Jachut

Well, I dont live in America, lol but here, they're with the nuts in the supermarket and I buy them from either the meat wholesaler or the fruit and veg wholesaler we shop at.

Oh, if you're going to do it, you may as well get the best possible result, I agree. I wouldnt live with a really visible problem either, I think you've worked too hard to have to live with only half the result you wanted. As you can see from my avatar pic, for myself I'm talking about obsessing tiny details, not overhanging stomachs. I can also report I've just tried on some new bras and my boobies have shrunk to C cups! Eeek. The PS told me that if I have a lift I have enough excess skin that I would probably lose almost a cup size. Hmmmm, C is great, I dont yearn for bounteous bosoms. But I'm not sure I'd want to be a B at 5ft 10. But I'm totally ambivalent about implants, really really not sure about that. I envy people who are brave enough to do it!

I agree, my diet is more high fat than it ever was, but its good healthy fat. One of my major beefs (scuse the pun, lol) with high Protein is that people immediately ingest way too many animal products - red meat, cheese, eggs, and with it comes loads and loads of saturated fat, which is not good for anyone. If you do high protien, you have to be very careful to choose your protein sources wisely - fish, nuts etc have healthier fats that actually do good things for your body. Otherwise you might find yourself a nice skinny heart attack waiting to happen. I read the what did you eat today threads and its cheese, deli meat, eggs, cheese, deli meat, eggs. Yuck, that's diabolical. There is no way that's healthy. A piece of salmon and a salad - that's different. You wont find any argumement from me that that's a better choice than pasta!

ARGH, its awful isnt it. I did my circuit workout this morning standing directly under an airconditioning vent in the loungeroom, and I had two fans pointed directly at the treadmill. And I was still sweating buckets. But I dont mind the heat NEARLY as much as I used to. Being normal weight really does make a difference, you dont get so hot, you dont get chafing rashes, you can wear hardly anything and not make people vomit. Next summer, you wont mind it a bit!

Well, the Cosby Show hasnt been on here for decades, but I dont remember her fat in the first place. They're giving me the sh&ts here too - they've recruited Magda Szubanski (she was the farmer's wife in Babe), who IS rather large. But she's been mouthing off all over the news and radio about how much weight she's going to lose and how she didnt choose banding because she "wanted to learn to eat properly". Numbskull. Tell me how great Jenny Craig is WHEN you've lost weight and WHEN you've kept it off.

Knee problems often result form muscle imbalanced in the hips or feet, not from knees "bowing weird". What weight does is increase the shock force that travels through your leg and the friction in your hip, ankle and knee joints, which is why being heavy can result in knee pain. If you have a huge stomach, you may be sway backed, which alters how you use your hip and buttock muscles to stabilise your pelvis - muscles can get tight, weak or overdeveloped = knee problems. Have you ever seen someone with legs so big they kind of have to swing one thigh round the other? That's another example. Its less to do with your actual weight and more to do with your own personal biomechanics. I've never ever had knee problems, I've been very lucky. But my right heel/ankle is problematic, due to a collapsed arch (pregnancy, sigh).

I know Sam. I'm thin and I didnt get hanging skin that you can see through clothes, but sheesh my bum and thighs are saggy. But even the THOUGHT of that lower body lift, I just dont think I could do it unless i was really terribly afflicted with metres of excess skin. Its huge and it would rely enormously on the support of others - DH having time off work and WHEN on earth would I have the time to recover? its about a lot more than just the money isnt it? On a positive note, I was desperate about getting my breasts lifted. They've shrunk so much in the last six months taht I dont think I'll bother. They are now very easily covered and disgused by even a good bikini top. I'm actually thinking that a lot of the "sag" I see on my lower half really might still be excess fat. I'm in the middle of my healthy weight range and I think that I'm naturally more built to be at the bottom of it. I've plain got too much fat. I've been working extremely hard to actually build muscle in the area, who knows, maybe it will pay off? But I suspect if 3 years of running hasnt given me a great arse, nothing will. Sorry to hijack your thread Lellow!,

Yep, unfill. You will become seriously depleted on such an inadequate intake and it will probably affect your weight loss too. You wont recover properly after exercise, meaning you wont build and maintain muscle.

I'm the complete opposite. After a hard run, its hours before I can eat again. Its the one time I think protein shakes are worthy foods.

There's nothing I really *cant* eat. Everythign will go down with enough work. But boy, sometimes I jsut want to EAT, you know? Like not have to chew, not have to take it slow, I want a big serve of something I love and I just want to eat it with complete abandon. Especially when someone else is feeding you, and you have trouble with what it is they've served. We ate at Mum and Dad's before a movie the other day and Mum made huge chicken and salad sandwiches. I dont particularly like sandwiches anyway, but it was like trying to eat a house brick! That feeling doesnt strike me all that often though, and its a small price to pay for how I look and feel these days.

I wasnt that big a fast food eater - having a family to feed, I always was somewhat mindful of a healthy diet. We did have periods where we ate WAY too much takeaway though - namely pizza, fish and chips, Chinese. I've always been a bit phobic of other types of fast food - I havent eaten KFC for probably 25 years, ick. I loathe Subway (such awful crappy bread), I'm not huge on any of that food really. So no, I dont miss it at all. Most of my fast food eating was not for actual meals, it was eating in food courts - muffins, cakes with cups of coffee. I dont really miss it because those foods HURT to eat so I've naturally lost my taste for them. Nonetheless, you do end up in McDonalds every now adn again and yes, its quite difficult. I can eat the nuggets or I can eat a small fries, and i'd get a coffee, while everyone else ate a full meal, easy solved. Very occasionally, I'll get a yearning for a Hungry Jacks (Burger King) double bacon deluxe, the only fast food burger I really like. I buy one, take off the bread and take it home to eat with a knife and fork. That's maybe once or twice a year.

Yeah, the littler mine get, the better they're looking. I still need a lift for them to look good naked, lol, but they're looking MUCH better these days - I even wore a singlet with a shelf bra the other day with NO bra on (only at home, lol). It was 110 degrees, too hot for any unnecessary clothes.

The post op liquid phase is NOTHING like the pre op one, dont worry. Its much much easier for many people. Its liquid, yes, but its not so strict - I mean a liquid is anytihng that goes up a straw. So you dont blend Mars Bars, lol, but you can have proper soup, things like meat, veges and lentils, blended up and that is much more satisfying than what you have to do pre op.

Wasabi peas are a good source of protein (and fibre) I have a bag here that says 13 grams per serve. I love them, they satisfy that nut craving - although I eat nuts, I try to eat them sparingly and not go near them when I crave them - mega calories and fat.

What's your weight doing? If you're still losing steadily, then it does not really matter how MUCH you eat, if it's comfortable and you're choosing healthy and eating at appropriate times. If you eat 3000 calories a day but lose weight on it, then it is not overeating, is it? But that said, when you feel you're beginning to eat more and you want to KEEP the weight coming off at a good rate, its normal and sensible to start thinking about a fill. But you're completely right, with increased restriction, will come more stuck episodes where you have trouble with someting. And with each new fill there is often another food that you have to cross off your list because you just cant eat it anymore. So save the fills for when you really need them. In this way, even though I'd like to be 10 lb lighter, I am already a fairly low weight, and I know that if I get another fill it will be goodbye to the idea of eating any fresh fruit or raw vegies like salads. I have trouble with them as it is. And I dont think that's a worthwile trade off for what isnt even technically "excess weight". it gets more and more like that the more restricted you get.

Good for you!

I've got Cathe's Muscle Max which is a pretty serious workout and I have Jari Love's Ripped to the Core, also for the advanced exerciser. I dont do them very often, I might throw in 2 weeks of either one of them rather than my usual circuit training just to break the routine, but I find weight lifting in the traditional style rather boring. Well, very boring, in fact I loathe it. I'd rather mix it up in a circuit that I just make up, that way no 2 workouts are ever the same. But I learned a lot of exercises from these DVD's. I also have a Treadmoves DVD that is a treadmill workout, which I liked at first but 3 years later, its lame as lame for me, I could do it five times and want more exercise. What I use religiously, either on my treadmill or outside, and continue to find challenging is the Cardio Coach series - MP3 interval cardio workouts. Awesome, and you never get too fit for them.

That's not an injury, that's just muscle soreness from the exertion. Its nothing to worry about. If you practice running faster, eventually it wont tax your body so much. the way to get faster is to do intervals - mix bursts of faster running (like 3/4 of your maximum effort) for a couple of minutes, with a slow, recovery pace. And add some true sprints too - 30 seconds flat out. Over time, this will greatly increase your fitness and its like a strength training workout for you legs. Some of your runs should jsut be slow and enjoyable too though, you shouldnt run fast or do intervals ALL the time. Experienced runners mix it up. A hard interval session can make me stiff and sore and i've been running for 3 years.

Think how great you will feel about yourself if you go into your surgery not having stuffed your face for weeks. By all means, say some goodbyes, but dont overdo it. Think how disgusted with yourself you'll feel if you've overeaten, heck pigged out, and gained weight. Youve made the decision to change your life. Dont put it off.

Caffeine is not banned for me, I have as much as I like. You're 5 weeks out. Its not unusual to not be feeling on top of the world. You've had probably what, 7 weeks, of very restricted diet (including pre op) and your reserves are all depleted and youv'e not yet lost the kind of weight that really makes your body FEEL different. You're also had surgery. Give it time, you will be feeling great in a couple of months, I promise.

OMG - try googling "are solariums healthy?" and see what you get. Its proven beyond doubt, that is why our government is shutting them down. Every tanning salon here carries visible warnings about how sunbeds cause skin cancer and premature aging - its the LAW. You also have to sing a pretty explicit release form to be allowed to use one. You would not find a doctor in this entire country who would condone the use of sunbeds. Light therapy is ONLY used where the benefit outweighs the risk and even then it is only applied to body parts as required, not placing the entire skin at risk (I mean chemotherapy and radiation therapy are not "healthy" either but we use them when the end justifies the means). Babies who have jaundice are NOT put into light the strength of a sunbed - my god can you IMAGINE how a newborn would burn? That light is very very gentle. Sunbeds also damage your eyes. Same as the sun does. This is not a case of making a wacky claim and finding something on the internet to back it up, stuff like this: Causes of skin cancer - SunSmart (Victoria)http://www.cancerinstitute.org.au/cancer_inst/publications/pdfs/2008-01-18_solariums.pdf from credible sources is all over the place. This isnt anything new or unusual, its been known for a very long time. Its as irrefutable as the sky being blue. And light from UV beds doesnt mirror that from the sun, its up to 60 yes SIXTY time stronger. Honestly, I dont have any motivation or desire to score points or argue about this and I dont have any problem with any adult deciding they'd rather look tanned and good and are prepared to take the risk of using a sunbed to achieve that but seriously, you absolutely cannot call sunbeds healthy. Nor is tanning in the sun. Yes, we all do it and I'm not attacking anyone for their choices. But you should know the risk of what you're doing. I really urge you to ask your doctor about this.

I used to get incredibly frustrated when I tried to diet that there'd be so many darn social occasions in my life. Every week, there was some event or another that made me feel either as if I couldnt start my diet yet, or that this week would be a waste of time becuase I had to go to someone's birthday etc. Now, these events are not even blips on the radar. I dont feel compelled to overeat at them, they dont affect my weight one way or another and I've realised that your "diet" is your lifestyle and that you must be able to handle all contingencies. I love that my band has helped me to learn that. I also love eating like a lady and being the last one finished instead of shoving it all down my face like a pig.

The band isnt magic, its what you eat and how you exercise that truly determines what you weigh. I know, we all NEED our bands. But you do have some control over what happens here. All of us have dieted in the past, most of us have had success at one time or another. This is just another of those times where you need to diet. You may not do it perfectly, you may indeed gain a bit of weight. But you CAN contain it. Especially if you keep up your exercise. Good luck.

No, you get skin cancer from tanning. AND from burning. Solariums are SO bad for you (even worse than the sun) tht they will soon be banned in Australia, already people under 18 have been banned from using them and the lamps are having to be made 40% weaker. Your beliefs about tannning are quite dangerously incorrect. And tanning is not only deadly, it will ruin your skin (and your eyes) over time. Moderate sunlight exposure - necessary for our health -and problems are arising from people being TOO sun smart here. But sun beds are not a good substitute, even though they do stimulate vit. d synthesis. By all means, use a sunbed, as an adult its your decision. I've even done it myself for colour for a special occasion. But know how dangerous it really is. It is absolutely not a safe practice. I guess our culture is different here, with such strong sun, but here we have ads that are designed to shock, like the cigarette advertising and drink driving advertising, with horrid pictures of people with scarred skin from having melanomas removed - just from regular sunlight.

I think the 2 year wait is a good idea for other reasons than to see what the skin does though. I know for me, I went through a period where I was obsessing about everything. Take weight out of the equation and my dissatisfication with other things came to the fore, I obsessed over my boobs, over my nasolabial lines, over the dark circles under my eyes, over getting my teeth whitened, heck even over permanent eyeliner? You know what? 18 months down the track, I dont really want ANY of it. It has taken me a long time to come to terms with being normal weight, with not needing to change. I might get a breast lift, I might not. I could certainly use some liposuction on the last residual pockets of fat. But I'm much more interested in paying school fees and buying a new house at the moment. Its not that I wont do these things or that I'm against them, not at all. But I needed a fair while to settle, to really decide on what truly bothers me, what I think NEEDS to be fixed, and to accept that I'm 41 and cant look 25 again. but even the one thing I swore I'd do - a breast lift, I dont feel the need to do now. My boobs have shrunk even more to a nice C cup, and even though they're wrecked, yes, they can now be fitted into even a small bikini top, they're saggy unbound, but dont sag in such clothes, becuase they dont weigh much now, require little support to look OK, etc. I need one to look good naked, but who besides DH and I are going to see me naked anyway? I had to run in an ordinary bra yesterday, both my sports bras were in the wash and WOW, I dont even need a super duper feat of engineering bra to run in now. An ordinary one was fine! All that has changed with NO change in weight. For me, PS wasnt a financial option at this particular point in time. But if it had been I think I would have done a few things I'd now be maybe not regretting but certainly didnt need to waste money on. Waiting has been a good thing for me.