADKINS.

Taking a fibre supplement is a good idea but also less in equals less out.

Im a teacher, and timed it for the week before school holidays so that Id have three. Ive decided to take this week too, making four. Teaching is a surprisingly physical job, for a desk job two to three weeks would have been ample.

Oh sigh, I've been down at a local drinking hole having two or three wines this afternoon, a glorious, balmy autumn day in Melbourne. I'm now totally uncaring about what I eat, cant be bothered cooking and the oven is on, with party pies and sausage rolls (little Aussie delicacies of pastry and meat, definitely not on any diet plan). I know I will regret it, but in truth, just dont care at the moment. I also inhaled about a quarter of the plate of hot chips that we ordered. Yummmmm. On a more serious note, unless I am fully aware of the fact that I probably will lose any inhibitions and eat whatever the hell I want, I avoid alcohol, I can afford it right now, on this particular occasion and am willing to make amends over the next few days so I just went with it. But alcohol definitely = crap food and too much of it!

Im never that hungry in the mornings, but i eat regardless, usually a high fibre Cereal with a little fruit, i really have to keep up a high fibre intake and breakfast is the best meal for that. I cant just eat it though, have to carry my bowl round while i get ready for work, dry my hair, make kids school lunches etc

About a cup. I dont tend to get "hungry" but start to want food after a couple of hours but when bysy, can easily go all day with no hunger or just a grumble or two which passes. Slider foods like Cookies? Can easily eat the whole packet. chocolate in unlimited quantities. So for the most part i just avoid those foods

Hey bambam, long time no see!

I have a similar issue, i had to unfill my band for cancer treatment, and over the folliwing year could never find comfortable restriction until my surgeon gave me a really good one. In the end i had a barium swallow and yes, very slight pouch ilation, tge band itsekf is paced fine but is very tight. I do get occasionl heartburn, but not actual reflux, never get stuck ir vomit.I know I cant go any tighter, and I am abke to work with what I have. All in all though, I am aware that I can eat more and I actively work against that. Maintenance takes more work than losing did in the early days. My band is fine, doc says it will be fine for years if I treat it right.

Well, I've had outstanding results with mine. I've never had any troubles, but the newer generation bands ARE supposed to be less likely to slip, erode etc. However, hanging around here for a while indicates pretty strongly that they still DO slip and erode, maybe just statistically not as often as the older bands. Where the older band appears (to me) to have a huge advantage is that you find restriction quickly and are able to tweak it a lot more effectively. I never had that bandster hell period, I've had restriction from my band right from the get go, began losing weight immediately and never had any problem just adjusting with teeny tiny 0.1cc fills. And back when I got banded in 2005 and first joined this forum, that was very common. There were never the posts about people taking six months or longer to get to restriction and start losing. The flip side of that of course is that for many people, the adjustments for this band need to be sooooo tiny that you can flip from under to over restricted in as little as 0.1cc and its really impractical to fill even less than that, so many people have to settle for being slightly underfilled - of course, people dont want that and go for slightly overrestricted instead and bingo! there's your slips, erosions etc. That is all just pure observation on my part, given my long membership here, and what I've seen, its not fact or statistically backed or anything. But my 4cc band and I have had a seven year love affair and still going strong.

It doesnt make me tighter, but over the years I've seen enough people say so on here that its safe to assume its reasonably common.

eggs eggs and eggs.I love hardboiled eggs - hot, cold, on toast, on crackers, on a salad, as a snack. I'm always just popping over the supermarket to buy the ingredients for another slow cooker creation. I love meals out of my slow cooker, moist, easy to eat, set and forget for the day. Today there's a huge vegetable lasagna bubbling away - fresh broccoli, cauli, mushrooms, zucchini, carrots and spinach, with a low fat ricotta cheese sauce, tomato Pasta sauce and mozarella, mmmmm. For work lunches I buy a variety of crackers, and dips like hummus, or basil pesto, and I just take the box and the dip to work and nibble at it every day. I'm always buying Soup ingredients, too. I make loads of soup, its my other work lunch staple. I fill them with Beans, fresh vegies etc. Made an awesome batch of pea and ham soup the other day - sooo healthy.

Thats coz you must have sent it my way, lol seventeen days post tummy tuck, sore, swollen, dying to go for a run, grumble grumble.

True - and i nevr ever eat Soup with anything such as crackers, lol

I just had two inguinal ones repaired, those are where lumps appear in your groin caused by small intestine coming though the muscle layer (mine was weakened by a surgical incision) or down the inguinal canal

Well dont ask me, ive been below goal for years and my body demons have not gone away. I havent suddenly accepted myself at mormal weight, I lways think about losing more and staying at a BMI of 20 takes quite a lot of focus and energy. So.... Life hasnt really changed that much in that sense. Dont get me wrong, I Love my new body, i enjoy being thin, i wake up thankful very day. But I ill never be a persn who just doesn think about what they eat or weigh. Im happy though. It doesnt overwhelm my life, and I dont live on a diet. I guess if anyhing Ive shifted focus to fitness achievements, Im a running fanatic.

So glad youre getting better Shirley, weve missed your optimism around here.

I did have sleeve envy for the longest while though. When i had to unfill for cancer treatment, i was under a lot of pressure to GAIN weight from my doctors - everyone has that plump = healthy ideal and a chemo patient at low normal weight freaks everyone out. Then wgen it was all over, I had to pitch a fit to get the idiot doctor I was seeing to fill me again as she said I wasnt overweight - i had yo go over her head and see my surgeon and he was reluctant too, suggested I gain back up to a BMI of 25. I stress i was nit ubderweight, just slim. I hought if I had the sleeve nobody could ake that restriction away from me, come cancer, surgery or even complications. And you could get thin with nobody threatening to take your tool away until you plump up enough to satisy THEIR demons.

Firstly, relax, ripping a stitch would not take away restriction, you can eat more because youre healing. You would not necessarily know youve done it, but your body ill continue to heal and form scar tissue to hold your band firmly regardless of one or two less stitches. I know how you feel lol, I had a tummy tuk a bit over two weeks ago and if Ive sneezed once, Ive sneezed a thousand freakin times and each time it feels loke Ive popped every single stitch! I dream about my tummy unravelling! Ah, tantrums. What a joy. Even more so when said child is 14 and overtired from staying up all night!