Jachut

Also, I try to do a few really vigorous sessions a week and a few easier ones. If I'm just doing a nice steady pace run, I can go in the morning before I start my day and get it out of the way - it wakes me up, energises me and puts me on a high. However, if I'm going to do an interval session which usually results in a pounding beet red face, a heart rate of about 190 and real exhaustion, I plan that for late afternoon. I simply dont make it through my day very well if I've worked that hard, so I do it when I can relax after! I get the true runners high from this, a real feeling of euphoria but by about 3 pm I feel like I'm walking through waist deep Water I'm so tired.

The energy doesnt come till later, when you're fit. At first it does exhaust you. Its hard to get through. I dont really know what to tell you except stick at it. It took me six months of solid work to really begin to like it and now I really and truly love to exercise.

Well, like I said it was very much a cosmetic procedure to me too. And like most cosmetic procedures it has improved my life enormously, made great impact on my self esteem and mental health, given me an optimistic and enthusiastic outlook AND improved my physical health and quality of life for years to come!

Almost four years out here and I'm LOVING mine still. I've never had a moment's trouble with it, it works as it should. There's a few factors. I have excellent medical support. I attend Prof. O'Brien's clinic so I do believe I see doctors who truly know what they are doing. I do think there's loads of doctors out there that are still learning themselves. Also, the band requires quite a bit of behaviour modification. This is no moral judgement but many people for whom the band doesnt work simply arent able to adjust to banded life, even in very subtle ways and they cause themselves problems. Like I said, that is not a moral judgement, those are people sicker than I was, who perhaps would have benefitted from a different surgery. Then there's people for whom it just doesnt work, they have horrible problems, find the pain, reflux and inability to eat impossible to live with. That I see as twofold - people have physiological problems which mean a band is not that good for them - their stomachs or their esophagus or whatever, they just get awful symptoms, they're too sensitive to fills so they go from being over to under filled etc. And also sometimes I think their doctors do stuff like overagressive filling, thinking that fluouro means that you can take a fill right to the perfect point immediately which I think is rubbish - small and steady works better. But some people just will never tolerate a band. Bands work really well when they work but they're more problematic than I think we're lead to believe. Nonetheless, I got a dream ride and wouldnt change my decision for anything. I dont eat "normally" in the sense that I dont eat like I used to but it certainly doenst hinder a normal lifestyle - family, friends, eating out etc. Not for me anyway.

I've never been 70kg as an adult, I always hovered around 78-79kg before I got really fat. My healthy weight range is 63-79kgs, you can find healthy weight charts in a million places, in every calorie counter you buy for example. I knew that at 79kg I never felt thin. I was chunky, definitely not able to wear what I wanted and at that weight (which is about 180lb or so) and 5ft 10, I was definitely sized out of regular clothing at an Australian 16 (American 14 or so), I had to buy fat old nanna clothes and I loathed it. And I just knew, going by the covering of fat I had, that it was still overweight for me. So I set 70kg as a goal. My surgeon never asked but the nutritionist I saw for one visit did. She told me it was overambitious and not likely to happen. I ignored her, her nutrition advice was pretty generic and crap too. Having gotten to this weight, i can see I am not "a big girl" or "big boned" like people always used to say about me as a child and teen. I was never obese but always hefty. I am actually quite fine boned and lightly muscled and I am not meant to be at the heavy end of my weight range. My weight at the moment is just fine, but I could easily be 10lb lighter and not be too thin. Yet 5ft 10 and 145lb or so on here seems to cause screams of "you'll be scrawny, it'll look horrible". Its a moot point anyway since I dont seem to be able to move from 154.

Lol, I hate to say it but I've stuck with budget jeans that I know fit me. No matter how expensive a pair of jeans is, if they dont fit well, they wont look good. I'm pear shaped and at 5ft 10 and an Aussie size 12 (us 8-10), I guess even though thin, I'm still quite large. I have a few brands of jeans that fit me really well and miracles of miracles have enough leg length to allow heels, so i dont stray from what I know fits well. And to be honest, I just am not that interested in spending over $100 for a pair of jeans when I believe I can get the same thing for $60 or under. But I am intrigued, some of the ones Oprah has plugged for example, I'd certainly like to try.......

Hmmmmm, I waver between saying great and horrible! I've had 3 pregnancies, one of which was a caesarean. I have no overhang at all, I've been incredibly lucky - pregnancy didnt leave me with stretch marks, my caesar didnt destroy my stomach and I never got over a BMI of 36, nor did I have a big stomach when I was fat. So its survived. However, my stomach still does bother me. Its loose. Its better than so many women's stomachs, I know, but its still not the perfect stomach I would want yet its kind of not bad enough to justify the risks and expenses of a tummy tuck. I almost wish it WERE worse just so I'd feel justified in doing something about it. As it is I would feel as if I were misappropriating my family's money for pure vanity. So, meh, my skin is OK. I still have cellulite and a saggy bum, and my stomach is loose. I will never have the perfect body I desire. But I have problems that can be hidden (and who ever feels GREAT and looks truly GREAT in a swimsuit anyway?).

Sounds like gas to me too. I often like in bed and night and feel this. When I lie down flat, it seems to set off an incredible amount of gas activity that thankfully doesnt need to come out! I actually just lie there and enjoy it, reminiscing about my babies kicking me and if I lay my hand on my tummy, I can feel it too. You're right, it feels EXACTLY like a baby.

When I run on the treadmill, I usually am doing either Cardio Coach or Treadmill Trainer - if you google those, they're great MP3 interval programs that guide you through and make the workout FLY - and they get you super duper duper fit without it feeling like terribly hard work. Outside, I regularly change it round, but one thing I did run to recently that was really really funny was the Best of ACDC. Lol, the fast tempo had me running at about 20km an hour, by the time I got home I was in a lather of sweat and ready to have a heart attack. Doug just said "shit, what happened to YOU"? I had the whole adrenaline thing going, he reckons my pupils were fully dilated! Most of the music I like to run to is Aussie pub rock stuff, so I'm not much help in that regard.

Is there any way of determining whether this a problem you would have had anyway or has the band caused it? I dont even take a panadol when I have a headache most of the time, so I'd be refusing to take medication like that too. I dont want to be on ANY regular medication, particularly not one with horrible side effects like that. But if this is something that is not caused by the band then I'd imagine at some point in time, you're going to have to seriously consider an effective treatment. First thing to try is as you say, empty the band. Hopefully this will bring you relief without actual band removal.

Like KelinTx I made it through more than a year and since then I can remember every pb, so there hasnt been more than seven or eight in the two and half years since my first one. As you have been banded longer and suffered a pb or two, you learn to recognise early warning signals and you learn to STOP trying to ignore it and eat. If you must stop, you must stop or the inevitable will occur. I find for me its the timing between bites that matters most, bigger bites cause problems, yes but as long as I dont shove more food down on top, I'm usually fine. Eating slowly is key. Stopping at the first sign of trouble and waiting till it passes is also important. This can be very difficult becuase if you're eating with others it feels strange to simply stop a bite or two into your meal, but you cant even fill it in with a sip of wine or anything, lol, you simply must wait. Also, you get better at it. My first pb was an hour long agony of sliming and fighting it, so was my second. Nowadays I think " ooh, that's not right" and quietly go and get rid of it, I dont have to sit and wait through the entire process, it sounds like some sort of eating disorder, I know, but I have the muscle control to simply expel the item, as its not sitting properly in the first place. I cant just randomly barf up that chocolate bar I shouldnt have eaten though, the item has to be stuck and causing slime. Oh, who would have thought we would enjoy such disgusting discussions, lol?

Like the rest of your body the biggest visual change will come from simple fat reduction. Many women first notice upper body definition as a result of weight loss, its the first place it becomes obvious. So good eating and loads of cardio to shift the fat are your first line of defence. Light dumbell toning exercises (high reps, lowish weight) will tone and maintain lean muscle. However, if you have significant loose skin (bat wings) then actually building some muscle will help to fill it out - only marginally though, women dont tend to gain lots of muscle no matter what they do. But if building muscle is what you want then you need to change the focus to heavy weight and low reps. Stuff like drawing up a chair, or backing up to a waist high rail (like a fence) putting your feet out in front of you and doing dips. Go RIGHT DOWN into the dip and have your legs as far away from you as you can handle, so that you work the muscle to failure within a couple of reps. You can adjust difficulty by making it easy (knees bent, feet right in front of you, legs taking weight) to super difficult) legs straight out in front of you, unbent knees, all weight taken through the arms. Work the muscle to the point where it fails a couple of times a week - if you can do 12 reps, its time to make it harder. Do the same with push ups to attack the arms from different angles. And arms always look nice with a little bit of shoulder definition which you can achieve with side lateral dumbell raises, heavy heavy dumbells, so you can only do a few reps. It depends what your goal is and how you want to look. But some loose skin unfortunately is a result of weight loss and only surgery can remove it.

Like was said in the other thread, its almost impossible to judge restriction by liquids. You could drink 4 Protein shakes and not feel satisfied for long, but half a cup of solid food could do the trick. Give it at least a week to see. I had a fill the other day myself, thought "yes, this is the restriction I wanted back" and a day or two later am thinking "darn, I might have to go back in for .1 cc more (4 cc band, got 2.9 cc in it, so very tiny fills). But its better than having had to go back in to be unfilled! However I'll give it a couple fo weeks because they do take time to "settle" and give you some idea of what the fill has achieved.

Oh, I defintely believe exercise is key. Start where you can and build up to varied, intense workouts on an almost daily basis. Stuff like interval training is very effective. I do lots of circuit style or biggest loser style workouts, you know where you see them almost killing themselves with pushups and the like, I love interval running sessions and reward myself with a nice relaxing slower 10K run on Sundays! I'm really passionate about it. But I did have to start out slow and build up to it! I also believe my non diet approach kept me more on the straight and narrow than an endless cycle of being on the diet/off the diet. The band took away my fear of those foods and suddenly,when I knew I could have them, after a few overindulgences, you realise you dont need to scarf it down every time, that you can have it whenever you want.

I had some minor issues like a bad ankle that were my final straw that led me to being banded. I realised I had almost exhausted the protection of being young and female (in terms of heart disease risk and the like) by 37 too. I wasnt getting any younger and I would have bet my biological age was more like 50. I was concerned with preventing future health problems and improving my quality of life. But 70% of it was I was miserable about my appearance at a BMI of 36. I was enormous, bloated and I felt disgusting. I couldnt dress how I wanted, I always looked like a slob no matter what I did. I wanted to look and feel better about myself. So what? That may make it "plastic surgery" to some degree and I'm fine by that. I find it funny how its acceptable to have silicone bags put in your chest, because people recognise that mental health, self image and the like are an important part of our overall health and if it helps those, its beneficial. Yet somehow having a lapand is ever so much more dangerous (how? its a short quick surgery without the problems of encapsulation, hardening, wound breakdown, leakage etc that plastic surgery can entail) and should not be undertaken "lightly". I believe its both a health promoting surgery and a fantastic surgery that improves how you look a millionfold and that BOTH reasons are equally valid.

A protein shake wouldnt satisfy me even for 10 minutes, I'd still want food. And I've had sufficient restriction to lose all my excess weight. That is no real measure. Wait till you're eating again.

I think this is pretty universal. I can eat in the mornings but its harder than at night, I dont really fancy much and really only make myself do it becuase otherwise i will be looking at muffins at 11 am. Yogurt, oatmeal, smoothies, very occasionally muesli if I feel like tackling it and rather than toast, i do like a crispbread or two with Peanut Butter and honey - the crisp texture is OK for me. I look at eggs, or bacon and stuff like that and they make me feel sick. Plus I'm indoctrinated into the fact that such a breakfast is fattening and unhealthy, whilst overly processed grain cereals are not, lol. I know that's rubbish but its too ingrained in my head.

How many times have patients insisted on bigger fills only to end up back in the office the next day with egg all over their face (literally). Good restriction is probably best approached gradually, snuck up on. Having a big fill, geting overfilled and then having an unfill often seems to start a cycle that prevents you from ever reaching the restriction you desire and you can damage your band in the process. Two weeks isnt long to wait. The trouble is that it costs you guys so much money to have fills! Its bulk billed here so costs me nothing and my surgeon is a few suburbs away so I was quite happy to go in every few weeks. But even so, its best to be patient and cautious.

I just had a .1cc fill to take me back to a more comfortable level where I wasnt looking for food an hour after a meal - even though I'm maintaining and have been for 18 months. Today I had: Breakfast - 2 slices of low fat cheese lunch: - 2 Ryvita crispbreads (wholegrain) with mashed chickpeas, sliced tomato and a small sprinkle of grated cheese, grilled. Afternoon snack: a yogurt, half a 30 g packet of sultanas dinner - shepherd's pie - left over roast lamb and vegies in a gravy topped with mashed potato - about a 3/4 cup serve. Glass of red wine. Later: a small snack pack of tinned fruit.

Im passionate about not just exercising but really putting in superhuman effort when you do it - it has incredible results. Yet its weird because exercise on its own does little to strip weight - you cant outtrain a bad diet no matter what you do. Many fat people cross the finish lines when you watch an average marathon. But absolutely, if you dont exercise you'll probably get half the result you would have and you'll struggle to keep the weight away. I find as long as I continue to run and strength train, I have maintained effortlessly pretty much eating whatever I want. With a loose band.

Yet there's credible evidence that the band works much much better for lighter patients than it does for heavier. If anyone is going to lose 100% of their excess weight, which MANY have done, then it is more likely to be a patient who had a lower BMI in the first place. So so many reasons for this. Ability to exercise for starters. Less obstacles to overcome, sometimes less headwork to do when you havent endured years of huge obesity and your eating habits havent declined to the same point. Easier ability to find good restriction and experience less problems when you dont have the same amount of fat around your internal organs in the first place. Also, anyone who's been fat probably believes their body has a set point that it likes to stay at - I know that amazingly, I plateaued out at every weight that I'd held for a long time on the way up, it was freakish. Personally I believe that once you have predisoposed your body to fatness it will be a lifelong struggle, and better that you're fighting a 50lb weight problem than a 150lb one. In fact its been discussed on here many times that the more you have to lose, the less likely it is that you will lose it ALL. I went for a fill the other day and there was posters up (Prof. O'Brien's clinic) about a study being undertaken on lower BMI patients for exactly this reason - to confirm what is generally believed on this topic. In Australia, given the right history, you can be banded at a BMI of 30 and you dont have to go out of the country or go self pay or anything, our medical system will cover it. As a lower BMI patient myself, I couldnt encourage more strongly that WLS surgery is a sensible and effective option before you get morbidly obese and ill. So much better to get this in control before you face the issues of serious obesity. So much easier.

Well, that's what I mean ladies - you find alternatives. Lots of people dont. They just give up. I never mentioned anyone having to run, lol. Some people may even have to redefine success, and certainly people develop mental resilience and persistence on this journey and achieve things they never had the motivation for before. But some people just refuse to face the fact that the head work has to be done.

Just remember too that those who are exercise are not morally superior! Its just one of those things, something clicked for me and I happen to love running. Not so much that I would get up at 4.30 am though, no way. I got out at 7 am a few days this week and was mighty proud of that! If you dont love it and you do it anyway, well personally I reckon you've got more grit in you than I do.

For me personally, I never went on this to be on a diet for the rest of my life. I dont even schedule things like this to once a week or whatever, if I want something, like really want it, not just a passing thought, I will have it. Sometimes, I go through a few days of eating total crap and I just go with it, knowing I will get back on track. I keep my exercise constant throughout and dont connect it with food, like if I've been "bad" I dont skip the workout too. Its individual though, many people love the routine and strictness of a diet and it makes them feel in control. Personally, however, I think this avoids the important skill of learning to integrate ALL foods that you face in day to day life into your lifestyle. You need to be able to go on holidays, face a birthday in the office, run out of food in the house and have to order a take away dinner etc without it being a fall off the wagon. Its just life. Thin people eat those foods too, they're not living their lives counting, weighing, measuring and journalling. That's just my take on it but my experience was I started acting normal and lo and behold,my weight became normal. Well, normal if you count running an hour a day normal, lol.

The thing is with every molecule of carbohydrate your body stores, it also stores a couple of molecules of Water - 2 or 3, I cant remember. So when you low carb you lose spectacular weight, much of which is only water, as your body becomes depleted of carbs. And when you eat carbs, back comes the water weight. It doesnt mean you've not lost great portions of fat too of course, just that you tend to get this swing in weight thing going on because you are affecting your body's water stores. You havent gained 3lb of fat overnight.