Jachut

Ugh, raw carrots. If something is actually STUCK in the stoma for me, I'll keep sliming and pbing until it is free. This has only happened to me once or twice, however it can be a long drawn out affair. More often, what I'll find is a bite doesnt go down well, it feels stuck and comes right back up. Things dont actually get truly lodged very often. However after a stuck episode, I can feel tender, and not be able to eat properly for quite a while. Usually I recover in about 10 minutes, but once or twice I've felt it prudent to put myself on liquids for 24 hours. It can cause a lot of inflammation and irritation. If its truly still STUCK, I'd say you'd be sliming and vomiting still. But you know your body.

Not a veg'n, but NOT a believer in mega Protein at all. We need some but in no way do I believe we need what many doctors are saying - 50 or 60 grams a day is AMPLE for most women. I eat a lot of Beans, lentils, chick peas because I like them and they're so very very healthy for you. I dont eat a lot of meat. But there's protein in EVERYTHING, even a potato has a couple of grams of protein. I dont think you really need to do anything special to get enough and if your diet is focussed more on pulses, beans, vegetables, then I personally think you'd have one of the healthiest diets on this entire board. I wouldnt worry and I wouldnt really expect a nutritionist to be all that knowledgeable either. Anyone can hang up a shingle and call themselves a nutritionist and we've had one particular one on this board who was spreading WRONG information around - like basically physioligically indisputably WRONG. I think you can make your own sensible decisions about your diet.

I started out embarrassed to wear form fitting gear, I ran in track pants and similar. But honestly, when you do a race, you see ALL shapes and sizes, some seriously huge people get out there and do it and nobody looks twice at anyone else. So, I found that eventually I got the courage to go for comfort and for me that means proper running tights. Any psuedo exercise wear - like active gear you buy from places like Target, track pants and capris and such just fall down, they flap about and move but a good pair of runniing tights are supportive and breathable and very comfortable. I will wear any old Tshirt if I have to but I do like tops with shelf bras in them, and i swear by the Berlei sports bra, but everyone is different there, because we all have different sizes and shapes and need for support. I always wear a light top to a race, I've got a few technical fabric long sleeve tops, which are expensive, but they're so light to take off and tie round your waist. I never run in sweat tops or anythign heavy like that. For the really really cold weather I have a couple of thermal fleeces. Again, light and formfitting. In winter, I always wear gloves too - my hands get freezing!

Oh boy, why cant we just live and let live? Both sides have biased information. Neither surgery is perfect. Visiting the sleeve forum, its obvious there ARE after surgery discomforts and problems. All this talk of night coughing and heartburn and reliance on antacids doesnt sound like any ideal surgery to me, no more than than pbing and getting stuck do. And its just plain freaking wrong that the band is only emptied out a bit when there's complicatins. Crap it is. You can let Fluid out of it to maintain your weight and stop losing, you can let fluid out of it to fuel extra exercise goals, you can let fluid out of it when you've been sick and need to nourish yourself more. That's a stupid stupid argument and its just not correct. Adjustability of the band is a big advantage - and probably the ONLY advantage of this surgery over others. I agree entirely that invasive is invasive, surgery is life changing no matter what and bands change bodies like anything else does. We now have a lapband forum and we have a sleeve forum. Both procedures are always going to be discussed on both. I like visiting the sleeve forum because I'm interested, I can see the benefits of the surgery and there's people I like to stay in touch with. But I dont get over there and push that I have a band, I dont diss the choice that everyone on that board has made and I am so freaking SICK of the rudeness and condescension with which bandsters are being treated on this board. Spread the information, please. Everyone needs the fulls story and I for one am not arguing that the band is perfect. But Steve and Headhunter in particular, how about a bit of respect instead of bullying?. Your opinions are just that - your OPINIONS. Not everyone wants to be forced to accept them. Lets not forget either that when a lot of us were banded, sleeves werent an option. We're not all dickheads that did no research and dont deserve to be treated as such. I'm really happy that something possibly "better" has come along! We always knew it would. But why the obsession to bash everyone with it?

Camembert is like brie - its a mild soft cheese. In greek cuisine, its often served crumbed and fried - talk about fattening? leeks exotic? Wow, they're an ordinary boring veg here. Try this, delicious! Zucchini and Leek Soup (zucchini are courgettes, green ones). Slice and wash 2 leeks, leave them wet Chop a couple of slices of lean bacon, put some olive oil in a heavy based pot, and fry leeks and bacon, then pop the lid on, turn the heat down a bit and let the leeks sweat for 20 minutes or so, so they're nice and soft. Now chop up about 3 green zucchini into rough slices, leaving skin on, and peel a small potato (potatoes give soup body) - you'd only get the tiniest bit of potato in each serve. Add enough chicken stock to cover (I like to make stock/broth with Vegeta if you have that on your shelves). Simmer till all the veges are really nice and soft, then blend up the soup with a stick blender. Stir in some cream (or evaporated milk if you're doing low fat). Enjoy! A wonderful way to get your greens in and REALLY tasty.

That's wonderful. Its really nice when you occasionally get a glimpse of yourself as other see you, rather than agonising over tiny details. Its a big shock to realise you're NORMAL and ATTRACTIVE!!

Almonds tend to stick a bit for me, but I can eat them, just a couple at a time. Other nuts go down fine, and i actually eat a LOT of nuts. I often eat nuts for breakfast! I love cashews, and macadamias particularly, and i like walnuts too. I eat a lot of them becuase they are fattening yes, but they really are a superfood, the healthy fats in them do great things for your cardiovascular system, and I find my skin, nails and hair stay really healthy when I have lots of nuts in my diet. I'm maintaining now, and I do run a lot, I find it hard to inagine I could eat as many nuts as I do and actually lose weight!

I've drunk "egg flips" my entire life and never ever got sick. I think as long as the eggs are fresh, the risk is low. But I have a legendary cast Iron gullet, so perhas I'm just lucky!

I'd imagine its a bit like a lapband - restricted space doesnt matter so much if you pig out on slider foods. I've found that I still occasionally have a big pig out - I wouldnt call myself a binge eater, but I did like to settle in with a lot of something. Well, I cant eat a family bag of chips anymore - those give me heartburn. A lot of Cookies go down well but my faves were always shortbread type ones, those stick, 2 or 3 is plenty for me. We had an apple pie after dinner last night at the request of number 2 son, who hates our no dessert habit, and I had a bite and was done. Cant handle much pastry, certainly cant go out and eat 3 or 4 custard tarts like I used to do. Cant eat muffins, donuts without pain, those were real problem foods for me. But - whole box of chocolates? Easy. Ice cream (which I NEVER cared for and now like a lot more)? Easy. I've sneakily changed what I like to binge on in order to get round the fact that I cant binge. Or the other thing I find myself doing is picking ALL day. I find for me, the urge to overeat like that comes very seldom, its not a daily problem for me, I can guarantee it one day per month and other than that its once in a blue moon. So you know, I go with it. It doesnt seem to harm my weight, it just makes me feel bloated and disgusted for a day, which if I cared that much, I woudlnt do it in the first place now, would I? I dont bother trying to work out the reasons for it as it happens so seldom its not really a problem. But if its something you find the urge to do on a daily basis, hmmm, I'd be afraid that WLS might be only half the answer.

I've kept the same restriction I had, I havent altered my band. Well, I lie a bit actually, I've had a small fill, just to top off as restriction waned after about 18 months (you do lose some Fluid over time). What happened was that I never had tight restriction to lose, didnt need it, didnt want it. I was happy to exercise lots and eat very normally, but with portion control. So moderate restriction suited me fine. Over time, the weight loss got slower and slower and eventually just petered out at around 10kgs past my original goal. My original goal was "generous", it was at the top of my healthy weight range and I knew I'd never stop there, I just set it to shut everyone up who kept saying "you must be realistic". Had I wanted to stop there, I wouldnt have continued to have one or two more small fills. But I just kind of finished losing at around 69kgs (about 150lb give or take). I have not had to unfill, this restriction now serves me well for maintenance. You simply cant go back to "normal". I know of people who have unfilled a bit to stop losing, that's fine, if you have tight restriction you'd probably need to do that. I know of one person who unfilled completely -she's unusual. Most of us still require restriction to maintain and most of us will even require a tiny top up fill every now and then. So I eat pretty much what I ate to lose to maintain - again I did a normal diet WITH carbs such as bread and Pasta, so not too difficult. And I've continued with my running and these days probably MORE than I was running during the faster more steady part of my weight loss (as I got fitter, I did more and more). That's what it takes for me to maintain weight for life, moderate portions, not too many treats and a good 40 minutes to an hour of daily cardio. I eat about 1800 calories a day so I certianly dont feel deprived or too hard done by. But if I had no restriction, my natural appetite drives me to eat more like 2,500 or so, which over time would make me fat again. Even though that's what all the charts say I *should* be able to eat given my height and activity levels.

Restless, I had a similar thing with heel spurs on the backs of my heels (they're more common underneath) - I had them both removed when I was 18. Tight achilles were part of the problem, but i ahve some sort of congenital defect there and unfortunatly I think my kids have it too as they are developing some bad food problems and heel pain - DH also had surgery for compartment syndrome in his anterior lower legs, a highly unusual problem in a non athlete, so I guess they could be lucky enough to inherit that too. the surgery fixed mine, however it wasnt till I was in my mid 30's I started having heel pain again - I thought it was another spur, but it wasnt, they never got to the bottom of what it was but in the end it was an acupuncturist who cleared it up and the way the pain gradually moved from the outer hollow at the back of my heel to the medial border of my foot makes me suspect it was plantar fasciitis. However, I never ever ever wear closed shoes if I can help it! I can wear sneakers fine and boots, but any sort of court shoe, dress shoe, ugh, I loathe them and I dont wear them - my shoes are always sling backs or mules. My heels have been sensitive and just dont feel good with pressure on them ever since the surgery more than 20 years ago - and now I also have a compulsive habit of collecting funky birkenstocks, lol. As to the asthma, I agree, if it came on with increasing weight it will probably go away. But if you are born asthmatic like my son, losing weight can help you manage it but it wont cure it. Plenty of normal weight otherwise healthy people have life threatening asthma. Same as how weight loss wont fix high blood pressure or cholesterol if they're not caused by weight gain. Some people just have a body chemistry that makes the susceptible to these conditions and they need medication to cure it. DH has lost 70lb and is no longer overweight but he's still on blood pressure medication - his blood pressure did not change at all with weight loss.

Hernias dont get better on their own. Its also worrying just how many people who have awful band problems ALSO have hernias. Not sure if its a chicken or an egg thing.

I personally wouldnt touch this with a 40 foot pole. I dont know lots about Mexico, here in Australia, its Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia where this sort of thing is offered. of course you hear horror stories, but I dont personally believe that these countries offer substandard care. But I do worry about "cosmetic surgery holidays". I feel surgeons who get involved in this sort of thing are more likely to be less than scrupulous, interested in making a quick buck and aware of the fact that if their patients experience problems they will be far away in another country perhaps without the financial resources to follow up. I simply would never have a surgery with a surgeon who wasnt easily accessible to me in my every day life - lap band, cosmetic or otherwise. Nothing could convince me to do so (especially not coz someone put a poorly disguised ad on a forum).

Is this a problem that only developed with the sleeve? Or have you suffered from it for longer..... my 12 year old is terribly snotty and always has been and he vomits spontaneously in his sleep. Its truly awful but he has so much mucous and when he gets a cold or something and there's even more he will just spew in the middle of the night without even waking up. Very dangerous and very disgusting .... he sleeps on the top bunk and usually manages to get the wall and it runs down eeeeeeeeeeeeeew. We have to pull the entire bed out (weighs a ton). He has no food allergies - this seems to be a problem in my family, I wasnt sooo bad but could never ever breathe through my nose, my middle sister was nicknamed "candles" for the rivers of green snot that hung out of her nose till she had her adenoids removed and my mother is having awful trouble with post nasal drip at night now in her 60's. Ewan is getting an adnoid and tonsilectomy in about 2 weeks time - cant come soon enough. He has sleep apnoea too. I feel for you, I've had a flu for the past week and I have a cough that starts to tickle the minute I lie down at night and its driving me NUTS. I havent had a full night's sleep for a week and not surprisingly, I havent been well enough to run and have been eating crap to try to get energy coz I'm so tired. I find it very very hard to stick to healthy habits during the day when I dont get enough sleep. I'm heading out for a run right now even though there's NOTHING I would rather do less!

Lol, that is exactly what I'd do. In my experience, people who do the whole "I'm sorry but I had to tell them in this situation" thing are only making an excuse for the fact that they enjoyed spreading the gossip immensely. If she were so worried, she could have told you so and encouraged YOU to tell them. She wanted to tell them and she did, mother or not. Two wrongs dont make a right but I would be exceedingly tempted to do the same thing back.

I love spinning, I just find it awfully hard to work into my schedule.

I've always found exercise a better preventer of weight gain than it is a cause of weight loss. I can run 10km in an hour and burn 1000 calories - now that is quite effective exercise which will contribute to weight loss. But if you can only walk slowly for half an hour and burn 250 calories, hmmm, not so much. Your loss is going to be more dependent on what you eat. But the two go hand in hand. What exercise does for your body in terms of its composition and condition cant be underestimated and almost without exception successful bandsters are dedicated exercises. It makes the difference between being a 50% statistic and losing 100% of your weight, it provides a focus and goals that are helpful in the journey, it shapes your body and makes it healthier, honestly, you're mad not to work exercise into your schedule. And when it comes to being able to indulge a little and not gain weight, exercise is your best friend.

Actually, there's entire countries in the rest of the world that dont do the whole low carb Protein first thing. It is not the ONLY way to eat post band and it is not the only RIGHT way to eat post band. In Australia, we're encouraged to eat a healthy diet from ALL food groups - and that includes wholegrain breads and cereals (not white nutritionless products). Donuts, cakes and pancakes dont really come into it though. I eat a carb based diet because I dont believe low carb diets are all that healthy. I believe they're way too high in saturated fat, animal products and the associated preservatives and chemicals that come with such foods as cheese, processed meats etc. I've lost weight perfectly well, and am perfectly healthy. So if someone wants to eat bread, they're not necessarily not dedicated to their band or eating in an unhealthy manner, they may be just following a different dietary program to yours - one that can be equally effective. My focus is fruits and veges, heatlhy carbs and only THEN protein and that's what my doctor recommends. And I have muscles and hair too.

I've got the Australian version but I'm assuming the US one will similar - the Biggest Loser Boot Camp DVD. Holy cow, I'm very fit and I can bring myself to the point of vomiting by putting 100% into this DVD. Its REALLY hard if you go at it hard. And extremely effective. I knocked a whole 5minutes of my 10K time last year by doing this circuit style workout 3 x per week in conjuction with outside running. Other than that my favourite workouts are MP3 ones - I love running to Cardio Coach or Treadmill Trainer.

The only way I can tolerate any sort of Protein shake is vanilla flavoured in a smoothie with fruit or with low calorie chocolate topping and Peanut Butter. They are all disgusting to me. And I just figure, for the same calories (actually a bit less) you could combine 200 mls of skim milk, an egg, some vanilla essence and then some fruit and make a smoothie and have almost 20 grams of protein there ANYWAY, without having to pay a fortune for crappy tasting shakes.

I've got an almost 14 year old who is getting alarmingly big - more proof to me that this is such a heridary thing - I mean I've been banded for four years, I provide a healthy family diet, a GREAT example of healthy living and I do not let my kids eat loads of rubbish and yet he's still become overweight. My husband is banded too. My son is also way bigger than either I or his father was at his age. We've thought about a band for him in the future. The thing is with him, and this is where you appear more mature - he doesnt care yet. His weight doesnt bother him. He hasnt really hit puberty, he's not into girls, and he's not sporty, so he just doesnt care. He doesnt get teased for his weight either. When he DOES care and has motivation to do something about it, then we will look at banding if he has gotten even heavier. At the moment he's at the stage where if he can steady his weight and grow a bit he'd be fine. So I think if as a teen you want to do this, and you've got a realistic picture of what it will be like when your friends are eating and drinking in ways you cant, then I'd far rather see someone of your age avoid all the problems BEFORE they occur.

Good girl! Its the key to a quick and more comfortable recovery and its a dedicated start to your new life.

They say that it can make your scars permanently red and raised. Really, how can UV light, which damages your skin, help? And if you want to avoid loose skin, how can destroying your skin structure help that? Tanning beds make your skin look really nice in the short term, I understand that and have used them myself - but in the long term, they age your skin and make it sag. I think living where I do in Australia, we have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, and tanning salons do not do big business. Most people are desperately trying to undo sun damage just from every day living, our sun is so strong. So we tend to be tanning bed negative, where I get that you guys dont feel quite the same way.

I think for me it helped. I had problematic sciatic pain and a chronic heel issue, the combination of which was enough for me to say enough is enough, I have to lose weight for once and all. I was taking a few too many NSAID's for my liking and i had to have a cortisone injection into my heel, which gave me relief for 12 months, enough time to get into running. After banding, I took up running and i have to say the pain got much more problematic for a while. My sciatic symptoms were occasional sharp shooting down the buttock and back of the leg pain but that had resolved a lot several years after my last pregnancy. However my right leg was just dead. It felt heavy, numb and sometimes hot. I'd get sharp bolts of pain but more often it was diffuse, achey and just made me feel plain unwell. I spent literally thousands of dollars on physio and nobody could figure out what the hell was wrong. There was no disc problem, nothing identifiable except that upon deep palpation the final physio I saw was baffled that the leg just felt "different" to the other one. I finally went and saw an acupuncturist - I'm not a big believer in natural therapies, but I was desperate. It took 9 months of dedicated and expensive treatment, but he encouraged me to keep losing and running, and he worked with me. Eventually he thought he'd done all he could and told me just to start coming bimonthly for a "tune up". Anyway, I woke up about six weeks later and realised I felt GREAT. The pain just gradually had gone away and I've never had a problem since. I dont think the band and weight loss cured my back, but I think I couldnt have gotten the results I did without it. And I put hours and hours and hours into core strengthening exercise and that REALLY helped - I mean I can now jump on a trampoline whilst laughing uncontrollably and not leave a puddle - and I'm almost 42 and have had three big babies - that alone is an indication about how strong my core muscles are! Core strenghtening really is KEY in helping back problems, the issues weak hip muscles and such can cause are extensive. Truth is, I believe it was getting really fit rather than actual weight loss which has helped me. Hope you find some relief, its a huge downer, really depressing to have constant pain.

I dont know, being obese doesnt help asthma, and you reduce the load and work of moving your body about, plus if you exercise you'll get fitter. That will improve things somewhat. But my son is severely asthmatic, and I know that if you're asthmatic, you're asthmatic. It is not going to go away. Its not really to do with your weight at all.