Jachut

Sounds like you're doing everything right. Keep doing it and eventually the weight will move. plateaus are a part of it, they are going to happen and a pound a week is a good healthy rate. This thing just takes a lot of patience. Interval training really gets weight moving for me, but its awful. Bursts of really hard activity with recovery periods, but I feel exhausted and to the point of puking afterwards. But doing that 2 or 3 of my 5 workouts really works for me.

I am committed to it and I love it, but not addicted. I spend about an hour, maybe an hour and a half on long run days, most days. That's it. The only reason I feel anxious if I miss a few days is becuase I dont want to get out of the habit. The more days you miss, the harder it is to get back into it, I've worked really hard and dont want to lose fitness etc etc. Not becuase I *need* it for any other reason than it makes me feel healthy.

Well done! There'll be no stopping you now, lol.

Have a look at www.cardiocoach.com. I use these for running outside, but they really do work best for ellipticals and bikes because you have more control over incline and resistance rather than just running faster like I do. I use it for my treadmill too,. love love love cardio coach, its so much fun!

pbing has NEVER been open and plop for me, its much more like your carrot episode, thank god it doesnt happen to me often. Although as time has gone by, I've learned to relax and let it happen and not fight it which means I can usually have it over and done with more quickly - I used to spend up to an hour waiting for relief. But its still not horrid, scary and awful like vomiting is. I will do ANYTHING to avoid vomiting. Thankfully, I havent actually chucked in about six or seven years, we seem to have passed that stage of the kids bringing home horrible gastro bugs.

Yes, its positive affirmation time isnt it? I've never been one for therapy and all that stuff. I just woudlnt do it. I dont feel I need it, and I dont feel there's a reason for every negative behaviour I practice. But I'm positive part of my success has been due to the fact that for an hour a day, I'm loving my body. I'm thinking about what it can do, how it is feeling, NOT how it looks. Whilst the battle to get your body to look the way you want is endless, you can get it to DO what you want with running (or any other sport you love). Its a matter of put in the work, put in the practice, you will get there. You have to start small, take baby steps, but it happens in the end. But you must have that love for it. It was always there in me to do this, so perhaps running was right for ME, but maybe not for someone else. I dont know how you GET the love for exercise. For me it was sometihng that my weight held me back from but something I wanted to do. Not something I had to fight.

Yeah, that's how I do it. initially I started doing that becuase basically I loathe standing around lifting weights. Its so boring. So I did it circuit style instead. Then I started googling it and really reading what circuit training can do for you. I also resent any non aerobic time as my main focus is running and much as I appreicate how necessary strength training is, I felt it was taking me away from what I really needed - fat burning aerobic cardio. So this way keeps it aerobic (in fact VERY challenging) and builds the muscle I need too. And it has improved my running a LOT.

It took me six months to start to get into it, to really not have to dig deep to find the willpower to get out and run. I always liked it becuase of the huge achievement of acctually doing it and in my imagination, that was my goal. It wasnt to be thin, it was to be a runner. I was lucky I had memories of what a runners high feels like and i knew how absolutely exhilarating it would feel to run freely, without lugging the weight of a ten year old on my back. But for a long time, it hurt, it was hard, it was embarrassing and the lure of the warm couch and TV was strong. I just figured this time was it, how bad did I want this? It was important to me. also, I really find it weird that people would rather eat less and stay on a stricter diet than exercise. To me, exercise is not something you have to be doing all the time, it takes 40 minutes and its over and I told myself if I didnt have the willpower to do something for 40 minutes, then I might as well give up and stay fat. Having the willpower to stick to a diet is WAY harder! Now, I simply love it. It is as necessary to my body as food, love, shelter. Its jsut somethign I do every day at one level and its also extraordinarily challenging on another, the lure of that half marathon, imagining the feeling of actually completing it, being in the crowd, being "normal", no better than normal because most people are home in bed too lazy to ever do a half marathon. Its just not difficult for me, its such a rewarding, worthwhile activity. The self esteem it gives you is amazing.

Well, you've lost a good amount of weight, you must be feeling great about that! Well done! But you dont sound like you've had a lot of aftercare - youv'e been banded a long time and are wondering about why you can eat some things one day and then not the next etc? This is entirely normal, most people experience it to one degree or another. also, if you ahvent had a fill since Jan 08 and are having trouble losing and regaining the same weight, have you thought about another fill? Have you not been back to your doctor in all that time? what about Water based exercise - swimming, water aerobics, water running? Or circuit training (such as curves or in a regular gym) which doesnt require weight bearing and pounding on your knee? Regular aerobic and strength training really improves the results you'll get with your band. Can you tolerate walking?

Everyone's made great points above. I'm past the three year point now and I still eat too fast at times. I find some things have changed - my natural rate of eating is much slower without me thinking about it. I naturally dont tend to want to sorts of foods that will cause me problems, over time, my desire for things like bread has decreased. I do chew more without having to really think about it too. But still, if I'm hungry or really looking forward to eating something in parricular, I have to be VERY careful not to gulp it. Nothing more frustrating than sitting down to a nice meal you've taken ages to cook and getting stuck on the first bite!

The elliptical is famous for causing this, its just one of those things. Its one reason why I used to prefer the treadmill.

This is what really gets to me, this feeling that by having the surgery you've robbed someone else to have theirs. I hate that attitude, hate it. There was a thread the other day about this, someone complaining about her boss (sorry "someone" if you're reading). It was such a mean spirited post, like eveyone wants to hog all the weight loss just for themselves because they deserve it more. Its so darn stupid, thinking this way. Everyone's journey is individual and has nothign to do with anyone else.

Any loose skin will look better if its covering nice toned muscles. It might contract a bit as time goes by too. But there is nothing you can do really to prevent or get rid of loose skin.

Ack, that dont do cardio because it will waste your muscle myth really annoys me. Weight training is something I have only taken up at goal, primarily to train specific running muscles to avoid injury - weak glutes lead to knee injuries etc. I lost ALL my weight with long cardio sessions and I have lots of muscle - I have legs like steel and I have even developed really nice arm and shoulder definition through the upper body motion, not to mention I can do amazing strength tricks with my abdominal muscles. The cardio wasting muscle thing is another of those half truths that has grown from taking professional body building advice and applying it to mere mortals. If you're trying to build huge muscle to win a Mr Universde competition, then you dont do lots of cardio because it is counterproductive to that kind of muscle growth. You also eat HEAPS of Protein because you need it for the growth. Most body builders int heir building phase are kind of fat because of lack of cardio and huge calorie intake. Then before their competition they go on high protein low carb starvation diets to strip the fat. That's how they get that cut look. For us normal people, cardio burns fat, it doesnt waste your muscle away, it maintains it, and you dont need 7000 grams of protein after a workout, just a little of something with a carb/protein mix (like a glass of milk) will do. Likewise, on a typical lap band diet you're unlikely to gain pounds and pounds of muscle because you simply dont eat enough to do so, plus you're a woman. To maintain your body's muscle is an awesome goal and you already have nice muscles in there, you just need to lose the fat covering them. Again, like with diet, moderation seems to be key. Do a bit of both but dont be afraid of either, cardio wont waste your muscle and weight training wont turn you into Arnie. Keep up the great work everyone!

I've been a busy girl, faithfully working away at my circuits and interval stuff. Mr Jachut has been off his feet due to a HUGE blister from new shoes - sounds so pathetic and wimpy and honestly if it was going to happen to anyone, it would be HIM, but it was really really bad, lol. I'm just worried that I'm not doing a lot of just running, there's just not enough days in the week to fit in everything, what with trying to get faster, trying to get stronger and trying to support DH, there's no time for longer runs. Will I ever RUN a half marathon at this rate? When I started this circuit and interval stuff though, I told myself it was a 12 week plan, to build certain elements of my fitness before I began to run longer, hopefully avoiding injury as a result. So I shall remain faithfull to it for now - and weightwise, it works very well!

Totally, and I wouldnt change a thing.

I did one today that looked a bit like ET....

Yeah, let me rephrase perhaps. Its not weird to notice and appreciate Kate's natural squishiness, lol. Its rather weird to go on about it on national television.

me too. Its sooo tempting to think you're going to lose tons and tons of weight, but it rarely happens that way. If you get the unfill, let things settle, you will more than likely be able to handle this level of fill again soon. 2.7 in my band is GREAT for me now, six months ago it was really uncomfortably tight so I had .2 removed. I got REALLY hungry, lol and got two .1 fills after about four or five months, a month apart and 2.7 is now a great level. Totally different. There is rarely anythng to be gained by remaining too tight.

Thanks Lucy and good luck!

had about 9 to 100lb to lose and I think I'd lost about 35 before anyone really noticed. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. It also took about that much to even go down a dress size. Hang in there, sooner or later you'll really begin to see it.

What's your regular diet like? do you eat plenty of fruit and vegetables and a good source of fibre like oatmeal on a regular basis? Ideally, you really should eat two different fruits and about five different veg in a day. Try a few prunes, or some prune juice. And then make sure you get those foods you need in daily, plenty of Water and exercise, should keep you regular.

Lol, interesting. DH and I were given a whole set of Midsomer Murders on DVD, which is a British detective series, we're a bit hooked on those and have about 200 Taggart DVD's, so we're onto something new. We've always giggled at the people on the shows. Made jokes about how unattractive the English are. Why? Because we're so exposed to the Hollywood view of beauty, that to see completely normal looking people on TV, people without blinding white teeth, enormous plastic tits, bits of fat sucked from every slightly curvy part of their body, huge hair and incredible makeup, looks really WEIRD. Yet people still look pretty much normal in Australia and older women with obvious face lifts and work done are really seen as a bit tragic, definitely stereotyped as bored, rich and unfulfilled. You dont see fake boobs all over the place and IRL I dont know anyone who's had a face lift. Yet its so pervasive isnt it? That for a star to have real breasts is quite comment-worthy. Has anyone seen that cartoon about what Hollywood would do to the Mona Lisa? Its freaking hilarious because its so tragically true. I dont think it was weird for her to comment either. In my view Kate Winslet is SO much more gorgeous than so many other fake looking starlets and her naturalness is quite refreshing.

As you get fitter, its not hard. I'd easily burn 700 to 800 calories quite a few days of the week with a 6 mile (10km) run that takes about an hour. Other days, a good hard circuit for an hour would burn 400 easily. Your weights, rather than being done standing there with standard sets of 12 reps, can be done as a circuit, fast and hard, with no rest between exercises. Do 40 squats with a barbell for example and immediately drop to 40 pushups (giving the leg muscles a rest while you work another group), then jump up and lunge walk aroudn the room, followed by something else, and intersperse it all with running on a treadmill or gettingo n an elliptical for a few minutes at a time, keep your heart rate high and you will burn MEGA calories.

My mum behaved as I'd expected - with shock, alarm and negativity. It annoyed me to be honest, she's my mum and I love her but boy she can be dumb at times. Like how many freaking times do I have to diet to prove that it doesnt work. And she'd say something like "go to Weight Watchers, it always works for me". To which I simply couldnt resist saying "mum, if it worked, you'd have only been once". She didnt speak to me for a week after that, lol. Not that my mother has a weight problem, she's only ever had to tackled 10lb or so. In the end, what made it clear for her was when I said that I was doing it to fix my ankle problem (true). And that if I were having surgery on my ANKLE then nobody would be panicking over a general anaesthetic, would they? Why everyone things a general is dangerous for lapband surgery but not for ankle surgery is beyond me, but that's how everyone around me thought. It would have been the same for cosmetic surgery "oh, but you could DIE under anaesthetic" but nobody ever questioned my decision to have my wisdom teeth out, my heel spurs removed, even my caesarean and THAT involved not only my life but my daughter's too. I explained I was having surgery to FIX something and that was all there was to it. After that I had everyone's support, despite their misgivings. However, now my mum cant understand why I dont have it removed, you know, after I've learned all new habits. Oh boy. Lol.