Jachut

Running really helps me. For me, I need action, movement. Things like a long bath are nice to do and relieve tired type stress but arent really effective for the I cant cope with my life stress. The type of stress I usually face is the I've got 100 things to do in 1 hour type stress, my life can get utterly ridiculous at times between a family, a job and full time study and I often find situations arise where I have to be in four places at one time. DH gets cross at me and simply doesnt understand how I can walk away from a bomb site of a house and go running instead of cleaning up. The mess and disorganisation we live with as a result of lack of time causes me stress as well, but I cope with it ALL better as a result of being fitter, centred and having some me time. So no matter what, I endeavour to keep to my exercise schedule. Nonetheless I have periods of weeks (like now) when I simply CANNOT afford the time to spend on an hour's run most days, this week I have handed in five assessment pieces at uni, and have two more to go by Saturday. I just have to do them. But I've still got out once or twice. Emotional stress, everyday stress, anger, etc a good run clears that out for me and music is an important part of it for me too. My music choices may be a bit daggy and old time, lol, but to go for a run listening to something you find uplifting is a really good experience. Of paramount importance for me though is avoiding it in the first place. I'm a pretty disorganised person, when I really make an effort not to be stress levels are much less.

I do an hour five or six days a week - running at about 6mph. Several times a week I'd also get out and walk 6kms with DH, its a nice thing to do early on a nice weekend morning for example, or on a nice evening. Other than that I'm pretty active in my daily life, its easy to fall victim to the "I've exercised so I can do nothing for the rest of the day" trap. You really cant. Overtime your body becomes so efficient at your chosen sport too that whilst people think they'd lose TONS of weight from running almost 10k six times a week (and you do at first), for me its a weight maintenance thing now. I'm maintaining my weight now - although it does enable me to eat quite a bit - I'd have what I'd call is a NORMAL diet now, meaning I'd eat about as much as a normal small woman would eat - about 1800 to 2000 calories a day, although probably somehat less than a normal 5ft 10 154lb woman eats.

I rarely eat it to be honest, I'm a bit lunch meat phobic. To me its a prime example of unhealthy processed food. Nitrates preservatives and such, ick. Some ham gives me asthma from the sulfates. Much of it is high fat and made from lips and assholes (what was that movie?), lol. And it so commonly makes people sick, I think the lysteria hysteria from pregnancy has stuck with me. I really only eat it if its cooked, as a condiment - ie. some salami in a Pasta dish.

Quite simply, there's something wrong. This is not the way being banded is supposed to be. You need to follow this up urgently with a surgeon. I am not in the least bit worried about long term nutrition because my daily menu might look like cereal and fruit for breakfast, a tuna and salad sandwich for lunch (Ok, not ALL of it) and meat and 3 veg for dinner. I eat normal foods in smallish but still normal quantities and i eat from all food groups. There may be foods you cant tolerate, like bread, but you work around that, but you should be able to eat a pretty normal diet. If you cant even eat solids, you might be slipped or there may be some other problem and you need to have this checked out.

Oh, to be a 20 year old boy, lol I didnt lose fast, but I dont think I could have done it without the band. I was and am basically a healthy eater but I just tend to reward myself with food, add too many treats, use food to punctuate my day. I do it less now, but I'm inconsistent, I'll eat perfectly for three weeks and then terribly for two, I tend to cycle. I could *always* lose weight, but once the cycle broke, I'd regain it. The band stops that for me, I still cycle, but the bad eating is not *over* eating anymore, its just not so organised and perfect food choices. So I just dont regain. A really BIG part of my success with losing weight and keeping it off has been my running though. The band has nothing to do with that and had I run as regularly and been as dedicated pre band like I was back in my teens and early 20's I never ever would have become as fat as I did in the first place. I have a genetic disposition to be "solid" but not to be obese, that really happened to me because of the huge lifestyle change and lack of exercise/increase in boredom eating that tends to happen once you start having babies. The band keeps me thinner than I would naturally be but with my activity levels now, I really dont believe I would become obese again. I think I'd probably return to my "natural" 80 kg(180lb give or take), not a weight I was ever happy with but just chunky not really seriously overweight.

sounds like Iron deficiency too I dont pay any attention to Protein, but I was fine last time I had bloods done. I eat more than an average bandster though, I always have been able to lose on 1500 calories a day or so and of course I do eat protein from natural sources, its just not my focus. I guess you're much more likely to become deficient in anything if you're eating less, like under 1000 calories a day.

I'm coming up for three years now and so far, absolutely no problems. I've begun having Fluid let out of my band, although its made it a bit harder to maintain, i want to find the point where I can have the least restriction possible and still remain at 70kg. I really believe that being tight for long periods of time leads to higher risks of problems. I also endeavour to maintain my weight as much as possible with exercise rather than relying on tight restriction for severe calorie control. So far its working well. I dont fear problems, but if they arise, I will have NO hesitation in being either rebanded or revising to the sleeve (which is becoming more and more popular here). I know I need intervention to remain at a normal weight, the difference in appetite with even small removals of fill is quite remarkable. But I just remain optimistic and thankful for the tool I have.

Yes I did. I didnt *have* to do a liquid diet, at a BMI of 36 I had by pure chance had a liver ultrasound due to to an overzealous gp who sent me off for a barrage of tests when he referred me to the surgeon. So I knew for a fact my liver wasnt enlarged or fatty and had the results for the surgeon. He said there was no need to do the liquid diet but I thought I might as well get a good jump start. When I fainted about five times (three days into it) I rang him and he said to get off it and eat something, that its only done to shrink the liver and in general terms is not in the least bit good for you or a healthy way to lose weight unless there is a pressing reason to lose fast. I also had trouble on the liquid part of the post op diet but I had to stick to that. I lost weight well on 1500 to 1800 calories a day so perhaps itwas just too severe a caloie restriction for me. I also cant cope with a high Protein low carb diet, it makes me feel TERRIBLE, I really need my carbs. But if she was getting no blood in the vial, you're quite severely dehydrated.

I picked 70kg because I'd gotten as low as 72 and felt great. I knew a BMI of about 20, 21 would be good for me, I didnt want to be still pushing overweight, I wanted good leeway. My healthy weight range is 63 to 79kg and I know that 79 kg is still FAT for me, because I weighed that for years and years and years. I'm just not naturally skinny enough to hold 63 or I would go for it. But I seem to sit really comfortably at 70 so it was a good choice. I'd like less of a muffin top though!

I eat vegemite all the time. I can eat toast, dont very often but I have anything and everything on Ryvitas or cruskits for Breakfast and vegemite and butter is a fave. Its good on Saladas, vita wheats (squish it thru the holes, lol), etc.

I am really really lucky in that I didnt hit a true plateau till I got to a BMI of 21. Ideally, I'd love to be 5kg lighter, but I cannot shift another pound for love nor money. I've managed weeks of eating very little and exercising a lot but it seems here is where my body wants to stay. I think in reality, I look fine, its just my little obsessions with bits of flab etc that make me want to lose more. Throughought my actual losing phase, I did have periods of weeks where I didnt lose, but I just kept doing what I was doing and overall I was a slow and steady loser.

Hmmmmm, not quite sure. What I found when I began running though was that I was already quite fit cardiovascularly speaking. What held me back and had me staggering by 2 or 3 kms was not feeling like my heart was beating 1000 times per minute or that my lungs were going to explode, it was muscular exhaustion. I found I had to work for quite a long time to build up the muscular endurance (and probaby my body's ability to deliver oxygen if you want to get more technical). I didnt worry about the heart rate. It was what it was. I was sweating, breathing harder, and getting tired, therefore what I was doing was effective. Too much focus on having your heart rate exactly so really can distract from what you're trying to achieve. You dont want to be working really light but fast all the time, you need some harder work to build your muscular endurance. What about interval training? I found that REALLY super duper effective in getting me fit and strong very quickly. Some really hard work at that higher restistance, it will shoot your heart rate up through the roof but you dont try to maintain it for an hour, then you step back to some lighter easier work for a short interval. If you need some encouragement, I cant recommend Cardio Coach highly enough its PERFECT for the elliptical. www.cardiocoach.com. Its inexpensive and not at all cheesy, he's a really good trainer and the music is great too. It really really helped me in the early days and I still rely on it for treadmill work which I find a bit boring.

Oh, it makes sense to me, its an anticipation thing.I was a bit like this each time I was pregnant, an intense orgasm could bring on quite painful cramps and the anticipation of it hurting really ruined it. Its probably something that will settle with time, the same as how your port can hurt if you move suddenly or do a lot of exercise early on but a year or two down the track you're never aware of it.

With all due respect, you really have to consider your sources with internet information. That's not a particularly credible source, certainly wouldnt stand up in an academic sense. I'm not arguing with it or saying anything is untrue, just that I'd be very careful about believing everything you read about nutrition on the internet.

OK, I'm not really a low carb advocate but sweet carbs were my downfall too. I can control that now for the most part. While I havent cut carbs I dont eat those sweet ones any more if I can possibly avoid it. Sometimes I do and whilst I cant say I identify with the stories people tell of "if you have one bite of them the cravings come back really strongly" they are moreish and I find it best just not to eat them. However, I can handle wholegrain low GI carbs fine and I do have a higher Protein diet than I had, although I dont go in for 80 grams a day like many do, and all that does help to keep the blood sugar and appetite more stable and the tendency to suddenly pig out at bay. What also helps is that cakes, donuts etc tend to get stuck and hurt going down, which over time has made them just not as attractive to me. All I did BEFORE surgery was vow not to eat like a pig until surgery day. I practiced eating moderately. But I've never "changed" my diet that much since it was pretty healthy already (just too much and too many treates) and my definition of a healthy diet isnt cottage cheese and eggs all day long. So there was really nothing to change. I just tried to not eat everythign that wasnt nailed down and I started exercising.

I worried about that but it really wasnt an issue for me. food doesnt really help you deal with anything as much as you think it does. What I decided when I made the decision to be banded, was from the day I saw my surgeon, I was starting my new life. No crash diet and mad exercise, but I determined that I was going to try to practice life skills. Sensible eating and moderate exercise. My goal was not to lose any weight, it was to avoid stuffing myself stupid from that point until surgery. It REALLY helped me. I was much fitter by the time S day rolled around, and I felt good about myself. It wasnt a feeling of thank god I'm getting this band to control myself by that point, it was the next step in a journey I'd already started. Most of the mental preparation and soul searching came well before. I didnt go to see a surgeon until I was sure I wanted to do this.

It probably will go away with time, there were quite a few strange feelings in the months after surgery. I still ocassionally get a strange pain now though, its a real belly ache, completely without nausea, its muscular pain, and it makes the top of my stomach really hurt, but also travels up my esophagus and makes my jaw and cheeks ache really badly. It can be excruciating. Really cold food sets it off, but sometimes I just get it. It doesnt usually last very long though.

I was admitted to hosptial at 7.30 am and the first thing I had to do when I was taken to my room was have a shower with some betadine wash.

i just saw an ad for something similar on telly here the other day and thought "about time". I know quite a few normal weight people who cant wear boots! I have the opposite problem, my boots look a bit like I'm playing dress ups in mummy's clothes, lol, because I have skinny calves. I'd love a bit more shape to them actually. We're never happy are we? Yay to sexy boots for women of all sizes!

Hehehe, Juli, this whole marriage, three kids and mortgage disaster gets a bit boring at times.....

Fish oil is a great multi benefit supplement for everyone to take! I buy children's burstlets. They'e about the same size as the capsule and contain the same amount of oil, but its flavoured, you bite the little capsule thing and swallow the oil, you can eat the capsule but I spit it out. I can take big pills though, they dont get stuck, but I've been a gagger all my life, lol. I loathe pills.

What worries me is that he said it. That's what's mean, and that's what indicates problems. I'd suspect a LOT of our partners found us less attractive physically as we got larger. If I'm completely honest, I found DH much more attractive when he was thinner. Physically now he isnt really my "type". But over the 25 years we've been together, I've gotten to love HIM, not what he looks like. I hate the way he dresses too, it drives me mad. He is so conservative and boring. But I would NEVER say that to him. Never. It would hurt him and I wouldnt want to do that and those arent the things about him that are important to me or our relationship anyway. If your husband cant see past that, then that would indicate problems to me. I think counselling is a good idea, to sort through this before it becomes a matter of resentment that will eat away at your relationship. He might not even really feel that way, it might just be a way of striking out if he's feeling threatened or vulnerable.

Oprah's no role mode for health, although she is for other things. She doesnt accept her size. She's been the most public yo yo dieter of all time. She just isnt successful in controlling her weight - that doesnt make her some plus size role model who truly accepts and lives a healthy life at a higher weight. She's as warped in the head as they come over her weight. If she managed to maintain her weight and her health even if that weight was still technically overweight, then she would be a role model for moderate, healthy living and being beautiful and successful no matter what your size. Yo yoing all over the place doesnt spell that for me. It drives me nuts that any overweight celeb is automatically a "role model" for health. First being fat isnt healthy. Second, the fact that they're out there looking great (thanks to their zillions of dollars, stylists, make up artist and hair guys) doesnt change the fact that behind closed doors they're as prone as we are to swallowing boxes of laxatives, getting injections of horse urine, going on crackpot diets and running till they fall of their darn treadmill trying desperately to shed the weight. And in the meantime, they can make themselves feel better by filling their faces with botox and their chests with silicone. Oh, and having the right Chanel bag for the week. How is THAT being a role model"? I feel for Oprah, to have publically espoused that you're anti weight loss surgery and to be as famous as Oprah would mean you cant really go back on your word. Which puts her squarely in the position of a lot of ordinary people, fat without a hope of doing anything about it long term. I agree Mac, if she publically admitted that she was losing this battle, that she wanted to take responsible steps towards her long term health THEN she would be a role model. I dont want to read about her latest diet and exercise regime, how this time she's discovered the secret, knowing that in a year, she's going to have regained it yet again. I dont judge her for that, we've all been through it, I'm just saying she's not really a role model for how to deal with obesity.

I agree Michee. Protein is calories, just like any other food. Protein has similar calories as carbs gram for gram and if you eat too much protein, and that leads to excess calories, it WILL make you fat just like any other food. However you can play around a lot with how much of your daily calorie intake is made up of protein v carbs v fat of course. The way protein damages the kidneys is not by taking 40 grams at a sitting. overtime if you have a very high protein intake (like over 100 grams a day), your body doubles the rate at which it excretes Calcium and THAT can cause kidney stones and gall stones (the calcium based ones) and also if you take in your protein with a lot of animal products and saturated fats you can predispose yourself to gout (nitrates) and heart disease. However, if you take in a lot of manufactured protein (as in soy products) this can have detrimental effects on the hormonal systems of the body, particularly males. Body builders LOOK fantastically healthy. That doesnt mean they are. Big muscles does not equal cardiovascular fitness or health for example. Many body builders cant run around the block and they can have awful blood make-ups. It has to be done right and it doesnt transpose that because you're an average joe, working out four times a week you can go slogging three or four Protein shakes a day and the calories wont add up, or you wont be overdoing the protein. You need "adequate" protein to grow muscles, more doesnt equal bigger muscles necessarily. Moderation is the key. 60 grams a day for a woman is fine, there's absolutely nothing dangerous about that, but it should come from a variety of sources, dont overdo any one food or rely totally on shakes. Protein shakes on top of a normal diet can easily cause weight gain if you're not burning it all off. And protein is not complete nutrition, you also have to remember all the other elements of a healthy diet. But even staunch carb eater that I am, I do have to admit that a high protein Breakfast stops the mid afternoon cravings for sweet carbs So lately, I have been trying to do that. For me, high protein breakfast and high protein lunch = awful awful gas. High protein breakfast and then my normal carb based lunch (like a sandwich including a small serve of protein like chicken or egg) = no naughty treats in the afternoon. dinner for me is usually a protein and veges, I usually cant fit in the starch, but sometiems we do have Pasta.

That's my point though Fairy, do you think that intervention at 3 really would have changed that for you? Or do you think its your body type, and in your genes and that was always going to be your lot? I really think that if a child has weight problems like that then they are going to become obese adults, no doubt about it. We know that for adults, WLS is really the only intervention that works. My guess is that that would be true for those children too. No intervention is going to stop that obesity if its in their genetic make up and to be really obese at eight, I'd guess its an inevitable fact. Around me anyway, there's plenty of slightly overweight kids, which is worrying for their future. But really obese children, its just not that usual. I'd have to guess in Australia that most kids are active and relatively skinny and become fat later, because you just dont see that many really obese children.