Jachut

i think that coming to terms with what actually happens to your body when you lose weight is very difficult. You shrink, but you're still just you. You have the same problem areas, you dont get more and more perfect all of the time, you just get smaller. I'm now at the point where really, there's just no more left to lose and I STILL dont have the type of body I thought I would. It's just never going to be - and its a combination of really NOT having that body and not being able to SEE what I really look like. I've spent so many years being 'big' if not obese that I just dont have the ability to not see myself as bigger than others. BUT - here is where exercise is the kicker. Becoming a runner has taught me to not LOOK at my body so much as to feel how it feels and appreciate what it can do. I think of it more in terms of a machine and less in terms of a fashion accessory, if that makes sense. I've gained huge respect for my body from running.

That's what I tend to do Lulu - have my dinner, then a glass of wine is dessert - I drink it slowly and enjoy it! i dont have any appetite for stuff like ice cream after dinner.

I drink a lot of coffee - probably five, or six cups a day but usually I just drink instant so its not strong, brewed coffee, I'd only have one of those once a day or less. So I'm fairly impervious to caffeine, I usually have a coffee after dinner with no ill effects. I do notice if I'm out and have an espresso after dinner, that does keep me awake because its so strong. But I'm the same post surgery as before.

I know I'm full because I feel full. I dont measure or weight food, and here, 1/2 cup is not a "goal" its a "guideline". I eat more than that and always have. So I'm not mreasuring out half a cup and eating it and thining Hmmm, do I feel full. I serve my dinner, and eat until I feel full. Well, more correctly just until I feel well satisfied. Its different every time, depends on time of day, what I'm eating, whether I've just been for a run or not (makes me tight). And as for exercise, yes, I'd say for me it was at least 50% if not more, of the equation and its definitely the main factor in keeping the weight off.

My doctor actually recommends moderate wine drinking. That's wine drinking, not beer, mixed drinks or cocktail drinking. Its good for you in moderation, red particularly has health benefits and there's really nothing wrong with a small glass most days. But anymore and its not so healthy. My doctor said at one info evening that statistics show moderate wine drinkers lose weight better than complete teetotallers. I dont know what or where those stats are or how extensive.

I agree, changing what you eat can help. Personally, I'm a carb eater, NOTHING makes my band work well like wholegrain breads and cereals. A sandwich for lunch combining, say, bread, tuna and salad vegetables can easily last me till dinner (even though I cant eat the entire thing) whereas a salad, and I'll be looking for chocolate within an hour.

Lol, when the grind gets less, I find that's time to run further, faster, longer!

It is possible to lose without exercise, but you probably wont lose all your weight and you'll probably lose slowly. And exercise is key in keeping the weight OFF.

Seriously, this is not meant with any intention of offending at all, but if you're thinking that you might remove it, then you're not ready for weight loss surgery. The key to this is being willing to DO WHAT IT TAKES. There is no room for thinking you can go through the pain short term and then go 'back to normal'. To lose weight, wether you do it by diet and exercise alone or with the help of surgery, the change in your behaviours must be forever. In deciding to have a lapband you are deciding you are committed enough to the process and doing what you have to to wear the risk of things going wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong in deciding you dont want to take that risk. But it is very flawed to think you can take it for a while and then escape it. You must be absolutely certain that you are willing to give up all those comforting habits this very day, not leave yourself an out down the track. Statistically, that works for virtually nobody.

I've got a 9.75cm 4cc band.

I do both - but mainly outside. Before banding I didnt run regularly, because I was too heavy to do it. But I did do it sometimes, to the best of my ability. But I always DID like exercise and fairly hard cardio. I've never been totally non active.

Yes, I can identify with this, I thought it was just me because to be honest, I've never been someone whos interested more than once or twice a week. Now I dont care if its months. That was OK, I had DH to keep us on the straight and narrow, lol. But now HE's suffering the same thing. I do think something about weight loss is the reason.

If you're going to do it, I suggest a couple of days before the surgery. It just makes no sense to me to stuff yourself the night before! Give it time to digest.

I did not see my "new" body emerge and start to feel really excited and NORMAL until the final 20lb or so. Honestly, its that last bit of weight that makes ALL the difference. Even so, I've had to come to terms with the fact that sheesh, my BMI is 21, there's no that much more weight I could possibly lose and yet I still have cellulite.

Oh, that's terribly sad. I enjoyed her posts a lot. Thanks for letting us know.

Its an average. In any group, there will be people who dont lose well because they werent good candidates and dont work well with the band, they dont exercise, they have problems with the band, they are metabolically challenged, physically disabled etc. The band takes a fair bit of work but if you DO that work you have a good chance of losing 100% of your excess. I found it not too difficult with 3 sensible meals a day, a snack if I'm hungry and running an hour a day. I'm not a perfect dieter, this really wasnt that hard for me. But my doctor does make a fuss, obviously its not every person that does lose so well and I cant really say why I did compared to the next person - I suspect the running helps.

I honestly cant think of the last time I drank something that would require a straw - oh, actually I think I had a milkshake a few months ago. But I dont drink softdrinks, I dont generally drink milkshakes - that one would have been the only one I've had in five years - and I only really drink wine, so I never have cocktails etc. I cant really see why a straw would be a problem to be honest. You've got the end in the liquid, so there's no air going in.

Well, bypass isnt really done in Australia anymore. BUT - I knew I was a good candidate for the lapband. I was the type of overeater who ate basically healthy meals (I had a family to feed afterall) but ate too much and ate way too many in betweel Snacks of less healthy foods becuase I was hungry. I didnt have to change the way I ate too much with a band, becuase I knew how to shop healthy and how to cook healthy and I already did those things. I wasnt having to break habits like living on fast food, drinking huge milkshakes, or getting my Breakfast from a drive through. I was also still relatively fit and able to exercise when i set my mind to it. I didnt realise the significance of these things at the time, banding is really the only easily available option here at present. You can get other surgeries but finding surgeons is harder. However, in hindsight, I realise I had a pretty good profile for a successful bandster. I also had only gotten to a BMI of 36 which meant I stood a fighting chance of losing ALL my excess weight (which i did and then some). Another thing which I feel was important was my "gut feel" for the procedure, pardon the pun. I have a cast Iron stomach. When everyone else is dying of food poisoning, I am unscathed. When everyone else is half dead with gastro, I have a bit of diarrhoea and that's all. I didnt get reflux, suffer nausea and I could keep down a very impressive amount of alcohol too. I never vomit! I just knew that I wouldnt have the problems I read about. I could easily have been wrong, I know, but I wasnt, I was right. I just dont get all the little annoyances with the band - my stomach isnt fickle, my restriction doesnt vary, its unusual for me to be able to eat a food one day and then not the next, I dont swell after fills etc. given all that and the lesser severity of the weight problem I had, no way on earth would I have done something as drastic as bypass. I knew I could work with a band. However, I think there's many people who are better suited to a bypass and i really think if they're honest with themselves, they probably already know that about themselves.

I will block up on almonds every time, something about the texture of them, I do find them very difficult. But peanuts, walnuts, cashews and macadamias are no problem.

Calipers wouldnt work very well for most formerly obese people. I'm sure I can pinch more than I should be able to for whatever body fat level I actaully do have because of the skin issue. It may not be hanging or needing surgery, but I have a bit more skin than I would have had if I'd stayed thin all my life!

I thought I grew! Last time I went to weight watchers about five years ago, I had a fight with the woman there who kept measuring me at 176cm. I'm 179 cm and always have been. I made her measure me about five times because of course being shorter meant I was more overweight, lol. When I got measured by my lap band clinic last year, as an update to my records, I was 179cm. I remarked that I must have uncompressed my spine or something. The nurse cracked up - she said "darling, obese people meausure shorter than they are becuase their bums are so big they cant stand straight against the wall". Obviously you lean back slightly to rest your shoulders on the wall to be measured and that shortens you.

My doc doesnt really have any "rules". However, the doc I see at my surgeon's practice was also our Olympic Team doc last year, and he works with lots of athletes and is also the Hawthorn team doctor. He agrees entirely with my carb based diet. My surgeon is not a high protein fan either. Neither of them care much whether I prefer to eat 3 meals or 5 small meals.

I still surprise myself sometimes when I see my reflection. I'm sure i dont really see myself the way i really look. I still see the fat me, but ironically, when I WAS fat I never saw just how big I really was. I've been well past my original goal for about 18 months. I feel pretty good - but its not like I have this perfect body that I just love and never feel anxious over. I dont have "excess" skin to the point others have, I was very lucky, but if it werent for some leftover flab, I could have the perfect flat smooth stomach and dimple free thighs, I'd need a lower body lift for that. Dressed though, you could never tell, I'm just a bit "loose" and feel a bit exposed in a bathing suit. I'll never strut down a beach feeling totally confident. I still have problem areas. At the most, I will get my boobs fixed up, they're just sad sad sad and I'm going to remove the saddlebags I still have with some lipo. I would have a smoother contour without them and its an easy process. But woudl I resort to a lower body lift to be "perfect"? No, because I think even then I wouldnt feel perfect. I'm so happy though. I love being able to wear pretty much what I want. Other problems arise, lol. You know how many larger women complain that they cant find boots to fit their calves. Well, when I wear boots, I look like I'm playing dress ups in my mother's clothes. Boots are HUGE on me. As for how people treat me, well, I've had more nasty comments and snubs for being thin than I ever did for being fat - because I was blend in with the crowd fat. I wasnt huge, I had a BMI of 36, like so many people out there. I was no threat to anyone.

Well, I've always been somewhat athletic. I did used to run quite regularly at around age 18-20, and I've always liked exercise. I started up again about 3 months after surgery and just started out slowly. I found having fun runs to train for really motivated me to push to run that bit further.

I believe an emphatic NO. But I think it depends on how you ate beforehand. I had a fairly healthy base diet, my meals were always good. I didnt eat McDonalds and KFC, i would never have DREAMED of getting my Breakfast from a drive through and I found greasy foods like pizza pretty disgusting. BUT - I ate big meals and I ate a lot of other rubbish in between meals. I ate way too many Cookies, cakes, muffins, cappucinos, I had a couple of glasses of wine at night, I was always in for an ice cream or a block of chocolate in front of the telly after dinner. I easily got through 3000 calories a day. Since being banded, my basic meals are exactly as they were before, just about half the size (but that's because I ate healthy meals and new how to cook for and keep my family healthy). And I dont eat the rubbish in between. I might have a glass of wine at night 2 or 3 times a week and we'd get chocolate or ice cream after dinner maybe once a month instead of 3 times a week. So I dont feel as if I'm dieting. I also dont indulge in dieting behaviour such as calorie counting, food journalling, Protein obsessing or anything like that. I dont report in to a nutritionist, my surgeon doesnt act like the diet police, none of it. But to someone else, what I eat in a day and what routines I follow might be a "diet". Particularly since I cook, dont use convenience foods, buy organic etc. However, that said, I think I would have lost weight, but not as much as I have if I hadnt also taken up running. Running for up to an hour a day is a MAJOR part of my success. That's all in your perception too. To me, its an enjoyable part of my life, I love love love my running. To someone else it would be a daily hour of torturous pain. I just choose to look upon healthy habits as something I want to do for myself, and as something that's part of my life, not as a "diet and exercise regime".