Jachut

Its entirely personal, you have to figure that one out yourself. I lost well on about 1500 a day which is a lot for a female. Then again, the charts all say that at my height and weight now, with the activity I do, I should be eating about 2,500 for maintenance. Trouble is, I'm also maintaining on about 1800. So if I went by the charts I'd be a bit rotund again by now!

Not really.....but the condition of my hair really did suffer about 12 months in, it was really horrid for a while. Dry, breaking, frizzy. I've read enough on here over the years from people's descriptions to heartily believe it isnt Protein deficience that causes hair loss though but more likely overall nutritional imbalance. People ALL say help, my hair is falling, out I'm eating tons of protein, but its still coming out. Most bandsters on this forum are told protein first, and drink Protein shakes and in general eat WAY more protein than Australian bandsters do, yet they still have problems with hair loss. I would say, eat your protein, as you've been instructed, but also make sure you get the full range of other nutrients (and here is where I believe cutting out all carbs is problematic because wholegrains provide a valuable range of nutrients), take a good Multivitamin, take all the "hair vitamins" you like such as Biotin or a hair, nails and skin formulation, make sure your Iron levels are good (because lack of iron can cause hair problems too) and hope for the best. However, it can also be hormonally induced, and just as a result of the changes in your body with a large weightloss, but your body does recover from it. I had to get a pretty major haircut and I spent quite a few months spending a FORTUNE on hair products, but over time, my hair improved and its better than ever nowadays. Its a pretty rare bandster that goes bald or near to bald, for most people its really quite scary but they dont lose all their hair. It just doesnt look its best for a while.

Well I'm a lurking Dec 05 bandster but I'm still trying to get there, two and a half years after starting running. I've done many many 10K's but I've been extremely cautious in building distance, I just am so afraid of getting injured and not being able to run at all. The other weekend I ran 14K but have since had to baby my knees as I had a bit of an ITB strain. I am planning on doing mine in October (Melbourne Marathon) but I have a softly softly approach, its something to work towards very slowly. It takes the body a LONG time to build the strength and toughness to handle the distance. Cardiovascularly I could do it tomorrow, I can run for two hours with no problem at all, barely get out of breath. But its the joint soreness and muscle strains that get me. Like you, I'm not really built for it. I'm tall and lean, like a runner but I'm a freaking biomechanical nightmare. Wide hips, one leg longer than the other, stuffed sacrum from pregnancy, flat arches, inward rolling feet. Lol. Good luck, take it slowly, build up sensibly, listen to your body. Before long, you'll be inserting orthotics, buying $300 running shoes, wearing 2 bras and strapping every joint on your body with the best of us. Then you can call yourself a runner!

pretzels here are a little crisp baked snack, typical pretzel shape but crunchy and come in a packet like chips. They had a franchise out here that did the big soft bready type pretzels but it didnt do well here. But I did just eat 2 laughing cow cheese wedges. I buy them for the kids' lunchboxes, but man, I love those things.

My guess would be hunger too - for the first six months or so I felt hunger as quite strong crampy pain. I also got lots of random stomach aches, some that would last for 24 hours, and would hurt into the roof of my mouth or jaw. Over time, they went away, never get them anymore - unless I eat ice cream or something really cold.

I'd like to send a big pppffffft to the person who hit my car two weeks ago at the traffic lights, gave me his details and they turn out to be FALSE. I have the registration number you prick, so expect a visit from the police. A cheque for the $550 it will cost to respray my bumper will be fine thanks.

Probably. I still have D cups but they are down to my navel now, sigh. They really are totally ruined and are going to require reconstructive work. Thank goodness its all I need, but I really need it. Next year. DH is very keen for me to do it, he likes boobs (as most men do) and I now have a very nice pair - for a 90 year old! I have a total of six years of breastfeeding and three pregnancies behind me too though, that makes a difference, and nature never blessed me with pert boobs in the first place. I've seen others lose weight and their boobs are perfectly fine. Size wise I couldnt be happier, if I lose a little more size as you often do with a lift, I dont mind being a C. I'm not really one for wanting large breasts, I just want a nicely shaped pair.

The only big toy we ever bought, had a silicon sleeve in sparkly neon orange, over the inner workings. You could take that bit off. I found it in Eliza's kinder bag. She was taking it for show and tell, she thought it was one of Daddy's fishing lures. That one went in the bin. It wasnt any good anyway. Plain there's all kind of things you can do with a GI Joe. Too bad he doesnt have batteries!

I would do exactly that, go back to the first doctor with your new information. I dont know that you can necessarily trust the second doctor anymore than the first, he might just be after more of your money. I'd even go and see a third surgeon! You really need your wits about you with these things, but you also need a hefty dose of luck when you're relying totally on someone else's expertise. I'm sorry it hasnt quite worked out the way you would have wanted.

Honestly, I wouldnt bother. After surgery is SO different to before, well it was for me. I wasnt hungry at all and found the liquid diet absolutely easy, was never even remotely tempted to cheat. I know everyone doesnt find it quite so easy but I think its safe to say it will be WAY harder without the benefit of surgery and the fear of messing up your surgery. Why put yourself through it? Use the pre op period to start an exercise program and practice healthy eating so that you're healthy and strong for quick recovery! That's a doable, positive step.

The thing to remember too, is that if you end up with foods you absolutely cant eat, very often, you wont be sitting pining for them. pizza for example. Yes, I can get it down, but it takes a lot of work. It causes discomfort. It goes cold while I'm eating it. I now shudder at the thought of pizza, there is no way that a piping hot pizza just delivered, sitting on my kitchen bench tempts me in ANY way. And i used to like pizza. Ditto McDonalds and Subway and any of those other fast foods. I can eat them if I have to and its the only choice, but I dont actually desire them or like them anymore. Its no skin off my nose to imagine never eating them again. Same with bread. Whilst I eat it, its no longer something I care to overindulge in. Your tastes will definitely change.

Lol, some good ones here. One thing that pisses me off is myself! Why, when I know the limited time I have, when I know how much stress being disorganised causes me, do I persist in stuffing round on the computer all day or wandering round the shops window shopping and having coffee. It is 4 weeks into semester 2, I've barely even opened a textbook and am getting stressed about getting behind. So why havent I done it? I dont know, I just dont want to. Why are the Breakfast dishes still all over the kitchen when its 4.pm? Why do I only suddenly get a burst of motivation at about 5pm? Then I've got to clean the entire house, get dinner on the table and get a run in all in a 2 hour window when I've had ALL day! I really piss myself off sometimes.

Wait six weeks or so till you're completely healed, then proceed slowly and listen to your body. Its unlikely you'd do any damage to the band as that's sewn to your stomach, but your port is attached to your abdominal muscle and it needs to be healed up before you do that sort of stuff. But now, I do plenty of strenuous activity, lots of running and situps, pushups and weights and I've never had any problem at all.

I had 2 and a half years with no trouble at all, but the more fills you get, the less leeway you have for band fluctuations and just recently, following a plane flight at the same time as having my period, I got really too tight for my comfort, although I was nowhere near not being able to swallow Water etc. I could eat but it was uncomfortable, and I wasnt eating well. The point, Dadymon, is obviously to restrict how much you can eat. But the band is not an exact science and what often happens is you get too tight, and you start eating badly - you cant eat the solid Proteins, fruits and veggies easily and you start to get by on ice cream, chocolate, fatty things that are small and easy to eat and doing that, you can take in WAY more calories than when you eat more food but make better choices. I was not having sliming or PB any more than usual (which is pretty rare for me) because I eat very carefully and listen to my body, I dont push it with things that I know dont agree with me and I stop the minute I feel a signal to. So no pbing, but I realised after I'd not eaten a piece of fruit in about a week that I was too tight and would be better off with some fill removed. Now I can eat way more, but I can also make better choices, so as long as I use some self control and dont eat the chocolate or ice cream but choose healthy foods instead, I'm better off allround. so you can be too tight even without vomiting and reflux or inability to eat solids at all. Its a personal thing, the level of restriction you're prepared to tolerate, what sorts of healthy foods you can eat etc. For me, I dont need to be that tight as I'm not even trying ot lose anymore and I feel loads better with just .2ml taken out.

well my doc doesnt advocate the liquid diet after fills, he just says to be careful, so no, I didnt do a liquid diet at all after my recent .2ml unfill. But I found it to be like a fill. Small immediate effect,then about a week later, I noticed how much easier it was to eat, how much hungrier I was and how many more really healthy foods (as opposed to sliders) I could eat. None of which led to weight gain thank goodness. I dont know why I got so tight, one of those things I guess. PMT, plane flight etc all happening round the same time.

I eat bread and Pasta, and have all the way through, but not tons of it, like georgia girls says. I think wholegrains are a healthy part of a healthy diet and I wouldnt cut out an entire foodgroup by choice (restriction sometimes makes that decision for us). But I dont base my entire diet on loads of bread, pasta, Cereal and processed carbs the way I used to. As to what happens at goal, I have loosened my band a little as I got a little bit too tight suddenly. My weight went up a tiny bit (3lb) and that's come off again now.

That should have been explained to you to make sure you know why you have to do it. During the healing phase, the stitches holding the band to your stomach heal and the body also forms scar tissue around them which further cements your band in place. So it is important to avoid making the stomach do a lot of churning and heavy work which it has to do to digest solid food. liquids dont have to be churned up so much. That's why you do liquids to mushies to solids. If you eat solid food too early you are placing yourself at increased risk of a slip further on down the track as the band may not be positioned properly if you cause it to move. So its important not to eat too early. If you must taste, spit it out.

Ah, here's where I admit to my charm bracelet habit. I got a Pandora bracelet for my 40th last year. Are those as huge there as they are here? Anyway, the plan was that people would buy me a bead for every special occasion, it would do for birthdays and Christmases for a few years to come. Um, it was filled in 4 months *shamefaced*. I simply couldnt wait. Bugger waiting till I'd lost a pound, lol!

Well, yes, Atkins is very high fat, I'd be most alarmed to see anyone promoting that these days! Unless you base Atkins on the right fats - fish, olive oil etc, and not saturated animal fat. Its fantastic that its worked for you but the jury is still out on whether its safe. That's far from proven. The thing is, Atkins style diets didnt solve obesity in the 60's and 70's when they were all the rage and they're hardly likely to work any differently now. Nor did the high carb low fat way of eating all through the 80's and 90's solve anything - heart disease or obesity or any related diseases. Carbs doesnt mean highly processed white carbs, it means legumes, Beans, fruit, vegetables and wholegrains. Those are what I eat and what my diet is based on, for me, the Protein is a secondary consideration, not the primary, that's the only difference to what you're talking about. Its not that we eat an entirely different diet here, its just configured a bit differently. Its not generally believed that protein is the most important nutrient, its only ONE of the important nutrients. But we're not talking a diet of protein, veggies and fruit as compared to a diet of white bread, cake and soda. I think its important not to view this as a right or wrong thing though. They just dont really know! And till then, I think you have to stick with what you feel comfortable with, what you can live with and what works for YOUR body. All things in moderation is probably a pretty safe motto. No food is completely band. Red wine may be empty sugar and alcohol calories on the one hand yet it is known to be full of flavanoids and antioxidents and offer heart protective benefits. So is it evil or good? Wholegrains give you slow release energy, valuable Vitamins and minerals and are very good for your bowels. You can guarantee most bandsters dont get their 30g of fibre a day! So are they good or evil? We need protein for the building blocks of our bodies but too much will give you gout, kidney stones and at the expense of other foods problems like constipation. It also comes packed with saturated fat, and if you drink soy based Protein shakes, there are dangers in excess soy consumption too! So it would seem sensible not to eat any food to the expense of any others.

Its most likely you will have some loose skin. Look at your stretchmarks. If you have a lot of them all over your stomach, your skin is pretty shot thee and its most likely it wont bounce back. wherever there are stretchmarks, you're probably going to have loose skin. And even where there arent stretchmarks you're probably going to have loose skin. But you can be lucky. Mine is minimal, but its there, after 100lb. But certainly not surgery worthy. Just a bit crinkly in spots. Except my breasts which are ruined, and that's got as much to do with six years of breastfeeding as with weight loss. Its hardly as if they were pert before, you could have guessed what the end result would be. However, the cellulite I had on the backs of my thighs/buttocks is still there, boo hoo. Its good luck and genetics and there isnt much you can do to prevent it. Hopefully with such a relatively moderate weight loss you will be just fine.

I've lost 100 lb. I guess you wouldnt say I have "excess skin" but I'm not as firm as you would expect someone with a BMI of 22 who runs for an hour five days a week to be. I have more flesh than I should have at this weight. But I dont have skin hanging that needs surgical removal. What does worry me though is that in another 10 years, it may really be hanging, lol. I guess I would have some surgery if that were the case.

Crikey! (to use a colloquialism). I even get my nose out of joint at wedding registries. Like my g/friend getting married next month, all they've got is contributions at a travel agency. They've got stuff, they've been living together, they've both been married before. They're not even insisting that that's ALL they want, they're happy for you to buy a gift you've thought of yourself. I just keep thinking, what if I put $200 into the travel registry and only a couple of other people do the same. They've not got enough then for a holiday and my $200 just sits there uselss for however long until they've got the money to add to it. Or friends that dont want to ask for expensive presents so put tons of $20 crap on their registry and there's nothing there to buy as a big group present, or anything that costs even remotely as much as the price per head for each guest (which, etiquette dictates, is about how much you spend on the pressie). But birthday parties? Sheesh. I'd buy him a $5 huge lollypop just to really piss his parents off. That would really annoy me. Birthday parties are out of control these days, we really feel the pressure with our kids. I got one or two in my entire childhood, they want bigger and better every year. We have a rule $300 per birthday (older kids). That means big party and that's all. Or small party and reasonable amount for presents. Or no party and a really good present, like a DS and a game or two. Their choice. But I aint doing parties and big presents! Eliza's had one birthday party, she's five. Before that she had no friends, lol. She got tons of cheap crap that got thrown away a month later. Which is exactly as it should be because that mean that every mother took her daughter to choose Eliza's present and they chose the most beautiful sparkly things that five year old hearts desire. Where's the fun if they're told what to buy? For a kid buying the present for a friend is special.

I think losing interest in what you're eating is half the success behind the band! It is not that difficult to do once the band is there becuase you learn pretty quickly the bad effects of NOT doing it.

Everyone is so different. I was in barely any. I was up and walking within a few hours. The first few hours felt like someone had grabbed my stomach with a fist and squeezed hard. But its hard to say how much pain that was in that groggy post anaesthetic morphine haze. Once all that wore off I was more than fine. I came home the next day and went for a walk. But I'd hate to mislead people because it is differnet for everyone. I mean I gave birth without pain relief twice and I dont think giving birth hurts that much. For which people most probably would like to stone me! I honestly dont. Nor was a caesar much to recover from. Fingers crossed that its like that for you. But realistically, its not a HUGE operation and whilst there is likely to be post op discomfort, its not usually major or uncontrollable. The most problematic thing is usually the gas which starts in a day or two later.

I'd say the same as Fanny, lingerie! And lights off, naturally. Only very brave people could have sex with the lights on. This must be really hard. I know my pic is up there in my bikini but I'm really shy about the tiny amounts of excess skin that I do have. And I know thats exactly like the thin girl saying she's fat and fishing for complements, but believe me, everyone has body insecurities. If he's worth it, it wont matter to him. I think of it in terms of the way I look at DH. He's gained about 80lb since we met (as had I!). He's obese now. If I looked at him objectively, he's not as attractive as he was as a fit, muscly 18 year old. But the thing is I *dont* look at him that way. I dont break him apart and look for his flaws. He's my DH and I love him and therefore I find him desirable. If this is the right guy for you and the relationship is on the right track, he wont look at you that way. You know, even PS wont take these feelings away, because there's going to be some pretty major scarring. We simply have to learn to love what we have. Best of luck and I hope you can get the PS thing sorted too.