Jachut

Oh for pete's sake... as if! There has been an instance or two of the band becoming 'unbuckled' (not through overeating) but exploding?

Lol, most of us would make gourmet eating! Grain fed, nicely marbled...

Hold tight, and have faith in YOUR decision. Personally, I wouldnt have a permanent non adjustable weight loss surgery before I'd had children if a band can get you down to a healthier weight and fertile then that's great as it can be looser during pregnancy and breastfeeding to adjust to your needs. I think the sleeve itself is turning out to be a very safe and effective surgery without a lot of the day to day annoyances and complications that the band can have, but despite arguments to the contrary, adjustability of the band is, I have found, its real advantage and its a big one if you're considering things like pregnancy. And many people just DONT want to cut their organs apart - despite the fact that you dont need that part of the stomach, that the band can do permanent damage to your stomach and esophagus anyway if you have complications like erosions, its still not something people want to do. They do appear to be doing many more sleeves in WA though compared to the rest of Australia for the reason of distance and maintenance. Is your surgeon nearby and easily accessible? Because if you're flying in for fills etc, as may WA'ers have had to do from remote areas to Perth, then a band is a very difficult tool to maintain. It does require a close relationship with your doc and easy access to him/her. Whereas once a sleeve is done, barring complicatins, its DONE.

Sorry to disappoint but that logic is flawed and that's why on the whole body composition analysis is not a part of qualifying for weight loss surgery. It means very little other than to show you now that your body composition is unhealthy. You currently have just over 140lb of muscle mass to support your current weight. Now, we all know about the importance of Protein, and of exercise in maintaining muscle mass by losing weight. The goal is not to lose tons of muscle and end up with a worse body composition than you had before. But it is simple fact that at a normal weight, your body would not NEED that much muscle mass to carry it through its daily functions and it is simple fact that no matter what you do, particularly as a woman without much testosterone, as you lose, you WILL lose muscle mass. You could in fact get down to that sort of a weight. You will lose muscle, but your body composition could STILL end up being healthier - a larger percentage of muscle and a smaller percentage of fat, even though you lose some of the muscle you currently have. You dont only need to lose 55lb. Lose 55 lb, you will lose part fat, part muscle, and are likely to get to that goal and still have way too much fat. Absolutley NOTHING you can do can ensure you lose 55lb of only fat. It wont happen. You lose 55 lb of combined body tissue, more or less of which is fat depending on what sort of routine you follow. Plucking figures entirely out of my imagination here but say you fasted to lose it. You might lose 25lb muscle, 25 lb of fat and 5lb of Water. Lose weight slowly on a balanced diet with cardio and strenght training, you might lose 10lb muscle, 40 lb of fat and 5 lb of water - see how the actual composition of your body in terms of fat and muscle percentages can improve based on the proportion of fat to muscle you're losing?. But nothing you do will make it 55lb of FAT. And no, they dont take account of muscle weight, its overall weight. At the most, if you believe you're a particularly muscular person (which curvier women often tend to be) then you'd be aiming more at the top of your healthy weight range. I tend to be skinnier, have much less muscle despite being a dedicated exerciser and at the top of MY range, I have way too much fat. We're all slightly different like that. You know how some women can be so lusciously curvy and rounded, but not flabby? Not me, I just get blobby and fat. I have to be happy with skinny. But its highly unlikely you could carry 40lb more than the average woman of your height.

Well, maybe that's me, lol, maybe I just cant give up food. It doesnt matter if it is, I guess, as I'm not fat anymore regardless. I agree entirely that you dont have to "eat more to lose". What rubbish. I dont believe in starvation mode either. What I do believe is that plateaus can happen no matter what you do and they are a natural part of weight loss for many people. But I would DIE on 600 calories a day. No way no how could I do it. I like to eat, sure, but I dont eat past being satifisfied anymore and for the most part I only eat when I'm hungry. But even with WLS my appetite and physical hunger meant I was at 1500 a day to lose and I eat about the same (but some days up to 2000) to maintain. Obviously I have a fairly loose band to do that. That sounds like so much but its pretty in line with what a normal person would need to eat to stay at a normal weight - its probably a bit less than a woman of my height and activity levels *should* be able to eat. But if calories got too low (I was at around 1000 for a while when my band was a bit tighter) whenever I went for a run, I felt like I was running through Water, I lacked energy so much. I was fine for my everyday activities but I just didnt have the extra to give for exercise. So I tend to go WHOA 600!!!! Too low, too low. But we ARE all different and we are overweight for different reasons. If all of us had killer fast metabolisms we wouldnt be weight loss patients would we? And if 600 is what it takes, thank goodness we have surgical options to make that possible.

I would rather get stuck and vomit than overeat - I find it very painful and consequently have only done it a handful of times in four years. If I overeat by enough I will vomit, but more often I've had an intense stretching sensation like I was going to burst, really horrid. And I get problems like not being able to lie down - I dont get any reflux, but it will gurgle and sit heavy and make me unable to sleep. At least stuck, it hurts, you slime, you throw it up, its over. But that "i'm going to burst" feeling is absolutely awful

Sigh, Im just so not crafty. I like being creative but i dont want my house full of crafty crap, lol. My decorating style is very minimalist so I dont know what the heck I'd do with a million scrapbook albums. My style is more of the 14 matching leather albums style. But I am putting togehter my teaching portfolio and just had to do a fairly detailed visual arts diary (doing a teaching degree) I can do those sorts of things pretty well if I have a reason to do them. I had a home business making hemp diapers for a few years, I made some pretty gorgeous creations and enjoyed it thoroughly. Nowadays, its running and when i do get a chance, I just love a bit of home decorating - I have a fairly keen design eye and given the budget can put together a fairly impressive room - but sadly, its the sort of talent I only get to indulge once every couple of years. I like really modern, graphic decor which doesnt fit in well with patchwork and cross-stitch and such.

. Were You Named After Anyone? No 2. When was the Last time You Cried? Truly cant remember, but it wouldnt hve been that long ago. 3. Do You like Your Handwriting?No, its terrible 4. What Is Your Favorite Lunch meat? I dont eat lunch meat. Yuck. Lips and Assholes. You may as well shove it straight down your aorta and be done with it. 5. Do You have Kids? Yes, 3 2 boys 11 and 13 and a girl, 6 6.If You were Another Person, Would You be Friends with You? Yep! 7. Do you use Sarcasm a lot? Absolutely 8. Do You still have Your Tonsils? Yes 9. Would You Bungee Jump? I think so 10. What is Your Favorite Cereal? Komplete Muesli 11. Do You untie Your Shoes when You take them off? Rarely but the only shoes I wear that have laces are my running shoes anyway 12. Do You think You are Strong? Extremely - both mentally and physically 13. What is Your Favorite Ice Cream? I dont like ice cream 14. What is the First thing You notice about People? Just their overall "look". 15, Red or Pink? Red 16. What is The least thing You like about Yourself? Deep set eyes, they make me look tired. 17. Who do You Miss the Most? ATM my SIL and BIL and kids. They've been in Canada for 2 years but will be home by Christmas. 18. What Color Pants and Shoes are Wearing now? Jeans, white sporty kind of mary janes 19. What was the Last thing You Ate? Cashew nuts 20, What are You listening to now? The news 21 If You were a Crayon what Color would You be? Red 22. Favorite Smells? Chanel No. 19, and bleach! 23. Favorite Sports to Watch? I absolutely LOATHE watching sport as a general rule but I dont mind going ot my kids basketball games. 24. Hair Color? Dark brown - but if I left it, It'd be 1/3 grey i'm guessing. 25. Do You Wear Contacts? No 26. Favorite Food? Actually, coffee. Its the one thing I absolutely couldnt give up 27. Scary Movies, or Happy Endings? Scary - LOVE british crime shows - Taggard, Midsomer Murder. Silent Witness, Spooks. American ones suck, lol 28. Last Movie You saw? Angels and Demons 29, Color Shirt/Blouse You are Wearing? A pink long sleeve T over a white long sleeve T 30. Summer or Winter? Its winter here and freezing. 31. Favorite Dessert? Sticky Date pudding 32, Favorite Place ever Traveled? Byron Bay, its absolute paradise. 33, Where would You like to Travel Next? I just want to go back to Byron. We'd live there if the right jobs came up. 34. What Book are Reading now? Nothing, too busy putting my teaching portfolio together and doing an online PD on inquiry learning. 35, Where were You Born? Brighton, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 36. Big Band or Rap? big band 37. Interesting Fact about Me? I have a large dark brown birthmark on my thigh and my daughter was born with a miniature one - exact same shape, exact same spot. 38. What did You Watch on Televison Last Night? Ten years younger in ten days 39. Beatles or Rolling Stones? Stones if I have to - dont like either 40. Do You have a Special Talent? I'm one of those really annoying straight A's for doing absolutely no work people.

I walked a couple of kilometres every day from day 1, gently. At about 3 weeks, I went back to gym and used the elliptical a couple of times a week for about 40 minutes and continued to walk on off days. At about 3 months, I started running

Well, yeah, but I embraced the changes. I didnt want to be the lazy person sitting round on the couch stuffing my face any more. So although it was VERY hard to change the habits of so many years, I truly wanted to do it. I got a gret thrill and sense of achievement out of changing myself in that way. It wasnt easy, but nothing worthwhile really is, is it? The way I saw it (and this was my "A-Ha" moment that convinced me to have the surgery - I could have a band or not, but either way I had to give myself a complete and permanent personality change if I was going to ever lose this weight. Because our habits and daily actions are all about the way we look at things. That's what's got to change. It's scary to contemplate but it must be done, surgery or not, if you are ever going to lose weight.

9 days, I probably wouldnt and I'm not one for strict rules, and denying yourself. But 9 days out from stomach surgery, alcohol really isnt going to do you much good. Also .... cocktail..... what sort? Some cocktails are HORRENDOUSLY high in calories. Personally, I'd stick with wine, something relatively low calorie like that. I think a healthy diet includes your fave tipple now and again, but its pretty hard to account for 700 calorie cocktails on a weight loss diet. Depends wht you mean by cocktain of course.

Coz I am always so vocal on LBT about what I think about all the focus being in Protein and particularly what I think about low carb diets, lol, lots of people pm me. Why? Because they get a year down the track, have their annual check up and find to their horror that their cholesterol, HDL/LDL balance, blood pressure has WORSENED in the year following their surgery. Seriously, I have had about 40 pms in my time on there with people wanting to know more about what I eat because their blood chemistry is so bad after a year on Protein shakes, high protein animal foods such as meat, eggs and dairy and so very few fruits and vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds.. They're secretive about it because the culture of high protein eating is so strong there, and they dont want others to know that its not working for them. They want to know more about my "high carb" diet - its not that high carb actually, I just do eat organic stoneground bread, grains, and focus more on produce than protein. Nutrition after weight loss surgery is a very very precise thing. Yes, you run a risk of running low on protein with the small intake. But focus on protein and you run a risk of missing out on something else. Focus on Calcium and you wont get enough of something else, focus on fibre and your protein will be too low. Its almost impossible to get the right balance on the small amounts of food most WLS patients eat. So nothing is RIGHT or WRONG, its all a matter of balance for your body and what suits you personally. I grew up in the 80's, to me the basic food pyramid will always be the healthy way to eat, I dont believe its all a conspiracy. But in reality, I may not have the cancer risk that someone on a much lower carb, higher protein diet has but I've probably got four times the risk of say, diabetes, or something incredibly vague like degenerative disease of the eyelashes, lol. Nothing's perfect, that's why I think moderation and not jumping in boots and all into ANY philosophy of nutrition is probably the safest bet.

Oh, go ahead and set an unrealistic one! I did. Why have WLS only to set goals that are easy to reach, lol. I said to the nutritionist before I was banded that I wanted to be (I'm converting from metric here) 150lb. I was about 250 at the time. She scoffed at me, skinny young thing that she was. She said that people who have lapbands only lose 50% to 70% of their excess weight. Yep. Ok. So I let her write 170lb on her little sheet. Never gave it a second thought. I got to 150lb without a problem. As I always knew I would. I have a BMI of 21. Why the heck would I settle for still being OVERWEIGHT????? I wasnt very overweight for very much of my life. I always hovered around a BMI of about 24, 25 and i felt pudgy and chubby at that. I was 170lb or so for about 15 years. I always always tried to lose weight, I always had a tendency to gain it and it was no surprise that I really did become overweight after I started having babies. I always could have predicted it. So I knew that I wasnt aiming for a BMI of 25 again and on the way down, the weight loss that made the MOST difference to my body and how I looked and felt about myself was going from 25 to 21. Depends a lot on your body type - I'm very tall, and meant to be thin. I dont have a lot of muscle, I'm in good shape but I'm not meant to be muscled and curvy. So thin for me is good, in fact I could afford to lose more, I'd be fine with a BMI under 20. My boobs are gone, but that can be fixed, and for me having boobs meant I also had a big bum.

Ugh, sound appealing not. I'm glad we have more of a moderate Protein, high wholegrains, fruit and veg program here in Australia.

I agree restless, I think its a pretty deep seated emotion that leads people to think this way. Also, I think we ALL at some point in time thought if we had this surgery we'd lose weight easily without trying. It's still not cheating even if we didnt have to try, I mean why NOT use something that works for pete's sake. Its like saying its cheating to use all the conveniences of modern life - our dishwashers, washing machines, ovens, dryers, lawn mowers, cars - I mean yes, people lived without them but now we've got them why would you WANT to? But having WLS doesnt make weight loss quite that easy - the trouble is you dont know that till you've had it.

Well, situps are not a very effective method of getting rid of your belly anyway, so if they hurt, dont do them. To get rid of the belly, you need CARDIO. You can strengthen your abdominal muscles till the cows come home but that does not get rid of fat, you have to burn the fat to have a flat stomach adn for that, you need to eat less and move more. Running, spinning or cycling, swimming, walking, elliptical, those things are what will get rid of your belly. To strengthen it, if you dont like sit ups - look at more pilates style exercises - planks, fit ball work, I never do a sit up and I have rock hard abs. Mostly from running, it strengthens your tummy marvellously. Also, be realistic, if you are apple shapes and carry a lot of weight in your belly, it probably will be one of the last areas to shed all of the weight.

Well, we're in the same boat, I'm 5ft 10 and 150. I also run for about 40 minutes five days a week - quite moderate and I've cut back on doing quite so much as what i was doing when I was losing. I just do it now to stay fit, stay at this weight so whilst I love my running, I keep it to a sensible portion of my life with a time commitment that fits round working etc. I eat all foods, I eat pretty healthy, I'm certainly not afraid to indulge in a treat every now and then. I dont journal, calorie count or obsess over food. TOTALLY healthy lifestyle and it pisses me off when people say I'm too thin or obsessive. But you know, its only really been on here by people that dont know me and cant see me! We've had huge fights on this, lol. My mother gets a bit worried though, despite being thin herself. And my middle sister is extremely petite. I really do think its because people are used to seeing people in general heavier - a BMI of 30 or above is probably MORE common these days and in particular they're used to seeing YOU heavy.

Quite honestly, there is probably NO food that I will never eat again. Well, apart from liver, lol. I can eat anything, some things are harder than others but if I really want it, I can eat it. I dont enjoy foods like Mcdonalds, KFC, pizza etc. I just dont like them. So i couldnt care less if I never ate them again. But they do sneak into your life now and again, especially when you have kids. But things like Cookies, chocolate, ice cream, wine, good cheeses, it all fits into a healthy balanced lifestyle in moderate amounts. I dont believe in cutting out anything.

It doesnt stress me at all, its habit more than anything. Firstly, I'm realistic. I dont expect my weight not to fluctuate by a pound or two now and then. I expect to weigh a bit more at night. I expect to gain a bit around period time. I expected plateaus during the loss and didnt worry about those either. I cant understand how people truly think their weight is going to go down by equal increments each and every week. If I get on the scales and I'm as light as possible, I feel buoyed to continue the good work. If I get on the scale and its up a pound or two, I dont get depressed, I just know to put a lid on it now before it gets away from me. Either way, it motivates me. When I've eaten badly and see the scale up, I know to get back with the program. When i've eaten badly and the scale DOESNT go up it helps me realise that nobody eats perfectly and in the scale of life, if you're good 90% of the time, your weight is going to be fine! One thing I've NEVER seen is a 5lb gain, lol. I've never gotten a fright because I keep a eagle eye on my weight and manage it on a day to day basis. Its win win if you ask me. It just depends how you look at it.

Its natural to worry and yes, like everyone says, you will be fine. But you have to feel ready. I made and cancelled about 4 initial consultations with my surgeon before I felt ready to go. It had to feel right to me and it took a while before it did.

By pure chance, I posted these pics the other day in a thread about post partum tummies. This is how my stomach fared. Initial BMI was 35 - 36, 100lb loss, with lots of running and core work, I'm fairly tall, have had 3 babies, am nearly 42 years old. My backside is in a similar state, maybe a bit worse as I'm naturally quite prone to cellulite and am naturally pear shaped. It'll be a cold day in you know where before pics of my ass appear on the internet. The worst is my boobs, they are empty, deflated and sagging quite badly. They are the only part of my body I will have surgically corrected, to be honest, the stomach, whilst not perfect, I just think a huge scar would be just as bad as the loose skin I have. And not much truly helps saggy baggy rear ends. I dont have unlimited funds for PS so its matter of choosing what I think will make me the happiest and I think the chest, decolletage area is as important as your face in your visual presentation. I'm also VERY skinny up top around the shoulders and a rejuvenated bustline would reproportion me a bit, whereas nobody is forcing me to wear a bikini and show my stomach. So really, whilst I dont *need* surgery, I could look better with some as I have an overall good shape but am what I would call "flabby". You can see there's rock hard muscle underneath and that I'm very fit but my skin just doesnt quite fit. I need the equivalent of a good hot wash to shrink it a tad!

We were talking about this in another thread a while back when someone mentioned that when she gets stuck, undoing her bra helps. What we thought was this: I have fairly low body fat now and can see my port, but also can feel an inch or two of tubing before it disappears below the muscle. So perhaps a bra does indeed put pressure on the tubing before it goes deeper into the body in certain people and that squeezing the tubing squeezed Fluid up the tubing and around the band, making it ever so slightly tighter, thus explaining why you can feel relief from ripping off your bra. Sound feasible?

First, take a deep breath, this isnt an easy journey and nobody starts out perfect. In fact nobody ends up perfect either! You need realistic expectations - at first, before you get good restriction - and this can take quite a few fills - you may indeed be very hungry physically particularly since the band tends to restrict how much you can eat more quickly than it restricts hunger. So you eat a litte and are hungry again in an hour. Know that that is ENTIRELY normal, you've only been banded a couple of months. Also, head hunger is a big factor. I still want food all the time, and I've been banded 4 years. Over my 37 years of life before I got banded, I learned many ways to use food apart from to satisfy hunger, it punctuates the day for me, it provides relief from boredom, it gives a focus to certain situations. I dont think that ever changes for most of us and most normal weight people do this too. But over time, as you get more restriction, your tastes change, you may not be able to eat at certain times, you may not want to anymore, whatever happens for you, it doesnt have to be a 180 degree turnaround, a slight change in the balance can be all it takes to see the excess weight dropping. You work on it bit by bit. Counseling can help some people, reading books can help others, some of us arent into any of that stuff. Now, exercise. Its a very BIG factor in successful loss with the band. You cant afford to make excuses for it. How hard is it really to make just half an hour a day? (more is better!). I mean you have to be on your guard EVERY WAKING MINUTE for your eating behaviour, but you cant find a minute's willpower to start that walk? You CAN do it. You really can. It took me six months for it to really become habit, but I just pushed day after day. I'm nothing special willpower wise, but I just figured I'd taken this step to be banded, now the exercise was a part of the bargain. Non negotiable. I chose something easy that I could do from my front door - no excuses of not having time, or the gym being closed. I just go out the front door and run. I also never saw results from exercise, but once I combined it with being banded and DID see results,wow, I was hooked. I cant divulge any secrets there, I just had to dig deep and find the determination to find it. But everyone DOES have it, you just have to kind of fake it till it becomes routine.

Not necessary, not healthy, not effective. Plateaus are a fact of life with big weight loss, it is going to happen no matter what you do and it will break eventually no matter what you do. Dont send yourself into a starve/binge cycle by not eating. It achieves nothing.

Wow! its not often you here somone say something so sensible on here. That is just SO true, its more a head game than anything and I truly believe in the fake it till you make it philosophy. The trouble is, often when you say something so blindingly obvious, people get really MAD at you, lol. I pissed someone off big time the other day. But to the OP, just imagine it, tell it to yourself, see yourself doing it, etc etc. Eventually it sticks. Its not easy but it can be done.