Jachut

Lol, DH consistently weighs about a pound less AFTER a shower. And I usually see (or hear) him pee before he gets in, thank goodness. So its not that.

I have a pair of earth shoes which are a different thing again - they have a negative heel - but they throw you back into a different balance and I find they're absolutely marvellous for recovering after a long run.

You absolutely cannot compare yourself to others when it comes to the restriction you can tolerate. Everyone is different.

to be honest, that's nothing more than the opinion of whomever wrote the book. There are NO hard and fast rules with banded eating and anyone who makes it sound like there is is really misrepresenting it. You may be able to eat ALL of those foods, or you may be able to eat NONE of them. They are common problem foods, but personally, I can eat all of them, and popcorn I can literally inhale, I can eat it so fast and easily. Anything, even liquids, can cause you to vomit if you ingest them to quickly, anything can get stuck in your stoma. You WONT always chew properly, you wont be that perfect, you will forget, you will accidentally swallow a mouthful, you may take too big a bite and eventually, it will happen. There are also just foods that your stomach plain wont like, probably amongst that list, as well as others. Some things are just weird, there seems to be no reason why you cant eat them. Cold orange juice will make me vomit every single time, yet how can THAT get stuck? This is a bit of a "seat of your pants" ride, you wont know till you've done it how it is for you.

I was aware of the possiblity of slip and erosion but not of the major pain in the ass the band could be if your body does not like having a band in it! However, here, the possibility of a resurgery is not that bad - you dont want surgery again, but it will be paid for, no problems. I dont have insurance problems etc to worry about. If I need surgery I get it. I was entirely aware that the band probably wont last in my body until the end of my days, if it wears out, I'll just get another one but if I get 20 years out of it, well, I'll be over 60. I'm not sure I'd bother. I think after over 20 years of healthy eating and exercise, enough of the habits have a chance of sticking, my body will be USED to being light, not heavy and my family on my dad's side all tend to get alarmingly thin in old age, and I have the general body shape of that side of the family, I suspect that's in my future too. It sounds better than it is, my nanna looked pretty hideous, sigh. I knew that the band required a LOT of work on the part of myself - I had people I knew who were banded. I liked that. I wasnt after an easy answer, I wanted to change my habits and my outlook - I know now a bit more about other surgeries and realise nothing is easy or automatic, however that was my thought process at the time and I still feel very proud of what I've achieved. Unlike many others here, I had NEVER been successful at losing weight, I had never ever lost more than about 15 lb on any attempt. I wanted to do this ONCE more and ONCE only. Keeping the weight off was a huge part of my decision to have surgery. Also, the biggest factor - the band is the only really common WLS here. I dont even know where you'd go to get a bypass and sleeves havent taken off yet.

Its impossible to compare really because the first time I tried it, I could run, (well, not RUN, jog) for half an hour. I did 3km my first attempt. I did build very slowly though, many many peopel take up running and are doing their first half marathon 9 months later. For me, it took over 2 years to get to that point. What I found was that my cardiovascular fitness increased almost daily, very quickly but it took a loooooooong time to build the muscular strength and endurance to carry my body that far. That was a slow process. I would highly recommend the Couch to 5K program to give you some structure to what you're doing - google it, its on coolrunning.com and I believe you can now get MP3 downloads as well. You can move the program around a bit to suit you, like do each week twice if you're finding the progression too fast. Best of luck!

Absolutely amazing! This is NOT an easy journey, which make you quite an extraordinary woman!

Funnily enough I've had the same experience as Mac but with a band and presumably without the ghrelin cut. I used to eat healthy anyway, I've always eaten plenty of fresh fruit and veg and I'm a very good cook, bit of a gourmet in fact. I'm feeding a family and I would never ever have let my kids eat the way I did. So the family diet was very healthy and actually has not had to change one single bit since I was banded. What we ate as a family was entirely appropriate - lean Protein, lots of vegetables, fruit and wholegrain carbs, low fat dairy. I just used to eat way too much junk food on top of it - white carbs for me mainly. I liked my share of McDonalds, and the fish and chips etc (have never cared for pizza, KFC or pretend healthy food like Subway) but Cookies, cakes, rich coffees, muffins, donuts, I loaded up on that stuff during the day when the kids were at school. Now I just plain dont like them. They disgust me. The stench in McDonalds makes me sick. Seeing people eat it is revolting. Seeing anybody unbanded eating is a bit revolting actually - they literally STUFF themselves - even my girlfriends at girls night. I just think whoa, slow down!! My tastes definitely changed. I'm sure there's hormones behind it but I think its just that eventually habit does take over. It doesnt happen in six weeks but after four years with a band, I dont think I'd revert quickly to old ways thoug I'm sure I probably would slide a bit over time.

You're really looking for "not hungry" as opposed to full. Looking for "full" means you'll get tighter and tighter searching for a level of autocontrol that the band just is not meant to have. You are the driver, its not really how the band works. YOU have to make the choices, YOU have to stop eating, and the band will just stop you from being really starving hungry in the meantime. Many people have to swear off bread as it just doesnt work well with many people's bands, I can eat it but have to be careful.

I did lose pretty darn quick at first - not spectacular as I had a BMI of 35, but I'd definitely lost 30lb within the first 2 months. I find it really really hard to imagine how people dont lose quicky at first. I mean you're eating hardly anything! But everyone is different and for sure, everyone is not fat simply due to overeating. People here have bodies that just arent working all that great. I was a lucky one, I ate too much, I got fat, I stopped eating too much, I got unfat. I had great restriction - I cant really figure it out becuase I'm not a "sweller". I dont swell and get tight after fills, my stomach isnt sensitive, I can eat anything, by rights I shouldnt have had a lot of swelling after surgery. i should have been one of the ones that lost that very very quicky and went through bandster hell. But I wasnt. After that though, my weight loss slowed RIGHT down and I was overall quite a slower loser, taking 2 entire years to lose 100lb. So it took me what, over 20 months to lose the other 80. It was just slow and steady.

The band is STITCHED to your stomach, not just put around it.... the stomach is kind of pulled over in a flap and its stitched so it makes a little channel, that's going to hurt. Personally, I didnt find pain levels really bad, I didnt actually need anything other than a bit of paracetamol, but its definitely there. I was especially lucky with the gas, that really didnt bother me at all.

Its so so difficult to get back on track, and if ONLY that early motivation lasted. But you're 40lb down in 8 months, you're well within the norm of that 1 to 2 lb weight loss per week. I find for me, I focus on what I can control the most. There is no reason, none, nada, zip why I cant get out for a half hour run most days. I stick to that routine like glue, I do not break it for anything and I find achieving that gives me the sense of control that I need to do better on eating choices. I know my eating choices are weaker than my exercise choices, I have willpower some areas but not others. For example, I *CAN* decide to only eat 3 meals a day. Its simple, measurable, doable. You just have to not eat in between. I decide to do that and run but give myself permission to choose whatever foods I want. For me, that relieves the pressure and the possibility of "failing". I generally choose reasonably well but these sorts of little mental tricks really help me. By doing this, my behaviour is 80% good and it was always enough to keep me losing. I was a slower loser, for sure, but that didnt bother me.

I hate to say it, because i suspect from your tone I've already pissed you off, but you will never get to a point with a lapband where you can eat healthy food but not junk. You will always reach the point where healthy food wont go down first. Cookies, chips, chocolate, ice cream, you will always be able to eat it. Assuming all is well with your band, being able to eat those things doesnt mean you need more fill. You need a band loose enough to fill up with healthy foods and just not eat those things. No, that's not easy, everyone understands that. But everyone faces the same challenge. There's not a long term bandster here that wouldnt agree that those foods just have to be avoided by dogged determination. However, if you're fighting an appetite fuelled by medication, that's really tough. I sure as eggs wouldnt be able to do it. I'm sorry if my advice is offensive to you, if you're just wanting to vent then ignore it.

I'm maintaining now so I eat a little more than I did to lose, but yesterday: breakfast: Komplete muesli with skim milk - probably 3/4 cup total Lunch: vegetable Soup and a piece of garlic bread Afternoon: a skim latte, an apple and a bit later on two tim tams (chocolate biscuits) Dinner: a lamb stew (onion, tomato, lamb, broth, garlic, rosemary) cooked in the slow cooker, served on fettucini and with a side salad (probably a cup of food total for me). A glass of white wine. I can eat any foods - bread, whatever. However the foods I have the most trouble with are raw fruit and veg - I have to peel apples and not eat the skin, salad I eat carefully. But I can eat everything.

Are you vomiting or is food not staying down? those are two different things. I find whenever I get a cold or flu (which in Australia we define as a viral/respiratory illness, not a stomach bug or gastro), my band gets tight - not to the point of not being able to keep food down for me, but still MUCH tighter. That doesnt mean its stomach flu. Are you truly nauseous, do you have diarrhoea, etc? If it IS gastro, I'd recommend an anti nausea medication to prevent vomiting, as such violent vomiting can hurt your band. Bandsters should keep medication like this to hand in case gastro ever strikes. But pb'ing due to tightness caused by illness is a bit different. In that case, just stick with liquids until you're a bit recovered. Hope you feel better!

With the fills spaced that far apart it is hard on you, but you should still EVENTUALLY get to a good place with your band. Why did you remove what fill you had if it wasnt causing you problems? That has only set you back several more months. Keep going this time, you WILL get there assuming all is well. Fatigue makes exercise hard, but exercise does eventually give you more energy, not less. I would urge you to try to do some gentle exercise every day. Now is probably not the time to really push it though, until such time as you are feeling a bit better. If you cant get your doctor to schedule fills closer, I guess you're going to have to be patient, but I wish you luck in getting this sorted.

Its the same as cholesterol - we measure that differently here too.

Yep, that changes things a bit. I've got a great life and whilst I wouldnt call us "rich" we are certainly very comfortable. When I was fat, all the good times were marred by the fact that i felt miserable and self conscious. I would rather have less money than I do and stay thin. It is true, having money is great, but it doesnt make you happy, most of the OTHER things in your life do that. Not that i would want to have to stress over having to pay the mortgage and the school fees.... I dont know. Obesity is also a disease that affects lower socioeconomic groups far more than it does richer people, statistically speaking. Skinny AND rich would be my choice.

OK, I almost never post photos of myself on here. This is my post partum belly - I am almost 42, I have had three babies and lost 100lb. After I had a caesarean 6 years ago, I had just the beginning of an overhang. I was 100 lb overweight and I had just had all my stomach muscles cut through. I felt sick when I saw the state of my stomach. Its worth saying I'm pear shaped, never did carry most of my weight in my stomach. This is my stomach now, no tummy tuck, just weight loss and 3 and a half years of running (and a fair bit of core work). I personally think a tummy tuck would give me a truly GREAT result but I dont think the scar is worth the problem. My stomach did look really awful about half way through my weight loss and has tightened up a bit but after my recovery from the c-section post about 6 months, I have never really had "overhang". I have super strong abs, but being 5ft 10 tall and having normal sized 8lb and 9lb babies, I didnt get "huge" during pregnancy and didnt get a lot of stretch marks. The marks I do have on my hips are from puberty. I had a lot of room to hide babies in there and I didnt get muscle separation. If you'e got muscle separation, then surgery is the ONLY way to fix it. I will wear a bikini, but to be honest, i am self conscious about my stomach, its a little more blobby than photos tend to show too. I feel awkward sitting down, when it all bunches up! But I guess its a lot cheaper and less traumatic simply to wear a tankini instead.

Definitely the medication acts as an appetite suppressant and you are probably going to have to force yourself to eat to some degree. If you're exercising hard, you do NEED carbs. I dont think the amount of Protein would be a problem, so much as you might be low on Iron. Or blood pressure. But you definitely sound run down and as if you're not fuelling the amount of energy you burn. The only way to be sure is to go to your doc, have some bloodwork, and you may need to be supplementing more heavily. Like Josephine, I would bet money its the Adderall.

Oh gosh, I wish I knew. My 13 year old son is getting fatter by the day. It is killing me. I just dont know how to deal with it. I wouldnt worry too much because neither Doug nor I ever got morbidly obese. I could comfort myself if I knew he was going to be a tubby teen and slim down a bit in adulthood like we both did and never have a really SERIOUS weight problem. But he's bigger than either of us were at his age. The thing with him is he does like healthy food and with him, I can just not buy the junk. He will eat a LOT but he doesnt sneak it or have any real disordered eating, in fact when I see what his friends eat, he eats no more and actually eats a lot better. But, like his father, he just doesnt have the "physical" gene. He's inherently lazy, he just doesnt burn any energy, unlike most boys his age who never stop moving. He will play sport, at school and he plays basketball too, but when he's not doing that, he's absolutely inert. Whereas my skinny 11 year old is out on his bike, climbing on the roof, kicking a football or playing cricket in the street, plus his basketball, plus playing rugby at lunchtime at school etc. ..... Now Fraser wants to give up basketball - he isnt sporty, he's the worst player in his team and they carry him, he never contributes to the game, but runs around the perimeter. I dont blame him for wanting to quit, but he cant afford to lose the activity!!! But its a miserable life trying to force an unwilling adolecent boy into an hour of physical activity every day! Its not sustainable or realistic. I dont know, is the answer.

I feel the same, its a shame, Farrah fought so long and hard and has been overshadowed instantly. But what I dont get is how anyone can be so attached to a celebrity as to get upset when others make remarks about him that are quite arguably deserved. This man did not know one single one of us even existed! Wouldnt have cared if he did. I just cannot understand how it matters so much to anyone.

I am like that about vomiting and still am. I really got to the state though where I was ready enough to do something about my weight to even face THAT. The thing is, pbing is not like vomiting. Its nothing like it. There's no nausea, no temperatures and sickness accompanying it, it comes up more easily and is WAY less copious, theres no acid and terrible taste, it doesnt generally come out all your nose and leave you absolutely wrecked. Its nowhere near as bad.

I played for years and years, from the age of 7 until I was about 25. I only ever injured myself badly once playing softball - I tore all the quadriceps tendons off my pelvis when batting (the twisting). I had to have surgery for that one, to pin them back. I really cant imagine how you'd hurt your port, you'd be very unlucky. I played A grade softball and it just isnt a contact sport, even sliding, you're not likely to hurt your port. Knees and ankles, maybe, but not your port.